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Subject: WinXPnews: Upgrade Your XP Desktop's Appearance
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WinXPnews™
What Makes Computing Expensive?Follow up on "The Inevitable Future of Computing - Windows XP i
s Just the Beginning"
HINTS, TIPS, TRICKS & TWEAKS
Make Your Computer Forget Web User Names and PasswordsHow to Disable Internet Explorer Image R
esizingUpgrade Your Desktop's AppearanceFollow up on Putting Scraps on your DesktopBack Up
your PC to a CD-R Drive
HOW TO'S: ALL THE NEW XP FEATURES
How to Control Sounds in Windows XP
WINXP SECURITY: UPDATES & PATCHES
New Security Flaws Affect Windows XP ComputersNot Receiving Your Windows XP News? It Might Be
Your ISP!Another Way to Turn Off Automatic UpdatesFind File Shares Fast with Shed
UPGRADING & COMPATIBILITY ISSUES
Dial-Up Connection to AOL Stops Responding While Initializing the Modem...And Another Possible
Solution to the BSIL ProblemCopy Files from Old Computers to your Windows XP boxUse Cacheman
to Regain that Win9x Performance Feeling
WINXP CONFIGURING & TROUBLESHOOTING
You Cannot Connect to Terminal Services from a Web PageUnable to Download the Appropriate Deco
mpressor for QuickTimeFiles and Settings Are Not Transferred When You Use the Files and Settings T
ransfer WizardCannot Print from a Windows XP-Based Computer to a Shared Printer on a Windows 95-Ba
sed ComputerScreensaver Password Protection Does Not Work
FAVE LINKS
This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff
What Makes Computing Expensive?
I hear a lot of wonks talk about how the US and world economy is on the bum because not everyone is on
the Internet. If only everyone could have a broadband, super-fast Internet connection, then we'd all
be fat and sassy. The new world economy would take over and we'd all work from home at high paying inf
otech jobs. The problem, they say, is that fast Internet connections just cost too much. If Internet c
onnections weren't so expensive, the new world order could arrive and we'd all be rich.
Sounds pretty convincing, eh? The problem is that Internet access, even broadband Internet access, jus
t isn't that expensive. For less than $50US/month, you can have a super-fast Internet connection. Only
ten years ago, a connection of the same speed ran you $2000/month or more. OK, if Internet connection
s aren't expensive, what else could be preventing people from getting on the Internet? Maybe it's the
cost of computer hardware? Could be, except you can get a decent computer that will connect to the Int
ernet from less than $400US, and even less then $300US if you want to go to <a href='http://www.walmar
t.com/catalog/product_listing.gsp?cat–356&path=0:3944:3951:41937:96356'>WalMart. A decad
e ago, a computer that was far less powerful cost a minimum of a couple of grand. So, it's not the pri
ce of computer hardware that's preventing us from going to the next level and reaching world-wide econ
omic recovery.
The Internet's cheap, the hardware's cheap - what's not cheap? Windows isn't cheap! Have you checked o
ut the price of Windows XP Professional? How about $300US for the average Joe? (<a href="http://www.wi
nxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903ED-XP_Professional&mid$20735872207328" target="_top">http://www.winxp
news.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903ED-XP_Professional). Have you checked out Office XP? How about $486US?
(<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903ED-Office_XP_Pro&mid$20735872207328" target="
_top">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903ED-Office_XP_Pro). Quite a bit more than we paid
for our operating system and productivity suite back in '92, huh?
It seems like the price of software is the real barrier to entry. Five years ago, you would have to pa
y almost $2000US to get the kind of computer systems you get now for less than $600US. But software? T
he price of Microsoft software has actually gone up! What's worse, sometimes you have to pay twice for
the same software if the RegWorm blows up in your face and the person on the other side of the phone
says you're not allowed to use your FULLY PAID FOR software anymore. Now you've paid more than $600US
for Windows XP. Your hardware costs $400US and your software costs $300 + $300 +$486 = $1086. Where's
the barrier to entry?
What do you think? Does software cost too much? Does hardware cost too much? What is the right price f
or software? Does high speed Internet access cost too much? Does it all cost too much?!? Does it matte
r? Let us know!
