XP Repair Site

I received a question from Adam, a Terry’s Computer Tips web site visitor recently, who was having problems with two of his computers:

Hey Terry, just read your XP SP3 woes, got another one two for you. i have a small home network running with shared internet connection. When SP3 came out both computers immidiately downloaded the update. on PC1 the same happen to as did to your previous writer with the dvd-rom issue (gave up and bought another) on PC2 my onboard network adaptor, uh, mulfunctioned and my computer no longer registers any outside computers from my network port. i do not want to use system restore point. is there a way of repairing online? SP2 cd does not work

I wrote back to Adam to tell that there is a new online service about which I have been reading, that might be what he was looking for. InformationWeek, NetworkWorld and eWeek had very interesting articles about it. I also advised him that I have not tried ReImage yet.

Continue reading ReImage for Windows XP

Reader Herman Barnes wrote to comment and ask about problems with the beta version of Internet Explorer 8:

Thanks for a great site. Ihave IE8 beta on winXP. My favorites star button won’t open. Star depresses like it’s going to to something but nothing happens. Recent activity were uninstall Norton Security and install AVG. Any ideas? Thanks..

I wrote back to Herman to tell him that I’m not using the IE8 beta and can’t provide any help on it. I seldomly use beta software, whether Microsoft’s o r from other companies.

Remember that beta software is software that is released in the hopes that users will find and report bugs. It is not perfect, is not a "release candidate" nor final version, and often has known bugs that simply haven’t been fixed yet.

Whether from Microsoft or other companies, you should not have any expectation that beta software’s known bugs have been fixed — whether they are functional or security bugs. There’s a reason that beta software licenses are even more emphatic in their disclaimer of any warranty and disclaimer of any damages that they may cause to your data or your system.

If it doesn’t work correctly, report it. If it bothers you, uninstall the beta software and go back to the current version.

Now, of course, IE 8 has been released as a regular download — it’s no longer a beta. The next rumors are that Microsoft will issue Internet Explorer 8 as a Critical Update for Windows XP and as an Important Update for Windows Vista.

A reader wrote me to ask about IP address security. I’m not really sure whether he meant keeping his IP address a secret, or whether he was asking if someone could break into his network and use his ISP connection with his IP address, so, let’s first look at the idea of keeping one’s IP address a secret…

Terry,I just recently came across your site and have joined your online email newletter. I have a question relating to I.P.addresses.I have a home network,router(encrypted /password required ),a firewall (not Win xp),several antispyware programs.The other day my ISP sent me an email,alleging I had violated copyright laws and had downloaded a movie from some place in [identifying information removed - Terry].I called my ISP and we discussed it,I did not download any movies and never heard of the film co.in question,my concern was how would they obtain my IP address,as it is like a fingerprint.I asked my ISP is there any way a 3rd.party could gain access to my wireless network and they could not provide an answer as to how this happened and advised me to disregard it.Is there a way for a 3rd.party to obtain my IP address ?? this is a security concern to myself and my wife. Thank you for your time

I wrote back to him to explain thatt the real question is not how they got his IP address, but how they tied that IP address to him. Only his ISP can do that, unless you logged in somewhere (or used an ID that linked to his name or email address) or in the program used to access it.

First, let’s go through how TCP/IP works – how the computers communicate like …

Continue reading IP Addresses and Security

The simplest way to set up a home network, including both computers with wired connections and computers with wireless connections, is to set up a wireless router immediately following your DSL modem or Cable modem. Sometimes, a DSL modem even has the router built into it.

In this setup, all the computers are assigned their IP addresses by the DHCP server that is built into the router. All are on the same logical network. However, their ability to share files, printers, and otherwise communicate between each other will depend on your settings in each computer.

In order to share files, you have to tell Windows (or Linux, etc.) to enable file and printer sharing, identify which directories should be shared, and have the computers on the same Windows Workgroup (or Windows domain, if you’re a very advanced user running a Windows domain controller). You’ll also have to tell the firewall programs on each computer to allow the sharing with the other computers — or the firewall will block the data.

