June 5, 2008
Get the secret history of the Internet
On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders (photo, left) won't be available in stores for weeks. But Windows Secrets readers can get the best chapters now. Read more »
Hong Kong readers: meet with me on June 15
For many moons, I've wanted to hold a series of free seminars for Windows Secrets readers in various cities of the world. I don't really have an entire series worked out yet, but I'm doing kind of a trial run by offering a meeting with newsletter subscribers on June 15 in a single city: Hong Kong. Read more »
Outlook Web Access corrupts HTML attachments
The "Safe HTML" filter in Microsoft's Outlook Web Access for Exchange Server deletes code from HTML attachments without warning. Microsoft claims the filtering protects users by removing malicious elements, but the deletions can ruin a collaborative project and the "feature" isn't present in any other Microsoft mail products. Read more »
XP Service Pack 3: not yet ready for prime time 
The growing list of XP SP3-related glitches being encountered by users should give pause to anyone thinking of downloading and installing the update. If you've kept XP patched from week to week, there's presently no clear advantage to implementing the OS's latest service pack, though you'll want to do so eventually. Read more »
You want me to spell what?
As exciting television goes, spelling bees aren't more than a notch or two above watching Congressional debates on CSPAN. They may lack the grimaces of mixed-martial-arts contestants, but in recent years the pre-teen contestants of the Scripps National Spelling Bee have supplied some high-level drama — and hilarious bloopers. Read more »
Transfer mammoth files reliably for free
File-transfer services make it easy and relatively reliable to exchange multi-gigabyte files with family, friends, or co-workers. Xdrive and TransferBigFiles top the list of free file-transfer services, though each of the two imposes some limitations. Read more »
The hardware way to boost your productivity
You might think that my favorite PC timesaver would be a souped-up computer, a super-secret utility, or a settings tweak that makes Windows run at warp speed. Nope. The tool that speeds my workday like no other is my ancient, indestructible Northgate keyboard — and while these babies have been out of production for years, I know how you can get your hands on a close approximation. Read more »
Take the mystery out of network-traffic analysis
The free TCPView utility shows which programs are responsible for which network connections. Free up bandwidth and stay safe by identifying the network links that you don't need or that jeopardize your security. Read more »