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Thanks for clarifying the difference. It doesn’t sound like I’d be bypassing security policies-our policy is to disable VBScript to block the malware, not to block our capabilities-although it very effectively does that too. I’ll check on this scripting library as it’s either nothing I’ve ever heard of before or when I’ve heard of it in the past I’ve always confused it with VBScript. Trust Microsoft.

Thanks for clarifying the difference. It doesn’t sound like I’d be bypassing security policies-our policy is to disable VBScript to block the malware, not to block our capabilities-although it very effectively does that too. I’ll check on this scripting library as it’s either nothing I’ve ever heard of before or when I’ve heard of it in the past I’ve always confused it with VBScript. Trust Microsoft.

I, on the other hand, have found 256MB to be fine for XP-both Pro & Home. I’ll admit to having 512MB on my laptops but that’s because they’ve been, in the past, more difficult/expensive to upgrade so I tend to specify more than the ‘minimum’ when I buy them. It may depend on what you’re doing-my digital imaging work is with photographs, not video. But I typically run multiple applications (word processing, image editing, email, for example-I also do programming, spreadsheet, and database work but tend to substitute whichever of those I need for the word processing or image editing) and have rarely found a slowdown. This is on 2.8GHz P4’s though. Perhaps the speed compensates for the lesser RAM?

Also, I think you mean ‘shared’ video RAM rather than ‘on-board’ video. Most of my machines have on-board video-but not shared. I’ve had machines with shared video RAM in the past & found performance was fine-as long as you had plenty of memory. (Note that these were not gaming or video machines-see my list of common apps above. On-board video is rarely high-performance although I’ve heard of a few exceptions.)

Hard disk size. I’ve found 12GB to be fine for those machines that I keep my work on. The one I keep my archives on, now that has two 80GB & a 120GB. And I’m thinking of adding more to it. One of the biggest factors in running out of disk space, for me at least, is the number of programs I load. My typical machine has no more than 5 ‘major’ programs & maybe 15 ‘minor’ ones. I have found that I need a larger drive on my test machine-but I’m constantly loading & removing programs from it. So much so that even with XP I find myself reformatting it at least once a year. Typically I’d guess that it has at least 40 apps on it.

30GB would be more than enough for what I consider ‘normal’ use-but everybody’s use differs. I always look at the use before making a recommendation for a larger HD.

I, on the other hand, have found 256MB to be fine for XP-both Pro & Home. I’ll admit to having 512MB on my laptops but that’s because they’ve been, in the past, more difficult/expensive to upgrade so I tend to specify more than the ‘minimum’ when I buy them. It may depend on what you’re doing-my digital imaging work is with photographs, not video. But I typically run multiple applications (word processing, image editing, email, for example-I also do programming, spreadsheet, and database work but tend to substitute whichever of those I need for the word processing or image editing) and have rarely found a slowdown. This is on 2.8GHz P4’s though. Perhaps the speed compensates for the lesser RAM?

Also, I think you mean ‘shared’ video RAM rather than ‘on-board’ video. Most of my machines have on-board video-but not shared. I’ve had machines with shared video RAM in the past & found performance was fine-as long as you had plenty of memory. (Note that these were not gaming or video machines-see my list of common apps above. On-board video is rarely high-performance although I’ve heard of a few exceptions.)

Hard disk size. I’ve found 12GB to be fine for those machines that I keep my work on. The one I keep my archives on, now that has two 80GB & a 120GB. And I’m thinking of adding more to it. One of the biggest factors in running out of disk space, for me at least, is the number of programs I load. My typical machine has no more than 5 ‘major’ programs & maybe 15 ‘minor’ ones. I have found that I need a larger drive on my test machine-but I’m constantly loading & removing programs from it. So much so that even with XP I find myself reformatting it at least once a year. Typically I’d guess that it has at least 40 apps on it.

30GB would be more than enough for what I consider ‘normal’ use-but everybody’s use differs. I always look at the use before making a recommendation for a larger HD.

Is this scripting library the same VBScript that’s the culprit in so many attacks? IIRC it’s been recommended for at least a couple of years that it be removed/deactivated unless you use it. Here, of course, you’re using it (if it’s the same one) but how would the security advice affect things when you distribute the app?

Perhaps the API routines would be more reliable?

