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LangaList 2006-06-19 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free! --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- Speed up your Computer, Free
Performance Scan! http://www.pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?id=211487
1) XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild OptionIt's one of those software design decisions that makes you scratch your head
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friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- Here's where the Langa.Com site is hosted! --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) Annual Update on Macy-JeanRemember Macy-Jean Calinawan, from the Philippines? We first met her here ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2002/meet_macy_jean.htm ), and a while later saw how much she's been growing. ( http://www.freetune.com/images/macy_jean200210a.jpg ). We also got a handprint painting from her here: http://langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-05-19.htm#3 Macy Jean was the sixth child (of 13, so far, all around the world) sponsored on an ongoing basis by LangaList Plus! subscribers. With 13 kids in the mix, I thought it would be easier to keep track of what's happening with each child by focusing on one per month; gathering all the correspondence from the previous 12 months and presenting it all at once, rather than dribbling it out in the scattershot and irregular fashion in which the mail arrives. With the political turmoil in the Philippines, communication has been very spotty, even for this kind of thing, so we haven't heard a lot. But here's the most recent info I have--- including photos: Private server (Plus! subscribers only): What's this all about? Those of us with computers and Internet
access are vastly better off than most of the world's population. Because of
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friend 3) Windows Vista Preflight ChecksFollowing our discussion of the free Vista beta ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-06-15.htm#2 ):
Thanks, Bob. And for those who may not have seen it, the official Microsoft "Vista Upgrade Advisor" is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx . It "will scan your computer and generate an easy-to-understand report of any known system and device compatibility issues, along with recommendations on how you can get your PC ready for Windows Vista." The MS Advisor is in beta, but it's a benign one with low risks. It does, however, require the .Net framework. The PC Pitstop tool also isn't quite finished yet (remember that Vista is at least half a year out...); but it runs without requiring the .Net framework. Either or both can give you a preliminary idea of whether or not your present system will meet the anticipated minimum and/or recommended requirements for Vista. And when both tools are finished, some time from now, you'll be able to get an accurate answer. Worth a bookmark! Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- "I have learned so much from your
newsletter, I felt like I was stealing your brains without saying thanks. Please
accept my apology and allow me to subscribe to your Plus! newsletter. I have
recommended your newsletter to several friends, and will continue to do so, only
I'll extol the virtues of the paid version. Thanks again. Dave Rosenthal" --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 4) Another Concern Re: Win98
Because you have a very specific requirement in mind--- protection plus a small system impact--- I suggest some trial and error: Download a bunch of free and free-to-try firewalls and try them, one by one, until you find something that works but that doesn't eat too much of your CPU and system resources. I wouldn't bother trying to find an "outbound-only" tool, as I'll bet you'll be able to find a complete, normal firewall that will meet your needs. And having a complete desktop firewall *plus* a firewalling router is better than either by itself; you'll be better off with a normal desktop firewall in use. When I ran Win98, I used to use the basic version of ZoneAlarm with good results; and ZoneAlarm is still one of the best for letting you see what's leaving your PC as well as what's coming in. Although ZA has inflated somewhat over the years, the basic, free firewall still works with Win98, and may be parsimonious enough with your system to pass muster. But if not, there are plenty of other choices: As for testing whatever you eventually set up, see "How To
Test And Tune Your Online Connection" at (Item #9, below, also deals with a free firewall; but it's for Win2K and XP only...) Click to email this item to a
friend 5) More Dividing, More ConqueringIn "Divide And Conquer" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-06-15.htm#5 ) we discussed several partitioning strategies that can make huge disks more manageable. Here's a follow-on question:
