PC Magazine Articles by Neil Randall

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© 2002 Neil Randall

 

 

 

Here is a selection of articles published in PC Magazine over the past two years.

 

*       Stay in Touch
Neil Randall,
1/16/2001
All-in-one Web communication services consolidate your connection points into an always-accessible account. When you’re in business, the last . . .
 

*       Power to the People
Neil Randall,
4/17/2001
From sharing music to sharing resources, peer-to-peer technologies may revolutionize the way we compute. No matter which side of the music-sharing . . .
 

*       Take Advantage of Online Databases
Neil Randall,
3/20/2001
Several free services let you harness the power of code-free online forms. Whatever the size or the purpose of your Internet venture, gathering . . .
 

 

*       Dual Booting
Neil Randall,
11/20/2000
Installing Windows and Linux on a single machine is much easier than it used to be, but it's not quite a no-brainer yet. Linux is hot. Very hot. And . . .
 

 

*       Produce Online Newsletters in Publisher
Neil Randall,
11/7/2000
Microsoft Publisher 2000 improves communication with your customers or employees by turning newsletters into Web sites. One large part of e-business . . .
 

 

*       Web Serving with Win 2000 Professional
Neil Randall, 10/17/2000
If your Web server needs are modest, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional may do the trick. What if you want to set up a peer-to-peer TCP/IP network, . . .
 

 

*       Understanding FrontPage Server Extensions
Neil Randall, 2/20/2001
To make the most of your Microsoft FrontPage-based Web site, you need to take advantage of the FrontPage Server Extensions. Microsoft FrontPage goes . . .
 

 

*       Writing Multiple Sessions to CD-RW Disks
Neil Randall, 9/19/2000
Some potentially confusing options may slow the way to one of CD-RW’s most alluring capabilities. CD-R and CD-RW are the only real choices for . . .
 

 

*       Manage Your Passwords
Neil Randall, 12/19/2000
Keep track of passwords without compromising security. As an Internet user, you quickly learn that passwords multiply. You start with just one, then . . .
 

 

*       Boot Menu Management
Neil Randall, 5/8/2001
After working with Windows 98 for a while, I installed Windows NT Workstation 4.0, which created the handy dual boot menu to let me decide which . . .
 

 

*       Where to Host FrontPage
Neil Randall, 1/2/2001
I'm shopping for hosting services that offer FrontPage Server Extensions. Some services ask me to specify whether I want my site to be served on a . . .
 

 

*       Choosing a Domain Name Registrar
Neil Randall, 1/16/2001
There are plenty of options for recording your Internet identity. Here's what to look for. If you're establishing yourself on the Internet, not only . . .
 

 

*       Saving Your View
Neil Randall, 1/16/2001
Every time I work with a folder, I have to go into the View menu and set up the display format I prefer. Can I have my folders use this view . . .
 

 

*       QuickBase
Neil Randall, 3/20/2001
As this article was about to go to press, Quicken publisher Intuit entered the online database service market with QuickBase. As this article was . . .
 

 

*       Finding Aliens and Wiping Out Cancer
Neil Randall, 4/17/2001
As compelling as P2P's current applications might be, some observers find its close cousin, distributed computing, even more promising. This . . .
 

 

*       Friendly URLs
Neil Randall, 12/5/2000
Links that display in IE's status bar are often too long and look like gibberish. Is there any way to make the URLs more readable?Suzanne Ethertonvia . . .
 

 

*       Intrusion Detection Systems: Who's in Here?
Neil Randall, 12/5/2000
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) detect network intruders and perform other important tasks. IDSs can track a user's activity from entry to exit, . . .
 

 

*       WebTrends Security Analyzer 3.5
Neil Randall, 12/5/2000
Scanning inside your network for vulnerabilities and security threats is every bit as important as guarding the outside perimeter with a firewall. We . . .
 

 

*       Freeware Port Scanners: Plug the Holes
Neil Randall, 12/5/2000
Most of us are used to referring to ports as the physical connections on a computer, such as the printer port, USB port, keyboard port, and so on. . . .

 

*       AutoComplete
Neil Randall, 11/7/2000
Over the course of a few months, I've become so used to Internet Explorer 5's AutoComplete feature that I can barely work without it anymore. My . . .
 

 

*       Password-Protect FrontPage Sites
Neil Randall, 6/18/2001
How can I password-protect only certain portions of a FrontPage 2000 web? Specifically, how do I password-protect the discussion group on my Web site . . .
 

 

*       Telnet 2000 Missing Features
Neil Randall, 2/6/2001
I've been using the telnet application in Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0 to log on to my Unix account for quite some time. I recently switched to Windows . . .
 

 

*       Reverse the Boot-Up Slowdown
Neil Randall, 2/6/2001
I am running Windows 98 SE on a computer with a Pentium III/550 processor. Everything works fine, but the system seems to take longer and longer to . . .
 

 

*       When Windows Won't Install Another Modem
Neil Randall, 10/3/2000
I tried to install a new modem on my Windows 98 system the other day but I was told that my system would only handle six instances of TCP/IP. What . . .
 

 

*       Control IE Updates
Neil Randall, 10/3/2000
Windows Update lets me upgrade my Internet Explorer 5 installation to IE 5.5, but I'd like more control over the process. Is there any place on the . . .
 

