A Web Standards Checklist, How to make a proper website

A Web Standards Checklist, How to make a proper website

A web standards checklist

The term web standards can mean different things to different people. For some, it is 'table-free sites', for others it is 'using valid code'. However, web standards are much broader than that. A site built to web standards should adhere to standards (HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, XSLT, DOM, MathML, SVG etc) and pursue best practices (valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code, user-friendly URLs etc).

In other words, a site built to web standards should ideally be lean, clean, CSS-based, accessible, usable and search engine friendly.

About the checklist

This is not an uber-checklist. There are probably many items that could be added. More importantly, it should not be seen as a list of items that must be addressed on every site that you develop. It is simply a guide that can be used:

* to show the breadth of web standards
* as a handy tool for developers during the production phase of websites
* as an aid for developers who are interested in moving towards web standards

The checklist

1.Quality of code
1. Does the site use a correct Doctype?
2. Does the site use a Character set?
3. Does the site use Valid (X)HTML?
4. Does the site use Valid CSS?
5. Does the site use any CSS hacks?
6. Does the site use unnecessary classes or ids?
7. Is the code well structured?
8. Does the site have any broken links?
9. How does the site perform in terms of speed/page size?
10. Does the site have JavaScript errors?

2. Degree of separation between content and presentation
1. Does the site use CSS for all presentation aspects (fonts, colour, padding, borders etc)?
2. Are all decorative images in the CSS, or do they appear in the (X)HTML?

3. Accessibility for users
1. Are "alt" attributes used for all descriptive images?
2. Does the site use relative units rather than absolute units for text size?
3. Do any aspects of the layout break if font size is increased?
4. Does the site use visible skip menus?
5. Does the site use accessible forms?
6. Does the site use accessible tables?
7. Is there sufficient colour brightness/contrasts?
8. Is colour alone used for critical information?
9. Is there delayed responsiveness for dropdown menus (for users with reduced motor skills)?
10. Are all links descriptive (for blind users)?

4. Accessibility for devices
1. Does the site work acceptably across modern and older browsers?
2. Is the content accessible with CSS switched off or not supported?
3. Is the content accessible with images switched off or not supported?
4. Does the site work in text browsers such as Lynx?
5. Does the site work well when printed?
6. Does the site work well in Hand Held devices?
7. Does the site include detailed metadata?
8. Does the site work well in a range of browser window sizes?

5. Basic Usability
1. Is there a clear visual hierarchy?
2. Are heading levels easy to distinguish?
3. Does the site have easy to understand navigation?
4. Does the site use consistent navigation?
5. Are links underlined?
6. Does the site use consistent and appropriate language?
7. Do you have a sitemap page and contact page? Are they easy to find?
8. For large sites, is there a search tool?
9. Is there a link to the home page on every page in the site?
10. Are visited links clearly defined with a unique colour?

6. Site management
1. Does the site have a meaningful and helpful 404 error page that works from any depth in the site?
2. Does the site use friendly URLs?
3. Do your URLs work without "www"?
4. Does the site have a favicon?

1. Quality of code

1.1 Does the site use a correct Doctype?
A doctype (short for 'document type declaration') informs the validator which version of (X)HTML you're using, and must appear at the very top of every web page. Doctypes are a key component of compliant web pages: your markup and CSS won't validate without them.
CODE
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/doctype/


More:
CODE
http://www.w3.org/QA/2002/04/valid-dtd-list.html

CODE
http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/about-boxmodel.htm

CODE
http://gutfeldt.ch/matthias/articles/doctypeswitch.html


1.2 Does the site use a Character set?
If a user agent (eg. a browser) is unable to detect the character encoding used in a Web document, the user may be presented with unreadable text. This information is particularly important for those maintaining and extending a multilingual site, but declaring the character encoding of the document is important for anyone producing XHTML/HTML or CSS.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/International/tutorials/tutorial-char-enc/


More:
CODE
http://www.w3.org/International/O-charset.html


1.3 Does the site use Valid (X)HTML?
Valid code will render faster than code with errors. Valid code will render better than invalid code. Browsers are becoming more standards compliant, and it is becoming increasingly necessary to write valid and standards compliant HTML.
CODE
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/sit2003/06.htm


