Posts by Catweazle

That is why, Answerpooler, if you have a Broadband connection you should always at least have the 'Internet connection firewall' enabled, preferably a more comprehensive Firewall program running, and ideally a hardware firewall sitting between your PC and the internet.

I personally, for ADSL, use a combination modem/router/firewall unit. They can be purchased for only a few dollars more than an ADSL ethernet modem, and anyone who has ADSL should be using one, regardless of whether they are networking PCs together or not! It's the safest way to be connected!

Hi again Jeanne.

Sorry for the delay. We're in different timezones, and I'm afraid that unfortunately I'm human and need sleep sometimes :D

I'm very sorry, but I included an extra quote mark in that command. Please try again, removing the final double quote mark and see if it works for you. If not, please do the following:

You've saved the file to Desktop. I think you may be trying to run it from elsewhere, and that is why you are getting the message. Do this:

* Open 'My Computer'
* Double click on your C: drive
* Right click on a blank spot in the file and folder list and choose New -> Folder. The folder will be created with the title 'Blank folder' highlighted. Rename it by typing

ie6 download

and then pressing <Enter>

* Now display your Desktop. Right-click on the file you download to there and choose 'Copy'. Ensure the newly created folder is opened in 'My Computer', right-click on a blank spot in it and choose 'Paste'. That will save the downloaded file to its own folder.

* Click on Start then 'Run'. Enter this command:

C:\ie6 download\ie6setup.exe /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E

You can highlight and copy it from here if you like, and then paste it into the command window. Most problems result from mistyping the command, and copy/paste will avoid that problem.

* The download should commence, and you should get …

The download is an updated version.

Sorry, nanosani, there's no shortcut for that. You'll have to hold down the <Ctrl> key and keep tapping <F4> untill all windows are closed.

Wonderful! That'll make a grumpy old man very happy!

:D

I KNEW there was a reason why I keep telling people how lovely you are!

I presume that you have other drives, for data storage. If not then you need to purchase another drive. 2Gb of free space is not enough, by today's standards, and hard drives are not really expensive.

You need to have a good look at the 'Settings' or 'Options' or 'Preferences' for your CD burning program. They'll be in the menu system somewhere, and there will be an option to stipulate where the image files are stored and how they are dealt with. Generall, you get the facility to name the storage folder, choose whether to retain or overwrite the image file, and so on.

Yes, you can delete the image files once you've burnt the CD. They are only retained in case you want to burn another copy of the CD. If you don't, there's no point in keeping them. I personally use a default filename for the image files, and overwrite the previous image every time I use the program. There are only very rare occasions when I wish to create an image and retain it.

Do not delete the contents of Prefetch. If you do, your system will take longer to boot up!

I'm not sure what you're saying here, Answerpooler. The concept of broadband is that the PC is continually online whilst in operation. You've mentioned "shutting down AOL", but the actual connection of the PC to the modem must be disabled to have your system isolated. I've not had experience with AOL, but for other ISPs I've had experience with, their software does not completely disable the connection to the internet.

In fact, for the PC I'm logged in with at present, which is connected to ADSL via a gateway/router, there is not even an 'Internet connection' icon available for me to disable. I'd need to access the router and disable the connection, or else disable the LAN connection, for the PC to be disconnected from the internet.

Of course updates will download whilst I'm not using my email client or my web browser. All my programs can access the internet as well, should they need to. That's part of the concept of broadband internet - an 'always connected' PC which can extend its functionality by way of access to data elsewhere.

I've lost it. The new look might be 'professional', but it's been at a cost I reckon.

I like to make use of search facilities. There may be a topic I recall and would like to dig up again, there may be an issue I'd like to research before making comment. It's become more difficult to do so. There's a little simple search box at top right of screen, but it's hardly functional to any great extent. The results it spits out are not accompanied by any mechanism to refine the search further.

It used to be that there was a Search button at top left of screen, and if you clicked on the button rather than entering a search criteria, you got acces to 'advanced' search filtering. That's gone, seemingly.

Yeah, I found it! I brought up 'Today's posts', and there, in the topic heading, was a 'Search' link which led me to the advanced filtering entry dialogue. The old way was confusing, and hardly intuitive, and this new way of hiding it is horrendous!

Please, please can we have a 'Search' button with a visible link to the 'Advanced' search filters?

Okeys. We just use 'em. We don't worry about if they're artistically pretty or not :D

I know canadian toonie (2$) was first made in 1996. Was there a coin somewhere in the world similar to it that appeared before? The euro was after 1996 I think (1999 maybe???).

