What You Need to Know about All Things PC
Volume 5 Number 03Click 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, January 31, 2002 - Vol. 5 No. 03 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ** 01. Letter from the Publisher ** 02. Evaluating Anti-virus Software for Ease of Use: Grisoft AVG 6.0 Professional Edition (by Lee Hudspeth) ** 03. eXPeriencing Windows XP: Upgrading Over an Earlier Version of Windows (by Al Gordon) ** 04. The Corporate User and the IT Staff: Part 1 (by T.J. Lee) ** 05. Personal Finance Software Showing Its Age (by Al Gordon) ** 06. Featured Product - Click'N Design 3D CD Labeling Software (reviewed by T.J. Lee) ** 07. Featured Web Page - DVD Easter Eggs (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) ** 08. Featured Drawing - Digital versus Paper Books ** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff ** 01. Letter from the Publisher In sorting through some email recently, we came up with three frequently asked questions. Here are the answers and the links. Q: Where can I read Dan's review of the new Photon III Micro- Light? A: click here. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?publet1 Q: What are your TheNakedPCStore.com Browser Bucks discount coupons all about? A: Each Browser Buck coupon is a one-time 5% or 10% discount coupon; one or more is physically included in each order we ship. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?publet2 Q: What's your privacy policy? A: Your privacy is a very important concern to us, and we don't make your email address available to any third parties. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?publet3 Wow, January is almost officially over... This issue includes Lee's ease-of-use review of Grisoft AVG's anti-virus program, Al's caveats about upgrading to Windows XP from an earlier version plus his thoughts on how to maximize your productivity when using personal finance software (read: Money and Quicken), and Jim's suggestions about mitigating the wide cultural gulf that can separate end users and IT staff. We have a special drawing going on right now, and it's a snap to enter. We're seeking your opinion about a topic important to us, so we're offer a TheNakedPCStore.com discount for folks who do fill out this survey. See this issue's "Featured Drawing - Digital versus Paper Books" article for more information. Reader support is what keeps The Naked PC free. To this end you can help us by passing a copy on to co-workers and friends (no spam please). We even make it easy to refer people to The Naked PC... check out our Refer page: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/refer/ +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ MICRO-LIGHTS the Super POCKET FLASHLIGHT! Micro-Lights are the BRIGHTEST flashlights for their size in the WORLD. Reliable, incredibly bright light for any situation. A Micro-Light is small enough to clip to your key chain, carry it in your pocket or purse and you won't even know it's there. But you'll never, ever be caught in the dark! Instant light in emergencies, or just when you have to find something under your desk or the sofa. The Red, Orange, or Yellow lights run for 120 hours on a single lithium battery! Carry a Micro-Light for a week and you'll never go anywhere without one again. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?pocketflashlight +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 02. Evaluating Anti-virus Software for Ease of Use: Grisoft AVG 6.0 Professional Edition (by Lee Hudspeth) In this article I examine how easy Grisoft AVG 6.0 Professional Edition is to use. Some The Naked PC readers have recommended AVG's free version, but I chose to review the Professional version in order to continuing comparing "apples to apples" among anti-virus programs. * Installation time? 1 HOUR 22 MINUTES. Criteria: This involves a full install plus these tasks: register; run an "update cycle" after install; create and test a rescue disk set; scan the entire system for viruses after install; schedule weekly scans; and schedule daily updates. I was disappointed that during installation the program doesn't prompt you to create a rescue disk set, instead you have to manually find the UI (from the "AVG 6.0 for Windows" dialog *not* the Control Center, select Service, Create Rescue Disk). Also, the program was not able to create the second rescue disk and reported "AVG Rescue Disc was not created!" (an unhelpful message), although it was able to create the first, bootable disk. It turns out that was because the second disk I used had data on it; when I did a Quick Format on it, then AVG would write the second disk. The program should walk the user through the necessary steps it expects instead of forcing the user to diagnose the problem. * Easy to automatically register on-line during installation? (range: very easy, easy, average, difficult, very difficult) VERY EASY. * Easy to automatically connect for updates? VERY EASY. Furthermore, virus updates and technical support are free for the life of the product. However, I was confused by the language used for a crucial setting; the label for the check box in the Control Center's Update Manager tab, "Update if database is older than [30] days" (30 is the default). The help file explains "...if the virus database is older than the number of days designated, the program will download the Updated