What You Need to Know about All Things PC
Volume 2 Number 23Click here to return to the back issues page.Click here to return to the main newsletter page.
The Naked PC - http://www.TheNakedPC.com What You Need to Know about All Things PC Publisher: Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee Editor in Chief: Dan Butler Contributing Editor: Al Gordon This issue is for Thursday, November 11, 1999 - Vol. 2 No. 23 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ** 01. Letter from the Publisher ** 02. Carry Your Virtual PC Wherever You Go (by Lee Hudspeth) ** 03. Low Tech Solution to High Tech Problems - Cordless Headsets (by T.J. Lee) ** 04. What the 'Finding of Fact' Means to Actual Users (by Al Gordon) ** 05. Solving the Downloaded Software Dilemma (by T.J. Lee) ** 06. Featured Software Bargains ** 07. Featured Book - "Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by Its Inventor" by Tim Berners-Lee and Mark Fischetti ** 08. Featured FAQ - PlanetChristmas ** 09. Featured Product - Dialpad.com ** 10. Featured Web Site - Beta News ** 11. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff ** 01. Letter from the Publisher The last two weeks have been wild! Microsoft lost big time in round one of the fight to the finish with the DOJ, the year 2000 is breathing down our necks with 50 days or so to go, BubbleBoy may become the supervirus that GoodTimes pretended to be, and all Jim can think about is how to get a fresh cup of coffee while talking on the phone. The good news is that Redmond's legal troubles have not destabilized the world economy or knocked any of the planets out of their respective orbits. Our own Al Gordon checks in this issue on what the MS vs. DOJ decision means to all of us humble users of Windows and Office. The Year 2000 crisis should, in our collective opinions, take care of itself, and the only problems we anticipate involve having enough ice on hand for the New Year's Eve party. While worrying about that and other weighty matters, Lee has provided some great information in this issue on how to get a new PC configured (or reconfigured) in a flash. As for BubbleBoy it's still just a lab experiment but one that could really cause some damage if it gets loose since it can infect your computer if you open an email message in Outlook or just preview it in Outlook Express. But if you've been checking in regularly on our Office Update page, you'd have installed the fix for the security hole in two ActiveX controls, scriptlet.typelib and Eyedog, that BubbleBoy exploits back in August. It's quick and painless and you can get it here: http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?bboy1 It even looks like Jim does indeed figure out his coffee dilemma. A huge number of you sent us email regarding the Virtual Office series of articles and want to know where to go to find work as a virtual employee. Good question that. We'll have more on this in future issues including some Web sites that have sprung up that broker virtual employment contracts. We're also comparing Jim's DSL experience with Al's on cable modems to see if there is any clear-cut winner between the two technologies. Watch for that in upcoming issues. You can find back issues and prior articles on our Web site so even if you are a new subscriber (we add about 1,000 new readers every issue) you can catch up on all that has gone before. http://www.TheNakedPC.com As always, reader support is what keeps TNPC free, so please pass a copy of TNPC on to co-workers and friends (no spam please!) and always say "I saw it in TNPC!" +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ZDNet rates PRIME utilities for Office 2000 FIVE STARS! "The interface is attractive and it's guaranteed that more than a few of the tools will be just what you've been looking for to fill the gaps in [Office] 2000." $24.95, 30 day free trial, 100% money back guarantee! If you are still using Office 97 we have versions for Word 97 and Excel 97. You can't go wrong with PRIME! http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?ad1 +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 02. Carry Your Virtual PC Wherever You Go (by Lee Hudspeth) For a while now I've been working on a scheme to help me jump- start a new PC into my ideal configuration. I call this portable infrastructure my "virtual PC." The physical PC could be fresh and sparkling from the factory, a PC that a client or friend asks me to configure for them (set it to my style first, then tweak it for them), or a new bootable partition on an existing PC in my collection. I established two requirements for this project. A. Consolidate all configuration steps into a single Word document. I can then publish it as a Web site on one of our company's servers to retrieve it no matter where I am. Alternately, I can carry it around with me as a Word document on a CD, saved down to Word 6.0/95 file format so Wordpad can open it. B. Consolidate all required software, if possible, onto a single CD. It's handy to compress whatever software cornucopia you consider essential for the proper functioning of a PC. A compact disc is an inexpensive, small, lightweight, high-density medium (up to 650 MB of storage capacity) that's almost universally readable on any CD-ROM drive. Here are the steps for configuring my virtual PC. Adjust according to your personal preferences. You'll see many references to our book "The Unofficial Guide to PCs" (TUPGCs). Click here for more info about our book on Amazon: http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?tugpcs1 1. Install core operating system. 2. Create a startup diskette with CD-ROM support and fully test this diskette. 3. Verify and optimize BIOS settings. See TUGPCs pp. 86-91. (Skip this step if it's a new bootable partition on one of my existing PCs.) 4. Quickly validate devices. See TUGPCs pp. 93-98. (Skip as above.) 