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The LangaList
SPECIAL EXPANDED ISSUE
Standard Edition

2006-06-22

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

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1) PLEASE READ: Summer Hiatus

Short form: I have to move my office, so the LangaList will be shut down for a while. Subscriber email will not--- cannot--- be answered for a while; and there'll be no new issues published. There also are other factors at work (see below), so the combined downtime will be significant--- at least 6-8 weeks. I *will* get to your letters and subscription service requests, but PLEASE EXPECT A SIGNIFICANT DELAY.

Long form: My wife and I are moving to a new house. That's normally disruptive enough, but I also work from a home office, so it's a double hit: Not only are we moving our personal stuff, but I also have to shut down the office, move it, and set it up afresh, in the new location; with new networking, a new ISP, and all that stuff. We also have to get our present home ready for sale; and will need a little time just to catch our breath.

Because everything's going to be torn apart anyway, I also hope to rebuild parts of the newsletter publishing operation, including how the issues are put together, the mail-delivery infrastructure, and more. It's a major, major overhaul; I'm rethinking *everything,* from the ground up. I have to tear everything apart anyway, so now's the time to do it.

After this issue, I'll start packing this office, and will be offline for quite a while. Again, the downtime will be significant--- 6-8 weeks anyway. During the hiatus, I will NOT be able to answer reader mail and will NOT be able to process subscription service requests. I'll collect your mail, however, and when I'm back up and running, I *will* get to your letters and subscription service requests, but PLEASE EXPECT A SIGNIFICANT DELAY.

The public Langa.Com site ( http://langa.com/ ) and the private Plus! subscriber site ( http://langalist.com/plus/ ) will remain live and available for the duration; they should not be affected at all.

Please be patient. I normally try to keep my personal life out of the newsletter, but sometimes, it's just not possible. <g>

Again: I will be offline for quite a while--- 6-8 weeks or so. I *will* get to your letters and subscription service requests, but PLEASE EXPECT A SIGNIFICANT DELAY.

Thank you, and please enjoy this SPECIAL ISSUE in the meantime!

(BTW, if anyone wants to buy a waterfront house in coastal New Hampshire, just an hour from Boston, with a pretty nice home office space.... <g> http://13williams.com/ )

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2) Reinstall XP Without Losing Any Software Or Settings

This technique lets you completely and nondestructively rebuild, repair or refresh an existing XP installation while leaving already-installed software alone (no reinstallation needed!). It leaves user accounts, names, and passwords untouched; and also takes only a fraction of the time a full, from-scratch reinstall does. And unlike a traditional full reinstall, this option doesn't leave you with two
copies of XP on your hard drive; or delete an exiting copy. Instead, you end up with just your original installation, but repaired, refreshed, and ready to go.

It's XP's most powerful rebuild/repair option; and yet Microsoft chose to hide it behind seeming dead ends, red herrings, and a recycled interface that makes it hard to find and (at first) somewhat confusing to use. Go figure.

We've saved this technique for last in our discussion of the various XP repair/rebuild options because the fixes we've previously discussed are like first aid--- the things you try first. For instance, see this discussion on removing limitations on XP's Recovery Console (
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=187000225 ), turning it into a more complete repair tool; or this discussion on the Recovery Console's little known boot data "Rebuild" command (
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=185301251 ) that can cure many boot-related problems. (There's also lots more on the Recovery Console here: http://tinyurl.com/p7fnr )

But when the Recovery Console techniques don't work and you're facing the prospect of a total reformat/reinstall, STOP! Try this no-reformat reinstall technique, and you just may get your XP setup running in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the hassle of a grand mal wipe-and-restore.

You'll find complete, step-by-step instructions with abundant screen shots
waiting for you here:
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897

With this information, you should almost never have to face a dreaded start-
over, from-scratch reformat/reinstall of XP!

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deal in the business... the Langalist Plus is still something I look
forward to each and every week. I really think that it's a bargain
price; every computer user in the world should be reading your stuff!
Loyal Plus subscriber, Mike Derbyshire Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada"

Thanks, Mike!

The Plus! edition is just pennies an issue--- about $1 a month--- but that
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3) How To Improve On the 'Ultimate'

Dear Fred, I am a recent Plus member addition, but a long time reader. I always get something useful out of your newsletters. Always!

