[aarhus2004]

Originally Posted by GoJoAGoGo

Hi Ben:

How have you been? Yes, I wondered if a 3rd party would come up with a daylight savings time patch for Win 98/ME. Thanks for the heads up Ben.

Take care,
Joe

Hello Joe,

I have been dreaming of a problem I have with my computer - it just couldn't connect with the Net. But no longer, as now I can point skywards and tell my buddies, 'See that new and shiny thick black wire up there?' 'That's mine'.

And Joe, when you get a spare minute and if you feel so inclined, how about PMing me with your response to XP? I am very curious.

Thanks for the response.

Ben.

[ekim68]

Welcome back Ben...

[aarhus2004]

Thanks, Mike.

[Stoner]

Hi Ben

Not using Me.....but enjoy reading your continued experiences with it .....
Fantastic accumulation of important/useful Win Me facts.


Jack.

[aarhus2004]

Originally Posted by Stoner

Hi Ben

Not using Me.....but enjoy reading your continued experiences with it .....
Fantastic accumulation of important/useful Win Me facts.


Jack.

Hello Jack,

Thanks for the feedback - I took a vacation from using a computer unsure as to whether I would return to it (but here I am again and my first month is free courtesy my ISP). Glad you are still around. Cheers, Ben.

****************************************************************

My next post, already causing some stimulation in my mind (did I take my meds!?), will attempt to set down in politic and polite terms, a view of Sun Java 's website and its painful effect on this very ordinary user.. Now there's a challenge. Watch this black hole.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

"This release of Java SE pertains to Windows 98 and Windows ME."

re: Sun Microsystems. Inc.'s Java Runtime Environment Version 5.0 Update 11 or jre1.5.0_11 depending on where you look.

The previous version update was Java Runtime Environment Version 5.0 Update 10 now there is an update 11. The underlining is mine.

I suggest you add this link to your links place.

If you haven't Sun Microsystems. Inc.'s Java and wish it it is recommended you first download the Sun file and then uninstall MSJava before installing the Sun Java. See the attached .txt file for the howto of the MSJava uninstall.

If you do have installed Update 10 of the Java SE (Runtime Environment or Version 5.0 Update 10) first download and install the new update 11, and then, in the Add/Remove Programs remove the previous Update 10.

Another link which may help here..

Please note that Version 6 cannot be used with Windows Millennium.

It appears that the disk space needed for Sun Java is somewhere between 60 and 100 MBs.

Many websites do require it. For now it is freeware. For now it is being updated.

Thanks be.

Ben.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

Having two versions of HJT, both freeware (for the time being), both still available (pro temp), presents an interesting opportunity to raise some questions in the mind as to what is going-on. If they disagree in their respective outputs, as happened when I first ran version 2, why is this? And why, when I asked version 2 to restore its backups, wouldn't it do so. I found that I must close it and run it again for the BUPs to show-up. But yet again there is a discrepancy and again it is version 2 which shows an additional item.

When all is said and done these differences are of no significance but one day they may be. Yes, I like having two versions cos I am reminded of the juggling act of some sailors who, for whatever reason, enjoy having partners oceans apart. Perhaps it is a method of making outbound voyages equally as delightful as homebound ones! Something about cake in this.

Version 1.99.1 here
version 2.0.0.0 Beta here

Ben.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

My machine is now aged seven years, how old is yours?

Four months ago whilst doing a routine cleanup of the interior of my tower I took a look at the hardest working fan. I have been a very tentative techie-type and, knowing the criticality of the CPU assembly, even looking at it was something I had previously avoided! My, oh my, how could that fan work so packed with crud it was. Bells and whistles of alarm rang in my head and apprehension began its unhappy journey through my 'system'. 'Dare I or dare I not?' I slept on it - always my response to potentially dangerous maneuvers. In the case of a computer, well why do I belong to TSG? So I raised the issues(fears!) here.

