MikesWhatsNews, 25, 10, 2002 in today's issue #581 HackFix Updates 2 Today in history 3 Letter Assigner 4 Arcade Mah Jongg 5 CyberSmart 6 WindowBlinds 3.4 7 ScanZip 8 CCC eHow.com 9 Moving a Window 10 StartPage Guard 2.0 11 Add MS Resource Meter ____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Any time you see the " ++ ", it means there is more of the article, or story, on the linked site. Mike ____________________________________________________________ There is a complete archive of past MikesWhatsNews newsletters available to members on the Yahoo page, it is searchable by word or issue #. Here is the address direct to the messages; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MikesWhatsNews/messages and; //www.freelists.org/archives/mikeswhatsnews/ ____________________________________________________________ HackFix updates, thanks to Christy; staff@xxxxxxxxxxx Http://www.hackfix.org This weeks Virus Pattern Updates (10/24/2002) All Software listed Alphabetically by Company name as some companies manufacture more then one product. Aladdin Knowledge Systems Esafe Desktop/Gateway/Enterprise Last Updated Oct 22/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.esafe.com/esafe/downloads/virusig.asp Or >From the Esafe folder in your Start Menu select Download Updates ~~~~~ AlWil Software Avast Antivirus Last Updated Oct 22/2002 To update your software: Visit: http://www.avast.com/latest.htm Or Right click on the AVAST icon in the system tray, Select iAVS Update, AVAST will check for updates and download the appropriate files as needed. ~~~~~ Command Software Systems Command antivirus/Fprot Last Updated Oct 17/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.complex.is/f-prot/Download.html (F-Prot) http://www.commandcom.com/downloads/virus_definition_updates.html (Command) Or Open Command antivirus click Update Deffiles ~~~~~ Computer Associates E-Trust Last updated Oct 24/2002 To update your software http://support.cai.com/Download/virussig.html Or >From the Respective folder in your Start Menu select Autodownload For Vet Anti virus http://www.vet.com.au/html/software/update.html Be sure to have your Customer ID and your registered email address handy for verification. **Note** We knew this time would come eventually, that Computer Associates would not continue to support/update the older program https://www2.my-etrust.com/services/ipe_support?? ~~~~~~ GeCad Software Rav (Reliable AntiVirus) Last Updated: Oct 24/2002 To update your software: Visit: http://www.ravantivirus.com/pages/dldupdate.php?type=3DDaily Or Open Rav and select Rav Update from the toolbar ~~~~~ Grisoft Inc. AVG Last updated Oct 24/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_updt.php Or Open AVG and click Virus Database to check for updates Or Open AVG control centre and click Update Manager/update now **Note: To help speed up AVG updates you can set your program to use an alternate download site. Open AVG control centre->update manager->download from server. The drop downbox should have listed www.grisoft.com (default) and www.grisoft.cz. (be sure to select "apply" when done to save the changes) The default site is most often used so can at times become temporarily unavailable. By using the secondary site (www.grisoft.cz) helps to ease the server and makes your update go quicker as most don't use it! ~~~~~ Kaspersky Kaspersky Anti-Virus (formerly AVP) Last updated Oct 18/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.kasperskylabs.com/updates.asp Or Open AVP from the top toolbar click Tools-> Update virus definition Or >From the Kaspersky folder in your Start Menu select AVP updater *Note* Avp now has available a cumulative update and a daily update with the daily being any important items they feel shouldn't wait till the next cumulative update. Our dates here are based on the most recent Major update. **Note: Improved update accessiblity. To ease the update web traffic Kaspersky labs has additional servers for autoupdating. The program defaults to use one server but can be altered to check a variety of servers. Select Kaspersky updater, select update via the internet to open the drop down box(es) select "location" Check the box labeled "Use alternate locations from the list" select next and next to update. This option should stay selected after the first time. This helps Kaspersky lighten the load for updates and helps you obtain updates easier. ~~~~~ Network Associates Mcafee Last updated Oct 23/2002 To update your software For Mcafee Visit http://www.nai.com/naicommon/download/dats/superdat.asp (for Virus and Engine updates) http://www.nai.com/naicommon/download/dats/mcafee_4x.asp (for Just virus pattern updates) For Drsolomn (Product no longer available for new users however updates still available for current users): Go to the following Internet site: http://download.mcafee.com/updates/4x.asp IMPORTANT: When you get to this site you may notice that it refers to VirusScan. This update is not only for VirusScan. It also works with Dr.Solomon's. Or Open your respective software virus scan scheduler, double click Auto update, click Run Now to do a manual live update, or click Schedule to set up a timed live update. ~~~~~ Norman Data Defence Norman Virus Control