files" and defines the virus database as the database resident on your PC. So, assuming your copy of AVG is set to the default 30 days, if you read this literally, when you check AVG's Web server for an update and your PC's database is 30 days older than the server's, it won't get an update. If your PC's database is 1 day older than the server's, it won't get an update. You PC's database would only get an update if it's 31 days or more older than the server's. That's not what you or I would want to happen. We would always want there to be an update no matter how little time stamp difference there was between the PC's database and the server's. Also, it might be the case that an update for a new virus occurs in a time frame less than 24 hours, even though the control's smallest granularity is 1 day. I don't see the point of having such a setting at all. If there is an update on the server, the program should always get it. Period. That may well be the way it works in spite of the confusing documentation, but I have yet to get a definitive answer from the folks at Grisoft. * Easy to contact technical support about bugs? VERY DIFFICULT. In the US, there's no technical support phone number at all, so support is by email only (support is free for all customers who have purchased product). Folks outside the US may be able to contact Grisoft directly in their country by phone, e.g., United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Norway, etc. See their Web site for this information. According to Dusan Tejkal in Grisoft's Public Relations group, "Grisoft is now implementing a new CRM solution from Siebel Systems to offer [customers] a very user-friendly email and FAQ experience. The implementation will be finished in March 2002." * How long for technical support to reply to email (hours)? 138. (In my original article, I reported "NO RESPONSE RECEIVED" since none had been received as of the issue's publication date, which was five days following my original email. The following day--the sixth day--a reply arrived. -- LH) Note: this is a new "ease of use" category that I've added to my evaluation process, and I have updated my table for other anti- virus programs to show this value, too (the link to this supplemental page appears at the end of this article). * Easy to contact technical support about subscription problems? N/A. "Not applicable" because all updates are free, thus there's no subscription process. * Is the CD bootable into a set of recovery tools? NO. * Easy to configure overall? AVERAGE. However, I don't like the Test Result UI because you can't maximize the dialog, you can't sort by column (e.g., Virus Name or Status), and the only way to locate any infections is to scroll through the entire list--which can be very long if you turn on the "Report... Presence of macros" setting as I did for testing purposes--until you find any identified viruses (alternately, and inconveniently, you can save the test results to a LOG file, edit it in Notepad, and look for the word "virus"). The UI for controlling when automatic updates occur is in a different module (the AVG Control Center) than the module that controls scheduled testing and other tasks (the main program, a/k/a "AVG 6.0 for Windows"). This is confusing. * How easy is it to view the package's virus list? DIFFICULT (UI: Start, Programs, AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System, AVG 6.0 for Windows, Help, Virus Info; alternately, right-click the AVG icon in the System Tray, Run AVG Anti-Virus, Help, Virus Info). Unfortunately, the program doesn't allow you to search for a specific virus and this is inconvenient. * How does it handle the EICAR standard anti-virus test file? PASSES ALL. * ICSA Labs certified? YES. * Scans Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2000 (and higher) documents before they are opened by the host Office application? YES. Initially, Microsoft Office indicated that AVG was not using this API. Here are the steps to check whether your anti-virus program supports Office's virus scanner API: in the Office application select Tools, Macro, Security, click the "Security Level" tab and look at the text in the lower left corner of the dialog. If the anti-virus program does not support this API then the text reads, "No virus scanner installed." If it supports this API then the text reads, "Virus scanner(s) installed." When I mentioned this to my PR contact, I was told that AVG does support the API, but that sometimes during installation the module AVGOFF2K.DLL doesn't get registered. The AVG program directory contains a batch file named AVGOFF2K.BAT that registers the plug-in to Office. The batch file is just a wrapper for Windows' built-in Regsvr32 (Register Server) tool, and if the batch file doesn't work for you, do this: click Start, choose Run, then enter this command line (first verify that your copy of the DLL is in the same folder as the example): regsvr32 "c:\program files\grisoft\avg6\avgoff2k.dll" and click OK. You should see a message box that reads, "DllRegisterServer in c:\program files\grisoft\avg6\avgoff2k.dll succeeded." When you restart Word (or Excel or PowerPoint) the Security dialog should show that a virus scanner is installed. My version of the command line omits the "/s" (silent) switch so you *can* see the message box result of the DLL registration process, and my version uses