Frequently Asked Questions - Please Read This First.

[SafeWatch]

This sticky if for some of the most frequently asked questions in computers.

If you have a question about computers that is not answered here, please use the "post new Thread" link in the Computer Forum (at the bottom of the forum.)

When asking new questions, be sure to include as much information as possible (computer type and pertinent hardware information, OS, RAM, etc.) Anything that will better help us understand your situation.

Before posting to this FAQ, please read the following guidelines (if these are not followed, your post is subject to editing or deletion):
<ul>
<li>Do NOT ask questions in this FAQ
<li>Always start your post with the question in bold, then the answer (see example below)
<li>Do NOT post more than one question/answer per post
<li>Do NOT quote anyone without the reference listed immediately above or below the quote
<li>Do NOT ramble - get to the point - make your post clear and concise
<li>All other forum rules apply
<li>If you can't follow these simple guidelines - do NOT post here
</ul>
These rules are here for a reason. I don't want this thread to be a general discussion thread. It is intended to be easy to read and easy for a newbie to follow. Keep that in mind when you are posting a FAQ.

The next post is an example of what I want this thread to look like:

[SafeWatch]

What is the format for the FAQ? - please post question first, in bold.

The question should be posted first, in bold using the vB code as follows:
[php]
or <b>the FAQ here</b> or
[/php]

The answer follows in regular type.

And, here's the FAQ's:

1. <a href="#post403527">How do I run Scandisk?</a>
2. <a href="#post404377">What is spyware & how do I get rid of it?</a>
3. <a href="#post405284">How do I ??? with Microsoft Product (xyz)?</a>
4. <a href="#post406685">General FAQ about Broadband/DSL</a>
5. <a href="#post450266">How do I remove Xupiter from my computer?</a>
6. <a href="#post457565">Using the windows resource meter to avoid computer problems</a>
7. <a href="#post458295">Where can I get ??????.dll/.sys/.ocx/etc. ?</a>
8. <a href="#post459389">Spam-Blocking Methods & Software Ratings</a>
9. <a href="#post470999">How do I remove the Blaster Worm?</a>
10. <a href="#post503846">What is the Volume Information Directory?</a>

<br><br>

[tae]

How do I run scandisk?

How to run Scandisk

Windows 2000, Windows XP:

Close all open programs
Click on the Start button
Open My Computer
Locate the C Drive
Right Click on the C Drive
Left Click on Properties (It is the last item in the list)
At the top, left click on the Tools tab
Look for Error Checking
Left Click on Check Now
For a quick scan, do not put a tick(check) in either of the boxes

For a thorough surface scan, tick(check) Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors. You should run a surface scan on a regular basis because it will tell you if your hard drive is preparing to fail in the not too distant future. A few bad spots (up to ten) is considered normal by most hard drive manufacturers, the key here is "Is the problem growing and if so, how fast?" If you find a bad spot or two on a surface scan, after it gets done, run it again when it finishes. Does it find more?, run it again. If it finds more, or it finds 15 or twenty, stop. You should really, really start backing up your data you want to save, and think about getting a new drive very soon! If you run it a second time and it does not find anything, it is time to start watching carefully. Run a surface scan every day and watch to see if it finds anymore. If you run it everyday for a week or so and no more spots are found, begin running the surface scan at least once a week. Watch for new spots. This should give you an idea of how fast you will need a new hard drive. Make sure you keep your data backed up.

After it is done, pick another hard drive if you have one.


Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME
Open My Computer
Locate the C Drive
Right Click on the C Drive
Left Click on Properties (It is the last item in the list)
At the top, left click on the Tools tab
Look for Error Checking
Left Click on Check Now

After the standard scandisk is done, it will ask you if you want to perform a thorough surface scan. You should run a surface scan on a regular basis because it will tell you if your hard drive is preparing to fail in the not too distant future. A few bad spots (up to ten) is considered normal by most hard drive manufacturers, the key here is "Is the problem growing and if so, how fast?" If you find a bad spot or two on a surface scan, after it gets done, run it again when it finishes. Does it find more?, run it again. If it finds more, or it finds 15 or twenty, stop. You should back up your data and buy a new hard drive NOW! If you run it a second time and it does not find anything, it is time to start watching carefully. Run a surface scan every day and watch to see if it finds anymore. If you run it everyday for a week or so and no more spots are found, begin running the surface scan at least once a week. Watch for new spots. This should give you an idea of how fast you will need a new hard drive. Make sure you keep your data backed up.
After it is done, pick another hard drive if you have one.

Windows 95

Click the "Start" button
Click on "Programs"
Click on "Accessories"
Click on "System Tools"
Click on "Scandisk"
Pick the drive (C
Click on "Start"
After the standard scandisk is done, it will ask you if you want to perform a thorough surface scan. You should run a surface scan on a regular basis because it will tell you if your hard drive is preparing to fail in the not too distant future. A few bad spots (up to ten) is considered normal by most hard drive manufacturers, the key here is "Is the problem growing and if so, how fast?" If you find a bad spot or two on a surface scan, after it gets done, run it again when it finishes. Does it find more?, run it again. If it finds more, or it finds 15 or twenty, stop. You should back up your data and think about getting a new hard drive! If you run it a second time and it does not find anything, it is time to start watching carefully. Run a surface scan every day and watch to see if it finds anymore. If you run it everyday for a week or so and no more spots are found, begin running the surface scan at least once a week. Watch for new spots. This should give you an idea of how fast you will need a new hard drive. Make sure you keep your data backed up.
After it is done, pick the D: drive if you have another hard drive.


DOS 6.x/Windows 3.1

If you are in Windows, exit so that you see C:\> This is called a "C prompt".
type "scandisk" and press the "Enter" key after it is done
After the standard scandisk is done, it will ask you if you want to perform a surface scan. You should run a surface scan on a regular basis because it will tell you if your hard drive is preparing to fail in the not too distant future. A few bad spots (up to ten) is considered normal by most hard drive manufacturers, the key here is "Is the problem growing and if so, how fast?" If you find a bad spot or two on a surface scan, after it gets done, run it again when it finishes. Does it find more?, run it again. If it finds more, or it finds 15 or twenty, stop. You should back up your data and think really hard about getting a new hard drive! If you run it a second time and it does not find anything, it is time to start watching carefully. Run a surface scan every day and watch to see if it finds anymore. If you run it everyday for a week or so and no more spots are found, begin running the surface scan at least once a week. Watch for new spots. This should give you an idea of how fast you will need a new hard drive. Make sure you keep your data backed up.
If you have another drive, (e.g.: D type "scandisk D:"


Error Messages

You may get error messages while running Scandisk. Pay attention to them and take the defaults. How often do you get these errors? Once in a while is okay, but if you begin getting errors every time, but not on the surface scan, it is time to start thinking about why. Possible causes are:

You may get a message stating that the program has restarted more than 10 times. This means that you have programs running in the background that are writing to your hard drive. You must stop those programs. The first program most likely causing the trouble will be the screen saver. Set the screen saver to off, or advance the time to one hour. After stopping the screen saver from starting, there are two ways to stop the other programs.
Manually end task each program using the task manager. The task manager is found by doing a Ctrl-Alt | Delete once (and choosing task Manager | Applications if you are in Windows 2000 or XP). This will really show you what is running. End Task everything except Explorer and systray. You can only end task one thing at a time. So you have to do this over and over. Some things will need another nudge and a window will pop up after about 15 seconds telling you that a program is not responding (you know it is not responding - you just end tasked it) and do you want to wait for it or end task it. Just click end task again if you get that window.

the IDE controller chip could be getting weak, this is usually an inexpensive repair

your power could be fluctuating too much, buy an APC battery backup (notice the brand name is specified here) If you live far from a sub-station, or your live in a mobile or older home, you will probably notice the lights blinking fairly often. Those blinking lights are an indication of voltage drops. Motors, such as hard drives, want nice clean regular power. Drops mean that bytes are being scrambled on your hard drive. If you need a battery backup, most systems these days require at least 400VA. This will give you about 15 minutes of time to shut down properly if you completely lose your power. Make sure that you read the instructions because most battery backups tell you not to plug your laser printer in them and some of them require charging before you plug anything into them.

If you want to know more about scandisk, use the on-line help. In Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, or XP go to Start, Help, Index and
type in "Scandisk" or "Error Checking." In DOS, type in "help" and <Enter> from the C prompt (C:\>). then find scandisk in the list and press enter.

[tae]

What Is SPYWARE & How Do I Get Rid Of It?

What is "Spyware"?

There are four general types of software out there:

Freeware - This type of software is available for free, no
strings attached, usually online. You can download, install, and
use it as often as you want.

Shareware - This type of software is usually distributed free of
charge, but you're expected to pay a small fee to the author if
you like it and use it on a regular basis.

For-pay Software - This type of software is purchased online or
in a retail store. You fork over money to buy a license for the
right to use the software.

