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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2004-04-08

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) More on Virtual PC Technology

This virtual PC tech is amazing!

A vpc gives you the ability to run one or more OSes of your choice--- Windows, Linux, etc..--- *inside* your current OS, on a separate, emulated PC that exists entirely in software.

Take a look--- here's a view of essentially all the major types of Windows from the last 15 years all running at once on a single PC. I'm using Microsoft's Virtual PC 2004 as the hosting software. (MS's VPC is free to try; half the cost of the major competing commercial vpc tools, and more powerful than free vpc tools...)

In this case, you'll see Windows 3.0, Win3.1, Win3.11, Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000 (representing the whole NT family), Win XP Home, and DOS 6.22 thrown in for good measure, all running simultaneously on one XP Pro system:

Plus! Subscribers: http://langalist.com/Plus/extras/vpc1.asp
Std Edition Subscribers: http://www.freetune.com/extras/vpc.htm

Here's the same setup, but with the virtual PC windows tiled instead of cascaded so you can see the version info displayed by each OS as it runs in its own vpc window.

Plus! Subscribers: http://langalist.com/Plus/extras/vpc2.asp
Std Edition Subscribers: http://www.freetune.com/extras/vpc.htm

Yes, I really had all those old OSes on hand: For example, my copy of Win3.0 originally came with a 20Mhz Gateway 486 PC I bought when I was the editor of Byte Magazine, circa 1990. I still had the original nine 5.25" 1.2MB setup floppies on a shelf: four floppies for DOS 4, five for Windows 3.0 itself.

Only one of the 11 PCs here still has a 5.25" floppy drive; I used it to copy the old Windows floppies to a CD. I then used the CD to copy the files to a freshly-formatted virtual PC I set up on my XP Pro system. For authenticity, I throttled back the virtual PC to 4MB of ram and a 20MB hard drive, just like the original PC that that version of Windows shipped with! <g>

It was a trip to watch Win3.0 install. Originally, a floppy-based OS install on a 20MHz PC was an agonizingly slow process as the machine lumbered along, the floppy drive slowly progressing with labored mechanical steps: ka-chunk... ka-chunk... ka-chunk.... But the Win3 setup on the virtual PC took about 45 seconds start to finish! In a flash, there it was: Windows 3.0, the first really successful version of Windows; running inside XP, the latest version of Windows. It was amazing to see--- and fun, in a geeky kind of way! Check it out:

Plus! Subscribers: http://langalist.com/Plus/extras/vpc3.asp
Std Edition Subscribers: http://www.freetune.com/extras/vpc.htm

Of course, virtual PC technology isn't really meant as a way to stroll down memory lane. But the above does show how powerful VPC technology is, and  how much you can do with it.

If you have an interest in running more than one OS on your system; or if you need a safe way to test and explore new software, or if you need to run multiple OSes, or multiple copies of the same OS, for testing, support, or evaluation purposes, a virtual PC solution deserves a look. It just might change the way you use your PC!

Click on over to
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18600449
for the full story!

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"Hi Fred, I'm very happy to have upgraded to the Plus edition of the LangaList.
In just the past couple of months, I've stored and used more
of your tips and tweaks than anything else I've ever found on the internet.
Thanks for the help! I look forward to your next newsletter,
and hope that you may dig out some tips for those of us
with some hair left to pull!" ---Frank DC

Thanks, Frank!

The LangaList Plus! Edition is ad-free, spam-proof,
and contains even more content--- tips, tricks, advice, downloads....---
than the Standard Edition you're now reading--- for just  $1 a month!

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

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2) Caches, Batches, and Freeware, Oh My!

Fred: Never wanted to bother with scripting, and batch files only go so far. Found "Batchrun" and discovered it was made (for free) by Outer Technologies, whose "CachemanXp" has been found to be another great product.

http://www.outertech.com/index.php?_charisma_page=products

"Batchrun will let you create batch files using a graphical interface. With Batchrun .brs batch files you can launch any number of programs or dialup connections with just a simple click. You can control the starting process with many properties like priority or run mode and control their behavior a tad. You can even do more than starting programs with the built-in file management functions like Copy, Rename, Makedir, Delete and End Process."
---Frank_T

Batch files seem arcane, but they really are the closest thing to plain-language programming for many system operations. We've covered batch files exhaustively in the past, and listed tons of web sites and external resources, so I won't repeat it here, but you can see it all starting at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=13000138 .

The "BatchRun" tool makes it even easier to build simple batch files, and could be great either as a quick tool for experienced batchers, or as an intro for novices. Nice find, Frank!

