1. EDITOR'S CORNER
   • Stay Connected When You're on the Go
   • Followup: The Role of the 'Net in Times of Crisis
2. HINTS, TIPS, TRICKS & TWEAKS
   • Watch Out for Katrina Scams
   • New End-user Features for Vista
   • Find Out Where You Are or Where You're Going with Virtual Earth
   • OneCare Service Now Open to the Public
   • Change your XP CD Key
3. HOW TO'S: ALL THE NEW XP FEATURES
   • How to Back up your Product Activation Files
4. WXP SECURITY: UPDATES & PATCHES
   • No Patches for This Month's Patch Tuesday
5. WXP QUESTION CORNER
   • How Can I Find Out my XP CD Key?
   • Can I Schedule a Shutdown for my Computer?
   • Where Can I Get NTbackup.exe?
6. WXP CONFIGURING & TROUBLESHOOTING
   • Disk Performance Degrades after Suspend and Resume
   • AutoPlay Doesn't Work and the Current CD or DVD doesn't appear in My Computer
   • Adding/Removing Programs Causes Error Message in XP Home
   • Keyboard and Mouse don't work when you Resume from Standby
7. FAVE LINKS
   • This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff
8. PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
   • UltraSentry: Schedule UltraSentry to complete a total system scrub... even wipe out registry entries!

Stay Connected When You're on the Go

These days when we talk about connecting to the Internet while you're on the go, the first thing we think about is 802.11 and wireless "hotspots." Indeed, the proliferation of wireless access points in coffee shops, airports, hotels, restaurants and even city parks has made it a lot easier for a lot more people to get their e-mail and surf the Web when they're traveling. But Wi-Fi isn't available everywhere. Luckily, there are other options for getting your Internet "fix" when you're on the road.

Of course, one way to do it is via a wired connection at a hotel. Many hotels and motels offer DSL or cable connections now - some provide it free of charge to their customers and others charge a daily fee, usually around $10.00. But what if you don't have the luxury of checking into a hotel to connect to the 'Net and there are no Wi-Fi hotspots to be found?

One solution is to use your cell phone to connect to a regular ISP. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to buy a connection kit/modem (or use the one built into your mobile phone) to connect your laptop to the 'Net as you can do with a modem and analog phone line. Unfortunately, this choice suffers one of the same drawbacks: slow performance. Data transfer rates usually top out around 14 to 19Kbps, excruciatingly sluggish for doing any serious Web research. And it doesn't work with all mobile phones. But it may suffice in a pinch. For more info on how to do this, see
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913ED-Cell_modem

Most providers offer digital phones and data plans that allow you to download your e-mail or surf the Web directly on the tiny screen of your cell phone. You'll need a special, data-capable phone to do this. In this scenario, the cell phone provider is your ISP and you can generally get Internet access wherever you can get a cell phone signal (although not always).

The good news is that speeds are quite a bit higher, 60 to 80 or even up to 144 Kbps. The bad news is that you have to subscribe to a data plan in addition to your voice minutes, and it can be costly ($50 to $80 per month for unlimited access, less for a set amount of data transfer (for example, Verizon Wireless charges $29.99 per month for 10 MB of data usage). A big advantage is that your 'Net connection is easy to take with you almost anywhere. A disadvantage is that it's difficult to work on the small screen. A Pocket PC or Treo phone offers a larger screen area and makes this more functional, but they're expensive and a lot larger to lug around than a regular cell phone.

Perhaps the ultimate solution - albeit an expensive one - is to deploy a mobile portable satellite Internet system. The antenna can be mounted on the top of a vehicle - you may have seen them on news vans.

You have to purchase or lease the equipment and have it installed on your vehicle, and it would be somewhat unwieldy to install it on a small car. It's also not such a good option if you have to switch between different vehicles when you're traveling. Weather and solar activity can affect satellite reception, but that's true of other wireless technologies to some extent, too.

As mobile satellite technology has gotten less costly over the past few years, some long haul truck drivers have started installing the satellite dishes on their rigs, to provide Internet access wherever they go. For example, VSAT systems offers satellite Internet plans from $59.00 per month with a 1 GB download limit (speed 256 Kbps) to $4999.00 per month for 25 GB of throughput at 2048 Kbps.