Last updated Oct 23/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.norman.com/downloads.shtml#definition_files_updates Be sure to have your Valid Username and password handy for verification. Or >From the Norman folder in your Start Menu select Internet Update **Note Norman Virus Control web updates are only for version prior to 5.0. Norman 5.0 can only be updated via the update in the program itself. Thunderbyte Anti Virus Current Version: This product is no longer being supported. http://www.norman.com/tbav.shtml ~~~~~ Softwin BitDefender (Previously known as AVX - AntiVirus eXpert as of Nov 06/01) Last Updated Oct 18/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.bitdefender.com/html/updates.php Or Open BitDefender select Protection Options->live upgrade Or >From the BitDefender folder in your Start Menu select Bitdefender Live Press Release on the software change http://www.bitdefender.com/press/ref1.php ~~~~~ Sophos Sophos Anti Virus Last IDE available Oct 24/2002 To obtain the latest IDE files Visit: http://www.sophos.com/downloads/ide/ **Note: Sophos does not update as other products do. They update the Engine/software once a month (or so) to include all the previous IDE files. New IDE files are available with new virus threats and must be downloaded individually until the next software update is available. Our update dates reflect the most recent available IDE file. ~~~~~ Symantec Nortons AntiVirus Last updated Oct 24/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/defs.download.html select your language -> product from the list Or Open Nortons software and click the "live update" button Or >From the Nortons folder in your Start Menu select LiveUpdate - Norton Antivirus ~~~~~ Trend Micro PcCillin Last updated Oct 24/2002 To update your software Visit: http://www.antivirus.com/download/pattern.asp Be sure to have your Registration number handy for verification Or Open PcCillin click Update then click Update Now (or Update later to Schedule a timed update) ~~~~~~~~~ If there is an Anti Virus program that is Not listed here that you would like to see added to the weekly updates list Please feel free to let us know. Remember Your anti virus software is only as good as the user... If you don't keep it updated it won't provide you with maximum protection. This weekly Update will be sent every Thursday on or after 6pm (eastern) to keep you up to date on virus pattern updates available. Virus patterns are checked for most recent update date as of 6pm Thursdays. ~~~~ ~ Hackfix Project Staff staff@xxxxxxxxxxx Http://www.hackfix.org 3017 St Clair Ave #176 Burlington, Ontario L7R 3L7 ____________________________________________________________ 2 Today in history ~ October 25 http://www.440.com/twtd/today.html A daily summary of news events, famous birthdays (mine <BG>), and hit music that happened on this day in history. Todays most famous birthday; Pablo Picasso 1881?1973, Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and ceramist, who worked in France. (Pablo Ruiz y Picasso) He is generally considered in his technical virtuosity, enormous versatility, and incredible originality and prolificity to have been the foremost figure in 20th-century art. ____________________________________________________________ 3 Letter Assigner ~ freeware http://www.v72735.f2s.com/LetAssig/ Everybody who at least once connected a second hard disk drive to a computer or repartitioned a hard disk, knows how many problems may arise because of the non-customizable letter assignment performed by the operating system. Letter Assigner allows to assign any letter to any drive in the system ( with a few non-significant exceptions ). It gives the users of MS Windows 95 and 98 the freedom to choose drive letters. ++ ____________________________________________________________ 4 Arcade Mah Jongg ~ free http://www.brainblock.com/amj.html Arcade Mah Jongg takes the highly popular tile matching game to a new level. Now there is shooting action coupled with strategy! Clear levels by shooting bullets from your paddle at matching tiles. Too many mismatches, and your life bar will reach its end: your paddle will explode into pixelated dust! ++ ____________________________________________________________ 5 CyberSmart http://www.cybersmart.org The CyberSmart School Program offers the first professionally developed curriculum for elementary and middle schools, promoting responsible and effective computer and Internet use. Provided free of charge, this curriculum includes 65 original, standards-based teacher lesson plans with student activity sheets developed by educators and curriculum specialists. Tips for high school students on safeguarding their computer and America's cyber-infrastructure, and CyberSmart! professional development for teachers are also provided. ++ ____________________________________________________________ 6 WindowBlinds 3.4 ~ free download http://www.stardock.com/ Object Desktop: WindowBlinds - Transform the Windows GUI! WindowBlinds is the part of Object Desktop lets you change your title bars, scrollbars, radio buttons, Start bar and nearly every other part of the Windows GUI (graphical user interface). It works on all versions of Windows. It is the Microsoft certified