2000 ARTICLE SUMMARIES
Last update: 11/12/00
11/12/00 If you just installed Windows
Me and are wondering what happened to the Microsoft Backup program, click
here...
9/26/00 Back in the MS-DOS and
Windows 3.x days most technicians packed a boot floppy with some basic software
tools on it for trouble-shooting, installing hard disks, etc.. Today,
this sort of floppy is called a Windows Startup disk or Emergency Boot Disk
(EBD) and is largely ignored until an emergency, such as a hard disk failure,
when, to the dismay of the user, it may not work. Furthermore, with
the advent of Windows Me, there is no way to even make a bootable floppy
from the Windows Format Menu or by using the FORMAT /s command from the DOS
prompt. Find solutions to these problems in How
to Make Windows Me Startup and Boot Floppy Disks.
9/14/00 A few changes have been
made in the procedures for installing Windows Me (Millennium Edition) as
compared to previous versions. To learn about them and a few other
tidbits of information, read How
to Install Windows Me.
9/12/00 The best
way I have found to date to share an Internet connection, be it dial-up,
cable MODEM, or DSL, is with the SMC Barricade Broadband Router. Click
here for a different kind of review of this product.
8/11/00 AMD just E-Mailed AMD
Resellers a Tech Tip on Socket A Athlon and Duron heatsinks. I would
suggest reading it before throwing the power switch on that computer with
your new Athlon or Duron. It could prevent destruction of the processor. Click
here to read it.
8/8/00 10 Days and counting. On
7/22/99 I stated, "So, now, hopefully, with your help, I'll create my
second 'playpen,' the Dux Computer Digest." Well, you have helped
and I 'm going to do it this month. Click
here to read more...
7/29/00 For those who "exchange" gifts
during the holidays, it's not too early to start thinking ahead and start
nagging for those Christmas goodies. Here's
what I want... and a guess of what will be available in motherboards and
CPUs by December 22nd.
7/27/00 This 144-pin chip is
starting to show-up on motherboards and ATA/100 controller expansion boards. What
it does is what the motherboard chipsets don't do yet. So,
I thought this little gem deserved its own little article: The Highpoint
HPT370 ATA/100 RAID Controller Chip.
7/26/00 Acer Labs ALiMAGIK 1 AMD
Athlon Super Northbridge Product Brief. How about a 266 Mhz FSB
and 266 Mhz memory to go with it, among other thing. Click
here for the Product Brief and list of features.
7/13/00 Internet
Explorer 5.5... Is this version of IE worth downloading and
installing? Yes, if you have a broadband Internet connection. Maybe,
if you are using a dial-up, have good connection, and are patient/retired. Click
here to read more.
6/30/00 Circa 1989... What
was the computer like and how much did cost? For a little nostalgia,
read about in My, How Things Have Changed.
6/22/00 Say goodbye to some old "friends":
Slot 1 CPUs and motherboards, Slot A CPUs and motherboards, Socket 7/Super7
CPUs and motherboards, Baby AT form factor motherboards and cases, and AT
power supplies and keyboards. Read about in:
Obituary - Slot 1, Slot A, Socket 7,
K6, & Baby AT!
6/17/00 If you are hellbent on
breaking your computer you might as well turn to a real expert and learn
how to do the job right. We start with... How
to Break a Keyboard.
6/16/00 Thinking of buying Windows
2000? Microsoft has a tool to check your computer hardware and software
to see if there will be problems before deciding to buy it. Click
here for more info...
6/13/00 It is not possible to
describe all of the steps one might take to fix every printer, but in many
cases a simple set of procedures and a logical approach may save you a trip
to a repair shop. Read How
to Troubleshoot Printer Problems for more info.
6/12/00 From the Shop... In the "old
days" motherboards were commonly shipped as OEM products in "plain
wrappers." Some still are. And the motherboard books did
not mention the manufacture either--a generic product, indeed. So how
does one find-out who made the board? Find the answer in...
How to Indentify a Motherboard
6/11/00 We attempt to describe
the "New" Socket A Athlon, with on-die L2 cache', in brief and
more understandable language in
A Guide to The "New" AMD Socket
A
Athlon Processor
6/8/00 We continue the Dux Computer
Digest Hard Disk Drive Guide with How
a Hard Disk Drive Works.
6/7/00 If you are looking
for an easy to install network for your a home or small office, the D-Link
DHN-910 Phoneline Network in a Box may be just the solution.