What about a technology that combines the advantages of cellular and mobile satellite? It's possible to connect to the Internet over a satellite phone, which gives you the compact portability similar to a cell phone and the wider coverage area of satellite. Satphones are offered by Globalstar and Iridium. A satphone costs a lot compared to the average cell phone (around $600, although that's down from around a thousand just a little over a year ago). Sometimes you can get refurbished or demo units for quite a bit less. Rates range from about 14 cents to 99 cents per minute. That's pricey if you need to spend a lot of time on the 'Net.

In any event, you can connect the satphone to your laptop and dial up an ISP or use the satphone provider's data service. Some satphones can also operate on the cellular network, thus saving you money when you're in an area where you can get a cellular signal. Unfortunately, access is even slower than with a cell phone. Globalstar's Internet access runs at 9.6 Kbps. Iridium's dialup data service is even slower at 2.4 Kbps (however, Iridium covers more of the globe, including the oceans and poles). Iridium also offers direct data service that uses compression technology for an effective data rate up to 10 Kbps. To use the direct Internet service, you need to install special software on your laptop and use a SIM card in the phone that's provisioned for data communications.

Some of these technologies are currently too costly or too exotic for most of us, but it's good to know that there are ways to stay in touch and get your email even if you're a visiting elf at the North Pole.

What do you think? Are satellite technologies the wave of the future? What methods do you use to connect when you don't have DSL, cable or Wi-Fi available? Would you love to have a dish mounted on your car's roof, or is that carrying connectivity just a little too far? Let us know what you think at feedback@wxpnews.com.

Followup: The Role of the 'Net in Times of Crisis

We heard from a number of you about last week's editorial that discussed how the Internet can be used to communicate vital information during a crisis such as the Hurricane Katrina disaster. I was thrilled to get many messages from residents of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, who survived the storm (and in some cases, attributed that at least in part to their ability to receive up to date evacuation information via the Internet).

On the other hand, we got a couple of messages stating that the 'Net failed miserably as a means of emergency communications, due to its dependence on electrical power and telephone or cable lines. Luckily, as in previous crises, amateur ("ham") radio operators were able to fill in the gap.

I was also surprised and pleased to learn that several of those are now back home and have telephone service, electricity and a relatively dry residence. I was also pleased - but not surprised, having visited those areas many times - at the upbeat determination to rebuild better than before that was expressed in many of those messages.

Many of you who don't live in the disaster areas said the Internet was invaluable to you in tracking down friends and relatives there. However, others lamented the fact that distortions and the political "blame game" were able to be spread more quickly due to the 'Net.

Also, for those of you who asked about my friend who was lost in the storm, he turned up around the middle of last week, in a small Louisiana town west of Baton Rouge. Thanks for caring!

Quote of the Week:
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. - John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

Watch Out for Katrina Scams

Hurricane Katrina brought out the best in many people - but there's always somebody ready and willing to take advantage of a tragedy for personal gain. Dozens of Internet scams have popped up in the wake of the disaster, preying on the generosity and curiosity of others. Phishing scams have been most prevalent, with e-mail messages and Web sites soliciting donations to fake charities. Virus and other malware distributors have also seized the opportunity to send messages with attachments that purport to be photos of the disaster areas, but when clicked on will install malicious software or activate viruses. Then there are the garden variety hucksters, such as those offering to locate missing relatives or check on pets or homes - for a fee, of course. The Justice Department has created a fraud task force just to deal with Katrina-related frauds. You can read more about it here:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913TI-Scams

New End-user Features for Vista

Paul Thurrott has a list of new features that are expected to be included in Windows Vista (the OS formerly known as Longhorn, which will be the successor to Windows XP when it's released in 2006). Looks like there are going to be a couple of low-end editions called Starter Edition and Home Basic Edition, that won't include all the bells and whistles. There's also a Home Premium Edition and an Ultimate Edition. Paul says there will be three different business editions of the operating system: Professional, Small Business, Enterprise and Ultimate). Read more about the new features here:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913TI-Vista

Find Out Where You Are or Where You're Going with Virtual Earth

You can zoom in on aerial photos of your town, get directions to a destination or use the Locate Me feature to find your location with MSN Virtual Earth. This last one is a pretty neat feature; the program finds your location based on your IP address (you have to install the Location Finder software, though, to use it). You can check it out at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913TI-Virtual_Earth

OneCare Service Now Open to the Public

Microsoft has been beta testing a new subscription service called OneCare that provides firewall, anti-virus, spyware detection/removal and backup functions all in one. Now the beta program has been opened to the public. To sign up, you'll need a Passport account. Point your Web browser to the Microsoft Beta site and sign in with your Passport username and password, then enter "OneCare" (without the quotation marks) in the guest ID field.
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913TI-OneCare

