[abcomputers] ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers, Vol. 29: Removing Duplicates from an Access Database and lots more!
- From: "Linda F. Johnson" <linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ABCfreelists" <abcomputers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 14:09:14 -0400
______________________________________________________
ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers. The ezine YOU subscribed to. If you want to change
your subscription options or unsubscribe, see the bottom of this email for full
instructions. Thank you.
Linda
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/abc
______________________________________________________
ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers
Volume 29; October, 2003 - mailed to 4614 subscribers
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Please rate this Ezine at the Cumuli Ezine Finder
http://snurl.com/6si
ABC is also listed at FreeTechMail. Please visit their site
and rate it there too:
http://snurl.com/6sj
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
If you would prefer to read the online Web-azine, which
includes pictures and screenshots and is, basically, more
user-friendly, follow either of these links:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc
(frames)
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/vol29.htm
(no frames)
or, scroll down to the Contents where you can click on
over to any individual article
NOTE: Unsighted readers or anyone who uses a screen
reader shoud probably go online and read that version if
my separator lines are making too much "noise".
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
For definitions of any terms you do not understand, visit
the GeekSpeak Translator:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/gs.htm
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
You are receiving this newsletter because you (or
someone using your email address) subscribed to it
voluntarily. If you would like to remove yourself from
ABC, please see SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT at the
bottom of this newsletter.
Using the "Reply" function will not unsubscribe you!
My subscriber list is NOT made available to other
companies or individuals. I value every subscriber and
respect your privacy.
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^IMPORTANT!-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
WATCH FOR LONG LINKS!
Most of these have been replaced with SnipURLs
http://www.snipurl.com
so you shouldn't have to copy/paste URLs anymore,
unless you have a reeeeaaallly tiny monitor ;-)
So...if the links are longer than a certain amount, I've
"snipped" them.
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
To help prevent broken links, maximize your email
window to FULL screen.
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
FLASH!!! FLASH!!! FLASH!!!
SPECIAL OFFER FOR ABC READERS ONLY!!
I've written a new PowerPoint eBook for people using
PowerPoint 2002(XP) and 2003 because it's so very
different from the older versions. I put a lot of time and
energy into making it complete and easy-to-follow.
Every lesson has been fully tested by my online students,
who gave me feedback while I was creating it on what
they wanted more of, what was unclear, and what was
the hardest for them to grasp...so I'm pretty confident
it's ready for the general public now.
So, I've just published it...but for TWO WEEKS ONLY,
I have a special link ABC readers can click on to get it
for ONLY TEN BUCKS. On Sunday, 10/26/03, this link
will no longer be available and you will have to pay the
full price of $20 if you want it...so don't procrastinate...
buy it now!
The button is here....go click on it and pay $10 for a
complete PowerPoint 2002/2003 class, six step-by-step
lessons that will have you using the latest features in
PowerPoint in no time. After you pay, I will send you
download instructions and a password, so you can
download the ebook and start learning now.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/linda29.htm#pebk
The book is complete, so whether you are new to
PowerPoint, or just new to PowerPoint 2002/2003,
you will learn all you need to know to create great
presentations.
Enjoy!!
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
THIS MONTHS' FEATURED SPONSOR:
*********************************************
@@@@@@@@@@
SPAM INSPECTOR
@@@@@@@@@@
Here's another product I have added to my computer.
Because I own a website and my email address is readily
available to every spammer on the net, I get over 300
garbage spam mails a day! The subject lines in my inbox
would impress even sailors. I get advertisements,
pornography, and "business" proposals from all over the
world. I've tried filtering this out with my mail rules,
blocked senders lists, and even freeware programs like
Mail Washer and found that none of these methods were
as effective as I needed.
But, this one DEFINITELY works.
And, it's so easy to setup and monitor.
READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE AND DOWNLOAD A DEMO:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/spami.htm
*********************************************
*********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
ADVERTISE in ABC:
ABC offers inexpensive advertising in this email version.
Full details on how to do this are explained here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/abcad.htm
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Do you love ABC? Click here to donate any amount.
http://snurl.com/pks
Heck! If half the subscribers donated 25 cents each,
I would be in business. LOL
All contributions are greatly appreciated!
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
CONTENTS
(all links below these items take you to the non-frames
online versions)
(items with *** behind them include pictures and/or are
better if viewed online)
1. Important How-To Message for Reading This Ezine
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/vol29.htm#HowTo
2. GeekSpeak Translation from the Cap'n
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/gs.htm
~ by Patt Meara
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ~
3. Removing Duplicates from Your Access Database
and Determining Which Were Removed ***
~ by James La Borde
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/james29.htm
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
TIPS & TUTORIALS
4. Points of View in FrontPage - The Views Bar ***
~ by Tina Clarke
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/tina29.htm
5. The Count Keys in the Windows Registry
What They Do, How To Understand Them, and How To
Remove Them
~ by Vic Ferri
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/vic29.htm
6. Microsoft Has Released the New PowerPoint Viewer!
and a GREAT Alternative to "Pack and Go" ***
~ by Kathryn Jacobs
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/kath29.htm
7. Automatic Chart Harmonisation in Excel
Why Excel Is Missing a Charting Feature and How That
Feature Can Be Recreated Using VBA ***
~ by Ray Blake
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/ray29.htm
8. What's a PING? A Tracert? A PathPing? A Session Protocol?
With Command Line Options ***
~ by Greg Chapman
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/greg29.htm
9. Mike, Kathy and Linda Rant About Spam, Viruses, and Porn
~ by Mike Baynes, Kathyrn Jacobs, and Linda Johnson
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/mike29.htm
*********************************************
10. Some New Stuff from Linda ***
@ New Word Troubleshooting Tip
@ Excel Tutorial On Creating IF Statements
@ PowerPoint eBook - SPECIAL FOR ABC READERS ONLY
@ and Great Information for Building Your First Website
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/linda29.htm
*********************************************
11. ASK THE FLEET
~ Questions submitted by readers and answered by
ABC's Fleet of Writers
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/ask29.htm
*********************************************
Miscellaneous:
12. Subscription Management
13. Contact Information
14. Advertise in ABC
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/abcad.htm
*** means the article includes pictures in the online version
or is better viewed online
*********************************************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
*********************************************
ECLECTIC ACADEMY ~ A Better Choice in Distance Learning
DO YOU WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL WITHOUT LEAVING
THE HOUSE?
It's the latest rage and it's called Distance Learning.
Most colleges now offer Distance Learning classes
because they know some people work hard and just
can't fit a classroom into their busy lives. But,
sometimes you don't want to enroll in a full program;
you just want to take one class.
ECLECTIC ACADEMY IS YOUR ANSWER!
http://eclecticacademy.com
Eclectic Academy offers a large range of classes to suit
many needs. Go there now and check out their
curriculum and roster. Classes are only $20 for 6 weeks.
HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT?
Here's a sampling of what they offer:
*Art Courses, both digital and traditional
*Business Courses, including all of the MS Office
Programs (many taught by none other than Linda
Johnson herself)
*Graphics Courses - Flash, PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro
& more
*Website Development Courses - FrontPage,
Dreamweaver, ASP, DHTML, Website Promotion, and
on and on and on
*Eclectic Classes - Computer Maintenance, Writing
Workshops, Feng Shui, Eating Safely - just about
anything you can think of
Go to Eclectic Academy now and sign up to be notified
when classes are added or ENROLL NOW in the class of
your choice. Go there now to enroll in the next set of
classes.
ONLY $20 FOR A SIX-WEEK CLASS!
http://eclecticacademy.com
*********************************************
FLASH!! NEXT CLASSES BEGIN Nov. 9, 2003
DON'T DELAY -- SIGN UP NOW!!
*********************************************
Also, don't forget that Eclectic Academy offers classes
on many different programs and techniques. As a matter
of fact, some of the EA staff have put together forums
on their areas of expertise that you might want to check
out here:
http://www.pixelparity.org/
*********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(1.) IMPORTANT HOW-TO MESSAGE
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
If you decide to go to the Online "Web-azine" version,
go here first for navigation instructions:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/vol29.htm#HowTo
If you are reading this plain text issue, maximize your
email window for best viewing.
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
USING WINDOWS XP AND CONFUSED?
Here are two great resources for you and buying either one
of them will help keep ABC alive!
SHOW ME WINDOWS XP
A Video Tutorial on CD that walks you through it all
http://showmewindows.com/c.cgi/windowstutorial
WINDOWS XP FOR NEWBIES
An E-Book full of simple, easy-to-follow instructions
http://newbieclub.com/wfncopy/?buntah
Both are still available for Windows 95/98/ME users
More info on them available on my Windows webpage:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/windows.htm
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(2.) Cap'n Patt's
GEEKSPEAK TRANSLATOR
~ by Patt Meara
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Visit the Cap'n's Official GeekSpeak Database at
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/gs.htm
If the word you need defined is not there, or the
definition is not clear, too geeky, or just plain confusing
to you, email the Cap'n. He would love to hear from
you at CapnPatt@xxxxxxx
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
Computer Help Central Presents...
A BRAND NEW RESOURCE:
Does your computer "scare you" at times?
Are you tired of not getting answers to your computer
questions?
Don't worry, Mad Mick can teach you
"How to Solve All Your Computer Problems...
Fast & Forever...Even if You're Brand New to Computers
And Think You'll Never Learn Them"
He'll Answer Every Single Computer Question You'll Ever
Have - BEFORE You Even Ask!
(And if he doesn't, you'll have a chance to personally
ASK HIM!)
Download Mad Mick's 200 Computer Questions & Answers
in pdf format
**includes 30 days of FREE email support**
http://hop.clickbank.net/?buntah/likeapro
**SUPPORT ABC BY ORDERING THIS PRODUCT**
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
*****THIS MONTH'S FEATURE*****
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(3.) REMOVING DUPLICATES FROM YOUR ACCESS DATABASE
and Determining Which Were Removed
~~James La Borde
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
**********************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes pictures and is
clearer if read online. You can see the online version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/james29.htm
**********************************************
There are times when you need to remove duplicate records
from a table. It is easily done in Access, the only drawback
is that you don't control which duplicates are removed. If
this may cause a problem, you can determine which records
were removed so that you can ensure the correct records
are kept.
The first step is to create a duplicate of your original table.
To do this simply right click your table in the Tables window
and click Copy.
Click Paste. This will bring up a new dialog box. Enter a
new table name in the appropriate area and change the
Paste Options to Structure Only.
