Grusskarten-Websites speichern und verkaufen nicht nur Deine Adresse, sondern auch die Adresse des Empfängers. Ausserdem sind viele mit "Empfäng bestätigt"-Codierung versehen, so dass auch wenn sich der Empfänger die Karte selber nicht mal abholt, wird seine Adresse als "gültig" erkannt. Auch hier gilt: Habt Respekt vor den Adressen anderer Leute !

Früher hatten die Spammer es schwer. Sie müssten überall nach Adressen nachsuchen - auf Websites, auf Newsgroups und Foren.. Heute haben sie es einfacher, weil es Spam-Software gibt.
Diese perfiden Schweine machen es so: Der Software bietet ihnen eine Liste der gängisten Worte und Vornamen - die Liste umfängt Millionen von Möglichkeit und schliesst auch Wild Cards wie z.B. mar*, ein. So werden Adressen, die mit marc, marcel, marcus, markus, mary, marianne usw zum Opfer. Der Software gibt ihnen auch eine Liste der Mailservers in der ganzen Welt. Also, auch wenn dein email-Adresse etwas wie marcxxx999@... heisst, bekommst du Spam.
Auch gängige Worte in allerlei Sprachen sind im Software inbegriffen: katze*, hund*, computer*, music*, werden an @*.* (jeden Server überall) geschickt. Aber auch die, die zB mit "xx" beginnen. Und mails wie zB "nospam-meier" werden ebenfalls zum Spam-Opfer.
Spamming ist der Krebs der Online-Welt, und leider ist niemanden davor sicher, solange diese kranken, spammende Schweine noch leben.
Bis das Versenden von Spam weltweit (auch bei den Spam-Schweine in China, die tatkräftig - durch das gratis Verteilen von Spamming-Software - von der chinesischen Regierung unterstützt werden) zum Verbrechen gemacht wird, werden wir alle Opfer diese geldgierigen, zum Teil perversen Bastarde sein.
Z7 Spammer Blackliste (kleiner Auszug):

• "Noxfil" Polen - irgendein miserabler kleiner Label von bedauernswert schlechten Bands, der uns andauernd, oft 6x in einem Tag seine kleinen Bands anbietet. Seine Bands sind bei uns gesperrt, bis das Spamming aufhört.

• "Agonia Records" - email-Adresse: info@agoniarecords.com
  Wieder ein miserabler kleiner Label von oft bedauernswert schlechten Bands, der uns ebenfalls mehrmals pro Woche - oft mehrmals im Tag und trotz mindestens 25 Bitten unserer Adresse zu entfernen, Werbung in grauenhaft schlechtem Englisch für seine crappy little Bands und deren billiges Merchandise schickt. Dieser Typ muss echt krank sein, oder er ist so illiterat und blöd, dass er unsere Bitten nicht versteht. Alle seine Bands sind blacklisted, bis er ein für allemal aufhört. So fuck off, you nasty little spammer.

• Dioxin Schindelegg, die uns trotz mindestens 12 Bitten, weiterhin ihr Programm per email schickten. Ich fragte mich warum. Warum glaubten sie, dass ihre Liste uns interessiert ? Als ich Kopien von 4 ihrer Spams ihrem Provider schickte, hat es gottseidank aufgehört, aber vorher kam ein Fax vom Dioxin Schindelegg, in welchem sie sich wegen meiner Reaktion beschwerten. Leute gibt's....

• Gross5Brigitte@gmx.de - Von ihren emails her klingt sie wie eine Hausfrau, die denkt, es wäre nett Bandmanager zu sein und bietet ihre total unbekannten Bands sogar der Hallenstadion Zürich an, weil sie vom Geschäft absolut keine Ahnung hat. GMX hat ihre email Adresse schon x-mal geschlossen, doch findet sie immer neue Adressnamen (diese ist wohl die fünfte)

• Fritz.Dill@anzeiger-luzern.ch missbraucht seit Jahren seine Arbeitstelle und deren Einrichtung, um sich als DJ- und Dance-party Veranstalter auszugeben.

• Blacklisted Bands: Unter anderem die folgenden Bands, die anscheinend so verzweifelt Gigs suchen, dass sie es für nötig finden das Z7 mit MP3s, riesengrosse Bilder, Infos, und sonst so'n Schmarren bombardieren. WireTab, Skullmonkey, Doppelganger, Seventh Nemesis, Reclusion, Warbase, Face Tomorrow, Kaizen, Scarve, Bloodtaste, Backstab, Pop Up, Outer Space Plastic, Aegirson, Blutauge, Elite,

Hard drive is not accessible

Q. My hard drive failed and I installed a new one. It works fine.
But Windows cannot see my old hard drive. My BIOS sees it, but I
have no access to it. I appreciate your taking my call and trying to
help me. Do you have any more suggestions? I want very much to
save the family pictures on the drive. Assuming I can save those
files, do I need Windows on that drive?

A. I think this is probably a hardware problem. I remember you telling me all the steps you tried, including reinstalling the master boot record and images of the drive.

I can think of three possible problems:

1. Your hard drive could have suffered some type of catastrophic
failure. A head crash, in which the read/write head smashes into the
platter, could do it. It is possible that the drive was so damaged that
Windows cannot read it.

2. The drive may be configured incorrectly. Your old hard drive should
be installed as a slave. When two hard drives are installed, one is the
master, the other the slave. Windows runs off of the master. You have
to set the two drives up so Windows knows which is which. This is
typically done with jumpers placed over two pins on the back of the
drive. There should be a diagram on the drive that shows how to
configure a slave. If the drive is cable select, you must put the
jumper in a different place. Check your computer manual if you're
not sure.

3. The ribbon-cable plug may not be fully engaged on the drive. Also,
the drive may not be getting power. Try another power connector on
the back of the drive.

I assume that you are running both hard drives off the same cable.
If your primary drive is operating properly, that probably rules out
the cable or a motherboard problem.

If Nos. 2 and 3 aren't the issue, then I think you have serious
problems. Take it to a shop that specializes in recovering data.
Get an estimate first. This can be an expensive proposition.

As for your last question, you would not need Windows on the second
drive. It is already working on the master drive, and should be able
to see the slave OK.
 

Backup Programm für Home Edition

Bei der Windows XP Home-Edition ist kein Backup-Programm zu sehen, trotzdem ist es aber vorhanden.
Auf der Windows XP-CD, im Ordner Valueadd\Msft\Ntbackup finden Sie die Datei "ntbackup.msi". Mit dieser Datei können Sie das Backup installieren.
Sie finden das Backup Programm danach in Zubehör-> Systemprogramme unter Sicherung.

Q. Can I remove the $NTUNINSTALL files from my computer?
They take up so much hard drive space!

A. $NTUNINSTALL files reside in your Windows folder. (If you have
Windows 2000, they are in your WINNT folder.) I have 45 on my computer,
and they are monsters. I found one that was 237 MB!

These are the uninstallation files for Microsoft's updates and service
packs. This would seem to say that there have been a lot of updates.
But consider this: Not all updates can be uninstalled. So I presumably
have had many more updates than 45.

You can remove the files if you want. Just delete them. But keep
in mind that updates sometimes cause problems. If you have these files,
you can remove troublesome updates through Add or Remove Programs in
Control Panel.

However, if the updates aren't causing you problems now, they probably
won't in the future. So you're likely safe if you get rid of these
space hogs.
 

Stop your computer from spontaneously rebooting

Q. My computer is driving me crazy! It reboots by itself three or four times a day. There doesn't seem to be any pattern. I'm ready to dump this thing! Can you help?
 

A. I can only imagine your aggravation. Unfortunately, a number of things can cause this. So let's work through them. But before you do anything that I have below, if you are not computer savvy or don't know how to safely work on a computer by grounding yourself and such, do yourself a favor. Take the computer to a local repair shop and ask them to fix it. Be sure to get an estimate up front.

Okay, so you decided to keep reading? Brace yourself!

Have you installed something new recently? Hardware or software? Try uninstalling it. If the problem goes away, check the manufacturer's Web site. It may include a fix or new drivers.

