Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Brandon L. writes: " Dear Dennis, My computer has this really serious problem. I don't know what is causing the problem, but it only started happening recently. The whole day yesterday, my computer was frozen with a black screen ... at startup. You know: the first screen that says 'Press DEL to enter Setup'? I tried restarting my machine and left it there thinking that the problem would go away, but after a few hours, nothing changed. I decided to go into the computer BIOS and selected 'Load optimized defaults', and like magic, my system appeared OK. I don't understand why ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Chris L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I need your help please! I have all of my music files on in 1 folder, and I want to print all the file names for future reference. Do you know how I can do this? Thank you very much for your time ... and help. " My response: A simple DOS command (Disk Operating System) can capture the file names in a directory... which can be saved into a text file, and printed on paper. This may not be the easiest method available, but it's certainly quick and dirty and won't take long to do. Ensure that your Path is displayed in the Address bar in an ... (view more)

I recently upgraded to MSN Messenger version 6, only to find it still lacking in features that I find useful in other chat clients (like ICQ). "Surely there must be an alternative," I thought to myself. I decided to search Google for "MSN messenger ... replacement" and found a piece of software called dMSN, which was created by a fellow named Danny in the Netherlands. In short, "dMSN is a JAVA-based Instant Messaging program for the MSN protocol. It's just like MSN Messenger, only with more functions." ( http://www.dmsn.nl/ ) From the jvdam.nl web site, I found 11 ... (view more)

Recall -- On Monday, Temple D. told me of a familiar problem with Windows XP and Dialup Networking: " I have just bought a new Dell computer that has Windows XP and I use dial-up Internet. Every time I disconnect from the Internet, my computer ... defaults back to 'Never Dial a Connection'. I've reset it to 'always dial my default connection', hit 'Apply', and 'OK' -- but, when I try to connect again, I get an error message which reads 'No Connection Available.' Subsequently, when I go into Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections, the option 'Never Dial a Connection' has been re- ... (view more)

Die-hard Infopackets Reader Brandon L. writes: " Dear Dennis, Do you have any idea why my taskbar icons have suddenly become so large and 'clunky' looking? The graphics which represent each running program have become very poor quality and I can't ... seem to figure out why this has happened. Do you know of any solution? Take care, and thanks for the great newsletters!" My response: Oddly enough, I found myself in the same predicament only a few weeks ago when I was visiting my mother using her computer. I noticed that her taskbar icons were oddly shaped and also noticed that some of ... (view more)

It's been two weeks since the newsletter format has been changed to include "teaser" feature articles and a link to the rest of the story online. Over the weekend, I received a few disheartening emails with regard to the format change. Gan Soon B. ... in South East Asia writes: " Dear Dennis, I am writing to you to register my concern with the new format of your newsletter. Recently, I noticed that you have switched to a format which require users to go online to view the full contents of the newsletter. I figured that you have a valid concern for using that format, and so I didn't ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Temple D. writes: " I have just bought a new Dell computer that has Windows XP and I use dial-up Internet. Every time I disconnect from the Internet, my computer defaults back to 'Never Dial a Connection'. I've reset it to 'always ... dial my default connection', hit 'Apply', and 'OK' -- but, when I try to connect again, I get an error message which reads 'No Connection Available.' Subsequently, when I go into Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections, the option 'Never Dial a Connection' has been re-enabled (again!). What do I have to do to keep this from happening? ... (view more)

Recall -- A few days ago, I wrote about the latest virus threat which is currently clogging up email mailboxes around the world. In short, the "SoBig worm arrives via email as an attachment; once the attachment has been executed, the worm attempts ... to propagate itself by mass-mailing the contacts it has collected from the host computer [especially through the use of email Address Books / Contact Lists]." SoBig Email Worm Virus The SoBig worm has been an especially dreadful problem for me, since I receive email daily from folks around the world. Whenever someone decides to drop me a ... (view more)

Recall -- In Yesterday's Gazette Newsletter, Dorothy L. told me that her eye sight is not what it used to be, and has a difficult time reading the newsletter without a magnifying glass. I responded to her dilemma by providing two different ways she ... could increase font size in both Outlook Express and Internet Explorer: Change Font size in Outlook Express and Internet Explorer? Today, Leo F. suggested that Dorothy try a freeware program called "Super Magnify", which "magnifies portions of the screen up to 15 times". Leo writes: " The large Font tip you offered Dorothy ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dorothy L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am most interested in all the information you provide, however, I suffer from an eye disorder and have a very difficult time reading text. Can you please tell me how I can increase the size of ... the font so that I don't need to use a magnifying glass? Thank you for your attention to this matter. " My response: If you use Outlook Express to view your email, you can increase font size by clicking View -> Text Size -> Largest. If you have a Scroll Mouse (a mouse with a wheel on the top), you can also decrease / increase size of ... (view more)