This Issue:
New IE4, Comm4 Bugs Reported (Sigh)
A Great Product
Common Browser Troubles
BrowserTune Update
Intel’s Turn in the Hot Seat
Much More!

Last week, I told you about the new "service pack" version of IE4 that Microsoft released. (More info: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download/sp1sans.htm.) But almost immediately, people started reporting trouble with it.

For example, reader Dan Lopez wrote to say "The last outlook express stored everything under C:\programs\outlookexpress\profile name\mail and \news. The SP1 's folder changed to C:\windows\application data\microsoft\outlook express\ (NO PROFILE NAME) mail and \news."

So, you can either lose your old mail, or appear to. Dan suggests exporting everything over to windows messaging before upgrading and then import it to Outlook Express, or copy the old mail and news to the new folder before you log on to your mail or news server for the first time using the new patch.

Meanwhile, Netscape has released version 4.05 of its flagship browser at http://www.netscape.com/download/prodinfonfs_1.html. Netscape doesn’t offer a lot of info on the changes except to say "This version fixes all known privacy bugs."

Of course, its comments about 4.04 were "This version fixes all known privacy bugs." And its comments on 4.03 were "This version fixes all known privacy bugs." (I am not making this up.)

A number of people have tried and failed to get 4.05 working with Windows98. The earlier versions worked fine, but something in 4.05 breaks and won’t let Netscape run inside Win98. That means there’ll be a version 4.06 soon…

All of which leads to two groups of questions:

1) Have you tried either of the new browser versions? What’s your experience been?

2) And are you getting as tired as I am of upgrades that often break as many things as they fix? Call it "upgrade fatigue" or call it something else, I’m about ready to go back to a text-based browser.

Well, OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. 8-) But I am tired of this constant upgrade shuffle. How about you?

That’s the topic of discussion this week on the WinMag BBS; the column will be posted Monday around noon EST (GMT-5), and you can find the link on the WinMag home page at www.winmag.com. Join in as the browser saga continues!

Long-time readers know that I’m a fanatic about backups. Part of it is that I make my living from my PCs, and can’t afford to lose the data there. But almost everyone has at least some critical information on their PCs: work files, or at home, taxes, personal records, important correspondence, and so on, so having critical information on a PC isn’t anything unique.

I also try a lot of new hardware and software, which tends to foul up my systems as pieces come and go. (Yes, I do have isolated test systems for the really dangerous stuff, but I believe in real-life testing. If I don’t trust a product enough to use it on my "real" PC, then I have no business recommending it to you.)

But, alas, instability also isn’t unique, and your PC is probably is less solid than you’d prefer.

All of which suggests we have a lot in common, and can benefit greatly from backups. 8-)

But backups are a pain, and usually work best when restoring individual files or groups of files. I’d never found a simple, 100% reliable way to completely restore a complete, 100% functional system, from scratch.

Until now.

I recently got an eval copy DriveImage 2.0 from PowerQuest. I’d tried the 1.0 version a while ago, and liked it, but found it was just a bit too clunky to use regularly. But 2.0 is very, very slick.

Here’s how it works: You have to either have your hard drive partitioned into logical drives (and if you don’t, PowerQuest makes Partition Magic to simplify this process), or two drives. When you run DriveImage, you drop out of Windows to a DOS application that looks almost exactly like a Windows app. That app copies the contents of whichever partition or drive you specify to the other partition or drive. Because Windows is not running, you get a perfect "freeze-frame" copy of your system with all the registry settings intact, all applications installed, and so on.

DriveImage copies only the data---not the empty space---on a drive or partition, and can write the copy in a compressed format that takes only about 50% of the space of the original’s data. On one system, I have a 4GB drive with about 1.2 GB filled, for example, the final DriveImage file for that 4GB drive is less than .5GB in size. (And takes only about 20 minutes to create---it’s the fastest backup I’ve ever found!)

When---not if, but when---your system blows up, you run the process in reverse. DriveImage deletes the partition or Drive with the faulty installation and replaces it with the stored copy. Your system gets put back exactly, byte for byte, to the condition it was when you made the DriveImage backup. Windows is installed and set up, your apps are installed and ready for use---everything is exactly the way it was when the DI copy was made.