Follow up on "The Inevitable Future of Computing - Windows XP is Just the Beginning
"
What can I say? That response was overwhelming! Thousands of letters poured in regarding the dreaded P
alladium initiative. What's really strange is that not a single person, NOT ONE, wrote in support of P
alladium. Don't you want to be secure? Don't you want to feel safe? Don't you want to be watched-over
and protected? It'll be For The Children; so you want Palladium, don't you? What was clear is that
everyone who wrote found freedom more important than Big Brother implanting the ultimate spyware i
nto their personal computers. Next thing I'll hear is that you won't want a Digital Angel implanted in
your skull! That's For The Children too. Arrgh.
Make Your Computer Forget Web User Names and Passwords
Mike Vinson wrote in asking about how to get rid of residual user names and passwords that are stored
in the Web browser. This can be a real problem if you share your Windows XP computer with other users!
You certainly want to do this if you ever use a public computer (such as those in libraries). Here's
how you do it:
Open Internet Explorer and click on the Tools menu. Click on the Internet Options command.
Click on the Content tab. On the Content tab, click on the AutoComplete button in the Personal Inf
ormation frame.
In the AutoComplete Settings dialog box, click on the Clear Passwords button. Click OK to clear al
l passwords. Click on the Clear Forms button and then click OK to clear all forms.
Now all that personal information should be removed from Web pages viewed in Internet Explorer. Make s
ure you restart the computer just to be sure the changes "take".
How to Disable Internet Explorer Image Resizing
Have you ever noticed that pictures seem corrupted and messed up in Internet Explorer? It's like they'
ve been poorly resized by a virus or something. Well, it's no virus, it's Internet Explorer! By defaul
t, Internet Explorer will resize pictures if the Internet Explorer window isn't large enough to fit th
e entire picture. I suffered through this behavior for a long time, and finally figured out how to fix
it. Now you can fix it too!
Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools menu. Click on the Internet Options command.
Click on the Advanced tab. Scroll through the list of options and find the Enable Automatic Image
Resizing entry. Click on the box to remove the checkmark.
Click Apply and then click OK.
With the dreaded image resizing feature disabled you'll be able to see pictures that otherwise wouldn'
t have looked right in Internet Explorer.
Upgrade Your Desktop's Appearance
Windows XP supports desktop themes. Desktop themes allow you to change the appearance of many facets o
f your computer's visual environment. You get a couple of themes right out of the box, and you can get
a few more with the Windows XP Plus pack. But if you really want to get the most out of desktop theme
s, check out themexp.org. When you're ready to install a theme, head on over to tgtsoft.com to get the
ir cool theme software - Style XP. Thanks to Hans Westra for this cool tip!
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903TI-TGTSoft&mid$20735872207328" target="_top">ht
tp://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903TI-TGTSoft
Follow up on Putting Scraps on your Desktop
Many of you wrote to me saying that your scraps didn't work! The problem is you're trying to create a
scrap from a program that can't create scraps. If you tried to do it from Outlook or Outlook Express,
it probably didn't work. Try using Microsoft Word or the built-in Wordpad program. These programs allo
w you to copy text from the document and then paste a scrap to the desktop.
Back Up your PC to a CD-R Drive
One thing that Windows XP lacks is a utility that allows you to back up to CD-R drive. That's a real s
hame, because CD-R is the best place to put your most valuable data. Writable CDs are virtually indest
ructible and they're very inexpensive. The help file in Windows XP Pro makes it sound like you can bac
k up to a CD-R, but I can't make it work without some help and many of you are in the same place. Chec
k out Retrospect Express Backup, this is a nice little backup program that will do everything the buil
t-in backup program will do and a lot more! It'll also back up to CD-R devices. You can get a free tri
al, but you'll have to call their toll free number. Even so, it's worth a couple of minutes on the pho
ne to confirm that it'll work with your CD-R drive.
How to Control Sounds in Windows XP
You can control many aspects of the Windows XP sound system using the Sounds and Audio Devices applet
in the Control Panel. Let's take a look at what's in there:
Click Start and click on Control Panel.
In the Control Panel, change to Classic View. Double click on the Sounds and Audio Devices icon.