More:
CODE
http://validator.w3.org/


1.4 Does the site use Valid CSS?
You need to make sure that there aren't any errors in either your HTML or your CSS, since mistakes in either place can result in botched document appearance.
CODE
http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/articles/webrev/199904.html


More:
CODE
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/


1.5 Does the site use any CSS hacks?
Basically, hacks come down to personal choice, the amount of knowledge you have of workarounds, the specific design you are trying to achieve.
CODE
http://www.mail-archive.com/wsg@webstandardsgroup.org/msg05823.html


More:
CODE
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=CssHack

CODE
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=ToHackOrNotToHack

CODE
http://centricle.com/ref/css/filters/


1.6 Does the site use unnecessary classes or ids?
I've noticed that developers learning new skills often end up with good CSS but poor XHTML. Specifically, the HTML code tends to be full of unnecessary divs and ids. This results in fairly meaningless HTML and bloated style sheets.
CODE
http://www.clagnut.com/blog/228/


1.7 Is the code well structured?
Semantically correct markup uses html elements for their given purpose. Well structured HTML has semantic meaning for a wide range of user agents (browsers without style sheets, text browsers, PDAs, search engines etc.)
CODE
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/benefits/index04.htm


More:
CODE
http://www.w3.org/2003/12/semantic-extractor.html


1.8 Does the site have any broken links?
Broken links can frustrate users and potentially drive customers away. Broken links can also keep search engines from properly indexing your site.

More:
CODE
http://validator.w3.org/checklink


1.9 How does the site perform in terms of speed/page size?
Don't make me wait... That's the message users give us in survey after survey. Even broadband users can suffer the slow-loading blues.
CODE
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/


1.10 Does the site have JavaScript errors?
Internet Explore for Windows allows you to turn on a debugger that will pop up a new window and let you know there are javascript errors on your site. This is available under 'Internet Options' on the Advanced tab. Uncheck 'Disable script debugging'.

2. Degree of separation between content and presentation

2.1 Does the site use CSS for all presentation aspects (fonts, colour, padding, borders etc)?
Use style sheets to control layout and presentation.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-style-sheets


2.2 Are all decorative images in the CSS, or do they appear in the (X)HTML?
The aim for web developers is to remove all presentation from the html code, leaving it clean and semantically correct.
CODE
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/benefits/index07.htm


3. Accessibility for users

3.1 Are "alt" attributes used for all descriptive images?
Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-text-equivalent


3.2 Does the site use relative units rather than absolute units for text size?
Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values'.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-relative-units


More:
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-relative-units

CODE
http://www.clagnut.com/blog/348/


3.3 Do any aspects of the layout break if font size is increased?
Try this simple test. Look at your website in a browser that supports easy incrementation of font size. Now increase your browser's font size. And again. And again... Look at your site. Does the page layout still hold together? It is dangerous for developers to assume that everyone browses using default font sizes.
3.4 Does the site use visible skip menus?

A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.
CODE
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12


Group related links, identify the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so, provide a way to bypass the group.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#tech-group-links


...blind visitors are not the only ones inconvenienced by too many links in a navigation area. Recall that a mobility-impaired person with poor adaptive technology might be stuck tabbing through that morass.
CODE
http://joeclark.org/book/sashay/serialization/Chapter08.html#h4-2020


More:
CODE
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/websmith/508/o.htm


3.5 Does the site use accessible forms?
Forms aren't the easiest of things to use for people with disabilities. Navigating around a page with written content is one thing, hopping between form fields and inputting information is another.
CODE
http://www.htmldog.com/guides/htmladvanced/forms/


More:
CODE
http://www.webstandards.org/learn/tutorials/accessible-forms/01-accessible-forms.html

CODE
http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessible-form-builder.asp

CODE
http://accessify.com/tutorials/better-accessible-forms.asp


3.6 Does the site use accessible tables?
For data tables, identify row and column headers... For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header cells.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-table-headers


