• Software Tip
  Move Files the Correct Way
  
  
• Website of Interest
  Wikipedia
  
  
• Computer Parts
  Motherboard
  
  
• Tech Tip
  When the Computer Freezes
  
  
• eScams
  This message contains...
  
  
• A Personal Note from Ray

Software Tip - Move Files the Correct Way

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        If you know how to move files on your hard drive, there is a fact that you need to know: moving files can break system links.
        This seems to be more of a problem today than it used to be because newer versions of Windows are obsessed with making links. It also seems that more programs today make links to themselves so that if you move them, their links break and you usually end up having to reinstall the entire program.
        Broken links can cause errors, disable programs, or do nothing but clutter up your hard drive.
        I have written a program, EZ File Transplanter, to help you with this problem. It moves files and changes the links so that the links are updated to the new location of the file.
        You can download a 30 day trial of EZ File Transplanter from our website at http://regvac.com/ezxplanz.exe or you can get more information from http://regvac.com/ezxplant.htm.


Website of Interest - Wikipedia

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        Imagine a website where people write articles about subjects they are knowledgeable about and where readers can edit those articles. This is what is known as a wiki. One of the best wikis is Wikipedia at www.wikipedia.org. Don't let the fact that it is a free encyclopedia put you off. This is an interesting and quality place to spend some time. Each day it features one of its articles, lists various news items, lists what happend on that day in history, and lists the newest articles. I like to visit it daily to read its featured article. It also has a search engine and random page generator. Two other good sites produced by Wikipedia are WikiBooks and WikiQuotes. Check out Wikipedia and enjoy.


Computer Parts - Motherboard

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        If you were to open up your computer, you would see a big circuit board along one side of the box. This is the motherboard. It is the main circuit board of your computer. The main parts of the motherboard are the BIOS, memory chips, the CPU chip, hard drive connections, PCI slots, sound card, graphics card, and various other connections. Some of these components are separate with only connections to them on the motherboard and others are a part of the motherboard. I will discuss these components in more detail in future issues.
        Symptoms of a bad motherboard range from a single component like the mouse not working to the entire computer not working. Before blaming the motherboard, you should check the related components. For example, if the mouse does not work, you should first try connecting another mouse to see if it is not just a bad mouse.
        The motherboard seldom goes bad but when it does it is usually replaced instead of repaired.
        Cheaper computers have everything soldered to the motherboard so that if you want to replace the motherboard, you basically have to replace the entire computer. If your motherboard does not have components soldered to it, it may be feasible to replace it. A new motherboard costs around$100 and up. Motherboards come in different types and have different features. They are limited in the type of CPU and memory that they can take, so if you want a Pentium 4 CPU, you must get a Pentium 4 compatible motherboard.
        Replacing a motherboard is doable, but not easy. If you make a mistake while replacing a motherboard it can ruin your entire computer, so unless you are experienced at working with computers or want to risk doing it on a spare computer, you should probably leave this to the repair shop. Usually by the time a motherboard goes out, it is time to upgrade anyway, so a better alternative to replacing a motherboard is buying a new computer.


Tech Tip - When the Computer Freezes

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        You are watching a video on your computer and running a few programs in the background. All of a sudden the video freezes or slows down. What do you do?
        When this happened to one guy, he turned off his computer. When he turned it back on, it would not work properly. Even after using a restore program, it still would not work. Since one of my programs was running in the background, he blamed it on my program. The real problem was that he reacted incorrectly.
        1) The first thing that you should do when the computer freezes is wait. If the above person had simply waited a few minutes everything would have been OK. In the early days of computers, all we did was wait on our computers, but now computers are so fast that if a person has to wait a few seconds he thinks something is wrong. Before you do anything, wait five or ten minutes.
        2) If after waiting, your computer is still running slowly, you should close down all of the programs that you are not using. A computer can only do so much at one time. Closing down programs that you are not using frees up resources so that your computer can run better.
        3) Next, try pressing the three keys: Ctrl, Alt, Delete. This is often called the three finger salute. Only press them once and press them all at the same time, then wait. Eventually, the Windows Task Manager window will be displayed. This lists the applications and processes that are running. You can use this to close down more applications or processes that may be hogging resources. If you have viruses or spyware running in the background, they will usually be listed in the processes section and you can close them from there. Processes connected to running applications or Windows processes should not be closed down, but viruses and spyware should be closed.
        When you close an application using End Task, it will inform the application and the application may respond with a message, like "Are you sure you want to quit". If you answer the message given by the application, End Task will quit closing it down, so if you want End Task to force close the application, do not answer the message given by the application. End Task will wait for ten seconds or so and then close the application.
        4) Try closing Windows. Sometimes the only alternative to a frozen system is to restart Windows. Close Windows in the normal way.
        5) It is dangerous to shut down the computer without first closing Windows, but if you can't get Windows to close, you may have to shut down your computer. This should only be done as a last resort. This can be done on most computers by holding the Power button in for five seconds.


eScams - This message contains...

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        I get anywhere from 50 to 100 of these emails every day. You probably get far less. They say something like, "The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment" or "The original message has been included as an attachment", or "See Attachment". Whatever you do, DO NOT OPEN the attachment. The best thing that you can do with these emails is delete them immediately.
        These emails are the result of someone else opening these very same attachments. When you open one, it may not seem like anything happens, but the attached file is a virus (more specifically known as a worm) and starts sending out emails to other people with the same attachment. This virus looks in your mailbox or in other parts of your computer for email addresses and sends emails to and from them. It also usually attaches itself to your computer so that whenever you are online, it will send out emails.
        In most cases the From address on the email that you received is not where the email came from. Instead it is an email address found on the infected computer along with yours. So don't hit Reply on these virus emails and send an email back telling this person that his computer is infected, because that person is probably innocent and does not have any problems with viruses.
        What can you do then? About the only thing that you can do short of getting a new email address is wait. There is no way for you to find out who has the infected computer, but hopefully, the person with the infected computer will realize that he has a virus and will clean his computer with an anti-virus program. When he does, the emails will stop coming.


A Personal Note from Ray

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        I hope these tips are a help to you. I have a lot more in my mind. My plan is to send out one issue monthly with the possibility of doing it weekly in the future. If you have any tips or category suggestions, please feel free to let me know.
        If you do not want to be subscribed to this list, please use the unsubscribe link.

Thanks for reading,
Ray Geide