Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Elisa W. asks, " I noticed that you've posted a link to the GoogleCash eBook. Could you tell me if GoogleCash is for real? It sounds too good to be true. Thanks for your newsletter. I really enjoy it. " My response: I've received ... quite a few questions from Readers concerning the GoogleCash eBook over the last few days. To answer your first question, let me start out by saying that I would never consciously permit a link to a product or web site that I thought was dubious, seedy, a scam, or unrelated to the material covered in our newsletter. If you've been reading ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jospeh D. writes: " Dear Dennis, Your newsletters are the greatest! I've installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 *twice* on my machine, and both times, it told me that I didn't have a virus program installed. I've tried Grisoft ... AntiVirus and also tried AVAST32. Still, Windows XP is not recognizing them. Every time I start my computer there is a reminder for me to install a virus program. Am I protected or not? " My response: This one had me stumped, too. If your antivirus program is sitting in the tray (next to the clock), then chances are that it's working. It's a ... (view more)

Imagine this: you're sitting in front of your computer, writing an email -- and all the sudden, you forget how to spell a word -- or worse yet, you need to find another way to express yourself in a thought-provoking or entertaining manner. It ... happens to me all the time. Like most folks, I use Outlook Express to read and compile my emails because it's free and comes bundled with Windows. Unfortunately, the MS Spell Checker isn't part of Windows or Outlook Express by default (you'll need to install MS Office or similar ) -- and to top it all off, Outlook Express doesn't offer a thesaurus. What ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader "Rayla Wolff44" writes: " Dear Dennis, Our computer monitor stopped working, and so we ended up borrowing our daughters old monitor and plugged it into our machine. The old monitor worked fine on her computer, however, when it's ... plugged into our machine, the icons appear to 'quiver' some times. What do you think is causing this problem? " My response: I have a number of suggestions off the top of my head. If the 'quivering icons' was a problem with your old monitor, then it is possible that the problem lies with your video card. If not, then try moving ... (view more)

It looks like I spoke too soon, shortly after announcing that my hardware nightmare was over. After racking my brains all last week, I have finally reached a conclusion. It appears that my computer's power supply was generating incorrect voltages, ... causing the system to hiccup and crash spontaneously. Unfortunately, my $400 video card was also devastated due to wavering surges and also needed to be replaced. Hopefully this will be the end of my hardware troubles, as the system appears to be working 100%. On to other news of importance. RE: Hotmail and Yahoo mail users A few weeks back, I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'WT Dusty2u' writes: " Dear Dennis, Kudos to you for providing a most useful resource, and especially for welcoming the expertise and suggestions of your readers. I really enjoy the freeware mentions in your newsletter and keep ... expecting to see you or your Readers mention the handy programs that are available at freshdevices.com. All are free for personal use and they are constantly updated. I am particularly fond of Fresh Diagnose and Fresh UI. You may want to check them out if you haven't already, and at least, pass on the word to your subscribers. " My response ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader William A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just finished reading your recent article entitled, 'Download directly to CD using Windows XP?' ( August 26, 2004 ). I was curious about one thing: can you please tell me if it is possible to ... right click a file and have it 'Send To' my CD Burner? For example, if I right click over top of a document, there is a sub-header which reads 'Send To', with options (such as Internet Explorer, MS Paint, etc).Any help is appreciated! " My response: As long as you meet the following criteria, you can most definitely use the "SendTo ... (view more)

It's been a rough couple of weeks: it seems like every time I try to take a step forward, I end up taking 3 steps backward. After I got home from visiting Frank in Toronto, my main computer (the one that I use to write the newsletters) kept crashing ... with repeated Blue Screens of Death (BSOD). The BSOD's gave me some clue as to why my system was crashing, as the .DLL file responsible for the crash appeared to be related to my video card driver. Strange, I thought. I didn't upgrade my video card driver recently, but opted to do so as I hadn't upgraded my driver in over a year. Video card ... (view more)

This feature article is a step away from our normal discussions, as I am currently out of town visiting a friend in Toronto, Ontario for the next few days. RE: My encounter with the Backdoor.Agent.B Trojan I arrived at Frank's place in Toronto this ... past Sunday, and was unable to access the Internet until Wednesday. Unfortunately, Frank's computer was host to 35 virus-infected files, 7 Spyware variants, 4 Trojans, and 2 Internet worms (including MyDoom and SoBig) -- and he didn't even know it. I spent much of Monday and Tuesday "undoing" the damage caused by the malware. I have to ... (view more)

This feature article is a step away from our normal discussions, as I am currently out of town visiting a friend in Toronto, Ontario for the next few days. RE: My encounter with the Backdoor.Agent.B Trojan I arrived at Frank's place in Toronto this ... past Sunday, and was unable to access the Internet until Wednesday. Unfortunately, Frank's computer was host to 35 virus-infected files, 7 Spyware variants, 4 Trojans, and 2 Internet worms (including MyDoom and SoBig) -- and he didn't even know it. I spent much of Monday and Tuesday "undoing" the damage caused by the malware. I have to ... (view more)