Mini Media Player in your Taskbar. 08/03/03

Windows Media Player 9 can now be a Mini Media Player in your Taskbar. It's just like the original player, except smaller. Here's how to activate it in XP.

1. Right-click an empty area of the Windows toolbar.
2. Click Toolbars and choose Windows Media Player.
3. Minimize Media Player. If you do not have the choice to Minimize Media player then go to the Windows Update site and do your updates.

Your Mini-Player will appear in your taskbar. Click its icon to get a small screen for your visualizations or video. Click the player's information button (it's the only button that you won't also see on a home stereo) to get access to your CDs and playlists. If you use the player allot this is a nice way to have the control handy while you are doing other things.

 

Outlook Express attachment issue. 12/04/02

98 and ME users : When doing the Internet Explorer SP1 update you may notice that you can not save or forward your email attachments in Outlook Express. To fix this. With Outlook Express open, click on the word Tools at the top then click options. In the options box click on the Security tab. In here under virus protection you will see, Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus. Take the check out of the box next to this statement. Click OK. Now you can save or forward attachments but be careful what you open. Follow ASW safe computing simple guidelines, coming soon. XP users will experience the same problem if they setup a mail account after the update was done.

 

Customizing IE 6 Toolbar. 12/01/02

ASW presets you Internet explorer toolbars, but you may want to customize these toolbars to better fit your way of surfing the Net. With Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP, ME and 98, you can move your menu bar, toolbar, links bar, and address bar to create more room to view Web pages, or to customize your browser for efficiency's sake.

First you must check to see if the toolbar is locked. In a blank area at the top the Internet Explorer toolbar, right click. A content menu will pop out and 2nd from the bottom you will see Lock the Toolbars. If there is a check next to it then left click on it to take out the check. This will unlock the toolbar.

Simply point to any vertical bar on the left side of the bar you want to move. If they have been moved before then you may see the vertical bar anywhere within the toolbar. Move the mouse on top of the vertical bar. When the pointer changes to a double headed arrow, hold the left mouse button down and drag the toolbar to where you want it. You can move it left, right, up, or down.

 

CD ROM Burning & Music Downloading. 10/02/02

Lets talk a little about burning CD's. On today's high speed CD burners it is easy to make a CD that may not work on some CD drives. This is because of the speed that they burn at. It can write data that is poor in quality and making it hard for CD drives to read the data, other than the one that made it. If this happens, slow the write speed down. I burn all my critical data at 10X or less. I know they make them to burn that fast, so why can't you use it? Well you can and for the most part no problem, but if you do have a problem with reading, slow it down.

I would also like to mention a little bit about music downloading software that could have a Trojan horse virus with it, and ASW recommends not using this software. KazaA, is one that has been a real pane the last few months, and also Grokster, and LimWire. Others may have the same problems so please be careful if you use this type of software. ASW does not condone or promote the use of this type of software for stealing music that the artist does not want you to have.

 

Road Runner Problems. 07/04/02

Remember that new Road Runner customer that Mike previously mentioned. Well, that customer is me, Lowell Franklin. And, my trouble lasted approx. 3 1/2 weeks before getting satisfaction. When I saw the start of a potential problem and began getting intermittent service, I started a log of most outages and telephone calls made to Time Warner.

I explained the nature of my problems and indicated I felt it was intermittent. After being told to unplug the power line on back of the modem and to re-boot (which I had to do on repeated occasions) a service man finally did start finding potential causes. First the old cable line was replaced with heavier cable from the house to the modem, then a separate cable just for the modem. After the next visit following more complaints to TW, the service technician then replaced the line from the pole to the house. Still problems... I refused to call the RR help line as me and Mike both felt it was strictly a local problem.

Finally the bill arrived and I immediately called TW once again. I read my log to the individual at TW giving dates/times of outages and service provided to that point. This time a signal check was made from the TW office and it was discovered that I had no signal to the cable modem. The following day, two trucks were dispatched, all connections were rechecked, and a new modem was installed. This was the third one. A complete line check from the fiber optic pole to the pole servicing my installation was made. Since then, RR has gained me as a satisfied customer since I made one final call to TW and reached a satisfactory settlement of my bill.

Several things might be learned from my experience.

1. If you feel you are not getting the service being paid for, start a date/time log of outages and problems.

2. Call and let your provider know of the problem, why pay for what your are not getting.

3. Try to talk to the same person each time or at least ask for him or her, after so long a time they will listen.

4, Try to get the same service technician if possible to eliminate duplications of service repair.

5. Finally, after several days of satisfaction, call and negotiate those charges you feel are excessive and what you should not pay for.

Hi this is Mike, as far as my feelings on this subject, I thought it was the modem all along, first one was bad, so was the second. I did sit back and wait this one out while Lowell worked it out on his own. He did a great job fighting the process TW put him through and made it to the end.

 

Mysterious Programs. 06/14/02

Dose anybody out there wonder how some programs end up on your computer when you didn't ask for it. This has become a problem because the last thing most people need is another program starting when the computer starts. { ASW recommends and supports none } Most computers that come into the shop with complaints they are slow, lockup, or just are not running like they used to have the same problem. Programs that start when the computer starts. And what do I do to fix them? I take out ALL startup items, and by the time I finish doing that, the computer is usually working normal again. Now I am not trying to cut down the number of repairs I get in, please keep doing it and I will be glad to clean it up for you. We have all heard it before and it is true. And that leads us back to the ones you tell me you didn't know got installed.

So all month I have been working with my customers trying to prevent some of this, well all of this from happening. Well, actually I already know how to, but for some reason there are none believers out there that say there was no choice when installing the software. Lets take two common ones, Gator and Add Companion. I had my customers send me some of the web sites where they downloaded software. We checked first to see if they had Gator or Add Companion running in the back ground. They also told me they had no choice not to get them. So I went to those sites to see, and so far out of all the sites I went to, there was a choice not to install these unwanted programs at some point along the way, either before the download or during the installation.

So lets all join in, send me the web sites you believe you had no choice and we will take a look and let you know. Oh, one more thing to help me out and cut down the number of sites I will get… the key is to read everything you can before downloading or as you install the software. You may find it first and I won't have to look.

