• Software Tip
  Editor's Choice Award
  
  
• Website of Interest
  The Good Clean Funnies List
  
  
• Computer Parts
  RAM Memory
  
  
• Tech Tip
  Windows Explorer (Extensions)
  
  
• eScams
  FROM HAJIA MARYAM ABACHA
  
  
• Update Notices
  
  
• A Personal Note from Ray

Software Tip - Editor's Choice Award

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        This month WinRescue XP was awarded Editor's Choice by 123 Free Downloads. Of the hundreds of Backup programs listed there, WinRescue XP received their highest award.
        These types of awards usually go to big software companies because they spend a lot of money on professionals who coax reviewers into giving them their highest ratings. We do not solicit reviewers, so when our programs receive high ratings, you can be assured that it is because they are good.
        WinRescue XP is a great tool to have around when major and minor disasters strike. Just a few days ago, I accidently deleted a folder of important data. It is a folder that I weekly back up with WinRescue XP, so within a few minutes I had it back again. Without WinRescue XP I would have been up a creek without a paddle.
        One of the things that WinRescue XP does is take snapshots of your operating system's settings (known as the registry). In WinXP this requires a special process which many programs cannot do.
        These snapshots or registry backups come in handy when Windows crashes or when Windows starts messing up. If you have a good registry backup when this happens, WinRescue XP can easily restore Windows back to the way it was before.
        WinRescue XP can also back up whatever you want it to. Even though it can back up entire drives, I do not recommend that. Instead I suggest that you use WinRescue XP to back up only the folders that have data that is important to you (music, pictures, emails, documents, and etc.). Then if anything happens to these files, you can use the Extractor in WinRescue to restore any or all of these files that you want.
        WinRescue XP may be tried out for free for 30 days. Try it today.
        Find out more at http://www.superwin.com/rescuexp.htm.


Website of Interest - The Good Clean Funnies List (GCFL.net)

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        The Good Clean Funnies List is a website of good clean jokes. This site has been putting out jokes every weekday since 1998. The jokes are all rated with a five star system by readers. If you are in search for some good clean humor, check out http://www.gcfl.net/.
        Click on the Archive Index link at GCFL and you can view every joke.
        Click on the Mailing List link at GCFL to subscribe yourself to their list.


Computer Parts - RAM Memory

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        One part of the brain of your computer is the RAM. If we compare RAM to the memory in your brain, it would be the immediate memory, the electrical impulses firing off in your brain right now. It is short term and not long term memory. RAM only has information in it while the computer is on. Turn your computer off, and RAM forgets everything.
        In order for your computer to do things, it has to have information in its memory banks. For example, if you have more than one program running, your computer has to remember what the other program is doing. This is especially important when you realize that the CPU can only do one thing at a time. This also holds true when just one program is running. Certain information about the program and what it is doing has to be remembered. This is done in RAM. The bigger the program the more RAM is used.
        Windows helps RAM out with a thing called virtual memory. In virtual memory Windows writes information that it needs to know, but is not using, to the hard drive. As such, it mimicks RAM and frees up memory for RAM. The problem is that writing to and reading from the hard drive is much slower than RAM.
        Not having enough RAM will slow down your computer. In this case adding RAM or increasing the size of RAM will speed up your computer. But if your computer has enough RAM, adding RAM will not make a noticeable difference.
        One of the descriptions of a computer is the amount of RAM it has. This number is not always labeled as being RAM. For example, a computer maybe described as a 3.0GHz 512MB 80GB or a Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 1GB, 160GB. The smaller MB or GB number (in the first one it is 512MB and in the second one it is 1GB) is the amount of RAM. The bigger number in the previous examples is the size of the hard drive.
        RAM is located on the motherboard and consists of one to four narrow rectangular shaped boards that fit into slots. These can be replaced quite easily, but there are a few things to remember. One is that RAM can be ruined by static, so always make sure that one hand is grounded (touching the metal frame of the computer) before touching or handling RAM. It is best to avoid touching the contacts. Secondly, RAM is expensive, so if you are looking for a way to speed up your computer, this should be one of the last options you consider. And thirdly, even though two RAM chips may be the same physical size, they may have different amounts of memory on them. Always consult your computer parts dealer about what will and will not work in your computer.
       RAM is not the easiest part on a computer to understand, but, if needed, updating it is an easy way to improve the performance of your computer.