Is this scripting library the same VBScript that’s the culprit in so many attacks? IIRC it’s been recommended for at least a couple of years that it be removed/deactivated unless you use it. Here, of course, you’re using it (if it’s the same one) but how would the security advice affect things when you distribute the app?

Perhaps the API routines would be more reliable?

Last night at the store I saw a wireless ‘travel’ mouse. I’ve seen the travel mice before-smaller than a normal mouse-but this is the first wireless that I’ve seen. Has a USB adapter that plugs into the notebook. Haven’t tried it out yet but if it works well I’ll probably make it standard-I hate both touchpads & wires.

Last night at the store I saw a wireless ‘travel’ mouse. I’ve seen the travel mice before-smaller than a normal mouse-but this is the first wireless that I’ve seen. Has a USB adapter that plugs into the notebook. Haven’t tried it out yet but if it works well I’ll probably make it standard-I hate both touchpads & wires.

My main consideration in a laptop is whether I want it as a ‘desktop replacement’ or ‘traveling utility’. For the first the same considerations apply as in a desktop-capacity, burner, etc. For the second my usual requirements are considerably lower-but don’t take into account only your *usual* requirements. 80% of the time all I need while traveling is Internet. But the 20% of the time I need Oracle or VB or whatever, I *need* it. If I bought my laptop just enough for my usual needs then it couldn’t handle my needs the other 20% of the time-so I buy it for my ‘maximum’ needs. That always seems to turn out to be the desktop replacement for me, but I do know others who work successfully with that ‘traveling utility’ type of laptop. I guess it depends on why you travel.

By the way, I agree whole-heartedly about the Sony Vaio. Or at least about the GRV-600 I have. Nice machine.

My main consideration in a laptop is whether I want it as a ‘desktop replacement’ or ‘traveling utility’. For the first the same considerations apply as in a desktop-capacity, burner, etc. For the second my usual requirements are considerably lower-but don’t take into account only your *usual* requirements. 80% of the time all I need while traveling is Internet. But the 20% of the time I need Oracle or VB or whatever, I *need* it. If I bought my laptop just enough for my usual needs then it couldn’t handle my needs the other 20% of the time-so I buy it for my ‘maximum’ needs. That always seems to turn out to be the desktop replacement for me, but I do know others who work successfully with that ‘traveling utility’ type of laptop. I guess it depends on why you travel.

By the way, I agree whole-heartedly about the Sony Vaio. Or at least about the GRV-600 I have. Nice machine.

You don’t actually ‘install’ Windows for sharing-any version. IIRC sharing is installed automatically but disabled by default with both 2K & XP. (Actually, I believe the ‘administrative’ shares are enabled by default with 2K-but you can’t see them from a remote PC anyway so the only difference it makes is in security.)

It’s not supposed to work this way as I understand it, but I have had a couple of instances where I couldn’t see a shared resource on the remote PC until I enabled sharing on the PC I was working on. Now, if I intend to network a PC I always share at least one resource on it even when I don’t intend to use that share.

You don’t actually ‘install’ Windows for sharing-any version. IIRC sharing is installed automatically but disabled by default with both 2K & XP. (Actually, I believe the ‘administrative’ shares are enabled by default with 2K-but you can’t see them from a remote PC anyway so the only difference it makes is in security.)

It’s not supposed to work this way as I understand it, but I have had a couple of instances where I couldn’t see a shared resource on the remote PC until I enabled sharing on the PC I was working on. Now, if I intend to network a PC I always share at least one resource on it even when I don’t intend to use that share.

I believe this is by design. Why transfer an attachment back to the person who sent it to you? Since that person sent it they should still have it. If this happens often then it might be worthwhile to set up a Web page where the screen shots can be posted-then just email the link. The link will remain whether you reply or forward.

I believe this is by design. Why transfer an attachment back to the person who sent it to you? Since that person sent it they should still have it. If this happens often then it might be worthwhile to set up a Web page where the screen shots can be posted-then just email the link. The link will remain whether you reply or forward.

And in 4.7 it was abook.na2 if I remember correctly. But if you follow the instructions for exporting it then it shouldn’t matter what format it’s currently in, what matters is the format to which you export it. No opinion on what’s best for that-the only time I work with Outlook or Outlook Express (which is what I assume you’ll be using) is when I’m moving people off of it. Netscape likes LDIF formats for importing. Or maybe that’s just me.