Dennis Faas

Recently, Infopackets Reader 'Cinnamon' asked me a question about how to organize her downloaded ZIP files. She writes: " Is there a guide one can use in attempting to [organize] some or all of them? I'm afraid I'll remove something that I need! " ... My Response: We've been talking about archived files for the last few issues of the newsletter. Incase you've missed it: Zip files are archived files and usually contain many smaller files inside. Finding out what an archived file is (without extracting and utilizing the program) takes too long to do, so there must be a better way. I ... (view more)

Tuesday's feature article of the Infopackets Gazette Newsletter made a very brief mention of a new downloadable eBook and Video Tutorial that I've been working on. The idea to create the tutorial was spawned from our recent newsletter discussions ... about archiving software. I've decided to take a time-out from my regular featured articles to announce that the Archiving eBook and Video Ultimate Guide is now complete. What did you say archiving was, exactly? From the eBook: " Typically, archival software is used to 'glue' multiple files together into a single, smaller file. As the files are ... (view more)

Today I received very disheartening email. Al G. writes: " Why has my subscription to the Infopackets Gazette newsletter suddenly ceased? " I decided to check the subscriber base, and found Al's email address still in the list. I know that most of ... the newsletters have been successfully delivered because the web statistics reflect normal activity. So, why wasn't the newsletter getting delivered to Al? The only logical explanation I could think of -- other than Al's mailbox being over-quota -- was that his Internet Service Provider (ISP) may be incorrectly blocking this newsletter due ... (view more)

Cinnamon asked me a very good question over the weekend: " Hi Dennis! In an attempt to clean out old and/or unnecessary files, I accessed my Winzip files. In scanning through the list and opening (or attempting to) open them to find out what they ... belong to, I find it just a bit mind-boggling. It's very hard to tell what some of them are. Is there a guide one can use in attempting to delete some or all of them? I'm afraid I'll remove something that I need! Thanks, and keep up the great work! " My Response: Zip files are archived files and usually contain many files. Chances are you ... (view more)

Yesterday , I detailed instructions on how to export / import contact information from the Address Book. Essentially, this allows users to make a copy of their address book: either for backup purposes, or to import contacts onto another computer. ... The instructions I gave were done using Windows XP (Service Pack 1) with Internet Explorer / Outlook Express 6. Today, I received email from two users who claim to have similar problems with the Address Book program. John L. writes: " I followed your instructions but the import and export options would not highlight. Is it because I'm using ... (view more)

In the last 3 newsletters , I've been talking about the importance of archiving programs: specifically, WinRAR, WinZIP, and WinACE. Unfortunately, neither of these popular software titles are freeware, which is why I asked Infopackets Readers to ... send me their favorite alternate picks. Ionut C. wasn't alone when he recommended ZipGenius: " ZipGenius is a zip tool suite that offers a variety of features. It offers ... drag and drop and features and an 'intelligent' wizard to get you started. Among other things, ZipGenius offers 5 different compression levels, full customization and ... (view more)

Roberta C. asks: " Could you tell me if there is a way to copy my contacts in Outlook and load them onto another computer? " My Response:I remember reading this question before, so I decided to search previous newsletters for the answer. Low and ... behold -- I found the answer in January 01, 2002's issue of the Gazette ! Jayne T. writes: " [All you need to do is send] the contents to floppy disk [or hard drive] via the export facility in the address book and you can do the reverse with the import facility of the address book on the new machine. " I decided to try it my own ... (view more)

Yesterday's newsletter was a real whopper; I must have spent over 6 hours writing it. Incase you missed it, yesterday's article was about WinRAR, WinZIP, and WinACE. I briefly overviewed how archiving software can be used to compress multiple files ... into a single large file, and then split (if necessary) into pieces to be stored on smaller-sized media for backup purposes. The truth is, knowing how to extract (or compress) an archived file is essential, especially in today's world of online computing. WinRAR, WinZIP, and WinACE are not freeware, which is why I asked Infopackets Readers to send ... (view more)

Last week, Rose J. asked how she could to back up the "How to Install / Reinstall Windows" video tutorial and eBook on floppy disk: " I need to [copy your] video on to a [floppy] disk, and I can't seem to do that. Can you explain the procedure in ... detail? " I mentioned in the previous newsletter that this would be a time-consuming task and that backing up files to a floppy disk is generally not a good idea. In brief, here are a few reasons why: 14 floppies would be required to complete the task, since the video and eBook have a combined size of 19 megabytes. The time to ... (view more)