This Month:

What's New

Warnings

Internet

FYI

Laugh a Little

We are PC correct but not necessarily when it comes to humor.. :-)
 

Any suggestions, recommendations or ideas found on this site are applied at your own risk.

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For previous newsletters click here.  (Web Printing Hints)

A Few Reminders...

If you have a new computer: Save your original CDs!
No Operating System Restore CD?  See our July 05 newsletter

• Be sure to activate the antivirus application immediately! 
   
• If your new computer is more than *90 days old, or
  if you have not paid for a subscription within the last year,
  your antivirus application is out-of-date and you are not protected. More details on this issue in the March 02 newsletter.

* Many new computers come with a 90-day free trial version, but after that period you must pay to renew the subscription.  Wonder if your antivirus is up-to-date?  Click here

Looking to buy a new computer: 

Click here for some ideas that may help your decision.

HP Battery Recall

Affecting a variety of HP and Compaq laptops, check your battery pack barcode label.  If it starts with: GC, IA, L0, L1, your battery may be involved.  The article.

Battery and power supply recalls seem to be an industry standard these days...

Computer Memory

Computer memory, like the rest of the industry has changed drastically over the years.  Back when personal computers first came on the market, the need for extra memory was scarce and fortunately so.  Back then, updating memory was an extremely expensive proposition and well out of the reach of most computer users.  But as more companies began producing memory, the price fell significantly.

Perhaps to bolster pricing, Rambus (manufacturer of computer memory) created, and computer manufacturers used, a proprietary memory called RDRAM. 

RDRAM memory was, and still is very expensive, e.g. (today's pricing) 512Mb of RDRAM is $239 compared with 512Mb of SDRAM at $95.  So rather than upgrading an old computer with RDRAM, you are almost better off replacing the computer.

But computer manufacturers also use SDRAM and (now) DDR memory.  SDRAM and DDR pricing has been very reasonable but that may all change...

Rambus apparently holds patent rights on these memory types as well as RDRAM.  With their recent, successful infringement suit, it may be just a matter of time before competing manufacturers, because of royalty fees, are forced to raise prices.   The article and some background.

Got about 23 days?

Apparently that is how long it would take you to say each of the nearly one million words in the English language!  We are simply astounded, shocked, astonished, flabbergasted, taken aback, bowled over, amazed and stunned but certainly not wordless... The article.

Phishing Lures

Always be careful when opening and especially responding to email messages!  Check the message, subject line, links and sender's address...  A lot of spam will fake an address by substituting characters, for example:

• "vv" instead of a "w" (creditdepartment@cityvvidebank.com)
• 1, i and | instead of an l (L)
• 0 (zero) instead of o

If it does not look correct, it is likely junk mail and it should be deleted.

Domain Names also...

Domain names like street addresses are very specific locations.  Where even a minor typo is the difference between arriving at your destination and getting lost.

If a domain name is available, anyone can purchase it, including unscrupulous people.  So be careful when typing web addresses!  You may not end up at the desired website:

• www.download-microsoft.com is not a Microsoft site
• www.ebay-members-security.com is not an ebay site

If you question the link, go to the company's main site, e.g., www.microsoft.com then search/look for the subsite of interest.    The article.  

Antispyware

Antispyware applications can stop Microsoft Office's Detect & Repair from properly repairing problems with Word, Excel, etc.  They may also stop other legitimate application installations and operations that require Windows registry changes. 

If you keep the computer clean of Internet junk, antispyware applications are simply not necessary (you still need an antivirus application.)

Antivirus Updates

Whether due to recent Microsoft updates, failure to be connected long enough or other yet undetermined reasons, we have recently seen a few machines where Norton has not successfully obtained available all updates.  The results, an unprotected machine!

Go online, open the Norton application and at the top, click Liveupdate.  Be sure to follow it through to the end and confirm all available updates are properly installed.  Repeat until all available updates are installed.