In response to [a recent] BartPE item [ http://www.google.com/search?as_q=bartpe&as_sitesearch=langa.com ], I have been using BartPE for about a year now. It is incredible handy as a system administrator. I also use Knoppix, and a similar Linux distro called MEPIS (With Mepis, you can log in as root, which just makes some tasks easier for me.). You can download many plugins for Bart's tools, but there is also a project that creates a whole systemized disk. This may be easier for those less technically inclined.

The UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD) project, originally collected a bunch of DOS based boot disks into one bootable CD. I believe you have covered this project in the past. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

I don't know if the following project is connected in any way to the first but it is a similar idea for a Windows Ultimate Boot CD. They use the Bart PE method and make UBCD4WIN. They have collected a set of very common drivers that you can download, and a set of very useful tools that are made into plugins and ready to go. http://www.ubcd4win.com/

You still need to download Bart's packages and have your own XP CD. But their downloads replace all the individual driver downloads and the individual package downloads and allow you to create a very useful CD without a lot of searching. You can combine some things too once you understand the building process. I have also added a few simple scripts to take care of some personal repetitive tasks and automatically do things like preparing system hard drives, copy setup files, etc. The Bart method allows you to burn the contents of one directory (and sub-directories) to the CD. I have even had luck with some applications that require an install. Sometimes there are errors in installing, or errors in running them, but sometimes they get the job done anyway. I hope your readers find this a useful item. ---Roy.

Thanks, Roy! Two more bits of good news: The folks at Ultimate Boot CD for Windows shipped a 3.0 version June 5, and that version includes Bart PE (Bart Preinstalled Environment). That means you won't need to download Bart's packages separately, but will, of course, still need your own XP setup CD.

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4) Dude, Where's 'My Documents'?

I've looked forward to each issue of Plus for years. The other day I installed Microsoft Office Professional 2003. The next day I booted up my PC to check and reply to some emails. I wanted to insert a picture and found that all the Folders and Files I added to My Documents were gone, other than I had when I first installed WindowsXP Professional and Service Pack 2. How can I access everything that was there before installing, Microsoft Office Professional 2003? ---Dwight Stilson

Those folders and files are probably right where you left them. Microsoft is most likely playing a little shell game with you by defaulting to a “My Documents” folder in a different location.

To find your folders and documents, first open My Computer and choose Folder Options from the Tools menu. Click on the View tab and make sure the “Show hidden files and folders” radio button is selected, then click OK. Now, right-click on your C: drive and choose Search. Enter into the “All or part of the file name” box the name of a known file or folder that’s in your missing My Documents folder. Once you find the item, right click on it and choose Open Containing Folder.

It’s a good idea to choose a central location for all your documents and data, and make sure that Windows, Office and other applications agree on exactly what that location is. If you’re happy with the new default location, then you can lift the old “My Documents” folder, complete with all its subfolders and files, and drop it onto the new one. Alternatively, you can choose a new location (or the original one) and use Tweak UI or some other technique (e.g. http://www.google.com/search?q=change+default+folder+windows ) to change the default folders.

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5) Two Mice Installed At Once

Fred, I have a Logitech Trackman Marble Wheel which I use for day-to-day work but when I do graphics work it's not as sensitive as I need it to be. Is it possible to use two different pointing devices (mice) without unplugging one to plug in the other? ---Riley Schropshier

Normally, you should be able to use both your trackball and another input device, such as a mouse--- or two mice--- at the same time, assuming you're using Windows XP and USB peripherals (it may take some fiddling under Linux: http://tinyurl.com/mazo7 ). Just plug them in and they should both work fine. Whenever this doesn't work, it's usually because the pointing device installation or your PC manufacturer, installs a proprietary mouse driver that prevents dual input device use.

Although rare, the use of both a general-purpose input device and a specialized one, plugged in at the same time for quick access, is probably a good idea. For most users, mice are generally better for everyday use, but trackballs or more exotic input devices can be great for specific types of work.

I assume you’re happy, however, using the trackball for normal, daily PC use, and are considering a more sensitive input device for graphics work. In that case, you might consider a second device more specialized than a standard mouse. Professional photo editors, artists, graphic designers and even architects often use graphics tablets--- input devices with a flat surface and stylus--- for maximum control. Wacom is the industry leader, but there are other vendors (see http://www.shopping.com/xPP-graphic_tablets_and_mice-~S-213~OR-0~PG-2 ) out there as well.