Ad-ware - This type of software, usually available online, is
offered to the user at no charge. However, the author of the
software still wants to get paid, so he incorporates advertising
technology into the software. As a result, you get the software
for free, but you have to view banner ads while using the
software. Sometimes ad-ware is offered also in a for-pay version
that does not include the ads, giving you a choice from free and
ads, or for-pay without ads.

However, there is a major catch with most (not all) ad-ware
programs. In order to deliver the advertising to you, the
installation program for the software not only installs the
program you want, but also installs additional tracking software
without your knowledge.

This tracking software monitors your surfing habits and sends
this data back "home" any time you're online, again without your
knowledge. The advertising company analyzes the data and uses it to deliver targeted ads to you when you use said software. For
example, if you have visited several web sites checking out DVDs,
this information will be sent back to the marketing company,
resulting in them displaying DVD-related advertisements when you use the software.

Therefore, any software that tracks users' surfing habits, abuses
a user's Internet connection to secretly send data "home", or
employs any other techniques to profile or gather data about a
user without express permission is called "Spyware".

Spyware also comes in other forms such as cookies that track your surfing habits.

Some Examples
Here are a few examples of common spyware programs and what they do:

- Gator's webform completion and password saving software includes offercompanion, which is advertising software, tracking your surfing habits, sending info home, and displaying ads. It is also said to replace website's advertising with its own.

- Download programs like NetZip's Download Demon, Netscape/AOL's SmartDownload, and Real Network's RealDownload keep track of every file you download and assign you a unique ID number, enabling them to keep a detailed record of any files you download off the Internet.

- Aureate/Radiate secretly installs itself, tracks information, has
the capability of installing additional software without your
knowledge, hides itself, and is responsible for browser crashes.

- Ezula's TOPText/ContextPro/HOTText inserts ads in web pages that you view without your or the web site's webmaster's consent.

- Peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Kazaa, Grokster,
Limewire and the likes have been known to secretly(and openly) install spyware on users' machines that collects and sends personal data to another web address.

Other names you might recognize that also fall into this category
are CometCursor, BonziBuddy, Alexa, RealJukebox, and many more.

What's the problem?

Spyware enables advertising and marketing companies to gather
data about you without your knowledge, abuse your Internet
connection to send the data back to them, analyze and profile the data, then use it for their own profit by selling advertisement.

This is an inexcusable invasion of anybody's privacy. If somebody
asked you whether it's ok for somebody to look over your shoulder while you surf, make notes of sites and products you view, put this info into a database, use this info to serve you annoying ads and on top of that make money off of it, would you say "Yes, sure, go ahead" and be comfortable with that? Didn't think so.

Some of the companies defend themselves by pointing out that they clearly disclaim their practices in the fine print. However, any
user you ask and inform about this type of software, didn't
realize it at the time s/he was installing it.

The majority of companies distributing spyware is very covert
about it and takes extra steps to hide the presence and activity
of these spyware components, making it even more despicable.

In addition, Spyware only encourages and enhances annoying pop-up ads and flashing banners, wastes your bandwidth, screen real estate, time, and disk space.

Some spyware is also known to cause crashes and stability
problems on users' computers.

Other spyware offers a serious security risk by opening a
backdoor on your system, offering the capability to secretly
install software.

How does that affect me?

Obviously you do not want a computer that

- spies on your surfing habits
- gathers personal data about you and sends it to marketing companies
- takes up your bandwidth
- crashes your browser
- bombards you with more advertising
- secretly installs unknown software
- opens up secret backdoors

Therefore it is important to keep your machine free of such
malicious software.

How do I detect and remove Spyware?

Some spyware can be removed via the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Windows Control Panel, provided you know it's there and what its name is. Some of it can be removed manually. Some of it is difficult to remove due to hidden files and registry keys. In order to effectively check and clean up your system you need to be more aggressive.

Right now one of the most complete and thorough spyware detection and removal tool is a freeware program called Ad-Aware offered by the German company Lavasoft. You can download it at no charge from their web site at: http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

Download and install Ad-aware on your machine. Before you use it, you will need to download the latest signature file from the same page and extract it into the Ad-aware program directory,
overwriting an earlier version of the signature file.

Once installed, run Ad-ware by clicking the icon in the start
menu. The program is pretty self-explanatory and walks you
through the process of scanning your hard drives and registry,
identifying spyware components, and removing them.

If you have questions about the software or need help, Ad-aware
comes with a good manual, which is accessible from the Start
menu.

Additional Resources

http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm
http://grc.com/optout.htm
http://www.lavasoft.de/
http://www.wilders.org/spyware.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/

[tae]

What Does Microsoft Support Say About My Problem?
Here are links to the Microsoft Support Center for the following Microsoft products. They contain some of the most common questions,answers, and solutions. Highly recommended reading, and full of interesting things. For example, did you know that windows 2000 by default does not allow ATA 100,it automatically goes to ATA66? Yes, there's a fix, and it's in there. Everything from fdisk and partition, to reinstalling operating systems, to making backups of e-mail and anything else.If you don't fully understand anything you read there, please post the question to the forum, and you are sure to get help!

<H3 class=faqHomeCategoryTitle>WINDOWS</H3>
http://support.microsoft.com/default...fh;EN-US;winxp">Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;win2000">Windows 2000

http://support.microsoft.com/default...fh;EN-US;winme">Windows Me
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;w98">Windows 98

http://support.microsoft.com/default...-US;winsvr2003">Windows Server 2003

http://support.microsoft.com/default...fh;EN-US;nts40">Windows NT Server 4.0

<H3 class=faqHomeCategoryTitle>OFFICE</H3>
http://support.microsoft.com/default...fh;EN-US;offxp">Office XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;macoffx">Office v. X for Mac

http://support.microsoft.com/default...fh;EN-US;ofw2k">Office 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;acc2002">Access 2002
http://support.microsoft.com/default...h;EN-US;xl2002">Excel 2002
http://support.microsoft.com/default...h;EN-US;wd2002">Word 2002

<H3 class=faqHomeCategoryTitle>E-MAIL</H3>
http://support.microsoft.com/default...h;EN-US;ol2002">Outlook 2002

http://support.microsoft.com/default...fh;EN-US;out2K">Outlook 2000

http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;oex">Outlook Express

http://support.microsoft.com/default...h;EN-US;exch2k">Exchange 2000
<H3 class=faqHomeCategoryTitle>INTERNET</H3>
http://support.microsoft.com/default...id=fh;EN-US;ie">Internet Explorer

http://support.microsoft.com/default...h;EN-US;fp2002">FrontPage 2002

http://supportservices.msn.com/us/help.asp">MSN Internet Support
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;wmp">Windows Media Player
<H3 class=faqHomeCategoryTitle>Games & Reference</H3>

http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;drx">DirectX (Home User)
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;enc">Encarta
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;gms">Games
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;hdw">Hardware Products
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;mny">Money
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-US;swp">SideWinder

[SafeWatch]

<b>What is the difference between broadband and DSL?</b>

This came up in a recent discussion in Computers, so I thought I would post it here. It's sort of several FAQ's in one, so just read along.

What is the difference between broadband and DSL? Is there a cost difference? Do you need additional hardware?...

DSL is af form of broadband.
Broadband is just a general term for high-speed internet. Many forms of connection fall under this category: cable, DSL, wireless, etc. Some would even consider Satellite broadband. There's no specification for what is or isn't broadband. That's one of the problems with the term. For instance, is ISDN (128kb) broadband? I wouldn't call it broadband, but some may.

Then if its all the same in a general term...what is the difference in speed like my dial up is 50,600kb

Broadband just refers to high-speed, pretty much anything over 56k is considered "high-speed" (I still don't consider ISDN high-speed, but that's because I use cable at almost 1mb.)
Broadband doesn't have a speed rating. It's just high-speed.

...then you said ISDN is 128,000kb, how fast is satellite?

Depends on the ISP and equipment used. Once you get into Broadband/High-Speed internet, speeds can get confusing. You have ADSL, SDSL, IDSL, then Cable uses different speeds. Basically it's like dial-up, except that now it depends on the ISP, not the modem the end-user is using. Usually you have different "packages" to choose from that offer different Upload/Download speeds. Everybody is different when it comes to these "packages" and it's all controlled by the ISP.

Why is it the modem is rated as a 14.4kb or the 28.8kb and then the 56???

That's just the way technology works. It's like CPU speeds, they just keep getting faster. Well, for a while, modems were doing the same things. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately??) dial-up modems finally met their limits, 56k. So, along came Broadband.

Is there a different type of modem for cable, DSL,

Simply put, yes. It's usually external, similar to a network hub or switcher. Take a look at http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/surfboard.html for some of the most widely used modems, the SurfBoard. Great modem, btw.

What speed is T-1?

It's around 1.5mb. T-1 is typically used commercially. The cost for installation and monthly service is too high for most residential customers.

