Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Diane M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just love getting your newsletters! They have helped me so much in the past. My question is in regard to a process named ccApp.exe: when I shut down my computer, I often have to wait for a long ... time before it actually shuts down to reboot. Most of the time I will get an error stating that 'ccApp.exe is not responding' and when I click to end the process, my computer remains frozen. Often times I have to reset the computer manually. Can you please help me out with this problem? I'm running Windows XP. Thanks for any help you can offer ... (view more)

Stereophonic sound , commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of sound, using two independent audio channels, through a pair of widely separated speaker systems, in such a way as to create a pleasant and natural impression of sound heard from ... various directions as in natural hearing. The word "stereophonic", from Greek stereos = "solid" and phone = "sound", was coined by Western Electric, by analogy with the word "stereoscopic". Western Electric first demonstrated it at an SMPTE meeting in 1937, then to the general public at Carnegie Hall in 1940. In popular usage, stereo usually means 2- ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dion E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to convert a tape to CD by transferring the audio to my computer, and then recording it to CD using my CD burner. To convert the tape to CD, I am using an audio cable to go from my ... earphone jack of my tape player to the sound card of my computer. The problem is that my computer is recording the tape audio in 1-channel mono sound (and not stereo!). I am reasonably sure that the original recording is in 2-channel stereo. What should I do? Thanks in anticipation for any help you can offer. " My response: I have a few ... (view more)

Synopsis: Are you tired of searching the net for that one song you forgot the name of? Do you enjoy music that isn't always played on local radio stations? Do you want to see your MP3 collection grow faster then ever, with your favorite type of ... music, and with the *least* amount of effort possible? Introducing RipCast Streaming MP3 Audio Ripper: the easy and safe way to listen and download online music and Internet Radio Broadcasts (and without the worries of Spyware typically associated with filesharing software)! RipCast Streaming MP3 Audio Ripper: Screenshots Click to view: Page 1 | Page 2 ... (view more)

A screensaver is a computer program originally designed to conserve the image quality of computer displays by blanking the screen or filling them with moving images or patterns when the computers are not in use. Today, screensavers are primarily for ... entertainment or security purposes. Until recently, most computer screens depended on cathode ray tubes (CRTs). CRT images are generated using electron beams which are "launched" from the back of the monitor and "draw" images continuously on the screen. Most computer programs paint images in the screen. Some of these images (letters, pictures, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sandy D. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have screensavers installed on my system -- and I don't even know how they got there (and it worries me!). What's worse is that I don't know how to remove the screensavers because I can't locate ... them in the computer! I would appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks! " My response: Unfortunately, a lot of the "free" screen savers floating on the Internet come bundled with Spyware. If you have screen savers and aren't sure how they got installed on your computer, I would recommend you do a Spyware scan. Spyware Doctor is ... (view more)

Synopsis: Turn your PC into into a smart Video Security and Surveillance System! Using Webcam Monitor's intelligent motion detection system, you can effortlessly monitor your home, office, parking area, or any other premises 24-hours a day! Simply ... connect a USB or FireWire Camera to your PC, install WebCam Monitor, and you're ready to begin surveillance! Webcam Monitor is highly customizable and lets you activate video via motion and noise so that you can capture events precisely when they happen. Remote monitoring lets you view / listen to video / audio over the Internet, plus FTP uploads ... (view more)

A weblog (now more commonly known as a blog ) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of ... such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs range in scope from individual diaries to arms of political campaigns, media programs, and corporations. They range in scale from the writings of one occasional author, to the collaboration of a ... (view more)

Synopsis: Are you a bookworm? Do you own so many books that it's next to impossible to locate a favorite novel? Tired of all the clutter and wish you had an organized method to categorize your books? Introducing: Book Collector -- a library program ... that helps you catalog your book collection into a meaningful list of organized data! With Book Collector, you can: catalog books without typing, instantly sort your lists, view book cover thumbnails, search your book library, print book lists, export book lists to HTML (for the web), and track your book loans. Book Collector: Screenshots Click to ... (view more)

Since 2001, the Infopackets Windows Newsletter has become one of the premier tech resources on the 'net, chock-full of highly informative and well-sourced computing tips. In all, our library of in-depth tech tips stretches to over 875 articles to ... date. So what makes Infopackets.com so successful? Every once in a while, someone new comes along and asks me what the secret is to having a successful web site. And every time I'm asked this question, I always chuckle, because I think back to almost 5 years ago when I asked that very same question. Of course, the answer to having a wildly successful ... (view more)