Dennis Faas

In the last 36 hours, I've received a slew of emails from Readers concerning a program used to move installed application from one hard drive letter to another. Recall -- Infopackets Reader John T. wrote: " ... I've recently partitioned [split] my ... hard drive into two drive letters (C and D drives) so that I can keep my operating system [Windows] separate from my user files ... My question: is there a program that will transfer programs and shortcuts from one hard drive partition to another, and also change the system registry to reflect the move? " In my response to John, I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Robert F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I really find your newsletters to be interesting and of great help -- keep up the good work! I want to set up an office and be able to email my secretary and have her reply to the email without ... having an Internet connection as I don't need the internet in the business. Do you know of a program that would let me do this? I own a Dell PC and talked to a technician, but they didn't have a suggestion for me. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated! " My response: The simple answer is that email is designed to run on the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John T. 'oldbiker' writes: " Dear Dennis, First of all I think your newsletter -- it's great. I recently partitioned [split] my hard drive into two drive letters (C and D drives), so that I could move my installed programs over to ... D drive and leave C for Windows only. This way, if Windows crashes on me, I can format C drive and not worry about losing any my improtant data (on D drive). [Side note: This is also a great strategy for keeping disk image backups small, and to reduce the time it takes to create an image file]. My question: is there a program that will ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Richard D. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've read on some web sites that people are using more than one Spyware scanner on their systems for an added layer of protection. In a similar respect, is it safe to run two virus protection ... programs at once? Can there be any conflicts? " My response: Both Spyware and Virus scanners operate using the same type of mechanism: a database of 'signatures', which are used to recognize infected or suspicious files on your system. The reason why some people choose to scan their systems twice is simply because not all Spyware databases ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Harv S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I need to know how to list several addresses in such a way that no one knows who else received the message. If I list them separated with the semi-colon all addresses are sent to everyone. Would ... appreciate any help and thanks for your information site as it is really helpful. " My response: What you are referring to is called Blind Carbon Copy, or BCC. If you use Outlook Express: Create your message (or reply to message) Click view -> all headers in the message window BCC will be shown Insert the remaining email addresses in the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Alfredo "Mexican55" writes: " Dear Dennis, I just finished reading yesterday's newsletter regarding DVD-R and DVD+R media. My question is related and pertains to file backup. In your opinion, what approach should I use to backing ... up my files, programs, etc? And do you recommend saving to CD or DVD media? My hard drive is less than 10 gigabytes in size. " My response: Deciding which media type is suitable for backup depends on how much information you want to archive, and the type of backup solution you choose. Having said that, I'd like to provide a ... (view more)

Recall -- Last week , Jim W. asked if there was a way he could install the latest updates to Windows at the same time as installing Windows to a freshly formatted PC: " I find myself frequently formatting / reinstalling Windows for many of my ... clients (because their copy of Windows is too messed up to attempt any type of quick-fix). When I do a reinstall, there is often a ton of Windows updates I need to download, regardless of which Windows Operating System I'm working with. Is there any way I can consolidate steps and somehow integrate Windows Updates into a fresh install of Windows? ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Fran K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have used some of my DVD-R disks to copy some of my old family movies, a couple I messed up on and won't let me copy anything else to them. Is there any kind of program that will let you recover or ... reuse the DVDs? " My response: Good question. The simple answer is that it is not possible to reclaim space on DVD-R or DVD+R media. However, providing that the disc you made is multi-session (IE: you specified that you can write more than once to the disc the first time you wrote to it) *and* you have a considerable amount of space ... (view more)

Last week, I wrote about a free anti-spam solution called 0Spam.com. Recall -- " I recently stumbled across a web site that offers a free, seamless anti-spam solution: all without the need to install special, third-party software or to configure ... complex mail filter rules ... The free 0Spam.com service can be used for 1 email account and is compatible with any computer (Linux, Mac, or Windows) ... works with POP3 email, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail accounts ... 0Spam operates silently and works by standing in-between your email server(s) and the Internet, and scans your incoming email for ... (view more)