Tech Tip - Windows Explorer (Extensions)

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        An important part of a file's name is the extension. The extension is the period near the end of the file name and the letters that come after it. So in the filename regvac.exe, .exe is the extension.
        In the olden days the file name was limited to 8 letters for the main part and 3 letters for the extension. Even though file names can be up to 255 letters long on most modern computers, most extensions are still three letters long.
        The extension tells Windows what to do with the file when it is run or opened. .exe signifies an executable file and so Windows runs it. .txt signifies a text file and so Windows runs a text editor like Notepad and puts the txt file in it. There are several lists on the internet, like www.filext.com, which index extensions. You can look up an extension there and it will tell you what the file is.
        The way that Windows links a program or action to an extension is called associations (or more recently, File Types). Windows Explorer allows you to specify and change associations, but associations can be quite complex and so it is best not to mess with them. When you install a program, it usually sets up its own set of associations for the files that it will use. This way all you have to do in Windows Explorer is double click on one of its files and the proper action will be taken. Associations are stored in the registry and usually number in the hundreds, if not thousands.
        Windows Explorer by default hides the extensions from you and just shows different icons for the different extensions. If Windows Explorer is set up this way on your computer and you look in the RegVac directory, you will see two to four files with the same name, regvac. Each has a different icon and even though Windows Explorer shows the same name for each, they really have different names. The actual names of the four files are regvac.exe (the program file), regvac.ini (the settings of RegVac), regvac.hlp (the Help file of RegVac), and regvac.cnt (also a Help file).
        I prefer to have the extensions showing so that I can see the actual name of each file. If you want to unhide the extensions in Windows Explorer, you can do so by going to the Tools menu of Windows Explorer and selecting Folder Options. In the Folder Options dialog click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Hide extensions for known file types" and uncheck it. Then click on the OK button.
        Hopefully, the next time you look at a file name it will not look so foreign to you but instead you will be able to tell by its extension what kind of file it is.


eScams - FROM HAJIA MARYAM ABACHA

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        Through the past ten years I have received different variations on the letter below. These have become known as the Nigerian Scam.
        I first heard of it over ten years ago when a friend of mine told me about receiving a similar email. It offered him a million dollars for transferring millions of dollars to an American bank account. He thought that it was legit but suspected that it was illegal. He felt that he was contacted because he had a successful business and he would be able to get away with it. If he had not had such a successful business, he would have tried it. The prospect of receiving millions of dollars for doing relatively nothing is tempting.
        But this email is a complete scam. One of the distinquishing traits of this scam is the mention of millions of dollars and the offer for you to receive a percentage of it if you help them. If you get sucked into this scam, you will end up paying thousands of dollars and you will receive nothing. In 1996 over 5 billion dollars had already been lost to this scam. The best thing to do when you receive this email is to delete it.
        An example of the email is below.

FROM HAJIA MARYAM ABACHA
FORMER FIRST LADY,
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
2/8 GIDADO ROAD KANO NIGERIA,
WEST AFRICA.


Hello Dear,
I am Hajia Maryam Abacha, widow of the Late Gen. Sani Abacha former Nigerian Military Head of State who died on june 8 1998 as a result of cardiac arrest. I got your contact from a personal directory i found in our study room,after the death of my husband.

I therefore decided to contact you in confidence so that I can be able to move out the sum of Forty Eight million,US dollars ( $48,000,000.00) which was carefully sealed in two trunk boxes for security reasons. I personally therefore seek for a CAPABLE/CREDIBLE PERSON who will urgently assist to move this money into his/her country, through diplomatic means,where I believe it will be safe since I cannot leave the country due to the restriction of movement imposed on me and members of my family by the Nigerian government.

If you know my husband Gen Sani Abacha when he was alive, you will discover that we worth over one billion dollars, but the government of the day has made us to start asking people to come to our aid pending when we will have our freedom or the termination of this government. BE INFORMED THAT YOU WILL NOT SPEND A CENT DURING THE CURSE OF THIS TRANSACTION.

However, arrangement has been put in place to move this money out of the Security company where it is presently now in Europe to any foreign partner who will accomodate this funds in his/her account pending when our suite with the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT will come to and end then we will come over to have our funds back.

Conclusively, I have decided to offer you 20% of the total sum 5% will be for whatever expenses that will be incurred, while 75% is to be used in buying shares in companies in your country subsequent to our free movement by the Nigerian government. Please reply urgently and treat with absolute confidentiality and sincerity.

Thanks for your understanding in this regard, as i look forward to your kind response.

Best regards,
HAJIA Maryam.


Update Notices

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        The following programs have been updated this month:

WinRescue 95 - v.10.08.31 - 09/29/05

WinRescue 98 - v.5.08.31 - 09/29/05

WinRescue ME - v.1.08.31 - 09/29/05

WinRescue NT - v.2.08.31 - 09/29/05

WinRescue 2000 - v.2.08.31 - 09/29/05

WinRescue XP - v.1.08.31 - 09/29/05
        One reason why I hate giving update notices is because I receive hundreds of emails from people who have lost their key or need some other type of help which takes me many hours to answer. Please use the Registered Users section on our website for help with these types of problems. There is no need to contact me.

A Personal Note from Ray

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        I am back from Russia. Everything went well there. Thank you for your prayers.
        I have decided to change the frequency of Ray's Computer Tips from monthly to weekly. To do this, I will just divide the newsletter into fourths and send one fourth of it out each week. This way there will not be so much to read at one time and it will not be so long between issues. The entire monthly issue is kept on our website.
        October is Subscribe Your Parents month. Do you have parents or parents-in-laws who will benefit from Ray's Computer Tips? If so, why not subscribe them in the subscription section of Ray's Computer Tips?
        If you do not want to be subscribed to this list, please use the unsubscribe link below.

Thanks for reading,
Ray Geide