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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2006-11-09

An Email Newsletter
from Fred Langa and Mike Elgan
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

1) A Very Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago, the very first issue of the LangaList was published to a small--- OK, *tiny* <g>--- number of subscribers. To put it mildly, it was pretty lame. 8-),

Times change, and today your fellow subscribers hail from all around the globe--- 80% of the world's nations are represented here! As you might expect for an English-language missive, readers where English is the native tongue (the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, New Zealand...) tend to make up the largest part of the subscriber base; but there's a significant number of readers in places where English is not the primary language. You may be surprised--- I sure was!---  to find that the same newsletter you read also goes out to people in places like Kyrgyzstan, Mali, the Udmurt Republic, and Kiribati. Heck, you even have fellow readers inside the Vatican. <g>

And now, as we start the tenth year of the LangaList, we're merging with WindowsSecrets and will reach more readers in more places around the world than ever before. (For full details, see http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-10-30.htm#1 )

This is the last issue you'll see in this format. Starting next week--- on Nov 16th--- you'll see the first issue of the new, combined Windows Secrets & LangaList newsletter. As we've mentioned before, I'll be the Editor of that publication; Brian Livingston ( http://BrianLivingston.com/aboutbrian/ ), who's the current editor, will become Editorial Director.

The infrastructure tests we've been running have gone pretty well. The few problems that did crop up were swiftly beaten down by Brian's able staff (special thanks to Brent Scheffler, the Program Director there).

The major pieces are falling nicely into place, but (naturally) there are a few details that remain to be worked out. For example, I don't know if we'll have space and bandwidth in the newsletter to talk about the "LangaList kids" (the disadvantaged kids around the world that we help through various aid organizations). But I promise you I won't abandon the kids, even if we don't have the month-by-month reports in the newsletter. Rest assured the kids will still be helped.

Those and other relatively minor issues will get worked out as best we can, as soon as we can.

In any case, as we enter Year 10 of this project, a long chapter in the LangaList's history is closing. But as that chapter closes, another opens, and next week you'll see the new, merged WindowsSecrets and LangaList newsletter. This isn't at all an end: It's a fresh beginning!

There's lots more ahead, so stay tuned, and thanks for being a part of the LangaList--- and WindowsSecrets!--- community.

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2) Does Your Page/Swap File Deserve Its Own Drive?

Dear Fred, What about giving the paging [aka "swap"] file its own dedicated drive? I've done this on several machines with no problems (although I did *once* receive a "Windows is running out of Virtual Memory" message while running CorelDraw, which I suspect is not good about releasing memory). In any case, a useful utility is Mark Russinovich's System File Defragmenter ( http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/pagedefrag.html ), which defrags not only the paging file but also the Registry on bootup. I suspect you mentioned this at one time or another; I get most of my most useful utilities from your newsletter. ---Jim Allen

Turning over a second drive, or a partition on a second drive, for the exclusive use of your page file can theoretically boost performance--- especially if the separate drive is on its own controller. But the performance boost might well be so slight that you won't notice the difference in real-life operations.

The reasons for the theoretical boost are that 1) you can create a temporary paging file that won't fragment because no other files will be written to the disk; and 2) the dedicated can devote all its movement to the paging file without having to take time out to read and write other files. It's also possible to format the page file's drive as FAT32, which is marginally faster than NTFS, adding another small increment of speed.

Readers who would like to try this can read this Microsoft Knowledge Base article for instructions on how to move your paging file in Windows XP.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886

(BTW: In some forms of backup where the software isn't smart enough not to copy the page file, getting your page file off your main drive or partition will greatly reduce the size of your main drive's backup files. So, there's more to moving the page file than speed alone...)

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3) Did You *Really* Send An Infected E-Mail?

