• Website of Interest
  Internet Movie Database
  (IMDb)
  
  
• Computer Parts
  Monitors
  
  
• Tech Tip
  Pictures on your Computer
  
  
• eScams
  Unsecured Wireless and
  Broadband
  
  
• Featured Discussions
  Order of icons in
      Quick Launch
  frequent error in avast
  Deleted Firefox tabs
      start
  USB UPGRADE
  Praise for WinRescue
  
  
• Questions on our
  Discussion Board
  
  

Website of Interest - Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

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        Somehow a discussion in church turned to the characters of Gunsmoke. Those who were a little older than I seemed to be well acquainted with each character. "I don't know," I commented. "I used to come home from school and watch those westerns but now they all seem to be a blur. They were an awful lot alike. Many of them had Lee Majors in them...." That turned the conversation to which westerns Lee Majors had been in. Our memories were not too good at that. Someone mentioned Big Valley and a woman was trying to remember the name of another that she said was a play on words. She finally said that she would look on IMDb when she got home.
        I had never heard of IMDb, so when I got home, I did a search for it. I found it at www.imdb.com. It declares itself as "Earth's Biggest Movie Database"..."visited by over 38 million movie lovers each month." Then it welcomes you to "the Internet Movie Database, the biggest, best, most award-winning movie site on the planet." OK, OK, I get the point. A lot of people go to this website.
        I looked up Lee Majors and found that he had played in Gunsmoke, Big Valley, The Virginian, Allias, Smith and Jones, and 74 other shows and movies.
        IMDb has everything you would ever want to know about movies and TV shows.
        On the left side of the front page is listed the Top Box Office Hits, Movies Opening this Week, Movies Coming Soon, new DVDs this Week, Upcoming DVDs, and User Favorites (the most visited webpages). Each of these abbreviated lists have a More link which takes you to more details and links to even more detailed lists.
        The center part of the front page displays a varying and changing collection of tidbits, like Today's IMDb Poll Question (What is your favorite movie which features the Statue of Liberty in an important part of a setting?), Snapshots, the Movie of the Day, trailers you can watch, a trivia question, and the Movie/TV Quote of the Day.
        The right side lists news, someone born today, cool services, and advertisements.
        Hidden behind all of this is an extensive database of movies and TV shows which you can get to through links and searches. Entries in this database have information about the movie/show, users' ratings and comments. Before you spend money to see a movie, you might just want to check it out here first.
        This is a great website for movie goers, movie lovers, and anyone with a movie question. Check it out.


Computer Parts - Monitors

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        If you don't know what a monitor is, you are looking at it. The monitor is that part of your computer that looks like a television screen. It allows your computer to communicate with you. Without it your computer is useless.
        Sooner or later you will need to buy one. This article explains the basic features of a monitor which you need to know about to help you in purchasing a monitor.
        There are basically two types of monitors: CRT and LCD. CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube. It is similar to a standard television. If you were to open the case of the CRT monitor, the main thing there would be a glass vacuum tube, the end of which produces the screen. A CRT costs less to purchase than a LCD and may have better display resolutions.
        LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. The distinguishing characteristic of a LCD screen is that it is flat. In fact, some LCDs are called Flate Panel Displays and not LCDs even though they are LCDs. A LCD uses 40% less energy and is brighter than a CRT.
        Like televisions, the size of monitors are measured from one corner diagonally to the opposite corner. CRTs define the corner differently than LCDs. The measurement of CRTs include the case. LCDs don't. So the screen of a 15" CRT is smaller than the screen of a 15" LCD. Standard sizes are 15", 17", 19", and 20".
        Another measurement of a monitor is its resolution. The resolution is measured by the maximum number of pixels (dots) that the screen can show in one line going across by the number of pixels in one line going up and down. So a resolution of 1024 x 768 is a screen width of 1024 pixels and a height of 768 pixels. Bigger screen sizes should have larger resolutions. If the resolution on a large screen is the same as a small screen, the pixels on the large screen will be bigger and will cause the picture to look blurred. So if you purchase a bigger monitor make sure that its resolution is also bigger.
        Most monitors have the same aspect ratio (the ratio of the width to the height) as a standard television: 4:3. Widescreen monitors are also available which have a aspect ratio of 16:9, 16:10, and 15:9 (you may need to hook up a widescreen monitor to a graphics card in order to display the wide aspect ratio).
        Two types of connectors connect the monitor to the graphics card in your computer. The most common type is the analog VGA connection. This is probably the type your computer has. There is also a digital DVI connection which is used on some LCD monitors and graphics cards. Before you purchase a monitor make sure the connection on the monitor matches the connection on the back of your computer.
        The Energy Star Label lets you know the monitor is energy efficient. A monitor with this label will automatically power itself down when not in use.
        Now that you know a little about monitors, you can shop wisely the next time that you need one.


