It's good to talk - IRC and instant messengers make it possible online

Despite IRC and instant messengers being entirely different breeds, I'm going to lump them both together in the same tutorial, the very flimsy connection being that they can both be used to send private messages to users, much like email only instantaneous. Hey, that will be why they're called instant messengers! Ahem, moving swiftly on... So what exactly are instant messengers? Instant messengers...

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Can I resume my downloads without using a download manager?

Yes - if you are using one of the later versions of Internet Explorer, partially downloaded files are stored in a hidden directory called 'MSDOWNLD.TMP'. Whenever you cancel a download before it is finished and then click on the link again at a later date, the transfer will continue from the point where it was interrupted providing the server supports this functi...

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Data shoehorning

Whenever I burn a data disk compilation I am either left with a lot of wasted space, or I find that there isn't enough room to accommodate my files. Any practical suggestions would be appreciated. Well you could go back to school and brush up on your math technique... or you could let Tim Russell's Fill CD do the calculations for you. What this program does is work out the best way in which...

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Defragment that swap file. Go on, you know you want to. Ah go on. Go on, go on, go on, go on...

To improve the efficiency of Windows you can change the size and location of your swap file. Very often you will find yourself using several memory intensive programs at once and you will simply not have enough physical RAM to cope with the strain. It is at this point that Windows creates what is known as a swap file. This is a substitute for physical memory and will contract and expand contingent...

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What's a good program to use to make customised disk labels?

I've always liked 'Sure Thing CD/DVD Labeler', which surprisingly enough you can find at www.surething.com. With this you can create some really impressive effects effortlessly. It includes lots of templates, clip art and text effects, and you won't even have to worry about measuring your jewel cases/DVD boxes because that has been taken care of too. Even if you plan to download ready-made covers...

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Is there a way of checking my DIY CDs for corruption once I've burnt them?

Yes, there are many utilities available which will perform such a test for you. My favourite is 'CD Check'; a freeware tool which can be found lurking amongst Fusion's apps collecti...

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What is over-burning, and how do I do it?

Over-burning is a term used in reference to cramming more data onto a CD-R than the capacity should theoretically allow. It is used when the CD you wish to copy has marginally more data on it than will fit on a 74 or 80 minute CD-R. Often this is done in a deliberate attempt by the software manufacturers to make duplication of their products more difficult. If an original CD has been over-burnt you...

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How can I apply copyright protection to my home made CDs?

There are one or two programs available which will allow you to do this, but Free Lock is the one that stands out above the rest. It runs from a deliberately damaged floppy disk, altering the layout of a CD image prior to recording and thus making the resulting copy very difficult to duplicate for the average end-user (no copyright protection system is unbreakable, no matter what the authors would...

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Anonymity - a healthy dose of paranoia

I can see you hiding in the shadows over there and so can the logs of all the web sites, FTP servers and other nooks and crannies you visit online. The sort of information gathered by these logs and made available to the webmasters of the sites you visit includes the address of the referring web site, your IP address, your computer's ID name, your physical location and the name of your ISP along with...

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A monagerie of movie media merging methods

How do I join two or more MPG files together? First of all you need to download Camel's MPEG Join. Open up the program and click on the 'add' button. Now browse through your directories, locate the files you want to combine and select them. Press the 'join' button, tell the program where you would like to place the output file and then OK your decision. That's all there is to it! Note that you can...

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Why do the icons on my task bar spontaneously turn black whilst using Getright?

This problem is caused by running more applications than your system resources will allow. If you do nothing to counteract the problem your PC becomes unstable and is likely to crash. To avoid this, simply close down one or two memory hogging programs. If the colour doesn't flood back into your icons you can drag your task bar out of view and then bring it back on screen again to refresh it. If you're...

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How do I set multiple download locations in Getright/Gozilla/Flashget?

Configuring your downloads in such a way ensures that if one set of links goes dead, you still have a second, third, fourth and so on, chance of downloading the same files from a different server. In Getright all you have to do is drag the second set of files into your download status window and choose to save them in the same folder as your first set. Whenever you do this, a prompt window will appear...

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Why do I receive 'forbidden' messages when I try to download a file using Gozilla?

This is caused by the way in which Gozilla identifies itself to the servers it is attempting to download files from. If Gozilla is refused access to a particular file or server you can try using Getright or Flashget instead, or even simpler, temporarily disable your download manager's shell integration system by holding down the shift key, right-click on the file you wish to download and select 'save...

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