Hi Fred - Love the list. I'm writing about item 4 from your 11/1 newsletter ("Message Says, 'You've Sent Infected E-Mail'"
http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-11-02.htm#4 ) which talked about an email that a reader received saying he'd sent infected email. In your response, you mentioned that it might be a phishing type of scheme, and you also gave recommendations about setting up PC-cillin. However, I think you missed the most obvious possibility - the reader's email addressed was probably faked from someone else's infected machine - so when it was "returned", it was sent to the reader, instead of the actual sender. Take care! ---Tony Mayer

Well, yes: There are actually *many* reasons why any e-mail user could receive a notification that he or she sent an infected message. In the interests of brevity, we focused on the one the that seemed most appropriate for that reader's situation. We didn't intend to oversimplify.

But you're right, there are other reasons for the "you're infected" return emails, and they fall into one of two categories: 1) it's true; and 2) it's false.

These "false" e-mails should be treated just like any other spam--- in fact some significant percentage of garden-variety spam involves some form of e-mail spoofing (such as the e-mail with fake header information that Tony refers to). Like any other spam, it's important to avoid the temptation to reply to, or forward, the message. Just delete it, period.

However, the "true" reports--- when e-mail correctly says you sent infected e-mail--- require other actions. Reader James Dix mentioned in his original note that he's running PC-cillin and that he's scanning incoming e-mail, but said nothing about outgoing e-mail. That's why we provided instructions on how to enable that feature.

Our bottom line recommendation is to use good security tools, especially a quality antivirus package; and activate the outgoing e-mail scan feature. Keep the AV package and OS (and all your security tools) up to date. Then, any e-mails you get reporting that you've sent infected mail will most likely be the result of spoofing, spamming or social engineering; and can be ignored.

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4) Getting "Snippy" With Web Pages

Hello Fred! Like everyone else, I am addicted to your newsletter and I can hardly wait to see and experience all the new changes.

In response to saving web pages ("How To Save Web Pages" http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-10-30.htm#7 ), I have found Net Snippets ( http://www.netsnippets.com ) the best way to capture, organize and store websites. The best part is dragging the website to the hotspot located on the quick launch bar and letting go. It comes in three flavors, free, standard and professional versions. This program runs independent of any browser so it is always there waiting for you to drop a website on it.

These days I find myself using different browsers at different times, none are perfect. In fact IE7 is somewhat of a disappointment as it seems slower, the tool bar keeps moving items around, and the security reminder is completely annoying. Sorry, that's another subject. ----Eric S.

Net Snippets is a quick way to grab Web content, and also e-mail and PDF files. The company positions the product as a tool for researchers; it's kinda pricey for casual use. The "Standard" and "Professional" versions cost $79.95 and $129.95, respectively. Academic users get a 50% discount. http://www.netsnippets.com/product_info.htm

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5) Don't Forget Firefox's "Mozilla Archive Format"

In "How To Save Web Pages," you talked about IE's "save as type/web archive, single file (*.mht)" option.

Please don’t leave out Firefox. One of Firefox’s biggest advantages is its rich library of extensions. There’s a “Mozilla Archive Format” extension that does the trick for Firefox. It’s the equivalent of IE’s mht web archive, but on steroids. It has an IE-compatible file format option, a native Mozilla option that’s more space efficient, and a “save to Zip file” option.

The only caveat is that, as of my writing this, the extension isn’t yet compatible with Firefox 2.0. Historically, the MAF authors take a few weeks to catch up with major Firefox releases.

As a paid subscriber to both LangaList and Windows Secrets, I look forward to see what synergies happen when the two newsletters combine. Best of luck. ---Joe Ellett

Thanks, Joe, and to all who wrote in!

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6) Powerful (But A Little Geeky) Bulk Renames

Fred, I'm a 27-year veteran of the Computer Wars and I find something to spark my interest in every single issue of your Plus newsletter, thank you! Being an old-timer, my first thought when I saw [a question about batch renaming] was, "what a wonderful chance to use the Command Line Interface." When I worked as a Unix Admin, we used to try to outgeek each other with one-line Perl scripts. This is maybe an outshoot of that.

