Pop, pop, fizz, fizz -
Oh, what a relief it is!... to get your:
-=+ NOISES FROM THE BASEMENT +=-
Vol. 2, Issue 6 April 25,
2001 ISSN 1531-5258
1) Windows Tips - "In The Beginning, Part II"
2) File Find! - "IECache Cleaner"
3) Sites-Seeing - "Stormphobia\Postal Experiments"
4) Email Funny - "Row, Row, Row..."
5) MOUS Tips - "Conveniently Corrected"
6) They Said It - quotes to give one pause
7) Hodgepodge - that what fits no where else
~ ~ ~
Hi, everyone! A special welcome to those
of you new to
The Basement; for those of you familiar
with these haunts,
welcome back! ~and~
AOL users - see the newsletter end for your links!
_____________________________________________________
1) Windows Tips -
"In The Beginning, Part II"
What's going on with all that churning you hear inside your
computer when you first turn it on? This week is the second
part of a series examining the various files that Windows
may use in the startup process.
Remember, NEVER experiment
with any of these files without first creating a copy.
~ ~ ~
Here are three more files that come into play when booting:
The WIN.INI file contains information that is specific to
the overall appearance of Windows, such as wallpaper and
fonts; extension information; installed devices and printer
ports; and some registration info for software.
WIN.INI must
be present in the Windows folder or it is re-created by Windows.
Its main purpose at startup is for backwards-compatibility
with Windows 3.x, and many of the settings are duplicated in
the registry.
~ ~ ~
The SYSTEM.INI file contains information about your computer's
settings for specific hardware. The SYSTEM.INI file is used to
load various drivers for keyboard, mouse, sound and video
adapters; it may also contain 16-bit drivers for hardware that
doesn't use 32-bit drivers. This file must be present in the
Windows folder for Windows to start.
~ ~ ~
Last week I described the MSDOS.SYS file.
The WINBOOT.INI
file is a temporary version of the MSDOS.SYS file that you might
have on your computer, if a program is making changes to
your computer that may affect the boot process. Typically, the
WINBOOT.INI file is deleted after the program is complete.
If you have it, it will be in the root folder.
If present, it
overrides any settings in the MSDOS.SYS file.
Next week: Even more startup files!
-=++=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -=++=-
2) File Find! -
"IE Cache Cleaner" [66
Kb/EXE]
When you use Internet Explorer for surfing, visited pages
are saved on your hard drive so you can see them offline.
IE generally puts these files in a folder named Temporary
Internet Files. These files are typically eliminated by using
the Internet Properties window of IE. Occasionally, however,
Internet Explorer will leave some files not linked (they cannot
be viewed off line) which will occupy your hard drive space
unnecessarily. These files may remain
when you "clean
your cache".
Internet Cache Cleaner will find these files, tell you how
many files there are in your cache, and permit you to delete
them. Useful for Internet Explorer users
only:
http://www.basementnoises.com/free4u/dl85.htm
-=++=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-=++=-
3) Sites-Seeing -
"Stormphobia\Postal Experiments"
Myself, I sleep soundly through the most robust of storms,
and never have much to contribute to the morning-after
discussion 'round the water cooler.
There are others I know,
who don't view nature's boisterous displays with quite as much
indifference.
It's for these folks that our first site was created. Severe
weather phobia, as defined here, is the persistent and
irrational fear of thunderstorms and their phenomena, such
as lightning, thunder, wind, and hail. You'll find forums where
you can discuss your storm-related fears, and pages to further
educate yourself on phobias in general and this one in
particular. You'll also find suggested
methods to help
relieve storm-related anxieties, and safety preparedness tips.
If bad weather gives you a bad temperament, you'll want to
visit Stormphobia.org today:
http://www.stormphobia.org/home/home.htm
~ ~ ~
Our next site asks "How patient are postal employees? How
honest? How eccentric a behavior on the part of the sender
would still result in successful mail delivery?" They test for
these questions and more by attempting to send some truly
unique objects through the U.S. Mail.