Australia's $2 coin was introduced in 1988. Our $1 coin had been introduced in 1984, and the rest of our coinage had been consistent since 1966, with the exception of a slight change in shape of the 50c coin. Our 1c and 2c coins were withdrawn from circulation in the period 1990-92.

Which Windows version are you running? I'm busy for a while here, but if nobody else has responded first I'll write up fuller instructions later when I get time :)

Okay. Go to here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1e1550cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6&DisplayLang=en

Download the installer and choose to Save the file for later installation. Make sure you save it to a folder where you'll easily find it. When you've saved the file, use My Computer or Explorer to open that folder. Open a Command prompt (from the Start Menu) and type:

ie6setup.exe /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E"

You can choose to download the installation package for your Windows version or for all Windows versions as part of the process. The download will store the entire IE6 SP1 installation on your hard drive for you.

When it's downloaded, simply run the installation to reload IE6 onto your system.

That's a joke, Jeanne. It's part of my 'signature' here on the forum. The part below the black bar is displayed on every post I make :)

I'm trying to locate instructions for downloading the entire install of IE6 for you. I'll post it later on. If you download the entire package and install it again 'over the top' of what you have there, it should correct your problems I hope.

Which browser you using, Jeanne? Internet Explorer?

Thanks for the interest and concern, Janine :)

Those are actually text files, which can be edited quite easily, or created anew with Notepad. It's the appropriate changes which I'm trying to determine.

Read this topic, danfritschen, and the information linked in it. You'll find plenty of information about the forum there :D

Do you mean big in size or big in denomination? Our $2 coins are one of the physically nearly the smallest we have, being smaller than our $1 coin ;) In fact, our 50c coin is the largest in size that we have.

[img]http://www.aussie-info.com/tourist/coins.jpg[/img]

That 5c coin is about the same size as a US dime.

Things i've tried: reinstall directx.
reinstall video card drivers from ATi.
install different video card drivers (tried Omega Catalyst, DNA-Drivers and Techpowerup FAQ Drivers)
reinstalling service pack 2.
deleting user profile and creating a new one.
installing different video card.

Also, that attached thumbnail most certainly does NOT display a standard Windows 'theme'.

I'm confused here :confused:

LOL. Here in Australia we no longer have $2 banknotes. We've replaced them with $2 coins, and it works well.

This story made me think of the news report I saw last night, where a Chinese tourist to the US had his undies blown up, despite the fact that his suitcase had been x-rayed and found safe :D

All that did for me was displayed some of the page code for pages I'd visited. Not a single thing that I'd entered from the keyboard was displayed, no matter how many times I tried.

I'd suggest you look into just what those 'exploits' are before getting all panicky. the last Firefox one i saw a lot of people carrying on about was one where if a website address could be 'spoofed' by replacing certain international characters with characters that looked similar, some small degree of access could be obtained. Hardly likely to affect you, and not really anything drastic, the way I read it.

Hardly comparable, either, to the risks faced by IE users ;)

It'll get worse over time, as more people change browsers, but for the moment there are better choices by far than IE.

Couldn't disagree more, jwenting.

Now I'm not going to get into 'value judgements' here about what people do on the internet. The simple fact is that 'seedy' areas of the internet exist, and people frequent them. In that regard, the internet is no different to any other facet of human activity. All I'm concerned about is the extent to which the existence of those 'seedy' environs impacts on me!

I'm also not 'buying' the claim, that " Problem is that most people don't set up their browser correctly". I've just had this discussion elsewhere, on a different topic, where a professional PC technician was attacking my colleagues and myself for freely offering people hardware advice and assistance. "Ordinary people don't service and tune up their cars", he claimed, "and ordinary people shouldn't be servicing and tuning up their PCs." He was wrong to assume that nobody should have the right to perform the work themselves, but he was perfectly correct to state that most people don't do so! The same is true for browser configuration. Let's face it. Most people fire up the system and simply use it, and they have a right to expect that they should be able to do so. I don't accept the claim that people who do so are 'irresponsible'.

Windows is NOT a secure Operating System in the way some other OS's can be. Some of the fundamental concepts underlying the way Windows works makes this so. Applications are …

***********WARNING*********

Windows file encryption is a dangerous tool in the hands of the inexperienced. If you use it, be sure to keep a record of any passwords used to access the feature, and be sure to decrypt the files if you plan to backup your data and format, to perform a 'refresh' install of Windows, or to install a Service Pack.

If you fail to protect your encrypted data files against loss, you will almost certainly not be able to access them again later, should one of these situations arise.

They'll still be there, but you WON'T be able to use them! If your files and folders are encrypted, you should really use the same user account, on the same Windows installation, to decrypt them and store them elsewhere, for safety's sake!

