Dennis Faas

Last week I generalized how one might go about systematic PC troubleshooting. In particular, I received a question from Thomas V. who was having problems with his Internet Radio (via Windows Media Player) and his CD ROM drive which both produced ... intermittent silence. Thomas suspected that the issues might be one in the same. I suggested otherwise, based on a familiar problem with TCP / IP packet loss that can result in Internet Radio lag. Since this matter is common, I further theorized that these two issues were most likely not related. But, wouldn't you know it? I received emails from ... (view more)

I'm stumpe d. A while back I received a question which dealt with anti-hacker protection ... with a bit of a twist. Infopackets Reader John S. asks: " I just had my Laptop networked to my Desktop PC. I'm using a DSL connection to the Internet. I use ... a Linksys Cable/DSL Router, and already have Black Ice (software firewall) installed on my Desktop PC. Should I also add Black Ice to my Laptop? " Something similar to this question was discussed in a previous Gazette issue, way back in November of 2002. RE: Using a Software Firewall and Hardware Firewall in Tandem In brief, this article ... (view more)

Today I received an interesting question from Thomas V. in New York. He writes: " Dear Dennis, I would appreciate your thoughts on a problem I am experiencing. Windows Media Player keeps skipping and cutting out intermittently whenever I play ... Internet Radio. The slider is moving, time is advancing, and the readout shows that something is playing ... but I don't hear any sound. I also noticed the same problem some times when I play CDs. Got any ideas? " My response: Off the top of my head, I have a few things that come to mind. Internet Radio suffers from intermittent lulls because ... (view more)

Not too long ago I asked Infopackets Readers for their picks on a good ScanDisk and Defrag replacement for Microsoft since I get lots of emails from folks asking why their Scandisk and Defrag constantly restart (and never get the job done). Here's ... some comments sent in from readers of the Gazette newsletter. Scott T. writes: " Diskeeper is the ultimate freebie Defrag program, as far as I'm concerned. " http://www.diskeeper.com/freeware/freeware.asp Lots of people recommended Diskeeper Lite, in fact. On the other hand, John C. uses the Microsoft Defrag utility from Windows ME: ... (view more)

Last week, Frank N. asked: " I save certain email that has been forwarded and contains angle brackets (>), line brakes and extra spaces. Cleaning this mess line by line and each symbol (>) is time consuming but sometimes necessary. Is there an ... easier way to do this? " I suggested that Frank can remove the forwarding brackets by setting a few options in Outlook Express. Unfortunately, this does not remove the existing brackets already present in the email. Of course, Infopackets Readers were on their toes and sent in some really great suggestions: (Popular pick): J.C. Tremblay ... (view more)

My friend Abba from California called me on the phone this morning after he received yesterday's issue of the Gazette which talked about Disk Imaging and Partitioning. Abba asked me why Windows XP didn't come with Scandisk and wondered why something ... so important such as Scandisk isn't easily accessible on the Desktop. I told Abba Windows XP doesn't use Scandisk anymore and now uses a program called CHKDSK. By the way, CHKDSK actually means "check disk." To use CHKDSK on Windows XP and scan your hard drive for errors usually caused by an improper shutdown: Double-click My Computer ... (view more)

I was planning to continue my ongoing discussion on Disk Imaging in this issue of the Gazette, but my mail box has been inundated with emails from folks who have fallen prey to a chain-letter virus hoax. C'est la vie. I've decided to take this ... opportunity to let you know about this hoax before you go deleting the wrong file from your system. Virus Hoax: jdbgmgr.exe. On the weekend I received multiple email chain-letters from users who have my email address on their Contact List / Address Book, and decided to pass on the message. The start of the message varies, but it all boils down to the ... (view more)

Last week, Susan S. asked the question: " I can't access the web from my favorites in the Start/Favorites list or in the Internet Explorer taskbar. When I click on a link and nothing happens! How can I fix this problem? " My Response: I asked ... Infopackets Readers to send me their thoughts. Below are some suggestions. OffsaMedic wrote: " I've had this problem several times. Using the 'repair associations' feature in Tweak UI worked for me. You can get Tweak UI (power toys) Windows XP , or Tweak UI v1.33 for Windows NT, 2000, 95, 98 . " Chris B. says: " This sounds like ... (view more)

Susan S. writes: " I'm an old experienced computer user, but this has me stumped. Just today suddenly I can't access the web from my favorites in the Start/Favorites list or in the Internet Explorer taskbar. I click on a link and nothing happens. ... What on earth is going on? And how do I fix it? " My Response: Most likely this is a software bug in Internet Explorer -- I can honestly say that I do not recall ever experiencing this problem. I gave a quick look in the Microsoft Knowledge Base from Microsoft's site and also tried Google, but couldn't see anything that match the queries ... (view more)

Douglas L. asks: " I recently re-loaded Windows ME. When I received an e-mail with an attachment I mistakenly used Media Player to open it. Now Windows assumes that every attachment of that type requires Media Player! How do I change it to the ... correct program for these files? " My Response:First, you need to identify the correct file type. This is done by viewing the file extension in the email attachment. Example: a .GIF email attachment would signify that it is a graphic file. You can use Internet Explorer to open a graphic file, or any third-party picture viewing utility for that ... (view more)