Bst

[nightscape2112]

i think i found something that will help you with the win messenger pop ups in win98. go to this page and download the message subtract. it looks like it
will stop the windows messenger in win 98. it is freeware so it is worth a try.

the url is

http://www.messagesubtract.com/

the url for the home page is

http://www.intermute.com/

they have other versions for sale there, message subtract is the last one and is free.

good luck,

nightscape

[BST]

Thanks, nightscape....I'll check those links. (I've been a little hesitant to invest any $$ into this, for Win98, because I'm considering an OS upgrade, maybe to XP). So, the 'freeware' definitely works for me. :)

Thanks again,

BST

[nightscape2112]

your welcome, about the upgrade to xp, at first i hated this OS. i had used win98 for years and was very use to it. xp changed some things around and i had a hard time operating in it. once i got use to it, it was o.k.

i am thinking about getting away from windows operating systems and switch to linux.

a guy on cylon.org recommended suse 8.2, i am going to set that up and play with it. i have heard many good things about linux systems and i think i am going to try it in the near future.

also, suse 8.2 is alot cheaper than up grading to win xp. xp will run about 75+ dollars while suse 8.2 is about 40 bucks.

just a thought, you can research suse8.2 at

http://www.suse.com

i am a strong believer in shareware/free ware. i love the free stuff, like they say on one of my favorite shows "monster garage" "freebie, zero, siltch, nada, free"

have a good one,

nightscape

[nightscape2112]

here is the link to the page at cylon.org ,

http://www.cylon.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=3571#3571

the guy is "captian tux" he post here as well. if you want to try out this system, you should ask him some questions. he has been quite friendly in answering mine.

have a great day,

nightscape

[shiningstar]

Thanks for the links everyone!

[BST]

nightscape,

Thanks again. Question - what's the support like for Suse/Linux as far as 'security updates - i.e., worms, etc and also, overall, with regards to fixes for "holes" in programming not caught before a release? It might be worth it, pricewise, if their support mirrored MS which is pretty good.

Watch out, you seem to have become my "answer-man"! hehehe :)

BST

[nightscape2112]

Bst

linux is a well established system so i would believe that they have as much or equal to the microsoft protections. plus there is an added bonus, when hackers attack systems they usually go for microsoft (since it is the biggest) that is why windows needs so many updates to the security. if a worm or virus is launched against outlook express it should not find evoloution (suse built in mailbox, like outlook)

if you want more security conundrum7g (thomas) gave out a free fire wall. i have tried it out and put it on my moms computer. it is pretty cool, i was running an older fire wall that was pretty cumbersome, this one is real easy to use, plus it is free.

if you want it go to http://www.sygate.com look on the right of the page and click on "home office" , look at the right of the page and find "need a free solution" click "get it now" and that will give you the free fire wall. just download and install.

i dont mind answering any questions, if i dont know the answer i will try my best to find the answer for you.

have a good one, and let me know how it goes

nightscape

[Lusitan]

Hi guys;

For those of you talking about linux, i think i should share mi experience with it.
I've been using M$ systems since DOS 3.something(can't remember:( ) and i've been working with Unix for about 8 years now. I tryed several linux versions, the last one being Suse 7.
What good things people say about Linux are true. It's stable, and looks less attacked than Windows. If you have good knowlege of systems, you'll probably start using it. But if you're just a very good USER of Windows, i'll advise you to try Linux (i also think Suse is the best) but to keep your windows cd close to you :D
I've seen many people change for Linux because it was more safe, but after few months (even weeks) they went back to Windows just because Linux was way more complicated. In this case, i think that if you have Win2k or XP, Norton AV (or any other good anti-virus), a good personal firewall (like ZoneAlarm, they have a free version) you'll be pretty safe.
I use Win because i also use my pc for fun, not just work and from what i could try, i get alot more fun with windows. I remember once i downloaded some strategy game for linux and i really hated when i discovered it needed alot more to install than running setup.exe.
:p
I do think Linux is a good system, i have it at the office. But it can be hard for someone used to windows to change...You just get too much used to have things simple, and Linux isn't there (YET):D

One last thing i experienced about security. You'll get more attacks from hackers on Windows than on Linux, but those that atack you on Linux are far more dangerous because the big majority of them know what they're doing :devil:

I hope something i said can help you guys decide.