More:
CODE
http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/webpublishing/ada/resources/tables.asp

CODE
http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessible-table-builder_step1.asp

CODE
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/tables/


3.7 Is there sufficient colour brightness/contrasts?
Ensure that foreground and background colour combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having colour deficits.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-colour-contrast


More:
CODE
http://www.juicystudio.com/services/colourcontrast.asp


3.8 Is colour alone used for critical information?
Ensure that all information conveyed with colour is also available without colour, for example from context or markup.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-colour-convey


There are basically three types of colour deficiency; Deuteranope (a form of red/green colour deficit), Protanope (another form of red/green colour deficit) and Tritanope (a blue/yellow deficit- very rare).

More:
CODE
http://colourfilter.wickline.org/

CODE
http://www.toledo-bend.com/colourblind/Ishihara.html

CODE
http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckURL.php


3.9 Is there delayed responsiveness for dropdown menus?
Users with reduced motor skills may find dropdown menus hard to use if responsiveness is set too fast.

3.10 Are all links descriptive?
Link text should be meaningful enough to make sense when read out of context - either on its own or as part of a sequence of links. Link text should also be terse.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-meaningful-links


4. Accessibility for devices.

4.1 Does the site work acceptably across modern and older browsers?

Before starting to build a CSS-based layout, you should decide which browsers to support and to what level you intend to support them.
CODE
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/process/index_step01.cfm



4.2 Is the content accessible with CSS switched off or not supported?
Some people may visit your site with either a browser that does not support CSS or a browser with CSS switched off. In content is structured well, this will not be an issue.

4.3 Is the content accessible with images switched off or not supported?
Some people browse websites with images switched off - especially people on very slow connections. Content should still be accessible for these people.

4.4 Does the site work in text browsers such as Lynx?
This is like a combination of images and CSS switched off. A text-based browser will rely on well structured content to provide meaning.

More:
CODE
http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview


4.5 Does the site work well when printed?
You can take any (X)HTML document and simply style it for print, without having to touch the markup.
CODE
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/goingtoprint/


More:
CODE
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/support/Training/Online/webdesign/css.html#print


4.6 Does the site work well in Hand Held devices?
This is a hard one to deal with until hand held devices consistently support their correct media type. However, some layouts work better in current hand-held devices. The importance of supporting hand held devices will depend on target audiences.

4.7 Does the site include detailed metadata?
Metadata is machine understandable information for the web
CODE
http://www.w3.org/Metadata/


Metadata is structured information that is created specifically to describe another resource. In other words, metadata is 'data about data'.


4.8 Does the site work well in a range of browser window sizes?
It is a common assumption amongst developers that average screen sizes are increasing. Some developers assume that the average screen size is now 1024px wide. But what about users with smaller screens and users with hand held devices? Are they part of your target audience and are they being disadvantaged?

5. Basic Usability
5.1 Is there a clear visual hierarchy?
Organise and prioritise the contents of a page by using size, prominence and content relationships.
CODE
http://www.great-web-design-tips.com/web-site-design/165.html


5.2 Are heading levels easy to distinguish?
Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification.
CODE
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-logical-headings


5.3 Is the site's navigation easy to understand?
Your navigation system should give your visitor a clue as to what page of the site they are currently on and where they can go next.
CODE
http://www.1stsitefree.com/design_nav.htm


5.4 Is the site's navigation consistent?
If each page on your site has a consistent style of presentation, visitors will find it easier to navigate between pages and find information
CODE
http://www.juicystudio.com/tutorial/accessibility/navigation.asp


5.5 Does the site use consistent and appropriate language?
The use of clear and simple language promotes effective communication. Trying to come across as articulate can be as difficult to read as poorly written grammar, especially if the language used isn't the visitor's primary language.
CODE
http://www.juicystudio.com/tutorial/accessibility/clear.asp


5.6 Does the site have a sitemap page and contact page? Are they easy to find?
Most site maps fail to convey multiple levels of the site's information architecture. In usability tests, users often overlook site maps or can't find them. Complexity is also a problem: a map should be a map, not a navigational challenge of its own.
CODE
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020106.html


5.7 For large sites, is there a search tool?
While search tools are not needed on smaller sites, and some people will not ever use them, site-specific search tools allow users a choice of navigation options.