If your Original table does not have an auto-number field,
add one. In the newly copied table, if the original table
did not have an auto-number field, add a number field with
the same name as the new one in the original table. If it
did, change the auto-number to a number field in the new
table. You will also need to determine your primary key
and mark it as such (the field with the duplicates).
You will now create an append query using your original
table as the source and the New Copy as your destination.
Once this is ready, execute the query. It will run through
and see what is due to be appended then come back with
a warning message that not all records can be appended.
It should indicate that a number of the records could not
be appended due to primary key violations.
This is expected. Simply click 'Yes' to allow it to append
the rest of the records. It has now removed all of your
duplicates from the new table.
Now however, maybe you would like to determine what
was removed. This is why we added the auto-number/
number field. Create a new query, and bring in both the
original and copied tables. Access will add a link between
them on the primary key automatically. Delete this. Drag
the auto-number field from the original and drop it on the
related number field in the new table. This will create a
new join. Double click this join to bring up the 'Join
Properties' dialog box. Change the properties to include
all records from the original table and only those that
match in the new table.
Add all of the fields you would like to check from the
original table. Then add a field from the new table.
This field need not be displayed, but you need to set
the criteria of this field to 'Is Null'.
Execute this query and you will have a result-set that
is all of the deleted records.
In summary, follow these steps to accomplish this task.
1. Right Click and copy your table
2. Right Click and paste the table, rename it and check
the selection for Structure Only
3. If you do not already have an auto-number field,
add one to your original table and add an additional
field to your new table as a Number - Long Integer
data type
a. If you have an auto-number field in your original
table, change it to a number - Long Integer field on
the new table
4. Run your append query and click 'Yes' when it tells
you fields will not be added.
5. Open a new query and bring in both your original
table and the new one.
6. Link the fields on your auto-number/Number - Long
Integer field.
7. Double click the link between the tables. This should
bring up a dialog box that allows you to change the link
type. By default, it will be set to include fields that are
the same in both tables. Select the option that includes
all your records from your original table and only
matching records from your new table.
8. Bring in all the pertinent fields from your original
table and the number field from the new table. Uncheck
the box to display the number field and in the criteria
location for this field type, Is Null.
9. Execute the query.
10. Your results will be all of the records in your original
table that are not in your new table as their primary
key fields are duplicated within the table.
*********************************************
James La Borde works in the computer department at a
Credit Union, where he uses Access, SQL Server, VBA,
and ODBC daily. He also teaches online Access classes
at Eclectic Academy.
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/curriculum.htm
*********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Are you thinking about building your own website but you
don't have a clue how to get started? Then, The Newbie
Club's FIRST WEBSITE BUILDER is the package for you!
The Brand New First Website Builder V2.1 contains ...
** FOUR specially created Newbie Club Software packages
Worth $89.90 from our soon to be published Newbie
Software Library.
** THREE updated ebook tutorials, by Famous Newbie
Club authors.
** 24 part HTML Course
** HTML Editing Software
** Stunning Web Building Tips book by Dennis Gaskill
** Links to an abundance of free graphics, software
and more
------- "Believe Me, This is Really Special!"
Only $39.95 and you will be building websites with ease!
Check it out here:
http://newbieclub.com/builder/?buntah
**********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(4.) POINTS OF VIEW IN FRONTPAGE - THE VIEWS BAR
~~Tina Clarke, AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
**********************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes pictures and is
clearer if read online. You can see the online version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/tina29.htm
**********************************************
Using the Views Bar when performing web site creation,
editing, maintenance, and management tasks lets you
switch quickly from one view of your web site to another,
you can Show or Hide the Views bar and also set the
size of the icons by right clicking a plain area on the
View Bar and choosing from the pop up menu. Or you
can go to the Menu: Click View | Views Bar, and click
again to Hide or Show again.
There are five different panes available for editing and
the bar is shown by default.
In this issue, let's look at Page View - This view gives
you three standard panes to play with, plus an
additional two, if you are in a Frames page. You
navigate between them by clicking each pane's button
below your page.
In order to edit a page you must first open one within
a web. . If you want to get an overhead view of the page
you're working on click 'Folder List' and 'Navigation Pane'
from the 'View' menu also.
NOTE: To show or hide paragraph marks in the Normal
pane, click the 'Show All' icon or use the keyboard
shortcut 'Control + /'.
To show or hide HTML tags surrounding text, pictures,
and other page elements in the Normal pane, click Reveal
Tags on the View menu, or use the keyboard shortcut
'Control + Shift + *'.
Normal pane: This pane allows you to insert text, forms,
graphics, and components for editing.
HTML pane: This pane is what it says in the title, it
displays the html coding of the page that is normal
view and allows you edit it.
Preview pane: This pane allows a prelim viewing of the
edited page but unlike 'Preview in Browser' you don't
need to save the page in order to do this.
NOTE: This view is not always the same as the normal
or sometimes the browser view for various reasons.
If you are viewing or editing a frames page in your Web
site, Page view has two additional panes tabs:
No Frames pane: When a Web browser that does not
support frames is used a message is required 'This page
uses frames, but your browser doesn't support them'.
This pane allows you to see it displayed.
Frames Page HTML pane: This pane is the same as the
normal HTML pane and shows the HTML coding for a
framed page.
More on the other Views in the Views Bar in the next
issue.********************************************
Tina Clarke is the Webmaster of AccessFP - FrontPage
Resource Centre http://accessfp.net/ and
http://addonfp.com She is also an editor of AnyFrontPage
Bytes Ezine. Subscribe to the ezine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnyFrontPageBytes
and get FREE FrontPage E-Books upon joining.
Tina is also an artist and owner of
http://artdoodle.com
********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
DREAM JOBS TO GO
Check out OVER 80 INSTANT GUIDES to your DREAM JOB or
LIFESTYLE, by real world been-there, done-that authors.
Click here to get YOUR REAL LIFE moving NOW:
http://snurl.com/6sd
Including Linda Johnson's
"How to Get Started as a Software Trainer"
AND LOTS MORE!
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(5.) THE COUNT KEYS IN THE WINDOWS REGISTRY
What They Do, How To Understand Them, and How To
Remove Them
~~Vic Ferri, WinTips and Tricks
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
The Count keys are a couple of lesser known and rather
mysterious registry keys that are used to log some of your
online and offline activity. This leads one to believe that
these are "spyware" keys but it's important to realize that
these keys are also used by legitimate sources - both
online and offline. Installing hardware, software, making
system changes and even just rebooting your computer
usually adds entries to the Count keys. And even online,
many sites you consider trustworthy may add info to
these keys when you visit them. Over time, this key can
become quite inflated and not even deleting all your
History, Cookies and Temp files will clear the Count
entries. So even if you do not care about the logging,
you may want to clear these keys occasionally as part
of your disk cleanup.
You do have choices here - the logging can be stopped
or you can easily delete these keys whenever you wish.
No utiltities are needed to perform these functions.
Just how many entries your count keys contain depend
on how many unique sites you explore and how often
you make changes to your system and how much
software you install and configure. Having said that,
I do not know if there is a limit to how much this key
can hold but in my testing I imported over 3000 values
into it and they all held. But the norm is usually in the
hundreds, though I've heard of some users whose count
keys had over 5,000 entries in them. So it all depends.
There really isn't much reliable information on the net
about these keys.
So where are these keys?
First, you may have two Count keys which are subkeys
of the UserAssist key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\
CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ UserAssist\ {5E6AB780-7743-
11CF-A12B-00AA004AE837}\ Count
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\
CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ UserAssist\ {75048700-EF1F-
11D0-9888-006097DEACF9}\ Count
To get to them, click your Start button, then Run. Type
regedit and click ok and make your way to keys above.
When you look at the values in the right hand pane, you
will see that the names don't seem to make any sense:
i.e.; HRZR_EHACVQY:%pfvqy6%\Yvaxf\Tbbtyr-Tebhcf.hey
That's because the names are encrypted. I really can't
tell you why Microsoft chose to encrypt them but I can
tell you that the encryption used is a simple text rotation
one known as ROT-13 that is child's play to decode. The
way this encryption works is by substituting letters - each
letter is replaced by the letter 13 positions ahead (and
thus the name - ROTation -13). For example, the letter a
becomes the letter n. (bcdefghijklmn = 13 letters), b
becomes 0, c becomes p, etc. 13 letters covers the whole
alphabet: i.e.; if the letter is m it becomes z and if the
letter is z it becomes m. Numbers and other characters
are left as is. You sometimes see this encryption in
newsgroup postings as a method to hide offensive
comments and many news readers allow decrypting
such messages. In Outlook Express, for example, you
just open the message and click Message>Unscramble.
So if we take the above example (which is actually a
true entry from a test on my own PC),
HRZR_EHACVQY:%pfvqy6%\Yvaxf\Tbbtyr-Tebhcf.hey
translates to UEME_RUNPIDL:%csidl6%\Links\Google-
Groups.url
Still doesn't make the information totally clear but it
does make it readable and provides obvious clues as to
who put the value in your registry. As you can see in
this example, it was Google who placed the value there.
And yes it was placed in the Count key when I went to
the Google Groups page.
Once you have decrypted a number of entries, you will
notice that most entries fall under one of the categories
below: (but exactly what each category holds is not
really clear to me)
UEME_CTLSESSION: (the first value entered always
seems to begin with this)
UEME_RUNPIDL: (info after seems seems to reference
hard drive files and web pages)
UEME_RUNCPL: (entries are usually added here after
clicking on Control Panel icons. The giveaway is CPL -
Control Panel appLet.
UEME_RUNPATH: (this category is a giveaway too -
RUN PATH - i.e.; run a file such as an exe, com or bat file.
UEME_UITOOLBAR (perhaps for tracking changes you
make to toolbars)
UEME_RUNWMCMD (another run command type value)
UEME_UIHOTKEY (hot keys?)
UEME_CTLCUACount: (counting something?)
and these two similar ones, which I do not know the use of:
UEME_UISCUT
UEME_UIQCUT
NOTE: I created a simple encoder-decoder to simplify
ROT-13 conversions. You can download it here.
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/dl/rot13.exe
Then just double click it to open it and paste any
ROT-13 code into one box and see the conversion in
the other.
Or, if you would prefer not to download a file, you can
use the online version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/rot13.htm
Removing Entries
You can safely delete the entire UserAssist key as it will
be recreated (whether you like it or not) when you reboot.
To delete the key:
Click Start>Run, type regedit and click Ok to launch the
registry editor.
Make your way to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist
Right click the UserAssist key and choose Delete.
Disabling Logging
You can also disable the logging by creating a new
registry key and value. No special program is needed to
stop this logging.
