Welcome to Leo's Mailbag!
Not every question gets answered on Ask Leo!, and not every answer gets published. Here you'll find a peek into my mail bag where you'll see some of the many direct responses that may not end up on the Ask Leo! main site.
Perhaps you'll find your answer here!
IS the ASP.net user account safe?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: July 03, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: IS the ASP.net user account safe?
>
> Leo,
> I'm using a Toshiba Satellite Notebook and running Windows XP Home
> (SP3). Just by chance, I went to ''users accounts'' to reset my
> Windows login password. To my great surprise I found another ''user
> account'' under the name: ASP.net Machine A Limited Account Password
> Protected. I know this has got something to do with the Microsoft .NET
> Framedwork and Automatic Updates, and probably isn't something
> malicious - or is it? Can I delete it? should I delete it? also, why
> does it need a user account (albeit limited), to begin with?
I wouldn't touch it. :-)
It's not malicious, and you're quite right, it's used by the .NET
framework. I believe it's a security measure to limit the access
of programs that run using .NET, or to provide services that .NET
requires.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Windows
what's the difference between DSL and ADSL?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: July 03, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: what's the difference between DSL and ADSL?
>
> Leo,
> What is the difference between ADSL and DSL? I have a router with a
> built-in ADSL modem. Will that work for DSL?
DSL and ADSL are pretty much the same thing. Technically
ADSL stands for Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line - the
Asynchronous meaning that your download speed is faster than
your upload speed. In practice all DSL connections are like
that.
Now, as to whether your modem will work is another matter.
DSL or ADSL there are still several variants, and you'll need
to check with the ISP that you're getting service from.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Internet
what's this new top level domain thing all about?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: July 03, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: what's this new top level domain thing all about?
>
> Leo,
> I recently saw this article on the BBC:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7475986.stm
>
> It's about the new Top Level Domain thingy (technical term there, stop
> me if I'm losing you!) that's apparently "opening up", but, to be
> blunt, I don't really understand what it's talking about.
>
> Can you give us a brief run-down on what this might actually mean for
> those of us that use computers and use the internet but don't really
> understand the technicalities behind it? What impact will this have,
> if any?
It's really simple: ".com" is a top level domain. Right now
there are only a limited number of top level domains,
like ".com", ".net", ".info", ".gov" and top level domains
for each country (".us", ".ca" for canada and so on).
The proposed opening up means that ANY word could be used.
So I could (with enough money, I assume) purchase and create
the ".leo" top level domain and start having websites
like "http://ask-leo.leo" instead of ".com".
Personally I don't see it as that big a deal, but some folks
are excited about it :-).
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Internet
how do I get hot buttons configured on my keyboard?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: July 01, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: how do I get hot buttons configured on my keyboard?
>
> Leo,
> I have bought a used keyboard (TINY Company) for my laptop which has
> several hot buttons eg. Vol+, Vol-, Mute, HK1, HK2, HK3, HK4 and Fast
> Forward, Back, Stop etc. Only HK1 for Start Page (OK for me) and HK4
> for Calculator (I don't want) work.
>
> How can I reassign their functions and get them working? I can find no
> info on this in any book and Properties in Keyboard shows nothing of
> them.
You'll have to locate drivers for that specific keyboard
from the manufacturer. Once installed it's those drivers
that should provide that functionality.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Hardware
Can I buy a hard disk with the OS pre-installed?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 27, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: Can I buy a hard disk with the OS pre-installed?
>
> Leo,
> Is it possible to purchase a new hard drive ALREADY formatted(with the
> OS already installed)?
Formatted: yes. Most already are.
OS Installed: no. The Operating System must be installed with your
other hardware present in order to be configured properly.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Hardware
webcam won't work in Vista
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 23, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: webcam won't work in Vista
>
> Leo,
> Happy to ve found your web site .I have a small question.I am using
> VISTA for the last 6 months.Before that it was XP and my web cam,
> Genuis Webcam Smart300, worked with XP but it is not working with
> vista.I know its driver problem.Still i may ask whether there is any
> solution other than buying a new vista compatible cam? Thanks in
> advance.Ranjith
I would check with the manufacturer of that webcam
to see if they have updated Vista drivers.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Hardware
SATA drive not visible at boot
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 23, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: SATA drive not visible at boot
>
> Leo,
> I use acronis true image and restored a disk image to a sata 1.5 drive.
> This is all attached to a dell 3000 machine with no sata native
> hardware. The sata is thru a pci card. How can I boot from the sata.
> It does not show up in boot sequence (bios). It is active and shows up
> as a normal drive o:. Healthy
You'll need to check with that PCI card's documentation or
check with the manufacturer. The drive needs to be visible
to the BIOS at boot time.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Hardware
do Microsoft free downloads require a non-free utility to open?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 21, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: do Microsoft free downloads require a non-free utility to open?
>
> Leo,
> I downloaded Process Explorer several months ago. However, I decided to
> use it again this morning, and found I needed to open the original
> download again. Turns out one must have WinZip to extract the files
> (maybe this was true when I initially downloaded the program, but that
> does not ease my complaint). While I have no heartburn with WinZip as
> an app, this means that to run one of MS's "free" utilities, one has to
> invest $29+ in WinZip (at least after the 45 days trial). Is this the
> wave of the future; i.e., we'll need to buy one app in order to use
> another, albeit free? Bah humbug!
Not at all. :-)
The default configuration for Windows XP and Vista (and maybe earlier
versions, can't recall) supports ZIP files natively in Windows Explorer.
