Windows Watcher

Reduce the amount of spam you're getting ... by Tom S. Bair Jr.

Have you noticed how the Internet has slowed down lately? This is due in part to the delivery of unwanted spam. The Telecommunications Research & Action Center estimated that as of March 2001, spam will account for a whopping 63% of mail traffic on the Web.

Want to reduce the amount of spam you receive by half? If you post to newsgroups and mailing lists, use a separate address. This will keep your main personal address from becoming clogged with spam. You can check your "junk " address every few days to weed out the spam and find any worthwhile gems.

For those with ISPs (Internet Service Providers), you are normally given three to five boxes. Use one for your spam. Also use it when you are required to give an address online. If you don't have any available boxes, sign up for a free account. Hotmail, one of the best known, is located at http://www.hotmail.com. They have a great bulk mail system that does a good amount of weeding for you.

AOL users can set up a screen name to use for "junk email." If the account gets too much spam, it's very easy to delete the screen name and create a new one. Neat trick, eh?

If all Computer Bits readers would take "The Boulder Pledge", we would be taking a large step in contributing to the survival of the online community. Roger Ebert devised this pledge at the Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado back in 1996. So raise your right hands, and pledge the following: "Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited email message. Nor will I forward chain letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to large numbers of others. This is my contribution to the survival of the online community."

Corrections

Richard Leonetti found a typo in last month's column. In step 8 of the tip, "Have Me's Explorer Open in My Computer," there should be no dash or hyphen ( - ) at the end of the line. I hope this error has caused none of you any problems.

Improve NTFS Performance

[NT] When you list a directory on a NTFS volume, Windows NT will update the LastAccess time stamp on each directory it detects. This will slow down your performance. How slow will be based on how many directories you have. Adding a new registry entry will fix this performance problem.

1. Run your Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
3. Add the value name NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate of type REG_DWORD.
4. Setting it to 1will prevent the LastAccess time stamp from being updated.

Remove Personalized Menus

[ME] I really dislike this function of Windows ME. Only your most frequently used menu items are shown when you navigate the Start Menu. You see a half-dozen items and the double-chevron arrow. Click on this double-chevron arrow and ME will show you the rest of the items. I want to see it all, now. If you do too, follow these easy steps to change this annoying feature:

1. Right-click on the Taskbar.
2. Click on 'Properties.'
3. Uncheck the box next to "Use personalized menus" (located at the bottom of the Properties Window).
4. Click the 'Apply' button.
5. Click the 'OK' button.

Disable Your Screen Saver #2

[95/98/SE/ME] In September of 1998 I explained to you how you can keep your screen saver from running when you were defragging your hard drive. Since then I have developed an automatic method that makes Windows do all the work. When you run the Defrag tool, Windows will disable the screen saver. When defragmentation is complete, Windows will enable the screen saver.

1. Open NotePad by navigating to Start|Programs|Accessories|Notepad.
2. For the 1st line, type: REGEDIT4
3. 2nd line: [HKEY CURRENT USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Defrag]
4. Insure in step #3 above that the only spaces used are after the first three words.
5. 3rd line: [HEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Defrag\Settings]"DisableScreenSa ver"=YES"
6. Insure in step #5 above that the only spaces used are after the first three words.
7. In Notepad, click on 'File.'
8. Click on 'Save As...'.
9. Click on the DownArrow to the right of the box titled "Save as type:".
10. In the drop-down list, click on "All Files(*.*)."
11. In the "File name:" box, type autosaver.reg.
12. Insure that "My Documents" is in the location box next to 'Save in:'.
13. Click on the 'Save' button.
14. Run Windows Explorer by navigating to Start|Programs|Assessories|Windows Explorer.
15. If you are not already in "My Documents" folder, click on the "My Documents" icon in the left pane of Windows Explorer.
16. Locate and double-click on autosaver.reg.
17. Depending on which version of Windows you are running, you will be asked if you wish to "merge" or "add" this information to your Registry in a pop-up window. Click on the 'Yes' button. The information in this file will be updated to your registry.
18. Exit all programs and reboot your computer.

Because our magazine uses columns, long lines of code have to be chopped up into several lines. I worry about steps 3 and 5 above. I ask that after you have typed in those lines, go over them once more on a letter-to-letter comparison basis to insure the accuracy of your input lines.

Locking the Taskbar in Place

[ME] Want to keep from accidentally resizing or moving your taskbar whenever you click on it? Then lock it in place by:

1. Right-click on the Taskbar.
2. Click on 'Properties.'
3. Click on the Advanced tab.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the "Start menu and Taskbar" options window.
5. Uncheck the box next to 'Enable moving and resizing.'
6. Click on the 'Apply' button.
7. Click the 'OK' button.

Increase Windows Font Size

[98/SE/ME] Do you find the text in your folder windows a little too small, making it hard to read on your computer? Windows generally uses an 8-point MS sans serif font by default. But you can increase the size up to 10 and make it a bit easier on your eyes while reading. Follow these simple instructions below.

1. Right-click on the desktop.
2. Click on 'Properties.'
3. Click the Appearance tab.
4. Click on the down-arrow to the right of the "Items:" drop-down menu.
5. Click on the word, "Icon."
6. At the bottom of the window you have two drop-down menus; "Font" and "Size." If you are happy with the font that is displayed, then click on size and select 10. Otherwise, you may also change which font is used by clicking on the drop-down arrow and selecting a font name.
7. Watch your Preview Box at the top of the window. The results of your modifications will be displayed here. When you are satisfied with the look of your changes, click on the 'Apply' button.
8. Click the 'OK' button.

Desktop E-mail Shortcut

[98/SE/ME] If you use Outlook or Outlook Express you can send e-mail to someone just by clicking a shortcut icon on your desktop. This will cause a blank e-mail window to appear. All you need do is address it and type in your message. When you click the 'Send' button, Windows will transmit the e-mail the next time you log onto your Internet Service Provider.

1. Right-click on an empty area of the desktop.
2. Highlight 'New' and click on 'Shortcut.'
3. In the "Command:" line, type mailto:
4. Name your shortcut something like "Send email," or "Offline email."
5. Click the 'OK' button.

Device Manager Hotkey

[98/SE/ME] I've shown you a few tricks to quickly access your Device Manager. Now let me give you the keyboard Hotkey to quickly fire up this Systems Properties Window.

1. Press and hold the Windows key (the key with the Microsoft Flag on it).
2. Press the 'Pause/Break' key.

If your keyboard does not have a Break key, try using the Esc key instead.

Nancy Ahern says that Tom Bair, who meekly declines to mention his contributing editorship, no longer cares to talk about ME ... Windows Millennium Edition, that is. No, he has moved on to playing with his laptop. But let us not go there.