Here's how:
Right click the UserAssist key and choose New>Key
Name the new key Settings.
Highlight the Settings key and in the right hand pane,
right click a blank area and choose New>Dword value.
Name it NoLog Then double click it and enter a value of
1.
Done.
The effect will take place after you reboot your computer.
From then on, no new entries should be added to your
Count keys but some have reported that even after doing
this, some entries slip through. In that case, you can use
the next tip to delete them with a reg file.
Double Click to Delete
You can also create a simple reg file to delete the entire
UserAssist key whenever you choose.
To do that, open up notepad and enter the following lines:
------
REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserA
ssist]
------
********************************************
NOTE FROM EDITOR: If your email program wrapped
that line, it may have a space in it. If you copy that
line into notepad, remember to remove any spaces.
********************************************
Save the file with a .reg extension and place it wherever
you find convenient. Double click it anytime you wish to
clear all your Count entries. You will get a confirmation
message asking you if you are sure you want to add the
info to the registry. Click Yes.
(Don't miss the minus sign in front of HKEY)
NOTE: If you're a Wintips&Tricks member, you can
download the file premade, if you prefer. If you are not
a member, you are more than welcome to join.
Just go to our Files section here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks/files/
and look for CountDel.reg
Disable Encrypting
If you prefer to keep the logging enabled, you can
disable the Rot-13 letter scrambling so that you can
make more sense out of the values and dump the
need for any decoding utility. To do that, follow the
steps for "Disabling Logging" but name the New
Dword value NoEncrypt, instead of NoLog and also
give it a value of 1.
********************************************
Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks
email group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks
He is also in charge of the Printing Tips page at
Linda's Computer Stop.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/printing.htm
and also the Registry Tips page.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc1/v4/vic4.htm
Vic has also created a program which allows you to
Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME.
Read more and get the free demo here.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/lockhide.htm
And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint
presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on
computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.
http://www.angelfire.com/va3/vic3/index.html
********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Are you into Video Computing?
VIDEOMAKER is the world's most popular monthly
consumer video production publication and covers the
use of digital video editing, camcorders, cameras, and
desktop video and audio production for novice and
expert enthusiasts alike. Its articles teach production
techniques, survey and review the latest equipment,
and explain the newest technological advances.
Published monthly, and is available on select newsstands
and to subscribers. In addition, you receive a password
giving you full access to Club VId, Videomaker's vast
online resource of information about making video.
And the best part is, it's CHEAP! Only $14.97 for 13 issues!
http://snurl.com/6t1
And, our own multimedia expert, Vic Ferri wants to tell you about
the great offer being made by VideoMaker Magazine. You can now
get a free trial issue and free Ulead CD of video editing software.
No obligation, no cost.
NOTE - the free CD is for US only. Other countries, free trial
issue only.
More info and instructions from Vic here:
http://www.angelfire.com/va3/expert_guides/videomaker.html
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(6.) GREAT NEWS FOR POWERPOINT USERS!
MICROSOFT HAS RELEASED THE NEW POWERPOINT VIEWER
and a GREAT Alternative to "Pack and Go"
~~Kathryn Jacobs, PowerPointAnswers
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
**********************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes pictures and is
clearer if read online. You can see the online version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/kath29.htm
**********************************************
With the release of PowerPoint 2003 in October, 2003, the
feature most requested by PowerPoint users will be
granted: Microsoft has released a new Viewer. This
Viewer will come with all purchased versions of PowerPoint
and is available for download from the Microsoft site. I
recommend that even if you purchase PowerPoint 2003,
you check the website for a newer version of the Viewer.
Where do I get the new Viewer?
You can download the viewer from the Microsoft site here:
http://snurl.com/2fz9
You can find a note from one of the PowerPoint
developers about the new viewer on the PPT FAQ
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00436.htm
What does the Viewer support?
Almost everything!
The new animations added in PowerPoint 2002 (XP)?
Supported.
Triggers?
Supported.
Animated Gifs?
Supported.
Password Protection?
Supported.
In fact, password protection can be set to allow read
access or modify access.
The Viewer does not need installation. Download it from
the web and it is ready to be used as is, from your hard
drive or from removable media. (Removable media
includes CDs, USB drives, and a number of other media
formats.)
Okay, drop the other shoe? What DOESN'T it support?
The Viewer does not now and will never support VBA or
PowerPoint macros. If your presentation needs macros to
run, the people receiving it will need full up PowerPoint.
Adding support for VBA made the Viewer interface too
complicated for Microsoft to feel comfortable supporting
in a free application.
Did they add a replacement for Pack and Go?
Not only did they add a replacement for Pack and Go,
they made the replacement easier to use and pre-set
with intelligent default options. The feature is now called
"Package to CD". When started, it brings up a window
that allows you to name your CD, select your
presentations and other files, set options, and copy to
either CD or folder.
If you view the screen shot in the online version of this
article, you will notice the smarter default. Not only does
it default to include linked files and the Viewer, it even
tells you that it is going to do so!
One of the new features of Package to CD is its link
recognition system. By default, PowerPoint will go through
each presentation and find all linked files for that
presentation. If you want to add files beyond those that
are linked directly from one of the PowerPoint files, click
Add Files. A browse window will come up and you will be
able to add other files from your computer or network.
To build a default CD, click the "Copy to CD" button.
PowerPoint will gather your files and copy them to the
CD. It will tell you (via a message box) as it copies the
files to the CD. When it is done, it will close the CD and
bring up a window. If you want to make another copy,
click yes. The program will prompt you for another CD
and copy the files to that new CD. If you are done with
this presentation, click no. You will be returned to the
Package for CD window.
Same kind of thing when you are saving to a folder.
Click the "Copy to Folder" button. PowerPoint will bring
up a window to ask you for the new folder name and its
location. The default folder name will be the same name
as was entered on the main Package for CD screen for
the CD name. If you want to change the location, you can.
Once you have set the folder name and location,
PowerPoint will gather your files and copy them to the
new folder. It will tell you (via a message box) as it
copies the files to the folder. When it is done, you will
be placed back at the Package for CD window.
What options do I get if I click the Options button?
Clicking the options button will bring up another window.
The setting for each of these values will depend on your
particular use. Obviously, if you add passwords to the
file, be sure to pass along the passwords to those that
need them.
Once the files are packaged to either CD or a folder, the
Viewer can be run automatically by clicking the batch files
(autorun.bat or play.bat). These files will pass the name
of the packaged presentation to the Viewer and start it up.
Are these the only new features in PowerPoint 2003?
No, there are a few others. Watch upcoming issues of
ABC for articles on the other improvements made with
the new release!
**********************************************
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Get PowerPoint answers at
http://www.powerpointanswers.com
Cook anything outdoors with
http://www.outdoorcook.com
Kathy is a trainer, writer, Girl Scout, parent, and whatever
else there is time for.
I believe life is meant to be lived. But, if we live without
making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived.
************************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
POWERPOINT TO EXE
We can convert your Powerpoint presentations into stand alone
exe files that will play on all the major Windows platforms
without the need for a Powerpoint viewer. More info here:
http://www.angelfire.com/va3/vic3/index.html
Email: pptexe@xxxxxxxxxx
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(7.) AUTOMATIC CHART HARMONISATION IN EXCEL
Why Excel Is Missing a Charting Feature and How That
Feature Can Be Recreated Using VBA
~~by Ray Blake, GR Business Process Solutions
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
**********************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes pictures & tables
and is clearer if read online. You can see the online
version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/ray29.htm
**********************************************
Excel's charting tools are pretty comprehensive, but there
are some annoying features missing. This article will look
at one of them - the automatic harmonisation of scales -
and build some code to work around the issue. I will
assume a good working knowledge of how charts are
created and customised in Excel.
Throughout the article, we'll be using the following data
table, relating to survey data in a chain store:
Fairly unhappy Very unhappy
customers customers
Aberdeen 50 55
Edinburgh 50 120
Glasgow 300 140
When you auto-chart these numbers as a separate chart
for each store, the picture in the online version of this
article shows what you get.
If every picture tells a story, this is an odd one.
Aberdeen's and Edinburgh's figures appear the same,
whilst the latter has more than twice as many Very
Unhappy Customers (VUCs). Glasgow looks to be
performing much better than either of the others too,
but it has the most VUCs of any of them, and some
six times as many Fairly Unhappy Customers, too!
Excel has applied automatic scales. It has looked at the
data you wanted to chart, and has made assumptions
about where you want the Y scale to start and end. For
instance, it has to chart for Aberdeen values of 50 and
55. It sets up a scale ranging from 47 to 56. When
looking to chart values of 300 and 140 for Glasgow,
though, it uses a scale of 0 to 350. If you don't look
carefully at the scales, you might draw an unwise
conclusion when comparing these charts.
Right now, many of you will be wondering why I didn't
just show a single graph and plot all 3 sets of figures
on the same one.
Actually, there are a number of possible reasons. One
might be that I want to copy and paste individual charts
into letters to the store managers, but I might want each
only to have access to the figures for his/her own store.
One way I can solve the problem of different scales on
the 3 graphs is to manually set the scales on each chart.
Double-clicking on the Y axis line brings up the Format
Axis dialog box. If I hit the 'Scale' tab, I have access
to the controls. I can remove the ticks from 'Minimum'
and 'Maximum' and show their values as 0 and 320
respectively. If I do this for each of the 3 charts, I get
something much closer to what I want.
That's more like it. You can make a reliable assessment
now at a glance. But this comes at a price. By removing
the automatic scaling, I have lost the ability to have the
charts automatically cope with varying data. For instance,
assume that some more data is added so that the figures
are increased:
Fairly unhappy Very unhappy
customers customers
Aberdeen 160 355
Edinburgh 70 180
Glasgow 500 200
Look what happens to the charts. You will notice that the
top of the scale is stuck at 320, so figures greater than
this just get cut off. Not good. If we just reinstate the
automatic scaling, we're back to Square 1, with each
chart choosing its own scale independently. What we
need is a way to harmonise automatic scaling between
the 3 charts, and it's here that Excel lets us down.
What we can do, though, is fake it by using some VBA
code. First, I need to add a couple of fields to the Excel
Sheet.
In cell G4, I added this formula:
=MAX(C4:D6)
This finds the biggest value which exists in the data table.
IN G5, I added this formula:
=CEILING(G4+1,20)
What this formula does is start with the number
calculated in the cell above. It then:
1. Adds 1 to it
2. Rounds up to the nearest multiple of 20
The end result is that it returns a round number up to
20 bigger than the largest number in the data.
