Technical Consulting

May 2005

Greetings!

Thank you for subscribing to my occasional e-Newsletter. Please forward it to friends and colleagues who might find it useful.

Best wishes,
Hilary
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Infected PDF files require Adobe Acrobat/Reader update
The existence of a security flaw in PDF files requires the upgrading of Adobe Reader and Acrobat software. To eliminate the risk, take one of the following three steps. (1) Rename Adobe's eBook.api file, if you don't use Adobe eBooks; (2) Install the Reader 6.0.2 upgrade; or (3) Upgrade Reader and Acrobat to version 7.0. For the Reader 6.0.2 upgrade or the free Reader 7.0, see:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/alternate.html

Internet Explorer suddenly stops opening new windows?
The library file urlmon.dll, is required by Windows and is used when performing OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) operations. OLE allows objects created in one application to be embedded in documents/objects created by a different applications e.g. embedding an Excel spreadsheet inside a Word document. When a new window for a slideshow or QuickTime movie fails to open, it may be that your urlmon.dll file has been corrupted. Solution:
Go to Start / Run Then enter regsvr32 urlmon.dll

Gmail account
The Gmail invite spooler collects Gmail invitations from those who have extras, and distributes them to those who want a free 1 gigabyte Gmail account. The Gmail invite spooler is located at http://isnoop.net/gmailomatic.php. A Gmail account isn't just for email - it can be used for off-site storage and accessing that data from anywhere you have Internet access. Get the Gmail shell extension at:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/E-mail/Mail-Utilities/GMail-Drive-shell-extension.shtml

Question from a subscriber:
Read your item on Desktop Google - whatever happened to that great old DOS program Xtree? Seems to me I could do everything with that and a lot faster!
Answer: I remember Xtree well -- I used it all the time too. Some people are enthusiastic about the Wndows Explorere replacement PowerDesk. There is a free version <http://www.v-com.com/product/PowerDesk_Free_Trial.html> (unlimited time), but I don't know that it does all that Xtree did.

Keeping up with Spy/Ad/Mal-ware
Three months ago we thought that the free anti-spy programs "Ad-Aware" and "Spybot Search & Destroy" in combination were the best way to remove and prevent spyware. But these malicious programs are a moving target. One of the best ways to keep up is to subscribe to the "Windows Secrets" newsletter:
<http://www.windowssecrets.com/>

Read the January 2005 edition of "News from A-to-Zed"
Read the September 2004 edition of "News from A-to-Zed"
Read the June 2004 edition of "News from A-to-Zed"