 

Hardware Drivers. 01/01/02

This information is being written for use by ASW customers. Some information on this site is only relative to ASW computers.

A driver is a piece of software that usually links to a hardware device so you can use it on your computer -- monitor, joystick, graphics card, or whatever. Every device has a driver that translates program commands into something a device can understand. The easiest way to understand this is to think of a driver as something that allows your computer to directly interface with its hardware.

When do you need to install a driver? If you buy or receive a new piece of hardware, then there is a good chance before you can use it you will need to install a driver. Note: ASW would appreciate it if all ASW customers notify us before installing a new driver if you computer is under warranty.

When do you need to update a driver for a device that is on your computer? This is easy if you have an ASW software supported system, just ask us. Another good way is old faithful, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But from time to time drivers can be released for your hardware that may support new features and you might want to try them. Then, you will need to update the driver. There also may be times when you might want to update your version of Windows and you may need to get new drivers for you hardware.

How to get new drivers: The easiest way is to check the hardware manufactures web site. ASW customers can contact ASW. If you attempt to update any drivers on your own you need to know the exact name of a particular device. For example, we know our sound card is the Creative Sound Blaster PCI 128. It helps to know this information before trying to update a driver. If you accidentally install the wrong driver for a piece of hardware, you could render it useless and maybe the computer with it.

As far as ASW customers are concerned, they should always contact ASW first, or make certain of any driver you download by waiting a month for other people to try it. You will get a less buggy driver this way.

How do you install a driver? If you are an ASW customer and you want to do this yourself then contact ASW for more information. Or have ASW check your system and update your drivers for you if needed.

 

Virus Verification. 11/22/01

There's a tip floating through the Internet that offers a easy and fast method for preventing the spread of viruses in Microsoft Outlook. Here's how the tip works:

In Microsoft Outlook, create a new contact. In the Name field, enter !0000 (or something similar). You want to use a name that guarantees that this record will always be listed first. This record should not have an e-mail address.

When you get a virus that tries to spread itself, the virus will read the first record in your Outlook contact list. This record is the !0000 contact that you just created.

Since the first record has an invalid e-mail address, Outlook will generate the following error message when the virus tries to send itself: The Message could not be sent. One or more recipients do not have an e-mail address. Please check your Address Book and make sure all the recipients have a valid e-mail address.

Click OK at the message box. Congratulations! You have stopped a virus from spreading to your friends and family in your contact list.

It doesn't always work!

While the above tip sounds realistic and logical, it doesn't always work. For this tip to work, it depends on one major thing: The virus that is trying to propagate itself looks at the first record in Microsoft Outlook and nowhere else.

The fact of the matter is viruses today are very sophisticated. Most viruses are now smart enough to get addresses in other ways. For example, the virus may pick a random address in Outlook instead of the first one. Or the virus will just pick addresses from your Inbox. The tip above works if a virus looks at the first record in Outlook and nowhere else; there aren't many viruses that do that.

It doesn't hurt to create a false record. There is a chance that the virus can choose that record, and since there's no valid e-mail address, you've done exactly what you wanted to do in the first place. The chances of a virus picking the false record all depends on the number of contacts you have in Outlook.

How can I stop a virus from spreading? The best way to prevent viruses from spreading is to never open file attachments.

 

Managing Windows Resources 09/19/01

This is one of the main reasons we do not like programs that run at start up, in the windows 95, 98, and ME environment A common topic of confusion amongst Windows 9x users is the difference between resources and memory. If you use Windows 9x, you'll sooner or later run into a situation where you get an error message about low resources. However, this has nothing to do with the physical memory or RAM that's installed in your PC. Let's take a look at what those system resources are, how they get depleted, how you can monitor them, and how they can be refreshed.

The term System Resources actually covers two main areas of Windows memory that are reserved for and used by specific Windows components. They are called User and GDI. Each one of these memory sections is 64KB in size, which is fixed due to the Windows 9x architecture, and cannot be increased.

User system resources refer to the input manager User.exe. It handles input from your mouse, keyboard, and other sources, such as communication ports. GDI stands for Graphics Device Interface and is in charge of graphic components of Windows. It stores fonts, brushes, bitmaps, and other graphics stuff, as well as lends support to other graphic output devices such as printers.

The term free resources therefore refers to the unused portion of each one of these memory areas and is usually measured in percent for simplicity. As a side note, versions of Windows that are based on the NT kernel such as NT 4, Windows 2000, and the new Windows XP do not have those limitations and handle resource leaks a lot better than Windows 9x.

Resource Leaks: As you can see, these two resources are vital to Windows and every program that you run. Each application on your PC will consume resources as you run them. Small applications might only use one or two percent, while big programs might consume 10 percent or more. Therefore, your resources will drop with each program that you run. Ideally, once you shut a program down again, all the resources used by it will be released back to Windows so that they are available again for later use by other programs. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Sometimes not all resources are being released and Windows still sees them as being used even though they're not, which means it cannot make them available to another application. This is commonly referred to as a resource leak.

Fraudulent Utilities: Let's clear up one thing while we're at it. A resource leak is different from a memory leak. The memory leak refers to physical memory, RAM, that was not released by a program after exiting. Similar concept, but unrelated to resources. There are a lot of utilities available on the web and in stores, both free and pay, that claim they can fix those leaks and free up used memory. Those programs can only do this for memory, not for resources. And it will use the system resources itself. If you see a program that boasts it can free up system resources, don't even bother. These resources can only be released by Windows or by the program that occupied them to begin with. Or you can reboot.

Monitoring Resources: Windows comes with a handy little tool to help you monitor the use of system resources. This tool is called Resource Meter and can be started by going to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Resource Meter. If you don't see it listed, you can easily install it by going to Start/Settings/Control Panel/Add Remove Programs/Windows Setup/System Tools, putting a check mark into the box next to System Resource Meter, clicking OK, and inserting your Windows 9x CD if prompted.

Once you have the resource meter started, you'll see a little box with green bars in your system tray on your task bar. When you hover your mouse over it, you'll see a box popping up with percentage numbers for System, User, and GDI. As explained earlier, User and GDI are the important ones. System resources simply indicate the lower of the two.