If we assume the 3 charts on the worksheet are called
"Chart 1", "Chart 2" and "Chart 3", then the VBA you need
is as follows:
Sub UpdateScale()
'
' UpdateScale Code
' by Ray Blake
'
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects("Chart 1").Activate
With ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue)
.MinimumScale = 0
.MaximumScale = Range("G5").Value
End With
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects("Chart 2").Activate
With ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue)
.MinimumScale = 0
.MaximumScale = Range("G5").Value
End With
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects("Chart 3").Activate
With ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue)
.MinimumScale = 0
.MaximumScale = Range("G5").Value
End With
End Sub
Whenever you run this code, the chart scales are updated
to use the figure you calculated in Cell G5. You can run
the code as a macro whenever more data is added, but
a foolproof way of using it would be to insert a call to
the code in the Worksheet Change event, thus:
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
mySelection = ActiveWindow.RangeSelection.Address
UpdateScale
Range(mySelection).Select
End Sub
Make sure, of course, this code is inserted in the code
for the worksheet itself, not a standard module. With
this in place, the scales on all 3 charts will be adjusted
identically to take into account the new data without
any user intervention.
So, we started by looking at the drawbacks of automatic
scaling where related charts were involved. We then saw
how to manually harmonise the scales to ease visual
comparison, and then built some VBA to cater for this
harmonisation to happen automatically when data
changes. This final approach gives you all the
advantages of automatic scaling AND harmonisation
between the related charts.
NOTE FROM LINDA: Ray's company conducted an
excellent survey on the use of Microsoft Office. I
recommend you click on the link below and go to his
website and read it. It's quite informative.
**********************************************
Ray Blake lives in England and spent 15 years training
people in the financial services industry there. He had
always used PCs in his work, and gradually realised he
might make a career out of them. He and his business
partner set up GR Business Process Solutions
( http://www.grbps.com ) which specializes in innovative
IT to support knowledge testing and skills assessment.
Although he spends a lot of time these days developing
in VB and Access, Excel remains his favourite development
tool, because, as he says, 'It can do everything; there's no
computer application you can think of that you couldn't
develop in Excel.'
********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
**************STATION BREAK*****************
^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
LOCK&HIDE
from Vic Ferri
High level desktop folder security for
Windows 95/98/Me
Keep your personal and most valuable files locked
and hidden from prying eyes, viruses, and other users
of your computer. Easy to use and extremely secure.
Lock&Hide is an extremely easy to use program that
allows you to lock and hide any folder on your desktop.
Folders secured with Lock&Hide cannot be seen, found,
or accessed. Your folders remain totally invisible and
highly secured, yet can be accessed quckly and easily
at any time!
More Info here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/lockhide.htm
Screenshots and instructions here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/scrnshots.htm
Or download the free demo here
(the demo does not include the "Restore All" feature
or the password protection utility.)
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/demoinf.htm
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(8.) WHAT'S A PING? A TRACERT? A PATHPING?
A SESSION PROTOCOL?
~~ by Greg Chapman, Senior Systems Engineer
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
**********************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes information that
may be clearer if read online, due to the way plain text
email messes with alignment and word wrap. You can
see the online version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/greg29.htm
**********************************************
There are many who believe that PING stands for Packet
InterNet Groper, and appealing as that idea is, the
author of the program says he only wishes the
inspiration were so glamorous. All he was really trying
to do was to use the ICMP (Internet Control Message
Protocol) to see if a particular IP address on a different
network from his own was running. He likened this tool
to a submarine's sonar and called it PING after the
sound of the sonar hitting an object under water. But,
on with the way PING works...
By using the ICMP protocol's ECHO request, he could
effectively get information from a host that normally
isn't transported between routers. With a PING, then,
we can see if the host at some address is alive and
running.
To run ping, simply open a CMD prompt and type:
ping <hostname>
Here are the results of pinging
www.personal-computer-tutor.com
__________________________________________
Pinging www.personal-computer-tutor.com
[66.113.130.224] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 66.113.130.224: bytes=32 time=335ms TTL=51
Reply from 66.113.130.224: bytes=32 time=50ms TTL=51
Request timed out.
Reply from 66.113.130.224: bytes=32 time=222ms TTL=50
Ping statistics for 66.113.130.224:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 3, Lost = 1 (25% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 50ms, Maximum = 335ms, Average = 202ms
__________________________________________
The results indicate that a host does answer at that
address and that the response times are acceptable
(about 1/4 second) but there may be some congestion
somewhere along the route causing a request to be lost.
When this happens, we sometimes want to take a look
at the condition of the network path to the site. For that
job, we use Tracert (Trace Route). Again, from the CMD
prompt, type:
tracert www.personal-computer-tutor.com
__________________________________________
Tracing route to www.personal-computer-tutor.com
[66.113.130.224] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 3 ms 4 ms 4 ms 192.168.0.1
2 119 ms 346 ms 65 ms 10.246.114.1
3 * 260 ms 44 ms ilchsert01.il.sprintbbd.net [66.1.0.1]
4 * 549 ms 35 ms sl-gw34-chi-6-0-ts3.sprintlink.net [144.228.207.29]
5 56 ms 34 ms 295 ms sl-bb23-chi-4-2.sprintlink.net [144.232.26.45]
6 33 ms 37 ms 46 ms sl-bb20-chi-8-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.26.53]
7 * 218 ms 31 ms chi-brdr-03.inet.qwest.net [205.171.1.161]
8 314 ms 41 ms 40 ms chi-core-02.inet.qwest.net [205.171.20.137]
9 45 ms 30 ms 39 ms chi-edge-08.inet.qwest.net [205.171.20.114]
10 89 ms 40 ms 40 ms pos-6-0.ons.siteprotect.com [65.112.64.146]
11 42 ms 41 ms 43 ms lfw100.siteprotect.com [66.113.129.251]
12 400 ms 40 ms 40 ms lsh135.siteprotect.com [66.113.130.224]
Trace complete.
__________________________________________
A hop is the same thing as saying 'router'. Every time the
request crosses a router, it has made a 'hop'. Each hop
along the way is listed and the results of 3 echo requests
to that router are listed. As we can see in the above
output, my route to www.personal-computer-tutor.com
isn't the best. Otherwise I wouldn't see any asterisks
(*) in the output. In ping and tracert, an asterisk
indicates an echo request that was lost.
With Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced a new tool
called PathPing. PathPing is an averaging tool to
measure site connectivity latency. Each of the times in
a tracert represent the latency of that route. But doing
a single trace to the site may produce results which
don't accurately represent the condition of the route.
PathPing is designed to provide a more reasonable,
averaged measurement of the routes. Using this tool,
let's see if we can learn anything about the condition
of the routes to www.personal-computer-tutor.com.
__________________________________________
pathping www.personal-computer.tutor.com
-tutor.com
Tracing route to www.personal-computer-tutor.com [66.113.130.224] over a
maximum of 30 hops:
0 chappieslappie.mtraxhome.dyndns.org [192.168.0.151]
1 192.168.0.1
2 10.246.114.1
3 ilchsert01.il.sprintbbd.net [66.1.0.1]
4 sl-gw34-chi-6-0-ts3.sprintlink.net [144.228.207.29]
5 sl-bb23-chi-4-2.sprintlink.net [144.232.26.45]
6 sl-bb20-chi-8-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.26.53]
7 chi-brdr-03.inet.qwest.net [205.171.1.161]
8 chi-core-02.inet.qwest.net [205.171.20.137]
9 chi-edge-08.inet.qwest.net [205.171.20.114]
10 pos-6-0.ons.siteprotect.com [65.112.64.146]
11 lfw100.siteprotect.com [66.113.129.251]
12 lsh135.siteprotect.com [66.113.130.224]
Computing statistics for 300 seconds...
__________________________________________
As you can see, pathping will spend the next 5 minutes
working out the averages for each hop along the way.
At the end of 300 seconds, we get to see the results:
__________________________________________
Hop RTT Source to Here
Lost/Sent = Pct This Node/Link
Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 chappieslappie.mtraxhome.dyndns.org [192.168.0.151]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 3ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.0.1
8/ 100 = 8% |
2 112ms 14/ 100 = 14% 6/ 100 = 6% 10.246.114.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 139ms 11/ 100 = 11% 3/ 100 = 3% ilchsert01.il.sprintbbd.net [66.1.0.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 131ms 11/ 100 = 11% 3/ 100 = 3% sl-gw34-chi-6-0-ts3.sprintlink.net
[144.228.207.29]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 130ms 8/ 100 = 8% 0/ 100 = 0% sl-bb23-chi-4-2.sprintlink.net
[144.232.26.45]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 104ms 11/ 100 = 11% 3/ 100 = 3% sl-bb20-chi-8-0.sprintlink.net
[144.232.26.53]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 105ms 8/ 100 = 8% 0/ 100 = 0% chi-brdr-03.inet.qwest.net [205.171.1.161]
3/ 100 = 3% |
8 115ms 12/ 100 = 12% 1/ 100 = 1% chi-core-02.inet.qwest.net
[205.171.20.137]
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 134ms 11/ 100 = 11% 0/ 100 = 0% chi-edge-08.inet.qwest.net
[205.171.20.114]
1/ 100 = 1% |
10 125ms 12/ 100 = 12% 0/ 100 = 0% pos-6-0.ons.siteprotect.com
[65.112.64.146]
3/ 100 = 3% |
11 141ms 15/ 100 = 15% 0/ 100 = 0% siteprotect.com [66.113.129.251]
3/ 100 = 3% |
12 128ms 18/ 100 = 18% 0/ 100 = 0% lsh135.siteprotect.com [66.113.130.224]
Trace complete.
__________________________________________
From the above output, we can start to characterize the
stability and 5 min average for each of the hops in the
route. These tell us about the relative stability of a
connection from our system to that remote system.
Sometimes, pings and tracert commands to
www.msn.com produces nothing but asterisks for the
host of that site:
__________________________________________
Tracing route to www.msn.com [207.68.173.244] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 3 ms 4 ms 3 ms 192.168.0.1
2 221 ms 29 ms 29 ms 10.246.114.1
3 128 ms 116 ms 323 ms ilchsert01.il.sprintbbd.net [66.1.0.1]
4 62 ms 30 ms 29 ms sl-gw34-chi-6-0-ts3.sprintlink.net [144.228.207.29]
5 162 ms 63 ms 300 ms sl-bb23-chi-4-2.sprintlink.net [144.232.26.45]
6 53 ms 50 ms 34 ms sl-bb25-chi-14-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.26.94]
7 152 ms 73 ms 74 ms sl-bb21-sea-1-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.20.156]
8 109 ms 86 ms 102 ms sl-gw14-sea-9-0.sprintlink.net [144.232.6.134]
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
__________________________________________
This is because ECHO requests at the gateway for
MSN.com are blocked. Why? Because ICMP can be
dangerous in that they provide a simple way of
executing a denial of service attack against a site.