In the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box, click on the Volume tab. You can set the ov
erall volume for your speakers using the Device volume slider bar. You should put a checkmark in the P
lace volume icon in the taskbar checkbox. That will allow you to change the volume by clicking on the
speaker icon in the system tray. In the Speaker settings frame, you can click on the Speaker Volume bu
tton to change volume on the left and right speakers independently. Click the Advanced button. On the
Speakers tab you can choose the type of speakers you have. On the Performance tab, you can change the
level of audio performance. If you're having problems with choppy sound, you can try dialing down thes
e settings and see if things improve.
Click the Sounds tab. Here you can change the sound scheme. Windows used to come with a number of
different sound schemes, but I believe the sound schemes have been wrapped in themes now. That's a rea
l bummer, because the old sound schemes were quite cool. In the Program Events window you can select a
system event and then click the down arrow in the Sounds drop down list box to pick a different sound
. If you're a patient person, you can create your very own personal sound scheme, including sounds fro
m your own or other people's voices. Make sure you click the Save As button to save your custom scheme
.
Click the Voice tab. Click the Test hardware button. This will walk you through a Wizard that will
optimize the microphone and speaker settings.
After you finish making changes, click the Apply and then click the OK button.
There are a lot of changes you can make in the Sounds and Audio Devices applet. Have fun experimenting
, but remember you can break some of your audio settings here! Just make sure you have a System Restor
e Point that you can use to return to a point before you broke your sound :).
New Security Flaws Affect Windows XP Computers
The security alerts have been coming hot and heavy from Microsoft recently. There are several serious
security problems that affect Windows XP computers. The first one you should fix is related to problem
s with how the Windows XP machine works with a certificate server. You don't need to know what a certi
ficate server is in order to fix it. The fix doesn't seem to install any Spyware and you don't agree t
o give away any of your children to Microsoft if you install the patch. Get it at:
Another fix you might want to be aware of applies to systems that will use the ActiveX control to conn
ect to Remote Desktop Web pages. If you don't connect to such sites, don't worry. If you do, head on o
ver to:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903SE-ActiveX_Fix&mid$20735872207328" target="_top
">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903SE-ActiveX_Fix
Not Receiving Your Windows XP News? It Might Be Your ISP!
We've received a bunch of email from people who say they aren't getting their WinXPNews! They've check
ed their subscription and everything seems fine, but the newsletters just never make it to their email
box. What's going on? The most likely reason is that your ISP is blocking the newsletter. Many ISPs a
re using a somewhat unreliable system, often referred to collectively as a "Realtime Black Hole List (
RBHL)" to decide which mail is spam. Unfortunately, this is a free service, and you get what you pay f
or. Spammers, hackers, and all sorts of cruising losers can report a particular site to be spam, and t
hen bang! Your site is put on a black hole list. These RBHLs work on rumors and false reports, and no
one actually reviews the placement of the sites on the lists! This is pseudo McCarthyism/censorship at
its worst, and you should let your ISP know! Tell them you know how to filter your own spam, and that
you don't appreciate "Big Brother" deciding what you should and should not read.
Another Way to Turn Off Automatic Updates
Turning off automatic updates is a hot topic these days. With the concern over Spyware and Scumware be
ing included with updates and services packs, you can cut the fear of Microsoft updates with a knife.
You've got to be more careful than ever when it comes to installing fixes to your Windows XP computer,
because you're never sure what you're installing or what you'll end up agreeing to. Here's another wa
y to disable Automatic Updates:
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools and click on Services.
Double click on Automatic Updates. Click the Stop button. On the Startup type drop down list box,
click the down arrow and click Disabled.
Click OK.
Note that after you make this change, you will not be able to manually start the Automatic Update serv
ice, even if you want to. You will have to go back to the Automatic Updates configuration dialog box a
nd change the startup type to Automatic or Manual. If you set it to Automatic, the Automatic Update se
rvice will start automatically on startup. If you select Manual, you can go to this dialog box and rig
ht click the Automatic Update service and click Start.