Hi,

It's time I sought some assistance from the more technically minded of you. I have a small (big?) problem I'm trying to resolve. The situation is this:

For Windows 98, the system can be backed up, using MSBackup, and restored by using PCRESTOR.BAT, which resides in the TOOLS folder on the CD, and performs an automated minimal installation which then prompts for the backup file you wish to restore. A fully configured system can be restored quickly and easily using the tools.

With the release of Windows Me, Microsoft omitted the 'Resource Kit' from the package. They, of course, wanted business users to use Windows 2000 instead.

The process outlined above simply uses Windows setup with a number of 'switches' which automate the task. It also uses a file called 'msbatch.inf' which sets up some general user settings within that minimal Windows installation.

Is it possible to edit the files, 'PCRESTOR.BAT' and 'msbatch.inf', so that the process will work with Windows Me? The switches work for both Windows versions. Will the procedure work as well, if it's suitably tailored?

banGerprawN, yours sounds like a classic example of where, sometimes, a fresh install is the best method of resolving problems.

Some points to consider:

* You're using 'themes' software. Third party desktop themes interfere with system files, and most will have an impact on functionality, however slight. Dialogue boxes can display incorrectly, notification area icons can refuse to 'hide', or any number of other small problems can arise.
* Service Pack 2 is best applied to a fresh install of Windows. It's more like an OS upgrade than a 'patch', and applying an upgrade to an already unstable system can work to magnify problems, rather than resolve them.
* You've changed display cards, and if that has meant you've changed from a graphics processor manufactured by one company to a graphics processor manufactured by another, again you've encountered a situation where it is both recommended and best practice to clean install and start over.

I'm certainly not fussed in my own case, but if anyone else has been given negative 'reputation' points for simply expressing the view that spammers do not deserve such lengthy terms of imprisonment, please let me know by PM.

I consider that to be grossly unfair, and an abuse of the 'Reputation' system here!

I'm certainly not trying to argue that email spam isn't an extremely large problem. I'm certainly arguing that we need to keep our reaction to it appropriate. Expressing joy that an individual is sentenced to such a hefty term of imprisonment IS, I'd argue, inappropriate.

One fella has been convicted of the crime here. Has he been responsible for 5 of those nuisance messages yesterday? 50? 500, perhaps, of the messages that server jwenting mentioned received? I'd think it damned unreasonable to beleive that he was responsible for all of them. Are we expecting him to bear the brunt of all our anger, simply by virtue of the fact that he's the one who was caught?

I'd consider a single 3 year term of imprisonment to be excessive. 9 years? Hell, people kill other people and spend less time in prison than that, sometimes!

That sounds like an error message which could indicate either of two things:

* you've downloaded a BIOS update which is not really for your motherboard
* you've tried to install a BIOS update when BIOS is not at default settings.

If you're certain that you have the correct update file, reset CMOS and try again.

Okay, fair enough. but consider this approach:

If your email addy is stuffed beyond redemption, accept the fact. If you need to start off with a new one, do so.

If your needs are complex, maintain mutiple email accounts, and multiple contacts lists for them. Your public email addys are far more vulnerable than your private ones. Do NOT mix 'n' match.

Apply the relevent spam filters. For such as gets through the net, make regular and diligent use of the 'Block sender' function. Your addy will NOT remain on most lists when messages sent to it are constantly rejected!

Looks like we may need a tutorial here at Daniweb about how to avoid having spam reach your Inbox. That's an extraordinary amount of spam to be deleting on a regular basis, and with the adoption of some unobtrusive measures, I'm sure most of that time wasted could be reclaimed :)

Oh wow!

I'm pleased that this matter has been tested in the judicial system. I'm pleased that it has been clearly demonstrated that it's a seriously considered thing. And I'm damn pleased that his lawyer has successfully argued that the fella should NOT actually spend any time in prison!

Sure, if he proves to be a serial 'pest', prison time might eventually prove warranted. But if not, then it's definitely NOT warranted.

Seriously, email spam is a pain in the arse. But hell, even for a person such as myself, for whom the workplace exists online and for whom Outlook is basically the 'front-end' to their business, it's just not that much of an impact to spend several minutes or so each day deleting a bit of crap! Certainly not enough of an impact to warrant the idea of someone spending 10 years in prison. I'm able to spend a good deal of my income-earning time online at very little cost. If part of that cost is being bombarded with advertising in various forms (and it IS), then sobeit! Not much of a price to pay, in my view.

Seriously, if people think it IS such a big thing that it warrants someone spending nearly a decade in prison, then I'd suggest you turn off that machine, go outside, and get a life! You take yourself and your inbox far too seriously!

