Dennis Faas

After announcing that our main server needs upgrading, quite a few Infopackets Readers emailed me over the weekend and asked if there were other ways they could help out financially. Infopackets Reader Anne C. writes: " Hi Dennis! I just wanted to ... let you know that I've replied to your request to donate infopackets.com in order to help keep your website maintained [and protected against hackers]. A suggestion: perhaps you should charge an annual fee like some websites do? I certainly wouldn't have a problem donating $10-15 dollars a year to keep you up and running. PS: Keep up the good ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Russell F. writes: " Hi Dennis! I have two questions that I'm hoping you can help me with. First: I do not have Internet Explorer set as my default web browser, yet any link I click outside of Internet Explorer always launch in ... IE. How can I get the default changed to Mozilla Firefox? And, secondly: about two weeks ago all the links in Internet Explorer quit working. I looked everywhere, but could not find an answer. Can you help? " Side note: Mozilla Firefox is a new streamlined web browser which features tabbed browsing, a built in PopUp blocker, and a google ... (view more)

Recall -- After briefly reviewing Sound Pad by Menasoft in last weeks' newsletter, I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their own picks for a favorite freeware sound editor. Quite a number of of users recommended a program called Audacity. ... Infopackets Reader Peter G. writes: " I have used Audacity to record audio tapes onto CD. It's pretty straightforward to use -- anyone with a bit of experience will find it quite easy to work out without having to read the help files too much. What I like about it is the very clean interface without any bells and whistles to clutter it up. From the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Serge R. writes: " Hi Dennis! A few questions: How can I stop program entries from being created in my Start menu? ... Also, I'm not very computer savvy and do not understand all the abbreviations that are used all the time -- do ... you know of a web site that explains frequently used abbreviations? " My Response: Some program installations will ask if you want to place their icons in your start menu, while some installers simply do not. What you often end up with is a mess of entries in your Start menu. But fear not, the contents of the Start menu can be edited. For ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tom W. writes: " Hi Dennis! I have just recently subscribed to your newsletter and am already learning more. I am always trying to learn all I can: it's my hobby. I have been trying to find a good freeware program to record my ... audio tapes using my computer. I tried several Google searches for freeware programs, but I they all turn out to be shareware or trialware software. I was wondering if you know of any good freeware programs for recording audio? The program that came with my CD Recorder doesn't allow me to modify / amplify the sound volume. Unfortunately, the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Peter P. writes: " Hello Dennis, I am having a problem with Outlook Express, and can't figure out how to solve it. Whenever I get an email with attachments, the info when I click on the paperclip is grayed out, and I can neither ... save the attachment files or display them. When I click Tools -> Internet Options and select the 'Security' tab, I see that the box labeled 'Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened' is check marked. Unfortunately, this option is grayed out [ghosted] and I cannot change the setting. I am running Windows XP with SP1 [Service Pack 1] and ... (view more)

Have you ever stopped to read the headlines that make news on the Internet? Fact: Almost one in every three Internet users in the United States has been hit by either a computer virus or a hacker in the past two years.(1) Fact: In just 24 hours, the ... 'MSBlast' Internet worm exploded onto some 120,000 Windows computers around the world.(2) Overall, MSBlast has infected an estimated 8 million PCs,(3) while damage from the worm is about $525 million USD.(4) Fact: Internet security and privacy issues frequently dominate news headlines as hackers repeatedly infiltrate computers connected to the ... (view more)

Recall -- A few weeks back, Infopackets Reader Brad B. asked if it was possible to transfer his digital camera photo software from his work computer to his home PC: " Dear Dennis, Many years ago, I bought a digital camera that came with the software ... program called 'Camedia'. Unfortunately my computer crashed last year and (worse yet) I can't find the CD to reinstall it on my PC! Before I lost the disc, I managed to install Camedia on the computer at work, and thankfully, it's still working fine. I have tried copying the Camedia files from the work computer to my home computer, but it won ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jon M. writes: "Hi Dennis! I recently uninstalled a program called 'RoboPDF' (not related to RoboForm ). Now, I receive an error message that "C:\ Program files \ Microsoft Office \ Office \ Startup \ roboPDF.xlt could not be ... found' every time I launch Excel. I was wondering how to get rid of this from appearing? " My response: I researched some topics in the MS Excel Help File, and found info relating to how Excel starts. Basically, the XLStart folder typically contains a bunch of mini-programs (called macro files) which execute every time Excel starts. A ... (view more)

Yesterday's newsletter took quite a while to put together, so I'm going to relax a bit and get into some news about some recent changes to our web site. RE: new eBook and video due next week I am working on a new eBook and video dedicated to PC and ... Internet security. I plan to have this completed by the end of this weekend and hope to release it by next week. In short, the eBook will accent previous discussions from our newsletters, while detailing the necessary steps to secure any Windows PC. Freeware software solutions will be reviewed in the eBook, whereas the video portion of the tutorial ... (view more)