Change your XP CD Key

How to Back up your Product Activation Files

Last week, we talked about reformatting the hard disk and reinstalling XP. But do you have to go through the whole product activation hassle again when you do that? Actually, there's a way around it. Before you wipe out the current installation, backup your product activation files and then you can restore them to the new installation. Here's how:

1. Right click Start and click Explore.
2. In Windows Explorer, navigate to \WINDOWS\System32\ (usually on the c: drive but may be on a different drive depending on where you installed XP).
3. Copy the following files to a floppy, CD or second hard disk: wpa.dbl, wpa.bak.

No Patches for This Month's Patch Tuesday

How Can I Find Out my XP CD Key?

QUESTION:
Is there a way to retrieve the XP install key without having to deal with Microsoft. I have my original XP upgrade disk but not the case and the key was on the case. - D.R.

ANSWER:
The easiest way is to use a freeware recovery tool called RockXP, which allows you to retrieve the product key that you used when you originally installed XP, and as an added bonus, will let you recover usernames and passwords that are contained in the Windows Secure Storage. You can download it from the Snapfiles Web site at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913QC-RockXP

Can I Schedule a Shutdown for my Computer?

QUESTION:
I'd like to be able to set my computer to shut down at a specific time when I'm not there. Is there any way to do that? -- Ron B.

ANSWER:
Yes, there is. One way is to use the AT command or create a batch file as described at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913QC-AT_Cmd

Or you can do it the easy way: Here is a little program that will allow you to do just that. It's called Shutdown Monster and it's free. You can download it at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913QC-Shutdown_Monster

Where Can I Get NTbackup.exe?

QUESTION:
I love the newsletter. But, I do have a problem concerning "How to Install Ntbackup.exe on Windows XP Home"! Our computer was bought at Circuit City about 4 years ago. At the time we didn't know we should have gotten a XP Home installation CD. So I do not have access to all the "fun" things you write about in the newletter, especially the backup program! I have tried to find free backup programs, no such critter exist. Any suggestions? Thanks. - Cheri B.

Disk Performance Degrades after Suspend and Resume

If you find that after you have suspended operations and then resumed several times on your XP computer, your hard disk performs more slowly, it may be because the drive is set to use PIO mode for transfers instead of DMA (fastest) mode. You can read more about this problem and how to resolve it in KB article 817472 at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913CO-KB_817472

AutoPlay Doesn't Work and the Current CD or DVD doesn't appear in My Computer

If you insert a CD or DVD in your computer's drive and AutoPlay doesn't open the program automatically, and/or when you view the contents of the disc in My Computer, it doesn't show the current disc but instead the contents of a previous disc remain, it might be because a background service or program is interfering with AutoPlay. To find out more about this problem and how to resolve it, see KB article 817357 at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913CO-KB_817357

Adding/Removing Programs Causes Error Message in XP Home

When you use the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel to add or remove a program in XP Home, you may get an error message in the system log in Event Viewer that's identified as Event ID 7023. That's because the Add Program routine looks for a file called Appmgmt.dll, even though XP Home doesn't support the Application Management service. To get the fix, see Kb article 328213 at
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913CO-KB_328213

Keyboard and Mouse don't work when you Resume from Standby

This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff

• Leveling the speed trap playing field:
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913FA-Cop
• This picture holds the record for Largest Digital Photograph. Zoom in forever:
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913FA-Zoom
• The Internet license plate gallery:
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913FA-License_Plate
• Save on gas by Hyrdogen retro-fitting your car
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913FA-Hydrogen
• How to tell if you're a cat person:
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913FA-Cat_Owner
• How to tell if you're a dog person:
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050913FA-Dog_Owner

UltraSentry: Schedule UltraSentry to complete a total system scrub... even wipe out registry entries!

UltraSentry is three applications in one! It's a military grade secure deletion utility that permanently removes files, folders, browser history, cookies, and downloads forever! It's an advanced registry cleaner with a Cleaning Wizard that erases unwanted registry entries in Advanced mode! It's a disk sanitizer that will clean your unused disk space and swap file! Are Internet temporary files bogging down your browser? Improve your surfing performance and wipe clean unwanted cookies, temp files and history in a single mouse click with UltraSentry! WXPNews readers can try it here and /or buy it now with an exclusive 20% discount.

INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT.