Virtual PC 2004

If you have an interest in running more than one OS on your system; or if you need a safe way to test and explore new software, or if you need to run multiple operating systems, or multiple copies of the same OS, for testing, support, or evaluation purposes, a "virtual PC" solution deserves a look. It may change the way we will use our PCs in the future.

    A virtual PC lets you experiment with software and system settings in a nearly 100% safe way, without affecting your current setup — and without even having to reboot or leave your main OS. Everything about your current setup — your OS, your apps, everything — stays up and

running normally while the virtual PC is in operation. It imitates the function of your main operating system thereby allowing the imitating system to accept the same data, execute the same programs, and achieve the same results as the imitated system.

    This software from Microsoft enables multiple DOS, Windows or OS/2 operating systems to run simultaneously in the same machine. Microsoft acquired the technology from Connectix in 2003 and turned Connectix's Virtual PC for Windows into Microsoft Virtual PC 2004.

    It's free to try for 45 days and gives you a way to explore a polished, commercial product at zero cost. You may call it a 45-day time-out, full version of the Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 product. No serial number is required.
    The File Name is "Microsoft VirtualPC2004EnglishTrial.exe" and it can be downloaded from the following Microsoft Web Page: http://www.microsoft. com/downloads/details.aspx?Family Id=4A15008C-3E10-4C54-BCD5-ADC1E780715F& displaylang=en

If this is too much to copy for you, just go to Google and search for "Virtual PC" and you will find the appropriate Web site.

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: TabletPC, Windows 2000, Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP

Here are the minimum system requirements to use Microsoft Virtual PC 2004:

Processor: Athlon®, Duron®, Celeron®, Pentium® II, Pentium III, or Pentium 4
Processor speed: 400 MHz minimum (1 GHz recommended)
RAM: Add the RAM requirement for the host operating system that you will be using to the requirement for the guest operating system that you will be using. If you will be using multiple guest operating systems simultaneously, total the requirements for all the guest operating systems that you need to run simultaneously.
Available disk space: To determine the hard disk space required, add the requirement for each guest operating system that will be installed.
Other: Level-2 cache and CD-ROM required

Add Google to IE

If you use Internet Explorer, you can download a toolbar from Google that will add a search box to your browser's interface. To download the Google toolbar, go to http://www.google.com. Click the Services & Tools link. Scroll down to the Google Tools section and click the Google Toolbar link. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Get The Google Toolbar button. Next, click the Terms Of Use button and then click the Install With Advanced Features button.

Save Pictures from the Web

In Internet Explorer you can try to save them as files on your own computer. Right-click the picture, select Save Picture As, and specify the location where you want to save the picture.

Selecting a Good Password

Selecting a good password involves a bit of irony. You want to choose something you'll easily remember and that nobody else will easily guess; the two are mutually exclusive. Single words found in a dictionary constitute the weakest passwords. Even the lamest password-cracking programs barrage your password protection with dictionary words, hoping for a match and cracking the code in seconds. Stay away from movie, book, and other quotes as password crackers routinely check for these. Never forget that the people most interested in your data are likely the people closest to you who know more about your likes, dislikes, and habits than the average random hacker. For this reason, rule out passwords with personal associations. Hobby- or career-related phrases, pet names, or your birthday in reverse are all poor choices. Plenty of programs can help you generate a secure password, but you can create solid passwords without using a crutch if you follow a few simple rules. For one, a safe password strings several words together. Passwords created from multiple words are called passphrases and are incredibly secure because brute force attacks must go through endless combinations to achieve a lucky match. To make a passphrase even more secure, add some numbers, symbols, and spaces into the mix. Use tricks such as replacing every occurrence of an individual letter with a symbol (substitute % for A), putting double spaces between words, writing in pig Latin or a foreign language, mixing lowercase and uppercase letters, and incorporating any other abnormalities that people would never guess. Both password cracking programs and people trying to get at your data rely on common rules and assumptions when guessing passwords. Do all you can to break those rules and make their job tougher.

Paper

Have you ever noticed what happens when a drop of wine strikes a white shirt or tablecloth? As the liquid soaks into the fabric, it stains an area that is slightly larger than the size of the original drop. The same phenomenon occurs when ink strikes the paper in your inkjet printer. If the paper absorbs too much ink, however, then the resulting image may look fuzzy. That's something you certainly want to avoid when printing photos. Blemishes are another factor you want to avoid. These are likely to occur when the paper has surface imperfections that hinder the absorption of ink. You'll have a better understanding of how a rough surface affects your printer by watching what happens when a drop of wine falls onto a bath towel. Unlike the drops on the shirt or tablecloth, which leave circular stains, a drop on a fuzzy bath towel is likely to leave a blotch with an irregular shape. The easiest way to find paper that provides the proper amount of ink absorption and has minimal surface imperfections is to buy the type of photo-quality paper your printer manufacturer recommends. The printer manufacturer knows which specific brand(s) of paper was specially formulated and tested to work with the particular inks designed for your printer. If you want to buy third-party paper, stick with a respected brand, such as Kodak. The price of photo-quality paper varies widely, from as little as 15 cents or 20 cents per page to as much as 80 cents or $1 per page. As a rule of thumb, remember that you often get what you pay for. For example, glossy paper tends to be more expensive than photo paper with a matte finish, but it also tends to provide better prints. This is because the glossy paper has an ultra-smooth surface with very few imperfections, and when ink strikes this paper, it bonds to the surface cleanly because there is nothing to interfere with it. We suggest trying a few different types of paper designed for your printer (most printer manufacturers sell several lines of photo-quality paper), and then choose the one that provides the quality you want at a price you can justify.

Consider a Card Reader

You can find a memory card reader for $15 to $20. A card reader doesn't require a separate power supply; you can simply plug it into your computer's USB or FireWire port. When you take a memory card out of your camera and insert it into the card reader's slot, your PC will treat the card reader as a disk drive and the card as a form of removable media. You can then transfer the images by dragging and dropping them to the appropriate folders in Windows Explorer.

Manage Files Efficiently (WinXP)

With WinXP, Microsoft added a menu of task options to the Windows Explorer dialog box. These productivity-enhancing links place a variety of operations at your fingertips. Right-click the My Computer icon on your Desktop, click Explore, and look in the left pane for task menu folders with such titles as File And Folder Tasks, Picture Tasks, and Other Places. If you don't see these menus, open the Tools menu and select Folder Options. In the Folder Options dialog box, click the General tab, look under Tasks, select the Show Common Tasks In Folders radio button, and click OK. If you still don't see the task menus, click the Folders button on the main Explorer Toolbar. File And Folder Tasks. From this folder, you can create, share, or publish (to the Web) folders. If you select a file, you can rename, move, copy, email, delete, or publish it. Picture Tasks. When you open a folder containing pictures, Windows presents you with a menu of tasks including Print, Create Slide Show, and Copy To CD. Other Places. This folder hotlinks to the My Documents folder, My Computer, and Network Places. Click the My Computer link and you gain an additional task box, System Tasks, which lets you add and remove programs, change system settings, and view system information.