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This article discusses preventive-maintenance tips for PC internal and external devices. Few users are as diligent as they should be about backing up system, applications, and data. No backup strategy is 100 percent effective, and most take more time to set up and use than users are willing to spend on them. The very least one can do is to create an image of the hard drive when everything works. That way, when trouble strikes, users merely restore the pristine image, which usually takes less than 45 minutes. Symantec Norton Ghost 9 and Acronis True Image 8 restore Windows XP, Microsoft Office, and an assortment of other applications and utilities in half the time it would take to reinstall Windows, let alone the hours required to reinstall all programs, reload data files manually, and reconfigure system settings to the way one prefers them. The downside: Norton Ghost costs $70 retail, and True Image lists for $50. While saving the image to a second hard drive is far more convenient than placing it on a DVD, it is also more expensive. Incompatibilities between DVD drives and imaging software are common. To make data easier to restore, keep data files on a partition other than the one that holds Windows and applications.

This article offers tips to computer users on how to identify malware hiding in Windows' system folders. Antivirus and other security tools need frequent and detailed updates to work effectively; they can't block a piece of malware that they haven't seen before. Consequently, these programs always suffer a period of vulnerability between the time when source code for a new worm hits the Internet, for example, and the time when the antivirus definitions to block or clean the infection are available for download. Whether it's for a few minutes or for many days, that window always gapes open when new threats appear. First, and most important, users should remember that this is the operating system they're dealing with, so they shouldn't leap into their system files, deleting things willy-nilly as soon as they suspect trouble. If they blow it, they may render Windows unbootable. Users can't always trust the first few results when they research an unknown file on the Web. Even if a hundred small sites post data about a suspected piece of malware, one page on a Microsoft site that explains the legitimate use of the file can trump those analyses. INSET: Hunting Hidden Files.

This article focuses on the benefits of Microsoft's MSN Toolbar Suite product for users of Windows operating systems. In addition to its useful features, the suite aims to make finding files on hard disks as fast, easy and accurate as Web searches. The toolbars for Internet Explorer, Outlook , Outlook Express, Windows Explorer and folder windows are free. The three programs that comprise the MSN Toolbar Suite search disks and provide the same results based on a single shared index of email and local files. MSN Desktop Search is a stand-alone search application; the MSN Toolbar appears in the folder and Explorer windows; and the Deskbar resides in the taskbar. They search Outlook and Outlook Express email and attachments as well as Word, Excel and other Office files. They also index PDF-format files, text files and HTML-format files.

The article reviews the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 11.5 speech-recognition software from Nuance.

The article reviews the Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Pro Nuance software.

The article reviews various Voice-over-Internet Protocol software packages, namely Skype 4.0 and ooVoo.

The article reviews the voice recognition software Dragon NaturallySpeakin 10 from Nuance Communications.

The article reviews the All-in-One Communications Web-based application from Raketu.

The article reviews the AIM Phoneline Internet telephony from AOL.

This article presents several spam filtering applications. Outlook is the program that has a junk mail filter. It works by moving suspected spam to a junk folder based on the sender's address and a static list of spam words. Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups incorporate a statistical-analysis junk-mail filter comparable to SpamBayes. But both also need a jumpstart of this feature for full functionality. Choose Tools Junk Mail Controls, check the first two options under Handling to have messages suspected of being junk moved to the Junk folder and click OK. To help the programs build a database of known spam message characteristics, select one or more messages that you know to be spam in the Inbox or any other folder and then click the Junk toolbar icon. Qualcomm's mail program, Eudora 6.2, includes a spam filter that works much like the Thunderbird/Mozilla and SpamBayes. Unfortunately, the filter works only in Eudora's Paid Mode. If you prefer either Eudora's Sponsored Mode or its more Light Mode, you can still prevent spam by using SpamBayes as a proxy server. The integrated e-mail feature of Opera 7.54 is supposed to learn from you what is spam and what is not. If you have as little patience with Opera's slowness in learning, you may want to use SpamBayes instead.

This article focuses on the use of the application software's built-in macro to list keyboard shortcuts. Select Tools, Macro, Macros to open the Macros dialog box. Click the Macros in dropdown menu and select Word commands. Type lis and press the Down Arrow to choose ListCommands, and then press Enter. You can open a document that shows all of the keyboard commands in Word or just the ones for the current menu and keyboard settings. Pick the option you want and click OK. Then either save the document or print a copy for reference.

This article presents information on the Trillian Basic 3 chat program from Cerulean Studios. Before, using Trillian instead of AIM, ICQ, MSN or Yahoo Messenger clients often meant forgoing voice, video and other advanced features. But version 3.1 improves support for such features. It promises performance, file-transfer and AIM-compatibility improvements.