Continue reading Home Networking — Wired + Wireless Connections

Subscriber and friend Ron Spruell wrote about a problem he had with the new OpenOffice 3.0. The problem occurred with one of the free antivirus programs, so this may be of particular interest to many readers:

OpenOffice 3.0 Problems: Terry — I tried Oo 3.O. I did not uninstall 2.4 first. Oo 3.O increased my CPU usage to 80% to 100%. My computer would barely run. I had to uninstall and go back to 2.4. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Would a clean install solve my problems. BTW, I love Oo. I find Writer much easier that MSWord. Calc has a few short comings. I use Impress for all presentations. I never did learn how to use Power Point. Ron Spruell

I wrote back to Ron to tell him that I had not heard or read about any problem before seeing his email. I asked if he used Process Explorer or Task Manager to see which application was bouncing to 100%.

Continue reading OpenOffice 3.0 Installation Issues

Acronis has now released their latest version of their hard drive backup utility — Acronis True Image Home 2009. We had some hints that something was coming. The new version is here…but do we need it?

First, what’s an image backup and why should I use one?

Tech Tip
An “image backup” is effectively your own “recovery disk” or “recovery partition”, complete with all your installed programs and data files, too. You can back up onto DVD’s, to external hard drives, to other computers, to another partition on the same hard drive, or to another hard drive in the same computers. Of course, not all of these destinations provide the same level of reliability — if you back up to another partition on the same hard drive, it can save you from a “brain freeze” problem, but not from a hard drive failure!

Some image backup programs can work only with the entire partition, either backing up or restoring the whole partition. Other programs can back up entire partitions, and can also back up only the files that changed since the last full backup. Similarly, some can restore entire partitions, and are also able to restore individual files and folders of files from the backup file.

I’ve used disk imaging for system backups for my computers since about 1995, starting with DriveImage 2 from the former PowerQuest. Ultimately PowerQuest Corporation was purchased by Symantec in 2003, who used Drive Image 7 as the basis of its next Norton Ghost version.

Continue reading Acronis Releases New Acronis True Image Home 2009

• If you don’t already have a copy of Acronis True Image, you can order a copy directly from Acronis, and can download it and even order a backup CD.
• If you don’t already have a copy, you can buy two licenses for Acronis True Image Home 2009 for only $20 more than the price of one (this is not a choice on the web site, it’s available only via special links like this one
  
• If you already have a copy of an earlier version, you can upgrade to Acronis True Image Home 2009 for 40%-off.

With some programs, we always may want to open them in maximized (full-screen), or even minimized (hidden), mode. Windows allows us to accomplish this via a setting in a program’s shortcut.

Continue reading HOWTO: Open a Program in a Maximized Window

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Recently, as I wrote in my weekly email newsletter (sign up in the link in this web page’s header or the link in he footer), one of my subscribers wanted to know about a free program to let him fill in PDF forms.

The Portable Document Format (PDF) was created by Adobe to be a cross-platformm document display tool. Whether the user is using Windows, Mac, Linux or some other operating system, if they are using Adobe Reader to read a PDF file, the displayed document will look the same. I wish we could say that about word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software…

Adobe had the sole control of the PDF world for a long time, with their free Adobe Reader program (originally called Adobe Acrobat Reader) and their flagship product Adobe Acrobat, which created the PDF files.

Continue reading What’s a PDF and Why Do I Need One?

There are a bunch of new articles at Terry’s Computer Tips:

• What’s a PDF and Why Do I Need One?
• A Look at Foxit Reader | Foxit Reader Review
• Software Review: 7-Zip Compression Utility
• Disconnecting Your Cable Internet Access
• Strange Computer Symptoms
• TrueCrypt Ecrypted Hard Drive Problems

Subscriber Helen Day wrote to ask about the Quick Launch bar:

How to keep the “quick launch” bar exposed when I’m using different programs. Regardless of what I open I have to minimize to find the bar and some programs won’t let me do that. I tried changing the resolution but that didn’t work.

The Quick Launch bar is a portion of the Windows Task Bar that is used as a mini-menu. If you put a program icon in the Quick Launch bar, you can start the program with one click. Although many programs want to install their icons in the Quick Launch bar, it’s real use if to make your favorite programs easily accessible.

Continue reading Making the Quick Launch Bar Accessible;