Lusitan

[nightscape2112]

cool thanks lusitan, i have been a windows user since win3.1 and i am very use to windows. i am also at the point where i am tired of the instability of windows and ready to try something else. i would give up ease for stability. thats just me, but what i have heard of this suse8.2 the more excited i get. i am still in the research mode right now, but getting close. one of these days i will get totally away from the p.c's and bite the $ bullet and buy a mac.

nightscape

[Lusitan]

Nightscape;

If you can, give Win2000 or XP a good try. I totaly lost that "stability" problem when i changed to Win2k. As for XP i'm on my 2nd month try. It looks good. The main problem with stability on these 2 versions comes most often from the applications( specialy older ones, frewares and sharewares), not the system.
But hey, because of you, i'm already seaching for suse8.2, to see what changed from version 7. :D

Lusitan

[nightscape2112]

capt tux is the one that got me interested in suse 8.2. it looks like a good program. i am running winxp now, and it is ok. the instability is in the applications, i mainly use programs for converting video and audio. i get screen lock up and drag time. there are three programs i use the most, they are TMPGEnc, virtual dub and nero6. once the system locks up i need to re-boot to get it working again. i dont think it is my processor, i have a 1.8ghz system with 256 ram, and i only run one encoder at a time.

i have an older pc that i am going to put the suse os on. and try it for a while before i change on my main system.

nightscape

[Proximo]

Ahh, for those that say it's not there yet, have you tried the latest version of Mandrake? Or just any Linux flavour with the latest version of X and KDE/Gnome? I'm experimenting with Mandrake 9 at the moment with KDE as the desktop. It's prettier than windows, and it can do the useful things you always wish you had in windows, with the ease of... of... of a very easy thing. I say it's ready. :)

[Lusitan]

Should the Galactica use Linux??
(OK, i now mentioned galactica :D , no one will say i work for vivendi/universal :p )

Now more seriously, i never tryed mandrake. Only know of suse and Red Hat(was my first one). Oh, almost forgot, once i tried one version from Corel..not impressed.
Do you think Mandrake is better than Suse? I downloaded Suse today from their site, i'll see if i can test it next week. If you guys think Mandrake has any big difference, maybe i'll try it after. Now that Borland got that Delphi version for linux out (kylix, i think), it became alot more intresting.

Nightscape, i also do some video work with my PC (for fun), i already did some captures with my ATI radeon AIW and VCD's using nero5 (2Ghz / 256Mb ram) and never had problems with winXP Pro. I had trouble with the ATI tv tunner that sometimes hang, but after updating the drivers everything runs ok. I got some software for DVD rip and DivX encoding where there is VOSub and virtual dub, but i didn't tested it yet. I think they deal with the subtitles for DivX encoded files...VOSub to get them from the DVD and Virtual Dub for using them, am i right?

Lusitan

[nightscape2112]

with virtual dub you can recode a avi file, decompress it, remove the audio and encode the output file into divx4 or divx 5 or others, then split the source into smaller files that will fit on a vcd.

i have not used the vosub so i dont know about that one. i have not gotten into dvdrip yet. the hard drive on my laptop is small and i only have about 5gig's to play with. when i switch to my next system i am going to get a dvd burner then i will start playing with making dvd's.

i mostly download avi files and convert and burn. virtual dub is a fun program to play around with. i have used it for a couple years and i still dont know everything that it offers. tmpgenc is a good mpg encoder, althought nero will convert the avi file to mpg to burn a vcd sometimes it inverts the video. which in nero 6 you can fix by inverting the output video.

i am not doing any video capture because i cant fit a good capture card in the laptop. around income tax time i am going to up-grade my system.

nero 6 has some fun features if you want to switch to it. it makes a menu page for the vcd and you can add a background. the burns i am making with nero 6 is cleaner looking. there is also a new interface "smart start" it is a nice little feature. the only problem is when you make a vcd with nero 6 you need to change the property settings before the burn, highlight the menu bar and hit properties, then change the setting from infinate to seconds. if this setting is not changed the vcd will not start till you select the number of the vcd. if you select seconds the vcd will start after the menu page.

let me know how the new suse 8 goes. i am interested in finding all i can about that system. so far it looks good.

nightscape

[Lusitan]

Well, i already downloaded Mandrake :) It took forever :uhdrop:
I guess i'll start testing that one, Suse is still downloading, their servers are slow.

[shiningstar]

Thanks for the link to Mandrake

[Lusitan]

Oh... here's the link to mandrake download :D

http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3