With such structured filenames, the FOR command is the perfect solution. Mr. Alvey has filenames in the form File#.doc--that is, static text, a number, and the extension--and wants to rename them to the number, some static text, and an extension--that is #MyFile.doc. In XP (at least), FOR has an iteration structure that will allow this to work. As a test case, I went to the command line and did [written as one long line; it may line-wrap in your email client or browser]:

for /l %i in (1,1,3073) do @if exist file%i.doc rename file%i.doc%iMyFile.doc

This starts a FOR loop with iteration turned on (/L) and gives FOR a variable to work with (%i). Then, FOR gets the START (1), STEP (also 1), and STOP (3073) values. It will count, by STEPs from START to STOP. For each iteration, it will do the rest of the line after DO. Here, we have @ (to turn off the standard out or dumping the results to the screen--it saves a *lot* of time) and a test for the file (IF EXIST FILE%i.DOC). As I'm sure you know, the %i will be replaced by the current count of the FOR loop. If the file exists, it will be renamed from FILE%i.DOC to %iMYFILE.DOC. It takes a little less than a second and a half.

The down side is that it doesn't zero-pad the numbers, so they will sort in a very ugly way (1, 10, 11...19, 100...2, 3, 30...). To get around this (again in one line!) you have to include some IF/ELSE clauses, like this [written as one long line; it may line-wrap in your email client or browser]:

for /l %i in (1,1,3073) do @if exist File%i.doc if %i LSS 10 (ren File%i.doc 000%iMyFile.doc) ELSE (if %i LSS 100 (ren File%i.doc 00%iMyFile.doc) ELSE (if %i LSS 1000 (ren File%i.doc 0%iMyFile.doc) ELSE ren File%i.doc %iMyFile.doc))

Re-written for clarity:

for /l %i in (1,1,3073) do
@if exist File%i.doc
if %i LSS 10
(ren File%i.doc 000%iMyFile.doc)

ELSE (if %i LSS 100
(ren File%i.doc 00%iMyFile.doc)

ELSE (if %i LSS 1000
(ren File%i.doc 0%iMyFile.doc)

ELSE
ren File%i.doc %iMyFile.doc
)
)

This is not a "simple" method [and] it *is* horribly obfuscated by being put in one line.

But the point, simply, is this: you don't always need to go find/buy software to do the task at hand. Frequently, you already have excellent tools, just waiting to do your bidding.

Sorry this is so long, if any of it is useful, feel free to edit it
down.

Thanks for the great newsletter!

- Lance C. Eck

Thanks, Lance! Microsoft also offers advice on manual and semi-manual ways of doing this sort of thing: http://tinyurl.com/y82z9a

Although fewer and fewer users bother exploring the command line, batch files, cmd files, macros or simple scripts, they're all powerful tools that can sometimes let you do *exactly* what you want instead of accepting a ready-made tool that only does sort of what you want. Plus, these tools are right at your fingertips, inside Windows. You've already paid for them, so why not use them? <g>

http://www.google.com/search?&q=command+line
http://www.google.com/search?&q=windows+cmd
http://www.google.com/search?&q=windows+batch
http://www.google.com/search?&q=windows+script
http://www.google.com/search?&q=windows+macro

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7) Outlook Won't Lose Weight After "AutoArchive" Diet

I run Outlook 2003 so I don't think I would have the 2Gb problem referenced in your last newsletter ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-11-02.htm#3 )... however, in the interest of keeping it smaller...I ran autoarchive on all my folders....I now have an archive.pst file in addition to outlook.pst. Problem is...outlook.pst did not change in size one whit....what's up with that? If some items move to archive.pst shouldn't outlook.pst get smaller? Thanks. Your newsletter is the best. ---Michael

Alas, Outlook (and Outlook Express, for that matter) isn't very bright about file-size management. After you remove data by deleting or through the AutoArchive feature, Outlook .PST files tend to retain their original, bloated size: When you archive or delete mail, it's not really deleted from the original folder, but just marked as archived or deleted.