5.8 Is there a link to the home page on every page in the site?
Some users like to go back to a site's home page after navigating to content within a site. The home page becomes a base camp for these users, allowing them to regroup before exploring new content.

5.9 Are links underlined?
To maximise the perceived affordance of clickability, colour and underline the link text. Users shouldn't have to guess or scrub the page to find out where they can click.
CODE
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040510.html


5.10 Are visited links clearly defined?
Most important, knowing which pages they've already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again.
CODE
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040503.html


6. Site management

6.1 Does the site have a meaningful and helpful 404 error page that works from any depth in the site?
You've requested a page - either by typing a URL directly into the address bar or clicking on an out-of-date link and you've found yourself in the middle of cyberspace nowhere. A user-friendly website will give you a helping hand while many others will simply do nothing, relying on the browser's built-in ability to explain what the problem is.
CODE
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/perfect404/


6.2 Does the site use friendly URLs?
Most search engines (with a few exceptions - namely Google) will not index any pages that have a question mark or other character (like an ampersand or equals sign) in the URL... what good is a site if no one can find it?
CODE
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/search-engine-friendly-urls


One of the worst elements of the web from a user interface standpoint is the URL. However, if they're short, logical, and self-correcting, URLs can be acceptably usable
CODE
http://www.merges.net/theory/20010305.html


More:
CODE
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/search-engine-friendly-urls

CODE
http://www.websitegoodies.com/article/32

CODE
http://www.merges.net/theory/20010305.html


6.3 Does the site's URL work without "www"?
While this is not critical, and in some cases is not even possible, it is always good to give people the choice of both options. If a user types your domain name without the www and gets no site, this could disadvantage both the user and you.
6.4 Does the site have a favicon?

A Favicon is a multi-resolution image included on nearly all professionally developed sites. The Favicon allows the webmaster to further promote their site, and to create a more customized appearance within a visitor's browser.
CODE
http://www.favicon.com/


Favicons are definitely not critical. However, if they are not present, they can cause 404 errors in your logs (site statistics). Browsers like IE will request them from the server when a site is bookmarked. If a favicon isn't available, a 404 error may be generated. Therefore, having a favicon could cut down on favicon specific 404 errors. The same is true of a 'robots.txt' file.

Read more »

A basic Guide to Internet

The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain, however, that these number in the millions.

No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.

All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.

An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.

The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.


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COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET

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WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.

The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web's ability to work with multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of the Internet.

The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.

Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.

The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.

The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic "push" of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.

For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.

E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.

A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person's e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.

TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.

Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.

With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.

FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.

If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.

FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably the most common program is the listserv.

A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.

Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.

USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list member.

Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.

There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.

The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.

FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.

RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.

FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.

Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the "chat room" to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.

A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online's Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.

Other types of real-time communication are addressed in the tutorial Understanding the World Wide Web.

MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and their variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on the Internet, and many can be joined free of charge. For more information, read one of the FAQs devoted to MUDs available at the FAQ site at

Read more »

Online Tech Books over 250 in pdf

1
10 minute guide to lotus notes mail 4.5
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

2
10 minute guide to Microsoft exchange 5.0
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

3
10 minute guide to outlook 97
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

4
10 minute guide to schedule+ for windows 95
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

5
ActiveX programming unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

6
ActiveX programming unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

7
Advanced perl programming
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

8
Advanced PL/SQL programming with packages
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

9
Adventure in Prolog/AMZI
www.oopweb.com

10
Algorithms CMSC251/Mount, David
www.oopweb.com

11
Alison Balter's Mastering Access 95 development, premier ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

12
Apache : The definitive guide, 3rd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

13
Beej's guide to network programming/Hall, Brain
www.oopweb.com

14
Beyond Linux from Scratch/BLFS Development Team
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/linux/Administration/Beyond_Linux_From_Scratch/

