system

Over the weekend, a fellow named Bernie Madigan from Australia sent me a quick email to let me know of a nifty freeware utility he's recently developed. Bernie's new program is called FileMap and it helps users to identify whether or not Spyware has ... been installed on their machine. He writes: " I have just published FileMap version 3.0.1, which discloses files added to your system without your knowledge. The program is ideal for serious computer buffs, or for people who want [early warning incase their systems are ever hijacked with Spyware]. I would also like to thank Bob Helmer of ... (view more)

All is not well in the land of infopackets.com. During the last newsletter announcement, the infopackets web server crashed. My laptop was connected to the infopackets server at the time that it happened and I was able to see that server's virtual ... memory (swap file) was almost completely depleted. In techy terms, this situation is referred to as a memory leak. How a Memory Leak causes an Operating System to crash An operating system is reserved a specific set of system memory (RAM) to perform critical system operations. By definition, it is the job of the operating system to ensure that a ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Madelaine M. writes: " Lately, when I am trying to connect to the Internet, I get a message saying, 'Brute Force Server Error'. When I click the window, the error message disappears. I use Norton Anti-virus 2002 and Spy Sweeper to ... scan my system for viruses and Spyware. What else should I do to avoid this problem?" My response: I can say that I have never heard of this error message before. I did some research using Google, but wasn't able to come up with anything conclusive. However, what I did find is that the term "Brute Force" refers to a form of ... (view more)

Damyanti L. from the United Kingdom writes: " When I go on the Internet, there are some nasty ads popping up on my computer. I also have children using this system. Can you advise me on how I can stop these extremely rude pictures from popping up? ... Many thanks. " My Response: First of all, let me say that there are 3 types of "PopUp" advertisements that exist: Web PopUps, Spyware PopUps, and Messenger PopUps. Web PopUps only occur when the browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc) is loaded. In contrast, Spyware PopUps can appear even if you aren't connected to the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader L. Sullivan writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been having lots of problems with constant error messages lately. After reading your article on '.DLL Hell', I downloaded Registry Mechanic as it sounded like the perfect solution. Well, it ... seems [that Registry Mechanic has] stopped the .DLL error messages, but I still keep getting Internet Explorer error messages that cause it to close down suddenly. Can you help, please?? I am a newbie, so please keep it simple, if you can. Thanks, and PS: I love your site!! " My Response: Recall -- From a previous Infopackets Gazette, we ... (view more)

2018/01/13 Update: If you'd like to learn about the most secure options then check out this guide on secure browsers by BestVPN.com. Die Hard Infopackets Reader Ted B. writes: " I have Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 with Service Pack 1 installed. My ... Internet Service Provider (ISP) is Juno, and it comes with a web browser (version 5.0, build 33). I recently downloaded Netscape version 7.0. Yesterday I received word (via LockerGnome's newsletter) that I needed to go to the Microsoft Windows Update web site to download a fix for a recently discovered security vulnerability in Internet Explorer ... (view more)

Side note: Because this Visitor Feedback section deals with computer hardware, both the question and answer are somewhat technical. Even if you're a newbie, you should take the time to read this article: I've done my best to outline and explain the ... techy-terms in simple English. Infopackets Reader John T. writes: " Hi, Dennis! I'm sure hoping for your help, if you have the time and are up for a challenge. When I turned my computer on after the recent massive power outage ... I discovered I no longer had D (CD ROM) drive -- it disappeared from My Computer under Windows ... The rest of the ... (view more)

As per our recent conversations on .DLL Hell (Dynamic Link Libraries), I've dedicated the following Feature Article review and Visitor Feedback sections to further enhance the discussion. If you like reading about the true workings of a computer ... with respect to software and the operating system (I.E. Windows), you'll definitely enjoy this edition of the Gazette, written in Simple English. There's lots of great learning stuff in this article, so stay tuned! -- Have you ever experienced an application or game that ran sluggish -- and wished there was something that you could do to "make it ... (view more)