Tech Tip - Pictures on your Computer

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        A picture may be worth a thousand words, but on your computer screen a picture is actually a thousand (or more) dots. The dots, called pixels, are so small that your eye does not distinguish the individual dots and instead groups them all together into a picture.
        Behind the scenes each dot is represented by a number which tells what color that dot is. Using a RGB (red, green, blue) color scheme, this number is the combination of three numbers which tell how much red, green, and blue are in the color. For example, white is the number 000000 which is the three numbers: 00, 00, and 00. White has 0 amount of red, 0 amount of green, and 0 amount of blue. Red is represented by the number FF0000 (F is the highest single digit in computer numbers with a base of 16) and so it has all red (FF), no green (00), and no blue (00). Black is FFFFFF (all red, all green, and all blue).
        A picture made up of dots is called a bitmap. All pictures shown on your screen are displayed as bitmaps, but that is where the similarities stop. Different picture formats are saved differently on your computer. It can be a great help to you if you know the differences.
        The simplest file format for a bitmap is a BMP file. If you were to open a BMP file, after the introductory part of the file, all you would see is numbers, like this: fc001ffffff3fff800ffc7cff3f3f9fffffef807ff9fff0001fffcfc0007fffffc001ffffff3. The first number (fc001f) is the color of the upper left dot of the picture. The second number (fffff3) is the color of the second dot on the first row, and so on and so forth.
        The problem with a BMP file is that listing a number for each dot in a picture can cause the file to be quite large. A BMP picture the size of a standard screen is 2.25 mb. That is twice as big as the download file for our program, RegVac Registry Cleaner. If the pictures on the web were all BMPs, you would have to wait for several minutes to see each page.
        To make pictures files smaller, other formats were produced, the most common of which are GIF, JPG, and PNG. You can tell what kind of file it is by the extension of the filename. The filename of a BMP file called picture would be picture.bmp, a JPG file - picture.jpg, a GIF file - picture.gif, and a PNG file - picture.png.
        JPG and GIF files are actually bitmaps which make the file size smaller with special compression schemes (it is like putting a BMP in a ZIP file). JPG is the most common type and uses a compression scheme that favors photographs. Most digital cameras save pictures in JPG format. A JPG file of the same 2.25mb BMP image mentioned above is 245kb (that is one-ninth the size of the BMP).
        GIF uses a compression scheme that favors line drawings. The above mentioned picture saved in GIF format is only 165kb. Even though it is quite a bit smaller, the quality of the picture is also much poorer. For this reason, photos should not be saved in GIF format.
        PNG is a completely different type of picture called a vector image. Instead of specifying the color of each individual dot as a bitmap does, a vector image specifies lines and areas using mathematical equations. For example, a vector image of a square would specify where each corner of the square is located, connect those points with lines, and fill in the square with the specified color. A PNG file with a 30 foot square and a PNG file with a quarter inch square would be the same size because the information in each one would be the same except for the location of the four corners of the squares. Unlike bitmaps, the file size of a vector file more depends on the detail and contents of the picture than the size of the picture. PNG files also have layers and can show photos.
        An easy way to change the format of a picture is to open it in Microsoft Paint (it is located in the Start menu under All Programs and then Accessories) and then save it in one of the other formats.
        There is a lot more to know about pictures, but this is enough to give you a basic understanding of the common picture formats. Hopefully, the next time that you start attaching those huge BMP pictures of your family to an email, you will stop and realize that you can convert them to JPG and make room on the internet trafficways for others.