Double-click on the resource meter tray icon and you'll get a windows with three bar graphs. This little tool can be very helpful with monitoring your system resources, and if you have problems, you might want to create a shortcut to it in your StartUp folder to start it every time you boot Windows.

When you clean-install Windows and fire up Resource Meter, you'll probably see ninety-some percent of resources available, e.g. 92% User resources and 98% GDI resources. This is great. But the moment you start installing and running programs, these numbers will go down.

Background Applications: After using your PC for a while and installing gobs of programs, you'll notice that your resources are much lower even when you just booted Windows. They might be in the 80% range or maybe even lower. This is due to programs that get loaded on Windows startup. Good examples for these types of programs are virus scanners and other always-on utilities like AOL Instant Messenger, Iomega Tools, RealPlayer and many more. To see what applications are running after you boot Windows, just push Ctrl-Alt-Del on your keyboard and take a close look at the resulting dialog box. Each line is a program running. There are two applications that you'll always find there, one is Explorer, which is Windows itself, another is Systray. But anything else is a program taking up valuable resources.

Identifying Resource Leaks: If you are running into a resource problem, you can try to identify the culprit via a systematic approach. First, try to isolate which program might be causing the problem by installing and running the resource meter as explained above, then running some of your applications. When you have narrowed it down to a few possible suspects, write them down. Then reboot Windows to start with a clean slate and make sure resource meter is running. Note the amount of available resources. Open only one program from your list, use it for a while, then shut it down again. Now check the amount of resources again. Are the numbers the same as before running the application? If so, great. However, if the numbers are lower, maybe significantly lower than before, you have just identified your culprit. This would be a good time to contact the program vendor and asking if they have a patch available that corrects the problem.

How much are enough Resources?: There is no clear line as how much is enough. As mentioned above, a clean system might start with resources in the 90-95 percent range. A system with a number of programs installed might boot with resources in the 70-90% range. When running a fair number of applications simultaneously, resources might drop down to 30-40%. This is perfectly fine and nothing to worry about. However, when you close programs your resources should increase again as most resources will be freed up once they are no longer in use. Please note though that they will not return to the same percentage you had available right after starting Windows. This is due to the fact that there are certain shared components in Windows that do not get loaded on startup, only when they are needed, but stay loaded once the requesting application is closed again.

Recovering Resources: If resources drop and are not being released by the application that used them, there isn't much you can do. The only way to recover resources is by rebooting Windows. Also, after running Windows for a few hours or a few days, depending on how many programs you use, eventually you'll notice a drop in system resources. That's just the way it is, not much you can do about it. Again, a quick reboot is the easiest way to recover those lost resources. Windows 95, 98, and ME where not designed to run day after day or long periods of time. For best performance it is recommended to reboot windows once a day. There is no reason to leave your system on all day if not in use, shut it down and turn back on when needed this will help keep a stable system. And get that stuff out of start up.

 

It's Virus Warning Time Again 08/12/01

Well it is time again to address the topic of computer viruses. For the present time ASW recommends that virus programs only be used to scan files on demand and do not let the virus program run when the computer starts. This has always been are policy and will remain in affect. If the time becomes necessary to do it any other way ASW will notify all ASW customers.

I personally do not use a virus program scanning in the background or checking my mail, and as of this day have not infected my system with a virus. I practice what I preach because computers still run better when there is no virus software running in the background.

July has been a busy time with viruses and I am a little sad to say that some were ASW customers. And the only way anyone got the virus was to open an attachment. Shame Shame.

We must all try to remember some simple rules. If you are going to receive an attachment, then the person sending the attachment should e-mail first and let you know it is on the way and tell you the name and what it is for. Anything else from that person should be suspect. If you get an attachment from someone you know and they did not tell you it was coming then mail them back and ask before you open. All other attachments should be deleted. Practice Safe Computing.

If you must open attachments that you get from whomever, then at least scan them first. Create a folder anywhere, the desktop is a good place. Put the file in there and scan it with your virus software. Make sure the Dat files for the virus software are up to date. You should check this first before scanning the file, even if you did it the day before. Checking for Dat file updates once and a while will not work. I would recommend every other day and maybe soon, every day.

If you are interested in learning more about the above paragraph contact ASW. We have an in house program that can help you get started.

Lets not forget the Virus Hoax. Here is a link to a site to help you learn about them and what to do to help stop them and how to identify them.
Virus Myths

While we are talking about Hoaxes take a look at this link and read up on plain old mail hoaxes. Everyone should read this.
E-Mail Hoaxes

It is important to reboot Windows after making any changes or when you install or uninstall software. If you do a lot of this type of stuff, and I know some of you do, rebooting all the time may get frustrating. For most of you computer geeks, every microsecond counts.

Well, my impatient friends, here's a streamlining tip for you. You can restart just the Windows session without having to go through the whole arduous startup process. Just go to Start, Shut Down, Restart, and hold down the shift key when you hit OK. This will just reload Windows-- and your changes-- without the whole long startup.

And keep in mind! After much software installing and uninstalling, you really really want to take the time to Scan Disk, just in case, and do a Defrag to keep your system's speed.

 

Reboot When Making Changes 08/01/01

It is important to reboot Windows after making any changes or when you install or uninstall software. If you do a lot of this type of stuff, and I know some of you do, rebooting all the time may get frustrating. For most of you computer geeks, every microsecond counts.

Well, my impatient friends, here's a streamlining tip for you. You can restart just the Windows session without having to go through the whole arduous startup process. Just go to Start, Shut Down, Restart, and hold down the shift key when you hit OK. This will just reload Windows-- and your changes-- without the whole long startup.

And keep in mind! After much software installing and uninstalling, you really really want to take the time to Scan Disk, just in case, and do a Defrag to keep your system's speed.

 

Hard Drive Maintenance 07/01/01

Hard drive maintenance is an essential part of keeping your computer in good shape. This includes performing regular disk scans as well as defragging your hard drive on a regular basis. While Windows comes with a basic defragmentation utility, it leaves a lot to be desired. It is slow, cannot be scheduled, has a high impact on system resources (meaning it slows down other programs running while defraggin), it can defrag only one volume at a time, and more. For those reasons and more, you can purchase professional disk defragmentation software such as Diskeeper 6.0 from Executive Software.