What I meant was why is it the modem is rated by a selected speed, and DSL has no speed to compare it to. I would think the next generation modem would have been 112,000kb anyway

Yeah, you would think so wouldn't you? That's just technology for you.

...The one consolation I could see is that I wouldn't get cut off during a download...

Very true. If you go with a good ISP, one that has at least 99% uptime, you don't have to worry about cut-offs. Of course, like anything else, you still have some problems, but the technology has been around long enough to get most of the bugs worked out. And upgrades these days are few and far between.

Also, are the dangers of someone hacking into your computer equal with a direct connection vs a dial-up?

No, the dangers are higher, but only because the exposure is highter. Think about it this way, if you're in your car driving around 24/7, then your chances of being hit by someone else are much higher than if you just get in your car and drive to work, to the store, to pick up the kids, etc. But put in a decent firewall (whether hardware - built-in to router - or software - Zone Alarm, Black Ice, McAfee, etc.) and you protect yourself from the outside world. Hackers are really overrated anyway. Virus protection is much more important than a firewall. Virii these days don't destroy your computer, they get in to it and leave ports open and distribute your information. Without good AV software, a FW will do you no good.

[SafeWatch]

<b>How do I remove Xupiter from my computer?</b>

Originally posted by heliotrope:

Here are complete instructions to remove Xupiter.

<a href="http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/Xupiter.html">and.doxdesk.com Xupiter removal instructions</a>

You might like the freeware program <a href="http://www.wilderssecurity.com/bhblaster.html">Browser Hijack Blaster</a> to keep your browser home page from being hijacked.

Be aware of Hot Bar; it's removal (while not impossible) is extremely difficult without instructions. This pest also offers an OE (Outlook Express) add-on for emoticons...stay away from this nasty little program. This one is resistant to AdAware and SpyBot.

Rose

[Sharp Advice]

<b>Using the windows resource meter to avoid computer problems.</b>

All too many times some computers freeze up, slow down and may even crash. For those computers that are otherwise running well, have all the correct and uncorrupted files, correctly installed and running properly needed files and programs, the problems may be simply associated with a lack of resources.

Resources can be defined as RAM. There is NO substitute for RAM. RAM can be thought of as horsepower. Very much like a small car attempting to haul a large trailer up an incline. It takes power.

Many computer problems arise when too many unneeded programs are running in the background that you're not aware of or use often enough to have them constantly running.

These are the program icons you see next to the clock on the right side of the task bar in a Windows operating system.

The more icons there are visable there next to the clock, the less resources that are available for additional operations. Like web surfing, printing, scanning, word programs, games, etc.

Each time another program is opened, like Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Excel, Word, Notepad, etc. resources drop slightly. The more usage within any of those programs the further the resources levels decline.

In my opinion and based upon my experiences, it is always best to have about 80-85% in the system, user and GDI resources free at startup and during early computer usages.

These resources will become lower in value {decline} as you continue to use the computer. Knowing the level of resources available can be valuable information for avoiding common computer freeze ups, crashes & operating problems.

What you may want to do is open those programs which you do not need running all the time and select the option to NOT allow them to run at startup. Most software programs have this option available on one of the tabs within it's program.

Whatever programs windows wants to and has to have running, allow those to remain. All you really need to add or allow to run additionally is virus protection and possibly a fire wall.

Nothing else you add into the programs from a CD disk or floppy disk is essential. To have additional programs running constantly in the back ground, you must add more RAM to the OEM system!

If any of the above applies to you, turn off those uneeded and not often programs. Schedule nothing for automatic operation. Do the updates and mantainence etc. manually, for over all best results.

If that option is not available from within the program itself, do this:

Click Start
Select RUN...a dialogue box will open titled RUN.
Type in MSCONFIG
Click OKAY
Then go to the startup tab and click it.

There will be several programs. Each will be a box containing check marks. UNCHECK {de select} ONLY those optional and additional programs YOU downloaded and are running {next to that clock} or those you ADDED from a CD or floppy disk...ONLY!

Allow all other boxes to remain checked! DO NOT turn off your antivirus or firewall if you have a firewall. Those programs are essential and should be allowed to operate constantly.

Click the OKAY selection to complete the procedure. You will be required to restart the computer for the new settings to take place. Do that immediately and allow the restart to take place.

Unchecking those non needed programs will stop those programs from loading up upon every startup. Doing this will free up more needed an essential resources and avoid computer problems.

Another option would be to install {from windows} the resource meter. It will run in the clock portion of the right side menu bar. The GREEN vertical bars will allow you to see all the available resources instantly. The resource meter uses only a tiny amount of resource. In return it offers valuable information.

Once this resource meter is running, holding the pointer on it will allow a tiny window to open just below or above it, depending on the location of your task bar. There you will be shown a 3 section breakdown of the resources there are available for the current operation of the computer.

These resources will become reduced as you use the computer and perform normal operations. They usually drop drastically during printing and scanning etc. Substantially less with sufficient amounts of available RAM.

All other considerations aside, without sufficient RAM the computer can freeze up, run slower and even crash. Often prone to happen when the resources meter indicates less then 45-65% of the resources remaining in any of the systems shown in the drop down list of the resources is remaining.

The "GREEN BARS" will continually decline with computer useage. During printing, as an example, the indicator may turn RED and printing will stop or fail. Heavy graphics web pages also turn the meter "RED" if available RAM is low.

The meter will turn "RED" and remain "RED" if too many resources are used up. A freeze up or crash is then prone to happen. Without the resource meters warnings, all the warning signs are unknow to the user.

Once again. There is NO substitute for RAM.

These observations and opinons are my personal experiences based solely upon the useage of my computers. Your experiences, opinons and solutions may differ. Individual results may vary.

Web Site Host & Forums Monitor Note:
This post and this entire thread should never have been edited by a former moderator whom is now banned for violating the rules & policies of this web site.

[SafeWatch]

<b>Where can I get ??????.dll/.sys/.ocx/etc. ?</b>

I just found an excellent source of DLL files online (as well as many VXD's and others) - <a href="http://www.dynamiclink.nl/">The Free-Dynamic Link Library</a>.

If you're getting messages about missing or corrupted VXD files at startup - or just general messages about corrupted files - this is a good place to look.

<B>How do I remove the Blaster Worm?</B>

On 7/16/03, Microsoft issued a critical update to the following Windows Operating Systems; NT, XP, 2000 & 2003. The update is in the form of a security patch which closes an inadvertent backdoor which could allow someone to take control of your computer or breach your personal privacy from across the internet.

More information about this os vulnerability and the appropriate patches are available from this <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp">MS Security Bulletin</A>. Everyone using one of the above operating systems are strongly advised to install the patch, ASAP There is absolutely no reason to leave your computer vulnerable.

If you possess antivirus software and if your computer appears to be working properly; Install the patch, update your a/v and do a complete scan of your system. There are several trojans and worms in existence or under development which have been designed to take advantage of this flaw and the antivirus companies are diligently updating their code to look for all known incarnations. <I>Please Note: Due to the nature of this vulnerability, antiviral products can not protect you from infection, only the patch can accomplish this goal; Antivirus software can only remove the worms and trojans after you have been infected.</I>

On 8/11/03, a rapidly expanding worm was released called W32blaster or LoveSAN. There may be no outward signs of infection, your machine may repeatedly reboot, or it could become unresponsive. Thus far, primarily Windows XP and 2000 have been targeted by this particular worm and it's variants.

If your machine is malfunctioning and if you can download the patch; This should cause your computer to function well enough to update your antivirus and scan the system. If you are unable to download the patch due to the actions of the worm, see this page from <A HREF="http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/w32_blaster.html">CERT</A> for instructions as to how to stop the worm from processing and/or manually removing the intruder. (See the "Notes" for proper cautions). Also, if you do elect to manually remove the worm; Please take appropriate care when deleting the referenced Registry Value.

What is the Volume Information directory?

On Win2K, WinXP, & Win2003 each drive contains the System Volume Information directory; the directory is used for various OS functions.

What does the directory contain?

The System Volume Information directory contains NTFS metadata & the Encrypted File System to name a few and used by the Index Server service. On WinXP & Win2003 the directory is also use by the System Restore service.

Why can't I access, view, modify, or delete the directory contents?

By default, nobody but the OS (this includes the administrator) has access to the System Volume Information directory.

Viewing, accessing, modifying, or deleting the directory is possible by modifying the correct ACLs but doing so could be fatal to the health of your OS. Altering or modifying the directory in any manor could lead to loss of data and could lead to corrupting the OS. Simply it is in your best interest not to change the directory permissions, modify, or remove the directory and the directory's contents.

My Anti-Virus software says there is a virus in the directory. My Anti-Virus sofware can't remove it; how do I remove the Virus?

The Virus is most likely in the System Restore files which can be removed by turning of System Restore.

