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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2005-02-14

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

1) Curing Laptop Overheating

Mr. Langa: A friend forwarded me your "Year-End PC Tasks" Article http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=55800698 , which was very interesting, except it doesn't apply to the millions (ok maybe not that many) of us who have laptops.

My laptop frequently overheats, and besides buying a new machine, I have no idea what to do.... So what are the options? Thanks, Samantha

You're certainly not alone, Samantha. When you include all the variants of portable PCs from slender, lightweight laptops up to full-sized "desktop replacement" notebooks, there are tens of millions of units in use. If you also include tiny, handheld PCs, the number goes up even further.

The problem in discussing notebook and laptop hardware is that portable PCs are much less standardized than are ordinary PCs, which enjoy a high degree of parts and technological uniformity from type to type and brand to brand. It's not just differences in shapes and sizes among portable PCs, but that different laptops/notebooks can employ different technologies, different ways to pack components inside the case, different power systems ....

Fortunately, Samantha's letter focuses on one particular issue--- overheating--- which is one area where a general discussion about laptops/notebooks actually can be quite useful:

When a laptop/notebook gets too hot, the cause almost always boils down to one of three main causes: Dust and dirt blocking airflow inside the unit; a dead or dying fan; or environmental causes.

Whatever the cause, the unit can't get rid of its heat, and temperatures climb inside the case. If you're lucky, the laptop's heat-sensing circuits will shut everything down when temperatures reach dangerous levels; you may lose data, but your hardware will probably survive, at least for a while.

If you're less lucky, you'll start getting data errors or lockups. Here, too, you may lose data, but you may be able to save the hardware through a prompt manual shutdown.

In a worst case, or after repeated lesser overheating episodes, your laptop may simply end up cooked to death; either inoperative, or so unreliable as to be worthless.

So, no matter what the cause, you definitely want to avoid overheating. But how?

Of the three main reasons for overheating, the environmental issues are the most obvious and easiest to avoid: Don't use your laptop in full sunlight for extended periods; don't leave it in a closed car on a sunny day; don't place it on or near extreme heat sources, such as radiators, hot air vents, and so on. Common sense, really--- and the same advice that's in almost every owner's manual for almost all portable electronic devices. It's so obvious, in fact, we won't spend any more time on it.

You can look for, and quite possibly correct, the other two reasons for overheating in ways that don't require that you open the laptop's case (so there's no issue of voiding the warranty) and in ways that require no exotic tools or training. In fact, it's so simple a procedure, I'm amazed more people don't do it.

To show you just how simple and easy it is, I used my own laptop as a test subject, and took pictures along the way as I performed a thorough de-dusting to improve the unit's cooling. The whole illustrated step-by-step is available (free!) at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60300177 .

There, in addition to seeing the step-by-step cleaning how-to, you'll also learn more about similarities and differences in laptops and notebooks; and more--- including a free monitoring tool that you can download and install on your laptop to help ensure its hardware is working properly.

Check it out:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60300177 . See you there!

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2) More On Spamproofing Your Main Email Address

Fred, "Spamproof Your Main Email Address" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-01-27.htm#4 ) was great, but I go one step further: 

My web host allows unlimited redirect email addresses.  That means mail sent to unknown addresses within my domain gets routed to the main mailbox.  When I register at a new web site, I use a name that identifies the site.  For example, I'd use langa@mydomain.com when registering for your newsletter if I didn't trust you. 

If you need to send a confirmation email, Thunderbird and Outlook Express allow you to set the sending server settings different from the main address.  Therefore, I'd setup the temporary account as langa@mydomain.com with the logon matching my main account me@mydomain.com.

If the site ends up being a bad apple and starts spamming, the incoming address tells me which site caused the problem.  (Not all spam shows the to: address, but many will.)  If I choose to block the mail, I create a mailbox for that address and set it for a very low limit.

It's a little bit of work, but has saved me loads of pain and strain with spam.  I really like the ability to identify the source of spam, too! ---Tom Heisey

It's a good idea, Tom; I do much the same thing. And you're right--- it's not that hard. In fact, with most hosting accounts, no special configuration is needed at all: any mail address to your domain (eg "langa.com") that doesn't have an explicit mailbox simply gets dumped into the master mailbox, no matter how it's addressed. It's automatic!

I do my email sorting at download, when I grab the mail. For example, although I have a number of separate mailboxes set up on the Langa.Com server, most of the mail ends up in the generic master account mailbox. When I download that mailbox, the mail client on my PC then filters the mail for spam, and sorts the non-spam into (literally) about 75 different mail folders, depending on how the mail is addressed, what the subject line is, who it's from, and so on. It's much easier to create, alter, or remove mail folders on my system than on the server; and I can pull down all the mail with one draw, instead of having to connect to the mail server via different accounts or personae.