What is Disk Fragmentation? Fragmentation occurs when your computer is saving files to the hard drive, but cannot find enough consecutive clusters to save the entire file in one chunk. As a result, it saves part of the file in a few clusters here, another part of the file in a few clusters somewhere else on the drive, etc. The main downside to this is that when your computer wants to retrieve the file, it has to go to several different sections of your hard drive to pick up all the pieces instead of reading it in one quick swoop. The more often you delete and write files on your hard drive, the worse fragmentation gets.

Defragmentation Software analyzes the files on a hard drive and then rearranges files and free space so that they are in contiguous clusters. This makes disk usage much more efficient and speeds up disk performance considerably by making it possible to read files in one continuous run from consecutive clusters.

Disk fragmentation happens on any computer with a hard drive. It doesn't matter whether it's a high-end corporate enterprise file server, or your old Pentium 100 system at home, or your kick-ass gaming machine at college. No drive is immune to it, and every drive requires defragmentation to prevent performance loss. Therefore every computer owner should defrag the hard drive(s) on a regular basis, either with the built-in Windows defragmenter or with a commercial product like Diskeeper 6.0.

 

Add/Remove Programs 06/01/01

Why can't I uninstall a program in the Add/Remove Programs list?

An installation log should be created when you install a program, and the program name should be added to the uninstall list. Hopefully when you want to uninstall the program some time later the log file is still available. If you deleted the files in the directory folder where it was living, it isn't available for the uninstall.

In some cases even when you uninstall properly the entry still stays in the list, leading you to believe that the program is still on the hard drive, when in fact only the entry in the list is still there. When you try to uninstall such a program, you get an error message because the actual program is nowhere to be found.

If you can't uninstall from the uninstall list, the next best way to uninstall is from an uninstall icon in the program's folder. In most cases if uninstalling from the uninstall list didn't work, uninstalling from the icon won't either.That leaves one option, which is to use Explorer to delete the directory folder where the program is living.

I do not recommend the use of "uninstaller" types of programs to uninstall programs that cannot be uninstalled from the list. Windows shares lots of files among many programs. If you accidentally delete one of the files, it breaks all of the other programs that share the file. I've found that folks are better off leaving a few extra files on the hard drive than risking deleting a shared file.

 

Back Up Your Files 05/01/01

Do you regularly back up your system? No? You should! Why? Because it doesn't take much time or money to save copies of your critical files, such as work documents and financial information, and these backups could save you a ton of work if anything goes wrong.

You can easily preserve your Microsoft Works or Word files, for example, on a simple floppy disk.

Large files such as Microsoft Money files, photos, spreadsheets, video clips, and other files can be saved to a Zip, Jaz, CD-R or CD-RW disc. If you have many files or large files that won't fit on a floppy, you may want to think about investing in one of these recordable drives.

If you think that backups are a pain, just imagine how much trouble it would be to re-create all of your lost work in case, say, a virus wipes out your hard drive, someone deletes a file by mistake, or your hard drive just fails.

Until next time... Learn to backup important files. For more information on how to save files to a floppy, scroll down to the bottom and read my 9/11/99 Hot Tip on saving files to a floppy.

 

CD Care 04/01/01

What is it about those shiny little plastic discs that makes us want to see how far they'll fly? CDs are rugged and reliable, but they're not indestructible.

Keep CDs clean (but don't use harsh cleaners). Fingerprints, dust, dirt, and scratches cause read problems, and deep scratches may ruin the CD entirely.

Store CDs in their plastic jewel cases, handle them by the edges, and keep them away from children and pets.

Also, be careful when you label CDs. Today's CD-ROM drives spin very quickly, so even a small label can throw a disc off balance and cause the drive to rattle.

Although the rattling won't hurt the drive itself, it may cause read problems as the disc spins. Instead of paper labels, use indelible markers or pens specifically made for use on CDs. You can find them in your local office supply or computer store.

 

Electrical Conditions 03/01/01

Ever wonder why you shouldn't run your system on the same outlet as the air conditioner and coffeepot?

That's because unrelated incidents such as lightning strikes, solar flares, and traffic accidents can damage your power lines and, consequently, your computer. Brownouts, (minor dips in power), can make your system reset or shut down unexpectedly.

Power surges and spikes, on the other hand, muck up your PC's power supply, freezing and maybe even damaging your system.

To ward off brownouts, surges, and spikes, use a good-quality surge suppressor.

 

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 02/16/01

Just as microscopic smoke particles from cigarettes, cigars, or nearby fires can damage your lungs, smoke can get into your drives and jeopardize your data, often causing a costly head crash when a drive's read/write heads come into contact with the spinning platters.

The head normally floats on a fine cushion of air, so when the heads skid around the platter and damage the data-retaining surface, you lose data.

Smoke can also coat CDs, DVDs, and CD readers, causing read errors. The best way to protect your system--and yourself--is not to smoke.

But if you just can't kick the habit, take it outside or use an air purifier to clean the air near your PC.

 

Deleting Files 02/01/01

According to an old computing rule, if the machine asks "Are you sure?" just say no.

Windows makes it easy to delete unneeded files, but it's also just as easy to trash essential ones. It's usually OK to delete work files (such as documents, images, and so on), but indiscriminately erasing EXE and Dll's or other program components may do more harm than good.

As a rule, you'll find all of the essential files that Windows needs to operate in the Windows System folder, so never delete files from that folder unless you're absolutely sure it's safe. Even then, leave the deleted files in your Recycle Bin for a while, just in case the system comes asking for them.

 

That Nasty Old Phone Line 09/17/00

This time around I would like to address being kicked off the Internet. No, I don't mean by your other half, but being disconnected frequently from your dial up.

It could be the ISP, but it's much more likely the phone line. Modems are sensitive to line noise and any interruption in the carrier tone between you and your ISP may be interpreted as a hang up. That's why you have to disable call waiting (dial *70) before dialing out. Dial up can also be configured to do this for you automatically. The call waiting beeps interrupt the carrier tone long enough to trick the modem into thinking it's been disconnected.

If it's line noise, make sure you're not causing it. Try different cables. Disconnect any other equipment in the house. Look for worn or frayed connections. Maybe even try another jack.