Just double click on the zip and you should be able to copy out whatever
you need. No additional download, and no additional cost.
Now, many of us turn OFF the ZIP file format support in Windows Explorer
because we find it ... annoying. I, for example, prefer to have Windows
treat ZIP files like *files*, and let me determine how their contents should
be accessed. So, I use 7zip:
http://ask-leo.com/recommendation_7zip_file_archiving_utility.html
- free
- open source
- handles ZIP files
- and a lot more
Enjoy,
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Windows
how do I install a copy of office I downloaded from limewire?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 17, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: how do I install a copy of office I downloaded from limewire?
>
> Leo,
> Leo, I downloaded a copy of Microsoft Word 2007 from Limewire. How do I
> instal it on to my computer? Thanks.
You don't. If you didn't pay for it, that's an illegal copy.
The proper way is to purchase the product and install using
the CD or DVD that it comes on.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Microsoft Office
what's a good yEnc decoder?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 17, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: what's a good yEnc decoder?
>
> Leo,
> What is the best yEnc viewer available(I use Outlook Express to access
> newsgroups)?
>
> What is the best free yEnc viewer available?
I honestly don't know about "best", but I'd start here:
http://www.yenc.org/ - it includes a comprehensive list
of decoders. Unfortunately none will actually integrate
within Outlook Express ... you'll need to save the encoded
files to disk manually, and then run a decoder on them.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Internet
IP based failover?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 15, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: IP based failover?
>
> Leo,
> If I host web sites at my office using IIS 6, have a static IP, and
> point the DNS to that IP, the name resolves very well. My question,
> is:
>
> How can I set up my web servers, so that in the event my office server
> goes down or is powered off, a person seeking my web pages will be
> redirected to another server at another location halfway across the
> country, that contains a similar copy of my webs?
>
> Is it possible to just add a second DNS entry, and if the first one is
> not found then it will automatically go to the second DNS which points
> to the other server at the other location? What is the best way to
> accomlish this?
Short answer: no.
Longer answer: an IP address - particularly a static one - points
to a *machine*. If that machine is not up, then there is no defined
way to try "somewhere else" - that's simply not built into the
way that the internet protocols work.
The way large corporations handle this is that the IP address
points to a device which is a load balancer - and it has the smarts
to know when one the machines it's "in font of" are off line. It
tends to be a pricy bit of equipment.
Surprisingly you CAN define more than one IP address for a domain name,
but the IP addresses are handed out at random. Which means that if you
assign two different IP addresses, the one half of all requests will
go to one machine, and the other half to the other. And if either one is
down then one half of connection attempts will fail. Again, there's no
automatic fail-over built into those steps.
Sorry.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Internet
why do some files compress better than others?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: why do some files compress better than others?
>
> Leo,
> Hi, Leo, I often download WinRAR compressed files from the internet.
> Sometimes, some extracted files amaze me that the total size of the an
> extracted files can be twice, triple, or even larger as that of the
> compressed file. However, when I use WinRAR to compress files, the
> total size of the compressed file is not much of difference from that
> of original files. There's just 1 to 2 MB in difference. Do you know
> the trick of this SUPER compress technique? Thanks.
It depends on the data being compressed. If the data is
already compressed, even partially, then compressing it
again doesn't help as much. .mp3, .jpeg, .png files are all
compressed formats, for example, and hence don't compress
much if packed into a WinRAR archive. Documents, however,
and text files are often highly compressable. I've seen
factors of 10 or greater for some of those.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Internet
making programs open maximized
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 10, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: making programs open maximized
>
> Leo,
> Is there a way to set the default to Maximize Window Size default (i/e
> always open any newly installed programme in "Full Screen" instead of
> "Normal" Screen instead of having to select maximise every time you
> install a new programme.) Hope this makes sense!! Thank you very
> much!!
That sounds like this article:
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_get_a_windows_program_to_always_open_maximized.html
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Windows
accessing the drive of a dead machine
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: May 28, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: accessing the drive of a dead machine
>
> Leo,
> I know you have answered this before. But as a person who knows little
> about the workings of a computer, I really need your help. I have and
> old computer that doesn't work anymore. I'm sure the hard drive is ok.
> My problem is I need to get some pictures I had put on the computer. Is
> there any way I can retrieve them. I would appreciate any help I can
> get.
I would purchase a "USB Drive Enclosure", and remove the hard drive
from your old computer and install it in the enclosure. That way
the drive can be accessed as an external drive from any computer
with a USB port. Given the age of your machine make sure that
it's for an IDE/PATA drive (not SATA).
Examples here:
http://ask-leo.com/d-usbdriveenclosures
If you're not one to open up your computer, it shouldn't be that
difficult for a techie friend, or a local computer shop to help.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Hardware
fatal stop on boot up
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: May 13, 2008
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: fatal stop on boot up
>
> Leo,
> Hi Leo, I cleaned my computer of viruses using Symantic. I ran the
> Spybot for spywares. After I finished, I updated my windows, rebooted
> the computer. However, after that there is a message telling that
> windows was not open to prevent any damage, and recommend to stop:
> 0X000000FC (0XF7AB18E8,OXO7367963,0XF7AB1848,0X00000001). Please tell
> me what do do.
It's difficult to say, this could still be any of a number
of different things.
I'd start by booting into safe mode if you can and running the
system file checker:
http://ask-leo.com/what_is_the_system_file_checker_and_how_do_i_run_it.html
If you can't get to safe mode, you're probably looking at a repair
reinstall of Windows:
http://ask-leo.com/how_should_i_reinstall_windows.html
Good luck!
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Windows