If the situation continues, check programs that are booting automatically. Click Start>>Run. Type msconfig and click OK. Select the Startup tab. Click Disable All>>Apply>>Close. Restart the computer.

Run the computer for awhile. If the problem disappears, restore the items in MSConfig one at a time. Assuming you can isolate the program that is causing the problem, check the manufacturer's Web site. Or just get rid of it.

Still have the problem? Maybe the computer is running too hot. Take the sides off the computer case. Be sure the interior fans are working. The power supply fan blows out the back of the computer. Others should be visible. The microprocessor may have a fan atop it. The chipset on the motherboard may have a fan. Same goes for the video card. Other fans are sometimes attached to the front or back of the case. Fans are crucial. Heat can make a computer act strangely.

Fans working? Set up a fan to blow directly on the computer's interior. It this solves the problem, you need more internal fans. You can buy small fans at computer parts stores.

Still rebooting? You probably have bad hardware. The only way to check this is to replace the parts one at a time. Bad memory chips are sometimes a problem. If you have multiple memory sticks in the computer, remove them one at a time. If you only have one, try to mooch another from someone else. I've borrowed parts from work computers when I had that situation.

While you're at it, try to get another video card. Swap it out, too.

If you have a network interface card (NIC), pull it out and run the computer. You won't be able to surf the Web without the NIC. Find something else to do with the computer. NICs and memory are cheap, if they need to be replaced. Video cards are also cheap, unless you need an expensive one to play games.

Reboot problems are complicated. Sometimes, it's best to leave repairs to the professionals.

Windows XP System Maintenance Tips

Compared to its shaky predecessors, Windows XP rivals the Rock of
Gibraltar. But this doesn't mean you can just compute and go. Periodic
maintenance is essential to keep your computer humming along.

Start with Disk CleanUp. It does quite a few things to free hard disk
space including removing temporary Internet files, files in the Recycle
Bin, installed programs that you do not use, and old Restore Points.

To use Disk Cleanup, double-click My Computer, right-click the hard
disk on which you want to free space, and select Properties. Click Disk
Cleanup on the General tab.

On the Disk Cleanup tab, click to select the check boxes of the files
that you want to remove, click OK, Yes, and OK. When done, click the
More Options tab. Here, you can remove Windows components that you do
not use. On the More Options tab, you can also remove installed
programs and restore points, too.

Next, get the hard disk in tip-top shape. Disk Defragmenter and Chkdsk
(which replaced ScanDisk, found in earlier versions of Windows) are
important tools.

Run these as a pair at least monthly, starting with Chkdsk. As its name
implies, ChkDsk scans the hard drive for errors. It should be set to
correct any errors automatically. The most common type is orphaned data
located on the hard drive. This is most often caused by an improper
shutdown or system crash.

To use Chkdsk, click Start and My Computer. Right-click the hard
drive you want to check, and click Properties. Select the Tools tab
and click Check Now. Check both boxes. Click Start. You'll get a
message that the computer must be rebooted to run a complete check.
Click Yes and reboot. Chkdsk will take awhile, so run it when you don't
need the machine.

Next comes Disk Defragmenter. When you save a file, bits and pieces
of the file can be scattered on the hard drive. Disk Defragmenter
puts these bits in contiguous order, so the file can be more easily
reconstructed. That speeds up opening files.

Disk Defragmenter shares the Tools tab with Chkdsk. Click the
Defragment Now button.

Another area that can stand an occasional scrubbing is the Registry.
This massive database tells Windows how to run. As you install and
delete programs, remnants are usually left behind in the Registry.
Eventually, this debris can make Windows shaky.

The Registry is a critical part of Windows. Before cleaning it, back it
up. Click Start and Run. Type "regedit" (without the quotes) in the box
and click OK. In the Registry Editor, click File and Export. Select a
folder in which to save the backup. Name the file Registry Backup and
click Save. If cleaning the Registry leaves your computer unstable,
double-click the Registry Backup file to restore it.