6/1/00 We start the Dux Computer
Digest Hard Disk Drive Guide with two articles: A Brief History
of the Hard Disk Drive and What is an IDE Hard Disk Drive? Click
here for the Introduction.
5/31/00 The AOpen 952E 52X CD-ROM drive
is a reliable, fast, quiet, and somewhat economical CD-ROM drive. This
is AOpen's most recent CD-ROM drive. The "differences" between
it and the AOpen 948E 48X CD-ROM drive may come as a surprise to some. Click
here to read more.
5/31/00 The Epox MVPC2 and MVP3G2
Super7 motherboard reviews have been rewritten to account for the noticeable
increase in ATA/66 hard disk performance resulting from a recent BIOS revision. Click
the appropriate link to read more MVP3G2
ATX, MVP3C2 Baby
AT.
5/18/00 A few months ago I came
into work and found the usual pile of junk FAXes waiting for the trash can
and thought to myself, 'Why are we continuing to pay for a dedicated phone
line to receive this garbage? Read on to learn more about... The
Death of the FAX Machine!
5/9/00 Duron... Duron... Sounds like
a song from the sixties, but it's a derivative of the Athlon, AMDs answer
to the Intel Celeron, and may be a replacement for the K6 line of processors. Click
here for what I know/have heard about AMD's new Duron processor, plus a little
speculation...
5/8/00 I have been using the
AOpen 9XXE/AKU series of CD-ROM drives for upgrades and new computers for
years and have found them to be quality products that hold-up over time. Currently,
the 48X version of the drive is my choice for performance/cost. Click
here to read the review.
5/4/00 During the installation
of a CD-ROM drive, configuration choices can noticeably affect drive performance. Read
about it in How to Install a CD-ROM Drive.
4/22/00 $$$ Some
interesting observations on types of web page banner ads, click rates,
and how much Yahoo gets for banners.
4/14/00 I have started a Windows How
to page with tips and tricks. I will build on this section as time
goes by. If you want to contribute that neat idea or tip that perhaps
no one has thought of before, please post a message in our Discussion Forum. I
will setup a Windows Forum soon where problems, etc. can be posted and discussed
as well. Larry Click
here for the article.
4/13/00 In the Dux Computer Digest
reviews of the EpoX MVP3G2 and MVP3C2 Super7 motherboards, I expressed disappointment
with the ATA/66 hard disk performance of these otherwise superb motherboards. Well,
it looks like EpoX has finally fixed the problem. Click
here to read more.
4/12/00 I use Microsoft FrontPage
to directly write, organize, and publish the Dux Computer Digest. Today,
I started a FrontPage How to for the Digest. The article starts with
a few items. I will try to add to it over time. If there is enough
interest in the subject, I may, in the future, add a Discussion Forum on
FrontPage to this web site. Click here for the article.
3/23/00 The Baby AT form-factor
motherboard lives on... The EpoX MVP3C2 Socket 7, Baby AT motherboard is
well-suited for upgrading aging Baby AT computers at minimal cost. Add
a 450 or 500 Mhz AMD K6-2 processor and 64 MBytes of PC-100 memory
and you will put enough zip in that old computer to put a smile on your secretary's
face  . Click
here to read the review.
3/16/2000 A customer brought
me her computer to fix a problem with a game and this HP 3300C scanner to
install. The game was a difficult problem; installing the scanner was
a breeze. Furthermore, I was impressed with the quality and performance
of this $130 scanner. Click
here to read the review.
2/10/2000 I call A-Top AT900-ATG a mid-tower
case because it isn't as tall as a full-tower case and has fewer bays;
however, it is taller and has more drive bays than many other mid-tower
cases. Click here
to read the review.
2/1/2000 We present benchmarks
and observations for some popular Socket 7 CPU's; namely, the AMD 450 Mhz
K6-3, 450 Mhz K6-2, 400 Mhz K6-2, and the VIA Cyrix 300 Mhz M2-433GP. Which
one is the best buy?
1/21/2000 Are you tired of the inconvenience
of frequently having to fetch and insert your Windows CD when you install
new hardware or software? Well,
here's how to put all of those files on your hard disk and tell Windows to
look for them there instead of on the CD.
1/19/2000 The
latest and greatest in computer technology... This all started
as a review of VIA Technologies' Cyrix MII processor and turned into
an editorial on a pet peeve of mine...
1/6/2000 The Vantec
SK-5026FD socket 7/socket 370 Cooler or CPU fan characterizes
what one should be looking for in the way of a device to prevent a CPU
from frying. |
