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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-04-10

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) Bye-Bye Bios

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2) Little-Known XP / Win2K Control Item

Fred, First of all, I enjoy your newsletter. You have a lot of good information for all of us out here. I really miss WinMag. I get Scot's newsletter too ( http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/ ). You two are tops!

Anyway, I just read your latest email on the Fast User Switching and XP Home ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-03-27.htm#1 ). Why doesn't anyone seem to go to Control Panel [then Performance and Maintenance] and click on Administrative Tools? If you open up the Services shortcut, it brings up all the available services that are running. While there you can highlight a service, double click on it and it will bring up a configuration box that will let you enable or disable, set to automatic or manual. Will also give a quick run down on what the service does. In my list of services, on my XP Home edition, Fast User Switching is there. I have mine turned off because I do not work in a multiple user environment. There are a lot of services that can be disabled safely, but you need to know exactly what each service is for. One of the tabs will bring up anything that a service depends on to run, and what services might depend on the service in question. You have to be careful what you disable. In other words. Keep track of the default setting and which services you might change. I found a website that has a fairly good run down on each of these settings with safe settings to go by. Here it is http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm  

I set my services as he suggests, and have had no problems. As a matter of fact, it appeared everything was running a little faster. Now you have to know, I am working with a laptop, a dialup connection, and set for all users to use the same desktop. My daughter uses it to go in and check her mail through her business network, so I had to go back and change something because she wasn't able to connect to her mail. She was able to before I changed some settings in the services. I picked Net Logon, and changed that back to manual, and voila, that did the trick.

Also, if you click on Event Viewer, it will bring up a selection of Application, Security, and System events. If you click on each of these it shows any errors in applications, security or system. And with each of these open, if you double click on an event, it will bring up the properties box and give you a rundown on what is going on with that particular event. The System events will show errors if you have turned off a service that should be on. Also, before I forget, on the person's website that I gave you, if you click on a service it will take you to a page where he describes what that service is.

I find that going to the Administrative Tools in control panel, is a more central, and faster way to get to a lot of things in this OS. Also through the help and support under the start menu,  you can go right to startup items through there to turn things off that don't need to be turning on at startup, instead of going into MSCONFIG.--- Claudia Siebenmark (From down in the boonies, Southern Maryland)

Thanks, Claudia. Excellent advice!

I think simple unfamiliarity is the main reason why the Admin Tools item isn't used more; no one migrating from Win98/ME will even know it's there or what it does, unless they specifically go looking for it. (BTW, using XP's excellent Help system to search for "Administrative Tools" brings up a bunch of useful info. Win2K's Help system also has info, although not as conveniently presented as XP's.)

Some other external tools to help identify services and processes include the "Process Viewer for Windows" at  http://prcview.com and "Startup Monitor" at http://www.mlin.net/ . Both are free.

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3) Free Backup Tools

One of the sites mentioned in the previous item, http://www.mlin.net/, also offers a beta of a free backup tool. But this reader found a more-finished free tool elsewhere on the web:

Hi Fred, I am a long time reader and most of what I know about computers came from your newsletter. I came across a program that may be of interest to your readers. The program is called "Backup4all" is free and can be found at http://www.backup4all.com/ . I followed your advice and have the bullet proof backup method that you recommend. I don't change things enough in my computer to warrant doing daily images. Normally I image my partitions and burn cd's of the images every Saturday. I do make changes daily to a stock market program I use an I like to have these changes backed up. I searched for free backup utility's and tried several of the ones I found. Backup4all was the easiest to use. I set it up to do automated backups of that program daily and it works great. Here is what the author has to say about it

---
Backup4all is a very powerful backup utility. Backup4all provides intuitive interface to help you define customized backup configurations. Use it to protect your valuable data from total or partial loss.

Using the wizard, setting up a backup configuration is easy. It allows you to setup powerful file filters and schedulers. You can set up multiple backups and schedule them any way you like. Once a backup is performed, you can see what files have been changed since last backup using the tree view mode or you can read the statistics for next backup execution. You can use context menu from the tree mode to launch any custom action associated with the file type.

Backup4all uses ZIP compression. You can set the compression level to speed up the backup process or to minimize the archive size.

Backup4all performs incremental backup to keep track of file versions. You can easily restore any version of files. You can also filter files to restore.

Backup4all works with any drive letter, including mapped network drives and UNC paths. You can back up to inexpensive CDR/CDRW media, if the appropriate drivers have already been installed.

Backup4all is compatible with Windows 95/98/Me or Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP. The application requires approximately 4 MBytes of free disk space.
---

Thanks for the great newsletter and keep up the great work. Jim Hannegan

Thanks, Jim!

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4) Resource For Tons Of Disk Format Questions

Fred, In your 2003-03-27 issue ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-03-27.htm#5 ) you spoke about [Win98-style] Fat32 and [XP/Win2k-srtle] NTFS. I just wanted to let you know about a site http://www.ntfs.com  has all the info anyone would want concerning FAT32. Keep up the great work! Fan since Windows Magazine days, Steve

Wow, nice find, Steve! The site has a huge amount of info on things like

NTFS Basics
NTFS vs FAT
NTFS Optimization
NTFS Recovery Concepts
File Storage Hardware and Disk Organization
The FAT File System (FAT16 FAT32)

...plus downloads (some free) and more. Excellent!