It all works pretty well, including the other parts that relate to Tom's suggestions: When I buy something online or signup at a site I've never deal with before, I'll also (like Tom) use a unique (and fake) email address, like "acmewidgets@langa.com." I'll then create a local filter that places all mail addressed that way into a folder named acmewidgets. All communications from acmewidgets will end up in that folder, and if spam ends up in there as well, addressed to me as "acmewidgets@langa.com" then I know that acmewidgets is selling my address: I do no further business with them, and change the mail filter so everything from acmewidgets goes straight to the trash.

Tom's way and my way are close variants on the same good idea; it's one more reason to spring for the couple of bucks a month it takes to get your own web site, if only for the email control it gives you. The article at http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-01-27.htm#4 and a related item at http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-01-27.htm#3 has more info.

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3) DI On A Disc

Fred, Don't recall when or what issue you discussed reducing DriveImage(v5) down to one floppy disk. Can you please go over that again? Very interested in this as I also use DI for cd backups. Great newsletter! Thanks, Jose

Here's how: Create a basic boot floppy; we'll call this the "new" floppy. From the first DI5 emergency disk (i.e. from the two-disk set created by the DI software when you installed it; or from the DI menu after install), copy the Mouse.* files to the new floppy. Then, from the second DI disk, copy

PQDI.EXE
PQDI.OVL
PQDI.PQG
PQDI.RTC

to the new floppy. Now, using notepad or a similar basic text editor, create an autoexec.bat (or copy and edit the original autoexec.bat from the first DI5 emergency disk) so that the new autoexec.bat contains just two lines:

mouse
pqdi

That's it! You can boot from the new floppy, and it will automatically start your PC, load a DOS-level mouse driver, and launch Drive Image.

Of course, as this is DOS-based, this technique only works on the older versions of Drive Image, which "dropped to DOS" to work. The newer versions only run inside Windows, or in a limited way from a PowerQuest boot CD, and are far less flexible and useful (IMHO) than the old versions of DI.

You also mention burning direct to CDR: That's also easy to set up, but you'll need to add DOS-level CD drivers to the floppy so that DOS can "see" the CD drive. If creating this kind of boot floppy is unfamiliar to you, these links may help:
http://langa.com/u/7o.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=boot+floppy

Of course, you also can add all the other DOS bells and whistles if you wish, such as a high memory manager (e.g. HIMEM), a disk cache (e.g. SmartDrv) and so on. See the series referenced here for lots more DOS info:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=13000138

And note that you can use the same technique to create an all-on-one-floppy version of the older DOS-based versions of Partition Magic (e.g. PM7):

Set up a new boot floppy, including the Mouse files, as above, but instead of copying the "PQDI" files listed above, copy these files from your Partition Magic emergency DOS disks to the new floppy:

PQMAGIC.EXE
PQMAGIC.OVL
PQMAGIC.PQG
PQPB.RTC

Edit the autoexec.bat so it reads

mouse
pqmagic

and you're done--- you now have a basic Partition Magic floppy, all on one disk! That floppy, too, can be modified with CD drivers and/or any other DOS add-ons you may wish to use, up to the limit of what the floppy can hold.

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4) Wanted: Just the Meat, Please

Dear Fred, Since my brother told me about your Newsletter, I have read it with considerable interest... One of the problems of your material is that it is so interesting, it can take a considerable effort of reading. When that competes with professional income generating activity, it can be a problem. My suggestion is that you duplicate the "helpful hints" as they arise in the editing phase and put them all together again at the end of a Newsletter for rapid access. If this could be done  with a link back to the body of the article from which they occur, this would be really useful. This would allow those things that are already understood to be skipped and the gold in the vein of information that you have created even more rapidly tapped. I can see that this will  involve a certain amount of extra editorial work but I suspect readers would find it tremendously useful.

With kind regards, Peter R Jensen

Thanks, Peter. I realize that this newsletter is too long for some, and (believe it or not) too short for others. Because no one size fits all, I've tried to solve this problem with entirely different versions of the newsletter:

For example, I offer a "Digest" version that is essentially just what Peter wants: It's an outline version of the newsletter, with all the titles and major headings, but instead of the full text, it contains links back to the full issue and to the other sites discussed in each item. It's very brief and telegraphic. Readers can skim the issue in literally seconds, and then either click to read the full text of any item of interest; and/or click to follow the outbound links included in each item. The Digest version also is popular with those readers who like to read the issue on handheld devices.

The Digest edition is one of four versions available to Plus! subscribers. And, as always, Plus! subscribers can try any or all versions, at will, and switch formats whenever they like.