So, often, a site may be up and usable yet a tracert or
ping request will indicate that the host at that network
location is down.
That brings us to the final points to understand about
troubleshooting a network and connectivity to hosts.
Ping, Tracert and PathPing all depend on the use of a
session layer protocol called ICMP. Yes, you're used to
thinking of protocols as being nothing more than TCP/IP.
It doesn't end there.
ICMP is a session layer protocol. So are HTTP (web),
SMTP (email delivery), POP3 (email pickup) and FTP
(file transfer protocol). Each of these uses different IP
ports (every IP address has 65,535 ports it can listen/talk
across) and a different 'language' for doing its job.
Therefore, when I'm talking to a web server with Ping, I
may get results that indicate the site is down. Yet, if I
use my web browser to go to that site, I'll get a web
page. That says the site is blocking ICMP Echo requests
(which causes Ping and Tracert to fail) but the web
service on the site at port 80 is accepting requests.
That's why you can't simply use Ping and Tracert to tell
the whole tale of connectivity. Yet they are indespensable
for the job because there is no path tracing tool for
checking the web protocol. The same is true for when
you're attempting to diagnose email delivery issues.
This is helpful stuff about the command line options
for each of these programs:
PING:
Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS]
[-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]]
[-w timeout] target_name
Options:
-t Ping the specified host until stopped.
To see statistics and continue - type Control-Break;
To stop - type Control-C.
-a Resolve addresses to hostnames.
-n count count Number of echo requests to send.
-l size Send buffer size.
-f Set Don't Fragment flag in packet.
-i TTL Time To Live.
-v TOS Type Of Service.
-r count Record route for count hops.
-s count Timestamp for count hops.
-j host-list Loose source route along host-list.
-k host-list Strict source route along host-list.
-w timeout Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each reply.
TRACERT:
Usage: tracert [-d] [-h maximum_hops] [-j host-list] [-w timeout]
target_name
Options:
-d Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.
-h maximum_hops Maximum number of hops to search for target.
-j host-list Loose source route along host-list.
-w timeout Wait timeout milliseconds for each reply.
PATHPING:
Usage: pathping [-g host-list] [-h maximum_hops] [-i address] [-n]
[-p period] [-q num_queries] [-w timeout] [-P] [-R] [-T]
[-4] [-6] target_name
Options:
-g host-list Loose source route along host-list.
-h maximum_hops Maximum number of hops to search for target.
-i address Use the specified source address.
-n Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.
-p period Wait period milliseconds between pings.
-q num_queries Number of queries per hop.
-w timeout Wait timeout milliseconds for each reply.
-P Test for RSVP PATH connectivity.
-R Test if each hop is RSVP aware.
-T Test connectivity to each hop with Layer-2 priority tags.
-4 Force using IPv4.
-6 Force using IPv6.
**********************************************
Greg Chapman is a Microsoft MVP, Senior Systems
Engineer, developer, private pilot, luthier, musician and
dad. When Greg's not flying or helping to solve the l
atest teenager crisis, he gets his jollies from finding the
unusual stuff in Windows, wrestling with some obscure
technical issues or beta testing games and simulators.
His freelance work through MouseTrax Computing Solutions
allows him to exercise these passions to their fullest.
http://www.mousetrax.com/
********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(9.) MIKE, KATHY AND LINDA RANT ABOUT
SP^A^M, V^I^RUSES, AND P^O^RN
~~Mike Baynes, MikesWhatsNews
~~Kathryn Jacobs, PowerPointAnswers
~~Linda F. Johnson, Linda's Computer Stop
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
NOTE FROM LINDA: This superfluous email problem we
are all suffering from is getting ridiculous. Two of the
Fleet members sent me rants this month about stuff that
is happening and I want to share them with you,
because they are things that REALLY anger me, so here
they are, along with my own rant at the end.
From Mike:
SPAM ARREST IS JUST ANOTHER FORM OF SPAM
Well, I have reached the boiling point. I use many
different programs to try and prevent spam. I have
Norton set to block certain forms of spam, Mailwasher
to identify and mark for deletion any email which meets
my filters, as well as Courier Email program's filters.
I can almost keep up.
But today the fit hit the shan! <G>
I started receiving replies to each message I posted to
some Yahoo groups indicating that some subscribers are
using 'Spam Arrest' to pre filter messages coming to them.
It really aggravates me when someone subscribes to one
of my newsletters only to have 'Spam Arrest' block my
message and send me a notice that I must register with
them. They are not only wasting bandwidth, they are also
generating more spam!
Here's what they send me:
__________________________________
<beginquote>You are receiving this message in response
to your email to Joewho@xxxxxxx, a Spam Arrest customer.
Spam Arrest requests that senders verify themselves
before their email is delivered.
When you click the above link, you will be taken to a
page with a graphic on it. Simply read the word in the
graphic, type it into the form, and you're verified.
You will only need to do this once per Spam Arrest
customer.
Webmasters help stop spam and make 50%.
=http://spamarrest.com/affiliates <endquote>
__________________________________
The concept is good as it allows users to filter all
incoming email, but I have to wonder what will happen
to the list of names they gather. In the past some
companies have failed and in an attempt to recover
some of there expenses have sold there database to
other companies. When this happens, the original
security that the programs have offered is bypassed
and ignored by the new owners of the data.
Just my 2 cents worth.
**********************************************
Mike Baynes is the editor of MikesWhatsNews.
To subscribe, send a blank email to
mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
"subscribe" in the subject line (without the quotes)
See Mike's Anti-Virus pages ~ http://virusinfo.hackfix.org
To subscribe, send a blank email to:
virusinfo-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with subscribe in the subject.
**********************************************
From Kathy:
This morning, a copy of sven was sent to the JFW list.
This means that the thing has branched out of its usual
address gathering system and moved to the
groups and lists as well. With this being the case, I
thought I would forward you my summary of how to tell
if an email came from MS. I am so sick of this thing that
I could shoot someone. I am back to getting tons each
day. I can?t do any newsgroup work because it has totally
trashed the public servers.
Just in case you don?t know:
This is a virus called Sven.
MICROSOFT NEVER SENDS ATTACHMENTS IN THEIR
EMAILS.
If you get an email claiming to be from Microsoft that
has an attachment, don?t trust it. It did not come from
Microsoft.
I would like to point out some of the triggers that this
is not from Microsoft:
1) ?Microsoft Consumer? ? If it were from Microsoft, you
would either be addressed by name or by the category
under which Microsoft got your name.
2) Bad capitalization and grammar ? Microsoft notes
are written by excellent writers, these kinds of errors
rarely show up in their notes
3) Microsoft sends out notes by product group. Since IE,
Outlook, and OE are in different product groups, you are
not going to see one note for all three
4) Microsoft notes that refer you to more information
will send you to a specific page in the knowledge base
or security area. Not to a generic URL.
5) The copyright information is not in the style Microsoft
uses. Check out any page on Microsoft?s site and you
will see the real one.
I hope you find this useful.
**********************************************
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Get PowerPoint answers at
http://www.powerpointanswers.com
Cook anything outdoors with
http://www.outdoorcook.com
Kathy is a trainer, writer, Girl Scout, parent, and whatever
else there is time for.
I believe life is meant to be lived. But, if we live without
making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived.
************************************************
From Linda:
First, let me agree with Mike about Spam Arrest. I
dread sending out this newsletter because, when I do,
I KNOW I will then receive hundreds of emails from Spam
Arrest telling me I have to register with them a hundred
different times in order for these people to receive the
newsletter. I'll be DARNED if I'm going to do that!! If
people choose to use this program, then they can figure
out on THEIR end how to set ABC as "friendly". If they
can't figure it out, then they just won't receive ABC.
That is not MY responsibility. And another rant I have
....how come lately about 20% of the spam I'm getting
is from companies trying to sell me their anti-spam
software? What is UP with that? LOL
And, in response to Kathy's rant....all I can say is,
people better start keeping their anti-virus software
up to date because the viruses are starting to look
more and more convincing. PLEASE practice safe cyber!
And, now onto my own rant...
Lately I'm seeing more and more spam mail, as well as
viruses, that appear to be coming from me. Now, I know
how the virus/worms work and how they grab my email
address from the address book in an infected machine
and then send themselves to half the world,
masquerading as me and this really irritates me. But
now, the spammers are doing it too. Grrrrr They are
using my email address to send out everything from
inkjet cartridge ads to naked pictures they claim are of
me. People are either emailing me for information
about my inkjet ad, or asking me for a date (LOL).
Let me tell you all RIGHT NOW....I don't mail out
HTML advertisements and I DON'T have naked pictures
of myself anywhere on the internet. This is a case of
email hijacking.
Please, please, please remember when you receive
viruses and/or spam and/or porn, be VERY careful about
reporting the sender to any abuse reporting places, cuz
there's a VERY good possibility the email did NOT come
from the person you are reporting! VIEW THE FULL
HEADER on the mail before you report some innocent
party, and if you DO forward mail onto an abuse service,
be sure to include the FULL header so they can see
where the email really originated. If you don't know
how to view full headers, read this previous article from
ABC Protect the innocent .. Please.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v19/linda19.htm
*********************************************
Linda Johnson is a college instructor of all of the
Microsoft Office Programs, as well as Adobe PhotoShop
and Windows. She also teaches online distance learning
classes in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and
Word at Eclectic Academy.
http://www.eclecticacademy.com
She has worked helpdesk and teaches and lectures at
Many local businesses and tech schools in her area.
Support this newsletter by checking out Linda's website
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com
and her ebook series, MS Word MAGIC!
Part I: Fonts, Fun & Formats
http://snurl.com/6sk
Part II: Table Wizardry
http://snurl.com/6sl
AND, How To Get Started As a Software Trainer:
http://snurl.com/6sd
*********************************************
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
AND DON'T MISS LINDA'S NEWEST EBOOK SERIES:
If you have been interested in taking any of Linda's
Online Classes but don't want to wait six weeks to
complete all the lessons or don't have the desire to be
part of an online classroom, why not
SKIP THE CLASS & BUY THE BOOK INSTEAD?
