Tips & TidBITS
©
by Caroline Horton
A short time ago (about 2 years) Intuit bought Parsons Technology, well it looks like Intuit is putting Parsons Technology on the block. Intuit intends to keep Parsons tax programs for themselves though. Parsons Technology has the largest selection of Bible software of any company. They also have phone directories, maps, genealogy, graphics tools and lots of other helpful utility programs. They have demonstrated at a CNYPCUG meeting a few months ago. If you are not familiar with them, you can get a catalog by calling 1-800-779-6000.
Since Compaq walked away from Gateway 2000, Gateway has bought ALR. Looks like they are trying to beef up their line! Gateway has been shipping new systems with old Intel Pentium chips. Seems that they were installing the buggy chips that had been replaced a while back maybe they thought that the dust had settled on this issue. Most people would probably never notice, but then again you can never tell! Must be someone had a problem Gateway got just a little greedy!
HOT! Yes you heard it here first Memphis (Windows 97) is in beta release 2 and will be the last version of Windows 95/97. The version after Memphis WILL BE a merged Windows 9x and Windows NT.
The only reason it took this long is the 16-bit legacy code still floating around. We hope that by the end of 98 or early 99 most people will have migrated to 32-bit code. Most of you have seen the difference between 16-bit programs and 32 bit programs. Having a true 32 bit operating system and true 32-bit programs will make your system fly. (We recently received an e-mail message inquiring about Digitals 600 MHz chip well Digital has started shipping Alpha systems with 600 MHz chips installed approximate price $4,500.00)
Our web pages are
www.solutionsunlimitedofny.com and www.web-consultants.com (yes the address is hyphenated). You will find past copies of our articles, links to other Windows web sites, and occasional tips. If you have any questions e-mail, them to Caroline at either site. We do have direct e-mail links on our sites. Any suggestions as to content or looks will be welcomed.Tired of looking at the same old Windows Explorer? Spice it up a little here is a tip that will cheer you up. You can change the way your drives appear in your Windows Explorer. To do this click on
Start, Run and then enter the command EDIT C:\AUTORUN.INF.You will need to enter the command:
[AUTORUN]
ICON=filename.ext
Where filename.ext is the root and name of the icon, you want to use. You may use any
.ICO or .BMP file you want. Oh, you say the icon is in the middle of another file like PIFMGR.DLL or MORICONS.DLL! Easy count the location of the icon in the file but remember that when you count with a computer the first number is 0 not 1. (I.e. If you look at the icons and count 1..4 the 4th icon is really number 3.)You can create a different
AUTORUN.INF file with a different icon for each of your hard drives and for each partition also, just remember to place it in the root directory. It will run automatically every time you boot your system and each icon can be different!An FTP (file transfer protocol) program lets you download and upload files faster than through the standard Netscape and Internet Explorer programs. Netscape and Internet Explorer let you do it, but if you want to do anything special, you ought to get a special program just for FTPing. There is a new add-on for Internet Explorer v3.02 File Upload add-on (from Microsoft). This runs automatically when you connect to an FTP site that recognizes this new program.
For those occasions when you need to upload and download files regularly, WS-FTP is the one to get. This program allows you to enter the setups for as many locations as you want and configure each of them separately. Just point and click the program does the rest.
Many FTP programs have the problem of cluttering up the screen with unnecessary buttons and toolbars. WS-FTP does not do that; in fact, perhaps the screen is too sparse. However, the right click button does wonders. Great menus popup while right clicking on a file that let you download, view, execute, move, rename, or edit the file. You can even change the permissions of the file if the server is running UNIX. In short, WS-FTP is THE ftp program to use.
WS_FTP.ZIP
and IE_FTP.ZIP have been uploaded to our CNPCUG BBS.More about Intels MMX chips Intel makes a big deal about MMX. As stated in an earlier column Intel wired new instructions into unused registers on the Pentium chip and named these new floating-point operations MMX. MMX has no floating-point operations! All operations are integer (fixed point) the floating-point registers simply hold data. Intels marketing machine has glossed this fact over.
We have been using Windows 95B (OSR2) for a few months now and it is a stable platform. We uncovered another hidden feature of OSR2, this tool is called HWDIAG.EXE. This program is not loaded onto your computer during installation, but you can install it yourself. The program can be copied from its directory on the Windows 95B CD-ROM to the Windows directory on your hard drive. The directory is
X:\Other\Misc\Hwtrack X represents the letter of your CD-ROM. WARNING this program is not meant to be used by beginners!You can list every key in the Windows Registry that refers to hardware on your system. Each entry is color-coded to simplify decoding the display.
Registry entries green
File attributes magenta
Error messages red
Warnings blue
Even if you are a beginner you can cut and paste the results into your word processor and print them out (a color printer would be handy for this). Once pasted you can e-mail the results to someone for help a lot easier than trying to explain what you are looking at. This program can locate IRQ conflicts or report if a bus card is not working properly a real life saver if you are trying to figure out if a card is working properly or not. Filters options built in so you can select only hard drives, or devices that are not working properly etc.
This program is not documented by Microsoft and has no help file for it.
Having problems with the AutoRun feature of Windows 95? This program is supposed to start CD-ROMs automatically when they are inserted. This feature can be repaired without reinstalling Windows 95. You will need to click on Start, Run, enter REGEDIT into the dialog box and click OK.
You are going to edit a Registry key:
HKEY_USERS\.Default\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Polocies\Explorer
(There is a period in from of Default.) In the right hand window check the list for NoDriveTypeAutoRun the correct hex value listed should be 95 00 00 00. To enter this code left click on the icon and enter this code into the dialog box that pops up. Click OK and exit the Registry. The next time you boot up the AutoRun feature should be back in business.
About 2 weeks (August 15) after reading this article, one of the hottest new games will hit the streets. The new game is Shadow Warrior from 3D Realms. You can currently download the trial version from the Internet. 3DRealms web address is
www.3drealms.com the file size is 12.8 Megs and is called 3dsw11.zip. This game is not for the queasy, plenty of blood and action. Along the lines of Duke Nukem 3D, in this new game you get to drive vehicles and can use the vehicles as weapons.If you liked Doom and Duke Nukem, you will love Shadow Warrior. Yes, they are coming out with a new version of Duke Nukem called Duke Forever.
The Internet is truly the information link, here is a site for those who might be interested in a home mortgage
www.homebynet.com. This site allows you to comparison shop from several leading mortgage lenders. Allows you to have your questions answered 24 hours a day, including various terms and rates. You can even apply for a mortgage loan online and confidentially 24 hours a day.