Go to Control Panel > System > System Restore Tab- click on 'Turn off System Restore on all drives', reboot, then re-able SR and re-boot again.

This will delete all of your Restore Points, including any corrupted or virus infected one(s), and allow you start with a clean slate.

[SafeWatch]

Those of us who have been around computers for years, we tend to forget that not everyone knows what we are talking about when we use this lingo - so, we decided to write a short "dictionary" of computer terms.

For any additions, send a PM (Personal Message) to a current moderator to have them add the term into this thread. Thanks.

<B>Common Terms:</B>
<P>Here are some of the most common computing terms. </p>
<a name="top"><p align="center"><a href="#a">A</a> <a href="#b">B</a> <a href="#c">C</a> <a href="#d">D</a> <a href="#e">E</a> <a href="#f">F</a> <a href="#g">G</a> <a href="#h">H</a> <a href="#i">I</a> <a href="#j">J</a> <a href="#k">K</a> <a href="#l">L</a> <a href="#m">M</a> <a href="#n">N</a> <a href="#o">O</a> <a href="#p">P</a> <a href="#q">Q</a> <a href="#r">R</a> <a href="#s">S</a> <a href="#t">T</a> <a href="#u">U</a> <a href="#v">V</a> <a href="#w">W</a> <a href="#x">X</a> <a href="#y">Y</a> <a href="#z">Z</a></p>
<a name="a"><p>ACPI - Advanced Configuration and Power Interface - The latest generation of DOS-based power management software for PCs. ACPI replaces the older Intel APM (Advanced Power Management) software utility. ACPI does more than just manage time outs during periods of inactivity, it dynamically monitors power usage within the computer's systems and assigns power accordingly. ACPI controls are found in your PCs' BIOS.</p>
<P>ACTIVE MATRIX DISPLAY - A type of flat-panel display found on most of today's laptop computers. Active matrix technology differs from "passive matrix" only in that the screen is refreshed more frequently,creating much better picture quality with better viewing angles. The most common type of active matrix screen is called TFT (or "thin film transfer"). The two terms are often used synonymously.</P>
<P>ADAPTER CARD - An electronics board installed in a PC, which provides a network interface to and from that computer. A network interface card (NIC) is a type of adapter card.</P>
<P>ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line - A term for one-way high speed transmission of signals over plain single twisted-pair wiring already run to residences. ADSL is provisioned with greater downstream than upstream rates (hence asymmetric). These rates are dependent on the distance of the user to the Central Office and can vary from as high as 6 Mbps to as low as 128 Kbps.</P>
<P>AGP - "Accelerated Graphics Port" - A relatively new type of dedicated PC graphics bus designed by Intel Corp to more efficiently render 3D graphics. The AGP can transfer data at a rate up to 528MB/sec. By comparison, the more common PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, used in Pentium and Mac machines, has a maximum transfer rate of 132MB/sec. AGP's big bandwidth allows games and 3D apps to use more realistically-rendered textures and faster frame rates and to store this data in system, instead of video memory. This reduces the performance hit to the system as graphics are presented.</P>
<P>AMR - "Audio Modem Riser" - An Intel specification for analog I/O (Input/Output) functions on motherboards. An AMR card removes analog I/O functions from the motherboard, relegating them to a plug-in "riser card" (a.k.a. a "daughter board"). By doing this, motherboard manufacturing is not restrained by the FCC and International Telecom certification processes which can often get bogged down in red tape.</P>
<p>ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE - Antivirus (or "anti-virus") software is a class of program that searches your hard drive and floppy disks for any known or potential viruses. The market for this kind of program has expanded because of Internet growth and the increasing use of the Internet by businesses concerned about protecting their computer assets.</p>
<P>API - "Application Program Interface" - A series of software routines and development tools that comprise an interface between a computer application and lower-level services and functions (e.g. the operating system, device drivers, and other low-level software). APIs serve as building blocks for programmers putting together software applications. Sometimes called "Application Programming Interface."</P>
<P>ATA - "Advanced Technology Attachment" - The common disk drive interface technology that puts the drive controller right on the drive itself. There are a number of ATA versions, from the original a.k.a. IDE) to the 33MBps ATA-33 (a.k.a. Ultra-ATA) to the newest standard, ATA-66 which operates at 66MBps.</P>
<a name="b"><P>BACKUP - Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or other catastrophe. Backup is usually a routine part of the operation of large businesses with mainframes as well as the administrators of smaller business computers. For personal computer users, backup is also necessary but often neglected. The retrieval of files you backed up is called restoring them. Personal computer users can consider both local backup and Internet backup.

Local Backup:
These are some options, with the least expensive approach listed first.

* Backing up critical files to diskettes. This approach is commonly used by people who keep their checkbooks and personal finance data on the computer. Programs like Quicken and Managing Your Money always remind users when they quit the program to backup their data. If your hard disk crashes, you'll be able to reconstruct your checkbook balances. If you have other files (for example, chapters of a book you're working on), you'll want to backup every single day's work. Copying it to a diskette is quick and economical.

* Backing up to a Zip drive, Jaz, Syquest, or similar hard disks. Once a week or so, you should back up your files (at least your own data files and perhaps the entire contents of your hard drive) to an alternative storage device, such as a Zip drive. These devices hold at least one million bytes on a special hard disk. Backing up usually takes a while (about 45 minutes for the contents of a 500 megabyte hard disk).

* There are also easily removable drives that you can back up to, especially if you have other reasons to use these (for example, for large graphic images that you store offline). Internet Backup. You can also consider sending your files to another site for safekeeping. In case your hard disk crashes, you'll be able to download them from the safekeeping site. </P>
<P>BANDWIDTH - The amount of information or data that can be sent over the Internet during a given period of time. Bandwidth is usually stated in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (Kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps).</p>
<P>BIOS - "Basic Input/Output System" - The BIOS is the root software in a PC that contains all of the basic code for controlling drives, keyboard, monitor, mouse, serial ports, etc. The BIOS acts as a bridge between the hardware and the operating system. The BIOS resides on a ROM chip (rather than in RAM), so that a computer can be booted.</P>
<P>BLUETOOTH - An open standard for short-range wireless communications being developed by a cooperative of mobile phone, computer and PDA manufacturers. The standard allows all of your (Bluetooth-compliant) personal tech devices to communicate with each other.</p>
<p>BROADBAND - A transmission medium or channel that has a wider bandwidth than one voice channel (with a carrier wave of a certain modulated frequency). It allows multiple services like voice, data, video, etc. to transit over the network.</p>
<P>BUS - A portion of computer architecture which carries data from one component to another. As a general rule, more than one component is attached to a bus, and the particular component (or section of memory) being used is selected through the use of address lines in the bus.</P>
<P>BUS MASTER - A bus master is the program, either in a microprocessor or more usually in a separate I/O controller, that directs traffic on the computer bus or input/output paths. The bus master is the "master" and the I/O devices on the bus are the "slaves." The bus master actually controls the bus paths on which the address and control signals flow. Once these are set up, the flow of data bits goes directly between the I/O device and the microprocessor.</P>
<a name="c"><P>CABLE MODEM - A cable modem is a device that enables you to hook up your PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at about 1.5 Mbps. This data rate far exceeds that of the prevalent 28.8 and 56 Kbps telephone modems and the up to 128 Kbps of Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and is about the data rate available to subscribers of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) telephone service. A cable modem can be added to or integrated with a set-top box that provides your TV set with channels for Internet access. In most cases, cable modems are furnished as part of the cable access service and are not purchased directly and installed by the subscriber.

A cable modem has two connections: one to the cable wall outlet and the other to a PC or to a set-top box for a TV set. Although a cable modem does modulation between analog and digital signals, it is a much more complex device than a telephone modem. It can be an external device or it can be integrated within a computer or set-top box. Typically, the cable modem attaches to a standard 10BASE-T Ethernet card in the computer.

All of the cable modems attached to a cable TV company coaxial cable line communicate with a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) at the local cable TV company office. All cable modems can receive from and send signals only to the CMTS, but not to other cable modems on the line. Some services have the upstream signals returned by telephone rather than cable, in which case the cable modem is known as a telco-return cable modem.

The actual bandwidth for Internet service over a cable TV line is up to 27 Mbps on the download path to the subscriber with about 2.5 Mbps of bandwidth for interactive responses in the other direction. However, since the local provider may not be connected to the Internet on a line faster than a T-carrier system at 1.5 Mpbs, a more likely data rate will be close to 1.5 Mpbs. In addition to the faster data rate, an advantage of cable over telephone Internet access is that it is a continuous connection.</P>
<P>CACHE - (pronounced "cash") - A form of high-speed storage that can be either a section of main memory (as in "memory caching") or an independent storage device ("disk caching"). Memory caching is effective because most programs access the same data or instructions over and over again. By storing this information in cache memory, overall data processing speed is improved. Level 2 (L2) cache, which is common in many of today's computers, is usually located on a second chip between the main computer processor and the DRAM.</P>
<P>CMOS - (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) is the semiconductor technology used in the transistors that are manufactured into most of today's computer microchips. Semiconductors are made of silicon and germanium, materials which "sort of" conduct electricity, but not enthusiastically. Areas of these materials that are "doped" by adding impurities become full-scale conductors of either extra electrons with a negative charge (N-type transistors) or of positive charge carriers (P-type transistors).

