Dennis Faas

Wed
13
Nov
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Required Dll not Found Error Message?

Infopackets Reader Don W. writes: " I have Windows 98 second edition. Just recently when windows is loading it gives an error popup; A required DLL file -- DDRAW.DLL -- was not found. Windows seems to operate as usual, but I really don't know what ... this file does and how to resolve this problem. Do you have a suggestion? " My Response: Click Start -> Find -> Files / Folders and type in the DLL file name. The result should come up with a folder that the DLL has been installed to -- this should give you an indication what the program is for. After that, you can attempt to ... (view more)

Wed
13
Nov
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Shopping for an LCD monitor, Part 3

This article has been a 3 part series. Feel free to read part 1 or part 2 if you missed it already. As I mentioned part 2 of my article, I don't want to use my LCD monitor in its native resolution because images and text are too small. On the other ... hand, the display image at 1280 x 1024 resolution is incredibly clear. RE: My final thoughts on purchasing an LCD monitor Before completing this article, I received an email from Craig W. where he gives his opinion and comparison on LCD and CRT displays. He writes: " As a full time graphics developer/ 3D modeler, I would say that I have tried ... (view more)

Tue
12
Nov
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What programs are running in the background?, Part 2

Last week, Stan L. Jr. sent in a question which asked what should be done when a program attempts to suddenly "call home" and request a connection to the Internet. Recall: " A few days ago, I was using my computer when all the sudden, I noticed that ... some program decided that it wanted to access the Internet. I tried to cancel the request to connect to the Internet, but the bugger kept coming back asking for a connection. I then decided to try the "3 finger salute" by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL at the same time to bring up Task Manager, but no programs were listed here ... (view more)

Tue
12
Nov
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Shopping for an LCD monitor, Part 2

Last week, I left you with some thoughts on my LCD Monitor purchasing experience. If you didn't catch the first part of the article, you can read about it here . The article from last week signed off with a cliff-hanger, where I was about to tell ... about some things that I didn't like about my LCD monitor. RE: LCD Native Resolution While I was completely amazed out how crystal clear my LCD monitor was at 1280 x 1024 resolution*, the fact is that the LCD monitor looks crystal-clear *only* at this resolution. This is referred to as the monitor's Native Resolution. Generally speaking, native ... (view more)

Thu
07
Nov
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What programs are running in the background?

Infopackets Reader Stan L. write s: " Dear Dennis, A few days ago, I was using my computer when all the sudden, I noticed that some program decided that it wanted to access the Internet. I tried to cancel the request to connect to the Internet, but ... the bugger kept coming back asking for a connection. I then decided to try the "3 finger salute" by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL at the same time to bring up Task Manager, but no programs were listed here that seemed to be "out of the ordinary" that might have been attempting to access the Internet. Is there a program which ... (view more)

Thu
07
Nov
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Shopping for an LCD monitor

I recently purchased a Samsung LCD (model: SyncMaster 760V TFT) for my Desktop behemoth computer. If you didn't already know, LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. The most noticeable features of an LCD monitor is the fact that the screen is ... perfectly flat, has an incredibly clear display, and its "backside" is very thin. Commonly referred to as a "flat screen monitors", LCD displays are most recognizably used in conjunction with a Laptop computer. Having two identical hard drives in RAID format allows me to transfer information to / from the computer 2x as fast (compared ... (view more)

Wed
06
Nov
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Uninstall Windows Media Player beta 9?

Infopackets Reader Liz H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I appreciated the information on how to uninstall MSN/Windows Messenger -- although, I personally like it -- but, I'd rather see how to uninstall Windows Media Player (v9.0 beta specifically for Win ... XP) WITHOUT reformatting the hard drive or using System Restore. I'm of the opinion it can't be done without resorting to these fairly drastic measures. PS: Thank you for these wonderful newsletters! " My Response: I visited the Microsoft download web site in search of Media Player 9, and I found these comments: " Note: [Windows Media Player beta 9 ... (view more)

Wed
06
Nov
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Using a software firewall and hardware firewall in tandem

Almost a month ago we were knee-deep in discussion with respect to tracking down a hacker. In short, our ongoing discussion probed possibilities and known methods which might be used to track down a hacker, if one ever attempted to hack into *your* ... computer system. RE: Can I track down a Hacker?, Part 1 , and Can I track down a Hacker?, Part 2 . Shortly after Part 2 was released, I received an email from Dan Daily (editor / webmaster) of Danny's Daily . Dan's comments focused on a proposed supposition, which was sent in from John B. in Part 2 of our Discussion . To recap: John suggested to ... (view more)

Tue
05
Nov
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Space used by programs, Part 2

Last week's Visitor Feedback question asked, "How how can I tell what programs are taking all my space in my hard drive?" My first thought to this question was to use a minimalist approach, because I believe in "doing things myself" -- providing ... that the proposed solution is relatively simple. If you recall, my answer to the above question was straightforward: right-click on a folder and display its folder Properties, and have Windows display its disk usage. This gives a very general idea as to how much space was being used by an installed program. Fact: Programs that are ... (view more)

Tue
05
Nov
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Uninstall MSN Messenger for Windows XP, Part 2.5

My last attempt to show how to remove MSN Messenger from Windows XP appeared to worked fine for me, but I received emails from folks who have MSN Messenger popping up in their face *still* whenever AOL is loaded or whenever there is an update. Death ... to MSN Messenger -- for good. Jeff R. sent me his thoughts and a final solution to remove MSN Messenger from the Windows Registry: " It appears that your previous article is confusing Windows Messenger with MSN Messenger*. These are both separate programs. Windows Messenger is the one that installs with Windows XP. * The "Windows ... (view more)

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