15
Borland C++ builder unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

16
Building an intranet with windows NT 4
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

17
Building an Intranet with Windows NT 4
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

18
Building expert systems in prolog/AMZI
www.oopweb.com

19
C programming language
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/pl/C/The_C_Programming_Language_by_K&R/

20
C Programming/Holmes, Steven
www.oopweb.com

21
C++ Annotations
www.oopweb.com

22
CGI developer's guide
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

23
CGI manual of style
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

24
CGI manual of style online
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

25
CGI programming
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

26
CGI programming unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

27
CGI programming with Perl, 2nd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

28
Charlie Calvert's Borland C++ builder unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

29
Client/server computing, 2nd.ed.
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

30
Client-server computing, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

31
Common LISP, the language/Steele, Guy
www.oopweb.com

32
Compilers and compiler generators : an introduction with C++/Terry, P.D.
www.oopweb.com

33
Complete idiot's guide to creating HTML webpage
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

34
Computer graphics CMSC 427/Mount, David
www.oopweb.com

35
Configuring and troubleshooting the windows NT/95 registry
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

36
Creating commercial websites
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

37
Creating web applets with Java
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

38
Crystal Reports.NET
http://www.crystalreportsbook.com/Chapters.asp

39
Curious about the internet
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

40
Curious about the internet?
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

41
Dan appleman's developing activeX components with Visual Basic 5
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

42
Dan appleman's developing activex components with Visual Basic 5.0
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

43
Data structures CMSC420/Mount, David
www.oopweb.com

44
Database developer's guide with visual basic 4, 2nd.ed.
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

45
Database developer's guide with Visual Basic 4, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

46
Database developer's guide with Visual C++ 4, 2nd.ed.
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

47
Database developer's guide with Visual C++ 4, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

48
Design and analysis of computer algorithms CMSC451/Mount, David
www.oopweb.com

49
Designing implementing Microsoft internet information server
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

50
Designing implementing Microsoft proxy server
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

51
Developing for netscape one
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

52
Developing intranet applications with java
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

53
Developing personal oracle 7 for windows 95 applications
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

54
Developing personal Oracle 7 for windows 95 applications
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

55
Developing professional java applets
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

56
Developing professional java applets
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

57
DNS and BIND
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

58
Doing objects with VB.NET and C#
http://vbwire.com/nl?6814

59
EAI/BPM Evaluation Series: IBM WebSphere MQ Workflow v3.3.2 & EAI Suite by
> Middleware Technology Evaluation Series, Phong Tran & Jeffrey Gosper
http://www.cmis.csiro.au/mte/reports/BPM_IBMwebsphereMQ332.htm

60
Effective AWK programming
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/shell/Effective_AWK_Programming/

61
Enterprise javabeans, 2nd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

62
Exploring java
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

63
GNOME/Sheets, John
www.oopweb.com

64
Graph theory/Prof. Even
www.oopweb.com

65
Hacking java
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

66
How intranets work
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

67
How intranets work
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

68
How to program visual basic 5.0
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

69
How to use HTML 3.2
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

70
Html : The definitive guide
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

71
HTML 3.2 & CGI unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

72
HTML 3.2 and CGI professional reference edition unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

73
HTML by example
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

74
Internet firewall
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

75
Intranets unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

76
Introduction to object-oriented programming using C++/Muller, Peter
www.oopweb.com

77
Introduction to programming using Java/Eck, David
www.oopweb.com

78
Introduction to socket programming
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/network/An_Introduction_to_Socket_Programming/

79
Java 1.1 unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

80
Java 1.1 unleashed, 2nd.ed.
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

81
Java 1.1 unleashed, 3rd.ed.
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

82
Java 114 documentation
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

83
Java AWT reference
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

84
Java by example
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

85
Java developer's guide
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

86
Java developer's guide
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

87
Java developer's reference
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

88
Java developer's reference
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

89
Java Distributed computing
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

90
Java enterprise
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

91
Java enterprise in a nutshell
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

92
Java foundation classes in a nutshell
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

93
Java fundamental classes reference
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

94
Java in a nutshell
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

95
Java in a nutshell, 3rd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

96
Java language reference
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

97
Java security
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

98
Java servlet programming
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

99
Java unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

100
Java unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

101
Java, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

102
_JavaScript : the definitive guide
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