I use this two ways: I set up my system with a fresh format and new install of everything. When everything is running perfectly, I make a DriveImage backup. That’s my "gold" copy. Then, no matter how badly munged my system gets, by using DI, I can get back to that perfect state---Windows set up properly, all my applications installed and working--- in less than half an hour. It is beyond slick!

You still need a way to back up your daily data, but I’m experimenting with using DI for that, too. DI2 has an option that lets you restore individual files from within a backed up partition; you don’t have to restore the whole thing.

It’s very well done, and looks well worth the $60 cost, especially since PowerQuest offers a 60-day money-back guarantee. Check it out at

A number of IE4 users write to me each week to tell me about problems IE4 has with Browsertune98. Often, IE4 will erroneously report a "page not found;" or get stuck in a loop where every link delivers the same page; or IE will have some problem with a multimedia test.

Usually, the writers are writing to tell me that BrowserTune is broken---but it’s not and they’re missing the point of it. Problems like these are browser problems, and BrowserTune is merely sniffing them out.

It turns out that IE4 gets munged pretty easily by ActiveX/OCX components that some web pages and some applications install and---guess what?---common symptoms include the three problems mentioned above. I’ve mentioned the best fixes before, but it’s worth mentioning them again, especially for our new readers. I’ve also updated the BrowserTune troubleshooting pages to broaden the repair suggestions to specifically include the common problems mentioned above.

Once again, the simple fix for all these and a host of other weird browser troubles is simply to uninstall and then reinstall. That's the safest, best, and surest fix--- although it's a pain.

If that doesn't work, or if you're more daring, you can try this fix for IE4 suggested in the Microsoft KnowledgeBase:

1.Click Start, and then click Run.

2.In the Open box, type the following line:
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll

3.Click OK, and then click OK again when you receive the following message:
DllRegisterServer in actxprxy.dll succeeded.

4.Click Start, and then click Run.

5.In the Open box, type the following line:
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll

6.Click OK, and then click OK again when you receive the following message:
DllRegisterServer in shdocvw.dll succeeded.

I also performed a number of other minor updates and refreshes to BrowserTune98. I’m gearing up for a new version that will work smoothly with Windows98! If you have any suggestions or requests, I’d love to hear ‘em! (mailto: fred@langa.com )

One of the reasons Microsoft got itself in hot water was its Borg-like tendency to assimilate competitors. Over the years, Microsoft absorbed more and more features and functions into its operating system, crowding out vendors of what once had been separate software products.

There’s a parallel. Most people think of Intel as a CPU maker for PCs. But it also makes the chipsets that act as intermediates between the CPU and rest of the PC; and has a significant motherboard business. In fact, under the covers, many clone PCs are far more alike than different, running Intel CPUs on Intel motherboards populated with Intel chipsets.

Now, Intel is planning to incorporate audio and graphics functions into a chipset for its lower-end Celeron processor. (A Celeron is a Pentium II with no level-2 cache; it’s meant for use in lowball PCs where speed isn’t a critical factor.) This is a major step towards a "PC on a chip" and pushes Intel into areas that had been dominated by ATI, Matrox, Number 9; Creative Labs, Yamaha, Ensoniq; and so on.

The FTC is on Intel’s case, and probably will file a major suit against Intel very soon. Is it good or bad for end users? Good or bad for the computer industry? That’s my CMPnet column topic this week, and I’d love to hear your opinions. Starting Wednesday, join in over at http://www.langa.com/badlink.htm.

Two full-length, illustrated articles on Win98 are waiting for you at http://www.browsertune.com/win98.htm.

The first will help you decide if it’s worth your time, trouble, and money to upgrade to Win98. The second will show you exactly what you can do to make sure your current system is as solid as it can be before upgrading---or for that matter, just to make it work as well as possible even if you don’t upgrade!

Reader Denny Medley forwarded me this note:

A magazine ran a Dilbert quotes contest. These are actual quotes from managers out there.

Great Lineup this week in Hotspots ( http://www.browsertune.com/flanga/hotspots.htm ):

Mon: Great info!
Tues: I didn't know whether to laugh or cry
Wed: Stand-out design, and interesting use of a target window
Thurs: One page from a whole site devoted to this kind of, um, unusual thing.
Fri: Understated... nice
Sat: On the anniversary of D-Day, a little-known group of WWII vets gets some recognition
Sun: Talk about your outbound links...

See you next week!

Best,

Fred

(fred@langa.com)

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