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3) Feedback On Free MS Security CDs

Dear Fred: You'd asked for some feedback on the [free] security disks that Microsoft
is offering in an earlier edition of the newsletter. As a loyal and appreciative subscriber, I thought I'd offer my impressions:

First, while I think the website said 4-6 weeks for fulfillment, all 3 of the disks I ordered were here within a week and a half. Not bad.

The Windows XP disk ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-03-01.htm#2 ) contains all the security updates to February,2004, although Windows Update found a few more recent ones. It also includes the SP1 update on disk (very handy!). The initial screen offers you 2 choices: go to the WU site (and turn on Automatic Updating), or just "install updates". As I update before setting up my internet connection (I seem to keep getting bitten by one of the MS blaster variants if I don't), this is again useful. The disk does NOT include any of the "recommended" updates, such as the .Net framework.

Third, the included anti-virus/firewall utilities are on a separate disk, so they need not be installed if you don't want them. The firewall is called "EZ Firewall", but it's just a rebranded version of Zone Alarm. If anyone chooses to install it (I did), make sure you enter the license after registering, or you get a nag screen each time you reboot...The license is supposed to be good for one year.

The Office update CDs ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-03-11.htm#3 ): I've only installed the one for Office XP. The packaging is much more 'plain jane'-no graphics. The Office XP disk I got did NOT include the SP3 update, my only real negative in this whole process. I haven't installed the Office 2000 updates yet, as I haven't reinstalled Word 2000 yet.

My thanks for the excellent newsletter. You have a rare gift of being able to make technese understandable to the layman! ---Chris Wetmore

Thanks, Chris! I also recently received my disks too. Both the OS and Office disk sets seem to be worth having--- there's nothing there you can't download for free, but having the CDs handy makes updates a lot faster, even with cable or a LAN connection.

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4) Free Linux Documentation

Hi Fred, In article 7, Help for Linux Novices ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-01.htm#7 ), your response included a number of good links to help get someone started. How ever, in my opinion, you left out perhaps the most resourceful one for all Linux users from newbie's to the most advanced. That is The Linux Documentation Project site found at:

http://tldp.org

As to the question about setting up a printer under Linux, the answer is cups. The Common Unix Print Service. Cups provides the user different choices for accessing the tool, including a web interface. --Stephen Dawes

Thanks, Stephen. The sites we originally listed were specific to novice-type questions, while TLD goes way beyond that. But indeed, it's a huge and growing resource, and well worth a bookmark for anyone using Linux.

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5) Three-Part Problem

Fred, When I now click on my Internet Explorer icon, my default web page MSN homepage does not load up, but a strange string of numbers and percentage signs do? Here is the example of what keeps coming back to the default area for my web page setting?

http://%68%6F%6D%65%70%61... [url truncated for legibility--- you get the idea...]

I've gotten into the Internet Options and changed my default homepage back to msn.com, and it works correctly, but every time I now get out of it, this strange web address keeps coming up? Is it some malicious address that's been put into my computer's registry? I run auto updates for Norton Anti-Virus Pro and also Zone Alarm Pro, so not sure how this could have happened. Any and all advise you could provide me on this matter would be greatly appreciated. ---Thanks in advance, Plus subscriber Charlie Harris

Well, there could be three things going on here, Charlie. First, let's look at the strange format of the URL.

The web operates by numeric addresses, which "domain name services" (DNS) translate into easy-to-remember human-language aliases. Thus, if you type  "http://langa.com" a DNS server looks up that name and sees that it's really a web site that resides at IP address 69.93.166.177; your browser then takes you to that address. The two addresses are functionally equivalent, but the latter is the "real" address.

But the letters and numbers in the above can be presented in different ways, including raw ASCII and/or HTML code equivalents. For example, to your browser "langa.com" and "%6C%61%6E%67%61%2E%63%6F%6D" are exactly the same. Likewise, "69.93.166.177" and "%36%39%2E%39%33%2E%31%36%36%2E%31%37%37" are functionally identical.

What's more, the "dotted quad" IP address "69.93.166.177" can be converted mathematically to the equivalent number of "1163765425," and that in turn can be presented as "%31%31%36%33%37%36%35%34%32%35..." and so on.

All of which may be very confusing, but the key point is that a URL can be presented in at least half a dozen different ways, only one of which is "human friendly." Spammers sometime use one of the "unfriendly" URL formats to obscure a URL so you won't readily see where a link is trying to take you.

Karen Kenworthy has full and excellent explanations of the above at her site, along with a free tool that lets you enter ay URL in any format; the tool then lets you see what the other formats are--- a kind of URL translator. See http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptlookup.asp , or see http://www.pc-help.org/obscure.htm for info more specific to how spammers sometimes try to use unfamiliar URL formats to fool you.