5. Burn in the system by hand. See TUGPCs pp. 98-106. (Skip as above.) 6. Burn in the system using utilities. See TUGPCs pp. 106-114. (Skip as above.) 7. Configure Windows Explorer's Folder Options. See TUGPCs pp. 125-134. 8. Configure according to TUGPCs' "Everybody Do This" list. See TUGPCs pp. 134-151 (headings relevant to me are shown below). a. Organize Windows Start menu b. Organize Windows Desktop c. Remove unwanted operating system applications d. Add missing operating system applications e. Maximize performance f. Size down the Recycle Bin g. Size down the Internet h. Fine-tune miscellaneous options 9. Configure according to TUGPCs' Chapter 7 "Going Further with Additional Customizations" on pp. 153-171 (headings relevant to me are shown below). a. Using the Send To command b. Set up Favorites (copy from my Virtual PC CD) c. PowerToys (I use DOS Prompt Here, Explore From Here, Send To X) d. Fine-tune with TweakUI 10. Verify and optimize the low-level startup files Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. Ideally, strip them naked (always testing carefully if it's a new PC). I include the command C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DOSKEY in my Autoexec.bat so DOSKEY is available to any MS-DOS window I start. 11. Install my personal "Core Utilities" list that's an extension of TUGPCs' "Everybody Do This" list. a. Nico Mak's WinZip b. Microsoft IntelliMouse if this is one of my PCs with an IntelliMouse c. Resource Meter (Rsrcmtr.exe, comes with Win98x) d. Alex van Kaam's MotherBoard Monitor e. PowerQuest's Partition Magic 12. Use Partition Magic to create an extended partition comprised of one logical partition and about 300 MB of free space (I use this free space in the next step). This logical partition will serve as the data drive (D:). (Skip this step if it's one of my existing PCs that already has a data partition.) (Note: need PowerQuest's CD for this step.) 13. Use Partition Magic to copy the existing primary bootable partition into a new logical partition. When the copy operation is complete, reduce the second logical partition's size as far as possible, and hide it. This logical partition -- let's call it the "emergency OS partition" -- now contains a perfectly configured environment, excluding the larger workhorse applications like Office, Visual Basic, etc. that I'll install momentarily. (Skip this step if it's one of my existing PCs that already has an emergency OS partition, unless this is a different or special OS that needs its own emergency clone.) 14. Install my personal "Workhorse Applications" list that's an extension of our TUGPCs "Everybody Do This" list. a. Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 b. Internet Explorer 5 Web Accessories c. Internet Explorer 5 Power Tweaks d. Microsoft Office 2000 Developer Edition & any SRs e. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional & any SPs 15. Configure Task Scheduler for the primary bootable partition. Look under TUGPCs' index for "Task Scheduler." 16. Configure for a local area network, if any. You can use this Virtual PC checklist, personalized for your own preferences, to take your PC with you anywhere you go. All you need is your latest data, the CDs for your workhorse applications, and a custom-made CD containing the ZIPs or EXEs for whatever assortment of tools and applications are on your must-have list. You can reach Lee Hudspeth at: mailto:leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ >> ********** Who have you been trying to find? ********** STOP Wasting Time --- on searches that GO nowhere! When a search engine can't help ---- we can. Confidential --> Classified --> Top Secret --> For Your Eyes Only http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?ad2 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ ** 03. Low Tech Solution to High Tech Problems - Cordless Headsets (by T.J. Lee) As a virtual employee I spend a lot of time on the phone. Phone meetings, real-time follow-ups with members of my project teams, deadline excuses, er, discussions with my various editors. It seems like I'm always reaching out and touching someone via the telephone. In my old digs I was very happy with a relatively inexpensive $60 Plantronics headset that was tethered to my deskbound phone via a five foot cord which I supplemented with a 12 foot extension cord. I could talk on the phone and not only reach every nook and cranny of my home office; I could stretch things a bit and just make it to within reaching distance of the coffee pot in the kitchen. Office nirvana. But with the move to new quarters my old phone cord tether wasn't going to do the job. The spacious layout meant that when I left my desk I had to leave the phone behind as well. I found that the trek to the kitchen and its java mother lode not only did wonders for my cardio vascular system (how I got a staircase with 16 steps down but at least twice that number going up I'll never know ;-)) but invariably the phone would ring as soon as I'd hit that bottom step. I needed to go cordless. A peek at the Hello Direct catalog and I had a number of very high tech equipment options that solved my problem... at between $300 and $400 a pop (not counting shipping). Yikes! I mean I really need a hot cup of coffee now and then but not at those prices. Then TNPCer and friend Peter S. told me how he had solved the same problem. He bought himself a $40 cordless phone from Radio Shack, a clip so the handset would ride comfortably on his belt, and a headset that jacked right into the handset. Total cost $65. WOW! I tried the same sort of set up and was so enamored with it I returned the $40 phone for a two-line 900MHz model (on sale for $75) and now I have both my phone lines with me as far as my neighbor's house on each side of me. It took a bit of getting used to