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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 may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

Check out the details at http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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7) More On: Show All Start Menu Items Without Scrolling

Fred, Thanks for your continuing intelligent advice about all things computer. Apropos your recent discussion on the start menu program list. As I recall, I used to be able to show a full listing of all the programs in win98 in a multi-column format by making a change in the registry. I preferred this to scrolling and, if necessary, pruned the list so it fit on the screen. Have searched many internet advice sites for such info on WinXP to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated. ---Roger Hoeck

Changing your Start Menu to display all items without scrolling is easier in Windows XP than it was in Windows 98--- once you know where to find the control. We talked about this last year ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-07-25.htm#2 ) after Plus reader Rajeev Rohatgi recommended the donationware program "Find and Run Robot" ( http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/findrun/ ) which lets you bypass the Start menu and search for installed programs and data files directly. (Here's how to turn off menu scrolling: Right-click on the Start menu button and select Properties. There are two “Customize” buttons on the Start Menu tab in this dialog box, one de-activated, and one available for use, depending on whether you’re using the “Start menu” or “Classic Start menu.” Just click the activated Customize button. Choose the Advanced tab and find the “Scroll Programs” check box in the “Start menu items” box and de-select it.)

It’s a good idea to spend some quality time with the Start Menu Customize button when setting up a system. You can add or remove items, change how your Control Panel appears, enable or disable menu dragging and dropping and a host of other settings.

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8) Automating Disk Maintenance--- Without Risk

As a long time plus subscriber, I wouldn't miss an issue. Good stuff... Anyway, I was thinking about automating both scandisk(Win9x)/chkdsk.exe (XP, 2K) and defrag on all of the computers in my office (all are Windows XP Pro SP2). I was going to have them run automatically, first scandisk on Tuesday night, then follow up on Wednesday night with defrag. I have done the research to determine exactly how to accomplish this via the Task Scheduler using batch files so no help needed there.

What I was wondering is what problems might be caused if the power should go out during either of these processes. I am a big believer in Murphy's Laws, so sure as shooting, power will go out at the wrong time. I really would like to know what I can expect, with both a worst case scenario and normal scenario of the power going out. I am trying to weigh problems vs. benefits of running them regularly, or infrequently as I am currently doing.

We have a small office, so these get run when people call in sick or are on vacation. I just thought that if I automated them, my job would be easier. ---Dan

Automating scandisk and defrag is a good idea. It assures that the maintenance is done frequently, saves time and makes sure the tasks are completed even when you’re not around.

A power failure can hose your systems whether you’re sitting there or not, whether the current process is automated or not--- and whether you’re running a disk-maintenance utility or not. The solution is not to launch utilities manually or infrequently, but to protect your systems with a high-quality UPS. That way, you can use either the auto shut-down software included with the UPS, or what's built into XP's power management to terminate whatever processes are running, and perform a graceful shut down when the lights go out.

UPS:
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=ups&as_sitesearch=langa.com
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=uninterruptible&as_sitesearch=langa.com

XP's built-in UPS software:
Microsoft: "Configure an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) device"
http://tinyurl.com/lu4t8

General Search for "auto-shutdown" software:
http://tinyurl.com/nyczb

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9) Software For Shaky Hands

Hi Fred, Probably not very interesting to most of your readers, but for those with shaky hands (aka a tremor) like me this can be very good news. I found this software application called Mousecage. Its intention is to help people with hand tremor control their computer mouse. As you will understand, using a computer mouse is often impossible for people with a hand tremor. At first, Mousecage needed some getting used to, but once I did that, it helped me enormously. For the first time in ages, I can now handle the mouse without frustration! I found Mousecage mentioned on a Dutch website, but the company that developed Mousecage is UK based (I think) and has an English website: http://www.mousecage.org .

By the way: Many people associate tremor with Parkinson’s disease, but there are a number of potential causes including ‘essential tremor’ (ET: http://www.essentialtremor.org/ ), which I suffer from. Here in Holland it is called 'familiar tremor'. It is estimated that in the United States alone, ET affects 10 million people, almost 3% of the population. Anyway, I hope this helps some fellow tremorers! ---Martin van der Donck

Thanks, Martin. My hat's off to you and people like you. PCs can be hard enough to deal with just on their own; it takes an impressive amount of spirit and determination for people to overcome physical impediments as well.

Mousecage is made by a London-based company called Tunic Software, which charges $29.95 for it and offers a free trial version.