eScams - Unsecured Wireless and Broadband

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        An interpreter in Russia told me about his brother who was a computer programmer and how he liked to hack into people's computers over the internet. If the files that he was looking for were protected, he would start deleting files on the computer. My interpreter laughed about it but I was thinking, "what if he had hacked into my computer?" I would not be laughing and neither would you. Hackers can do much more than delete files on your computer, they can find your credit card numbers, log ins, passwords, and other private information.
        While in Russia, I use dial-up and must pay for each minute that I am online. For this reason, I do not spend much time online and do not worry about hackers. If someone tries to hack into my computer, by the time he figures out where I am and how to get into my computer, I am offline. In the US, on the other hand, I have cable broadband and my computer is hooked up to the internet all day as are most Americans. This gives hackers plenty of time to hack into American computers.
        Also realize that just because you are not in Russia does not mean that Russians will not hack into your computer. With the internet it is just as easy for a Russian hacker to hack into a computer in Russia as it is to hack into your computer. Which do you think he would choose, a poor Russian's computer or a rich American's computer?
        What can you do? How can you protect your computer? There are at least three precautions that everyone with broadband should take.
        First of all, you should have a firewall in place on your computer. A firewall is software that puts a barrier between your computer and the internet and/or network. You can purchase firewall software or WinXP has a free firewall built in. To enable WinXP's firewall, open Windows Explorer, expand the Control Panel item, and click on Network Connections. Your internet and network connections will be listed in the right hand box. Each connection should say "Firewalled" in the description. To set or check this, right click on the connection and select Properties from the popup menu. Click on the Settings button in the Windows Firewall section on the Advanced tab.
        A second precaution is to get a router instead of a hub. Both a router and a hub distribute the internet connection to several computers, but a hub is transparent to hackers showing all of the computers connected to the hub, while a router looks like a computer to a hacker and hides the computers connected to it. But if you have not set the password on your router, it is using a default password that all other routers from that company uses. I am sure hackers know that password and could easily find the computers connected to the router. So if you have not set the password on your router, you should do that. Follow the instructions that came with your router. Once you set it, you can forget it until you need to change your router's settings (which may be never).
        Another precaution is to turn your computer and network off when you are not using it. No one can hack into a computer or network that is turned off.
        I have a bonus precaution for those who have their computers set up on a wireless network. Wireless (Wi-Fi) networks add a weak link to network security. If your wireless network is not encrypted anyone within reception distance can access your internet connection and (if the above suggestions are not followed) your computer. There are even websites that list locations of unencrypted Wi-Fi networks (read here, FREE INTERNET). Symantec conducted an exercise in New York City where they drove through six different neighborhoods and found that 52 percent of Wi-Fi networks had no encryption whatsoever (Reader's Digest, June 2006, p86). Yet, encrypting your Wi-Fi network could be as easy as setting up a password. See the manual that came with your Wi-Fi transmitter for more information.
        These four easy tips may not make your computer impenetratable to the best hackers but unless you have something valuable on your computer, like the access codes to Fort Knox, they should discourage a hacker and convince him to find his laughs elsewhere.


Featured Discussions

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Order of icons in Quick Launch

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1140104674/

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plonkeroo - My question is about the Quick Launch toolbar icons at the foot of the window (links to quicklaunch1). I try to rearrange the icons but after reboot the icons go back to the way the originally were. Same applies to the toolbar I have higher up on the window itself (links to quicklaunch2). I'm using Win98SE with Gape's 'unofficial' service pack

Jogor - Try booking into Safe Mode, rearrange your Desktop and then reboot

plonkeroo - Tried it, didn't work. Thanks for the suggestion, anyway.

Laverne - I found the solution below at the site shown below. Hope this helps. I'd appreciate your posting back your results.
        http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/t1009758382
        Use Regedit (or your favorite reg program) to go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer and change NoSaveSettings to 00 00 00 00. Restart your computer, put the icons in the order that you want them to be in, then restart again. This time the icons should remain in the order you placed them. Hope this one works for everyone. Dr Rabbit

plonkeroo - Thanks and thanks for the link, it's an interesting one. Switching 00 00 00 00 hasn't worked but I'm going through the other suggestions in that link. It's going to take a while because the suggestions there are a bit convoluted.

plonkeroo - Objective achieved! The trick appears to be not to just edit directly (which is what I originally did) but to then save the Policies\Explorer section as a REG file - which gives "NoSaveSettings"=hex:00,00,00,00 - and then to drag the icons into the required order and then activate the REG file and then reboot.