Why do 'smiley faces' show up in my posts, when I didn't click on them?

You might notice that, from time to time, you've typed out and submitted a post, but it doesn't didplay correctly. Instead of the textual information you've typed, one of the little 'emoticons' will be included within your text. The reason is quite simple, and the solution just as simple :D

Emoticons are simply special combinations of characters, which are scanned for, and which are replaced with a tiny image! The broad smile above, for example, is denoted by a colon ":" followed immediately by a capital "D". Whenever this character combination is encountered in a Daniweb post, that emoticon will appear.

The same is true for all the other emoticons. A 'smile' is a colon ":" followed by a right, round bracket symbol ")", a 'wink' is a semi-colon ";" followed by a right, round bracket ")".

Most often, you will encounter this problem when typing out lists, or when enclosing text and other information within brackets. Simply include a space between the characters involved, and the problem will not show up :)

Cheers.

Boot into Safe mode'. You do that by holding down the <F8> key after the screens of POST info have displayed and before the Windows logo screen shows, and then choosing 'Safe Mode' from the boot menu.

Run the tools you've mentioned from within Safe mode.

The nasties you have on your system are possibly loaded into memory at startup, and thus difficult to remove.

Report back if you still have the problem afterwards, please.

I don't care HOW good a partition management program is reported to be, never, never, NEVER work on your system partition or essential data without first backing up your data, either to another drive or preferably to external media such as CD or DVD!

Here's what to do:

If that 30Gb drive is free from essential data, configure it as your main drive on the primary IDE channel and remove the other drive from the system for now. Install Windows on it and get the system running. If it isn't, borrow or purchase another drive for the task.

When the system is running, add the stuffed up drive as a 'slave' or secondary drive. Make backups of the data on it to external media. You may need to use specialised data recovery software for the task, you may not!

When you have your data backed up, remove all partitions from the stuffed up data, start over, and restore your data when you have the system fixed up!

You mentioned RAM chips. Try it with just a single module installed. RAM mismatches can do this ;)

Format. Install fresh.

Sorry to throw that blunt old tired cliche at you, but the path you've undertaken is a recipe for disaster, which can really only pile problem upon problem.

If you have an XP 'upgrade' CD, then you can use it to perform a fresh install, and need only to have the Win98 CD for verification during the process. If you have a 'Recovery CD' for that PC, rather than a Win98 CD, then the problem can most likely be worked around as well.

Haven't we had this discussion before? You're just plain wrong, jwenting. the 'problem' with Internet Explorer is the fact that it's so closely and intimately integrated with the OS shell, and through it the most fundamental core components of the OS can be exposed to outside interference.

Without Microsoft de-integrating the browser and completely reworking it so that it becomes a stand-alone product rather than a component of the OS itself, it is a browser which is flawed beyond redemption!

And I might add that your experience, over the years, is a lucky one, and one which I hope continues for you. But the simple fact is that there are now 'intruders' loose in the 'wilds' of the internet, which can infect your system simply because you have viewed an image or a web-page. Please don't be suggesting that anyone who gets an infection when using it is 'thick', because that's simply not the case!

I'm in Australia mate, not the US. Here Educational license versions of MS Software can be purchased 'off the shelf', and many computer parts vendors also sell OEM versions of MS and other software to accompany the purchase of relevent components.

I think you'd find, if you checked the smaller components vendors in your country, rather than simply the major outlets, that the same can be done. The EULA allows for the product to be sold accompanying parts, and there is no reason that such shouldn't happen.

Very good job! I´ll have to agree with scribbler that the add just above the quick reply is a nuisance. Reason being that you can´t see the previous post when writing the reply, so if you need to refer to it you have to keep scrolling up and down.

Since a reply is the major activity for active participants, it´s an area of concern. If that ad stays there, I hope you are charging an arm and a leg for it, as it is seen about 80% of the time.

I just used the 'Quote/reply' button to do this, and I was easily able to embolden the relevent part of your comment as well!

:D

Several issues here, I feel.

Firstly, claims that any 'deal' to refuse returns are underhanded and involve Microsoft are quite correct. That's bad practice according to any criteria of analysis, including a legal one.

Secondly, any implication that Microsoft would be justified in believing that an OEM or an Educational license is only valid for the original purchaser is also quite justified. It's reasonable to expect that a greatly reduced price restricted license would have such a restriction. Unfortunately, Microsoft, to my knowledge, does not explixitly state that this is the case in the license agreement, and I'd argue that for it to be valid for an unopened product, indication of it should be included on the packaging!