If you're pretty sure it's not an internal problem, complain to the phone company. They're not required to give you anything more than a clean voice line, though. They don't usually have an obligation to give you an adequate data line - and data is much more demanding than voice. A line that sounds clean could be very noisy to the modem. You can pick up a line noise filter from your local Radio Shack. The AT&T part number is Z100A. Hint: if you complain to the phone company, just tell then you have static on the phone and don't mention the computer.

If your ISP has different phone numbers, try using them. Sometimes that clears up the problem. Also make sure that your modem is compatible with the ISP's - some modems work better together than others. I always ask the ISP what they use before I install a modem.

3COM has a line test phone number that reports to tell you if your line is good enough for 56K transmission. Go to the web link below for more information. It requires a one-minute long distance phone call.

http://www.3com.com/56k/need4_56k/linetest.html

Some modems can test themselves. Use HyperTerminal to get online with a BBS, type +++ to get the modem's attention, and when it says OK type AT%Q and hit return to test line quality. The lower the number the better the connection. Hit / a few times to repeat the command. Anything over 40 or 50 means you're about to be disconnected. Not all modems support this command.

Another trick is to tell the modem to be less picky about line noise. This involves modifying the initialization string sent to the modem before dialing. In Windows, open Dial-up Networking, right click on your ISP's icon, and select Properties. Click the Configure button, click the Connection tab, press the Advanced button, and add this text to the extra settings box. ATS10=20 This tells it to wait two seconds after carrier loss before hanging up. If it doesn't work, increase the number 20 up to 50.

Good luck. This is a common and annoying problem, and it's one of the reasons more and more people are moving to broadband connections when available.

 

System Crashes & Recovery 8/12/2000

ASW has found that the next few steps of information can help you dramatically in keeping your system running smooth.

Remember not all software works on all computers. Read all you can before installing new software. Learn your system, hardware, and file management.

If system locks at any time, follow my recommendations listed below. PRINT THIS SO YOU HAVE IT WHEN YOU NEED IT.

Try all possible tasks to get back control of system. After trying Ctrl, Alt, Del, give the system time to react. 30 seconds should be fine for most lock ups. End task on any software you see not responding, you may need to wait again for the next box to pop up, then click end task again.

If no response, shut off the system, then reboot. Push the enter key if the scandisk screen comes up during boot. This is a blue screen with a yellow status bar. When back in Windows you will want to check the Temp folder first and delete any files that are in this folder. Only do this when the system is first started.

To do this, make sure there is no CD in the drive. Right click on Start and click on explore, opening explore this way will open with the Windows folder expanded. Make the window full screen if not. You will see the Temp folder on the left around the bottom. Click on it once to highlight that folder. On the right side, delete all files. Close all open windows when finished.

Now run a scandisk. Automatically fix errors should be checked, if not, check it. It will repair any errors automatically. If it shows the error, just click on repair or what ever it suggests to continue. Do not do a thorough scandisk. When finished, go about doing what you wanted.

If after a game, when you return back to your desktop, you may see that your screen has changed, such as colors or the size of things. Right click on the desktop, left on settings, and change your desktop to 800x600 for most 17" monitors or 1024x768 for most 19". These are just suggested desktop screen sizes. Change colors in that same box to 16 bit, then Apply settings.

DO NOT USE 32 BIT for performance reasons, unless you have a need for that color depth.

While in that same display properties box, click on the word Advanced, then adapter, and look down at refresh rate. It should be at least 75 or the highest your monitor can handle. If not, change it. Answer Yes or OK if prompted. Ok your way out and close all open windows, click yes if it pops up. This will restore the desktop. Check to see if it looked like it did before the problem.

Until next time, do not let any software replace your direct X unless it is a newer version. SEE OUR SITE for the latest posted version. For better system stability take all items out of start up, and remember, most problems come from not reading how to do it, and typing in the wrong information.

 

E-mail Attachments and Viruses 6/21/2000

Start Up Programs 05/01/2000

This time around I would like to address those little program utilities that load during software installation and then automatically start on startup into Windows.

Everyone at one time or another has probably installed a program that insists on loading itself on startup, even if it isn't in the Startup registry.

These programs are generally of no real value when booting, wind up taking up system resources, create stability problems, and increase boot time. If they are needed, most can be configured to start on user demand when needed instead of auto-loading. System resources are a small pool of memory where these programs load. Use up those resources and problems will crop up.

Most people run Anti Virus software in the background. This is one of the biggest hogs taking up 8% of the system resources. A good way to stop specific programs from loading is to use The System Configuration Utility in Windows (MSCONFIG).

To run it, click Start, Run, type in "MSCONFIG" (no quotes) and press ENTER. When it comes up, click on "Startup" and check or uncheck items you want to load or not to load. This is very useful if you have a program or programs that you only want to run sometimes or not at all. Then you can almost always load the program from the Start Menu anyway, or simply re-enable it to load on Startup again at any time if you change your mind.

I do a lot of software installation and have been keeping track of programs that put themselves in startup. My current build of Windows is only 6 months old and the number I have removed from startup is 42 items. If I left all them in, my computer would hardly move and more then likely lockup a lot.

ASW recommends that ALL items be taking out of start up and turn them on and off when needed or load them manually when needed.

 

Internet Connection Problems 02/27/2000

This time around I would like to address an issue with Internet connection problems and what happens when you call your Internet Service Provider first instead of ASW. Just because once and a while you get a slow connection, or can't connect at all, this does not mean that you necessarily have a problem with your computer.

In the past few weeks ASW has had to fix one problem and solve another one. Both cases where problems with the Internet. You know, not getting connected, slow if you get connected, or can't seem to go anywhere. Anyway the people called the same Internet Service Provider for help instead of ASW.

Now when they talked to the tech at the ISP and they each had a different tech same ISP, neither one attempted any form of problem solving, they only had the people go in and start making changes.

In one case the person was ask to go through an installation of Microsoft client for networks. Well you need your Windows CD or the cab files on the drive to do this. Since this was a friend doing a favor, they did not know where the CD was. Boom failed installation and you end up with some error messages at bootup. The ISP did not ask to see if they had the CD or Cabs before taking them through the installation. The ISP did not try to solve their new problem and there wasn't really a problem in the first place. When I cleaned up their mess and restored the settings to the original ones, there were no problems. The first problem was related to that ISP.