This article focuses on the benefits of the Copernic Desktop Search software for users of Windows operating systems. The features of the product include the ability to search local hard disks, the Web, and email on Outlook and Outlook Express software. Copernic also allows users to conduct searches using either an application window or a taskbar toolbar, choose the folders they want to have indexed, set indexing to occur in the background, and use Boolean operators to refine the search. Copernic allows users to filter search results based on such attitudes as file size and date; and it provides a preview pane for seeing a file's contents without launching a separate application to open it. In addition, users can store the index file in the folder of their choice; set the time and interval for index updating; and search Outlook contacts, as well as bookmarks and browser history in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape software.

The article reports on the security vulnerability of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) from Microsoft. Its Windows Security Center should alert users when an antivirus software is missing or out of date. But, both McAfee's Internet Security Suite 2005 and Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2005 crippled the ability of SP2 to deliver accurate alerts immediately after installation. Any antivirus software must be updated immediately after installing it to protect the computer against viruses discovered since the software's initial release. McAfee and Symantec acknowledge that their products intentionally disable the Windows Security Center's messaging feature. Both companies claim the reason for doing so is to streamline customers' experience; neither company plans to alter its practices. Security expert Steve Gibson, president and founder of Gibson Research, remarked that like Internet Explorer before it, the Windows Security Center is wide open to attack. It is not even a matter of time, he added. It is a matter of desire.

Reviews Dragon NaturallySpeaking 6 Preferred computer software by ScanSoft. Description of the program, which allows a computer user to talk as an alternative to typing; Quality of the program; Accuracy; Features; Cost.

Evaluates the Sensiva Version 3 software from Sensiva; Features of the software, which offers desktop shortcuts to use with Microsoft Windows and allows users to customize web sites; Contact information; Costs.

Evaluates new speech software from International Business Machines (IBM) and Lernout & Hauspie as of October, 2000. How IBM's ViaVoice and Lerner & Hauspie's NaturallySpeaking Preferred 5 offer easy-to-follow audio setup wizards; Features, including noise-cancelling headsets and enhanced Web surfing; Costs.

Reviews the computer program, ViaVoice Pro Elite by IBM, which allows conversation through a personal computer without the need for a headset. Pros and cons of the program; Features; Price; Availability.

Evaluates NaturallyOrganized, a pocket voice recorder and voice recognition software bundle from Dragon Systems. Features; Limitations; Cost; Contact point.

Evaluates the ViaVoice Online Companion from International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. Features, including the capability to speech-enable chat room conversations; Cost; Limitations; Voice-to-text accuracy; Contact point.

Evaluates Point & Speak 3.52, speech recognition software for a Pentium III from Dragon Systems. Features and capabilities; Training time required to use the software; Performance; System requirements; Price.

Evaluates Lernout & Hauspie Now You're Talking Deluxe, a voice recognition software program. Features; Capabilities; Price; Contact information.

Presents letters from `PC World' magazine readers. Subject of letters includes shipping and turnaround delays on TigerDirect products; Modem difficulties with Gateway 2000's P5-133XL; Kudos for askSam Systems' askSam Professional; Warranty featured in a Quantex advertisement; Editor's responses. INSET: On-site service: Don't count on it (Quantex service).

This article presents information on how to create your own windows security analysis tool. Windows XP Professional and 2000 contain the building blocks of a comprehensive security analysis and configuration tool. While Windows' Security Configuration and Analysis utility does not address security for e-mail and other applications, it lets you assign all of Windows' system-level security settings in one place. Changes to security settings can affect the network and Internet connections, application, and Windows' own Registry settings. After each change of setting, it is recommended to test applications and network connection. To create a custom security tool, log in as an administrator, choose Start-Run, type mmc, and press enter. In Windows XP, choose File·Add/Remove Snap-in. In Windows 2000, click Console·Add/Remove Snap-in from the Console1 main menu. In both versions, click Add, select Security Configuration and Analysis, click Add again, and then Close and Ok. The little Console Root icon in the window now has a subicon, but no other real branches to its tree. To add a subentry for the icon, create a database of settings: Right-click Security Configuration and Analysis and choose Open Database. Details of the instructions in building a software was given. INSET: Better Windows Tweaking and Security for Free.

This article answers questions about computers. It was learned that when updating Windows 2000 or XP, the update program often saves uninstall information to a folder. To see a personal computer's saved uninstall folders, open Windows Explorer to C:\Windows or C:\WINNT; the user may need to click Show the contents of the folder. If no folders can be seen, select View·Folder Options, click the View tab, select Show hidden files and folders, and click OK. The Windows Service Pack uninstall is in the folder $NtServicePackUninstall$. Others are named $NtUninstallKBnnnnnn$ or $NtUninstallQnnnnnn$. If the folder is more than a few weeks old, the user can remove it without a risk. To get rid of an uninstall folder, select it in Windows Explorer, press Delete, and confirm. The uninstall may still be listed in the Control panel Add or Remove Programs applet, however. To remove it, select the program and click Remove. An error message will ask whether the user want to delete the entry from the list. To disable pop-up help windows in Word, Excel, and other Microsoft Office applications, select Tools·Customize·Options, uncheck Show Screen Tips on toolbars, and click Close. Instructions in creating a shortcut to the System Configuration Utility on the Start menu, was given.