OK, that's what Charlie's URL is--- just a standard URL, but in unfamiliar form. Karen's tool shows that it's just a different way of presenting a site called "homepage." That may or may not be a sign that his browser's been hijacked; although the fact that he can't change the page suggests something not good. But there's lots of help on un-hijacking a browser, including these: http://langa.com/u/3x.htm

Finally, there's the question of why his browser is showing the "unfriendly" code for the URL instead of showing the "friendly" English-like name. That's usually a simple browser setting, and is detailed here: http://langa.com/u/3y.htm

So: Charlie's problem is (1) at least a bad browser setting, causing URLs to be displayed in (2) an unfamiliar form; possibly caused by a (3) browser hijacker. Whew!

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6) PR Budget = $0.00

Long-time readers know this newsletter is a one-person private project of mine: It's not part of some publishing empire's stable of publications. There's no budget, staff or facility to handle outreach and promotions: It's just me here! <g> The newsletter depends on word of mouth to grow.

And that's where you come in: Each issue, I try to offer you useful, interesting and amusing factoids to help you with your hardware, software, and time online. Can you take just a minute to help me out in return?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the Plus! Edition that I award each month.

Full info and "Recommend" form:  http://langa.com/recommend.htm

Thank you for helping to spread the word about the LangaList!

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7) Free Drive Tester

Hi Fred, I found this little freeware here http://www.hdtune.com/ . The author's description:

HD Tune is a hard disk utility which has the following functions:
Benchmark: measures the raw performance
Transfer Rate
Access Time
CPU Usage
Burst Rate
Hard Disk information which includes firmware version, serial number, disk capacity, buffer size, transfer mode
Hard Disk Health
S.M.A.R.T. Information (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)
Temperature
Power On Time

HD Tune is freeware!
Download here http://www.hdtune.com/hdtune_100.exe

What I liked is the fact that it will also test USB drives, Disk-on-key and Compact flash cards (in a card reader). Very handy, and you can't beat the price..---Eran Rosenmann

Thanks, Eran!

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming And Coming...

Over three thousand of your fellow readers have "Loaded the code." Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join them! (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 )

Speaking of which: 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

All Freeware
http://www.all-freeware.com/

"Seagull Droppings"
http://home.adelphia.net/~south50/

Gerry's Place
http://gerrysplace.com/

Mar-J Medical Supply
http://www.mar-jmedical.com/

Surfadime
http://www.surfadime.com/default.asp?what=&page=1

KeyKatcher
http://www.keykatcher.com.au/links.html

Little Dog Graphics
http://home.earthlink.net/~littledog_graphics/index.html

VonGoober Radio
http://vongoober.knuckledeep.net/

Outer Banks Screen Saver
http://www.pc-directions.com/ss/shipwrecks/

Action Figure Adventures
http://www.actionfigureadventures.net/

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9) GIMP 2.0

Yes, it's an odd name, but GIMP stands for "GNU Image Manipulation Program." It's a very powerful yet free graphics tool "for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring." GIMP runs on most operating systems, including Windows:

Fred: Always happy to pass on some good information.  Release 2.0 of The GIMP is here!  Its improvements are obvious and really make this an intuitive program to use.  And it's still FREE!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0403/04032602gimpv2.asp
http://www.gimp.org/

---Kevin Fitzpatrick

Thanks, Kevin! Lots more, including tutorials and how-tos, available here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=gimp

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10) Just For Grins

Reader Martin Weiss found an April Fool's surprise at his favorite search engine:

Hi Langa, I remember you mentioning that google manages to surprise as  a clear indication of its greatness. Well, here they go again:

http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html

With kind regards, Martin Weiss

They've done stuff like that before, such as with their bird-powered technology announcement ( http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html ), but this one, um, goes further afield than most. I especially like the description of their "high-density high-delivery hosting" technology, otherwise known as HiDeHiDeHo...

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

Fred's Own Reference Shelf--- And Up To 20% Discounts!

Check out computer-related books
personally selected and recommended by Fred Langa
and available at Amazon.COM's deepest discounts!

http://langa.com/books.htm

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Heads Up--- New Version Of Archives En Route
     (all the LangaLists ever published, right on your hard drive!)
• Free Tool Monitors Your Online Use, Costs
    (never be surprised by a high bill again!)
• 2K/XP "Indexing Service" Advice
     (control this CPU- and drive- hog!)

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!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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

An easier-to read formatted HTML version is available in the "Current Issue" section of http://langa.com.  (The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [UT-5] of the issue date.) All past LangaList issues are also available at the Langa.Com site.

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This newsletter is a service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 2004 Fred Langa / Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

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