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5) And A Way To Install Linux Inside Windows

hey fred,  great work with the newsletter.

last week's mentioned the fact that linux will not run on ntfs file systems. well, you've not heard of phat linux http://www.phatlinux.com/

I've had it running alongside w2k pro with no problems - give it a look yourself...---sneesh

Hmmm,  I haven't tried this yet, but it looks very interesting. Phat Linux ($25) gets its name from the fact that it's Linux that installs "in a folder on any of your Windows drives" including Fat-formatted partitions.  Phat Linux needs about 1.1GB of hard disk for itself, and the vendor says it "works with any version of Windows. In fact, you don't even have to have Windows. As long as Phat Linux is on a FAT32 or NTFS partition, the Phat Linux boot CD will find it.... To uninstall Phat Linux, simply delete [its] directory."

The site also says:

Once Phat Linux installs, simply boot your computer from the Phat Linux CD-ROM. Phat Linux will boot itself from there. It's as simple as that. Once Phat Linux configures your hardware, you will be ready to fully enjoy Linux. The main graphical interface used in Phat Linux is called XIMIAN GNOME. With Linux, you can choose from a number of interfaces to suit your own taste. With Phat Linux, there is never a shortage of applications for your use. You can use "Red Carpet" to automatically download and install new applications and updates....

Red Carpet sounds like Lindows' "Click and Run" service, which simplifies and automates finding, downloading and installing Linux tools and apps. (See http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021127S0017 )

My one concern in this is--- as with any kind of dual-boot--- the possibility exists that one OS may trash the other, because they both reside on the same drive. In fact, in this case, they even reside within the same directory structure. It'd have to be handled with care, but if it is, it might be the easiest way yet to try Linux.

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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 information and you just may win $10,000 for your trouble (full details also available via this link): http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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7) Free Email Alternatives

Thanks, Steven. Actually, many of the major "free" email services have been cutting way back on what they allow. And even some paid services have gotten funky, so it's always good to have alternatives open.

Incidentally, if your ISP doesn't block "port 25" traffic, another alternative is simply to get yourself an inexpensive web site--- not free, but only a few bucks a month. Most web site packages provide you with not only your own small web site, but 10 to 25 separate emailboxes you can use for yourself, family, aliases, or whatever. See http://www.google.com/search?q=rate+web+host for some options.

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8) Code Load Success Story

Code-loader "Todd" writes:

Just wanted to let you know that getting our small search engine Search2Go ( http://www.search2go.net ) listed in the "load the code" section was a big help. Not only did we get quite a few hits, but also several site submissions, 28 link backs that we know of, and picked up 2 more PHPers to help us out. Even though it took a few weeks to get listed, it was more than well worth the wait. Keep up the good work, Todd, Search2Go Admin

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.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://www.langa.com/link.txt )

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

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

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

Restoreback And More
http://www.aniyog.com/

Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame
http://www.aviationhalloffamewisconsin.com/

Pro-Ware Computing
http://www.prowarecomputing.com/

Southwest Bottlers Supply
http://www.swbottlers.com/index.htm

Enat's Freeware
http://freeware.ionichost.com/

Nina's Online Shopping & Bargains Headquarters
http://www.angelfire.com/pa4/bus/

Homepage of dsmorton.com
http://www.dsmorton.com/

Computing-america.com
http://computing-america.com/

Mike Azevedo's Contribution to Knowledge
http://studentweb.eku.edu/michael_azevedo/

The Home-Computer Trouble Shooter
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/dgedye/thcts/

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Hi Fred, a couple of years ago I made a program that might be of interest to some of your readers. It's called wurdz, and it's a text analyzer. Initially, I made this for my own use because I couldn't find anything exactly like it. About six months ago I decided to offer it free for personal use. I believe anyone who writes will find a use for this program, even if just to satisfy curiosity about word frequency in a document. Non-writers might want to analyze books with it, or even just a letter.

For more information about wurdz go to http://adwt.com/pc/wurdz.htm

The only thing I ask is, send me an email if you like it and use it. Over the years I've used a lot of free software, so this is a way to return thanks to all those who have given away their work. All the best, Hal Brown

Thanks, Hal.

Wurdz shows you the frequency of words used, the word count, character count, unique words, percentage of unique words in the document, and a facility to find a particular word in a long document. Cool!
 

In recent issues, we've presented some of the goofy questions that US and Canadian national park staffers have to deal with. Tourists aren't a lot brighter when they're down under, either, according to this item sent in by reader Dennis Gordge. We ran part one of this list in the last issue ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-04-07.htm#10  ). Now, here are the rest:

11. Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK) A: You are a British politician, correct?

12. Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA) A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

13. Q: Do you have perfume in Australia? (France) A: No, WE don't stink.

14. Q: Can you tell me the regions in Australia where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy) A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

15. Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France) A: Only at Christmas.

16. Q: Are there killer bees in Australia? (Germany) A: Not yet, but for you, we'll import them.

17. Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany) A: No, we are a peaceful civilisation of vegan hunter-gatherers. Milk is illegal.

18. Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum.(USA) A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

19. Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. (USA) A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

20. Q: I was in Australia in 1969 on R+R, and I want to contact the girl I dated while I was staying in Kings Cross. Can you help? (USA) A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour.

21. Q: Will I be able to speek English most places I go? (USA) A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.

• Reader Tips For IE6 Font Problem
      (several workarounds for bad default font sizes)

• Freeware Macro Tool
      (types long text with just a couple keystrokes)

• Norton's "Ghost" and Linux
      (first-hand reports on "deep" imaging with Ghost)

Plus! edition subscribers 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, dozens of downloads, and much more.

Get it all for just a buck a month! Check out: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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