Find File Shares Fast with Shed
Do you know all the shares on all the computers on your network? You might think you do, but if you ru
n "Shed" you might just be surprised! Shed is a very nice Freeware network scanner that scans your net
work for shared folders. Even hidden shares show up in Shed's scanner results pane. The scans are v
ery fast and you can connect to the shares by double clicking on them. Get a copy over at Robin Ke
ir's Web site:
Dial-Up Connection to AOL Stops Responding While Initializing the Modem<
p>
If you use AOL 7.0, you might have noticed that when you try to connect to AOL using AOL 7.0 a message
that says "Initializing Modem". The modem then stops responding and disconnects. Ouch! This problem i
s due to a slight conflict between the Windows XP FAX service and the AOL software. You can still run
the FAX service and AOL on the same computer, but you'll have to wait about 15-20 seconds after you us
e or install the FAX service before you fire up your AOL connection. Sorry about that!
...And Another Possible Solution to the BSIL Problem
Nutterpc writes in with another possible solution to the Blue Screen Infinite Loop (BSIL) problem:
"In regards to the issue you did with the infinite loop problem someone found, I have a few other bits
which may also help, as they kind of expand on that option. These are BIOS changes, and as not all ma
y have this, they would need to find something similar to it.
AGP 1WS Write to enable
AGP 1WS Read leave at disabled
Set AGP Drive Strength to FF
What the AGP settings do is allow the computer to execute commands over the AGP bus with a higher prio
rity, therefore also bringing in a element of possible instability. By setting just the Write and not
Read to enable, we are enabling the computer to be able to execute commands with higher priority, but
to be able to read it quicker, and possibly rebooting our machine."
Copy Files from Old Computers to your Windows XP box
You went out and got a new computer with Windows XP installed on it. You have a bunch of data and game
s and programs stored on your old Windows ME computer. How do you move the stuff from the old computer
to the new computer? You could get network cards and hubs and put together a network, or you could fi
gure out how to use wireless cards to directly connect the two computers. Here's another solution: Fir
ewire. New computers have Firewall ports on the motherboard, and those ports are FAST. How fast? How a
bout 400 MB per second! With a little help, and a Firewire cable, you can create an instant network by
plugging the cable into each computer's Firewall port. All you need is Unibrain's FireNet software. C
heck it out below, there's even a video tutorial to help you learn what it's all about:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903UP-Firewire_Cable&mid$20735872207328" target="_
top">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903UP-Firewire_Cable
Use Cacheman to Regain that Win9x Performance Feeling
One thing about Win9x is that it's awfully fast. There are a number of reasons why Win9x systems are f
aster, but the main reason is that they aren't doing as much as Windows NT based operating systems. I
would never go back to a Windows 95/98/ME computer just for a little more quickness, but it would be n
ice to pump up the volume a little bit on performance. You can do it, and still keep your Windows XP!
Try out Cacheman. The Cacheman program will help optimize your system's RAM and help squeeze out every
drop of speed from your Windows XP computer. Download a copy over at:
You Cannot Connect to Terminal Services from a Web Page
Windows XP includes a cool Web page that you can use to connect to the local machine's Remote Desktop
Connection. The problem is that if you installed the latest Internet Explorer security fix, the Web pa
ge won't work anymore! Actually, it's a problem with the ActiveX control that allows the Terminal Serv
ices session to appear in the browser. You'll need to update your Terminal Services Web connection pag
e. To read about the problem and download the fix go over to:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-Terminal_Services&mid$20735872207328" target
="_top">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-Terminal_Services
Unable to Download the Appropriate Decompressor for QuickTime
Have you ever played a QuickTime movie in Windows Media Player? I bet you haven't, since Microsoft wan
ts to make it hard for you to watch QuickTime movies. QuickTime is an Apple multimedia product, and Mi
crosoft doesn't want you to use it! If you want to watch QuickTime movies, you'll have to head on over
to the Apple computer site:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-QuickTime&mid$20735872207328" target="_top">
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-QuickTime
Files and Settings Are Not Transferred When You Use the Files and Settings Transfer
Wizard
The Files and Settings transfer Wizard is a nice tool that you can use to move your files and settings
from your old operating system to your new Windows XP computer. However, there are some problems you
might encounter, such as:
The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard quits before the transfer process has been completed.
User settings or system settings are not transferred as expected.
Icons created on the desktop do not work as expected.