103
_Javascript manual of style
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

104
_Javascript manual of style
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

105
Josh's GNU Linux Guide/Joshua
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/linux/Administration/Josh's_GNU_Linux_Guide/

106
Late night activex
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

107
Late night activeX
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

108
Laura lemay's 3D graphics in and VRML 2
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

109
Laura lemay's activex and _VBScript
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

110
Laura lemay's graphics and web page design
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

111
Laura lemay's guide to sizzling websites design
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

112
Laura lemay's _javascript 1.1
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

113
Laura lemay's web workshop activex and _VBScript
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

114
Laura lemay's web workshop Graphics web page design
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

115
Laura lemay's web workshop _javascript
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

116
Learning perl
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

117
Learning perl on win32
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

118
Learning the kornshell
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

119
Learning unix
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

120
Learning vi
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

121
Linux from Scratch/Beekmans, Gerard
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/linux/Administration/Linux_From_Scratch/

122
Linux in a nutshell, 3rd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

123
Linux kernel/Rusling, David
www.oopweb.com

124
Linux network administrator's guide/Dawson, Terry
www.oopweb.com

125
Linux system administrator's survival guide
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

126
MAPI, SAPI and TAPI developer's guide
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

127
Mastering access 95 development
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

128
Microsoft access 97 quick reference
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

129
Microsoft access 97 quick reference
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

130
Microsoft backoffice 2 unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

131
Microsoft excel 97 quick reference
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

132
Microsoft excel 97 quick reference
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

133
Microsoft exchange server survival guide
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

134
Microsoft frontpage unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

135
Microsoft word 97 quick reference
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

136
Microsoft word 97 quick reference
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

137
Microsoft works 4.5 6-In-1
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

138
More than 100 full-text e-books
http://www.allfreetech.com/EBookCategory.asp

139
Ms backoffice administrator's survival guide
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

140
Ms backoffice unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

141
Mysql and msql
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

142
Netscape plug-ins developer's kit
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

143
Official gamelan java directory
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

144
Oracle built-in packages
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

145
Oracle PL/SQL built-in pocket reference
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

146
Oracle PL/SQL language pocket reference
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

147
Oracle PL/SQL programming guide to Oracle 8 features
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

148
Oracle PL/SQL programming, 2nd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

149
Oracle unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

150
Oracle unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

151
Oracle web applications PL/SQL developer's introduction
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

152
Patterns of enterprise application architecture/Fowler, Martin
http://www.awprofessional.com/catalog/product.asp?product_id={574D77DF-6ED2-BC5-A6A8-02E59CA7482D}

153
PC week : the intranet advantage
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

154
Perl 5 by example
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

155
Perl 5 quick reference
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

156
Perl 5 unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

157
Perl 5.0 CGI web pages
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

158
Perl cookbook
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

159
Perl for system administration
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

160
Perl in a nutshell
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

161
Perl quick reference
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

162
Peter norton's complete guide to windows NT 4 workstations
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

163
Presenting activex
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

164
Presenting activex
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

165
Presenting javabeans
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

166
Presenting javabeans
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

167
Programming perl
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

168
Programming perl, 3rd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

169
Programming the Perl DBI
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

170
Red hat linux unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

171
Running a perfect intranet
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

172
Running Linux, 3rd.ed.
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

173
Sams teach yourself java 1.1 in 24 hours/
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/sams/Sams_Teach_Yourself_Java_1.1_Programming_in_24_Hours

174
Sams Teach yourself java in 21 days/Lemay, Laura
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/sams/Sams_Teach_Yourself_Java_in_21_Days/

175
Sams teach yourself linux in 24 hours/Ball, Bill
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/sams/Sams_Teach_Yourself_Linux_in_24%20Hours/

176
Sams teach yourself shell programming in 24 hours
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/sams/Sams_Teach_Yourself_Shell_Programming_in_24_Hours/