The outcome has been a happy one and although I assiduously watch the outputs of the Motherboard Monitor, I am satisfied I got it right and that the CPU is a tough heart.

I may have mentioned before that another critical item must be the subject of routine maintenance if we believe or need to believe in such a thing. The CMOS battery is it. Here and here are the articles which prompt me to post that every two (or three years at maximum) this battery must be replaced. If you, as I was, were fortunate in your selection of the WinME machine, this battery (in my case a circular shiny and slender job of slender coin-like profile) can be popped free of its two retaining clips and removed with comparative ease. I have to use a wooden chop-stick with a dab of ShoeGoo II on its end because mine sits under a buss bar and whilst I can pop-it free of the clips I cannot get my fingers on it. The chop-stick and Goo do the job. The failure (running-down) of this battery can be a major nuisance. Read here.

Cheers,

Ben.

[ekim68]

Thanks Ben...ME can still be loaded onto the new 32-bit platforms, but, as I read it, the 64-bit doesn't get it...Still checking...

[aarhus2004]

Originally Posted by ekim68

Thanks Ben...ME can still be loaded onto the new 32-bit platforms, but, as I read it, the 64-bit doesn't get it...Still checking...

Mike, I am in the dark about these platforms so I can't know what your interest is. Anything you can add would be interesting for me cos you know something I have no idea about. What is the platform WinME had in the beginning and what could we load it onto which would be the 64-bit? i.e. what in a computer offers 64-bit (or 32-bit for tha matter) which isn't related to the operating system? Ignorance is not really bliss for me, and your post comes out of the blue or seems to!

Ben

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

Security is, seemingly, an issue of paramount importance:

The BBC Technology webpage offers this and this.

I recommend the use of the Mozilla Firefox browser (in my case I use it only) for TSG. I really like its way of describing everything - it's more use-friendly and if you have bookmarks to TSG and are a member, you will never have to sign-in again providing you add the link after you have signed-in. Wow!! . Implied in this is that you clean-up your system of all the crud put on it including all caches, histories and so on. In other words - that you are given to routines designed for the sake of the computer's efficiency.

Cheers,

Ben.

PS By way of astonishment.
What drives we critters, yes all of us, to make such journeys (including emigrations from home places)? Do read this.

The BEEB is in fine fettle today cos we have all had one or more of these delightful e-mails (I didnt know that the citizens below the 49th. had been conned to the extent they apparently have been). Read here.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

Coming next, after I have my brain back from exploring BIOS and CMOS dead-ends, will be:

"The CMOS battery and its relationship to the BIOS".

Or something close.

Ben.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

This post has everything to do with peace of mind. I imagine somewhere there exists a list of catastrophic events which can take the pleasure out using a computer. I think of hard-disk failure, and of MoBo breakdown. I reflect on how on earth I can keep going an ageing relic of a computer, from where can I get a replacement this or that. And then I think these things are unknowable, and what I do have control over is doing what I can with what I have to optimize my chances of having more years of satisfaction which I get from using and maintaining my system.

The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is fundamental to accessing Windows. If you haven't all ready done so it well worth your scrutiny. On my computer, which is not a brand-name one and which came with no information in booklet form, requires me to press 'Delete' on boot-up in order to access the BIOS. I do not suggest that any changes be made but rather that one finds out how to navigate through the BIOS and, hopefully, become comfortable doing so. There are instructions all over it - how to view the options available, how to make changes and how to get out of it when the need arises. Much of the information shown may be meaningless but enough will be familiar, enough to ensure one gets a sense of just how important the BIOS is.

The information it shows will be the default settings - those established by the manufacturer. The way your computer was the day you took possession of it. That is unless you or another technician have since modified the settings.

So what can we do, and here I write of those desktop PCs, built in 2000 and having WinME as an operating system. Where are those settings stored? When looking at the BIOS settings via the monitor we can see them well enough. What must we do to ensure those settings remain in 'store'.

