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I visit dozens of web sites daily, and many of them require a username and password. I once used RoboForm to manage my passwords and form field data. Recently, I discovered a program called AccountLogon which organizes my password information and ... protects my data with 448-bit ["blowfish"] encryption -- an encryption level higher than RoboForm Pro (3DES). Side note: A higher encryption level means greater security. In short, it would take a very skilled hacker to "crack" an encrypted 3DES file, and much (much!) longer to crack a 448-bit blowfish encrypted file. What is ... (view more)

Yesterday's feature article was about file recovery after a hard drive crash. File recovery after hard drive crash? In a nutshell, I outlined some steps one might take in order to recover files from a corrupt hard drive. I also asked Infopackets ... Readers if they knew of any good freeware or commercial file recovery software which could undelete / recover lost data. Here are some of the responses I received: Haukur B. and Pippe both recommended a program called "PC Inspector File Recovery". From the web site: " PC Inspector File Recovery is a data recovery program with support ... (view more)

Last week , Rocky R. asked how to turn on the AutoComplete feature found in Internet Explorer. A quick recap: what is AutoComplete? When enabled, the AutoComplete feature remembers (and completes) frequently used form data on web pages. An example ... of a form might be one that asks you a name and password, such as the login form used at Hotmail.com. After providing instructions on how to enable / disable the AutoComplete in last week's newsletter, I furthered the discussion by introducing a dilemma of my own. My problem was that I sometimes have to revert back to an old image (backup) of ... (view more)

Last week, Phil M. asked the question: " I can't access the Outlook 2000 contacts because they no longer belong to my user account. Is there any way I can access the previous Outlook 2000 contacts list? I don't know where to look. " I didn't know ... the answer to this question, so I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their suggestions. Bill S. confidently writes: " FIRST - a BIG first - go to Control Panel, Folder Options, View and de-select Display Hidden Files. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. There were ... (view more)

Have you ever had a RAID before? RAID is a technology used to increase hard drive performance and fault-tolerance. What is fault-tolerance? The hard drive inside your computer is responsible for storing programs and user data. RAID performance ... refers to the time that it takes the hard drive to read and write information; fault-tolerance deals with the means to protect data stored on the hard drive. RAID is an acronym which stands for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks. Generally speaking, the word 'Array' is a techy-term which represents related information formed in a ... (view more)

Abstract This article is a continuation of last week's issue of the Infopackets Gazette. This article presents an overview of current privacy issues, discusses potential methods in which an individual's privacy may be jeopardized, and examines ... specific countermeasures that can be used to protect private information. Information Technology Abuse -- Privacy Issues (Part 1 of 2) -- Third Layer: Firewalls, Web Filters, and Tracking Detection Firewalls: Any computer system that accesses the Internet should be equipped with a firewall to enable the user to detect and prevent unauthorized access to ... (view more)

Ron Smith wrote in and had a few comments to make about a past issue of the Infopackets Gazette, concerning whether or not Windows is transferable onto another machine using the same hard drive. While I still feel that installing Windows freshly on ... a new machine is a better choice, you may want to try Ron's suggestion if you're willing to get your hands dirty. Here's what he had to say: " Dear Dennis, With deep respect, I feel that your answer was incomplete when you advised that Annette couldn't take over her hard drive to the new computer. Last week, I did exactly that, and it was ... (view more)

Earlier this week I sent out a very controversial article to a few other online ezines (electronic magazines) in hopes of syndicating the Infopackets Gazette to help increase our readership. If you haven't visited infopackets.com recently, you might ... have missed the intriguing article about Mcafee Anti Virus. The article questioned whether or not McAfee purposely mislead users to purchase an update to their Virus Scan software ($39.95), when in fact, it was not required for some users. The article was an instant hit. It was published on a few major web sites and generated quite a bit of ... (view more)

If you own a CD Burner, there's a good chance that you've come across a "Buffer Underrun" error message. A buffer underrun happens when information cannot be recorded to the CD because of resource starvation. All CD recorders without buffer underrun ... protection require a constant flow of data to be read from the hard drive to the CD recorder without interruption. If the flow of data is stopped, a buffer underrun will follo w. For example, if your hard drive can only read information at a rate of X and the CD Recording needs information at a rate of X+1, this is referred to resource ... (view more)