In the second case again there was no attempt to try and see where the problem was before making changes. The tech wanted to make some changes to the dial up settings but this did not help. In this case it was a hardware problem but the changes that were made by the ISP where put back to there original settings and all is well.

Therefore, I feel it is important to write the following recommendation for all owners of ASW Custom Built Computer Systems. If you experience any type of connection problem with the Internet, do not, I repeat, do not call your Internet service provider. Call ASW first. Internet service providers are not technical support for our computer systems, and most of the time have you make changes that will not at all help. So please, if you have any Internet connection related problems, call ASW. If it is an Internet Service Provider problem, we will also know that, and can let you know.

Effective immediately, any ASW Computer customer who experiences problems due to changes made to their computer system based on recommendations from any Internet Service Provider or anyone else will void their ASW software warranty and will have to be charged by ASW for services to correct such problems.

Remember... most PC problems don't simply happen--they occur because we have made a change to our systems in either removing or installing or changing the settings for our hardware, our operating system, or our applications. One of the most valuable things you can do is step back and evaluate what changes may have been made immediately prior to the problem developing.

 

Installing & Un-installing Software, Part II 12/25/99

It will soon be ASW's busiest time of the year. January, February and March will mostly be spent fixing computers. And most of the repairs will be caused by the installation and deletion of software, mostly GAMES. With some games reaching an install of 3 to 5 hundred Megs, it will be a good idea to do a few simple pre installation task.

During any installation of software you should always read any instructions or the read me file that came with it, and choose a custom installation if available. This way you can always make a choice of adding or not adding options that the software may offer.

With lots of today's new games there is not an option of a custom installation. It simply begins, and your faced with a lot of boxes to check or not to check. With this kind of installation you must know the hardware that you have inside your system. (ASW customers can e-mail or look at their system credential sheet.) On the software side, you must also keep your version of DirectX up to date and know your video driver. All the games that I install and test do not install or come ready to run at their best. You must at least change the minimum screen size. This may not seem like much, but oh what a difference in how it will look. If you don't know what these things are then you should probably not be installing some types of game software until you become more familiar with them. ASW is always here to help.

After installing software and re-booting your system, you may find a new icon on the right side of the taskbar. This indicates that you have some software starting which was installed by the software. This usually means some type of utility program is running in the background. I have found that it is not necessary to have these type of utilities running. If you find that you need it, you can always turn it on. Software running in the background can cause a host of system problems. Not to mention the possible corruption of software installation.

Now I'm not trying to scar anybody away from installing games on there computer, but only trying to help make installations go more smoothly and to stress the importance of buying or downloading software that is compatible with your hardware configuration. Read the system RECOMMENDED requirements on the box. I have found minimum requirements not to be expectable.

It is a proven fact that systems that have had lots of software installed and un-installed, need to be managed, or problems will begin. For people, and even hardcore gamers that install and un-install games, games, games, the operating system will have to be reinstalled in less than a year.

At this time, computer-operating systems like Windows have not managed to be able to keep a stable running system at all times. Using software designed to find and fix problems don't really keep track of it's own operations, and more problems come up again. Then add anti virus software, along with user changed utility settings, and more problems will be the final result. I have found that software which claims it can fix everything in Windows, will eventually cause system problems.

With current computer technology, like it or not, we all have to put up with the way they work. But I have learned that some simple precautions can make a big difference and they're simple to do.

Before software installation, start the system clean. Shut off any running software. Look on the right side of the taskbar. There should only be the clock and sound icon. Shut down any other running software.

Right click on Start, left click on Explore. The explore window will open. In the left pane you will see the Temp folder. You may have to scroll down just a little to see it. Click on it once to highlight it. Look on the right side, and if you see any files in the Temp folder, delete them all. Then, close this window.

Next, empty the Recycle Bin. Now Defrag the system, if prompted to do a scandisk do one then go back and defrag again. Now you can install the software and remember read everything first.

For un-installing software, if the software has it's own un-install, use it. At the end of un-installing, if it says it could not delete some parts of the software, click on details and note the path and the folder to delete. You can use the find files and folders off the Start Menu. Type in the name and choose the C drive, then click find. When you see it, right click and delete it. Make sure it is an exact match.

If you have subscribed to McAfee on line, use the un-install software feature. This will do a good clean up. ASW recommended.

Until next time, be sure to re-boot after each install or un-install, keep your temp folder clean, and be sure to scan disk and defrag weekly.

 

Installing & Un-installing Software, Part I 11/24/99

OK, stop right here. First, before installing any software or games, check how much hard drive space you have left. Next see the software documentation and total up how much hard drive space you will need. When your finished installing the new software, you never ever want your hard drive to contain less then 300 Mb of free space. If space is going to be a problem, make room by un-installing some software first.

Un-installing software is not accomplished by deleting the folder for the application. I will not bore you with why, but this approach will eventually result in problems with your computer. Even if the program group shows an un-install option, I recommend going to the control panel, and using add and remove program to un-install any software. If the application is not listed there, then use the provided un-install feature in the software program group.

During the un-install process, if you are faced with a decision box that pops up, asking you to make a choice on deleting a shared file, to be safe, I highly recommend to answer no. Many people, unaware of what the file is, choose to delete the shared file, only to find that later on, another application will not work. And remember to always re-boot the computer after each software application you un-install.

Now for the part you all are waiting for. Installing new software or games. Now slow down a little. Take the time to read the installation recommendations that came with the software. Now you can begin the installation process.

When installing software, I recommend, if given the option, to choose a “custom” installation. Take the time to read and understand your installation options, and choose only the components you want. On all ASW computers, and most other properly configured Windows system, items such as “Active Movie” and “Quick Time” are not needed, even if the program tells you that they are. These utilities will only override and disable already installed Windows components, causing other programs and utilities not to function properly. You can always go back and install these items later if by some rare chance you find that you do need them.

