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LangaList 2006-04-20 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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1) Rebuild XP With A Click!XP's little-known "Rebuild" command lets you fix "Missing HAL.DLL," "Invalid Boot.Ini," "Windows could not start..." and similar messages in literally just a minute or two. It can potentially save you hours and hours of manual reinstall/rebuilding of a failed OS! I'm mentioning this now because of our recent coverage of disk swaps and A full "rebuild" command how-to (it's easy!), including the full method and
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friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- Easy, Affordable BASIC For
Windows--- Normally just $49.95, but http://www.libertybasic.com/langa.html --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) Getting Win98 "Up-To-Snuff"
There's nothing wrong with continuing to use Win98, Frank. It won't stop working when Microsoft withdraws support, of course. It just won't receive further updates. That means that the OS basically becomes frozen in time, and will no longer be modified to handle new technologies or to meet new threats. I think the analogy we've used before is a good one: It's like an older car. It may still run fine, and is OK to drive. But it won't meet current safety standards, may not handle as well as newer models, and over time will require more and more tinkering to keep running, especially as parts become scarcer and scarcer. Eventually, Win98--- like an antique auto--- will become a curiosity rather than the thing for which it was originally designed and used. As an amusing aside, take a look at the early Windows shown below: It's from a different discussion, but you'll see Windows 3.0, Win3.1, Win3.11, Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000 (representing the whole NT family), Win XP, and DOS 6.22 thrown in for good measure, all running simultaneously. When I look at the old Windows--- like 3.0 and 3.11--- I'm amazed that we once thought of them as "advanced" interfaces and state of the art computing. <g>
Plus! Subscribers:
http://langalist.com/Plus/extras/vpc1.asp Win98 is on a steady march to the same kind of curiosity status as 3.0 and 3.1 have. Win98 was great while it lasted, but its day really is done. That said, yes, you can keep Win98 running cleanly, almost indefinitely: The very best way I know to try to preserve Win98 is to do one final grand mal cleaning: In shorthand form, you'd reformat, reinstall, and then run Windows Update iteratively until all relevant updates are in place. Run a good Registry cleaner, defrag the system, and then make an image backup of the newly-installed, "perfect" setup. Store that image in a safe place. Then, in the future, if your Win98 setup gets munged when updates and downloads are no longer available, you can always restore the image, and get your Win98 back to that just-installed, perfect setup again. In more detail: System Setup Secrets Updated Ten Ways to Make Windows 98 Run Better Win98 Cleanup Win98 Backups/Images Curing Win98 Resource Leaks Yes, there are less thorough ways of spiffing up Win98, but they produce less optimal results. For example, you can just run the cleanup, above, and a good Registry cleaner, plus a defrag, and probably improve the current operation of a Win98 setup. There's also a "no reformat" reinstall option that cleans up more: http://tinyurl.com/m5kqp But Win98 is about to become unsupported, so I think it's time to bite the
bullet and do one final, fresh, total reinstall. Make that install as perfect as
humanly possible. Let Windows update decide what patches and updates to install.
Polish, prune, clean, defrag it until it shines. Then preserve that perfect
setup as a disk image, and save the image in a protected place. That way, you'll
*always* have access to a perfect, like-new install of Win98, no matter what
else happens! Click to email this item to a
friend 3) More GhostbustingIn "Who You Gonna Call?" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-04-13.htm#3 ), we tried troubleshooting some mysterious PC sounds. Here's a similar issue:
I'd suggest that you examine the system sound assignments to see what's using the bing-bong sound. That, in one step, will at least narrow the list of suspect triggers of that sound. In XP, you click to Control Panel's "Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices" applet, and then click "Sounds and Audio Devices." In the window that opens, click the "Sounds" tab, and explore the "Program Events" windows to see what events are currently set to use the sound you're hearing. As you click each event, you'll see the associated sound--- usually a wav file--- listed below, along with a "play" button so you can preview--- er, prehear? pre-audit?--- the sound in question. From your description, it may well be the Device Connect ("Windows XP Hardware Insert.wav) and Device Disconnect ("Windows XP Hardware Remove.wav") sounds you're hearing--- but that's what you need to find out for sure: Whatever's triggering that sound is the thing you need to look into further. If several events are assigned the same sound, troubleshooting will be harder, so you might want to temporarily replace some of the duplicated sound assignments with unique sound assignments so you can tell what's triggering what. It's also possible that you won't find your specific "bing bong" sound listed there, especially if third-party software is doing the deed. In this case, you might use Search to locate all the WAV files on your hard drive, and explore them one by one (double click 'em) until you find the exact sound you're looking for. Note where it is, which probably will be a clue was to what's using it. (E.G. If the sound is located in a instant messenger program folder, it's a reasonable bet that the IM program is triggering that sound.) OK, let's back up a bit and assume it's a Device Connect/Disconnect that's triggering the sound. If you open Device Manager (right click My Computer then Properties, Hardware, Device Manager) and leave it open, you usually should see some kind of action when devices come and go--- the list will change. (It may help to expand some sections of the hardware list, such as USB, so you can see the subsections). If hardware is what's coming and going, then you should see *something* happening on the hardware list simultaneous with the bing-bong sound. If it's not hardware, then check out software: Hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to open Task manager, and leave it open, on the Applications tab. (Task Manager wants to always be the topmost windows, but you can make somewhat smaller, and even move it mostly off screen to get it out of your way.) See if new applications come and go when you hear the bing-bong sound. If not, then try the same thing with the Processes tab open. that's messier and harder to track, but can catch fleeting events that otherwise might pass beneath the radar. If it's not hardware and not software, then the next time you hear a "bing bong" sound, maybe you better get up and answer the door. <g> Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- "Dear Fred, The move to the Plus!
subscription was the best --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 4) Defender Glitches?