In CMOS technology, both kinds of transistors are used in a complementary way to form a current gate that forms an effective means of electrical control. CMOS transistors use almost no power when not needed. As the current direction changes more rapidly, however, the transistors become hot. This characteristic tends to limit the speed at which microprocessors can operate.</P>
<p>COAXIAL CABLE - A cable with one inner conductor, and an outer shield (which is usually grounded), insulated from one another by a dielectric foam. Both conductors share the same axis, thus the name coaxial. Coaxial cable is used in 10-Base2 Ethernet, and in a variety of RF applications, including CATV. Each type of coaxial has a characteristic impedance (expressed in Ohms). Coax cable is rate with an RG prefix (old military jargon for "Radio Guide" and followed by the cable type (expressed in a number) and the suffix "/U" if it's a general utility cable (as opposed to special application coax made of different material, designed for shorter runs, etc.). RG-6/U coax is a 75-ohm cable designed for internal wiring of cable and antenna television. RG-59/U coax is a 75-ohm cable commonly used in video transmission, and CB, Ham radio and TV antennas.</P>
<P>COMPACT FLASH - A type of flash memory card, approximately one-third the size of a PC card. CompactFlash cards can be used in Type I & II PC-Card slots with an adapter. One factor that distinguishes CompactFlash cards from other types of flash memory cards is that they have their own controller onboard so that cameras, PDAs and other devices that use the cards are not burdened with the controller software. CompactFlash cards comes in sizes from 2MB to 64MB.</P>
<P>COOKIE - A cookie is information that a Web site puts on your hard disk so that it can remember something about you at a later time. (More technically, it is information for future use that is stored by the server on the client side of a client/server communication.) Typically, a cookie records your preferences when using a particular site. Using the Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), each request for a Web page is independent of all other requests. For this reason, the Web page server has no memory of what pages it has sent to a user previously or anything about your previous visits.

A cookie than is a mechanism that allows the server to store its own information about a user on the user's own computer. You can view the cookies that have been stored on your hard disk (although the content stored in each cookie may not make much sense to you). The location of the cookies depends on the browser. Internet Explorer stores each cookie as a separate file under a Windows subdirectory. Netscape stores all cookies in a single cookies.txt fle. Opera stores them in a single cookies.dat file.

Cookies are commonly used to rotate the banner ads that a site sends so that it doesn't keep sending the same ad as it sends you a succession of requested pages. They can also be used to customize pages for you based on your browser type or other information you may have provided the Web site. Web users must agree to let cookies be saved for them, but, in general, it helps Web sites to serve users better.</P>
<P>COOKIE POISONING - On the Web, cookie poisoning is the modification of a cookie (personal information in a Web user's computer) by an attacker to gain unauthorized information about the user for purposes such as identity theft. The attacker may use the information to open new accounts or to gain access to the user's existing accounts.

Cookies stored on your computer's hard drive maintain bits of information that allow Web sites you visit to authenticate your identity, speed up your transactions, monitor your behavior, and personalize their presentations for you. However, cookies can also be accessed by persons unauthorized to do so. Unless security measures are in place, an attacker can examine a cookie to determine its purpose and edit it so that it helps them get user information from the Web site that sent the cookie.

To guard against cookie poisoning, Web sites that use them should protect cookies (through encryption, for example) before they are sent to a user's computer. Ingrian Networks' Active Application Security platform is one means of securing cookies. When cookies pass through the platform, sensitive information is encrypted. A digital signature is created that is used to validate the content in all future communications between the sender and the recipient. If the content is tampered with, the signature will no longer match the content and will be refused access by the server.</P>
<P>CPE - Customer Premise Equipment - Communications equipment that resides on the customer’s premises. The CPE for DSL services is often called a DSL "modem".</P>
<P>CROSS-OVER CABLE (Usually referring to Ethernet) - A cable that crosses the transmit and receive pins appropriately so that two devices can communicate directly without the use of a hub, or similar intermediate device.</P>
<a name="d"><P>DEDICATED LINE - A transmission circuit that is reserved by the provider for the full-time use of the subscriber.</P>
<P>DIP SWITCHES - "Dual Inline Package" switches - Small switches found on motherboards and other computer devices. By turning the switches on or off, the user can select different operating options.</P>
<P>DEFRAGMENT - A fragmented hard disk stores parts of a file in many different locations. To retrieve a file, the computer must search many areas on the disk. Defragmenting a disk places all the parts of a file in one location. This reduces the time the computer will spend locating the file. Windows usually includes defragmenting software.</P>
<P>DIRECTORY - A directory is, in general, an approach to organizing information, the most familiar example being a telephone directory.
1) On the World Wide Web, a directory is a subject guide, typically organized by major topics and subtopics. The best-known directory is the one at Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com). Many other sites now use a Yahoo-like directory including major portal sites.
2) In computer file systems, a directory is a named group of related files that are separated by the naming convention from other groups of files.
3) In computer networks, a directory is a collection of users, user passwords, and, usually, information about what network resources they can access.</P>
<P>DOWNSTREAM/UPSTREAM - Downstream refers to data flowing from the source such as an Internet service provider (ISP) to the end user. Upstream refers to data flowing from the end user back to the ISP.</p>
<p>DRDRAM - "Direct RAMbus Dynamic Random Access Memory"
- A recent generation of RAM technology. DRDRAM draws less power (almost a third less than SDRAM), has clock speeds of up to a dizzying 800MHz, allows for multiple channels of memory for up to four parallel banks of RAM, and a data path that's twice as wide as existing SDRAM (two bytes instead of one).</P>
<P>DSP - "Digital Signal Processor" - A microprocessor that specializes in calculations related to translating analog signals into digital ones. DSPs are used in audio and video compression, voice processing, modems, hearing aids, seismic sensors, anyplace where rapid analog to digital conversion and signal clarification is required.</P>
<P>DVD - "Digital Video (or Verastile) Disc" - An improved CD-ROM-like technology that can fit between 4.7GB to 17GB of multimedia data on a single disc. DVD is "backwards compatible" with CD-ROMs, and most DVD drives and players will play audio CDs and CD-ROMS. Drives for the latest version of DVD, called DVD-2 (or DVDII), can also read CD-R (Recordable) and CD-RW (Re-Writable) discs.</P>
<a name="e"><P>EIDE - "Enhanced Integrated Device Electronics" - Refers to a type of ATA disk drive interface standard where the controller for the device is part of the device itself, eliminating the need for a separate adapter card. EIDE adds features onto the older IDE standard, such as larger capacity (up to 8.4GB), faster access times, and burst transfer (large chunks of data at once).</P>
<P>ETHERNET - A popular type of local area network (LAN) developed by Xerox in 1976 and common in many of today's office networks. Two popular Ethernet configurations are 10Base-T (carrying 10 megabits per second) and 100Base-T (at 100Mbps). Ethernet networks are often connected by twisted-pair cabling, but can also be connected by coaxial and fiber-optic cables.</P>
<a name="f"><P>FILE - A collection of information stored on your computer with its own name. You can use files to store text, numbers,graphics, sound, or video.</P>
<p>FILE EXTENSION - The 3 (or 4) letter extention on a file name that tells the computer what type of file it is. File extensions are used to associate files to programs. To search a specific file extension, <a href="http://www.techadvice.com/specs/search-file-ext.asp">Click Here</a>.</p>
<P>FIREWALL - A set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks. (The term also implies the security policy that is used with the programs.) An enterprise with an intranet that allows its workers access to the wider Internet installs a firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing its own private data resources and for controlling what outside resources its own users can access.</P>
<P>FIREWIRE - FireWire is Apple Computer's version of a standard, IEEE 1394, High Performance Serial Bus, for connecting devices to your personal computer. FireWire provides a single plug-and-socket connection on which up to 63 devices can be attached with data transfer speeds up to 400 Mbps (megabits per second). The standard describes a serial bus or pathway between one or more peripheral devices and your computer's microprocessor. Many peripheral devices now come equipped to meet IEEE 1394.

FireWire and other IEEE 1394 implementations provide:

* A simple common plug-in serial connector on the back of your computer and on many different types of peripheral devices.

* A thin serial cable rather than the thicker parallel cable you now use to your printer, for example

* A very high-speed rate of data transfer that will accommodate multimedia applications (100 and 200 megabits per second today; with much higher rates later)

* Hot-plug and Plug and Play capability without disrupting your computer

* The ability to chain devices together in a number of different ways without terminators or complicated set-up requirements.