Also, know what version of DirectX you have on your computer before installing games. Do not install an older version of DirectX. Most programs will recognize the version of DirectX, unless they were written prior to an updated release. Some times the game cannot identify the version of DirectX, and will tell you that you need the version that came with the game. Choose not to install it when you know your version is a newer one. Installing an older version of DirectX can render problems with games already installed on your computer.

Know what 3D rendering your video card supports, and do not install any 3D options that your card doesn’t support. If your video card does not support the game, it will usually tell you. That will mean an after Christmas return or exchange is in your future.

Sometimes when installing application software, the software installs utilities that automatically start when you boot your computer. For home users, most all of these types of background utilities are not necessary, and will only reduce system resources and slow the performance. Some of these are loaded into Windows system files, and some are put into the Program Startup group. If you see such items in the startup group, they can be deleted. Item like Perfect Print, Office Startup, or other items that appear in you task tray can be disabled to prevent loosing system performance.

And finally, take the time to re-boot the computer after each installation, or before using the application or game. Until next time, remember to Scan Disk, and Defrag on a regular basis, don’t forget to shower and eat while enjoying the new software, and have a very Merry Christmas.

 

Inkjet Printer Tips 10/24/99

This time around, I would like to address inkjet printer usage in regards to printing speed. First of all, all inkjet printers display a properties box just prior to printing a document or picture. Using your printer's owners manual, you can learn to adjust your printers output quality to render a faster speed for the printing job. When printing text just for reference, you will want to use a 180 dpi or economy setting. This will allow you to get the job done faster. For finished text, use the normal or a 300 or 360 dpi mode.

For color graphics with text, 300 or 360 dpi or normal mode will do fine. For finer detail but slower printing speed, a 600 or 720 dpi or best mode will produce excellent results. For picture output, use the highest dpi or mode that your printer will support, if detail is important. So I guess what I'm saying is to adjust your printer's print resolution to fit the job. By doing so, you will not waste your ink or your time needlessly. Often I hear complaints from customers that there printer prints extremely slow, only to find out that they have a high quality printer which supports a high dpi, and are using a 1440, 720, 600 dpi or best mode to print only text.

Many printer property controllers allow for changing other printer adjustments. Features such as halftoning, color matching, and image enhancements, all contribute to slower printing. Unless you are printing a picture where detail and quality are a must, you can turn them off to decrease printing time.

Paper choices are also selectable with some inkjet printers. If your not using a photo paper, or a coated inkjet paper to do a high quality printing job, you can select the plain paper option. This will cause some printers to make fewer passes on the print job saving both time and ink. Again, refer to your printer's manual to learn if and how you can change the settings I mentioned.

Next, be sure to keep your hard drive defragmented using Windows defrag. Printers use the hard drive for their print spooler, which is a temporary file used to store print information while the printer is printing. Your print spooler will run faster when it can find a single contiguous space on you hard drive, large enough to hold the entire spool file.

When creating documents with color, keep your number of color choices to as few as possible. This will reduce the amount of color information that your computer has to calculate, and your printer has to print. If you have an older computer with 16 MB of RAM, you may want to consider adding a little more. This will also reduce the entire print job time.

Until next time, keep your printer off when not in use to prevent your ink cartridges from drying out. If print quality is poor even with new ink cartridges, try using your printers cleaning utility to clean the nozzles. And be sure to use a paper that is recommended for inkjet printers. This will assure that paper debris or coatings from the paper don't contaminate the printer's rollers, causing the printer not to properly feed the paper.

 

e-Commerce Tips 10/02/99

We are coming up to the season when people have more inside time, and tend to use the computers allot more. One of the growing uses are making purchases at Web Auctions on the Internet. It's important to understand the risks and then take precautions to minimize them.

Every buyers nightmare is when you pay the money, and the goods never arrive. Even though only a small portion of auction transactions turn out to go bad, you need only be burned once to decide it just isn't worth it. One of the most effective methods of protecting yourself is to engage an escrow service to handle the transaction. For a fee paid by both parties, usually a small percentage of the sale price, the service acts as an intermediary, holding on to the funds until the buyer has a chance to inspect the goods. And if the seller won't use such a service I advise you to move on. If an escrow service just does not fit your needs, use a credit card that offers you some recourse should the deal go sour. And of course, only do credit card purchases on sites that offer secure card transactions. If you are hesitant about using your card, and do allot of credit card purchases, you may want to set up a separate credit card with a new account number, and a low purchase limit. This way, in case the card number is stolen, you won't be out a large amount of money.

The next problem you could face is that when you get the goods, they do not match their description. The seller should supply a picture. Pay close attention to the details. Seeing that the details match the description will improve your odds of getting what you pay for. Make sure you know if the item is new or used, what condition it is in, and get complete details and specifications. If the sellers description doesn't answer all your questions, send an e-mail asking for more information, and make sure you are completely satisfied with the information, and that all your questions have been answered.

Don't get taken in by shill bidding, using a decoy to drive up bids. You can protect yourself on this one by researching the value of an item before bidding. Use the Internet or other sources to do this, and compare. Once the auction is under way, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement. Set a cap on what your willing to pay, and stick with it.

Don't rely on comments posted regarding a buyers goods, they may be false. Be sure to read all comments to get an over all view of the item. Check to see who posted the comments, and that they have an e-mail address. Take the time to e-mail several and ask questions regarding the item. It the writer of a product comment does not make it clear that he made a purchase, e-mail and ask. If you don't get satisfactory answers, look elsewhere. On-line auctions can be a great way to buy and sell everything from used goods to collectables, but great deals can turn into disasters for those who don't take the time to do their homework.

Until next time, take the time to learn the rules of the game, this knowledge will serve you well as you take a walk on the wild side of e-commerce.

 

Backing Up Files On Floppy 9/11/99

Over my past years in the computer industry, I see many people who practice backing up important files from their hard drive, and many people that don’t but should. The need to backup files ranges from having important pictures to word processor or data files.

Now while you may have hard copies of these, the reason you have them on your computer is because you use them in a computer environment. Yes you could re-scan, or re-enter data, but that becomes time consuming, and if you don’t have a hard copy, then your out of luck.

