RIVER BENDER - May 2002

How fast is your PC? Most people know the speed of their PC but some folks haven't a clue. Here’s how to find how many megaHertz (mHz) you have if you use Window 98: Click Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information. On the Tools menu, click Windows Report Tool then on the Options menu click Collected Information. The CPU speed is displayed under Compspeed.

National ISPS come to New Bern. MSN (Microsoft Network) has joined AOL in providing a local access phone number for New Bern (in Havelock). Previously both services' closest access was Greenville that could be dialed locally from New Bern only by paying Sprint extra for expanded service. The data numbers are MSN: 652-0004 and AOL: 652-0007.

New Bern also has a new ISP called SurfBest ($12.50/mo) that can be dialed locally. See http://cognigen.net/surfbest/moreinfo.cgi?cityshops). If you go to http://www.all-free-isp.com/252-area-code.php you will find free Juno and NetZero ISPs but they're still only available out of Greenville. Other local inexpensive ISPs are shown on this web page.

Windows 95 doesn't have the utility Start/Run "msconfig" that is available in Windows 98 and later versions. A freeware program called StartCop for Widows 95 will do the same thing and allow one to delete unnecessary items from the start menu at bootup. This will improve performance significantly, especially in older PCs with limited memory. Download StartCop from PC magazine at http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,3396,a%253D8066,00.asp. It comes only in Zip format so you'll need to know how to unzip it to install it. To do this you'll need a program like WINZIP. You can download it at http://www.winzip.com/. An alternative to StartCop is to obtain a copy of msconfig.exe on a diskette from a friend with Windows 98. Copy/Paste it into your C:\Windows\System folder. To run it go to Start/Run and type msconfig. See http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/ for information on how to clean up your start menu and improve performance.

Just having an anti-virus program won't cut the mustard! It's almost worthless if not kept updated online and more so if it's not even enabled. I've heard from people whose PC became infected that they couldn't understand how it could happen since they had an antivirus program. Now they know.

Google tips: Google, at http://www.google.com, is probably the most popular search engine on the web. Last month I wrote how to use it to search News groups. Here’s some more neat things you can do with Google:

Find a street map: Enter a street address and zip code or town and state in Google. Example: 110 Somename Drive, New Bern, NC

Find a name from a phone number: Enter phone number separated by commas in Google. Example: NPA,NNX,XXXX

Find an address/phone from a name: Type the following into the Google search box: First name (or first initial), last name, then city, state, zip code or area code. Example: J,Doe,New Bern. Don't forget the commas.

Search a particular web site: Enter the word "site:" followed by the search word(s),comma, then enter the URL of the web site to be searched. Example: site: software,http://www4.coastalnet.com/nbcug. In this example you are looking for the word "software" on the NBCUG web page. Don't forget the space after site: and the comma after the search word(s).

Find out who has hyperlinks to your web site: Enter the word "link:" followed by the site's URL. Example: link: http://www.ci.river-bend.nc.us. (This example lists the web sites that have links to the River Bend web site. Note the space after link. )