 

Mouse-Over Error Message
Neil Randall, 7/1/2001
Internet Explorer malfunctions sometimes when I move my mouse over a clickable menu. I get an error message asking me if I want to debug. I don't. I . . .

*       Supported Platforms
Neil Randall, 2/20/2001
The FrontPage Server Extensions 2000 package is available for most of the popular server software on the Web. Not surprisingly, the extensions . . .
 

 

*       Hop-Off Services: IP Meets Analog
Neil Randall, 10/3/2000
Hop-off services are named for their ability to take voice packets off the Internet and put them onto the regular phone system, allowing . . .
 

 

*       Missing Network
Neil Randall, 8/1/2000
My Windows 98 machine often can't find the network at boot-up. I'm using a USB network adapter, and I'm wondering if that's part of the problem.James . . .
 

 

*       Embedding Files in E-Mail
Neil Randall, 8/1/2000
I often send Word and Excel files as e-mail attachments. Recently, some of my correspondents have asked me not to do so, usually because of virus . . .
 

 

*       Bad Timing
Neil Randall, 12/19/2000
Two of my friends regularly send me e-mail from a university across the country. Recently their messages have arrived showing times that are several . . .
 

 

*       Passwords in Microsoft Office
Neil Randall, 12/19/2000
You already know you can protect your Microsoft Office files with passwords. Using the Save As dialog, you can add a password to Word, Excel, and . . .
 

 

*       Format a Company Screen Saver
Neil Randall, 12/19/2000
Here's a tip that's sure to impress your boss and coworkers. First, obtain a bitmap image of your company logo from a scanner, the Web—even fax . . .
 

 

*       Put the New Menu On a Diet
Neil Randall, 12/19/2000
When I right-click a folder and move the mouse down the pop-up menu to New, my system takes an extremely long time to open the list of possible new . . .
 

 

*       Finishing Touches
Neil Randall, 2/20/2001
The Web is crowded and intensely competitive. Unless you stand out, you can easily get lost in the shuffle. We evaluate services that can make your . . .
 

 

*       Informing
Neil Randall, 2/20/2001
Syndicated content freshens up a site and keeps visitors informed at the same time. One of the oldest axioms in Web design is "Make it new." That's . . .
 

 

*       Profiting
Neil Randall, 2/20/2001
Adding an affiliate program links site content to product sales—and can fatten your bottom line. Most of the finishing touches we've discussed . . .
 

 

*       Instant Intranet
Neil Randall, 8/1/2001
Microsoft Office XP's SharePoint Team Services let workgroups collaborate with efficiency and ease. Collaboration tools are crucial when a team . . .
 

 

*       Preserve Your Image
Neil Randall, 9/4/2001
Disk-cloning software goes beyond backup and gives you an exact image of your hard drive—perfect for crash recovery and rapid system deployment . . .

 

*       Edit Frontpage Components
Neil Randall, 10/16/2001
FrontPage 2002's Web components feature can add value to your site, but it can also drive visitors off your page and onto Microsoft's. A quick HTML . . .
 

 

*       Help Is on the Way
Neil Randall, 11/27/2001
Wouldn't it be nice if the tech-support guy could sit next to you and give you hands-on help? Windows XP's Remote Assistance feature lets experts . . .
 

 

*       Integrating Buttons and Labels in FrontPage
Neil Randall, 12/11/2001
It's more convenient if users can click on a button's label rather than the button itself. Here's how to make the labels clickable. In Microsoft . . .
 

 

*       File Uploads in FrontPage
Neil Randall, 1/15/2002
Even without an FTP server, you can let visitors upload files to your site anonymously using FrontPage's form features. Our users have requested that . . .
 

 

*       To Sum Up...
Neil Randall, 1/29/2002
I frequently write reports for my department, and in almost all cases, I get asked for short summaries of the reports for distribution among workers . . .
 

 

*       Dual-Boot Outlook Headache
Neil Randall, 1/29/2002
I have a computer that can boot Windows 98 or Windows 2000 Professional. Office 2000 is installed separately on both operating systems. Recently, . . .
 

 

*       Unhelpful Suggestions
Neil Randall, 1/29/2002
How can I stop Outlook from automatically filling in the e-mail address when I start typing the name of a contact in the To: field? Morton . . .
 

 

*       Cable Modem Slowdown
Neil Randall, 10/16/2001
I have a high-speed Internet account with a cable company, and I'm satisfied with the connection speed—most of the time. But sometimes the . . .
 

 

*       Attach a Cable Modem to an Ethernet Hub
Neil Randall, 8/1/2000
I have an Ethernet LAN consisting of five computers hooked together through an eight-port hub. I just subscribed to a cable modem service that I . . .
 

 

*       Restricting Relayed E-Mail
Neil Randall, 2/12/2002
My server system uses Ipswitch's IMail Server for e-mail services. Lately, though, I've had to reboot the system almost every morning, with Windows . . .
 

 

*       Managing IE Links
Neil Randall, 2/12/2002
Is there any way to control the items found on Internet Explorer's Links bar? Maryanne Zagat Yes. Think of IE's Links bar as a place for your most . . .
 

 

*       Safe Shopping
Neil Randall, 2/12/2002
Follow common-sense procedures to make using your credit card online more secure. Do you love the convenience of online shopping but worry about who . . .
 

 

*       Closing Windows
Neil Randall, 2/12/2002
How can I solve the problem of browser windows popping up in rapid succession no matter how quickly I try to close them? Fighting these things is . .

 

 

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