Check out the eBook .exe versions of all of Linda's
classes here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/library.htm
Only $15 each!! Where else can you master a software
Program for that price?
Separate eBook tutorials on Access, Excel, Outlook,
PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word. Terrific value!!
OR BUY THEM ALL ON ONE CD Only $45.00!!
Order online or by regular mail
Details here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/cdtutorial.htm
Download the free Sample Version at CNET:
http://snurl.com/6sc
And PLEASE rate it there for me? Thanks!!
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(10.) SOME NEW STUFF FROM LINDA
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
**********************************************
NOTE: This article includes pictures and is clearer if
read online. You can see the online version here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/linda29.htm
**********************************************
First of all, I just wanted to show you the cover of the
latest issue of TechTrax ezine. You can see here:
http://snurl.com/2mz1
Lookie there..it's me :-)
Do me a favor and go read the article and submit some
feedback. And tell Dian that you heard about it here at
ABC.
http://snurl.com/2lfj
Also, for any of you who have benefited from my Word
Troubleshooting Page...or for any of you who have a
problem with your Word spelling or grammar checking
tools....
A visitor to my site came up with an alternate solution
when my help didn't help him. So, you might want to
read the additions I've made to this page.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/NNTWord.htm
I have just published an updated version of my
PowerPoint ebook and it's all about how to use
PowerPoint 2002(XP)/2003. So, if you are accustomed
to the earlier versions and having trouble with the newer
versions which are VERY different, this book will help you
out. I have created a special deal for ABC readers. And
this deal only lasts two weeks, so you better grab it
while I'm feeling generous ;-)
Click the button in the online version of this page for a
very limited offer of this ebook for only $10 US. I
promise you, you will NEVER get this much info anywhere
for this price. This will only last two weeks. On
Sunday, 10/26/2003 this button will be removed and you
will have to pay the full $20 for this ebook, so don't
procrastinate...order it now! This way, you support
ABC and you get a lot of information for a very low cost.
Go here and click the button:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/linda29.htm
Also, another great announcement. The Newbie Club has
come out with a new version of their most popular ebook
series, First Website Builder, and it's WAY more than
just an ebook. It includes software programs and a LOT
of great advice that will have you creating your own
website in no time at all. I highly recommend this.
You should check it out. Click on the this link to learn
all about it.
http://newbieclub.com/builder/?buntah
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
(11.) ASK THE FLEET
~ Questions submitted by readers and answered by ABC's
Fleet of Writers
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
QUESTION submitted by Luis:
Thank you for the great article by Vic Ferri on Integrating
your home stereo system with your computer. This article
was very helpful to me. I do have a followup question if
I may for Vic. After the integration I noticed that the
sound was great when I play the radio, however the MP3
music from my computer has a lot of distortion and
heavy bass. If connect the speakers directly to the
computer the music is great. If I lower the volume
control on the computer the problem improves somewhat.
The speaker system is a Labtec product which includes
2 speakers and a subwoofer. Do you have any
suggestions?
ANSWER from Vic Ferri (Vic Ferri owns the very popular
WinTips and Tricks email group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks
He has also created a program which allows you to
Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME.
Read more and get the free demo here.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/lockhide.htm
And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint
presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on
computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.
http://www.angelfire.com/va3/vic3/index.html.):
A common cause of your problem, assuming the mp3s
are ok, is having the the Line-In control on your Windows
Play Control unchecked (not muted) This can lead to
thunderous distorted sound, not to mention severe and
possibly damaging line loop feedback. Make sure it is
MUTED. The only Line In feed you want enabled after
the integration is the recording one. Another common
cause is a weak or low quality amp which can be easily
overloaded by the digital signals. However, this is no
big deal, you just need to play with the volume controls
on both your stereo and PC to achieve a comfortable
balance. Play a tape or CD on your stereo and adjust
the volume to a level you find comfortable. Note the
volume control position at that loudness. Then play an
mp3 at that same position and note the loudness. If it
is much louder, then adjust your Windows volume
controls. Lower both the Wav and Play control volumes.
Keeping them equal should be fine. And again, make
sure the Line-In is muted. hth
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Georgia:
If I enrolled in the online classes, what happens if I
don't happen to be able to be on my computer at that
time? In that case, it might be well to get the CD.
Would I be able to access any help if I get stuck? Also,
whatever happened to the clipboard that used to be
on the Windows 98 SE? I bought a new computer and
it has XP Home Edition on it. It does not list a
clipboard under System Tools.
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Hi Georgia...you don't need to be on the computer at
any certain time for the classes...the lessons are posted
every Sunday...all you need to do is do the lesson
sometime during that week, whenever it's convenient for
you. Did you read the student manual at Eclectic
Academy's site? That will tell you all about how the
classes work. You can read that here:
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/stubook.htm
And no, if you buy my CD or eBooks, you don't have
access to the class message boards where you can post
questions....if you want help becuz you don't understand
a lesson (which is not usually the case cuz the lessons
are pretty clear and walk you through everything step-by
-step), you would have to join my MSOffice email
support group, which is free, then me and the other
members of the group would happily help you with any
questions you have with the lessons...you can join that
group here, if you decide to buy the ebooks or CD
instead of taking the classes:
//www.freelists.org/webpage/mso
All of this is pretty much explained at my website if you
go here:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/whassup.htm
Now...on to your question about the clipboard in
Windows XP...the "clipboard" is still there, but I'm
assuming what you are asking about is the "clipboard
viewer"? If so, it's now called the clipbook viewer in XP
and they hid it from us LOL...here's how to get it back:
1. Click the Start menu button and open My Computer.
2. Open your C drive. (It's listed in the Hard Disk Drives
section.)
3. Double-click on the Windows folder. (You might have
to tell it to let you see what's inside.)
4. Double-click on the System32 folder. (Again, you
might have to tell it to let you see what's inside.)
5. Scroll down the page until you locate a file named
Clipbrd or clipbrd.exe.
6. Drag and drop the Clipbrd file onto your Start button.
Just let go of your mouse button when it's pointing at
the Start button; that drops a shortcut to the Clipbook
Viewer onto your Start menu. When you open your Start
menu, the Clipbrd program's icon will appear near the
top. And, you can right click on it and select "rename"
and name it Clipboard Viewer instead of clipbrd.exe
Hope this answers your questions.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Peter Walecki:
Saving pictures off the internet to my hard drive, the
'Save Picture Window' offers to save the image as a file
with the four-letter suffix JPEG, yet the preview window
does not recognize or display files with this suffix,
although it does show files with the three-letter .jpg
suffix. Is there a way to make files save automatically
with the three-letter suffix, i.e. .jpg?
ANSWER from Hal Cardona (Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth
http://pcsleuth.com serves as tech support and/or offsite
Sys Admin for over 200 clients around the US. He designs,
builds, and troubleshoots networks and builds custom
computer systems.):
I don't think you can change the file extension from
.jpeg to .jpg automatically in the Files Save dialog box.
You could do it manually, however. Perhaps a better
solution would be to make the .jpeg extension open by
default with the Windows preview viewer. To do that
you need to open an Explorer window (My Computer will
do). Drop down Tools and select Folder Options, then
the File Types tab. Now look for JPEG in the Extensions
Column (if it doesn't exist we will create one in a
minute), click on change and select Windows Picture
and FAX Viewer. If the extension JPEG doesn't exist,
click on New, Enter in JPEG in the File Extension Box,
Click on Advanced and use the drop down to select
JPEG Image, Click OK, then Apply and Close. That
should solve the issue
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Meredith from VA:
The button on my CD drive doesn't seem to be working.
When I push it, nothing happens. I think the CD drive
works, just not the button. Is there any way I can open
it without using the button? I did get it open with a
paper clip, but as soon as I closed it, it won't open
again. If it's just the button, I'd rather not have to
buy a whole new CD drive. I'm on a fixed income.
Thanks.
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
To check if it's just the button that's bad, go into My
Computer and just right click on your CD drive and
choose "eject" (make sure there's a CD in there or it
won't work)...if this works, then you know for sure that
it's the button.
There is a VB script you can write that will open your
CD rom and you could make a shortcut to that on your
desktop too so you wouldn't have to use the button (if
in fact it IS the button that's bad). To do this, copy
the text below into Notepad, then go to File>Save As
and make sure the files of type box at the bottom says
"All Files" and NOT txt....then name it CD.vbs and save
it on your desktop...double click it and it will open your
CD rom :-)
Here's the script:
__________________
Set oWMP = CreateObject("WMPlayer.OCX.7" )
Set colCDROMs = oWMP.cdromCollection
if colCDROMs.Count >= 1 then
For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count - 1
colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject
Next ' cdrom
End If
__________________
REPLY from Meredith:
Wow, Linda! That is so clever. The shortcut on my
desktop works beautifully and now I can open my CD
drive without a paperclip. Thanks so much!! Norton
did complain a bit when I double clicked it the first
time, so I scanned it to be sure it was safe and Norton
said it was clean. I guess Norton just doesn't like scripts.
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
You are right, Meredith. Norton has a setting where you
can adjust how it handles scripts...and it looks like you
have it set up the right way. Letting Norton warn you
so you can scan the file, is the safest way. Glad it
worked for you.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by louellen_c_2000:
I had to recover this computer (Compaq Presario,
Windows 98) and have now lost track of desk top
themes. How do I recover Desk Top themes?
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Hi louellen_c. In Windows 98, go to your Start button,
then Settings, then Control Panel....double click on
Add/Remove Programs...in there, click on the tab at the
top that says Windows Setup...in that list you will see
Desktop Themes, double click on that and put checks in
the desktop themes you want to install and click on OK
...depending on where Compaq put your Windows setup
files (drive D perhaps?), it may prompt you to "browse"
for them, but if not, it will just install them for you.
Normally, you would insert your Windows CD, but since
you said you used a "recover" CD, I'm assuming you don't
have a Windows CD, in which case, Compaq's setup put
them somewhere on your hard drive (usually it makes
you a drive D where it includes these files). Good luck.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by MichaelAtAol:
I download a true type font called unique1. I then
install it in the fonts directory. I then write a letter to
my cousin using Word XP in font unique1. My cousin also
has Word but I'm not sure which version. Will my cousin
see the letter in font unique1 ???
