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Computer Universe
Your source for all things computer!
August 12 2002 Issue #1
Matthew Zator, Editor, compuniverse@yahoo.ca
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By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of
"Computer Universe".

You are receiving this newsletter because you
requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instructions
are at the end of this newsletter.

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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Sponsorship Notice
=> Feature Article => Weekly Step By Step Course
=> Review Of
=> The Computer SpotLight
=> Feedback from Our Readers
=> Question & Answer Section
=> Classified Ads
=> How To Obtain Advertising Information
=> How To Submit Questions To Me
=> This Week's Contest
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information

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SPONSORSHIP NOTICE
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ADVERTISE HERE!


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FEATURE ARTICLE, Preventive Maintenance Of The CMOS And BIOS
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The maintenance of the CMOS can best be described as checking
your CMOS setup and making backup copies of your cmos ramWhen
the battery for the cmos fail,it may take hours to rediscover
settings of the cmos.Use software utilities to make copies
of your cmos and most of these utilities will allow you to
restore the cmos settings.


If you don't have software utilities,you can make a Hard Copy
which contains the data on paper and is filed away in a safe
place.The easiest way to make a hard copy of your cmos backup
is to capture a screen of the data screens.This should be done
NOW while the cmos battery is working as it should.


You can also use Battery Checker to check the battery level.
The cmos battery is mounted onto the motherboard and is
eventually go bad.Its best NOT to wait until you experience
boot-up problems to check the cmos battery.Click Here to
download CMOS RAM,a very good small utility for backing up
and restoring your cmos setup.Battery Checker and CMOS RAM
can both be downloaded by accessing the Internet and visiting
http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com/letter5.htm

The BIOS maintenance is similar to that of the CMOS in that
you want to monitor the Battery to have an idea on when in
should be replaced Regardless of which backup technique you
use,File or Hard Copy, (You may want to use both) you should
make a backup each time your computer's configuration is
changed.You may have installed a new cdrom drive or modem for
example.This way you have the lastest cmos backup.


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Weekly Step-By-Step Course
Matthew Zator, Editor
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Before beginning this procedure, I stress that this is only
a last resort! But if you have tried everything else, I
recommend doing a full format of your hard drive making your
computer like it was when you got it. And if your computer can
go to the OS obtain all info about your internet dial-up or
cable or network connections before continuing and back-up
important data or software. So now let's begin!

Step 1: Restart your computer and insert your start-up disk
into the 3 1/2" floppy drive.

Step 2: Wait until the computer starts up with the start-up
disk. After it's loaded all diagnostic programs & drivers
it will display a menu. Scroll down to start the computer
with cd-rom support and press enter.

Step 3: Then it will display the A:/ prompt. To format your C:/
drive, type in format c:/. It will display: All data on
non-removable drive will be lost! Continue?- type y and then
it will begin deleting your hard drive data.

IMPORTANT! Make sure your windows c.d. isn't an upgrade!

Step 4: After it's done, it will display: Volume Label: type in
an desired label for your hard drive. If none, hit enter
Then insert your Windows 9x, ME,XP c.d. into the cd-rom
and type in D:/ to go to the D:/ prompt.

Step 5: Type in setup, and then it will load the setup of Windows
9x or WinME, XP.

Step 6: Follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 7: Now reinstall all drivers & software by way of your backup
disks or original c.d.'s

If you don't have back-up disks, your in trouble, but most of the
stuff is on original cd's except software you downloaded or got
on-line or personal/important documents.

Refer to your computer documentation if you have problems
installing drivers or software that came with your computer.

useful sites for drivers if you didn't back-up them:
Win Drivers.com

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*-----------------Weekly Computer Trick!----------------*

Quickly add a site to your favorites by pressing CTRL-D!

*-----------------Weekly Computer Trick!----------------*


*-----------------Weekly Computer Tip!------------------*

Change your mouse pointers by going to the control panel,
mouses, and then select the pointers that are available.

*-----------------Weekly Computer Tip!------------------*


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REVIEW:Number Nine SR9 video board & The Targus USB MiniMouse
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**Number Nine SR9 video board**

Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation demonstrated their
new high-performance PC graphics card, the SR9, which was
recently been selected to be the standard graphic card offering
on select models of IBM's 300PL commercial desktop systems.
Based on the Savage 4 Pro processor from S3, this video card
features fast 128 bit processing for fast 2D graphics,
excellent 3D quality, MPEG-2 DVD playback support and AGP
4X support. Last month (June 1999), Number Nine demonstrated
the that the SR9 was the world's first graphics accelerator
to support the new DVI (Digital Video Interface) display
standard for a pure digital signal driving a high performance
digital display device. The SR9 will be available in 16 and 32
megabyte versions and prices range from $109 to $149. The 32
megabyte DFI version is priced at $189. Wow, only a few years
ago complete systems had only 16 megabytes of RAM, now you can
have twice that on your video card!


**Targus USB MiniMouse**

This lightweight (2.4 ounce) USB mouse is designed for mobile
workers that need to save space (3.3" x 1.6" x 1"), yet want
an external mouse on the go. It features an ergonomic design
that fits the hand along with plug and play compatibility
(USB 1.1) with Windows 98. The Targus USB MiniMouse retails
for $29.95.

Copyright © 1999 Rick Smith All rights reserved.





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SPOTLIGHT: On Free Internet Providers
By Case Stevens,
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Costless access in exchange for advertising. Many companies
are eager to show their banners to the public. And you know
you have to see them. Seems like a fair trade if you take
the commercials for granted. But is that all? No, it isn't.
Read on.

Free Internet explained.

There's a lot more behind it than you think. It's the
information you provide that makes you worth a goldmine. You
see, if you apply for such a service you have to fill out a
lot of information. Some of that info may be optional, but
you have to fill out at leastyour name,address, telephone
number, age, gender etc. With that your supplier has very
valuable data of someone who is willing to see commercials.
You're on their List and they can sell that list to any
company willing to pay money for it. And lots of companies
will do that! They'll use your information for direct mail.

Is that legal?

Yes, why not? As you sign up you have the opportunity to see
and study the conditions for their service. They probably
contain a paragraph stating that you agree with that policy.
Most people do not bother to read that. The service is so
appealing that they take the conditions for granted. And
sometimes these statements are in fine print or not described
exactly as open as they are here. Now it may be a good idea
to investigate the conditions a little closer. Take a look at
the privacy policies.

Is there more?

Yes, there is. It is very well possible that with a good
(tracking) system in place your supplier, with or without
your knowledge, can see where you are surfing to. Or if
you receive or send a lot of mail and what times of the
day you use your connection. And that is valuable information
again, because they now can target their advertising customers
to the right public. You may expect to receive some commercial
emails (hey, they gave you the email address, so they know
everything they need to know!).

So this is not such a good service?

Why not? If you want to have costless access to the Net, by
all means please do so. All that can happen to you is that
you receive some commercial messages either by Email or by
Snail-mail. And who says, that you aren't in some database
for this purpose already? And since you already didn't mind
reading commercials, who cares? It's just that I want you
to know what's behind such service. You now know how this
works and the choice is up to you.

In fact, you can earn some money with it.

However strange that may sound, it's true. You have to work
a little bit though, but it's quite easy and you get a lot
of help. If you are willing to do a little bit of
(already prepared) promotion, than look at
http://www.anownsite.com/vfree1/

Free Internet Providers can be great!

Article by Case Stevens, moderator of
http://www.anownsite.com/
where Beginners make a Free Test Ride and
Advanced find Successful Web Solutions.
Subscribe to their FREE newsletter.
mailto:anownsite-subscribe@topica.com


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From our Readers:
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None This Time Around (because it's the first one!)
(you can submit feedback or suggestions to compuniversezine@
yahoo.ca)

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Question & Answer Column
Where you can submit questions and get answers!
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I need questions!


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You can submit questions to me at compuniversezine@yahoo.ca
for the next issue.
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THIS WEEK'S CONTEST
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This week's contest is a chance to win an e-book on
computer programming language!

**To Enter**
go to my website:
http://compuniverse.bizhosting.com/contest.html
and fill in the form.

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CLASSIFIED ADS
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If you like the info in this ezine, recommend it to a friend!

Copyright 2002 Matthew Zator


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Matthew Zator
compuniversezine@yahoo.ca