How many of the
following do you think made it to their final destination:
A rose? A can of soup? A brick?
of cheese? Find out here:
http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume6/v6i4/postal-6-4.html
(you may have to cut and paste this URL
into your browser)
-=++=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-=++=-
4) Email Funny -
"Row, Row, Row... " [748 Kb/MPEG]
"… your boat, gently down the stream." Some people have
waaay too much time on their hands. Here's another off-kilter
video ad from the Civic folks:
http://www.basementnoises.com/free4u/dl86.htm
-=++=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-=++=-
5) MOUS Tips -
"Conveniently Corrected"
Most of us have certain words that always cause us problems
when we attempt to spell them. My
particular bugaboo used
to be the word "conveniently" - seems I'd always have an
extra "i" or "e" in the wrong place.
If you, too, find yourself battling certain words, then Word
has a nice feature known as AutoCorrect that was made just
for you. To see AutoCorrect in action, open a blank Word
document and type "mispell", EXACTLY as I have. Notice
as soon as you type the space after the word, it is
automatically corrected to "misspell". Word can correct
any known misspelling "on the fly" for you. (Word "knows"
a certain limited number of common misspellings as it is
shipped, "misspell" is one of them!)
As long as you have the option to "Check spelling as you
type" turned on (Tools | Options | Spelling & Grammar tab),
you are able to "teach" your computer the wrong spelling
you use - as you correct it - and Word will then automatically
correct it in the future for you with no further action on
your part.
Here's how:
I)
When you spell a word incorrectly, Word will place a
wavy red line under it as an
indicator. Right-click
on the word to open the shortcut
menu.
II)
While you could simply select the correct spelling from
the menu at this point, if it's
one of your problem words
you'll want Word to remember this in the future. Move
down and select AutoCorrect
instead.
III) From the AutoCorrect menu, now
select the correct
spelling. The current incorrect spelling will be
corrected,
AND any time in the future you
again misspell the word
it will be AutoCorrected for you.
This works as long as you misspell the word the same way
each time. If you're apt to misspell a
certain word in more
than one way, you should "teach" Word those misspellings, too.
-=++=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-=++=-
6) They Said It
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one"
- Albert Einstein
-=++=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ + ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-=++=-
7) Hodgepodge
"Microsoft Bob's supervisor confirmed Microsoft Bob's
position. While Microsoft Technical Support hadn't solved
our problem, they felt that a refund was inappropriate since
Microsoft Technical Support had spent a lot of time not
solving our problem." - there's few chuckles to be found
in the full article, entitled "Microsoft Technical Support vs.
The Psychic Friends Network: Which Provides Better Support
for Microsoft Products?":
http://www.bmug.org/news/articles/MSvsPF.html
~ ~ ~
Is it the picture of extreme confidence, or misplaced bravado?
Check out this week’s Photo Funny and you decide! Then, choose
the real Bozo in this week's story of one all-you-can-eat deal
that went sour:
http://www.BasementNoises.com
G'nite, and thanks for
reading!
=====================================================
Make some noises of your own! Care to
comment on this issue
of Noises? Send your criticisms and/or
compliments to:
noises@BasementNoises.com
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My standard "Your Mileage May Vary" Caveat:
NFTB does not assume responsibility for your use of
information given. Tips are tested on a
machine with
Windows 98 and Office 2000 Professional installed.
As I am firmly convinced that all systems are unique little
creatures in and of themselves, any given tip or suggestion
might just not be available to you. Why?
Murphy Rules!
All advice should be weighed against your own abilities
and circumstances and applied accordingly.
It is up
to you, the reader, to determine if advice is safe and
suitable for your current situation.
Any product or brand names mentioned in this ezine
and associated website are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
NOISES FROM THE BASEMENT is a BTB Management Services
publication e-published every Wednesday and always
delivered directly to your e-porch, rain or shine!
Noises From The Basement
ISSN: 1531-5258 - Library Of Congress, Washington D.C., USA
Copyright (c) 2001, Dave Gretz
All Rights Reserved.
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