The reason allot of people don’t backup, is because they are not familiar with how, or think that their files are too big, requiring a high-tech storage device. For the average home user, files can be stored to a simple floppy, and devices like zip drives and CD recorders are a waste of money and resources. Also, if you find that the required amount of files you would like to backup is rather large, you can still backup to floppy with a little work, using Windows Backup, which allows you to store a file or files to multiple floppies.

What you first need to do is to examine the size of all the files you would like to back up. What you may find is that they will easily fit on a 1.4Mb floppy. You can also break your files down in groups such as letters, or photos. Word processor documents, and data bases use very little space, and multiple photos, when properly sized for computer use, will fit just fine on a floppy.

Simply add up the size of the files you want to backup. 1.38Mb on a formatted floppy, relates to approximately 1,380kb. So as you can see, 10 word processor documents of say 15kb will only use 150kb of the floppy, and ten photos of 100kb each will only use 1000kb of the floppy.

Saving files to a floppy is easy. Simply go the folder containing the file or files you want to backup, and right click on the file name. A content menu will appear. Select “Send To” and left click on 3 1/2 Floppy. (Don’t forget to put the floppy in.) That’s it. You can save as many files as will fit, you can save the files as you need to, and once the floppy is full, you will get a message telling you.

So before running out and buying that zip drive or recordable CD drive, size up your files, you may be surprised. Until next time, keep some formatted floppies on hand, use a floppy drive cleaner at least once a year, and backup your important files.

 

File & Picture Sizes For Printing 8/21/99

Last week I talked about steps to make e-mail "user-friendly", using compression to reduce file size, and how to adjust photos to a respectable size prior to e-mailing them.

This week we will explorer picture file size with respect to printing them on your printer. As I mentioned last week, a photo scanned at 100 percent will be larger than what can be viewed on a monitor. Before scanning a picture, you need to determine how that picture is going to be used. If you want to print the picture in it's original size, you need to scan it at 100%, but if you are going to use the picture in a document, such as a letter or calendar, you will want to scan at a percentage of the original. My suggestion was 15 to 30 % depending on the size of the original.

Keep in mind that it is a total waste to scan at a higher dpi than what your printer can print. For example, if your printer prints at 360 dpi, scanning above 300 or 400 dpi will not yield any better results, and will only leave you with a larger file size. Depending on your computer system, manipulation and printing of too large of a file will only slow things down, and may result in a system lockup.

When using digital cameras, use the lower resolutions like 640X480 for pictures to be printed at 4X6 or less. If you want to print a larger picture, use a higher resolution on your digital camera. For lower dpi printers of 360 or less, use a lower quality setting on your camera, and for photo quality printers using 700 dpi or higher, use a higher or best quality setting. And remember to re-size the picture using a photo editing program to reduce the size of the photo when using in a document. What size you see on your screen is what size you will see in the finished document.

Until next time, keep your scanner glass clean using only a camera lens cleaning solution and cloth, never use a glass cleaner. And avoid leaving your printer on for long periods when not in use. Doing so will result in a clogged print head or nozzle.

 

File & Picture Sizes For E-Mailing 8/15/99

Everyone should take steps to make e-mail "user-friendly" before forwarding a joke, attaching a picture, or sending files. Keep in mind that just because you may have a fast 56K or faster connection to send e-mail, the person receiving your mail may not.

Check the size of the file or attachment ahead of time and try to keep picture files under 100K. Also, include a subject line, and typed message when you send an attachment, so the person receiving it knows actually who it’s from, and what the file is. With so many virus’s popping up in e-mail, most people delete attachments without opening them simply because they fear a virus. ASW, for this reason, recommends that if you receive e-mail with an attachment you know nothing about or who exactly it’s from, delete it.

One of the ways you can make attachments easier to handle for the person on the receiving end is to use compression. Compression is a method of "squeezing" e-mail file attachments to make them smaller. Some of the clogging of the pipes on the Internet comes from people sending uncompressed image files. It's one step you shouldn't forget. When sending multiple file attachments, you can save sending and receiving time by compressing the files into a single zip file. All ASW computers come with zipping software just for this reason. If you do not have such a program, you can download the latest version of WinZip. Just make sure that the people you send zipped files to, also have such a program so they can extract the zipped files for use.

When scanning pictures to forward by e-mail, use a lower scanning dpi of 200 or less, and be sure to view the picture before sending, to be sure it is sized properly for viewing. Remember, a 4X6 photo scanned at 100 percent will be larger than what can be viewed on a monitor. You may want to scan at about 15 to 30% of the original. The larger the original, the smaller the percentage of the scan. Combining both a lower scanning dpi and sizing the photo for proper viewing will help to greatly reduce the file size of the picture.

When using digital cameras, use the lower resolutions, and remember to re-size the picture using a photo editing program so it will view properly on a monitor. Some photo editing software will also give you the option to re-sample the size of the photo which will give better results than re-sizing. And finally, send the picture in jpg or gif format. Bmp (bit mapped) files are just too large.

Until next time, use these tips when sending e-mail. Never type in all caps. It's like shouting, and no one likes shouting. Check your grammar and spelling before sending. Don't automatically relay jokes unless you know the recipients want to read the jokes. And if you want to fire off a nasty reply to someone, let it sit for 24 hours. I'll bet most of those nasty notes will end up deleted rather than sent.

 

Drag & Drop Made Easy 8/07/99

It's easy to become confused in Windows about what's going to happen when you drag and drop a file from one location to another. Will it create a copy, move it, or just create a shortcut to it? Was I supposed to hold down the shift key or the ctrl key? Frankly, it's just too much to remember. Why doesn't Windows just move it? Well, here's my hot tip for moving or copying files.

First a few words on why Windows does different things at different times. Windows has context-sensitive defaults for copying and moving objects. When you drag and drop a file from one hard drive to another, copying is the default operation. But when you drag between two folders on the same hard drive, moving is the default operation.

Well now you can just forget all that, and just remember, instead of using the left mouse button when dragging and dropping, use the right button for your drag and drop operations.

When you do, Windows displays a "Context Menu" that lets you choose whether to Copy, Move, or Create A Shortcut in the new location. This makes the whole operation easy to remember, and gives you the option to choose what to do.

Until next time, all you smokers out there, remember to keep your ashtrays away from the air intakes and vents of your computer. Or else you will eventually learn the real tragedy of nicotine buildup.