In time, IEEE 1394 implementations are expected to replace and consolidate today's serial and parallel interfaces, including Centronics parallel, RS-232C, and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI). The first products to be introduced with FireWire include digital cameras, digital video disks (DVDs), digital video tapes, digital camcorders, and music systems. Because IEEE 1394 is a peer-to-peer interface, one camcorder can dub to another without being plugged into a computer. With a computer equipped with the socket and bus capability, any device (for example, a video camera) can be plugged in while the computer is running.</P>
<P>FOLDER - An area of a disk that holds a group of documents. Like a folder in a filing cabinet, a folder lets you easily find and work with related documents. Also called a directory.</P>
<P>FULL-DUPLEX - A physical medium in which data can travel in both directions at the same time, using 100% of available bandwidth in the communication channel.</P>
<a name="h"><P>HARD DISK - A hard disk is part of a unit, often called a "disk drive," "hard drive," or "hard disk drive," that stores and provides relatively quick access to large amounts of data on an electromagnetically charged surface or set of surfaces. Today's computers typically come with a hard disk that contains several billion bytes (gigabytes) of storage.

A hard disk is really a set of stacked "disks," each of which, like phonograph records, has data recorded electromagnetically in concentric circles or "tracks" on the disk. A "head" (something like a phonograph arm but in a relatively fixed position) records (writes) or reads the information on the tracks. Two heads, one on each side of a disk, read or write the data as the disk spins. Each read or write operation requires that data be located, which is an operation called a "seek." (Data already in a disk cache, however, will be located more quickly.)

A hard disk/drive unit comes with a set rotation speed varying from 4500 to 7200 rpm. Disk access time is measured in milliseconds. Although the physical location can be identified with cylinder, track, and sector locations, these are actually mapped to a logical block address (LBA) that works with the larger address range on today's hard disks.</p>
<p>HARD DISK DRIVE - In a personal computer, a hard disk drive (HDD) is the mechanism that controls the positioning, reading, and writing of the hard disk, which furnishes the largest amount of data storage for the PC. Although the hard disk drive (often shortened to "hard drive") and the hard disk are not the same thing, they are packaged as a unit and so either term is sometimes used to refer to the whole unit.</P>
<P>HALF-DUPLEX - A physical medium in which data travels in one direction, or the other at any given time, using 50% of the theoretical bandwidth of the communication channel.</P>End page 1
Page 2 & 3 below.

[Sharp Advice]

Page 2 of 3:

<P>HUB - Usually referring to Ethernet - A wiring connection device which accepts cables from PCs, servers, etc. The hub retransmits signals received from one device to all other devices connected to the hub. If more ports are needed than are present on a single hum hub, multiple hubs can be cascaded together, through the use of a cross-over cable, a special port designated on the hub, usually as 'MDI', or with a 'cascading' cable and port.</P>
<a name="i"><P>ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network - A digital network provided by the telephone company. ISDN lines typically contain two 'B' channels, and one 'D' channel: B Channel = Bearer Channel, 64kbps. In the US, this is the channel that carries the user data.D Channel = Data Channel, 16kbs. This is the channel that carries signaling information, used by the ISDN network to connect or disconnect 'B' channels.</P>
<a name="k"><P>KBPS - Kilobits per second - A measure of bandwidth capacity or transmission speed. The acronym stands for a thousand bits per second.</P>
<a name="m"><P>MAC ADDRESS - Media Access Control Address - A unique 32-bit number (usually expressed in hex) assigned to a device to identify it on the network. MAC addresses are 6 bytes long, the first three bytes are unique to each manufacturer, the last three are a sequential number. Every network device in the world should have a unique MAC address.</P>
<P>MBPS - Million bits per second - A measure of bandwidth capacity or transmission speed.</P>
<P>MODEM -A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analog signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.

In recent years, the 2400 bits per second modem that could carry e-mail has become obsolete. 14.4 Kbps and 28.8 Kbps modems were temporary landing places on the way to the much higher bandwidth devices and carriers of tomorrow. From early 1998, most new personal computers came with 56 Kbps modems. By comparison, using a digital Integrated Services Digital Network adapter instead of a conventional modem, the same telephone wire can now carry up to 128 Kbps. With Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) systems, now being deployed in a number of communities, bandwidth on twisted-pair can be in the megabit range.</P>
<P>MONITOR - In computers, a monitor is a computer display and related parts packaged in a physical unit that is separate from other parts of the computer. Notebook computers don't have monitors because all the display and related parts are integrated into the same physical unit with the rest of the computer. In practice, the terms monitor and display are used interchangeably.</P>
<P>MUX - MULTIPLEXER . A device which combines multiple low-bandwidth channels into one channel to be carried over a single high-bandwidth carrier. At the opposite end of the circuit another MUX/DEMUX converts the high-bandwidth signal back into its multiple low-bandwidth channels.</P>
<a name="n"><P>NAT - Network Address Translation - Provides a pseudo-dynamic connection with the internet in a private IP space, by allowing a LAN to operate using "private" unroutable addresses, and exposing a small number of routable addresses on the external interface of a firewall.</p>
<p>NIC - NETWORK INTERFACE CARD - The circuit board or other form of computer hardware that serves as the interface between a computer and the communications network. Types of NICs include Ethernet, Arcnet, token ring, etc.</P>
<P>NODE - A device on a network, other than a hub. Ie: PC, router, bridge, sniffer, printer.</P>
<a name="o"><P>OPERATING SYSTEM - An operating system (sometimes abbreviated as "OS") is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other programs in a computer. The other programs are called applications or application programs. The application programs make use of the operating system by making requests for services through a defined application program interface (API). In addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as a command language or a graphical user interface (GUI).

An operating system performs these services for applications:

* In a multitasking operating system where multiple programs can be running at the same time, the operating system determines which applications should run in what order and how much time should be allowed for each application before giving another application a turn.

* It manages the sharing of internal memory among multiple applications.

* It handles input and output to and from attached hardware devices, such as hard disks, printers, and dial-up ports.

* It sends messages to each application or interactive user (or to a system operator) about the status of operation and any errors that may have occurred.

* It can offload the management of what are called batch jobs (for example, printing) so that the initiating application is freed from this work.

* On computers that can provide parallel processing, an operating system can manage how to divide the program so that it runs on more than one processor at a time. All major computer platforms (hardware and software) require and sometimes include an operating system.</P>
<a name="p"><P>PATCH CABLE - A short length of network cable used to connect two devices together.</P>
<P>PC-100 MAIN MEMORY BUS - A bus technology introduced in the middle of 1998, which replaced the older 66MHz bus. PC-100 buses are approx. 20% faster than the older bus. To match the faster bus speed,100MHz SDRAM ("Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory") modules are required on all PCs with the PC-100 bus. Both Apple and PC makers (circa early '99) are using the PC-100 bus/100MHz SDRAM combo. See also bus and SDRAM.</P>
<P>PCI - "Peripheral Component Interface or Interconnect" - A 64-bit local bus that was introduced to meet the more demanding needs of Pentium processors. The maximum transfer rate on a PCI bus is 132 MB/sec.</P>
<P>PCMCIA card - "Personal Computer Memory Card International Association" card - (Also called a "PC Card") - A credit-card size removable card that fits into a compatible slot on many digital devices (laptops, Personal Digital Assistants, wireless communications devices). PC cards house such things as additional memory, modems and network interfaces, and come in a variety of form-factors, the most common of which are "Type II" and "Type III".</P>
<P>PDF - "Portable Document Format" - A document format developed by Adobe to allow documents to be read "cross-platform," without the viewer needing the program in which the document was created. The Adobe Acrobat Reader (available at <A href="http://www.adobe.com/">Adobe's website</A>) is needed to view or print a document saved in PDF format, .</P>
<P>POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service - Term referring to the class of service provided in a regular residential (analog) phone line.</P>
<P>PRINTER - In computers, a printer is a device that accepts text and graphic output from a computer and transfers the information to paper, usually to standard size sheets of paper. Printers are sometimes sold with computers, but more frequently are purchased separately. Printers vary in size, speed, sophistication, and cost. In general, more expensive printers are used for higher-resolution color printing.

Personal computer printers can be distinguished as impact or non-impact printers. Early impact printers worked something like an automatic typewriter, with a key striking an inked impression on paper for each printed character. The dot-matrix printer was a popular low-cost personal computer printer. It's an impact printer that strikes the paper a line at a time. The best-known non-impact printers are the inkjet printer, of which several makes of low-cost color printers are an example, and the laser printer. The inkjet sprays ink from an ink cartridge at very close range to the paper as it rolls by. The laser printer uses a laser beam reflected from a mirror to attract ink (called toner) to selected paper areas as a sheet rolls over a drum.