The most popular version is the HTML edition (which looks and reads like the on-the-web version of the newsletter). The new Notify edition (just a quick email with a link to the full text on the web; ideal for reducing mailbox clutter and avoiding aggressive spam filters) is the second most-popular, but rising fast. The Text version (all the Plus content, but in plain text form; compatible with essentially all email systems and clients) is next. The Digest version is actually used by the smallest number of Plus! subscribers.

And, of course, all the Plus! editions offer other benefits as well, such as no ads, access to a private web site with extra info and downloads, and so on. But this isn't an ad--- I'm just trying to address a specific question from a time-constrained reader who'd like a faster way into the information here.

So, if you find the current format of the newsletter less than ideal, give one of the others a try:

Sign up for the Plus! edition: http://langa.com/plus.htm ; you can choose your format during the signup.

Or, once signed up, you can change your Plus! edition format at any time: http://www.langalist.com/plus/address.htm

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5) Unwanted Lockdowns

Fred: I encountered a problem on one WinXP machine while doing a SP2 update that might be worth sharing because I could find no help elsewhere after several searches.

Running both the auto download and a saved download (in safe mode) produced an error of "Control ID not found".  Of course, not until about half way through the update procedure.  At that point the only option is to quit and revert to SP1.

The only info I found with a Google search is from MS, and one other site that pointed to MS, that this was caused if eTrust antivirus was installed.  The computer did not have eTrust but Norton.  After several emails to MS I stumbled on the fact that the permissions in a Registry HKLM security subkey did not allow any access.  After making permission changes to allow full access to the security subkey, and inheritance to subkeys, the upgrade ran with no problem.

The info given in the KB article below is for a different error message but covers the problem and solutions.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873148 You receive an "Access is denied" error message when you try to install Windows XP Service Pack 2

The KB article gives no indication as to what might have caused the permissions to not be set correctly or how they might have been changed. --- Perry Harold

Thanks, Perry. I have eTrust on some machines, and Norton on others, and haven't seen this specific issue, but it's easy to imagine how it might happen. In fact, any number of security tools may try to prevent unauthorized changes to parts of your system (normally a good thing), but some are clumsy about what they lock out, and work with such a broad brush that perfectly valid, useful, and even necessary functions end up being blocked as well. Indeed, one can go too far in a quest for online security: You end up with a system locked down so tight it can't be used normally.

What's more, using multiple security tools live at the same time may cause interference if the tools fight for control of files or processes. And some tools that alter system or Registry settings don't re-set them when the tool is uninstalled: You can remove a tool that was causing trouble, but the trouble may remain even after the tool is gone.

One thing you can do to help prevent this is NOT to accept the default installation and setup of security tools. I know that it can be very tempting to click a "Secure Me!" or "Fix Everything!" button, but that's also a good way to get yourself in trouble because you won't really know what's going on. Instead, at least the first time you install and run any tool, read all the options so you'll understand what will be changed by the tool, why it will be changed, and where the changes will be made. Only then can you make informed judgments about what to run. For example, if you already have a tool protecting your Hosts file (to pick just one of about a million possible security tweaks), you probably should prevent a later tool from also trying to protect that file, so they won't fight over it.

This is also why I generally recommend that you limit the number of tools performing live, all-the-time monitoring or protecting of your system: I suggest you use ONE firewall, ONE antivirus tool, and ONE comprehensive anti-malware tool running live, all the time. Run other cleanup tools (such as Spybot Search & Destroy or AdAware...) in periodic scans to catch what may have been missed by the main tools, but don't run all possible security tools, all the time.

Both extremes--- underprotected and overprotected--- are problematic. As with so many things, the middle ground is where you want to be.

(PS: There's some related info in item #7, below.)

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6) Is This Newsletter Interesting? Useful?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

Check out the details at http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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7) Don't Be Fooled

Hi Fred, Was just surfing the net looking at the [Spybot Search & Destroy] web site and found the following... It could be helpful to the wider audience through your excellent newsletter if they are aware of the problem....

quote from the web site...

"If you search for the keyword Spybot on Altavista or some other search engines, you'll got a bunch of sponsored results. One of them is Spyware Doctor, who seem to be aggressively using our name Spybot to advertise their software. We receive a bunch of emails every week from people complaining to us and asking for a refund. After some mails we usually find out that those people believed they had bought Spybot-S&D, but actually got Spyware Doctor... PC Tools' attorney Darren Sommers sees nothing bad in cheating people that way. We did contact Element 5, the company they use for their payments (and which btw is used by Lavasoft as well) for any help we could give to those people who were cheated and contacted by us. Ms. Schulte-Hoberg from Element 5 reacted by rejecting any help to people who where cheated by PC Tools. Element 5 did even block all our email addresses to avoid any more about this... As there is nothing we can do to help, and Element 5 rejects any cooperation in getting the cheated people refunds, we can only recommend to write letters of complaint to Element 5, and, if you were cheated yourself, contact us at legal@spybot.info so that we can confront them with a huge bunch of cases."

