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Today I received an email from Rose J. who recently downloaded my video tutorial and eBook on How to Install / Reinstall Windows: " I need to [copy your] video on to a disk, and I can't seem to do that. Can you explain the procedure in detail? " At ... first, I thought Rose was asking about how to burn the files to a CD Recordable. I later out found that she doesn't have a CD recorder, and she wanted to use her floppy disk drive to back up the files. That makes things a bit difficult, since the tutorial is almost 19 megabytes in size. Before I go into instruction on how this would be ... (view more)

This is the third installment on a series of comments based on the following scenario: " When someone buys a new computer (either brand name or clone) that is preloaded with an Operating System (OS), is the seller obliged to give the client an ... original CD which includes the Operating System? " Last week I provided various short-but-sweet answers to the above question from various readers of the Infopackets Gazette. The gist was that retailers are required to provide Windows on a CD, whether it comes pre-packaged like Compaq, and Dell machines do -- or, if it comes with the basic ... (view more)

There's lots o' interesting news to tell you in this issue of the Gazette. Recall that October 16th's issue of the Gazette proposed the question of whether or not Kazaa (Sharman Networks) implemented some sort of cap on bandwidth (downloads). I ... received a few suggestions from our readers, and without further adieu, let me attempt coordinate some of their thoughts. Kooby writes: " I updated to Kazaa v2 to find this new thing called a kazaa participation level. Because I have a cable modem (high speed internet) with only mediocre upload speed, I don't share any files with other Kazaa ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Rick J. asks, " How do I get back something that I deleted from the recycle bin? " My Response: One way to empty a Recycle Bin is to right-click over top of the Recycle Bin and select "Empty Recycle Bin." If you deleted a file (or ... files) permanently by emptying the Recycle Bin, there is no way for you to get it back -- it's gone for good. This is true, unless you use some sort of special software to retrieve a deleted file from your hard drive -- but even that is not not always 100%; furthermore, the effort involved in file recovery is usually 'over the ... (view more)

It appears that the last issue of the newsletter sparked some real interest amongst many Infopackets Readers (RE: tracert.exe and ping.exe ). At this time, I would like to address the problem that Infopackets Reader Stephen C. wrote to me about not ... being able to access any MS DOS commands from the command prompt under Windows. He writes: " When I [attempt to] run [MS DOS commands, such as ping.exe or tracert.exe] under the command window, I get an error message which reads: 'ping' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. Any ideas? I have ... (view more)

Last week, I received a question pertaining to a free Windows backup program. I took this opportunity to ask the readers of the Infopackets Gazette newsletter, and received MANY suggestions. So, without further adieu, here are some top picks: ... Karen's Power Tools: Replicator : Replicator copies from any source to any destination; it works with ZIP, CD-R, and HD. It can be set to freshen files that are updated/deleted and can be set for unattended operation. Required: Visual Basic 6.0 . My Own Backup (MOB) : A flexible piece of software that allows for Disk Spanning (CD-R backups). Some ... (view more)

Woops! It looks like Microsoft has goofed again. If you haven't been watching the news lately (maybe you don't get CNN?) -- Microsoft has released a security bulletin ( Q320920 ) regarding a critical flaw in Windows Media Player which can allow an ... attacker to gain unrestricted access to your system. Who is affected? Anyone who is using Windows Media Player version 6.4, 7.1 or Windows Media Player for Windows XP (version 8) should download a software patch to their system immediately. Side note: A software patch is piece of software that fixes a program (which is also software). In this case, ... (view more)

There is a nasty worm (virus) making its way through the Kazaa file sharing network . On Friday, a friend called me up and told me that his "C drive" was full and that he couldn't do anything with his computer. So, I hopped in my car, drove over to ... his place, and cleaned up some temporary files on his system. I freed up about 400 meg or so on his C drive. Satisfied with the results, I went home. The next day, he called me back with the same problem. Oddly enough, he said the computer was left untouched since I left his house the previous night. So what happened to all the space I ... (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)

Downloading programs and drivers off the Internet and installing them on your computer can get a little tricky, especially if you don't know what to do after the file has been downloaded. This guide provides Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, and XP ... users a methodical approach to program and driver installation, without any techno jargon or fluff. Although this article is a bit lengthy, it should be known that Steps 1 and 2 provide much of what is to know, while Step 3 reintroduces the familiar concepts with a few extra twists. With that said, let's get on with it! A file has been downloaded. Now ... (view more)