Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Kathy O. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am getting ready to build a new computer and plan to put Windows XP Home Edition with XP Service Pack 1, although I have already ordered the XP Service Pack 2 CD from Microsoft. As it stands now, ... I will be running both computers from my LinkSys router; however, I was told by a friend that I would need to turn off Windows XP's firewall from the Control Panel after I install Service Pack 2. Is this true? And also, is it necessary to apply XP Service Pack 2 since my router acts like a firewall? If so, should I disable the Windows Firewall ... (view more)

Recall -- A few days ago, Infopackets Reader Ted B. asked if there was a way to connect 2 wireless PCs [one using Win98, the other WinXP] together without using a router as a Wireless Access Pointer (WAP). He wrote: " ... An elderly lady recently ... came into the shop and needed help with wireless networking (802.11) between her older Hewlett Packard computer (running Windows 98SE) and her XP notebook. Unfortunately, we could not get the connections working. She had opted for a wireless network because she did not want to run a long cord from her bedroom to her living room to connect the ... (view more)

I'm stoked. For the last 3 months, I've been nibbling away at a special web script (project) that reformats all the previous Infopackets newsletters into a simple, clean layout. Why all the excitement? There are a lot of great things to come now ... that this daunting task is nearing completion. With article layout standardized, I can now move forward with: a) splitting articles into separate pages: it is important to split the articles so that potential web visitors can locate our web site through search engines (such as Google). As it stands now, 95% of all traffic to our web site is from our ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dirk J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm a bit confused about the outcome of scans performed by 'Registry Mechanic' and 'RegSeeker'. RegSeeker always finds more than 50 'problems' even if Registry Mechanic has done it's job and ... corrected the 'problems' it found. Does this mean that a program like RegSeeker is more thorough than Registry Mechanic -- or does it just work in a different way? It reminds me of identical differences in the outcome of spy scans by Spybot and AdAware. Thank you for being a such a beacon in the IT jungle. " My response: I get asked similar ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Joe J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently received an email forwarded from a friend via a Yahoo email Group, which states that Yahoo is using 'web beacons' to track Yahoo Group members Internet activity. The email I received ... follows: ' For your information: Yahoo is now using something called 'Web Beacons' to track Yahoo Group users around the net to see where you visit and what you're doing -- similar to Internet cookie files. Take a look at their updated privacy statement . About half-way down the page, in the section on cookies, you will see a link that says web ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ted B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm stumped! An elderly lady recently came into the shop and needed help with wireless networking (802.11) between her older Hewlett Packard computer (running Windows 98SE) and her XP notebook. ... Unfortunately, we could not get the connections working. She had opted for a wireless network because she did not want to run a long cord from her bedroom to her living room to connect the two computers. The representative at the Motorola help-desk told me (several times) that we had to buy a router as a source point before the two computers could ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Don K. writes: " Dear Dennis, My computer has 1000 megabytes of primary system memory (RAM). I recently partitioned (split) one of my hard drives into a separate drive letter (Drive Z, for example) and set it as a dedicated unit ... handle all my virtual (secondary) memory. After it was all said and done, a friend of mine commented that having 1 gigabyte of RAM in my machine is plenty of primary memory, and I've wasted my time trying to optimize my system by setting up a separate drive letter for virtual memory. Do you agree with my friend's comments? " My response: ... (view more)

Today's issue of the Gazette marks the end of the special promotion for my Service Pack 2 Fail-Safe install guide . Reminder: you can save up to 54% off the guide if you purchase before midnight tonight. Before we move onto other topics of interest ... featured in our newsletter, I've decided to end this special promotion with a lightening round of SP2-related questions from our Readers. Answers are short-but-sweet and will address the most frequently asked questions I've received via email / from the newsletter over the last 2.5 months. Ready? Round 1 ... Begin! Q: " I have installed ... (view more)

XP SP2 Frequently Asked Questions: Continued from Part 1 ... Q: " I already have Norton Internet Security installed and running. Does it make sense to use the Service Pack 2 Firewall or should I stick with Norton? Should I use both at the same time? ... " A: It is not recommended that you run two firewalls at once, as this can cause problems with programs which rely on your Internet connection. I don't have any experience with Norton Firewall, but I personally recommend using Zone Alarm (free), as it is widely accepted among the Internet community as a very strong and secure firewall ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lee C. writes: " Ever since I installed XP Service Pack 2 on my system, all I get is blank boxes where pictures used to be in emails, every time I launch Outlook Express. Do you know why this is happening? I installed Service Pack ... 2 onto a clean system. Please help! " My Response: This is another frequently asked question. With Windows XP Service Pack 2, a new security measure has been put into place that -- by default -- will now block pictures that are embedded into emails. The reason for this is because some spammers use picture files as 'web beacons' to verify ... (view more)