the DLL's fully-qualified filename to reduce the likelihood of Regsvr32 not finding the DLL. The key to your success with any anti-virus vendor's product is to use it, and use it aggressively. To see my evaluation of this and other anti-virus products in a table format, refer to my supplemental page: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?lee1 You can buy a copy of Grisoft AVG 6.0 Professional Edition here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?lee2 You can reach Lee Hudspeth at: mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com ** 03. eXPeriencing Windows XP: Upgrading Over an Earlier Version of Windows (by Al Gordon) Here's the word on installing your Windows XP upgrade over your existing Windows installation: Don't. The equation is very simple. Windows XP is a significantly more stable OS than Windows ME (Millennium Edition) and Windows 9x, and more compatible with common applications than Windows 2000. Plus it has features to protect crucial operating system files against corruption, including being overwritten by other software installations. To take full advantage of those capabilities, therefore, you want to get rid of all the junk--bad drivers and DLLs, unneeded and duplicate files, obsolete or corrupt Registry settings, etc.--that might be clogging your system. In other words, you need to get rid of the old junk--if only to make way for new junk--and an "up and over" upgrade doesn't cut it. This principle already was well established here after careful study at the secret The Naked PC testing labs. But it took on special force when a friend asked me to help him upgrade his Windows 2000 notebook to XP Pro. The job, which should have taken about 90 minutes to two hours, instead took more than seven. The setup bogged down at the point when it starts the "installing devices" phase, and according to a Microsoft technical support engineer, that is a common occurrence. At that point in setup (the time remaining counter will be showing 34-32 minutes) XP is going over all the device drivers on your system, not just your actual hardware, to see what will be kept and what will be replaced. And if setup is uncertain, the process bogs down. Naturally with a clean install this doesn't happen because there aren't any old drivers to review. Eventually, we got the upgrade done. But one of the key reasons to upgrade rather than install clean: saving time (because you don't have to reinstall your apps and recreate your setting), was totally lost. Before that particular fiasco, with the help of the folks at Dell Computer, I put this to the test on a Inspiron 8000 laptop with Windows ME as well as my Dimension desktop with Windows 2000. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?al1 As noted previously, other companies declined to participate in upgrading tests, lest it be perceived that they were encouraging customers to upgrade old PCs rather than buy new ones. But Dell has an aggressive policy for supporting XP upgrades on its newer units. The Dell Support Web site, in fact, has wizards, checklists, and easily accessible downloads of new drivers and the like, all there to assist you. Note I said "newer"--Dell has drawn the line for support at those units for which it is still providing upgrades. Typically, this would be PCs that are two years old or less. The Inspiron 8000 was chosen because it was being retired from the review fleet (it has been superseded by the 8100), had not been designed with XP in mind, but an XP upgrade was fully supported. My Dimension XPS T series, on the other hand, generates an upgrade report that says: "While this Dell system may comply with Microsoft hardware requirements it may not provide the best customer experience with Windows XP, as its BIOS & drivers will not support Windows XP to Dell's testing standards... Dell will not be creating another BIOS or Drivers to support this operating system." Dell recommends buying a new system instead. I, of course, took that as a challenge. The testing results were clear: In each and every scenario tested, including installation over a brand new, clean ME or Win2K, the fewest glitches occurred when installing XP clean. Period. Every upgrade option resulted in a need to fix hardware and software compatibility issues. Plus every glitch that existed on the old system got transferred to the new OS. Curiously, ME was an easier upgrade than 2K--most likely because XP setup knows that ME's Win9x-based drivers won't work in the NT-based environment and just discards them. If you absolutely need to cling to your legacy installation, the better option is to remember that multi-booting is built into XP. So when you do your installation, ignore the "recommendation" to install over your existing OS and have XP Setup do a clean install into a separate partition. A big help here is PowerQuest Partition Magic 7.0, which will let you partition a hard drive without losing any of your existing data. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?al2 With multi-booting, you will need to reinstall your apps to use them in XP (generally, you just re-install them over their existing location), but the multi-booting will give you access to your old OS while you migrate. You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ >> "How Many Ways Will You Use These Amazing Devices?" They're incredibly handy. When we first saw these amazing little devices we thought, "these will look cool hanging on my key ring." Then we started using them. WOW - every day we find more uses. How many will you find? http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?swisstech +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 04. The Corporate User and the IT Staff: Part 1 (by T.J. Lee) It's not easy being a computer user in Corporate America. Of course, it's not all that easy being a computer user at home without the benefit of a help desk or any information technology (IT) staff either. But as I've been elbow to elbow with corporate users over the last two months doing various network migrations and full-blown forklift upgrades in my new job, I thought I'd focus on the corporate user and the IT staff that supports them for this article. It's surprising how little information flows between the IT department and end users but that's not really a dig at either the IT professional or the typical end-user. No really, it isn't. The IT department is mandated to maintain the infrastructure of the network and now the all-important connection to the Internet and their focus is simply very different than the end user. The end user has a very different set of motivations and worries than the IT guys and it's not surprising that communication suffers. A top-notch lawn mower mechanic may be able to keep a cranky gasoline-powered mower running at peak efficiency but not know (or care) beans about how best to actually mow a lawn. While both the IT camp and the end user camp use computer technology, they are two different disciplines requiring two very different sets of skills and I've noticed that the two groups don't speak the same language, at least not when talking to each other. Consider the simple mandate made by one IT shop, "Thou shalt log off the network every night!" The end users at a company I was spending time with took this rule with a grain of salt and were very haphazard about if and when they'd log out. After a little probing it turns out that IT never really explained to them the reasons why they wanted them out of the network every night. Once it was explained that the purpose of getting everyone to log off was to get all the applications closed which meant that all the data files were closed (the ultimate goal) so everything could be backed up to tape, the users were much more cooperative. Which brings up the annoying habit of end users of keeping their data files on their local hard drives where they don't get backed up at all. Sometimes this is caused by genuine concern on the part of the user along the lines of, "Gee, if the network goes down I want to still be able to get to my working documents." Sometimes it's plain carelessness or even worse, the user has no idea where their files go, they just click on Save and Open and don't really have a clue about the difference between the C: drive and the S: drive. If you work on a network it's incumbent upon the person who is creating the data to know where that data is being stored and if it's in the correct location for backup purposes. If you're supposed to be keeping things on the network server you need to know what drive is being mapped for your Home folder and where shared or group files should be saved. You might also check that your data is in fact being included on the nightly tape backups because networks tend to grow and the typically overworked IT staffers overlook things. And if you are working in an environment where a server outage is a serious concern you can save data files to the server and to your local drive so if the network is down you can still get to a document. Just be aware that you're complicating things and that you have to be responsible to see that current versions get copied to the server and that you don't lose track over which version (the one on the server or the one on the local hard drive) is the most current. Speaking of backups, the IT staff should periodically review what is accumulating on their servers. It's not uncommon to find that a lot of "stuff" is being backed up each night that simply does not require it. Stuff that might be better deleted from the server entirely or at least burned to a long shelf life storage medium like CD-ROM and put on the shelf. Nor is it unheard of to find that critical files are not being backed up at all. And it's downright frightening to discover that everyone thought the files were being backed up. Keep in mind that some data is harder to back up than other data. If you're running a database application like an Exchange Server you need a "connector" that can pipe the data from Exchange to your tape backup software because Exchange is a database program that keeps a lot of files in an open state. Most tape backup software programs can't back up Exchange data out of the box and you typically need to purchase a connector utility to add this ability to your backup routines. Okay, be sure to log off the network each night and be responsible about where you're putting your files. Next time I'll talk about maintaining server logs and how to explain problems and requests to the IT department. You can reach T.J. Lee at: mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ "The Book That Should Have Come with Your Computer" "This book should come with every PC - it has become MY BIBLE." "I find information in this book that I can't find anywhere else." These are just a few of the comments we've received on this book. This book-on-a-CD-ROM is fully searchable! Written by the same guys who bring you this newsletter, T.J. Lee, Lee Hudspeth, and Dan Butler, tell you what every computer user needs to know. As Chris Pirillo at Lockergnome says, "It's amazing how much stuff you'll find on the care and feeding of your system in this book." If you use computers you need this book! Check it out! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?tugpc2 +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 05. Personal Finance Software Showing Its Age (by Al Gordon) Let's face it: personal finance software is a "mature" product. That's computerese for "they are running out of fresh ideas"--an affliction already noted in Office suites. Still, there are a few lessons we can learn. Lesson #1: Make yourself a new file every few years. I received review copies of Intuit Quicken 2002 and Microsoft Money 2002 back in the fall of 2001, performed the usual upgrade of my old data, and saw so little advancement in the software that I wondered what I would write. Then by happenstance I created a new file in Quicken to monitor one particular financial dealing and discovered that the format of the information in the new files looked different. It turned out that Intuit's and Microsoft's practice of changing their file formats every year, and the resulting multiple upgrades of your data, ultimately corrupts your file. In addition, over time, the size of your data file gets humongous. A new, clean file greatly improved the performance of both products. If you are going to do this, now is the time. When you get your first financial statements of the new year, use them to reconcile your old file as of December 31, 2001, and to set the starting balances for a new data file beginning January 1, 2002. (And don't forget to safely archive the old one so the data will be available when you face the IRS on April 15th.) Lesson #2: Intuit and Microsoft have settled into a pattern on their annual upgrades. Money 2002 has some usability enhancements this year while the changes in Quicken 2002 are minimal. Last year, Quicken 2001 had the biggest changes while Money 2001 was a minor update. In 2000, it was Money and in 1999, Quicken. If the manufacturers are only making serious changes every other year notwithstanding their annual update schedule, then it doesn't make sense for you to go out and buy an upgrade every year. Every other year probably will work for most users. Lesson #3: There is little likelihood of changes dramatic enough to a compelling case for switching from one to the other. "Look and feel" are part of software's protected intellectual property. Quicken owns the checkbook metaphor while Money is designed to portray your personal finances in Web page form. You might as well stick with whichever approach suits your tastes, keeping in mind that there isn't a lot more these programs can do. Among Microsoft's big changes in Money this year was an Internet Explorer tool bar that opens up when you access a financial or shopping site--presumably to nag you about whether you have the money on hand to make that buy on Amazon or eBay. You can tell the designers are struggling to find something new to do. Lesson #4: In fact, these products may be losing ground in the financial world. Few financial institutions support Quicken and Money any more, preferring instead to set up their own Web-based services for their customers. Moreover, credit card companies and retailers are setting up their own Web-based electronic payment systems. Quicken and Money are in danger of being transformed from the locus of your financial transactions to glorified backup software for your dealings on the Web. You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com ** 06. Featured Product - Click'N Design 3D CD Labeling Software (reviewed by T.J. Lee) Creating a CD label can be a pain even if you just want to rough out an idea and turn the job over to a graphics artist to finalize the job. Believe me I know because that's just what I did for our The Naked PC line of CDs. Most CD replicator outfits assume you cut your teeth on Adobe Photoshop or Quark and can crank out your own masterpiece and submit camera ready files so they can make negatives for the silk screens. HA! I wish I had had Click'N Design from the folks at Stomp Inc. back when I was doing the layout work on our CDs. Click'N Design is a slick product targeted at users who are going to print their own labels on color laser or ink jet printers. As such it supports about every Avery, Expert's, Global Star, HP, Memorex, (and more) label on the market along with a plethora of jewel case, mini-CD, business card CD, 3 1/2 inch diskette, Zip, Jazz, video and audio tape labels as well. Very comprehensive. Toss in a very easy to use set of tools to place any kind of text and/or backgrounds, colors, images, 3D text, circular text, and what have you and you've got a full-featured label layout program that retails for $20 ($17 on Amazon, just click on the link below). Comes with over 5,000 pieces of clipart and photographics plus it generates barcodes. Very nice. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?fprod You can reach T.J. Lee at: mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com ** 07. Featured Web Page - DVD Easter Eggs (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) Are you a DVD/movie hound? If so, this page will keep you up for hours and hours. The folks at DVDReview.com maintain an extensive page of cool "easter eggs" for DVDs. What's an easter egg, you ask? It's a hidden feature of a software program--which is exactly what a DVD's menu is--that displays some additional, usually fun or unusual or clever, material. For example, on the Warner Brothers DVD release of "Citizen Kane" you can view a five-minute interview with Ruth Warrick who played Emily Norton Kane--Charles Foster Kane's first wife--in which she reminisces about her experiences making the film (to find out the steps, look up the movie at the page listed below). This DVD has another hidden feature in which you'll see a three-and-a-half minute interview with Robert Wise, the film's editor. I won't spoil the fun by publishing the easter steps here, but I encourage you to check this site next time you buy (or rent) a DVD to see what kind of stuff the production folks decided to "hide" for us DVD sleuths. Happy viewing! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?fsite ** 08. Featured Drawing - Digital versus Paper Books If you've never entered a The Naked PC drawing here's how it works. You go to a Web page on our site, answer one survey question (something like "Do you prefer printed books over digital books?"), and enter your email address. To encourage readers to participate in the survey, we have a drawing from the email addresses of those who participate in each survey and we give away something really cool. Now, obviously we already have your email address or you wouldn't be reading this, but this drawing for prizes will only include those folks who answer this issue's question (entering a prior drawing doesn't count for this one). As a special incentive to assist us in determining what format our customers prefer for books--digital or paper--for this particular drawing when you complete the form you'll be directed to a page with instructions about a one-time discount coupon. This coupon is good for 10% off any purchase from TheNakedPCStore.com. It's our way of saying "thank you" for giving us your opinion on an issue that's important to us. We'll only use the email addresses we collect for the purpose of notifying who won the prize, nothing else. On February 6th we'll pick two entered names at random. The winners each get one Photon Micro-Light III pocket flashlight (the latest model!)--a $24.95 value absolutely free. And the winners pick the color of their choice. But you have to enter to win. How easy is that? http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?fdrawing ** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff *-* The Wayback Machine is a Web interface to the Internet Archive's five-year, 100-terabyte collection of Web pages. Read a fascinating interview with Brewster Kahle, the archive's director. (Note: 100 terabytes is equivalent to five times the size of the Library of Congress, which itself houses 20 million books.) http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?news1 *-* On January 30, 2002, Microsoft released a Windows 2000 collection of security fixes entitled "Windows 2000 Security Rollup Package (SRP1)." SRP1 contains security fixes released since May 2001 when Microsoft issued Windows 2000 Service Pack 2. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?news2 *-* For information on the My Party mass-mailing email worm, visit Symantec's Security Response Web site. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?news3 Have you come across something newsworthy? Drop us a line: mailto:hottips@TheNakedPC.com **PLEASE SUPPORT THE NAKED PC BY VISITING OUR ADVERTISERS** +++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++ >> THE MORE DEBTS YOU HAVE, >> THE FASTER YOU CAN PAY THEM OFF! Paying highest-interest debt first is the SLOWEST way out. You can laugh at money worries - if you follow this simple plan. Discover secrets your friends don't know & banks won't tell you. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?financial +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ **NEED INK? SAVE 40-70% OVER RETAIL!** High Quality Inkjet Printer Cartridges, JetPaks, Refill Kits. Super Prices! 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URL Encryption - encrypts your page requests so your ISP can't log them. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/503/tr.cgi?anon +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ DISCLAIMER Personal computers are individual machines with performance that can vary with components, software, and operator ability. The Naked PC is not responsible for the manner in which the information presented is used or interpreted. Also, although we work hard to provide you with accurate Internet links in The Naked PC, we are not responsible for Internet links herein that represent sites owned and operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, performance, or availability of any such third-party sites. REDISTRIBUTION POLICY We encourage you to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates, and colleagues for their review and enjoyment. However, please do so only by sending it in full, thereby keeping the copyright and subscription information intact. 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