The 'store' is a very small chip, and as long as a trickle of power reaches it it will maintain the BIOS data. The source of this power trickle? It is the computers power system, always providing however that the power switch is on (the I/O switch - on my computer at the rear) and also that the computer power cable is in its wall socket. If one of those two are not 'on or in' there can be no power trickle. The chip would 'die' and the settings lost were it not for a small battery called the CMOS battery. One of the links I shall give will explain, that although that name was once exact, today it is more of a tradition. The battery to which I refer is a durable one. The size of a quarter and made of Lithium Oxide it can last for as much as 7 years and as few as 2. It is rechargeable, flat and as shiny as stainless steel. Like many a re-chargeable battery it will last according to conditions of environment and usage. Since its failure is unpredictable the tendency is out sight and mind. It costs so little and once changed the difficulty of so-doing is lessened. What does my experience and reading recommend? Please read the final paragraph here. And see the attached JPG.

BIOS, CMOS, CMOS battery and User a very delicate relationship indeed.

Take care.

Ben.

Some links.

http://forums.techguy.org/all-other-...ml#post4716991

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonvolatile_BIOS_memory

http://www.pcguide.com/care/bu/what_BIOS.htm

http://www.liverepair.com/encycloped...mosbattery.asp

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

IF we lose the BIOS defaults:

http://www.answers.com/topic/flash-memory

http://www.howstuffworks.com/flash-memory.htm

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/computer-memory.htm

http://www.phoenix.com/en/Customer+S...default.htm#Q7


Security Reality Check - The BEEB again.

Ben.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

There is a further update to that most excellent and speedy of freewares known as ScanDefrag here.

And a new Summary is due before month-end.

Greetings.

Ben.

PS I have changed my mind about having two versions of HijackThis working in tandem and settled for Merijn's last 1.99.1 here.

[aarhus2004]

Hello WinME Users,

This subject is why I never will be separated from my computer until I can no longer use it in a meaningful manner.

For the past 24 hours I have wrestled with the most intractable problem ever to confront me.

Symptoms:

I noticed a sluggishness in performance. Realising I had been busily moving large files to and fro on my C:\ drive I decided to do a defragment. Do what I may, and I did much since the defrag refused to pass the 30% mark, such as reducing those processes indicated in the Close Program dialog (Ctrl|Alt|Delete) leaving only Explorer and Systray up and running (to no avail), going into Safe Mode (to no avail), together with checking the Hard Disk's heath and the other drives (they defragged readily), thinking virus, rootkit and every other nasty, including boot sector viruses and the dreaded malicious take-over in unknown ways, I was at my wit's end. System Restore achieved nothing, neither did registry restore. Panda On-line was deployed and to my considerable dismay it too refused to complete its scan having indicated no problems whatsoever. I admit to hair-tearing bafflement. And pride. Which pride kept me from presenting my problem anywhere else and finally resorted in my doing a format/re-install. I enjoy that clean makeover anyway.

One of the more interesting outcome of this particular re-install (which always places one in the original setting of 800 x 600 resolution) was the decision to remain at that setting. I intend to keep it that way for all the problems I have had with vision recently slipped away, and my desktop appearance is as close as can be to my normal 1024 x 768.

Of course the defrag and Panda reluctances were no more.

But what had happened?

Today I believe I know. The knowing began when I read a post by our deeply knowledgeable member Rollin' Rog. He linked, in his post here, to an MS Article dealing with the defrag issue of no completion in WinME. From that article to this one here.

I had seen the Applog folder listed but as with so many system folders and files I never looked into it. Now it is on my list of the 'dangerous and useless'. And after deletion and replacement, the registry tweaks having been made, it is, and will remain, empty.

I am satisfied I have my culprit and delighted to have had the experience. Who needs Mozilla Firefox with its openness and bells and whistles? Not I.

Cheers.

Ben.

PS The GIF below shows why this (a freeware I search and search for when re-installing WinME) is so desirable to me - plus the fact it is a great Spell Checker for Outlook Express. Here.