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March 2005

UpdateXP.com

 Newsletter...

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www.updatexp.com

Making Windows XP a little easier...

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The most current newsletter is always available online at:

http://www.updatexp.com/current

The current newsletter in an RSS feed is available at:

http://www.updatexp.com/newsletter.xml

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Hi!

I've never laughed so hard!

When I first thought of creating a free multimedia course
to explain the growing popularity of RSS and how it can
make organizing your online content much easier. I just
thought this was a "foolish idea".

I was SURE it would only appeal to a few hundred folk...

But I created it anyway and boy was I proved wrong!

Literally several thousand newsletter subscribers have
signed up and the feedback has been fantastic.

See, I get LOTS of article suggestions come my way.

Some good.

Some just plain dumb. (sorry, it's true)

But every once in a while, some totally rock!

And when this "foolish idea" came in, I was pretty
doubtful to say the least.

But many of you responded to my online RSS poll I ran
last year and said you wanted training - SO the site
was born:

http://www.rss-lessons.com

...and now I am working on:

http://www.fighting-spyware.com

It seems using "videos" and "PDF handouts" has
touched a real need!

If you have any other ideas for similar multimedia
courses then please let me know...

Now on with this months newsletter - sorry it's late
but the Easter break delayed me :-)

Regards

Marc

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This Newsletter's Contents:

1. Windows XP Chkdsk Utility...

2. Memories of Windows 3.1...

3. Google Quick Tip 1...

4. DirectX Diagnostic Tool...

5. Online Backups - Why So Important?

6. Spyware Doctor Updated To version 3.2...

7. Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts...

8. Internet Explorer Text Size...

9. MSN Messenger 7 BETA Arrives...

10. The Pod Blog...

11. Microsoft News Stories...

12. Google Quick Tip 2...

13. Great Windows XP Media Articles...

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1. Windows XP Chkdsk Utility...

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This underused and misunderstood utility should be used
by ALL users of Windows XP.

Discover how to use chkdsk and why you should be using
it on a regular basis:

http://www.updatexp.com/windows-xp-chkdsk.html


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2. Memories of Windows 3.1

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I had an email this week from a guy in Canada who claimed
he had never seen Windows 3.1

Well it brought back a few memories of Microsoft's predecessor
to Windows 95.

If you never had a chance to use it at the time, or simply
fancy a trip down "memory lane" I have uploaded a few images
onto my server for you to look at:


Windows 3.1 Splash Screen:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win31logo.gif

Windows 3.1 Screen Saver:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win31ssaver.gif

Windows 3.1 Add/Remove Programs:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win31addrem.gif

Windows 3.1 Networking:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win311net.gif

Windows 3.1 Audio:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win31audio.gif

Windows 3.1 Group Mail:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win311mail.gif

Windows 3.1 Registry Editing:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win31regedit.gif

Windows 3.1 Control Panel:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/1-04.jpg

Windows 3.1 Exiting:

http://www.updatexp.com/images/win311exit.gif


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3. Google Quick Tip...

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Carrying on with my series of Google Tips here is
the first of two in this newsletter.

Sometimes you may want to know what pages are contained
in the Google index, for a specific website.

To get this information type in

site:

followed by the URL of the website without the http://

E.g.

site:www.updatexp.com

This would show all the pages for www.updatexp.com in
the Google index.


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4. DirectX Diagnostic Tool...

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Having problems running the latest games with Windows
XP?

Sound is corrupted or games running slowly...?

Enter the DirectX Diagnostic Tool!

http://www.updatexp.com/directx-diagnostic-tool.html


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5. Online Backups - Why So Important?

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It never fails to surprise me just how many folk NEVER
make backups of their files, photos etc.

And those that do often make backups and keep them
in the same location as their computers.

One fire, one flood and that's it!

ALL your hard work and memories could be gone...

So that is why I use an online backup service to
keep things safe until I need them:

More at:

http://www.updatexp.com/online-data-storage.html


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6. Spyware Doctor Updated To version 3.2

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PC Tools have recently updated their infamous antispyware
software "Spyware Doctor".

New to this release are:

- A behavioral Keylogger Guard
- Process Guard
- Startup Guard
- Multi-browser Cookie Monitor

Find out more about these benefits and take the trial
edition for a spin...

http://www.updatexp.com/spyware-detection-software.html


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7. Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts...

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There are a huge number of keyboard shortcuts that can be
used with Internet Explorer.

Many of these will save you time too...

This article details the main keyboard shortcuts you
may want to take a look at:

http://www.updatexp.com/internet-explorer-keyboard-shortcuts.html

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8. Internet Explorer Text Size...

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Have you ever visited a website and found the text too
small?

Well did you know that you can have Internet Explorer
display that text in a larger format?

Here's how:

From the "View Menu" select "Text Size" and you will
be given a selection of sizes to chose from.

This screenshot shows the process above:


http://www.updatexp.com/images/ietextsize.gif

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9. MSN Messenger 7 BETA Arrives...

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MSN Messenger 7 BETA Arrives...

Take a sneak peek here:

http://messenger.msn.com/Beta

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10. The Pod Blog...

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Since the whole "Podcasting" scene is starting to
explode online I have now started a "Blog" on the
subject!

The idea is to put Podcasting news on the Blog and
keep folk up to date on this new way of receiving
"content" in an MP3 format...

Here is the URL:

http://www.thepodblog.com

(Only a few posts, but it will grow...)


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11. Microsoft News Stories...

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Recent News Stories from Microsoft:

Microsoft Launches Online Video Service for
Windows Mobile-Based Devices...

http://www.updatexp.com/msn-video.html 

Microsoft Launches Outlook Live...

http://www.updatexp.com/outlook-live.html 

Microsoft MSN Premium...

http://www.updatexp.com/msn-premium.html 

Outlook Lights Up With MSN Hotmail...

http://www.updatexp.com/outlook-live-hotmail.html 

MSN Spaces...

http://www.updatexp.com/msn-spaces.html 

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12. Google Quick Tip 2...

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Google recently added a huge database of academic papers
to its index.

This is proving a fertile ground for those wanting to
research relevant topics.

To quote Google:

"Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for
scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers,
theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports
from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to
find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers,
professional societies, preprint repositories and universities,
as well as scholarly articles available across the web.

Just as with Google Web Search, Google Scholar orders
your search results by how relevant they are to your
query, so the most useful references should appear at
the top of the page. This relevance ranking takes into
account the full text of each article as well as the
article's author, the publication in which the article
appeared and how often it has been cited in scholarly
literature. Google Scholar also automatically analyzes
and extracts citations and presents them as separate
results, even if the documents they refer to are not
online. This means your search results may include
citations of older works and seminal articles that
appear only in books or other offline publications."

Access the search page here:

http://scholar.google.com
 
Need help? Check these pages:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html


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13. Great Windows XP Media Articles...

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# Six Tips for Buying an MP3 Player with Flash Memory:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/flash.aspx

# Stream music, video, and photos stored on your Windows
XP–based computer anywhere in your home:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/wmconnect/default.aspx

# Windows Media High Definition has Arrived:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/HDVideo.aspx


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Well, I hope you found this newsletter useful?

Until next time!

Don't forget to tell your friends about us!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP in Digital Media
www.marcliron.com

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