SnapperOne

Just bought a new P4 SOHO PC as a replacement for a P3-400 in a 2-PC LAN. Since I have to reload all my apps anyway, decided it was a good time to jump into WinXP-Pro to see what it's all about. The other PC on the LAN will remain a Win2K machine until we're comfortable with XP.....if that day ever comes. While we'll likely develope the same love-hate relationship with XP as we've had with W2K, our question at the moment is whether the firewall included with XP-Pro is worth using? We've been running ZA-3 with no problems....other than the constant "upgrade notices".

At the moment, we currently back-up all of our accounting data on a rotating cycle of 250Mg ZipDisks. While we have not experienced any catastrophic problems, we are nonetheless considering instituting other back-up media so we're not so vulnerable to the whims or problems of Zip technology. At the moment, we are considering both a removeable USB hard drive or USB Flash Drives. Once again, the purpose is simply spread the data-risk over additional technologies. While a removable USB Hard Drive is easier to consider, due to its' familiar format, the USB Flash Drives are quite interesting due to ease-of-use, size, low cost, etc.... During our research so far, however, the Flash Drive reviews we have looked at (Lexar JumpDrive, SanDisk Cruzer, and Curcial Gizmo) don't really seem to address data storage. So, here's the question(s): 1) Should we even be considering USB Flash Drives for data storage. And, if they are worth considering........ 2) Does anyone have good or bad experiences to share about their use of such devices for the task we're considering?

At the moment, we currently back-up all of our accounting data on a rotating cycle of 250Mg ZipDisks. While we have not experienced any catastrophic problems, we are nonetheless considering instituting other back-up media so we're not so vulnerable to the whims or problems of Zip technology. At the moment, we are considering both a removeable USB hard drive or USB Flash Drives. Once again, the purpose is simply spread the data-risk over additional technologies. While a removable USB Hard Drive is easier to consider, due to its' familiar format, the USB Flash Drives are quite interesting due to ease-of-use, size, low cost, etc.... During our research so far, however, the Flash Drive reviews we have looked at (Lexar JumpDrive, SanDisk Cruzer, and Curcial Gizmo) don't really seem to address data storage. So, here's the question(s): 1) Should we even be considering USB Flash Drives for data storage. And, if they are worth considering........ 2) Does anyone have good or bad experiences to share about their use of such devices for the task we're considering?

I've recently begun playing my first on-line game, "Tank Mania". While the game is a lot of fun, and I have Norton's AV, SpySweeper, and SpyBot active at all times, I've begun wondering what types of security problems (trojans, viruses, hacker issues, etc...) I am leaving my system open to. Is the risk high, medium, low...? While this PC isn't mission critical, I would hate to have to rebuild the data on it, or the data on the PC it is connected to via a LAN. I am also curious about how this type of game works. Since I haven't actively downloaded the game onto my hard drive, how does the back & forth information (video, sound, mouse movements, etc) work between my PC and the server work?

AlecStaar - We are accessing Linux through XANDROS. Here's a bit of news I forgot the first time around. In short, for sake of discussion, things worked just fine at 5:00 when I shut the system down, without incident. When I rebooted 2 hours later, can't get into W2K. No equipment changes. No software changes. SnapperOne

My HD has both Linux and W2k on it. During the boot process, the system halts, asking me to choose the operating system I wish to use. When I boot to Linux, no problem. I am able to see files, folders and access all devices. When I attempt to boot to W2K, the boot process stops at a blue screen which says: "Stop:0x0000007B(0xEB81F84C,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000) inaccesible_boot_device" What's up? How do I get my system to let me into W2K to fix this problem?

I've recently begun using SpySweeper and SpyBot as real-time filters when I'm working on the Net. Since envoking these filters, whenever I'm working in NTCompatible, with EVERY screen change, Spybot informs me that "Avenue A, Inc." is attempting to download onto my PC. What's up with this? Anything to be concerned about? SnapperOne.

Once or twice per day, ZoneAlarm notifies me that "sysme.exe" is attempting to access the internet. I've done a Google search, but can't find anything on this file. The file is located on my hard drive at c\winnt\system32. All my in-house apps appear to be working properly and, when I access the internet, I don't appear to be locked out of anything. While I'm OK, at the moment, simply denying access as each request comes up, I'm about ready to set ZA up for a permanent "No access" for this file. SnapperOne

snakefoot Running Media Player 9.0xxxx Can't find any codec problem, but I'm not real comfortable playing around in that area anyway.

I received an e-mail with a .wmv video attachment. When I double-click the attachment, the file shows as "open" and "playing", music and voices can be heard, and a still picture appears, There is, however, no movement in the video. What's up?

It looks like my standard Windows Recycle Bin is just screwed. I have the icon back on the desktop; it shows up in Explorer in the directory tree; and, when I right-click the desktop icon then left-click "Empty Recycle Bin", "x" number of files are indicated as being available to delete, and I am give the option to delete them all. What I can't do is review the files to be deleted when I open the Recycle Bin itself. When I open it, "objects" shows "0". Any ideas? SnapperOne

madacgrav - Thanks. Followed the instructions, and it appears I've finally got the old Recycle Bin back. Do you happen to know what file location Norton's Protected Recycle Bin stores to-be deleted files in? One of the reasons I was trying to get back to the non-Norton's bin was that the Norton's version wouldn't let me truely delete 1500 files that it showed were being "protected". Those files still have to be out there somewhere. I just can't find them.

Many of the "how to" articles I've read about backing up Registry files, refer to "System State" and "The Registry" interchangably. Relative to backing up Registry files, are they the same thing?

I have created a Word document on one PC (PC#1). Portions of the document are in bold others are not. When I open the document on another PC (PC#2), either thru a LAN or hand-carried on a floppy, the document opens with everything in bold. When I open other documents on PC #2, that have been created on PC #2 everything appears as it should. Any ideas? SnapperOne

Got a good deal on some MAC pre-formated 100Meg Fuji Zip Disks (5 for $30), but I need to reformat the disks to PC. Since I was unable (with any of the disks) to go directly to Full Format, I had to follow the following procedure. Seems to have worked. I first right-clicked on the ZIP Icon in MY COMPUTER, then left-clicked Quick Format (other options were greyed-out). When Quick Format was complete, I left-clicked on the ZIP Icon in MY COMPUTER, where I was allowed to perform a Full Format. This procedure appears to have worked on 9 of 10 disks. One of the disks, however, would not allow me to Full Format after the Quick Format. Should I anticipate any problems using the Quick Format-only disk? SnapperOne