Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Dennis B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I was interested in installing a free version of the Linux operating system (OS) on my rebuilt computer with a 2.5 GB hard drive that I just love and seem to being Ok with. I'm running windows 98 ... and would very much like to keep that. Would it be possible to have both OS's and switch back and forth? I remain an admiring reader and fan. " My Response: Yes, it is possible to have 2 operating systems installed on a single system. The new OS * should * be able to detect that you already have Windows installed and provide you with a ... (view more)

Last week's issue of the Infopackets Gazette was about the importance of using msconfig. The article also reviewed some third-party msconfig replacements for Windows 2000 users. I received a lot of feedback regarding the issue since the last ... newsletter was mailed. If you were unclear about how msconfig works, be sure to check out the revisions made to the article online. I have provided a few extra steps and a screen capture for clarity. One more note: I received email with regards to msconfig and the Klez Virus. Denise R. writes: " Dear Dennis, In reference to the recent newsletter, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John A. writes: " If I did not try this, I would not believe it. This Sunday's local paper has a Tech Editor that submits regular articles weekly. This week the article caught my interest - as on many Computer Group forums -- the ... defrag utility, which comes with all versions of Microsoft Windows, is plagued with many problems. For example: defrag sometimes hangs/re-starts; won't complete; you have to run in Safe Mode; run ScanDisk first; close all programs; close anti-virus; close screen savers, etc... So I went to his Web Site which has about every conceivable ... (view more)

Last week I wrote an article which touched on a useful utility called msconfig. To recap what the program does: msconfig is a program that comes bundled with all version of Microsoft Windows, except Windows 2000. One of the most useful functions of ... the msconfig program is its Startup Tab which allows you to select / deselect programs from launching at the Windows Startup. Why is that so useful, you say? Well, I guess the answer to that question depends on what you have installed on your system. Sometimes, when a program is installed, it copies an instance of itself to the Windows Startup. ... (view more)

Whether you know it or not, Microsoft has a previous track-history for releasing sub-standard software that is known to be less than computer-friendly. What do I mean by "less than computer friendly?" Quite simply: either there are lots of bugs ... present in Microsoft's software, or their software has been known to make systems run sluggish . The Story Recently, I was visiting my brother and decided to hop on his system and surf the Internet. His machine consists of Microsoft Windows 98, has 128 meg of RAM, and is powered by a Celeron 600 MHz processor. Certainly, this system is not ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sarah M. write s: " Dear Dennis, Alas, I left my boyfriend home alone with the computer and he downloaded Morpheus to find some songs. He then uninstalled it because he knew I didn't like the 'spyware' that comes with it from ... Brilliant Digital and figured I could clean up the residue it left. Well, I don't know what's going on, but running in our system tray is a little icon that looks like a gold coin with a $ on it. The coin says that it is the Morpheus Shopping Club. If you click on it, it will take you to a website for the club. You can also right-click and choose ... (view more)

There is a nasty worm (virus) making its way through the Kazaa file sharing network . On Friday, a friend called me up and told me that his "C drive" was full and that he couldn't do anything with his computer. So, I hopped in my car, drove over to ... his place, and cleaned up some temporary files on his system. I freed up about 400 meg or so on his C drive. Satisfied with the results, I went home. The next day, he called me back with the same problem. Oddly enough, he said the computer was left untouched since I left his house the previous night. So what happened to all the space I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lou G. write s: " Dear Dennis, Last week I was flooded with Klez virus containing emails which didn't effect my PC as I avoided opening them until I had tested the sources by replying. One source which constrained an obvious virus ... attachment was sent by someone who has denied knowing anything about the virus. It has become obvious from my communication with this person that another web site where both of us are listed was the source of information that the hacker used. The hacker used this source to gain both a "From: and a "To:" for their dirty trick(s ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Darren B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I was just reading your latest newsletter regarding computer internet security. I would be interested to know what you think of using the Windows hosts file as an ad-tracking blocking method. A ... pre-compiled hosts file of this type can be found at smartin-designs.com . To me, this is a much better method of blocking tracking than having ad blocking software using additional resources. You may also wish to make your readers aware of myiebrowser . It uses the IE engine, so it is a small download, and includes tabbed browsing, a pop-up ... (view more)

Well, it finally looks like infopackets.com has completed its journey over to its new web server. The entire process (from start to finish, including changing registrars ) took about 60 days to complete. Most importantly, my own personal computer is ... finally connecting to the new web server. The hard lesson learned: while most web service providers are eager to say that a change like this "should only take 72 hours to complete", just remember -- anything that could go wrong probably will, and expect the worse case scenario. OK, I expected that. But I think I got hit with worse than ... (view more)