windows

My recent article about Windows Live OneCare drew a response from Infopackets Reader James R. In an excerpt of his email, James writes: " Jim does not mention that Windows Live One Care also includes a two way firewall. This is a major feature in ... any security suite and it's presence should not have been omitted. Jim goes on to say that his computer purrs just by using a cleanup script, Ashampoo's Magic Defrag , Acronis True Image and a few other programs. He goes on to state that everything Live One Care does can be done 'totally free'. Implying that Magic Defrag and True Image are free is ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ken H. writes: " Dear Dennis, In the device manager, all of my DVD and CD-ROM devices won't work. Device Manager states that 'a driver for this device was not required and has been disabled (Code 32)'. Question: how can I get ... these devices to work again? I have uninstalled them and restarted the computer to let it find new drivers but that didn't work. I have scanned my PC for viruses and am clean. I have also researched this topic in Google and found a post which states that this error message can appear if you have Roxio Easy CD Creator (which I do). The post suggested a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ken H. writes: " Dear Dennis, In the device manager, all of my DVD and CD-ROM devices won't work. Device Manager states that 'a driver for this device was not required and has been disabled (Code 32)'. Question: how can I get ... these devices to work again? I have uninstalled them and restarted the computer to let it find new drivers but that didn't work. I have scanned my PC for viruses and am clean. I have also researched this topic in Google and found a post which states that this error message can appear if you have Roxio Easy CD Creator (which I do). The post suggested a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Simon W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I made the transition from Windows 95 to XP a few years ago, and since the upgrade, I've noticed a change in the way the 'Save As' dialogue box works with MS Word. For example: Under Windows 95, I ... would select a section of a document, copy it, and then paste it into the Save As dialogue box, and the document would save with that filename. However, now when I right-click over top of the Save As dialogue box under Windows XP, I don't have the option to 'Copy' or 'Paste' anymore (as I once did in Windows 95). Hence, I have to manually type in a ... (view more)

Quick Access InfoBar is a cool little tool that transforms your Windows Task Manager into a source of information about the processes that are running on your PC. The program comes from UniBlue (the makers of WinTasks Professional ), which has ... always been one of my trusted sources for process information. From processlibrary.com: " As many as 20 to 30 processes may be running invisibly, silently in the background on your PC. Some hog system resources drastically slowing down your computer; others are a threat to security and privacy; others may be harmless. The Windows Task Manager ... (view more)

Windows Defender Microsoft Windows Defender (Beta 2) is a free program that helps you stay productive by protecting your computer against pop-ups, slow performance and security threats caused by Spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Note ... that this software is still in the Beta Stage and may produce false positives! In other words: don't completely rely on it for "the truth". http://www.microsoft.com Handy File Tool Handy File Tool (HFT) is a very fast and simple file manager. It has some internal utilities such as Renamer, Replacer and Finder. HFT has utilities necessary ... (view more)

In my previous article , we discussed choosing a Linux 'distro'. As I pointed out, the choice is highly personal and depends upon your needs. The next step of course is installing Linux. With that said, I've highlighted key differences between the ... types of installations commonly bundled with Linux distributions. The Linux Desktop: Choose between Gnome, KDE, and XFCE Let's start with the Desktop. There are several to choose from. If you were to ask twenty people that used Linux regularly, which they would recommend, you would get a handful of answers, but the two that would get the most ... (view more)

Linux is on the rise and we can all thank Microsoft for it! People around the world are tired of Microsoft's heavy handedness in their marketing ploys and in foisting off a lousy Operating System commonly known as Windows. After years of putting up ... with high pricing, program bloat, and the constant need to Update and Upgrade because of coding errors and insufficient operation, people are turning to Linux in greater numbers. Are you one of them? This article is offered to help you decide which Linux will be right for you and to give you a few resources so you can make an educated decision. At ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Susan C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I love your newsletters ;-) Question: I am using Windows ME and tried to restore my computer to an earlier time using System Restore; however, the problem is that the computer keeps telling me to ... pick a earlier date on the calendar than what is available. For example: I can bring up the calendar to choose which restore to use, but the only option I have available is for December 1999. I have used system restore before, but for some reason it's now gone awol and won't let me pick another date. Is there any way that I can restore my computer to ... (view more)