Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader 'Woodstock216' writes: " Dear Dennis, Can you please tell me how to erase all the info that Windows stores automatically? Example: when I visit a web page, sometimes Windows will store the web site address so that I do not have to ... retype it all the time ... or when I fill in my email address, name, phone, etc on a web site? I have no clue where to even look to try to find this. Help! " My response: This is a frequently asked question. What you are referring to is called MRU history, which also refers to "Most Recently Used" information. Two of my all- ... (view more)

Question: aside from Google, what's the coolest and the most quickest way to get definitions and explanations for over 1 million topics, including persons, places, and things? Answer: Answers.com. No kidding! Powered by GuruNet technology, ... Answers.com acts much like a hybrid Internet-based Encyclopedia and Search Engine all-in-one on steroids. As opposed to standard search engines that serve up a list of links for you to follow, Answers.com displays quick, snapshot answers with concise, reliable information and incorporates content from "over 100 authoritative encyclopedias, dictionaries ... (view more)

Last week , Infopackets Reader Diane M. asked how to organize items in her cluttered Start Menu. In my response, I suggested that Diane right-click over top of the "Program Files" and use the Windows Explorer to "Explore All Users" of the Start Menu ... to sort her icons. Shortly after emailing my response, Diane wrote in again: " Dennis: thanks for your response. I went to Start -> Program Files, right-clicked, and chose to Explore ... but I did not see the 'Explore All Users' option. I am using Windows XP; would that make any difference? All I want to do is take one ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Fred G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I love your newsletter. I just finished reading the last issue of the Gazette (regarding how to sort the Start Menu) and have a related question. I know there is a way to alphabetize your all ... programs menu -- but is there a way to apply this setting for all users that log into the computer? If so, can you please list the instructions again in the newsletter? Thanks again and keep up the great job! " My response: As far as I understand, the Start Menu appearance (with respect to how it is sorted) is different for each user account ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Diane M. writes: " Dear Dennis, When I go to Start -> Programs, the list is so big, I find it hard to navigate and find the application that I want to launch. Is there a way I can organize the information in my Start Menu? " My ... response: Yes. Click Start -> place mouse over top of Programs Folder, then right-click the mouse and choose 'Explore All Users'. An Explorer Window will appear; simply organize your list of programs into a hierarchy and delete the ones you don't need. Note that deleting the icons in your Start Menu will not remove the program from ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Joseph R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'd like to upgrade my computer and was contemplating which main board I should choose. I noticed one particular solution which sported an integrated nVidia MX 4 64MB video chipset; another main ... board I was looking at did not have the integrated video built in, which meant that I would most likely opt to purchase an nVidia GeForce FX 5200 128MB video card separately. I've read that some integrated video cards actually 'steal' memory from the main board of the computer. So, for example: if your computer system has 512MB RAM of system ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Len M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Can you tell me what AMD mobile processor compares to the mobile Celeron 2.8, or where I can find a comparison chart? I am not used to working with Celerons and have just bought a used Toshiba ... Satellite Laptop-SA35-S1593 and it seems slow. It was new in January of 2004 from CompUSA. My online searches show AMD Athlon 3200 running at 2400, the Celeron runs at 2800? The Celeron laptop should be quite quick then?! " My response: First, note that some notebooks will run at 1/2 their speed (also called "speed stepping") if you ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Joel T. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you for the wonderfully helpful articles on VCR to DVD / CD transfers [ article 1 / article 2 ], but I am still left with one point of confusion. I had read so much about using a Firewire port ... to stream video to the PC, that I ordered a Firewire port with my new computer. I did not, however, specifically order a video capture card (I got a Dell with an Nvidia 6800 GTO card). Does this mean that the Firewire port on my new PC is not adequate for streaming video from a VCR or video camera? Am I still short a special capture card? ... (view more)

It's been one heck of an enduring battle, but after waging war with the new web server gremlins -- and after standing vigilantly for the last 5 days in hopes that the hosting company could resolve a number of outstanding issues -- I finally decided ... that "enough was enough" and had the system re-imaged [formatted] all over again. Of course, this meant that I had to reinstate all the dedicated web server software and web pages by remote command-line. Not fun. It was a royal pain in the neck, but it appears that the second walk-thru has cleared the path and things *seem* to be much ... (view more)

Continuing on from our previous discussions with regard to converting VHS video and archiving to DVD or CD, Infopackets Reader Jim L. wrote in with the proceeding follow-up question: " Dear Dennis, First, in reference to the program 'DVDSqueeze' ... that I spoke of previously: now that I think about it, I believe the program was linked from your newsletter through the Google ads. I didn't see the ad in January 20th's newsletter [regarding the conversion of 8MM film to DVD / CD ]; however, I did read the comments you recently made concerning Movie Shrink and Burn (MSaB). Although MSaB sounds ... (view more)