Can you show me how to create a shortcut to open more than one Web site simultaneously?

In order to have all three sites appear, you need to change a setting in IE. Select Internet Options from the Tools menu, click the Advanced tab, and uncheck the box titled Reuse windows for launching shortcuts. As for using the JavaScript trick from the previous tip, you definitely can do so as long as the URLs you want to open don’t make the batch file lines longer than the command processor accepts. The following batch file launches your three URLs in such a way that each takes about one vertical third of a 1,024-by-768 screen, with a bit left over at the bottom for the taskbar:

start iexplore.exe javascript: resizeTo(1024,240);moveTo(0,0); document.location.href=”http://yahoo.com”

start iexplore.exe javascript: resizeTo(1024,240);moveTo(0,240); document.location.href=”http://www .google.com”

start iexplore.exe javascript: resizeTo(1024,240);moveTo(0,480); document.location.href=”http:// weather.com”

These three batch file lines wrap dreadfully when formatted for publication, so keep in mind that each begins with start and ends with a URL in quotes.

We discovered an odd problem with this technique on an older Windows 98 system, however. Every time the batch file sent the three commands in rapid succession, IE’s Content Advisor kicked in, even though it was clearly turned off. To solve this problem, we introduced a delay of a few seconds between the commands using an old batch file trick: The CHOICE command presents an optional prompt and waits for the user to press one of a specified set of keys. It can optionally return a default value after a specified time-out. To get a batch file delay of 5 seconds, insert a line like CHOICE /c:x /t:x,5 between each line that launches a URL. With this addition, the Content Advisor problem disappeared.

More detailed information of the virus that probably infected your machine. AkA:Blast.worm

Force a crash. You can force Windows 2000 and XP to display the blue screen of death. In the Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters, find or create a DWORD value named CrashOnCtrlScroll. Double-click on the value and set its data to 1. Restart your computer. Now you can cause a crash by holding the right-hand Ctrl key and pressing the Scroll Lock key twice.

Test the speed of your internet connection. Or you can use this one. For those that use SUN machines here is a great resource page.

Wi-Fi Market To Hit $3.1B By 2007

The Wireless LAN-802.11 market will grow from $1.5 billion in 2002 to $3.1 billion by 2007, according to market research firm Dell’Oro Group. The group said in its “Wireless LAN FiveYear Forecast” that most products will transition from 802.11b to 802.11g and then to 802.11 Multimode (802.11a/g), with the exception being Enterprise-class access points.

“As the barriers to WLAN deployments in the Enterprise fall and as WLAN clients and networks proliferate outside of the Enterprise, we will see increased penetration of WLAN in Enterprise environments,” the study said.

“I thought that files in ‘My Documents’ were private, but then I noticed something. In Windows Explorer, I can look at the ‘My Documents’ folders belonging to other users just by navigating to C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents. What can I do to keep the other users from doing the same with my own private documents?”

If you share a computer with others, you may want a bit more protection for your personal files than Windows XP offers by default. There are two easy ways to achieve this: Create a password-protected compressed folder or encrypt an existing folder.

Password-protected compressed folders can be created on NTFS or FAT32 partitions. Opening a password-protected folder requires the right password. To protect files using a compressed folder, right-click in the desired location and choose New | Compressed (zipped) folder. Name the folder and move the files into it. Open the compressed folder and select File | Add password .

Encrypted folders are supported only on NTFS partitions. Rather than requiring you to enter a password, these folders are available only to you. If you want to encrypt a folder and its contents, right-click on the folder, choose Sharing and Security from the Context menu, click on the General tab, and click on the Advanced button. In the Advanced Attributes dialog, check the box Encrypt contents to secure data. Click on OK and then OK again. Win XP will encrypt the folder and its contents.

You won’t notice any change except that the folder name displays in a different color. Other users, however, will no longer have access to the folder.