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10) Upgrading From Bootleg Software

Fred, I resubscribed to the Plus! edition--- that's an indicator of how much I enjoy the newsletter.

I have a question. I have a 4 year old Dell Dimension that came with "ME" and an upgrade coupon for "XP" Home Edition. I was unsuccessful at getting the upgrade from Dell and gave up. I, instead upgraded to a bootleg copy of "XP" Pro which I have been using. I want to purchase a legal copy but just how do I go about undoing what I have? I don't at all mind reformatting my hard drive as I do it at least twice per year to keep my machine clean. I still have the "ME" discs that came with the system. Do I need to reformat with "ME" and then upgrade, and then every time I reformat go through the same thing or can I then create a slipstreamed XP with a legal copy? Thanks, Gus

Good for you for going legit, Gus!

If you don't mind the reformat, that's the best way as it will get all the bootleg stuff off your PC. You can reformat with any tool you wish, including an XP setup CD.

When that's done, boot from the new setup CD and follow the instructions. If yours is a true upgrade version, it will ask to see a 'qualifying upgrade product' or some similar verbiage; you can insert the first ME install CD at that point. The XP setup software will sniff the ME CD, verify it's legit, and then proceed with a normal XP installation.

If your ME setup is actually a disc image--- a Dell "repair" CD or some such, then  the XP setup may not recognize it. In that case, you'll have to use the repair disc to get ME back on your system, and then run the upgrade.

Alternatively, I'd think you can use the process illustrated here ( http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897 ) for an in-place XP reinstall. I haven't tried this myself (I don't have any bootleg copies of XP to try it with), but I would think it'd work:  When asked, enter the license key for the new, legit copy of XP. At the end of the process, you'll probably be asked to activate the new install. When that's done, I think you'll be fully legit. But again, I haven't tried this method myself, so caution is advised.

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11) Those Weird Confirmation Numbers...

Hi Fred. What are those numbers and letters that some sites want you to enter for security reasons (I notice eBay has started to use the same on some entry points to their forms).

How do they actually help security?

And one other point - they make them so difficult to read - it normally takes me about three attempts before I get it correct - why so difficult to read?.

Love the news letter, in fact I get withdrawal symptoms if its not published or I miss it - Dave

The numbers do help, Dave. They're there to prevent spambots or other malicious users from flooding the form page with bogus data.

The numbers are presented as an image, rather than plain text, in order to prevent a simple script from copying and pasting the numbers on the form. And the numbers are distorted to prevent optical-character recognition software from reading the numbers in the image and doing the same thing. The idea is that--- absent some high-powered computing beyond the ability of most spammers and other malicious users--- only humans will be able to decipher the images of the numbers and correctly retype them on the form; thus ensuring that the form only gets used for legitimate purposes.

Yes, the numbers can sometimes be hard even for humans; some sites offer an audio link that *speaks* the numbers to you. The same principle applies: For the most part, only humans will be able to listen to the audio and type in the numbers correctly.

If you're having trouble with the visually-disguised numbers on a site, tell the webmaster (usually listed at the bottom of the page, or on the "contact us" page). If they know people are having trouble, they can add the audio option to make things easier for humans, but still beyond most malicious software's ability.

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12) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...

Thousands of your fellow readers have "Loaded the code." Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join them! (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://langa.com/readersites.htm

The Security Guide
http://www.thesecurityguide.com/index.html

Life Coaching
http://www.palaceofpossibilities.com/

Travel Tips
http://travel-tips.sensible-info.com/

RC Hobbies and Collectibles
http://andysrchobbies.zoovy.com/

"Barge Of The Dead"
http://www.bargeofthedead.com/

BlogLady
http://thebloglady.com/

carols corner office (MS Office Tips)
http://carols-corner-office.com/default.aspx

QuestGems
http://www.questgems.com/default.htm

Handmade Jewelry
http://www.juliahutchins.com/

Maine Sporting Camp
http://www.northeastadventuresmaine.com/

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13) "Trusted Site" Annoyance

Hi Fred: I have a very short list of trusted sites in Internet Explorer--which I usually only use on MS's web site.  But IE exhibits a weird behavior when I go to the trusted sites--it tells me that I'm going to a trusted site and asks if that is OK. 
 
This seems to me to be a moronic behavior.  IF the site is trusted, why should IE ask me about it?  Is there any way to turn this stupid reminder off?
 
