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1) Make XP More SecureI use XP's built-in Remote Desktop literally almost every single day. It's a *great* tool and a huge time-saver for managing multiple PCs or working in multiple locations--- but clearly, you have to be careful with this kind of technology: Anytime you leave a figurative "door" open to the online world, there's obviously more risk than otherwise. That's what the current InformationWeek.Com column is about--- Beefing Up Local Security, Controlling LAN Access, and other techniques you can your to make XP's Remote Desktop, Remote Desktop Web Connection, and Remote Assistance safe to use--- and to keep your system safe even if or when you're NOT using them! Full info: Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 2) Recording Keystrokes, Mousing, And More
There are several such tools available, Peter, offering different levels of automation. One place to start is with the free, open-source "autohotkey" project at http://www.autohotkey.com/ . It lets you record or write a keyboard or mouse macro on all versions of Windows. (Some of the most advanced features aren't available on Win9x and ME.) But there also are many other tools available, free and commercial: http://www.google.com/search?q=xp+record+keystroke+macro+mouse (And BTW, when a Google search gives too many responses, as your "Keystroke Recorder" search did, add more keywords to narrow the results. The search above, for example, yields about 1/10th the number of pages the more general "Keystroke Recorder" search did; and virtually all the hits on the first few pages of the more-detailed search are relevant.) Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Zip Drive ProblemMy computer problem has not become a 'domestic issue' yet, but I know it will someday if I don't get it fixed. Let's see what we can do. First, for background: Zip drives are odd little beasts, an in-between kind of storage medium that's a little like a floppy and a little like a hard drive. They were popular some years ago and are still in use, but have been largely superseded nowadays by cheaper, larger, more reliable media such as CDRs, CDRWs, and flash drives. Not surprisingly, the principal remaining proponent of Zip drives is the manufacturer, Iomega. They also offer a data-recovery tool that might--- might--- be able to help you out: http://www.iomegadatarecovery.com/zip-data-recovery.html As the Zip drive is Iomega's baby, I'd start there.But there are other
tools, too: Assuming that one of those tools works, I'd further suggest that you move away from Zip drives as an archival medium. All magnetic media decay in time--- the plasticizers and binders oxidize or outgas from the physical medium, and stray magnetic fields can slowly but surely nibble away at the recorded data. Zip disks are also susceptible to plain old wear and tear of the recording surface. So, assuming you get the data back, and for all important data in the future, use the Zip drives only for temporary storage and for moving files from system to system. CDs ad DVDs are certainly not a perfect medium, but they are the current best-available choice for long-term data storage. Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 4) Two Powerful Tools
Thanks, Dennis! Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Putting XP On A Reducing Diet
Thanks--- lots of interesting stuff there, and it's laid out so you can pick and choose the "slimming" ideas that work best for you. Of course, with all these tools, make a complete backup (or better yet, a disk image) first! (PS: See also "A New Way To Slim Down Windows XP" http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=51202853 ) Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Always Room for One More!Do you know even one other person who might find this newsletter interesting or useful? Please click on over to http://langa.com/recommend.htm to see just how easy it is to recommend that they take a look. You might even win a free ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the Plus edition for your trouble! 8-) Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Two Problems, One Likely Solution
To answer these items in reverse order, yes, there's a crash-logger and analysis tool built right into Windows, although most people never see it or use it. It's called "Dr.Watson." Here are some good links describing the tool, and how to use it:
But the most common reasons for spontaneous reboots, and otherwise-inexplicable hangs, are heat and power supply problems. Drivers issues could (and did) knock the legs out from Win9x and ME, but in XP and Win2K, the OS is somewhat insulated from the drivers. Usually, a driver crash in those OSes leaves the OS itself unaffected. It's actually rather rare--- not impossible, but also not common--- for XP and Win2k to freeze totally or reboot spontaneously for purely software-related reasons. Heat and power supply problems, though, are a whole different animal. If the power supply output "sags" below a certain threshold, for example, the CPU will cease to function normally. That's not the kind of problem software can do anything to prevent. Excess heat also can make various components, including the CPU, become unstable or unresponsive. There, too, there's nothing any OS can do about it, except try to recover and clean up any software damage after the fact. So: A tool like Dr Watson can indeed help track down software crashes, but it's a good idea to rule out purely hardware-related causes, too! More info? See: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=21401323 Click to email this item to a
friend 8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...Well over 4,000 of your fellow readers have "loaded the
code." Have you? Check out
http://langa.com/code.htm for the details. Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting
At Stay Spyware Free A Slower Pace Miller Family Pages Handmade Bags JD Times Library Soup Planet 10 meanderings Sea Of Tranquility Western & Cowboy Poetry by Clark Crouch Des Plaines Radio Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Free, Secure Way To Save Software Keys, Etc.
Thanks, Robert! I use Roboform's encrypted "SafeNote" function similarly, in addition to keeping the serial numbers, license keys, etc., with the actual downloaded software. Many password-keeper tools can be used similarly as a safe way to store far more than just passwords! Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsReader "Ssteph1ee" sent this along (thanks!). It's a very deceptively simple test. It's not *that* hard to score 100%--- but I bet it'll take far more concentration than you first think it will! http://www.njagyouth.org/colortest.swfl Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 11-13) Plus! Edition Highlights:Today's Plus! edition contains the following additional content:
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 . Click to email this item to a
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