Dennis Faas

Today I received well over 200 virus-infected emails, courtesy of the W32.sobig.b@mm.html and Friendship Screensaver worm / virus. So, why do I get bombarded with email viruses more than the average Joe? The answer to my dilemma is compound. Since ... literally thousands of users have emailed me in the past ... and because mail programs such as Outlook / Outlook Express automatically save contacts [email addresses] once mail has been replied to, ... and and because most email viruses propagate through email Contact Lists: my email addresses have been become exceptionally targeted by email worms. ... (view more)

Last week, Douglas M. told me how the Address Bar disappeared from his Internet Explorer: " I am running Windows 98 (second edition) with IE6 and recently the address bar at the top of the browser screen has disappeared. When I click View -> ... Toobars -> Address Bar, I cannot get it to return. Any suggestions? " My response: I forwarded a link from TechTV: the site suggested that the Address Bar may have been inadvertently repositioned and, consequently, hidden. Recall: " If your address bar has disappeared from Internet Explorer, right-click on a toolbar and make sure ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Douglas M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am an avid reader of your newsletter, and it is definitely the BEST free support publication for users of Windows operating systems -- I recommend Infopackets Gazette whenever appropriate! I ... wonder whether you can help me with a problem? I am running Windows 98 (second edition) with IE6 and recently the address bar at the top of the browser screen has disappeared. When I click View -> Toobars -> Address Bar, I cannot get it to return. Any suggestions? " My response: I was unable to find a resolution to this problem by ... (view more)

I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm back from my vacation to Cancun, Mexico. My trip to the Caribbean was fantastic and can't wait until I get to do it again! During my stay, the sunny weather in Mexico ranged ... between 85 and 95 Fahrenheit (or 29 ~ 35 Celsius). Humidity wasn't much of an issue, and the strong coastline breeze provided a much needed rest from the over-powering sun. Addressing web site concerns while away on Vacation Believe it or not, I receive 150 ~ 200 emails a day. To prevent my mailbox from getting clogged, I decided to leave the office ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Larry K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I use dial-up Internet, which is the *only* service available in my remote location. I am on call at my work, and my son will be home from University soon. Is there software / hardware / or some ... type of service available which can alert me of an incoming phone call when I'm online? I really don't want to purchase another phone line. " My response: I remember seeing a piece of hardware advertised on TV which plugs into your phone line and alerts you of an incoming call. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the product [ ... (view more)

The last newsletter sparked some interesting discussion from readers. George P. from Lakeland, Florida asks: " I have created my own downloaded CD Discs that contain movies I got from Kazaa. They play absolutely perfectly on my monitor, but I'd like ... to be able to play them on my 27 inch TV. How can I play the same VCD on my TV instead of on my monitor? " My Response: There's a few things I need to address before answering George's question. First of all, George made reference to something called a VCD, which is an acronym for "Video CD." Video CDs have been around for ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Frank R. asks: " My machine has Windows XP, a DVD ROM drive, and an ATI Radeon 9000 video card with S-VIDEO TV / OUT. Can I play DVDs from my computer and watch them on my 61" TV? What kind of cables do I need to attempt this? " ... My Answer: Yes you can! Go to your local Radio Shack and purchase the following cables: #1: Male S-Video to female RCA cable. This will plug into the back of your video card and convert the S-Video output into RCA output. An S-Video cable by itself is usually much more expensive than its RCA counterpart and provides roughly the same ... (view more)

Greetings to all! I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm officially on vacation! Last Saturday, I left for Toronto and am currently visiting my friend, Frank. On May 3rd, I will be flying out of Pearson Airport in Toronto ... and will later arrive in Cancun, Mexico. I won't be back until May 12th. The bad news is that I have limited access to the Internet and cannot retrieve personal files and old emails from the office. Before I left for the trip, I planned to route all incoming emails to the office computer, and then later download them via FTP server (to another ... (view more)

The previous 2 Feature Articles were about an alternative approach to Internet Explorer's time-saving AutoComplete function. Recall -- When enabled, the AutoComplete feature remembers (and completes) frequently used form data on web pages, such as ... user logins and passwords. Unfortunately, AutoComplete does not offer a method for exporting / backing up its form data which has been collected over time. This is very problematic for anyone who may need to format / reinstall Windows, or for users who use Disk Imaging software (like myself) to restore a previously working copy of Windows. I asked ... (view more)