Kind Regards, Rajesh (PS: Excellent newsletter)

Yes, Rajesh, there's a lot of room for confusion out there. While the software we recommend is called "Spybot Search & Destroy," other competing software is called "Spyware Search to Destroy" "Spyware Bot," "Seek and Destroy" and so on. You can decide for yourself whether these very similar names are merely amazing coincidences, or deliberate attempts to confuse and deceive.

URLs are another problem:. For example, the real site for the true Spybot S&D is:  http://www.safer-networking.org . A completely different product from a completely different company uses the almost-identical http://www.safer-networking.com/--- the ".org" and ".com" making all the difference. People looking for Spybot S&D's site who accidentally type the "com" form of the URL instead of the "org" may end up downloading a totally different tool from a different vendor.

And, as the quote from Rajesh suggests, some web searches are, ahem, less than helpful in finding what you want, as opposed to finding what they want you to see:

For example, when you search for the word "spybot," good searches like Google and the new (hugely improved!) MSN search keep paid advertising placements very clearly marked and separated from the search results. But other searches such as Altavista minimize the visible differences between true search results and the paid ads, so the latter masquerade as search results (unless you're reading very closely). Maybe there's a purely innocent reason for this, but to me it looks like the site is trying to foster deliberate confusion so users will see the ads and mistake them for high-ranked search results.

You have to be careful with searching and with URLs to ensure you get what you're really looking for. But again, the true, correct link for the Spybot Search & Destroy tool we often recommend is: http://www.safer-networking.org

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...

Well over 3,500 of your fellow readers have "loaded the code." Have you? Check out http://langa.com/code.htm for the details.

Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://langa.com/readersites.htm

Aussie Website Reviews
http://www.auswr.com/forum/site.php

hal's web
http://www.cvcomputerclub.com/

lawn care
http://www.lawnmanlawncare.com/

web design
http://www.designsamsara.com

"gift of marriage"
http://www.giftofmarriage.com/links.php

"my own start page"
http://www.geocities.com/tavadave/MyLinks.html

family harmony
http://home.woh.rr.com/fsg/

"home"
http://www.onecav.net/

The Berkshire Connection
http://www.loisberk.org/

maddog's place
http://www.amaddog.com/

north kent wireless
http://www.northkentwireless.com/

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--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

"Hi Fred! I just renewed my Plus! Subscription for the third (or fourth) year (not sure) and just wanted to say that I still think it is the best deal in the business... the Langalist Plus is still something I look forward to each and every week. I really think that it's a bargain price; every computer user in the world should be reading your stuff! Loyal Plus subscriber, Mike Derbyshire Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada"

Thanks, Mike!

The Plus! edition is just pennies an issue--- about $1 a month--- but that
small amount is what keeps Langa.Com and this newsletter going.

Get all the details:
http://langa.com/plus.htm

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

9) SyncBack, Free and Paid

Love your Plus edition, Fred! It's truly incredible that every issue contains a useful gem' well worth the subscription price! I notice you continue to occasionally mention Karen's Replicator [ http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp ] as a good way to copy / backup / sync files. I've used Replicator for a long time and love it. But recently I switched to SyncBack by 2BrightSparks. In my opinion, SyncBack beats Replicator hands down! It offers more options, and more important, it is way faster. One of my backup sets involves comparing / copying 10GB of data (about 65,000 files). Replicator takes 6 - 7 minutes to complete. SyncBack finishes in under a minute and a half! And, like Replicator, SyncBack is free.  ---Michael Ewart

Thanks, Michael. There are two versions of the tool; Syncback and SyncbackSE. The "SE" version costs $15, and offers a *very* high-speed option. You can get full information, including a comparison of the free and paid versions, at http://www.2BrightSparks.com/ .

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10) Just For Grins

Fred: I've been a reader of the Plus edition for several years, and the free edition even longer before that. Next to Peter Norton, if there were a Patron Saint of Computing, I'd recommend you for canonization.
 
From a site named "Jilly's Drive In:"

"Funny Microsoft Q Articles: Here's a collection of computer humor directly from Microsoft. Well, ONE of them is a parody. The links were accumulated from colleagues, Usenet and web searches, but mostly from "googlewhacking" the Knowledge Base. Enjoy! --Jilly" http://jazzkeyboard.com/jill/qarticles.html

--Doug Wilcox

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• A Lean, Mean Game Mode
     (configure your PC for maximum gameplay)
• Free, Heavy-Duty Online Checkup
     (diagnose and fix many configuration problems)
• Plus! Edition Extra: Free, Powerful Partition Recovery Tool
     (as powerful as some of those high-priced packages)

The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and comes with a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE from Fred. How can you lose Check out the details: http://langa.com/plus.htm

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue, 2005-02-17!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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