_____ the Mezzenger _______________________________________ * November 29th, 2000 Issue #67 Mezzage Board at http://theMezz.com/bbs Win $10,000 http://theMezz.com/news/recommend/ Want to subscribe to this newsLetter? It's easy, just send a blank e-Mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] QUOTE OF THE WEEK " I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work." - Ben Franklin ______ free isp __________________________________________ In order to obtain a free internet dial up account you often need to create the account while on-line, and that painful method is sometimes followed by a large download. Not so with freelane. Just run the setup file from a diskette and one can log on as a new user, then create the free account. Easy to distribute to your friends who do not already have a ISP because it fits on a diskette. The installation created a DUN that is used in conjunction with a small exe file to provide the connection - it does not do any major modifications to your system and total space is about 1.5 meg. Ad supported but the ad's are part of a "control panel" that can be tolerated, especially when using it as a backup dial up. http://freelane.excite.com/ Which free ISP works for you ? Mezzage Board at http://theMezz.com/bbs ______ anti-virus _________________________________________ Tis the season to send email cards and other mail attachments, scrooge says that this is a great way to send a virus, worm or trojan horse program. One of the newest is W95/MTX that arrives through e-mail as an attachment, and has a variety of decoy file names. Once launched, it can wipe out files and be difficult to remove. Some of the file names being reported to entice the user to open the virus program include README.TXT.pif, I_wanna_see_YOU.TXT.pif, MATRiX_Screen_Saver.SCR, LOVE_LETTER_FOR_YOU.TXT.pif, NEW_playboy_Screen_saver.SCR, BILL_GATES_PIECE.JPG.pif, NEW_NAPSTER_site.TXT.pif., and I_am_sorry.DOC.pif - you may not see the pif file extensive when viewed by you email app. We are sure to see some Christmas related file names soon. SO HEADS UP !!!!!!!! In the tech circles, Norton 2001 anti-virus is reputed to be the best. It sells for up to $30. Computer Associates offers a free anti-virus app that I have recommended to many people. A few of them have reported that it has prevented macro virus activity and others were saved from boor sector viral activity. InoculateIT Personal Edition (IPE) antivirus is FREE and now works with winME. InoculateIT PE automatically detects and cleans conventional file and boot sector viruses as well as macro viruses that infect Office 95, Office 98, and Office 2000 Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint files, and Access databases. It provides excellent protection against Internet and email-borne viruses, protecting your PC from infected files downloaded from web sites around the world, and from infected attachments sent to you via email. http://antivirus.cai.com/ 3.22 meg with free updates & support eSafe (also free )Desktop also claims to offers the most complete protection from vandals (malicious mobile code, Trojans, worms, VB/JavaScript), viruses, data exposure and inappropriate content. http://www.ealaddin.com/esafe/desktop/index.asp Jay Daniels is in the process of testing 5 anti-virus apps for us and his findings will be here next week. What do you use for protection. A-V? Firewall? Both? Mezzage Board at http://theMezz.com/bbs ______ backups ____________________________________________ DISK FAILURE IS GUARANTEED so why not backup critical data? written by Bob.Foy Publisher Copsonline Magazine http://copsonline.com I simply cannot understand why anyone who has any critical data in their PC would not backup what is important to them. As day follows night and night follows day you will lose your files and documents on your PC. It is not a matter of "will you lose it?", IT IS MERELY A QUESTION OF "WHEN" WILL YOU LOSE IT. It is up to you to protect your important data in whatever form you chose. Loss of critical data can occur for many reasons. Some of these reasons are as follows: disk drive failure operating system failure upgrades causing failure reformatting virus/worm attack power failures pc failure malicious mischief burglary, theft fire loss etc, etc, etc When it is lost it is gone forever. Plan for it. Be ready. Let's briefly review SOME of the possible backup options. Weigh your options and try measure the pros and cons of each. For example, what would you do if someone stole your entire PC tomorrow? Even worse, what if your PC location burnt down in a total loss? Are you prepared? Do you, for example have an off-site backup for your data that is a current copy? These are not listed in any order but the last one is ! Backup Alternatives: Disk to second disk drive tape backup writing disk to CD Internet backup companies PC backed up to another PC ZIP Drives Removable Hard Disks floppy disk Ok so now you know it will happen in some unknown time in the future. What are you going to do about it? Do it now or suffer the consequences that we keep reading about here and many other places. What do I use? I use a high speed tape backup. I backup 100% of my muti-gigabyte disks to high-speed tape. I backup weekly. I then take the latest backup and store it in my vehicle. I have 4 tapes. Therefore, I have a rolling 4 week backup of all my data. I also have a smaller gigabyte disk drive. I backup to the smaller drive from the bigger drive for my daily concerns. I develop police data bases. I therefore have several sessions of backup on my second drive just in case. Now the critical question inquisitive minds want to know! Have I ever used all my backup tools for a crash? Oh hell yes, it has saved me more than once. I would conservatively tell you that I have been saved about 6 times in 10 years of using backup. The latest was when I downloaded a beta version of Microsoft I.E. and my entire Win98 was lost. I paid MS $35.00 for a service call and spend over 15 hours on the phone trying to figure it out and could not! I spoke to 5 different support people including a technical manager. Finally wound up reformatting the entire disk and re-loading the whole OS and then USING MY BACKUP TO RECOVER ALL MY CRITICAL FILES ! (this happened in October of 2000). Also please note this: Backup is everyone's concern. BACKUP must be done for your work and your personal PC's. NEVER ASSUME THAT SOMEONE DOES BACKUP AND THAT IT WOULD WORK IF NEEDED ! Check not only that backup gets done but also that the backup is readable !! I have sadly been involved with a major large police agency that thought their backup was working. However, it was sadly discovered that the backup device what not recording properly !!! USE BACKUP IN REAL LIFE AND FOR YOUR CRITICAL PC FILES ! DO IT NOW! ______ 6 years ago today __________________________________ via historychannel.com .................. 1994 Intel CEO apologizes for Pentium bug On November 29, 1994, Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel Corp., posted a message on an Internet chat group, apologizing for a bug in the recently-released Pentium chip. The problem, first revealed in the November 7, 1994, issue of an electronics trade journal, caused the chip to make occasional mathematical errors. Although Intel had discovered the problem over the summer, it had not publicized the bug and had continued to sell the chip, believing the error would occur only once in nine billion random division operations. Users were upset that Pentium had not immediately publicized the problem and stopped shipments. Also, the company initially required computer users to prove that their work might be affected by the bug, but after a public outcry, the company switched to a no-questions-asked replacement policy. However, news reports six months later said only about three percent of customers had requested a replacement chip. ______ software ___________________________________________ a reader wrote..... I don't know how well known 602 is but I've been using 602 Text (a Word Processor that is compatible with Microsoft Word) for some time now. If you do not have one of the major Office Suites (or even if you do) you may want to try 602. http://www.software602.com/products/pcs/index.html ___________________________________________________________ .... see you next week to unsubscribe send blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Support our Sponsor------------------------------------- Make eTour.com your Web start page, and you�ll see a different site matched to your interests every time you log onto the Web! Sign up for your free membership now. http://click.topica.com/aaaaQnb1dh6Ob1xTSPc/eTour ------------------------------------------------------------ to remove yourself send any mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
