access

Infopackets Reader Jenine S. writes: " Dear Dennis, First and foremost, thank you for providing such a commendable publication. I have learned so much from your newsletter since I've been a subscriber. I just finished reading your article on GuruNet ... and have found it to be an invaluable resource (it's *so* much easier than using Google, and I love Google)! I have a question, however. My sister in St. Louis has AOL 9.0 and has had troubles in the past using some Internet applications. Can you tell me if GuruNet is compatible with AOL? " Side note: For those of you who missed last ... (view more)

Have you ever been in a jam -- and to top it all off, your computer won't boot? Infopackets Reader Donald C. writes: " Dennis, I just read your May 19th article on ' Access old user account files under WinXP? ' where a Reader was unable to access ... his files stored via a hidden system folder. I just wanted to comment by saying that I've come across a great program -- actually, it's a bootable CD ROM image -- that can be used to access files on your hard drive: all within a Windows environment. If you can't find a better way to access files inside of XP, try doing it OUTSIDE of XP! Bart ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'farzee2k' writes: " My friend has windows XP installed on his system. Somehow, he deleted his account so he is not able to access the files stored in his My Documents folder. He does not have access to the Administrator account ... either, so when he logs on through another user account, he cannot access the files stored in his original account. Is there anyway he can access those files?" My Response: All user account folders are (by default) located in C:\Documents and Settings. And, some user folders in the Documents and Settings directory are hidden. Therefore, I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Peter P. writes: " Hello Dennis, I am having a problem with Outlook Express, and can't figure out how to solve it. Whenever I get an email with attachments, the info when I click on the paperclip is grayed out, and I can neither ... save the attachment files or display them. When I click Tools -> Internet Options and select the 'Security' tab, I see that the box labeled 'Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened' is check marked. Unfortunately, this option is grayed out [ghosted] and I cannot change the setting. I am running Windows XP with SP1 [Service Pack 1] and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Captain HRY' asks, " I would like to send files over the Internet to my son. Any ideas how I can go about doing this? " My response: There are a number of ways to send files to someone over the 'net. The easiest way to send a ... small file is by email attachment or through an Instant Messenger [chat] program. I use both MSN Messenger and ICQ and happen to know that MSN will only allow 1 file transfer at a time. On the other hand, ICQ can send multiple files, providing that the files reside in the same folder on your hard drive. If you're looking to share large files ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Madelaine M. writes: " Lately, when I am trying to connect to the Internet, I get a message saying, 'Brute Force Server Error'. When I click the window, the error message disappears. I use Norton Anti-virus 2002 and Spy Sweeper to ... scan my system for viruses and Spyware. What else should I do to avoid this problem?" My response: I can say that I have never heard of this error message before. I did some research using Google, but wasn't able to come up with anything conclusive. However, what I did find is that the term "Brute Force" refers to a form of ... (view more)

I visit dozens of web sites daily, and many of them require a username and password. I once used RoboForm to manage my passwords and form field data. Recently, I discovered a program called AccountLogon which organizes my password information and ... protects my data with 448-bit ["blowfish"] encryption -- an encryption level higher than RoboForm Pro (3DES). Side note: A higher encryption level means greater security. In short, it would take a very skilled hacker to "crack" an encrypted 3DES file, and much (much!) longer to crack a 448-bit blowfish encrypted file. What is ... (view more)

Greetings to all! I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm officially on vacation! Last Saturday, I left for Toronto and am currently visiting my friend, Frank. On May 3rd, I will be flying out of Pearson Airport in Toronto ... and will later arrive in Cancun, Mexico. I won't be back until May 12th. The bad news is that I have limited access to the Internet and cannot retrieve personal files and old emails from the office. Before I left for the trip, I planned to route all incoming emails to the office computer, and then later download them via FTP server (to another ... (view more)

Last week, Phil M. asked the question: " I can't access the Outlook 2000 contacts because they no longer belong to my user account. Is there any way I can access the previous Outlook 2000 contacts list? I don't know where to look. " I didn't know ... the answer to this question, so I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their suggestions. Bill S. confidently writes: " FIRST - a BIG first - go to Control Panel, Folder Options, View and de-select Display Hidden Files. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. There were ... (view more)

Have you ever had a RAID before? RAID is a technology used to increase hard drive performance and fault-tolerance. What is fault-tolerance? The hard drive inside your computer is responsible for storing programs and user data. RAID performance ... refers to the time that it takes the hard drive to read and write information; fault-tolerance deals with the means to protect data stored on the hard drive. RAID is an acronym which stands for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks. Generally speaking, the word 'Array' is a techy-term which represents related information formed in a ... (view more)