Thirdly, it is NOT the case that an OEM Windows is only available with a new PC! An OEM Windows can be purchased with components as well, and in the event that it is, then the license is tied to that COMPONENT, not to the system. I've personally got a home built household system which uses an OEM Windows XP which was purchased with the hard drive installed. When I later decided to replace motherboard, processor and display card in it, to improve its games capability, I rang Microsoft first, knowing that a reinstall was in order so that I could be sure of the system booring to Windows afterwards. Here's the response:

MS dude: No sir, you cannot reuse that OEM Windows XP, because if you replace …

In other words, Toulinwoek, you are saying that it's better to make a drive image and then afterwards reload your entire system from it every month or so, on an ongoing basis, than it is to install necessary security updates. You're also saying that precautionary measures are better to use as a safeguard against intruders than software tools designed to deal with them!

That's well and good, I suppose, if it works for you but I can't accept that your experience and view is any sort of indication that people here dish out biased, narrow, or overly generalised advice. We're sensible enough here to dish out advice which is suited to the people needing assistance, who come here!

Drive images of a freshly set up system are a wonderful thing! Subsequent drive images, regularly made, of the system as it evolves over time are also a wonderful thing. The technique, however, is not for everyone, nor should it be expected to suit everyone. You can't expect that every person with a PC at home is going to purchase adequate drive imaging software and adopt such a regular, rigid programme of maintenance. For the vast majority of PC operators in a corporate environment, such maintenance tasks are the role of the systems administrator, and something they have no control over. For the vast majority of people, whose approach is to simply turn on their PC and use it, formatting and starting over is a rare event, and …

Connection Type: ADSL
Connection Speed: 1.5Mb
Cost Per Month: $AU60 for 5GB Peak time, 5GB off-peak time
Country: Australia
Name Of ISP: Netspace Online Systems

Hello to you... and welcome. Look at me, I'm already acting like the welcome wagon here.

Welcome aboard redsabre, and thanks go to you for showing us so very clearly how well this 'Introductions' section is working! We want people to think of Daniweb as a community in itself, not simply as a Tech help or resource site, and the rapid way that you've settled in is clear evidence that our efforts, and those of the membership here, are working!

By the way. No need to assume that you're an 'oldie' mate. We've members here of all ages, and dammit I wish I could have my early 40s over again. I'd be back out playing football and dishing out a few bruises! :D

System startup time is not a good basis for comparison. there are far too many variables at play in the process to conclude that the difference is related to the processor. Most slow startups are due to the networking components configuration ;)

Phaelax, comparing that Prescott to its Athlon64 competitor would be a valid comparison to make about relative thermal efficiency. Comparing it to a dual processor system, where the processors are based on a different core to the Prescott's competitor, is not really a valid comparison to make.

ballies, fanboism isn't of any use whatsoever in a discussion topic such as this. You are basing an opinion of current technology on your experience with technology which has long since been superceded! That's rather silly, don't you think, and a pointless contribution to make here.

zach_boyce, your contribution borders on being 'fanboism' as well, although you make the valid point of relative cost. But remember, Pentium processors have become more affordable of late, and for both AMD and Intel, the 'top of the line FX and EE processors are hugely overpriced! Both companies have pricing policies which warrant close inspection ;)

For a discussion such as this, the only real issues which deserve comment and comparison are price, performance, reliability, applicability and other such factors. If you make your distinction like it was a fashion choice, we aren't really interested!

CathyMeadows, those comments most certainly do not address the question that has been asked here. Certainly your comments are somewhat relevent in respect to aspects of the 'stalker' mentality, but this is a computer forum, and it is a computer related question that's been asked. I fail to see how advertising your 'Mystic' business can be contrued as a computer related response!

Please don't use this forum to promote your business. Advertising must be paid for!

Oh hell, I misread this at first. A 6600GT kicks butt on a stock 6600. Forget how much RAM it's got, the standard card is simply no competitor.

Use a different PC to download the latest versions of the following:

Trojan Remover
Stinger

AdAware
Spybot

Start your PC in 'Safe Mode' and if it will run install those programs one bu one and run full scans with them, allowing each to remove the things it finds. Reboot (again into safe mode) after scanning with each tool.

Reboot again as nornmal, and see if your system is operational. You've picked up an unwanted intruder, and you need to get rid of it.

Hiya megan. I got 7 of those little grandkid thingies, several of whom I'll be seeing tomorrow when I head off for som recreation. I know damn well how distracting they can be, and I'm sure people here will be patient with you. Take your time familiarising yourself with the site and how things work here, and don't be afraid to ask for clarification when people offer advice which seems a bit hard to follow.

Oh yeah - if anybody DOES get impatient with you, I'm here and happy to smack em :D

Enjoy your stay.