Two free programs, EasyCleaner 1.7 and RegSeeker 1.30, make light
work of cleaning the Registry.
        http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

Despite regular maintenance, Windows XP can still misbehave. Here's
where Dr. Watson can help diagnose the problem. Dr. Watson creates a
log file that lists everything that happened. It is difficult for the
everyday owner to understand, but could help a technician. Open Dr.
Watson by clicking Start and Run. Enter "drwtsn32" in the box (without
the quotation marks) and click OK.
 

Q. In Windows XP, how do you change the letters assigned to the
CD and DVD? It was easy in Windows 98.

A. Supposedly, you won't have to do this. The BIOS and Windows take
care of drive letters automatically.

But this doesn't always work. I installed two hard drives in my home
computer, along with a floppy and a CD-RW. The floppy and one hard
drive (A: and C:) were correct. But the CD drive ended up as D:,
and the second hard drive E:. I wanted the two hard drives to be C:
and D:, respectively.

Changing them was easy. Click Start>Control Panel. Double-click
Administrative Tools. Double-click Computer Management. On the left
side, in the Computer Management window, click Disk Management.

On the right side of the window, I right-clicked on the drives I wanted
to change. I selected "Change Drive Letter and Paths," and clicked
Change. I clicked the down arrow on the box to the right and selected
the new letters.

You should have no trouble if you change the letter assigned to a CD
or DVD. A hard drive could be a different story. If you change the
letter of the disk on which Word resides, for instance, Windows may not
be able to find it when it wants to open Word documents. So, use this
tool judiciously.

The letters are easy to change in Windows 98 and ME, too. Click Start>
Settings>Control Panel. Double-click System and select the Device
Manager tab. Find CDROM or Disk Drives, depending on what you want to
change. Click the plus sign. Double-click the drive.

Select the Settings tab. Find "Reserved drive letters" at the bottom
of the window. Click the down arrow next to "Start drive letter."
Change the letter. If necessary, change "End drive letter." Click OK.
 

Auto-respond facility

Won’t be checking mail for some time? Activate a feature called ‘vacation reply’ (if you are using a Web-based service). Most e-mail services such as Indiatimes provide this feature which can be activated through the options menu. You can type a short message which will be sent to all who e-mail you while you are away. In Outlook Express, you can do this from Tools > Message Rules > Mail and clicking on the New Rule option. Select the ‘For all Messages’ options from the condition for your rule field and in the Action select Reply with a message. You will have to select a message that you have already created and saved. 

Disable MSN Messenger from auto-starting

Whenever one opens Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook XP, MSN Messenger loads automatically. To disable it, go to Tools > Options in Outlook Express and uncheck ‘Automatically log on to MSN Messenger Service’. Then go to View > Layout and uncheck the option of Contacts. In Microsoft Outlook XP, go to Tools > Options > Other and uncheck ‘Enable MSN Messenger’. The over-eager Messenger won’t be so eager now!  

Buying a new computer?  Set it up properly

Do you have a new computer? Great! But before you set out to explore
the Internet, be sure it is safe.

Your new computer almost certainly includes Windows XP, assuming it is
not an Apple. Regardless of how recently your copy of Windows XP was
produced, it is probably dangerous. There have been dozens of updates
for XP, mostly for security shortcomings.

If you fail to update your new computer, you could easily be attacked
by hackers. Protecting yourself isn't difficult. You just need to
follow these steps.

1. Establish your Internet connection. Open Internet Explorer and
click Tools>>Windows Update. Let Microsoft scan your computer. You'll
probably need a number of updates. This is a tedious process. Do it
anyway. It's important.

2. Set your computer for automatic updates. Click Start>>Control Panel.
Double-click System. Select the Automatic Updates tab. Check the box
next to "Keep my computer up to date." Under Settings, select
"Automatically download the updates..."

3. You need a firewall to protect you from probes on the Internet.
Windows has one, but it is weak. I don't recommend it. You also need
anti-virus software.

Resolve to keep your new computer updated. If you do, you'll be safe
from attacks. We live in a dangerous world. Let other people worry
about viruses and worms!
 

"Out of Memory" Error

"I keep getting a message saying I'm out of memory yet I have 256 MB of RAM and a 2.2 GHz CPU. This usually happens after I've just played a game. When I reboot, everything is okay again. Help!"

