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LoneWolf (Sitting)wants to speed up his computer.
So Mr Boots (standing)tells him, that he needs a
faster chip in his computer. And LoneWolf ask what
do you mean a potato chip, wouldn't that get kinda
be messy. HAHAHAAAAA No96- -Windows Tip: Windows Update
Use this Windows feature to keep your operating system current.
By Michelle VonWaldOctober 31, 2001
Windows is an evolving OS with frequent updates and patches. Keep your OS current with Windows Update. This online extension of Windows has a complete product update catalog and a tech support area. Access Windows Update two ways 1. Go directly to windowsupdate.microsoft.com. 2. Use the shortcut in your start menu. o Open the start menu. o Select Settings. o Choose Windows Update. o The next step Once you get to the Windows Update website, you can either automatically update products or browse the catalog to find specific components. To do this, just locate and click the text labeled "Product Updates" on the left navigation bar. Once you click the Products Updates link, this will automatically launch a small ActiveX control in a new browser window that will inventory your system. After the inventory is complete you'll be presented with a list of available updates for you to download. Generally, if you decide to upgrade your version of Internet Explorer, you'll only be able to select this option and nothing else. After the IE upgrade is completed, you'll have to come back to the site and run through the update process again. Also browse the catalog to update device drivers. Many drivers are pre-installed with Windows, but at times you need to obtain a driver that wasn't available when you installed Windows. Look into downloading whatever you need. To do this just place check marks next to any available item you want. When you've finished tailoring your update, just click the button labeled Download to begin the process. The download button will launch the update downloader and installer. So after the download is completed the new updates will automatically be installed.
No97- -Windows Tip: Your Computer's Built-In Insurance Policy
Registry backup protects your computer from everyday use. By Morgan WebbOctober 31, 2001
In Windows 95, the smart user backed up his or her registry. With Windows 98 and Windows Me, the smart computer does it automatically. The registry backup is your computer's insurance policy against the hard uses, downloads, and tweaks of everyday life. The registry checker will make a daily backup copy of your registry and system files (system.dat, user.dat, system.ini, and win.ini). Scanreg.ini contains the instructions your computer uses to regulate this process. You can control what your computer will back up, the number of backups your computer will keep, and where it stores them. 1. Search for scanreg.ini. It will be in your C:/Windows directory. Open the file in a text editor such as notepad and take a moment to read it -- it is well annotated. A semicolon in front of a line means that your computer will pass over the instruction without executing it. Make a backup copy of scanreg.ini before you change it. 2. By default, your computer saves five backup copies of the registry and system files for emergency use. You can tell your computer to save up to 99 days' worth of backup copies by setting MaxBackupCopies anywhere from one to 99. Caution: When you run Scanreg/restore, you will only see the first (meaning oldest) five backup copies (named Rb0.cab) that your computer finds in the default directory. You can work around this by moving the older winzipped files into another folder outside the /Windows directory, maybe even onto another disk. 3. You can change the location of your backup directory. After BackupDirecory=, type the full path to the folder where you want to save the backups. Any path added will override the default. Make sure your computer is saving the .cab files to the new folder you specified, because if the path is invalid or unacceptable to windows, it will save the files in the default folder without warning you of your mistake. 4. You can include other files in the zipped .cab file for easy storage. Go to the end of scanreg.ini, where you will find: ; Additional system files to backup into cab as follows: ; Filenames are separated by ',' ; dir code can be: ; 10 : windir (ex. c:/windows) ; 11 : system dir (ex. c:/windows/system) ; 30 : boot dir (ex. c:/) ; 31 : boot host dir (ex. c:/) ; ;Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3 ;Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3 These instructions will not be executed as they are written, because they have a semi colon in front of the line. Uncomment the last line (Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3) by removing the semicolon, and replace the placeholder information with your own. For example, if I wanted to automatically back up 3d maze.scr and actmovie.exe in the Windows/System folder, I would type: Files=11,3d maze.scr,actmovie.exe Different files in the same location can go on one line. The list of folder codes can be found at the end of the scanreg.ini file. Now save your file! That's it. Your computer will start executing instructions the very next day
No98- -Q: Why does Scandisk run when I restart my machine, even though I shutdown properly?
A: Users of Windows 98/98SE/ME may notice that Scandisk runs occasionally or in some cases everytime you start your system, even though you shutdown properly.
By design, this is only supposed to occur when a system locks up and is reset or powered down in order to clear the locked machine.
If your system has an IDE hard drive (and 99% of you do) it may actually be from a bug in Windows that causes the virtual cache to be improperly written to the drives on-board cache.
Microsoft is aware of the problem and has posted a fix on their website. To update your Windows 98/ME system go to:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
then click on the "Product Updates" link to create the catalog of available updates for your computer.
After the catalog is created, click to select the "Window IDE Hard Drive Cache Package" check box, then click Download and follow the instructions to complete the download process.
Advanced Users Only:
For the updated Ifsmgr.vxd driver to add the necessary delay during the shutdown process, it may be necessary to update a registry value. The CacheWriteDelay value specifies the number of milliseconds of delay. To modify this value:
Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
Locate and click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value. Type CacheWriteDelay to name the new value, and then press ENTER. Right-click the CacheWriteDelay value, and then click Modify. Under Base, click Decimal.