I also have a ton of digital pictures, Gary. And I often share them with others by turning them into slideshows and movies, which also are huge. Here's what I do to back them up: I have an entire large partition on my hard drive labeled "PIX;" inside that partition are annual folders (one folder per year; 2000, 2001, 2002, etc). Within each annual folder, I have subfolders: Some are by month, some by event (a vacation, a wedding, etc; whatever's convenient). After each new vacation or event where I've used a camera, I'll copy the raw files from the camera to a new, appropriately named subfolder of the current year's folder on the PIX partition. Right away, I'll burn these new photos and movies to CD or DVD. That way, I have working copies of the photos or videos on the hard drive, and a "master" copy on CD or DVD that I can tuck away for safekeeping. Each major event thus gets its own folder on the hard drive, and its own CD or DVD. They're backed up from the day they come out of the camera. With two copies already in hand before I even start working on the photos, I don't put the PIX partition into my normal backup schedule. If or when I edit the photos or create a slideshow or movie, I'll copy the end result to a CD or DVD and put that away with the original; this gives me three copies of everything--- two external to the hard drive, and one on the hard drive. Because each event gets handled separately, there's no need to include the entire collection as part of my routine backups. In fact, taking the extra step of burning the photos to CD or DVD as soon as I pull them out of the camera takes just a couple minutes extra, and then I don't have to think about backing up the photos again. Once more: You can make even a gigantic, onerous task much more palatable by breaking it into painlessly smaller ones. <g> Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it
useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend
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subscription will be extended by a full year.) Click to email this item to a
friend 7) "May Your Life Be Filled With Lawyers..."That's supposedly an old Mexican curse, although I suspect the sentiment may be cross-cultural. I mention it here because a recent item raised the tricky issue of software licensing (see http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-06-08.htm#1 ) and also gave this reader pause:
I'm not a lawyer. But let's work backwards from the similar issue of backup copies: Many software licenses allow you to make a backup copy. This is usually meant in the sense of making one safekeeping duplicate of the original setup CD. But the way some licenses are worded, a strict reading could be seen as applying to all kinds of backups. If you back up your PC every night, then after a year you'll have 366 copies of the software; one live on the PC and 365 in backups. Again, by the strictest-possible reading of some licenses, that's illegal. But I've never heard of anyone getting into trouble due to backed-up copies of licensed software. The backup copies are out there and some may even be stored on the in-use PC; but at any given time, there's only one copy in use on one PC by the one legitimate owner. The backups exist for the convenience of the legitimate owner, and don't cost the company any sales. Therefore, no harm, no foul. I think dual-boot is conceptually similar: Assuming you start with your own legitimate, paid-for copy of the software, it'd be hard for a software company to argue they'd been meaningfully harmed by a multi-boot, one-use-at-a-time-on-one-PC-by-the-legitimate-original-purchaser setup. Yes, your PC has several copies of the software on it, but only one can be used at a time by the one legitimate original purchaser on the one original installation PC. It's hard to see any harm in that; it's very different from the clearly-wrong act of taking one copy and installing it on many different PCs. In short: I doubt the Software Police will come pounding on your door in the middle of the night. <g> Click to email this item to a
friend 8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...Well over 4,000 of your fellow readers have "loaded the code." Have you? Check out http://langa.com/code.htm for the details. Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some
very personal: Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At personal blog Sarah's Surprises Harrisburg Tech Solutions Used Comics For Sale Sport Court Alberta Act Knowledge Laura's Web Industrial Hygiene Services Motorcycle T-Shirts mypersonalsafe Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) --- --------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) ComodoItem #4, above, deals with free firewalls in general, and Win98 firewalls in particular. Here's info on another relatively new firewall that's for Win2K and XP boxes:
Thanks, Bruce! Click to email this item to a
friend 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) Plus! Edition Only:Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content including:
The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and
comes with a MONEY BACK Plus! Edition info: http://langa.com/plus.htm Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) --- --------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 15) Just For GrinsA long time ago, we ran a JFG item about "10 Dumbest Questions Asked By Cruise Ship Passengers" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-01.htm#10 ) and followed up with a few more here: http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-26.htm#11 Rummaging in an old mail folder, I found an additional item that never got published--- until now <g>:
Click to email this item to a
friend (Give a gift subscription to
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