The four printer qualities of most interest to most users are:

* Color: Color is important for users who need to print pages for presentations or maps and other pages where color is part of the information. Color printers can also be set to print only in black-and-white. Color printers are more expensive to operate since they use two ink cartridges (one color and one black ink) that need to be replaced after a certain number of pages. Users who don't have a specific need for color and who print a lot of pages will find a black-and-white printer cheaper to operate.

* Resolution: Printer resolution (the sharpness of text and images on paper) is usually measured in dots per inch (dpi). Most inexpensive printers provide sufficient resolution for most purposes at 600 dpi.

* Speed: If you do much printing, the speed of the printer becomes important. Inexpensive printers print only about 3 to 6 sheets per minute. Color printing is slower. More expensive printers are much faster.

* Memory: Most printers come with a small amount of memory (for example, one megabyte) that can be expanded by the user. Having more than the minimum amount of memory is helpful and faster when printing out pages with large images or tables with lines around them (which the printer treats as a large image).</P>
<P>PRINTER I/O INTERFACES -
The most common I/O interface for printers has been the parallel Centronics interface with a 36-PIN plug. Now, however, new printers and computers are likely to use a serial interface, especially Universal Serial Bus or FireWire with a smaller and less cumbersome plug.</p>
<p>PRINT SERVER - On a network, a print server is a software application, network device, or computer that manages print requests and makes printer queue status information available to end users and network administrators. Print servers are used in both large enterprise and small or home office (SOHO) networks.

In a large organization, a single dedicated computer serving as a print server might manage hundreds of printers. In a small office, a print server is often a specialized plug-in board or small network device about the size of a hub that performs the same function as a dedicated print server, but frees up valuable disk space on the office's limited number of computers.</P>
<a name="r"><P>RCA CONNECTOR - A round, press-on connector commonly used for consumer-grade audio and composite video connections. In most recent home stereo equipment, the jacks are color-coded as follows: red (audio-Right), black or white (audio-Left) and yellow (composite video).</P>
<P>RJ-11 - The most common type of telephone jack in the world, a 6-pin male modular jack (or plug) that connects to a female jack on a wall (or an RJ-11 adapter). RJ-11 jacks are usually only wired for four pins and only two of them (usually the red and the green wires) are used for the phone signal. The second pair can be used to carry a second phone line or to run low-wattage electronics, such as lights on phones. The second twisted pair of wires are increasingly being used for phone-based home networks (to connect your home PCs through your phone wiring). "RJ" stands for Registered Jack. The numbers that follow RJ (RJ-45, RJ-61X, etc.) are designations assigned by the FCC</P>
<P>RJ-45 - Refers to a type of jack, similar to an RJ-11 (phone) jack, only wider, with 8 conductors, rather than 6. RJ-45 connectors are used for a >variety of purposes</A> including networking and telephony.</P>
<P>ROUTER - The device that connects multiple computer networks by reading the address information on all data packets. The packet information is read, and the packets are then forwarded to the appropriate end station. Routers provide more functionality than bridges, which simply connect dissimilar networks. Routers may be used to connect LANs to LANs or LANs to WANs.</P>
<P>RS-232 - An industry standard for the serial interface that your computer uses to communicate with modems and other serial peripheral devices. Serial refers to the fact that the data is transferred one bit at a time. In a parallel connection (such as a parallel printer), data is sent in groups of bits over multiple wires. RS-232 is being gradually replaced in the PC marketplace by USB.</P>
<P>RTFM - Programmer slang for for "Read The Freaking Manual!" .... or words to that effect.</P><a name="s"><P>SCSI - "Small Computer System Interface" - A high-speed parallel interface standard used to connect a computer's CPU to a peripheral device such as a printer, hard drive, or another computer.</P>
<P>SDMI - "Secure Digital Music Initiative - The record industry's attempt to stop MP3 piracy. When the scheme is implemented (originally planned for deployment by Q4 1999), all new commercial CDs will include a digital watermark. Playback on SDMI-compliant MP3 players (and other Internet music devices) will only be possible if the commercial releases contain the digital watermark. Copies of songs that have been pirated will not have the watermark and will therefore not work. For more info see <A href="http://www.sdmi.org/">http://www.sdmi.org/</A>.</P>
<P>SDRAM - "Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory" - A form of DRAM that operates at higher clock speed than traditional DRAM, due to a "bursting" technology in the DRAM that predicts the location of the memory address most likely to be accessed next.</P>
<P>SDSL - "Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line" - Also called single line service, SDSL provides the same amount of bandwidth in both directions.<BR>Shell - A term for that operating system's user interface (most commonly used to describe the user interface of Unix, but also used to describe the user interface of other operating systems as well.) In short, it's called a shell because it's the outer-most layer of the OS. The inner-most layer, the heart of the OS's code is called the kernel. "Shell out" is a Unix term for moving from a program within Unix to the shell interface.</P>
<P>SIMM - "Single Inline Memory Module" - A plug-in circuit board that holds surface-mounted RAM memory chips. The "single inline" part of the name refers to the fact that the pins on the module that plug into the SIMM socket on the motherboard form a single row on the bottom of the circuit board. A newer, higher bandwidth type of memory module called a DIMM ("Dual Inline Memory Module") is common on most newer systems.</P>
<P>SIMPLEX - A transmission medium in which data travels in one direction only.</P>
<P>SKINS - The user-created graphical interfaces for MP3 players, games like Quake and other types of software that allow the creation of such custom interfaces.</P>
<P>SMARTMEDIA CARD - (less commonly known as an SSFDC or "Solid State Floppy Disk Card") - A form of removable Flash RAM Memory card used in digital cameras and other handheld computer devices, such as the Diamond Rio MP3 player. SmartMedia cards come in both 3.3 and 5 volt versions with storage capacity from 2MB to 16MB (and larger).</P>
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[Sharp Advice]

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<P>SOCKET 7 - The socket on PC motherboards that the original Intel Pentium class processors plug into. For Pentium II and III, Intel packaged its processor in a plastic cartridge that fits into a slot (Slot 1 or Slot 2) on the motherboard. However, chip makers like AMD and Cyrix continue to use the socket.</P>
<P>SPAM - Spam is unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. From the sender's point-of-view, it's a form of bulk mail, often to a list obtained from a spambot or to a list obtained by companies that specialize in creating e-mail distribution lists. To the receiver, it usually seems like junk e-mail. It's roughly equivalent to unsolicited telephone marketing calls except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone shares the cost of maintaining the Internet. Spammers typically send a piece of e-mail to a distribution list in the millions, expecting that only a tiny number of readers will respond to their offer.

Spam has become a major problem for all Internet users.

Some apparently unsolicited e-mail is, in fact, e-mail that people agreed to receive when they registered with a site and checked a box agreeing to receive postings about particular products or interests. This is known as both opt-in e-mail and permission-based e-mail. The term is said to derive from a famous Monty Python sketch ("Well, we have Spam, tomato & Spam, egg & Spam, Egg, bacon & Spam...") that was current when spam first began arriving on the Internet. SPAM is a trademarked Hormel meat product that was well-known in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.</P>
<P>SPYWARE - general, spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the Internet, spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties.

Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as the result of installing a new program. Data collecting programs that are installed with the user's knowledge are not, properly speaking, spyware, if the user fully understands what data is being collected and with whom it is being shared. The cookie is a well-known mechanism for storing information about an Internet user on their own computer. However, the existence of cookies and their use is generally not concealed from users, who can also disallow access to cookie information. Nevertheless, to the extent that a Web site stores information about you in a cookie that you don't know about, the cookie mechanism could be considered a form of spyware.

DoubleClick, a leading banner ad serving company, changed its plans to combine cookie information with database information from other sources to target ad campaigns directly to individuals without their permission. DoubleClick's current policy is not to collect "personally-identifiable" information about a user without their explicit permission or "opt-in."

Aureate Media, which distributes free software on the Web in exchange for the right to gather user information, is another company that has been criticized for not plainly indicating what data it gathers and for making it difficult to remove its programming. Spyware is part of an overall public concern about privacy on the Internet.</P>
<P>SRAM - "Static Random Access Memory" - A form of RAM that retains its memory only as long as there is power to run the device, without being refreshed. (DRAM needs to be periodically refreshed.)</P>
<P>S-VIDEO - "Super Video" - A type of video technology that delivers a much sharper image to TV monitors than composite video (in which the Red Green Blue, and often even the audio, are mixed together). S-video carries color (chrominance) and brightness (luminance) separately. Video cameras with S-Video usually have both an S-Video output jack and the more common RCA-type audio/video connections (used in composite video). You can only take advantage of S-Video playback if your TV has S-Video input.</P>
<P>SWITCH - A device which allows for a large network to maintain an effective data base through segmenting it into multiple parts, then passing traffic only to the segment that contains the destination host, thus reducing traffic on the other segments.</P>
<a name="t"><P>T-1 - "Digital Transmission Rate 1" - A leased line phone connection capable of carrying 1.544 megabits of data per second. T-1 lines are commonly used to connect networks, ISPs, web providers and others to the Internet.</P>
<P>TOKEN RING NETWORK - A local area network configuration that forms a closed ring of machines where network traffic is managed through the passing of digital tokens. A machine on the network cannot send data unless it "has the floor" via the token. A token ring can operate at up to 4 megabits (4 million bits) per second.</P>
<p>TOS - Terms of Service - Most websites, all software and other service providers will have a TOS. This is simply just the rules of the site, or the rules of using their website or service. If you suspect a website or service of selling your e-mail address, installing SpyWare, or other malicious activities - check their TOS. If they are participating in such activities, they are <i>supposed</i> to disclose this information in their TOS - keep in mind that it may be disguised as mindless lawyer lingo too. If you can't understand the TOS, you probably shouldn't use the service or software.</p>
<P>TROJAN - In computers, a Trojan horse is a program in which malicious or harmful code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data in such a way that it can get control and do its chosen form of damage, such as ruining the file allocation table on your hard disk. In one celebrated case, a Trojan horse was a program that was supposed to find and destroy computer viruses.