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
No...if he doesn't have the unique1 font installed, he
will see it in his default font, or sometimes he will only
see garbage (but *usually* it will switch to his default
font). The only way he will see unique1 is if he has it
installed on HIS computer, or if you embed the font
(Tools>Options>Save tab. Put a check in "Embed True
Type fonts"), but this would make the file HUGE.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by YOUNGDOG01:
hello, i have a question for you the computer whiz.. i
was on aol and someone instant messaged me with a
hyperlink and when i clicked it i cant remember which
one happened but my computer shut down or the aol
just shut down. i remember a little of the prompt it
something like C:\< -0 and i am baffled!!! can you
help me...
ANSWER from Cap'n Patt, our GeekSpeak Translator:
Well now YOUNGDOGO1, If you have read any of my
stuff by now you should have a pretty good idea about
my opinion of AOL?.. To quote a very good friend and
technical guru named Hal, who shall remain anonymous,
it should be classified as a ?Legal Virus.? Are you saying
that the system crashed or just shut down? My field of
experience tends more toward semantics than the
unraveling technical problems, however, the cryptic bit
that you have included would indicate that you were
operating in DOS mode or that something in the message
you received switched you to a command prompt and
then executed the indicated command which starts with
a ?C? prompt followed by a ?Less than? < symbol,
followed by a ?0 Check the switch on the power supply
of your computer or a printer or something similar ?0?
means OFF, ?l? means on. In short, to my untutored
eye someone who either wanted to be cute or hates
your guts, managed to send you something which
installed and then initiated a command to shut down
your computer. This is sheer speculation on my part,
I?ve never heard of such an incident happening but hey,
let?s face it this is a wacky old world and there are
some first class nuts out there. Lucky you, you found
one. I probably haven?t helped much but perhaps all
this blather will inspire some of others (Vic are you
listenin?) to respond in a more learned manner. If you
ever run across that weirdo command again, try
substituting a +l for that ?0. Can?t say I didn?t try.
All good things
ANSWER from Hal Cardona (Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth
http://pcsleuth.com serves as tech support and/or offsite
Sys Admin for over 200 clients around the US. He designs,
builds, and troubleshoots networks and builds custom
computer systems.):
It is possible that rather than a hyperlink to the internet,
the IM contained a link to file on your computer. It is
possible to shutdown a windows based PC using a file,
exactly how varies by the operating system in use.
For example in windows XP, the command
shutdown -s -t:00 will shutdown your PC immediately.
If it is phrased as a hyperlink, it could shutdown your
PC as soon as it is clicked. If AOL keeps a log of
your chat sessions you can look in the log to find the
exact command used. Sorry I can't help much with
AOL, I consider it to be a "Voluntary Virus".
REPLY from YOUNGDOG01:
I BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT ON THE MONEY ABOUT THE
HYPERLINK/IM HAD A LINK TO MY COMPUTER. HOW I
CAN TELL IS THAT OF THE COMMAND, IT WAS
SOMETHING LIKE C: \ -0 -1 I CANNOT REMEMBER.
YOU GUYS GAVE ME SUGGESTIONS LIKE
SHUTDOWN -s -t:00, BUT HOW DO YOU FRASE THE
SHUTDOWN CODE WITHOUT TYPING
SHUTDOWN -s -t:00, THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP...
I NEED TO FIND OUT THE C PROMPT SHUTDOWN CODE..
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Vic Ferri wrote an article on all the shutdown/restart
shortcuts in all the versions of Windows...this should
answer your question..and good luck:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v24/vic24.htm
REPLY from YOUNGDOG01:
HOW WOULD YOU PHRASE THIS COMMAND IN A
HYPERLINK TO SHUTDOWN A COMPUTER.. GIVE ME
SOME DIFFERENT COMMAND EXAMPLES OR MAYBE
ONE THAT WILL WORK, MY LAST TRY GUYS..THANKS
ANSWER from Hal Cardona:
Read Vic's article here:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v24/vic24.htm
for the commands, then format it like this
file://path\command%20%-arguments (%20% is a space)
Figure it out for yourself from here, I'm not comfortable
helping you antagonize someone.
REPLY from YOUNGDOG01:
So you know, i can tell.. i am no computer whiz or even
a novice, this command line i do not understand it, this
is what i understand when making a command line ( file
no idea, path means c: drive i think, command is the
shutdown command like -u -t 0 i think, the rest i have
no idea so please help me along a little more.. thanks
i will not bother you anymore you have been the only 2
person i asked and i need help, i can search around
more and do more askin..please help thanks Ryan
ANSWER from Hal Cardona:
Ryan, I don't feel comfortable writing a command for
you that you can send over an IM client to shutdown
someone's computer. Perhaps if you explain why you
want it, it may help. For all I know you are going to use
it to antagonize someone. The command "file://"
is what tells IE to open a file on your computer.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Wayne Taylor from Monterey,
California:
I have 2 problems that are related to each other. I would
like to start with the overall problem first. I need to filter
an exported (CSV file) list by ID (has a 5 digit number in
it) but need to be able to enter at least up to 5 different
numbers in the filter. The next issue is the time, some
were exported on the right side of the column and the
others were on the left side. Not sure why but the export
made the single digit numbers text files (I think) I have
an example below the 10:11 PM was on the right side
and the 9:46 had a space (or something) in front that
does not show up when viewing it. The CSV file has a
min of 8500 records in it I need to be able to filter one
column The ID (has a 5 digit number in it). Example I
need to get 5 IDs out of the list (note that the date
was filtered by the export. I would need to filter the
following ids # 00305, 00831, 00850, 12345 orders is
not the problem it's getting just the ids that I want
filtered. I can filter one at a time and then export the
list, but it would be nice to be able to filter one list with
just the ids that I need. Need a way to change the 9:46
to 09:46 so it becomes a number and not text. And be
able to filter at least 5 ids at one time? The list should
end up like this example only with 5 id's listed:
Time ID
9:46 pm 00850
10:00 pm 00850
10:32 pm 00850
9:52 pm 00831
12:00 pm 12345
Your help would be greatly appreciated as this is driving
me nuts. Thank you
ANSWER from Renée Atkinson ( Renée is a training
specialist for a hospital, training over 1500 people on
Microsoft Office and enterprise software. Renée's
philosophy for this job is "Staying in touch so you don't
have too..."):
Wayne, I run into stuff like this all time from my end
users ;-)! But usually it's dates THEY'VE entered!
Anyway, here are couple of things to try. First just try
opening up a new Excel document, set up your cells the
way you want the date to appear... E.g. select the column
where time will go and choose Format/Cells and choose
the time option. I've found that by copying and pasting
in a new document this solves the problem 90% of the
time. The other less desirable, I've actually had to retype
the text that was left flush (and should have been a
number). But with 8500 records... Well we probably
don't want to go there. ;-)
REPLY from Wayne:
Unable to use a Multiple Filter on One Column The
spreadsheet has 8000 plus entries I will need to search
the number Column for around 5 to 10 Carts (in the
number field) then email the results to someone else
for info on the time that the cart arrived. As you can
see the Time Column has a problem (half text and half
Time, but that issue is not the big problem. The real
concern is the Number Column. Now I could use auto
filter and then save the results but I would have to do
that for up to ten requests. The problem would be
copying each one and then pasting them into a master
sheet. In the example under "This is what I need it to
do" would be the ideal results. If you have any Idea on
where I can find information on this or what I should do
please don't hesitate in letting me know. I have
searched the web and your site, but have not been very
fortunate in my research. Note: if the Date's had worked
I would have taken it into Access. It seems to have an
invisible character in front of it and if you delete it
changes to a time cell. Thank you
Sample below
This is what the CSV Starts out like
DATE TIME EVENT TYPE NUMBER NAME ACCESS RELAY APB
DESCRIPTION TRACKER BOARD
9/16/2003 10:30 PM VID Tag 829 Admit Relay 1
9/16/2003 10:18 PM VID Tag 803 Admit Relay 4
9/16/2003 10:11 PM VID Tag 829 Admit Relay 4
9/16/2003 9:46 PM VID Tag 829 Admit Relay 4
9/16/2003 9:28 PM VID Tag 805 Admit Relay 4
9/16/2003 9:18 PM VID Tag 829 Admit Relay 1
9/11/2003 12:24 PM VID Tag 849 Admit Relay 1
9/11/2003 12:06 PM VID Tag 810 Admit Relay 4
9/11/2003 12:00 PM VID Tag 830 Admit Relay 4
9/11/2003 11:58 AM 877 Admit Relay 4
9/11/2003 11:57 AM 897 Admit Relay 4
This is what I need it to do
Date Time Event Number
9/16/2003 9:46 PM VID Tag 829
9/16/2003 9:18 PM VID Tag 829
9/16/2003 9:28 PM VID Tag 805
9/11/2003 12:06 PM VID Tag 810
9/11/2003 12:00 PM VID Tag 830
9/11/2003 11:58 AM 877
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Wayne... what you need is a pivot table, which will do
exactly what you want. If you don't understand pivot
tables and how to use them, here's Microsoft's tutorial
to get you started: http://snurl.com/2g68 A Pivot
Table will let you set your data up so you can quickly
display just the rows for the Numbers you want. They
are a little tricky to get the hang of, but once you do,
you will see that this is what you need. Good luck.
Follow the instructions in the link above and you
should be fine.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Rick from Round O, SC:
When I bought my computer it came with windows xp
home, I later upgraded to xp professional. I started
having problems with the fax portion of windows and
then finally I could not access my modem. I tried to go
to the setup and add my modem to the list and got an
error message to reinstall the option. I then tried to
reinstall the fax section of widows and my system would
freeze up. I reinstalled my XP Professional operating
system and now everything works but now I can not
access my original files, I get an error message saying
"ACCESS DENIED". My question is "How do I correct this
issue so I can access my files"? Thank you for any help
you can supply.
ANSWER from Hal Cardona (Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth
http://pcsleuth.com serves as tech support and/or offsite
Sys Admin for over 200 clients around the US. He designs,
builds, and troubleshoots networks and builds custom
computer systems.):
You may need to take ownership of the folder if the local
admin account does not have appropriate rights on those
folders.
Right click the folder
Properties
Security
Advanced
Owner
Replace owner on sub containers and objects.
You may need to turn off "Use simple file sharing
(Recommended)" first though, if the security tab isn't
visible. You can do that by opening My Computer and
dropping down Tools, selecting Folder Options and then
the View tab, scroll to the bottom of the list and make
sure "Use simple file sharing" is unchecked.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Walt:
Excel 97 on Windows 2000. When I open my work folder
and open my spread sheet I get the following message:
Microsoft Excel - A document with the name '---.xls' is
already open. You cannot open two documents with the
same name, even if the documents are in different
folders. To open the second document, either close the
document that's currently open, or rename one of the
documents... I click OK and proceed to use the
document. Why do I keep getting this message?