177
Sams teach yourself TCP/IP in 14 days
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/sams/Sams_Teach_Yourself_TCP-IP_in_14_Days(SE)/

178
Sed and awk
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

179
Sendmail
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

180
Sendmail desktop reference
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

181
Slackware linux unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

182
Special edition using java, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

183
Special edition using _javascript
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

184
Special edition using _javascript
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

185
Special edition using _Jscript
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

186
Special edition using lotus notes and domino 4.5
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

187
Special edition using Microsoft SQL server 6.5, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

188
Special edition using Microsoft visual Interdev
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

189
Special edition using perl 5 for web programming
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

190
Special edition using perl for web programming
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

191
Special edition using Visual Basic 4
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

192
TCP/IP
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

193
Teach yourself activex programming in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

194
Teach yourself C++ in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

195
Teach yourself C++ in 21 days
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

196
Teach yourself CGI programming with Perl 5 in a week
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

197
Teach yourself database programming with VB5 in 21 days, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

198
Teach yourself database programming with visual basic 5 in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

199
Teach yourself HTML 3.2 in 24 hours
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

200
Teach yourself HTML 3.2 in 24 hours
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

201
Teach yourself internet game programming with java in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

202
Teach yourself java 1.1 programming in 24 hours
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

203
Teach yourself jave in café in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.tm

204
Teach yourself Microsoft visual Interdev in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

205
Teach yourself Microsoft visual Interdev in 21 days
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

206
Teach yourself oracle 8 in 21 days
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

207
Teach yourself perl 5 in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

208
Teach yourself perl 5 in 21 days, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

209
Teach yourself SQL in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

210
Teach yourself SQL in 21 days, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

211
Teach yourself TCP/IP in 14 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

212
Teach yourself TCP/IP in 14 days, 2nd.ed.
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

213
Teach yourself the Internet in 24 hours
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

214
Teach yourself the internet in 24 hours
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

215
Teach yourself _VBScript in 21 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

216
Teach yourself _VBScript in 21 days
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

217
Teach yourself visual basic 5 in 24 hours
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

218
Teach yourself Visual Basic 5 in 24 hours
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

219
Teach yourself Visual J++ in 21 days
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

220
Teach yourself web publishing with HTML 3.2 in 14 days
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

221
Teach yourself web publishing with HTML in 14 days
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

222
Thinking in C++
http://www.mindview.net/Books

223
Thinking in C++/Eckel, Bruce - Vol.I, 2nd.ed.
www.oopweb.com

224
Thinking in C++/Eckel, Bruce - Vol.II, 2nd.ed.
www.oopweb.com

225
Thinking in Enterprise Java
http://www.mindview.net/Books

226
Thinking in Java, 2nd.ed.
www.oopweb.com

227
Thinking in Java, 3rd.ed. (pdf)
http://www.mindview.net/Books

228
Tricks of the internet gurus
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

229
Tricks of the java programming gurus
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

230
Unix and internet security
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

231
Unix hints and hacks/Waingrow, Kirk
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/unix/Administration/UNIX_Hints_&_Hacks/19270001..htm

232
Unix in a nutshell
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

233
Unix kornshell quick reference
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/shell/Unix_KornShell_Quick_Reference/kornShell.html

234
Unix power tools
http://www.hk8.org/old_web/

235
Unix shell guide
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/shell/The_UNIX_Shell_Guide/

236
Unix unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

237
Unix unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

238
Unix unleashed Internet Ed./Burk, Robin
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/unix/Administration/UNIX_Unleashed(Internet_Edition)/fm.htm

239
Unix unleashed, System administrator's Edition
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/unix/Administration/UNIX_Unleashed_System_Administrator's_Edition/toc.htm

240
Unix Unleashed/Sams Publication
http://book.onairweb.net/computer/os/unix/Administration/UNIX_Unleashed/

241
Upgrading PCs illustrated
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

242
Using windows NT workstation 4.0
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

243
_VBScript unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

244
_Vbscript unleashed
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

245
Visual basic 4 in 12 easy lessons
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

246
Visual basic 4 unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

247
Visual Basic 5 night school
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

248
Visual basic programming in 12 easy lessons
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

249
Visual Basic programming in 12 easy lessons
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

250
Visual C++ 4 unleashed
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

251
Visual C++ programming in 12 easy lessons
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

252
Web database developer's guide with visual basic 5
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

253
Web database developer's guide with visual basic 5
http://www.emu.edu.tr/english/facilitiesservices/computercenter/bookslib/

