CurlingSteve

********

Many coffee shops, hotels, etc... have wireless for their customers and nowadays many of those are open. All anyone wanting to do illegal things needs to drive by for a while to get a connection. I agree that you might want keep your personal wireless network private/key encoded. Personally, I have so many guests/family in and out I leave mine wide open. I'm in a fairly private community so "drive by" is not a big issue. What I do is look at the DHCP Client's Table in my router from time to time (e.g. daily) to see who has been using the connection. If I see a "foreign" computer connecting (ha

USSR - > USR common logon account mis pell ing

Have you looked in Tools, Folder Options on the File Types tab to confirm the program you want is associated with that extension? Have you tried using TweakUI's Repair section to Rebuild the Icon Cache?

20 years ago it was easier to do a Do It Yourself (DIY) project like that. I'm guessing you took the output from the photosensor, ran it to an amplifier, then into an Analog to Digital (A/D) converter which you sampled periodically (with the software you wrote) via the AppleIIE's parallel port. Does that sound familiar? And I haven't seen a parallel port in ages, have you? The hard part in your project will be to find a sensor that will send data to (I'm guessing) a USB port and should come with a software driver to interface it (and manage logging data for you). One the data log is available,

I haven't tasted Vista yet, but from what I've gathered it doesn't seem to offer much (anything?) I can't get from XP. Aero does look pretty but not enough to make me want it badly. And like most OS introductions, SP1 is just around the corner. I'd like to hear from folks with Vista experience about what they like about it (especially compared to their previous XP experience). Thanks, Steve

Liz, You're right. I got mine (surge protector version) at Linen and Things for around $30. The strip version was about $15.

I know these probably fit into the "DUH, Where have you (me) been" category but today was the first I'd seen them. Power Squid is a surge protector/power strip combined with (very short) extension cords. If you're like me, a standard strip (or UPS for that matter) doesn't handle the power bricks that routers and other small add-ons require very well. One brick often takes two (or more) plug slots. This product doesn't have that limitation. It comes in both strip and surge protector versions. ------------- I'm always opening a bottle/tube of Krazy Glue, use a couple of drops, then the next time

Personally, I'd try a "Repair Install" at this point from your installation CD. That should get you booted up with minimal (zero I hope) loss. ---- An error that reports "0x00000000:0x00000000" usually means the application references an undefined (NULL) location, and typically is an application(programming) error. ---- Otherwise, an 0x0:0x0 error is an unanticipated error that's tough to track down. Most applications (including operating systems) will report an error code before resorting to 0x0.

Did anyone Google this? Windows 98 Updates

After trying Shanenin's suggestion... Is that the entire error or was there a STOP CODE before it? (If there was, it will help to narrow things down - include everything).

Have you tried just installing the new driver (I assume you want to replace/overwrite the old one you're trying to delete) ? --------- I'm just guessing, but perhaps trying to delete the only driver on the "stack" is causing the hang. --------- Disconnecting cables (or removing a card for that matter) doesn't uninstall/remove the driver, it just might not load. --------- How long did you wait to consider it a "freeze"? --------- (Just a guess) would a "Repair" style reinstall help?

That error report is more often due to a flaw in the game itself rather than Windows. Check on the game's web site to see if a patch is available to solve the problem. ----------- Having made this mistake myself too often... Programmers often forget to release buffers and so on that will chew up any and all available memory regardless of the operating system virtual memory settings. You might try taking a look at Task Manager's "Commit Charge/Peak" value (on the Performance tab) just after the crash. If that's close to (or over) the Limit value, that's it.

One more thought on partitioning that new drive. If everything they run fits in half (50GB), I'd partition it into 2 50GB hunks. I'd use the second hunk to store backups (I prefer Ghost image backups). Then if they crash the first partition, the second is available for restoration (after booting a recovery CD). The second (image storage) partition can (I think) easily be hidden from "everyday use". My Dell XPS has 3 partitions (Diagnostics, Main, and Recovery) with only the Main visible during normal operation.

Sometimes CDs will allow you to copy the contents to the hard drive, then let you install from the HD image. Try making a C:\SIMS2 folder on your hard drive. Then copy the contents of the CD to that folder. Run the installation program from the hard drive copy and see how far it gets. ------- Repeat for the other CDs required. You might need to experiment a bit to get it to work. When the install asks for CD2, browse to its image on the hard drive.

How was the file lost? Did you delete it through My Computer/Explorer? Did you delete it from inside an application? Did it mysteriously/suddenly disappear? Do you have a backup that may have the file? Have you been using the system much/a lot since this file disappeared? What were you doing just before it vanished?

True story.

None of the scans you've mentioned will significantly impact the lifetime of your drive(s). In my experience, the OS and my use keeps the drives moving anyway. Spyware/virus scans don't add much to the load. As to "how often", as mentioned above already it depends on your surfing habits. I full sweep (AV + spyware) once a month just before backing up. The "day to day" cookies spyware sweeps detect I now choose to ignore. Things like "Doubleclick" reinstall almost immediately where I surf, but I don't use an "on the fly" spyware blocker. Nor am I worried about "Doubleclick", so removing it dail

Hi Marty, I don't think you need to disable the Alerter service (but I don't think it needs to be running either). Disabling Messenger is enough. I have Alerter set to Automatic, with Messenger disabled, and get no "balloons".

The "compatibility" settings only fool the program into thinking it's running an earlier OS. When the program asks for OS version (and/or several other settings) XP spoofs it using stock answers or customized WIN.INI/CONFIG.SYS type responses. When I have trouble installing from an older CD/floppy, this sometimes works. Copy the entire contents to a folder on the hard drive, remove the CD/floppy, then try the install.exe in that new folder. If that doesn't work, try "compatibility mode" settings for that install.exe program.

I was thinking of the Tour nag one might get at boot/login time. That's where I think you need to find a "box" (but I could be wrong).

Piece of cake on a braille monitor.

Shanenin, If I'm not mistaken, going to Add/Remove - Windows Components only removes the shortcut from the Start Menu. And don't you need to click a "don't show this again" box in the Tour to disable it?

(1) Those popups are also known as balloon tips. A quick RegEdit will quash them Disable Balloon Tips (2) Right-click My Computer and select Manage. Under "Services and Applications", highlight (click) the Services branch. In the right hand pane, scroll down then double click the Messenger service (to open its properties page). In the drop-down box for "Startup Type" select "Disabled". Click Apply (or OK). Reboot.

It (DeLorme/Earthmate combo) was pricey (around $100) when I bought it too (at Staples as I recall). But it does work quite well.