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Hi Walt...this is a known issue with Excel 97 on
Windows 2000..it requires a registry edit to fix it, so
you should back up your registry before you do this,
just in case......but here's the fix:
Go to your Start button and click on Run. Type regedit
and click OK. Use the plus signs beside the folders to
navigate to "My Computer\ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\
Excel.Sheet.8\ shell\ Open\ command" key. (In the
HKEY_CLASSES-ROOT folder, you will have to scroll way
down past all the extenstions until you start seeing
names...Excel.Sheet.8 will be in there) Double click
on that command folder and in the right pane you will
see "default" double click on that.The default entry
should end with "excel.exe %1". Remove the %1 but
leave everything else there (quotes, etc.) With some I
nstallations there may be a similar problem with Word.
If this is the case then do the same thing to the "My
Computer\ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Word.Document.8\
shell\ open\ command" key. There are a lot of
Office97/Win2K users with the same problem. And this
is the only way to fix it. Good luck.
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Brian:
I have a problem with greyed out MS Access Add-ins
for Wizards. Can you help?
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
I had that same problem once and I fixed it....in my
case it was cuz of Microsoft's Small Business Tools and
I just had to reinstall them...this is what I did:
1. Click Start on the taskbar, point to Settings, and then
click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs, click Microsoft
Office 2000 Disk 2, and then click Add/Remove.
3. Click Add or Remove Features.
4. Click the icon next to Microsoft Small Business Tools,
click Not Available, and then click Update Now.
5. Click Microsoft Office 2000 Disk 2, and then click
Add/Remove.
6. Click Add or Remove Features.
7. Click the icon next to Microsoft Small Business Tools,
click Run from My Computer, and then click Update Now.
In my case, that fixed it....and in most other cases this
is what fixed it for others too....so this is what I would
suggest you try first. If that doesn't fix it, here's
Microsoft's other suggestions:
http://snurl.com/evx
Good luck and hang in there
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Ruby:
Until recently I have been able to copy and paste from
most anything to my word pad by just right clicking to
copy and also to paste it to my word pad. Now I have
to go to WordPad, edit, paste special, unformatted text
and OK to get it pasted to my word pad. How can I get
it back to just copying and pasting without all the
extra clicking? Thanks in advance.
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Hi Ruby...I need some more information. When you say
you "can't" right click and copy and paste to WordPad
anymore, what exactly do you mean? You can't right
click? Or, when you right click, "Paste" is not an option?
Are you getting an error message? And, why do you have
to use Paste Special when you paste? Is "Paste" not
available in your Edit menu in Word Pad? Is it there at
all or is it grayed out? What happens if you use ctrl+V
.. does it paste when you do that? The more details
you can give us, the better chance we can help you,
so tell me EXACTLY what you are doing and EXACTLY
what happens.
REPLY from Ruby:
When I right click after I have copied, paste is an option
but it won't paste. I have to go to Edit, Paste Special
and select unformatted text and OK for it to paste. Paste
is available in the Edit menu too but it still won't paste.
No I don't get an error message. The only way I can get
it to paste to my Word Pad is after I copy and go to
WordPad is to go to Edit and Paste Special. Select
unformatted text. When I click OK it pastes. This just
started this recently. I can copy and paste as usual on
Microsoft Word. I hope this helps. It is hard to explain.
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Well, if unformatted text comes thru, then I suspect
what is happening is your font is set to white in
WordPad or the font you are using is corrupt, so you
just aren't seeing what's being pasted. Try pasting
something else into WordPad, the normal way ... then
hold down your left mouse button and run it across
where the text should be .... do you see a block that
looks highlighted? If so, then there is text there ... leave
it highlighted and go to the Format menu and choose
Font. See what color is selected. If it's white, change
it to something else...if that's not the problem, change
the font to a different font and see if that fixes it. If
changing the font to a different one works, then you
will need to reinstall the original font becuz it is
corrupt. If none of that fixes it, then you may have
to load your Windows 98 CD and install Windows 98
over top of itself so it repairs Word Pad. Let me
know how you do. Good luck!
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by sibi:
i have win me as o/s in my computer. I installed quick
heal and zone alarm .But recently system hanged
frequently when i run scandisk/disk defragmenter. But
in safe mode no problem. Otherwise i should restart
the system. why it is so. the other problem is in task
bar icons. If i run any other programs the icons (volume
/quick heal/zone alarm) will disappear from the task bar.
it is also behave abnormally Plz help me
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
Zone Alarm, and probably "quick heal" too, are running
in the background whenever your computer is turned on.
I'm not familiar with "quick heal", but if it is running in
the background all the time, it will definitely stop defrag
from working...Windows ME's defragmenter will NOT
work while anything is running in the background. That's
why the defrag works for you in Safe mode...in Safe
mode, nothing is running in the background. Make sure
you turn EVERYTHING off before running defrag,
including both "quick heal" and Zone Alarm, though
running it in Safe mode is probably easier than
manually making sure everything is turned off. Be
careful how many things you have running in the
background because that can greatly decrease your
system performance, which is probably why your
taskbar icons are disappearing. Read this article
about System Resources, written by Hal Cardona,
to understand how to check all that is running in the
background and make adjustments:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc1/v3/hal3.htm
**********************************************
QUESTION submitted by Jim:
I wish to know if it is possible to eliminate the header
& footer on pages I print out, & if possible, how to go
about doing that. I currently use a Canon i850, if that
matters. Thanx
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
You didn't supply the software name ... what program
are you printing from where you want to remove the
header and footer? .... it's handled differently in every
program and has nothing to do with your printer .... it's
handled from within that program. Unfortunately, if
you are looking for some way to suppress all headers
and footers in all your files when you print them, this
is not possible. It has to be done within the program
where you created the file and it has to be done on each
and every file. Let me know which program you are
printing from and I will see if I can help you.
REPLY from Jim:
Linda.....I'm talking about printing from a site I may be
visiting, but don't have the time to read currently. I
print these out a lot, and do not use a specific printing
program. I just click on File, then Print. I don't like the
headers & footers printing out....that's all. I know it's
possible, as I've done it before, but I can't remember
how I did it....I'm having a 'Senior Moment', I guess.
ANSWER from Linda Johnson:
oh...I assume you are using Internet Explorer? If so,
go to the File menu and click on Page Setup...in there
you will see boxes for Header and Footer with some
symbols in them...just delete all the symbols and you
won't get any headers and footers...but you should
remember that the footer contains the url for the page
you are printing and often, it is illegal to reprint
information from a website without including this url.
So, be careful to read the copyright information on a
webpage before you remove that footer.
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Thanks to all who submitted questions this month. If you
submitted a question and did not get an answer, and the
problem still persists, try going here and submitting it again.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/ask.htm
Just remember that we cannot guarantee that we will answer
every question, though I think the Fleet did a bang-up job
this month! Thanks to all of the Fleet for your expert advice
and your valuable time :-)
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>
Well, gang.....that's about it for this edition of
ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers. I sure hope you enjoyed it!
If any of it was over your head and you need some
clarification from one of the Fleet, just send me an
email to linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I will
pass it on to them. Remember that they do this in their
spare time on a voluntary basis, so you might have to
wait for an answer. To make all things work more
quickly, include as many details as you can in your
email and make your questions as specific as possible.
Also, feel free to write to me and let us know what you
want the Fleet to teach you. This is YOUR newsletter!
Happy computing, my friends!
Linda Johnson
http://personal-computer-tutor.com
*********************************************
READ THIS CAREFULLY!
*********************************************
-------------------------------------
(12.) SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT
-------------------------------------
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would
like to subscribe, send an email to
abcomputers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe
To unsubscribe, send an email to
abcomputers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=unsubscribe
Or, you can go to the homepage for this text newsletter
and subscribe, unsubscribe, or change any of your
subscription preferences:
//www.freelists.org/webpage/abcomputers
This FREE publication is sent ONLY to people who have
requested it.
Note: My subscriber list is NOT made available to other
companies. I value every subscriber and respect your
privacy.
Do you know anyone who might be interested in
receiving this newsletter? Please feel free to forward it
on to them and invite them to subscribe.
-------------------------------------
(13.) CONTACT INFORMATION
-------------------------------------
Routine Disclaimer: Although I make an effort to check
out every advertisement and link, I cannot assume
responsibility for the actions of my advertisers, or the
availability of links. You use the information provided at
your own risk, it is always wise to back up your data
before editing.
All advice given in this newsletter/ezine or at Linda's
Computer Stop is given with the best of intentions and
should only be taken as a suggestion and not a definite
fix to a problem.
ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers and Linda's Computer Stop
are the property of Linda F. Johnson. The views
expressed by readers or contributors are not necessarily
those of Linda F. Johnson and, as editor, she reserves
the right to deny inclusion of any contributions if she
feels they could be harmful to someone's computer.
However, just because she allows it to be included,
does not mean she is responsible if it causes problems.
ALL READERS ARE RESPONSIBLE
FOR THEIR OWN COMPUTERS!
Please help promote ABComputers by linking to my sites.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc
or, click on these links to become an affiliate under me
and you will earn money if you sell any of my ebooks
(or any other books published by these companies,
for that matter):
http://newbieclub.com/cgi-bin/sgx/d.cgi?affiliate-buntah
http://intellectua.com/cgi-bin/sgx/d.cgi?affiliates-10456
Thank you for reading "ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers".
(Copyright) 2001, 2002, 2003 - ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers,
Linda F. Johnson, MA.
ABC may only be redistributed in its unedited form.
Written permission from the editor must be obtained to
reprint or cite the information contained within this
newsletter.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any of your
associates who might benefit from this information.
If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and would like
to get your own free subscription, please see subscription
management above, or visit
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/abcomputersarchives.htm
to see back issues.
-------------------------------------
(14.) ADVERTISE IN ABC
-------------------------------------
ABC accepts advertisements and our rates are
VERY REASONABLE!
Go here for details:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/abcad.htm
*************************************************
Thank you and I hope to continue to bring you a
newsletter that you will actually want to read.
Linda Johnson
http://personal-computer-tutor.com
linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
********************************************************
PLEASE READ!!
You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it, either through
YahooGroups, Freelists, Ecumuli Ezine Finder, or FreeTechMail.
If you no longer want to receive it, go here to unsubscribe or set yourself on
vacation (which is Freelists' version of "no mail").
//freelists.org/webpage/abcomputers
********************************************************
Other related posts:
- » [abcomputers] ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers, Vol. 29: Removing Duplicates from an Access Database and lots more!