Other Applications Running?
First, using the "Ctrl-Alt-Delete" function, or a utility like the freeware "PrcView", check to see if there are any other applications or background processes running on your system. It may be getting bogged down by some file sharing or communications software, or even "spyware" that's running without your knowledge. A number of commercial utilities are available for eliminating the latter.

More RAM
Although 256 MB might have seemed like a lot when you got your  computer, technology (and  software requirements) continue to march forward. Depending on which OS you're running, 256 MB may not be quite adequate for your current needs. When your system gets low on available RAM, it starts using a "swap file" on your hard drive as 'virtual memory'. Since a hard drive is many times slower than RAM, system performance suffers.

Your computer system loves RAM, especially if it's running Window XP, so feed it as much as you can afford. Try to determine the "sweet spot" of cost per MB for your model. You may find that a 512 MB memory card is only marginally more expensive than a 256 MB one, and well worth the investment.

Swap File
If a RAM upgrade isn't currently in the budget, the next place to look is the swap file itself. Increasing the size of the swap file may help alleviate your situation. Ensure that you set it to a fixed size, so as to reduce system overhead and the chance of running out of hard drive space. For optimum performance, the swap file should be about two to three times the amount of RAM you have.

Hard Drive Space
With all the photos, music being stored on computers nowadays, hard drives seem to fill up faster than ever. To give your swap file (and the rest of your system) room to breathe, ensure you have plenty of free hard drive space. If it gets too low, there may be insufficient room for the swap file, which could also result in memory-related errors. When your free space starts to dip below 1 GB, it's time to start thinking of doing some "spring cleaning" on your hard drive, or perhaps upgrading to one with a larger capacity.

Application Bug
Lastly, there is a chance that the  games you're running has an inherent bug, which prevents it from releasing its memory allotment back to the system when quit. Check the game publisher's web site to see if any updates, or "patches", are available.
 

Move files the easy way

So let's say you need to move all of the files in the folder marked "Letters to Aunt Irma." First, open the folder. Then press Ctrl+A. That highlights everything there. Press Ctrl+C to copy, then Ctrl+V to paste them in the new location.

If you need a few scattered files from this folder, click on one of them. Then hold down Ctrl and click on the rest in turn. They'll all be highlighted. Press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V as before.

Finally, here's a neat trick. Let's say you have 102 letters to Aunt Irma. (You're obviously a prolific writer!) You want to copy 99 of them. Hold down Ctrl and click the three you don't want to copy. Then, click Edit and Invert Selection. Presto! Press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

Forget burning CDs; DVDs are now affordable

Few things are more convenient than the drives (or burners) that make
CDs or DVDs. Once prohibitively expensive, they're now standard on
the cheapest computers. Adding a drive to an existing system isn't
difficult but the options and variety are confusing.

CD-RWs, which make recordable (write-once) and rewriteable CDs, go for
as little as $50 on sale. They have been supplanted by DVD burners.
These machines can make DVDs, or, if you prefer, CDs. For instance,
you'll probably have to use CDs if you want to play music in your car.

Otherwise, DVDs are usually more convenient. They hold 4.7 gigabytes
of data, while CDs hold 700 megabytes, at most. That difference can be
crucial if you are backing up your computer, or making a home movie.

DVDs hit the market in 1997. They were accepted very rapidly, and it
wasn't long before burners appeared. Early DVD burners were expensive,
but prices have fallen rapidly.

Today, a DVD burner that mounts inside a computer runs less than $200.
Expect to pay about $100 more for an external drive. The upside is that
external burners are easier to install. Actually, "install" is the
wrong word. Basically, you run the USB or Firewire cable from the
burner to the computer, and plug in the burner. Install the burner's
software, and you're ready to go.

If you want an external drive, keep your hookups in mind. Burners use
either Firewire--also known as IEEE 1394--or Universal Serial Bus. USB
comes in two varieties, 2.0 and 1.1. Here are the speeds at which they
theoretically can move data:

Firewire--400 megabits per second
USB 2.0--480 Mbps
USB 1.1--12 Mbps

Obviously, USB 1.1 is very slow. If you have USB 1.1 ports on
your computer, buy a $20 upgrade card. It must be mounted on the
motherboard. A USB 2.0 burner should work with your 1.1 ports, but
it would be very slow.

Despite USB 2.0's higher theoretical speed, Firewire is the best way
to go. It is almost always significantly faster than USB 2.0, although
neither reaches the theoretical speed rating. Apple computers have
Firewire ports, but most Windows machines do not. Firewire cards are
available for Windows machines. They generally run $20-$30.

If you can use a screwdriver, you can install an internal DVD drive.
If you are replacing a CD or DVD-ROM drive, note the connections before
removing it. The DVD burner should use the same connections. Set it
up as the sole optical drive. That is done with jumpers on the back
of the drive. It can also be set up as master or slave, if you want
to continue using your current CD or DVD. Instructions with the DVD
burner will explain jumpers.

A word about numbers: DVD burners come with numbers such as 4X/2X/4X.
CD burners come with much higher numbers--for instance, 48X/24X/48X.
In both cases, the numbers are multiples of a base. They refer,
respectively, to the speeds with which write-once (recordable discs)
are burned, rewriteable discs are burned, and discs are read.

But CD and DVD numbers are not comparable. The DVD number is about
nine times higher than the CD number. So, a DVD rated at 4X is
approximately equivalent to a CD rated at 36X.

DVDs have been handicapped for years by their multiple standards.
Many burners today can burn both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. If you will be
playing the DVD back on something other than your burner and computer,
check to see which standard the DVD player uses.
 

How Can I Turn Off User  Profiling in Windows XP?

By User Profiling, I assume you are talking about having multiple users on one computer. Each user has a separate logon. Every user can have a customized desktop, email settings and their own My Documents folder. If this is the case and you no longer want to have multiple users accessing your computer, follow these easy steps.

In Windows XP, simply go to the Control Panel. Make sure it's in category view (the default). Click on "User Accounts"; there you will see all the users of your computer. Make sure everyone that is using your computer has removed all their files. They will no longer be able to log on to your computer afterwards. Delete all the users that you don't need, except for your user and the guest account.

As you delete the accounts, you can also get rid of any leftover files you don't need. If you no longer want to get the welcome screen, where you're asked to choose a user, make sure your user has a blank password. If you've never had to enter a password, you're all set. Otherwise, you can remove it by clicking on your user and then clicking on "Remove Password". I hope this helps.
 

MS Firewall deaktivieren

Den integrierten Firewall sollten Sie deaktivieren, da sicherlich keinerlei Verbindungen zu Microsoft blockiert werden. Eine empfehlenswerte Firewall ist z.B. entweder Zone Alarm oder Norton Personal Firewall 2004. MS Firewall deaktivieren:

Start-> Systemsteuerung-> Netzwerkverbindungen-> Eigenschaften der benutzten Internetverbindungen-> Erweitert->
Internetverbindungsfirewall = AUS

Welches Dateisystem?

Windows XP bietet Unterstützung für FAT, FAT32 und NTFS5 welches eine verbesserte Version des NTFS Dateisystems darstellt. Um die Schutzfunktionen dieses Betriebssystems voll ausnutzen zu können, sollten Sie während dem Setup die Festplatte in das NTFS Dateisystem formatieren/umwandeln.
Wenn Sie FAT wählen und ihre Festplatte mehr als 2GB beträgt, wählt Windows XP automatisch FAT32, da dieses Dateisystem mehr Speicher verwalten kann. Wenn Sie allerdings ein Dualboot mit Windows ME und Windows XP betreiben wollen, können Sie nicht auf die Dateien der XP Partition zugreifen, weil Windows (95 bis ME) kein NTFS unterstützt. In solch einem Fall empfiehlt es sich FAT32 zu nehmen.

