Dennis Faas

Infopackets Readers Sid M. writes: " An icon with the word 'Matcli' appears on my task bar at every boot up. As soon as I open a program, Matcli goes away. I did a little research on Matcli and found that it is an acronym which stands for Motive ... Chorus Command Line Interface. The purpose of Matcli is to gather information about your system's identity like your name, email address, city, state, etc, and all of this gets written to a log file. One of the sites I visited told me that in order to remove Matcli, I need to 'uninstall HP instant support'. Unfortunately, I don't have any HP ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Judy P. writes: " I have been having problems loading Simply Accounting 2004 onto my computer. Apparently I need a patch to install it on my machine -- unfortunately, the patch produces a strange error message when I try to run ... it. It states: ' Setup could not Complete. Setup cannot be completed because an error was encountered during setup. Please contact your software vendor for more information. ' Any ideas? " My response: I have a number of theories. Ensure that you have downloaded the correct patch. Disable any download accelerators (if you have any installed ... (view more)

When was that last time you visited a web site that asked you for a login ID, password, or account number? With all the web sites I visit on a regular basis, it's tough to keep track of that sort of stuff. I used to use Internet Explorer's ... AutoComplete to remember my logins and passwords for me, until I got fed up losing all my important data every time the computer had to be restored or formatted. A while ago, I asked Infopackets Readers for an alternative solution to AutoComplete. Thankfully, many Readers referred me to a program which not only remembered all my form data, but also allowed ... (view more)

After publishing the article on missing pictures in Outlook Express (the Red X's), Infopackets Reader George W. asked a related question about hearing music through email. " Dear Dennis, I just got done reading your article about missing pictures in ... Outlook Express: I've got a similar problem and hope you can help me. Until a short time ago, I was able to insert background music (MIDI and .WAV files) into my emails and have the recipient listen to the music as they read the email. I did this by creating my email, then clicked Format -> Background -> Sound, and selected my music ... (view more)

Last week, Infopackets Reader Cospul warned me of a problem he had with a browser enhancement, called MyWebSearch: " I downloaded and installed [the browser plug-in] only to find out that it hijacked my Internet Explorer ... Whatever [web site I ... visit, MyWebSearch either displays their site or an error message]. ... I emailed the Mywebsearch [support many times], but they have not [provided any useful technical advice]. I even hired a certified Microsoft technician to fix the problem -- but after a week, all they could tell me was that Mywebsearch acts like a virus (no kidding!). I can't ... (view more)

When I began writing this newsletter back in 2001, there were only a small number of sites geared toward helping new and intermediate Windows users. That's why I was grateful when I stumbled across a place called Neat Net Tricks , which reviews cool ... places to visit on the 'net. Neat Net Tricks (NNT) is operated by a fellow named Jack Teems. The Neat Net Tricks web site and newsletter cater to new and intermediate Windows users who feel that computers and the Internet can still be fun without mucking around with the registry, BIOS, motherboard, and that sort of stuff. I think you'll understand ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader "Cospul" writes: " Dennis, please warn all your subscribers to avoid the browser plug-in called 'MyWebSearch'! I downloaded and installed the said browser enhancement, only to find out that it hijacked my Microsoft Internet ... Explorer every time I went on the Internet! Whatever web page or site that I go to, MyWebSearch either displays the Mywebsearch website or displays an error message which reads, 'Can't find website notice.' My Internet Explorer is completely useless and acts if possessed! I emailed the support at Mywebsearch 3 times and explained how their ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Paul B. writes: " Hi Dennis! I recently downloaded a free Spyware removal program called AdAware 6.0. The problem is that I am not sure what settings are safe to remove and which ones are safe to omit after it scans my system? ... ... Can you help? " My response: I have received a number of related questions pertaining to this issue, so I will do my best to explain. RE: how does Spyware get identified? AdAware and similar Spyware removal tools work by comparing Spyware signatures against known offenders present in a database. A Spyware signature can be part of a file ... (view more)

I don't normally post jokes in the Gazette; in fact, I've never done so. However, a joke I recently received put a smile on my face. Of course, none of the following story is true -- but humorous nonetheless. See if you can point out the parodies. " ... For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, 'If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars ... (view more)

There are a few issues regarding last week's article on Email Saver Xe, so I'll just get straight to it. RE: Incorrect Coupon Code I normally proof-read articles a number of times before sending out the newsletter to Readers. And so after making a ... number of routine corrections to last Thursday's feature article, I initiated the command to clean the subscriber base and begin sending out the newsletter. A few hours later, my mailbox began filling up with letters from Infopackets Readers wondering why the coupon code for Email Saver Xe would not work. As it turns out, the correct coupon code is ... (view more)