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Details / Search
Search Jeff Levy's Lessons
For those who don't know, Jeff Levy has a radio show with which he helps people with their computer problems. Occasionally he gets things wrong, so I take that opportunity to publish the correct information .
USB - Unversal Serial Bus
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June 8, 2002
While talking about the differences between Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Levy stated that 2000 was the latest in the NT series, while XP was the last of the 9X series.
Reply
Both Windows 2000 and XP are based on NT (they are NT 5.0 and NT 5.1 respectively). Windows ME was the last system based on 9X. On a side note, Microsoft recently posted a Windows Timeline.
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May 25, 2002
The caller inquired about a problem using a User account instead of the Administrator account on Windows XP. The problem was that he couldn't access his files (created as Admin) under the User account. Levy suggested the caller create a "Guest" account to install his software, and suggested that the User account could be given Administrator privileges.
Reply
Giving a User account Administrator privileges defeats the whole point of using a limited rights account, that being security and the protection against inadvertent misconfiguring. Additionally, a Guest account can't install most, if not all, software; due to access limits on the registry and file system (if NTFS). The caller's problem would be better fixed by changing those file's permissions from the Admin account allowing Everyone access.
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May 12, 2002
Note: I was shocked and amazed by how wrong Jeff Levy was when:
A caller, running Windows XP, was getting the "Non-system disk, or disk error" message. Levy told the caller how to get to the boot menu (hold Ctrl), and choose "Command Prompt." Then find the file "command.com," and copy it to the root directory. And if that didn't fix it. The caller was told to "boot Windows off the CDROM," click Start, Search, then Find Files and Folders. Then search for setup.exe, and reinstall Windows.
Reply
"Non-system disk, or disk error" means there was some problem with the boot sector. It's important to note, the caller had Windows XP. Now if the boot sector can't load (or rather run), then the boot menu is impossible to get to.
In WinXP the file "command.com" is included only for legacy dos apps, and has nothing at all to do with booting XP.
Finally, booting off the Windows CD-ROM does not load Windows. It loads the installer. Fortunately XP's installer can repair the boot sector.
Also check this item.
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May 5, 2002
Diskeeper was created because Windows 2000 "doesn't really have" defrag and scandisk abilities.
Reply
Diskeeper predates Win2000 by at least 3 years and, the defrager in 2000 is in fact a limited version of Diskeeper. Also Diskeeper is NOT a Scandisk substitute.
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May 4, 2002
Winfile.exe was Windows 3.x's "Program Manager."
Reply
Winfile.exe was the File Manager. Progman.exe was the Program Manager.
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April 21, 2002
While discussing zip drives, Levy mentioned the "Blue Click of Death."
Reply
It's the Blue Screen of Death or the Click of Death.
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April 20, 2002
The caller wanted to upgrade his BIOS, so he download a .bin file but didn't know what to do with it. First Levy speculated that the site intentionally distributed the wrong file. Then Levy suggested the caller look in the CMOS (BIOS setup) for an upgrade option, after which he said the caller should get Winzip to see if there are any files inside the .bin file.
Reply
.bin and .rom are the extensions commonly used for files which contain (uncompressed) BIOS data. The data is written to the BIOS using a flashing utility, usually available from the same source as the .bin or .rom.
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April 13, 2002
After telling a listener not to follow along with what he was saying, Levy stated: "When you listen, you learn with theory."
Reply
Somehow I prefer this quote from Ben Franklin: "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
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April 7, 2002
The first version of Windows was 2.8.
Reply
In 1985 Microsoft released Windows 1.0, here's a Windows Timeline.
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April 6, 2002
Jeff Levy thinks Microsoft can't own the word "Windows," because it's a regular word.
Reply
He must be unaware of the Registered Trademark. MS owns quite a lot of trademarks, search here. However "windows" is limited in scope, so MS won't be suing people marketing storm windows. This item is really interesting after you read the one for September 27, 2003.
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March 30, 2002
Applying the Windows 98 updates will give you the benefits of Win98SE.
Reply
The Win98 "System Update" is only bug fixes/updates, Win98+SU still won't have all the features that were added to Win98 Second Edition.
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March 24, 2002
A caller tried running msconfig, but nothing opened. Levy said this was a "problem with the kernel," and that msconfig is a "very standard" part of Windows, without which you cannot "manipulate and operate" Windows. The caller was asked to search for it, and eventually told to reinstall.
Reply
If a file doesn't exist, and someone assumes it does, that's not a kernel problem. I've seen two systems, both OEM installs, that didn't have msconfig preinstalled. Msconfig is not that important, it's just easier than using regedit and notepad. The msconfig.exe file for Win98 is in Win98_46.cab. Or even better, use AutoRuns.
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March 23, 2002
A listener inquired about Diskeeper, Levy replied that Diskeeper restores Windows 2000 and XP's lost abilities: Scandisk and Defrag.
Reply
Win2000 and XP do have drive checking and defragmentation tools. In fact, the defrager in 2000/XP is a limited version of Diskeeper. Diskeeper is NOT a Scandisk substitute.
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March 17, 2002
A caller upgraded her hard drive, and now couldn't change her color depth. Jeff Levy said it was "easy to fix", and was related to the video driver. She said (twice) that she went to ViewSonic and got a driver for the a70. He then said it could be an IRQ conflict, and she should put the card in another slot. He then insisted she upgrade, despite the caller's protests that the machine worked fine and was plenty fast.
Reply
He was probably right about it being the video driver, but had he listened closer he would have heard that she went to ViewSonic (they make monitors, not video cards), and would have realized that the caller got the monitor spec file (.inf), not the video driver. If it was an IRQ issue it wouldn't have just a color depth problem.
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March 10, 2002
A.K. Clued me into this one: Windows 98SE "does not have an auto-sort" for listings in the Start Menu. The caller was told to drag the items into order.
Reply
Win 98SE (among others) can sort the Programs menu by name. Click 'Start', 'Programs', then right-click any item and choose 'Sort by name'. Thanks again to A.K.
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January 20, 2002
A laptop had a "56k baud" modem.
Reply
Baud and bps are not interchangeable. This site has information about the difference.
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November 18, 2001
When the power goes out, and the hard drive is writing a file, that's called a crash.
Reply
It would cause file corruption, but it's not called a crash. A hard drive crash is when one of the heads, which read and write the data, comes into contact with the platter while it is spinning. Causing physical damage to the surface of the disk.
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Copyright 2005 - Ken Nign
 
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