I suspect the problem is with Windows Defender, which indeed is still beta, and undoubtedly has some bugs. Several readers have had trouble with it; unlike the previous version--- Microsoft Antispyware--- which was much more stable. If you can find a copy of the older version (it's not on the Microsoft site any more) you may have better luck. That said, there are a number of "looping" issues which can mess up Windows Update, causing it to re-download the same item again and again; and have other trouble too. Although the following aren't specific to Windows Defender, they discuss the same *kinds* of Update problems, and so may well work on the Defender issue as well:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-05-05.htm#2 Click to email this item to a
friend 5) NOD32, and More
Let me give you a two-part answer: In my experience, NOD32 is excellent. I use it on my primary PC and on my laptop. I've also installed it on family members' PCs, too. (And it's not a sweetheart deal--- I buy my copies same as anyone else, and feel that NOD32 is worth the money.) The more general answer is to call your attention to the LangaList archives. The free public archives let you search the Standard Editions back for several years, via any of several search engines. The private Plus! downloadable archives let you search *everything*--- every word in every issue of the LangaList, Plus and Standard editions--- all the way back to issue #1 in 1997. Either search will turn up many references to NOD32--- and also can help answer many other questions of this sort. When you hit a snag with your PC, I suggest you take a quick trip through the archives. We've covered thousands of topics over the years--- and even more in the Plus! edition--- so there's an excellent chance that the answer you seek is already there, waiting for you. Example: go to http://langa.com/search.htm and type in NOD32 as the search term. Or, Plus! readers, do the same on your local copy of the Archives ( http://langalist.com/plus/archives/archives.asp ---and see item #10 in this issue, too. A new, updated version of the Archives will be available very soon!) Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Is This Information 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
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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.) Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Full Circle On Huge-Storage PCs/ & ServersWay back in January, in an item we called "Personal Servers" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-01-26.htm#5 ) reader JoAnn asked about using a special-purpose "network attached storage" device to add a ton of disk space to her LAN. While an NAS device is fine, I suggested she think instead about using an ordinary PC with several large hard drives inside, giving her massive storage for around $500 or so--- much less than a typical NAS costs. That, in turn, promoted another reader to challenge my assertions; he said it was basically impossible to meet JoAnn's requirements the way I suggested. I disagreed, and went and built a PC housing a terabyte of storage for $515. I showed you how you could do the same in a complete illustrated article at http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=183702383 The reader who'd challenged me wrote back, saying, in effect, that I'd cheated in selecting parts for my system and still hadn't really met JoAnn's needs at all; in effect, that my article was a fraud. (Sigh.) But then I got this from JoAnn:
Good for you, JoAnn! And best of all, because you chose the parts and assembled them yourself, you know *exactly* what's inside the box, and *exactly* where things go. If you ever have trouble with the unit in the future, it's not a black box to you--- you probably won't have to sent it off to some distant repair shop and hope for the best. Instead, you're now the one with the knowledge and the power to fix things, if you need to. And whatever you do will probably be faster, less expensive and maybe even better than if some anonymous tech worked on your system. For the investment of a little time, you got a good price *and* gained knowledge. I call that a bargain. And as you found, it's really not all that time-consuming or difficult to do--- and you have a huge range of product choices so you can go for lowest price, best quality, or any point in between. It's *your* choice, instead of having to accept whatever some vendor decides to offer in a prepackaged bundle--- and that's really the whole point: When you do it yourself, *you're* in charge. Again, good for you--- and for everyone else who successfully put together their own version of a high capacity PC/server! Click to email this item to a
friend 8) Code Load Success StoryAfter his site was listed in a "Load The Code" section, code-loader John Carson wrote:
Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please
click over to http://langa.com/code.htm
, and maybe you can join the thousands of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the
Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will
appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see
http://langa.com/link.txt ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At eklektiks farfenoogan The Taylor's Webpage PK'S BOOKMARKS MUSHY'S MOOCHINGS Free Graphics Aglet Racing Quick Picks Auslink Migration Services The Dutts Home Site Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Anonym.Os
Thanks, Tony. Anonym.OS is a "hardened" OS that could be convenient to use, especially in some of the cybercafe, hotspot, or public PC scenarios we've discussed recently: The OS is resistant to tampering from outside, and encrypts and anonymizes all outbound communication. Of course, it's still not proof against hardware-level snooping--- hardware-based keystroke loggers still would work, for example. And IP-address camouflaging anonymizers can't hide you from someone who really, really wants to know from where your packets are originating: Anonymizers can only add a layer or two of misdirection. In one famous instance, a popular Scandinavian anonymizer service was slapped with legal papers, and the owner had to turn over his server's records. This provided the missing link between the originating users and the sites they visited or sent messages to; which allowed the authorities to connect the dots of who sent what. None of which is to suggest that anonymizers--- local or distant--- are worthless. But they're not magic: They can make it harder for someone to track stuff back to you, but are a thin shield at best. Public PCs and wifi hotspots cannot be made truly secure. You still need to use caution, even with anonymizers, encryption, and all the other tools available. Click to email this item to a
friend 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) Plus! Edition Only:Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content including: ...
Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more
content in every issue (like the above), but also have access to a private web
site with over 100,000 words of special content and features not found in *any*
issue of the newsletter; along with dozens of private downloads and much
more---all for around just $1 per month! Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---
--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 15) Just For GrinsFred: All you ever needed to know about how your computer works (good audio too) - Click to email this item to a
friend (Give a gift subscription to
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