Account information in Microsoft Outlook Express is lost.
A new account created in Outlook Express overwrites an old mail account.
Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook 2000 settings are not transferred if Outlook Express and Out
look 2000 share the same address book.
The Outlook Express message store becomes corrupted if the store is open while the Files and Setti
ngs Transfer Wizard is used on a Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Mill
ennium Edition (Me)-based computer
This is some pretty nasty stuff! If you want to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, you should
upgrade your system with a fix Microsoft has. You need to call Microsoft to get the fix, but you shou
ldn't have to pay for it, since it's a known problem.
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-Transfer_Wizard&mid$20735872207328" target="
_top">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-Transfer_Wizard
Cannot Print from a Windows XP-Based Computer to a Shared Printer on a Windows 95-B
ased Computer
You may have an ancient Windows 95 computer sitting on the network and that computer is the only one w
ith a printer connected to it. No problem! You just share the printer and allow the other computers on
the network to print on it. But wait! You can't print to the printer connected to a Windows 95 comput
er from your Windows XP machine. What's up with that? You need to get a fix, that's what's up. Get it
here:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-Printer_Fix&mid$20735872207328" target="_top
">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-Printer_Fix
Screensaver Password Protection Does Not Work
OK, so you did what all the dopey security books tell you: password protect the Screen Saver. The prob
lem is that it didn't work! Well, sometimes it doesn't work. What's the deal with this? If the user is
responsible and starts the screen saver himself, the screen saver will NOT ask for a password when so
meone wakes it up. No, instead you have to wait for the screen saver to kick in automatically or lock
the machine with CTRL-ALT-DEL, and all the while someone can just walk up to the computer and do whate
ver they want. So, make sure your users use CTRL-ALT-DEL to lock their machines. For more info check o
ut:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-ScreenSaver_Security&mid$20735872207328" tar
get="_top">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903CO-ScreenSaver_Security
This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun StuffThe Story of
Paul Bunyan, as a Microsoft Q article
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-Paul_Bunyan&mid$20735872207328" target="_top
">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-Paul_Bunyan
Kind of hard to explain this, but it's Furi Furi:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-FuriFuri&mid$20735872207328" target="_top">h
ttp://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-FuriFuri
Let Gnod find a book for you to read:
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-Gnod&mid$20735872207328" target="_top">http:
//www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-Gnod
Get perfect time
<a href="http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-Painting_Quiz&mid$20735872207328" target="_t
op">http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id0903FA-Painting_Quiz
Learn all about the copyright travesty
This is one seriously good game. The AI and special lighting effects along with excellent audio cre
ate a spine-chilling atmosphere. You can trust no one in this game. Everyone is a potential target, a
potential "Thing". Go out and buy it!!!
Reviewer: bz- from Kennewick, WA USA
Be forewarned before you play. This game contains all manners of highly explicit gore, entrails; di
semboweled, decapitated, AMPUTED corpses lie everywhere around the Antarctic stronghold which you expl
ore. This game is also, I think, the second game in history of gaming to have the characters saying F-
words, scatalogical terms, religious exlamations, etc. A bold step.
The graphics are very well done, and the game runs fluidly on my Celeron 800 MHZ processor, 256 megs o
f RAM, and a GeForce 3 Ti200 video card. The game, obviously, is an action game, you command a small s
quad of people. Anyone can be a Thing, and you must blood-test your "friends" to see if they are who t
hey say they are. If they do turn into fully grown Things, and you don't have a flamethrower on hand (
the only weapon that can fully kill a full-grown Thing), you're screwed. If you protect your teammates
, it will minimize their chances of turning into a Thing, but in some circumstances it is inevitable.<
/i>
These documents are provided for informational purposes only. The information
contained in this document represents the current view of Sunbelt Software
Distribution on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because
Sunbelt must respond to changes in market conditions, it should not be
interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Sunbelt and Sunbelt cannot
guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of
publication.
INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM
FROM INFRINGEMENT.
The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this
document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the
following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages
must be included; 2) All copies must contain Sunbelt's copyright notice and any
other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed
for profit. All trademarks acknowledged. Copyright Sunbelt Software
Distribution, Inc. 1996-2002.
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