Laverne - Thank you, plonkeroo, for posting your results. I will keep this on file for anyone else that may have the same problem. Congratulations!


frequent error in avast

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1140953080/

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tsf16224 - I am using avast as antivirus (with windows xp pro) Regularly I get a small red window with : error, could not actualise.. I go on internet by dial and set my avast:'ask each time tu update

dlwolff0 - According to their faq on their web site, the program checks for an internet connection every 40 seconds. If it finds one, it connects to the server for an update. When it updates, it then waits 4 hours before checking again.
        The window is telling you it was unable to find the server to check for updates.
        The website gives you a way to optimize the program to prevent the check every 40 seconds when using dialup. See the following page. http://www.avast.com/eng/updates2.html See the paragraph about halfway down the page- 3)Optimization for dialup connections.

tsf16224 - thanks! I didn't see your answer before


Deleted Firefox tabs start

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1141573508/

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jeffami - I use Firefox and whenever I startup an extra tab opens as well as my homepage. I delete this tab but the next time I start Firefox it starts again. How can I get rid of it.

dlwolff0 - Look under Tools\Options\Tabs on the main toolbar. You can control the browser's use of tabs there.

jeffami - Thanks dlwolff0 for your suggestion. Tried it earlier but no luck. The rogue tab still pops up everytime I open Firefox.

gorf - Have you tried this? Clear all tabs that you don't want, setting (and arranging--the left-most one is what will display when FF first opens) those that you do, and at Tools/Options/General/ click the Use Current Pages button. This should make the tabs appear the way that you prefer when opening Firefox.
        BTW, I have a number of startup tabs, not just a homepage, and one is a blank tab so that I can open a website that I type into the destination window without overwriting the currently open tabs. I know I can open a blank tab with Control/T, but I do this so frequerntly it is a saving in time.

jeffami - Thanks gorf for your suggestion. Did what you said and solved the problem. Didn't think to check thr current page option earlier. Have also added a blank tab like you. Thanks again. Sometimes the solution is staring you in the face but it takes someone else to set you straight.


USB UPGRADE

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1142200311/

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jgoodwin - I HAVE FOUR USB 1 PORTS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO UPGRADE TO HIGH SPEED 2. HOW DO I DO THIS? OS IS WIN XP-PRO.

Ray - I think that you have to upgrade your hardware. You need to buy a PCI card of USB2 connections and install it. I don't think that you can just upgrade a driver or software to make a USB1 port into a USB2 port. USB2 ports are compatible with and will transmit USB1 signals, but a USB1 port cannot transmit USB2 signals.

jgoodwin - Thanks, Ray. I'm not skilled enough to install hardware, so I'll have to get a tech to do it.

Ray - It is not too hard. First, you need to buy a USB2 PCI card (you should be able to get them at any computer parts store or even BestBuy or CompUSA).
        I have instructions in issue #5 of Ray's Computer Tips at http://superwin.com/RaysComputerTips/Issue5.htm#computer on how to install a PCI card.
        If you don't want to do it, maybe you could find a friend or relative that would do it for you.
        I guess you could get a tech to do it. Since it is not very hard, surely he would not charge much to do it.

jgoodwin - I'll start shopping for the USB2 PCI Card and print out your instructions. Thanks again.

Ray - The card may or may not have instructions with it. If it does, follow them.


Praise for WinRescue

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1137278406/

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Rodger_B - This is not a question but I would like to report a "save" by WinRescue. I was mucking around setting up an Administrator account and accidentally deleted my normal user login to WinXP. I rebooted with my XP Recovery CD, restored a recent Registry backup and I was then able to reboot back into Windows, with my user login back in place. So easy if you are prepared!

pipdev - I cannot begin to tell you the number of times Winrescue (both 98 and XP) have got me out of trouble over the last few years. I am an inveterate mucker about with the PC and the ability to restore the Registry almost instantly has been completely invaluable.

Ray - Thank you Rodger_B and pipdev for the kind words about WinRescue.


Questions on our Discussion Board

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SYSTEM INFORMATION FAILURE

Incorrect HDD Capacity being recognised

Windows Updates not installed

XP Home SP2 start up problem

Guest Book Spamming

"Paging File" error message

Flash won't Install

Monitor display "wigsout"

ZoneAlarm - Win98SE Support Withheld

Java Kicks me off Internet

ISP and spam

BURNING DVDS

Monitor gets "Scratchy Looking"!

Creating recovery CD using OEM version of Windows

browser timer

Some icons in some folders look odd

Script Prevention

Spammer Attack

International keyboards in xp pro



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Thanks for reading,
Ray Geide