Dennis Faas

Recall -- Last newsletter, Infopackets Reader Frank C. asked if there was a way to make a web page 'fit' properly on a page when printed: " I enjoy reading your newsletter very much. Whenever I find a particularly interesting topic, I like to make a ... hardcopy for later reference. Unfortunately, some of the information on the web page gets cut off when my printer goes to print the page (this also happens to me with other web sites). Is there a way I get around this problem? " I suggested 2 methods using Internet Explorer (adjusting margins and printing in Portrait mode, or try ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Tom' asks: " Somewhere, someone told me about a website that allowed users to download a windows 98 Second Edition full CD that included all the critical updates. I also heard that you needed to use the original CD key to use ... this install. Do you happen to know if this is true, and if so, what is the web site? " My response: As far as I understand, it would be illegal to distribute any Microsoft product that is normally for sale (I.E.: the Windows Operating System itself -- Service Packs , on the other hand, are free). On that note, I happened to stumble across ... (view more)

Have you ever wanted to print a web page, only to find out that part of the page is cut off at the right margin? Infopackets Reader Frank C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I enjoy reading your newsletter very much. Whenever I find a particularly interesting ... topic, I like to make a hardcopy for later reference. Unfortunately, some of the information on the web page gets cut off when my printer goes to print the page (this also happens to me with other web sites). Is there a way I get around this problem?" My response: There are 2 options I can think of off the top of my head (using Internet ... (view more)

Last Friday's article touched upon the importance of backing up an entire computer system (including Windows itself). As you may recall, disk imaging is mentioned frequently in this newsletter, as it is an important part of 'disaster recovery' ... planning. Over the weekend, I received a number of comments and questions from Readers: many of which referenced the fundamentals of disk imaging. Since the questions were similar in nature -- and because disk imaging is such an essential topic -- I have decided to repost an article which illustrates the basics of disk imaging versus 'regular file ... (view more)

Recall -- A few weeks back, I announced that I would be making major changes to the infopackets web site. Since making that announcement, I have rewritten the newsletter delivery program to optimize distribution and to collect statistical ... information as the newsletter is delivered. The information gathered now allows me to see which newsletter emails are being accepted, rejected, or failed during delivery. The information collected can also be used to prune the subscriber base by identifying email addresses that continually bounce. Side note: Optimizing the newsletter delivery program is of ... (view more)

What would you do if your hard drive crashed and the data it contained was not recoverable? Worse yet -- what would you do if the software you used to backup your drive refused to work unless you paid the company for another license? Yesterday, ... Pippie1969 sent me the following email: " ... [Continuing on with your discussion on PC Security ], I thought I would share with you the following story. A little while back, I purchased 2 identical 120 gigabyte Western Digital (WD) hard drives. In April, one of the drive's crashed (totally), and I was not able to recover *any* of the data on the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Vicki S. writes: " I've been reading up on next major release from Microsoft (Windows XP Service Pack 2). From what I understand -- and, as with all Service Pack releases -- there are major security issues addressed in the ... upcoming release. I'm a bit confused: I understand the Service Pack 2 is not due to be released for a while yet, however, Microsoft is offering 'Release Candidate 2' [RC2] of Service Pack 2. My question is, do you think RC2 will work for me? I have Windows XP home edition, a cable modem, and Norton Internet Security 2004, not to mention all the other ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dale D. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm having trouble logging into my user account under Windows XP. It seems that my password is no longer valid and now I can't get in. The only way I can login to the system is to do so under my ... son's account which does not have administrative rights. Also, when I go to Control Panel -> Users (under my son's account), my user account is not listed. Any ideas how I can resolve this? " My response: Depending on the access level applied to your son's account, he may / may not be able to see any other accounts listed on the system. In ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill C. writes: " Dear Dennis, After reading your review, I downloaded and installed WinOptimizer Platinum Suite . So far, it freed up almost 1.5 gig of space on my system. I was impressed. I also happened to come across another ... program called PowerUp XP Platinum, and was wondering if you would consider writing a review? It looks equally as good. Thanks in advance! PS: I have been enjoying your newsletters for quite some time. They're always informative and to the point. Please keep up the good work! " My response: Thanks for the kind words. I did a bit of ... (view more)

Infopackets.com isn't the only web server under attack from hackers as of late . " Several major web sites, including Yahoo, Microsoft and Google, were inaccessible at times early [Tuesday (06/15/2004), due to an online attack]. The problem began ... about 9 a.m. Eastern and lasted less than two hours, said Jeff Young, a spokesperson for Akamai Technologies Inc., whose network of servers mirror some of the Web's top destinations to improve their performance. " (1) Akamai Technologies later confirmed that its network and servers came under 'a sophisticated, large-scale attack' as a ... (view more)