In the Value data box, type 2000, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor. Shut down and restart the system. Allow it to finish running Scandisk and wait for the Windows desktop to appear. Then, shut down and restart again to check if Scandisk runs at startup.
There is someone showing all of us a new
way to Spell Check. But I just wonder who
that person really is. Does anyone just
know who that is there. No99- -Starting Outlook Express
Since you most often want to read the new messages in your
Outlook Express Inbox when you run the program, why not
have Outlook Express open at the inbox? To do this, run
Outlook Express and choose Tools|Options. When the Options
dialog box opens, click the General tab (if necessary) and
select the check box labeled "When starting, go directly to
my inbox folder." Click OK to close the dialog box and
accept your new selection.
No100- -Speed Up Microsoft Internet Explorer 5x
You can speed up navigation in Microsoft Internet Explorer
5x or 6 by disabling page transitions. To make this change,
run IE and choose Tools|Internet Options. When the Internet
Options dialog box opens, click the Advanced tab. Deselect
the check box labeled Enable Page Transitions and click OK
to close the dialog box and continue.
This will help speed up some pages. Don't expect miracles,
though -- not all pages will benefit from this change.
Sue Whitehouse
No101- -Using Divx
Divx is a great way to watch movies on your computer. You
can usually fit a very good-looking movie onto a single CD.
And, there are plenty of compatible players around,
including Microsoft Media Player.
But, you will need the Divx codecs. Go to http://divx.com
for the codecs and for more Divx information.
- Eli Cutter
No102- -Q: I often get a message telling me This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in My Computer by clicking View and then clicking Options. The real question is, how do I know what program is needed to look at the file? - Dan
A: This is one of those error messages that the Microsoft programmers didnt bother to think through when they created it. In most cases, when you get this message, your computer is telling you that it does not know what to do with the file that you have chosen to open. And, of course, neither do you! Windows based systems use something called File Associations in order to determine the proper program that is needed to open a file when you click on it. The association is determined by the file extension or the characters after the . in a filename. (ex:filename.ext) This file association is supposed to be created during the installation of a program. For instance, when you install Microsoft Word, the program notifies Windows that any files with the extension *.doc are to be opened with Word. So the beginning of your journey starts with identifying the file extension of the file that was sent to you. I have created a fairly extensive list of file extensions, what they represent and what popular programs can be used to open them on my website at http://www.computerproblems.com/filetypes.cfm. Once you have deciphered what the file type is, you have to look for a program that is loaded on your computer that will allow you to open it. Depending upon your e-mail program, when you attempt to open an attached file, you may be asked whether to Open or Save the file. If you get the above message when you try to open it, then save it on your hard drive and remember where you saved it! Next, use My Computer or Windows Explorer to go to where you saved the file and hold the shift key down while you right-click on the file, which should give you a dialog box with an option to Open with. When you choose Open with, a box with an alphabetical list of installed programs will appear. Using the table that I have created, try to find a program that can be used to open the file based on the file extension. If you want to have Windows remember this file association, be sure to place a checkmark in the box next to Always use this program to open this type of file and it will never bother you with this dumb question again! (for this file type)
This page was last updated on
12/2/2001 at 10:55AM EST By
Mr BOOTS No103- -Disable The Personalized Favorites Menu
We were recently asked why a portion of the Favorites
folder disappears after awhile in Microsoft Internet
Explorer 6. Bt default Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
(maybe even 5) hides Favorites that are seldom used. If you
don't like this feature, choose Tools|Internet Options.
When the dialog box opens, click the Advanced tab. Now,
deselect the check box labeled "Enable Personalized
Favorites Menu" and then click OK.
No104- -Changing Addresses In Microsoft Internet Explorer
Web sites do change URLs now and then. If some of the sites
in your Favorites folder have changed, you don't have to
re-enter them. All you have to do is edit them in Microsoft
Internet Explorer.
Just choose Favorites Organize Favorites, and then
right-click the address you need to modify and choose
Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens, click the
Internet Shortcut tab. Replace the current URL (in the
Target entry box) with the new one and click OK to save
your changes and close the dialog box.
No105- -DoubleExplore
Double Explore is a freeware program that opens two
Explorer-type windows simultaneously. This makes it easy to
copy or move files between two folders. Of course, you can
also easily copy folders between drives.
We tried Double Explore in Windows Me, Windows 2000, and
Windows XP and saw no problems.
You'll find Double Explore at http://www.jumaros.de/rsoft/ .
- Eli Cutter
No106- -Image Enhance
Image Enhance is a freeware utility that allows you to
perform the basic picture editing functions. You can use
Image Enhance to copy, paste, crop, and resize pictures.
You can also change a picture's sharpness and contrast and
set the picture to grayscale, if you wish.
You can get your free copy of Image Enhance here!
http://home.bip.net/baxtrom/ImageEnhance.htm
BobbyBear I think this is the
wrong kind of Ram, I do beleave
they mean the Ram in a Computer. PC- -HELP #8 |