but overall I'm very, very pleased with my new phone setup. Of course, once I'd solved my cordless phone problem I started taking advantage of my DSL connection and began using NetMeeting to talk in real time to my associates directly over the Internet. I have a second headset that plugs into the speaker and microphone jacks in my computer's sound card. I've had zero luck in finding a cable that would let me plug my telephone headset into my PC thereby letting me work with a single headset. I've been told that the microphone voltages between the telephone and the computer sound card are different and using a single headset just won't work, but I'm not any kind of an electron pusher so I don't know if that's correct or not. If any TNPCer has solved this particular telecommunications problem drop me a line. You can reach T.J. Lee at: mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ The Unofficial Guide to PCs "This book doesn't waste time on mouse tutorials--it dives right into the productivity tricks of experienced users." This is what readers have said about "The Unofficial Guide to PCs" from QUE. From hardware to software this book has all the critical information you need to optimally maintain your personal computer. "There are all sorts of useful tips contained in the book that either novice or export PC users will find extremely helpful. I kept reading things, nodding my head and thinking "that's another good idea!" -- Review on Amazon http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?tugpcs2 +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 04. What the 'Finding of Fact' Means to Actual Users (by Al Gordon) Just in case you happened to be on the dark side of the moon for the last few days, this bulletin just in: a federal judge has determined that Microsoft is a monopoly. The decision, a "finding of fact" in legal terms, does not end the government's antitrust case against Redmond, but it demonstrated that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has accepted the government's analysis of the computer marketplace, so the outlook isn't bright for the Bill Gates team. The decision is an interesting story from the perspective of those who follow politics and public policy, law, or the stock market. While I am sorely tempted to pontificate on those subjects, TNPC is a computing ezine, and the question before us today is: what difference does the case make to computer users? The answer, for at least the short term, is "not much." Those of us who have Windows operating systems on our computers - - that would be about 90 percent of personal computer users -- woke up the morning after the decision, and lo and behold, we still had Windows operating systems on our PCs. Those users who were planning to migrate to Windows 2000 when it is released in February pretty much are still planning to do so, and users who are opting for Linux are still doing that also. Macintosh computers are making a comeback, but they were doing that anyway. Furthermore, the annoying and aggravating flaws in Microsoft products that provide a great deal of the fodder for this newsletter have not disappeared, nor is there any immediate likelihood that they will. TNPC will continue to have plentiful topics for the foreseeable future. To say that there will be long-term implications is approximately like saying the sun is going to rise in the East and set in the West. The computer industry always is changing. If there had been no Microsoft case, computing would be much different two years from now anyway. Microsoft will be different. There has been a substantial turnover of personnel in Redmond, as many of the company's founding players have gone off to count their billions. It probably will be nearly impossible to distinguish the changes brought about by the lawsuit from the changes that would've happened anyway. With those caveats, however, we can foresee some likely effects. First, expect to see more flexibility in software choices from computer manufacturers. The government scored important points with respect to the number of strings Microsoft typically attaches to its OEM deals. Manufacturers likely will be able to offer more non-Microsoft software on their systems without suffering unfavorable financial terms. Second, the prospects for niche computing products in markets that Microsoft has not yet conquered -- speech recognition systems, Palm OS handhelds, Quicken finance programs, and so forth -- now look much better than they did before. Third, much more iffy, the market for Windows software in general may start to grow again. Each recent version of Microsoft Office has seen the suite expand into additional product areas. The "Premium" flavor of Office 2000, for example, adds Web design and graphics software to the Office package. This has discouraged other software developers. Now, perhaps the continuing expansion of Office may stop. Personally, I have two major tests for computer user benefit from the antitrust litigation. One would be that XML, the next generation of Web programming language, be a true open standard, and that Microsoft resist its traditional temptation to try to create its own version of XML. More to the point, let's see what the price of Windows 2000 turns out to be. The company has announced that Windows 2000 Professional (the operating system formerly known as NT5) will have a list price of $319; an upgrade from NT4 Workstation will be $149, and from Windows 95 or Windows 98, $219. These are slightly more attractive prices than for NT4, and until now there wasn't an upgrade path from Windows 9x to NT. But this still isn't cheap. If the "street price" in February turns out to be very close to the list price and the major retailers' prices are nearly identical -- both of which happened when Office 2000 was released -- I would say that the impact