A Trojan horse may be widely redistributed as part of a computer virus. The term comes from Homer's Iliad. In the Trojan War, the Greeks presented the citizens of Troy with a large wooden horse in which they had secretly hidden their warriors. During the night, the warriors emerged from the wooden horse and overran the city.</P>
<P>TWAIN - "Technology (or Toolkit) Without An Interesting Name" - An interface standard for scanner, fax, graphics and text-reading (OCR) software. It allows images to be scanned directly into the image editing software. Most recent scanners come with TWAIN drivers, and most recent image-editing software accept data from TWAIN.</P>
<a name="u"><P>UART - "Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter" - A chip that performs the conversion from serial data (transmitted and received by a serial port) to parallel form, which is used internally by a computer. The UART is a common source of bottlenecks in a computer/modem relationship. Newer computers use the 16550 UART chip which has a 16-bit buffer. This has helped keep pace with today's faster modems.</P>
<P>ULTRA ATA - (a.k.a. ATA-4, Ultra DMA, ATA-33, DMA-33) The latest specification for the ATA/EIDE disk controller standard. EIDE, or "Enhance Integrated Electronics Interface" is a technology that puts all of the controller electronics for disk drives onto the drives themselves. Ultra ATA allows for much faster data transfers that are twice as fast as the previous ATA-2 (up to 33.3 megabits per second). "ATA" stands for "Advanced Technology Attachment" and is synonymous with IDE. "DMA" stands for "Direct Memory Access" and refers to the controller's ability to talk directly between memory and the disk drive without bothering the computer's CPU. See also EIDE.</P>
<P>ULTRA SCSI - "Ultra Small Computer System Interface" - An interface is used to connect a computer to SCSI peripherals (hard drives, removable drives, printers, etc.). UltraSCSI is an updated version of SCSI-2 which can transfer data at 20MBs on an 8-bit connection and 40MBs on a 16-bit connection.</P>
<P>UPSTREAM - Refers to data flowing from the end user back to the Internet service provider (usually in the case of asymmetric transmission methods, such as ADSL)..</P>
<P>UTP - Unshielded twisted pair is the most common kind of copper telephone wiring. Twisted pair is the ordinary copper wire that connects home and many business computers to the telephone company. To reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires, two insulated copper wires are twisted around each other. Each signal on twisted pair requires both wires. Since some telephone sets or desktop locations require multiple connections, twisted pair is sometimes installed in two or more pairs, all within a single cable.

For some business locations, twisted pair is enclosed in a shield that functions as a ground. This is known as shielded twisted pair (STP). Twisted pair is now frequently installed with two pairs to the home, with the extra pair making it possible for you to add another line (perhaps for modem use) when you need it. Twisted pair comes with each pair uniquely color coded when it is packaged in multiple pairs. Different uses such as analog, digital, and Ethernet require different pair multiples.

Although twisted pair is often associated with home use, a higher grade of twisted pair is often used for horizontal wiring in LAN installations because it is less expensive than coaxial cable. The wire you buy at a local hardware store for extensions from your phone or computer modem to a wall jack is not twisted pair. It is a side-by-side wire known as silver satin.

The wall jack can have as many five kinds of hole arrangements or pinouts, depending on the kinds of wire the installation expects will be plugged in (for example, digital, analog, or LAN) . (That's why you may sometimes find when you carry your notebook computer to another location that the wall jack connections won't match your plug.)</P>
<P>USB - Universal Serial Bus - An emerging standard for (mainly) PC serial communications. USB runs at 12Mbs, and supports up to 127 devices via a daisy-chain method. USB can provide power from the computer's power supply to peripherals (so that peripherals do not need their own AC power).

USB "hubs," boxes that provide multiple USB ports and a power boost to the USB chain are usually needed if you have more than a few USB devices on your machine. USB also allows hot-plugging so that you can plug and unplug peripheral devices without having to shut down your computer.</P>
<P>USB - USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a plug-and-play interface between a computer and add-on devices (such as audio players, joysticks, keyboards, telephones, scanners, and printers). With USB, a new device can be added to your computer without having to add an adapter card or even having to turn the computer off.

The USB peripheral bus standard was developed by Compaq, IBM, DEC, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Northern Telecom and the technology is available without charge for all computer and device vendors. USB supports a data speed of 12 megabits per second. This speed will accommodate a wide range of devices, including MPEG video devices, data gloves, and digitizers. It is anticipated that USB will easily accommodate plug-in telephones that use ISDN and digital PBX.

Since October, 1996, the Windows operating systems have been equipped with USB drivers or special software designed to work with specific I/O device types. USB is integrated into Windows 98 and later versions. Today, most new computers and peripheral devices are equipped with USB.</P
<a name="v"><P>V.90 - The finally agreed-upon standard for 56Kbps analog modems. Earlier competing standards, Rockwell's K56Flex and 3COM's X2, are still widespread as consumers and service providers upgrade to the new standard. Most 56K modems sold before the standard approval can be software upgraded to V.90. The V.90 standard is likely to be the last analog modem standard, as cable modems, DSL and other high-bandwidth connectivity schemes become more prevalant.</P>
<a name="w"><P>WAP - "Wireless Access Protocol" - A specification for wireless communication protocols. WAP is an attempt to standardize the technology by which cell phones, radio devices, wireless modems, and other similar devices access the Internet so that these devices can interoperate. For more info, check out the <A href="http://www.wapforum.org/">WAP Forum</A>.</P>
<P>WAVETABLE SYNTHESIS - A sound technology that uses samples of real instruments to create more realistic music playback. For example, if a MIDI file calls for a particular instrument to play a particular note, the computer (or MIDI instrument) accesses the wavetable and chooses the appropriate note, pitch, etc. Wavetable synthesis is, in most cases, much better than FM synthesis, its predecessor.</P>
<a name="x"><P>XJACK - A type of phone jack built into some laptop PC-card modems. PC-cards are too thin to accept a conventional RJ-11 phone plug. An XJACK is a horizontal jack that pops out from the modem card, letting you vertically insert the RJ-11 plug.</P>
<P>XML - "Extensible Markup Language" - A relatively new form of Web markup language (like HTML) that not only tells the browser how to display the content on a page, but describes the type of content. For example, a tag could be used to say that a paragraph contains information on widgets for sale. A shopping bot could then scour the XML pages on the Web and find who has the least expensive widgets available. XML can be used to aggregate any type of information on the Web. For more info, see the WC3's <A href="http://www.w3.org/XML/">page on XML</A>.</P>
<a name="z"><P>ZIF SOCKET - "Zero Insertion Force Socket" - A type of socket that allows a computer chip to be installed without the use of physical force (which can damage the pins on a chip). A lever is used to press the socket's connecting parts around the chip's pins, ensuring good electrical contact, and holding the chip in place. ZIF sockets are found on most pre-Pentium II motherboards, allowing average users to do processor upgrades.</P>
<P>ZIP DRIVE - A Zip drive is a small, portable disk drive used primarily for backing up and archiving personal computer files. The trademarked Zip drive was developed and is sold by Iomega Corporation. Zip drives and disks come in two sizes. The 100 megabyte size actually holds 100,431,872 bytes of data or the equivalent of 70 floppy diskettes. There is also a 250 megabyte drive and disk. The Iomega Zip drive comes with a software utility that lets you copy the entire contents of your hard drive to one or more Zip disks.

In addition to data backup, Iomega suggests these additional uses:

* Archiving old e-mail or other files you don't use any more but may want to access someday

* Storing unusually large files, such as graphic images that you need infrequently

* Exchanging large files with someone

* Putting your system on another computer, perhaps a portable computer

* Keeping certain files separate from files on your hard disk (for example, personal finance files) The Zip drive can be purchased in either a parallel or a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) version. In the parallel version, a printer can be chained off the Zip drive so that both can be plugged into your computer's parallel port.</P>
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