Keep up the good work and thanks for the newsletter.  It is a constant source of good information. Regards, Henry S. Winokur

Actually, it's a good thing, Henry, because one of the ways malware can mess you up is to insert a hostile site into your Trusted zone. If the malware then causes you to go to that site, you'll do so with your defenses down, and may not even know it.

Having a final check on entering a trusted site helps ensure that you really know the site, and in fact do trust it.

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14) Sloooow XP Shutdown

Fred, You've had many discussions on optimizing the Windows XP boot-up time, but I'm now experiencing a slow shut down time.  After clicking Start/Shut Down, there is often times a long period of time before the shut down dialogue window pops up.  This is even after I've closed all open programs.  I think this slow shut down time can sometimes relate to hard drive intensive activities involving a lot of temporary file storage, and the hard drive is spending time purging these files.  I can correlate this to when I had recorded CD's or DVD's during a session.  But other times I only had the computer on to read email (in Outlook) and/or do a little web browsing.  What else can be slowing my shut down time and what can I do about it? Thanks for the great newsletter. ---Greg Ray

There are a few normal activities that can cause a shutdown delay--- closing/purging temporary files is one, as you state. Some users set various cleanup tasks to run at shutdown, and that slows things down as well, of course. On system with a lot of RAM and/or a slow hard drive, Hibernation can take a noticeable chunk of time. And so on.

Beyond the more or less obvious, one common cause of shutdown delays is a driver that won't let go; one that does not respond to the "terminate" command from the OS. (Some printer and CDR drivers seem to be especially prone to this.) So, one thing you can do is ensure that all your drivers are up to date with recent, known-good (check the BBSes or Google Groups) versions.

You can also troubleshoot the issue more scientifically. XP has a built in "Startup and Shutdown Troubleshooter" although it doesn't go very far. Still, it's a place to start: Go to Start/Help and Support and use "shutdown" as the search term, and under "Fix a Problem" select the "Startup and Shutdown Troubleshooter."

Many other troubleshooting tools exist, too:
http://www.google.com/search?q=trouble+slow+shutdown+xp

And you also can brute-force a shutdown. The command

shutdown -s -f

typed into the Start/Run line or used as the guts of a batch file will tell the OS to force (-f) a shutdown (-s) even if some software or driver doesn't acknowledge the termination command.

And, for completeness,

shutdown -r -f

does the same thing, but with a reboot (-r) instead of a shutdown. For more about "shutdown" command options, go to Start/Help and Support and use "shutdown" as the search term, and under "Pick a task" select "Shutdown."

If using an external program is easier, try the free Wizmo ( http://www.google.com/search?as_q=wizmo&as_sitesearch=langa.com ). The commands

Wizmo shutdown!

Wizmo reboot!

(with the exclamation points) are the Wizmo equivalent of "shutdown -s -f" and "shutdown -r -f"

Naturally, fixing the problem is best; but at least the above can get you past the problem in the meantime.

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15, 16, 17, 18, 19) Plus! Edition Only:

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all items plus much more content including:

• Choosing An MP3 Bitrate
     (what's the best quality/size tradeoff?)
• "Windows Genuine Advantage" Is Spyware?
     (something bad may be going on here...)
• ZoneAlarm Frustrations
     (ever see a dog bite its own tail?)
• Free *Slim* PDF Reader
     (no install, under 1 meg)
• Optional Links
     (just for Plus! subscribers)

Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more content in every issue (like the above), but also have access to a private web site with over 100,000 words of special content and features not found in *any* issue of the newsletter; along with dozens of private downloads and much more--- all for about $1 per month!

Plus! Edition info: http://langa.com/plus.htm

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20) Just For Grins

You may have seen this before, but I found it pretty good. I came out with an "Amiga" personality http://bbspot.com/News/2003/01/os_quiz.php
Cheers from a longtime LangaList Plus! Subscriber, Dan Livingston

Thanks, Dan! I'm HP-UX: "Though few understand you, those who do love you deeply and appreciate you." Hmmmm. <g>

And here's a small bonus Grin, in reference to our recent discussion of the software engineering phrase, "eating one's own dog food" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-06-05.htm#9 ):

Hi Fred, I live in Marion, Ohio.  We used to have a Quaker Oats plant that made pet food.  The Quality Control staff carried spoons. So yes, some people really do have to eat their own dog food. ---Brian Clark

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(Give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition!
Click <a href= " http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue, at the end of the summer (see item #1, above)!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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