of the court ruling was minimal for me as a software consumer. If there is a big price cut, then let's give a cheer for the Department of Justice. You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:algordon@TheNakedPC.com ** 05. Solving the Downloaded Software Dilemma (by T.J. Lee) An associate and TNPC reader Barbara D. asked a very good question the other day, "I've been downloading lots of the free and free-with-rebate software from Beyond.com that I see mentioned in TNPC but what happens when I need to reinstall this software due to a problem, or install it onto a new computer?" Barbara raises a point that I'd not really considered until a major hard disk crash wiped out my all my downloaded goodies some time back. We tend to get careless with software we snap up off the Net and to a certain extent that may be justified. After all, you can just download it again, right? Usually, but not always. As I found out with Anonymous Cookie and more recently PFE, even a good freeware product may not be available on the Web forever. And what about the shareware and commercialware products you download and register? These downloads represent software you paid good money for, but it's not up to the developer to provide you with a new copy should you get careless with the one you downloaded. You need to take some precautions of your own. In our book "The Unofficial Guide to PCs" we have a section on "Storing Downloaded Updates" (page 194) that discusses keeping track of software, patches, and driver updates that you download from the Internet. We discuss setting up a section of folders on your hard disk to categorize and store both applications and updates. Put things in separate folders in their original unzipped or decompressed format for storage and if necessary add a text file of your own to the folder with any notes, registration codes, contact information, tech support numbers, URLs, and the like so everything you may need for a reinstall is all in the same location. Next, you have to move these folders to a removable medium for backup and long-term storage. Doesn't do much good to have a well-organized hard disk when the hard disk itself dies. Depending on the size of the files you might be okay with a Zip disk or even a floppy but since we've purchased the Acer CD-RW drives (discussed in TNPC #2.20), burning CDs for storage and archives has become the preferred method of choice at TNPC. Downloaded software rarely comes on a disk or CD these days or you have to pay extra for a "packaged" version. It's up to you to make sure you have an archived copy. You can reach T.J. Lee at: mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com ** 06. Featured Software Bargains As Jim mentioned earlier in this issue, one of our favorite freeware text editors, PFE, is no longer under development. We had recommended this product in prior issues and a number of you contacted us because you were unable to download this discontinued product. We're happy to report that you can still download the final release of PFE at this address: ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/.3/sac/utiltext/pfe101i.zip TurboZIP Express is still available for FREE (after rebate). If you need a tool to unzip or zip files this might be for you: http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?turbozip Microsoft Encarta, though no longer free, is available at the very reasonable price of $14.95 after rebate until December: http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?msencarta Note: rebates on Beyond.com are usually only available in the U.S.A. and Canada. Always check for current rebate availability before ordering as TNPC does not warrant or guarantee rebate offers mentioned on this page. If you know of other software or hardware bargains that would interest TNPC readers, send them to: mailto:bargains@TheNakedPC.com ** 07. Featured Book - "Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by Its Inventor" by Tim Berners-Lee and Mark Fischetti Here is the story of the Internet by the man who invented it. Though a bit dry at times, the story is fascinating and certainly has changed the way we communicate. One of the more interesting sections of the book is on Berners-Lee's view of the future of the World Wide Web. If you have more than a passing interest in the Internet or just want to learn about how the Web began this is the book for you. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?featuredbook ** 08. Featured FAQ - PlanetChristmas Okay, you've all seen Chevy Chase in the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation film where he strings about 3 billion Christmas lights all over the outside of his house, right? Admit it, you've always wanted to try to outdo that, haven't you? Well, at PlanetChristmas you can find the savvy and computer programs to actually help you pull it off. Home to the Christmas Light Users Group, this site has FAQs for creating Christmas displays that only people with way too much holiday cheer and time on their hands could dream up. From traditional lights to hooking up your own low power FM radio transmitter so you can beam Christmas carols to all the cars that will be driving down your street to see your lights. If it's holiday related and you can build it on your yard or on top of your house, you'll find it here. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?featuredfaq ** 09. Featured Product - Dialpad.com Another entry into the "telephone calls for free on the Internet" category. Dialpad lets you place your call (within the USA including Alaska and Hawaii) over the Internet using your computer's sound card. (We highly recommend a multi-media headset for telephoning over your computer instead of relying on your computer's speakers and microphone.) What's unique about Dialpad over NetMeeting or PowWow is that your call goes back into the phone system on the destination end so the person you're calling gets the call on their regular telephone. Very neat. The Dialpad FAQ is required reading because it flat out won't work through a firewall and we had to disable Windows 98's ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) feature to get it to work. http://www.dialpad.com/support/index.html It can also be problematic getting registered. We ran into problems getting an account set up where the last step in the process kept triggering an invalid session message. And the registration process asks for a lot of personal information so they can target the banner ads that are displayed while you're using their service. The advertising is how they're making the money to pay for your free call. Overall, once connected the sound quality is good and the interface is adequate. Once when we were dumped into a voice mail system we had to remember to click on the onscreen dialpad to make the voice mail responses. It was disconcerting that we did not hear any of the familiar tone beeps while we made various selections in the voice menus. But you do hear the tones when Dialpad initially places your call. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?featuredproduct ** 10. Featured Web Site - Beta News Want to know how much Windows 2000 will cost? Is it on schedule for its Release To Manufacturing date? What hardware peripherals will be supported? Get the latest scoop of the major products that are in beta from the likes of Microsoft, Novell, Eudora, Lotus, Symantec, and many others. Find out where to go to sign up for various beta programs, what patches and fixes are available, post messages on the beta discussion board and more! http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?featuredsite +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ WANT TO GET YOUR WORD OUT? Classified ads in The Naked PC can be yours for the ridiculously low price of $30 per issue. Get your message out to over 40,000 TNPC subscribers. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html?v2i23 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ ** 11. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff *-* As mentioned in the Pub Letter in this issue, the BubbleBoy virus is the top story as we go to press. It's a proof of concept virus so far that proves a virus infection can be triggered by simply opening an email message Outlook or viewing it with Outlook Express. The security flaw is in Windows so some NT users are immune. You can get the fix for the exploited hole here: http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_bboy2 And it's always a good idea to keep your virus software up to speed. Check out the Antivirus Center at Beyond for good deals on the anti-virus software of your choice. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_antivirus *-* Sheesh, seems as soon as I become a fan of something it gets cancelled. I have the same luck with television programs. AtGuard, the nifty utility that we featured as a Recommended Product back in TNPC #2.15, has been bought by Symantec, which will offer the AtGuard technology as part of Norton Internet Security 2000. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_atguard *-* Corel is trying to be first out of the gate in the online rental market. Currently in a " pilot phase," WordPerfect Office 2000 can be rented over the Internet for $10 a month. General availability is scheduled for the beginning of next year although a final pricing scheme is still being determined. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_corel *-* Not to be outdone, or at least out "press-released," Microsoft has hurriedly announced Office Online, their Office 2000 rent-it- over-the-Internet product. No firm price announced but it's being speculated that it will be in the $15 a month range. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_officeonline *-* DVD video disks were supposed to be copy-proof. But it ain't so! Some guys in Europe sat down and broke the encryption allowing DVDs to be copied with ease. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_dvd *-* NEC pulls the plug on Packard Bell. The Japanese parent company has mandated that about 80% of the Packard Bell workforce in the USA be laid off. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_packardbell *-* Get Cringley's take on the upcoming Year 2000 Crisis. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_cringley *-* And be sure to check the Annoyance Update page regularly: http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?news_update **PLEASE SUPPORT TNPC BY VISITING OUR ADVERTISERS** +++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++ >> The Truth Behind Making Money on the Internet! Everything you need to know plus books, programs, and special reports. http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/223/tr.cgi?class_1 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ INTELLIGAMER Intelligamer is the intelligent choice in online Computer Game information! We've got the best in computer gaming news, reviews and more. 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If you've got a technical question about PC issues, or suggestions of your own, this is the place to hang out: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/cgi-local/annoy.pl ADVERTISING To advertise in TNPC go to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html Mail services provided by Blue Horizon Enterprises, one of the very few "Mom and Pop" operations left on the Web: http://www.bhorizon.com Copyright (c) 1999, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler. All Rights Reserved. The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. ISSN: 1522-4422 RMH: 738 TNPC Hot Tips:
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