Even if the size doesn't bother you, it's a potential security hole, as sensitive information you've nominally "deleted" really isn't gone, but remains in the file.

To really get rid of it and to shrink the file size, you need to "compact" the file using Outlook's well-hidden "Compact Now" (or OE's "Compact) feature. In the folder tree in Outlook's left pane, right click on Personal Folders and choose Properties. Click on the Advanced button, then the Compact Now button. In OE, it's Tools/Options/Maintenance/Clean Up Now/Compact .

If you haven't done this before, or haven't done it recently, it may take a few minutes for the old archived/deleted messages to be *really* removed from the file, and the new, trimmer version of the file to be written.

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8) They Loaded The Code

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

Windows Process and File Information Resources
http://processlist.cabspace.com/

IT Management (Scotland)
http://www.it-pros.co.uk/index.asp

Private Pc Coaching (Kansas)
http://patcorrao.com/usd235/

Machine Embroidery
http://www.needledreams.com/

Collectible Books and Magazines
http://www.siamman.com/forsale.html

Ray's Homepage
http://www.joink.com/homes/users/reverly/

BLT Marketing
http://www.bltmarketing.com/

Freelance Photography
http://bradhinesley.com/default.aspx

Personal Blog
http://blog.myspace.com/87199956

Forensic Psychology & Psychiatry Links
http://members.optusnet.com.au/dwillsh/

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9) Choosy Spammers Choose GIF

Hi Fred, Great newsletter, I have been getting a somewhat new type of spam I have learned to known as GIF spam. The body of the message is done in a jpg or gif image and included is a paragraph or two of nonsense text. The subject line is also some nonsense and the from line is always different. As a result, customary filtering by Outlook Express does not work. I have also tried blocking servers as most of these come from outside of the US, but this does not work either.

Are there any spam blockers that do a good job of detecting this type without having to go through all types of learning curves? Right now the problem is not out of hand and I just delete them as they are easy to spot, but this is frustrating.

Maybe some of your other readers are also experiencing this. ---Larry

Both GIF spam (unwanted e-mail that contains not text but images of text in the .GIF format) and "gibberish" spam appear to be on the rise. They don't always go together. Both are designed to elude spam filters.

(At least one GIF e-mail uses the "animation" capability of the GIF format to expose the recipient to a "subliminal" message. In the example linked here, the words buy, BUY, BUY!!! are flashed on your screen for less than a second. http://tinyurl.com/lzotv )

Trying to "roll your own" anti-spam filter using Rules alone--- especially if you're trying to "block servers"--- is unlikely to be effective. Spamming is a shell game. The spammers keep trying new techniques, new combinations of subject lines and new origination points. That's why the foundation of your anti-spam efforts should be a frequently updated anti-spam package.

Additionally, you can use an online e-mail service such as Gmail as the address you share for verification purposes or for posting online: It has a very accurate anti-spam filter built-in.

And, of course, never reply to, or buy from, a spam e-mail. If you do, you'll increase the value of your address to those who trade in e-mail lists.

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10, 11, 12, 13) Plus! Edition Highlights:

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content including:

• XXCopy Clone Now Supports Windows XP
    (free alternate tool more powerful than original?)  
• More On "Waaaaay Too Much Background Activity"
    (other causes, solutions)
• Temporary Internet Files Not Temporary Enough
     (keep 'em from coming back)
• DVD Disk-Spanning Backup Software
     (even huge backups can be easy...)

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

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14) Just For Grins

The Dark Roasted Blend blog posted Sunday these "New Breakthroughs In Mathematics" (Some simple and genius revelations, made by students):
http://tinyurl.com/y6jv8f

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See you next issue (2006-11-16) in a brand new format!

Best,

Fred & Mike

Editor (at) WindowsSecrets.Com

 

Editor (at) WindowsSecrets.Com

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