254
Web programming desktop reference 6-in-1
http://www.parsian.net/set1252/pages/books.htm

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36 Graphics & Design Ebooks

36 Graphics & Design Ebooks

Maya, Photoshop, Macromedia, Bryce, Digital Photography, & more....

Download with FlashGet

f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/8.books.Maya.[by.KiN_www.netz.ru].rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/A.Short.Course.in.Digital.Photography.[by.KiN_www.netz.ru].rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Adobe.Creative.Suite.Keyboard.Shortcuts.[by.KiN_www.netz.ru]_3,1.MB.rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Adobe.Photoshop.CS.in.10.Simple.Steps.or.Less.(2004).[by.KiN_www.netz.ru]_7,84 MB.rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Adobe.Photoshop.Tutorial.7.Day.Course.html.a.[28.84.MB_www.netz.ru].rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Advanced.3D.Photorealism.Techniques[9,76.MB_RUS_www.netz.ru].rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Bill.Flemming.Advanced.3D.Photorealism.Techniques.[RUS].[by.KiN_www.netz.ru]_9,75 MB.rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Bryce.5.Manual.[by.KiN_www.netz.ru_4.01MB].rar
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f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Learning.Macromedia.FlashMX.2004[658.kB_www.netz.ru].rar
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f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Macromedia.Press.Macromedia.Dreamweaver.MX.Dynamic.Applications.[10.46.MB_www.netz.ru].rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/New.Riders.Photoshop.7.Power.Shortcuts.[by.KiN_www.netz.ru]_3,5 MB.rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/NewRiders.MacromediaDreamweaverMx2004WebApplicationRecipes(6,5MB_www.netz.ru).rar f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/PhotoShop.&.Illustrator.Tutorial.[14.37.MB_www.netz.ru].rar
f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Photoshop.6.Bible.[13.95.MB_www.netz.ru].rar f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Photoshop.75.tutorial.RUS.[by.KiN_www.netz.ru].rar
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f*p://195.135.232.80/Books/design/Photoshop.Rus.4-18[6.5Mb,_www.netz.ru].rar

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23 Ways To Speed WinXP, Not only Defrag

Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.


Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

Read more »

20 Great Google Secrets

20 Great Google Secrets



http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1306756,00.asp

excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif



Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see

www.pcmag.com/searchengines

But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.

But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.

Syntax Search Tricks

Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at

www.google.com/help/operators.html

. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.

Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.

Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as

www.mysite.com/index.html

, you can enter intext:html.

Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in

link:http://www.pcmag.com


Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.

Swiss Army Google

Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature

(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)

lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."

Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.

Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search

(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml).




Extended Googling

Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups

(http://groups.google.com)

indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools: Froogle
CODE
(http://froogle.google.com),

which indexes products from online stores, and Google Catalogs
CODE
(http://catalogs.google.com),

which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at

www.google.com/options/index.html

You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser?

Google Alert

(www.googlealert.com)

monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts

(www.google.com/newsalerts).

This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)

Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs

(http://labs.google.com),

a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search

(http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html),

you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase, so don't expect 100 percent success.

In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll need an API key, which is available free from
CODE
www.google.com/apis

. See the figures for two more examples, and visit

www.pcmag.com/solutions

for more.

Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine. Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can improve your Internet searching.


Online Extra: More Google Tips


Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches.

Search Within a Timeframe

Daterange: (start date–end date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it, because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters on the Web (such as

CODE
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif


), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at

www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml

. If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number.

More Google API Applications

Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host (GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query

(www.staggernation.com/gawsh/).

When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL

(www.staggernation.com/garbo/).

Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL. CapeMail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.

Read more »

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements
PC magazine.

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."

Read more »

10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

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