way of adding visual styles to Windows XP. From; Stardock Magazine: October 2002 http://www.stardock.com ____________________________________________________________ 7 ScanZip http://camtech2000.net/Pages/Useful.html Win95/98/Me/Win2K ScanZip will scan your zip files and let you view the files inside. Gives information about size of each file, total, compressed and uncompressed, CRC and any notes attached. Also determines which ones are corrupted. From; camtech2000.net ____________________________________________________________ 8 'Christy's Computer Corner' thanks to Christy; http://www.1stpick.org eHow.com http://www.ehow.com 15,000 Step-by-Step How-Tos, for instance how can I tell if my sushi is fresh? How Things Get Done In the past, when people wanted to know how to do things, they found answers from a variety of sources: friends and family, store clerks, instruction manuals, reference books and Internet sites. Their experiences became complicated tasks, comprised of figuring out how to accomplish the project, making an itemized list of necessities, remembering what is already on-hand, finding what products or services are needed, and making numerous purchases with multiple payment methods to get everything. And all of this was done before they could even start their projects. eHow.com was created to give people a fast and easy way to find out how to do a variety of real-world activities, provide ways to accomplish them, and join a community of like-minded people who share a passion for getting things done. ~~~~~~~~ 9 Moving A Window If you ever find a window open at the top of the screen and you can't drag the window down, there is a solution. Just click your mouse anywhere on the screen and press Alt + Spacebar. When the small menu appears, select the Move option, then use the arrow keys to move the window where you want. Press enter when finished. Was this forwarded to you ? Get your own subscription here: <1stpickPCtips-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe> ____________________________________________________________ 10 StartPage Guard 2.0 Updated version ~ free http://www.pjwalczak.com/spguard/index.php Malicious programs (viruses, trojans, backdoors, etc.) sometime change the StartPage to "gain the ground". Spywares use this way to invade user's privacy by tracking destinations which user visited, and collecting personal information. In some cases this activity may be totally transparent to the user. But most often this is just plain annoyance when start page is changed without asking user's permission. SPG effectively deals with all this problems, making surfing the net safer, more secure, and by reducing frustaration - more fun. ++ ____________________________________________________________ 11 Mike's Friday Tip ~ Add MS Resource Meter In Windows 98, 98 SE, or ME system you can add the MS Resource Meter to your Startup. Go to; Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Resource Meter. Right click the icon and chose copy and add it into your Startup folder. Resource Meter will start every time you start Windows. ____________________________________________________________ Antivirus software is a good choice to scan your system for possible viruses, however no virus scanner is 100% effective as manufactures cannot keep up with the rapid change of viruses that happens daily. Be sure to update yours regularly. http://www.hackfix.org/software/antivirus.html ______________________________________________________________________ Please feel free, to offer constructive criticism, as that will help me keep it interesting. I also welcome any submissions about new products, web pages, or articles of interest. All submissions posted in MWN will be given proper credit. "MikesWhatsNews" believes in giving credit where credit is due but at times deadlines and information that is very important to readers we accidentally misspost an item. If you believe something to be miscredited, or you know the author of one of the articles which we have posted as 'unknown', please do let us know so we can correct the information where applicable. Many times in a article you may see a click here for more information, or to go to a link, these often will not work, as the original information, was taken from a page with HTML links. This is when you will want to go to the webpage indicated in the article, ++ ,for 'the rest of the story' ***MfM*** indicates that I am adding my own information to a particular article. `~*~*~*~*~*~` Mike ~It's a good day if I learned something new. You can read a sample of my newsletter on my web page http://www.mwn.ca My virus pages ~ http://virusinfo.hackfix.org mytech@xxxxxxxxxxx ~*~*~*~*~ Was this forwarded to you? Want to subscribe? Send an email to mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe. For a complete list of email commands for our list send an email to ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a subject line of "info mikeswhatsnews" without the quotes. If you wish to unsubscribe from our list send an email to mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=unsubscribe To contact the list moderators send an email to mikeswhatsnews-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ~*~*~*~*~