Formatierung

Während der Installation im MS-DOS Teil der Windows XP Installation müssen Sie sich zwischen zwei Dateisystemen entscheiden. Zur Auswahl stehen NTFS und FAT. Sie werden, nachdem Sie die gewünschte Partition oder Festplatte für das Betriebssystem angegeben haben, danach gefragt:

- Partition mit dem NTFS-Dateisystem formatieren (Schnell)
- Partition mit dem FAT-Dateisystem formatieren (Schnell)
- Partition mit dem NTFS-Dateisystem formatieren
- Partition mit dem FAT-Dateisystem formatieren
- Bestehendes Dateisystem beibehalten (keine Änderungen)

Bei der schnellen Formatierung werden sämtliche Dateien auf dem ausgewähltem Laufwerk gelöscht. Die normale Formatierung löscht ebenfalls alle Dateien und Ordner, prüft aber danach die gesamte Festplatte auf Fehler. Dies nimmt besonders bei großen Laufwerken einige Zeit in Anspruch, ist aber die sicherste Option.

Installation scheitert bei Win 95/98

Will man von Win 95/98 das Windows XP Setup über die Option Neuinstallation starten, kann die Installation hängen bleiben. Es bleibt nur ein Abbruch übrig. Mögliche Ursache kann die Begrenzung des Windows 95 Standardsteuerelements sein, dass die Anzahl möglicher Assistentenseiten begrenzt. Dieser Fehler betrifft laut Microsoft die Goldeditionen von Windows 95/98. Abhilfe: XP Setup abbrechen und Internet Explorer installieren. Anschließend von CD installieren

Password protecting CDs

Q. I made copies of my personal files using my computer's CD-RW drive. Is there a way for me to password protect these CDs? There is a lot of financial data on them.

A. This is a very good question. A lot of people are making backups
this way without giving much thought to what happens if they get in the
wrong hands. It so easy for CDs to get lost or stolen.

You may already have what you need. Check the documentation that came
with your CD-RW drive and its associated software. Some CD-RW drives,
such as Plextor's PlexWriter, have a feature that allows you to
password-protect CDs when burned.

But if your drive does not, there are other ways to get this job done.
You could use your backup software program. Almost all programs allow
you to password protect a backup.

Consider what you are putting on the disc. For example, if the CD
contains a Microsoft Word file, you can password-protect a file from
within Word. Open the Tools menu, select Options and Security. Almost
all software programs allow you to password protect files.

You could also compress the files and put them into a password
protected ZIP file on the disc using a program like WinZip:
    http://www.winzip.com

First, create a ZIP file that contains all the files in the folder.
Give the file a password by selecting Options and Password. Afterwards,
if you want or feel a need to, you can delete the original folder on
your computer's hard disk. Save this password protected ZIP file on a
CD. When you try to open the files in the ZIP file, you will be asked
for a password.

Or if you prefer, use a program like Pretty Good Privacy
(http://www.pgpi.org) to encrypt the files before burning.

Finally, there are software programs that encrypt and password protect
files saved on a CD. Be careful which program that you use.

 

Know your build number

Question: I am trying to get help getting a CAD program to work in Windows.
The support rep wants to know what build of Windows I am using. What
is this? Why should he care?

Answer: Relax. All the support person wants to know is a little bit more
than simply what version of Windows you are using. The build number
refers to the iteration of a particular version of Windows. It can
tell a tech what updates you have installed on your system. Some
software will not work with certain build numbers.

A simple way to get this number is to go to Start>Run and in the Open
box, type WINVER. You will see the build number along with your version
of Windows in the pop-up box.

And speaking of knowing what's inside your computer, I often refer to
the free Belarc tool. If you have not seen this program, it's great.

Belarc will tell you exactly what is inside a computer. After you
Download and run it, you get a report that includes the computer's
Components (CPU, motherboard, RAM, adapters, cards, etc.), make and
model, along with serial numbers and all the software installed on
the system complete with license numbers. You can get it here:
    http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Back to the build number: Another way to get this number is to download
and install the Microsoft PowerToys TweakUI. One of the options here
is to show the build number on the Desktop. Doing so makes all who
see your desktop think you are a geek. Ahem, I have my computer set
to do this. Oh, well... You can download them here:
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp
 

By the way, the PowerToys is a collection of little applications that
Make Windows run better. They were written by Microsoft programmers,
although the company does not officially support them. In fact,
Microsoft warns that it can't take responsibility for them. Don't
let that throw you off. I've used them for years. They work well.