features much better support for
transcoding AVIs, especially com-
pressed ones, into the DVD format.
Sonic also just released MyDVD
6, but we haven’t had a chance to
test it yet.
Alternatively, you can experi-
ment with freeware programs such
as VirtualDub (www.virtualdub.
com) and TMPGEnc (www.tmpgenc.
net) to transcode files into a DVD-
ready format before sending them
to MyDVD**. But be warned—these
programs are tough to learn and
master. You’ll find http://www.doom9.org
has tutorials that should get you
started with these apps.**
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR
VERTICAL...
I’m writing to you about my
NEC MultiSync FE991SB 19-
inch CRT monitor, which I just
purchased. Within the first 10
minutes of use, I noticed an
odd-looking greenish hue in
the upper left and lower left-
hand corners of the monitor.
Furthermore, there are two
extremely fine lines running
horizontally across my monitor.
What could the problem be,
and is there anything I can do
to correct the problem? I would
hate to have to ship the monitor
back for a replacement.
—JON M. RYAN
Most likely, the discoloration you’re
noticing at the corners of your mon-
itor is the result of magnetic inter-
ference – something CRTs are sus-
ceptible to. A buildup of magnetism
either external or internal to the
monitor can cause a CRT’s electron
beams to be deflected from hitting
the appropriate phosphors, thereby
causing discoloration, or some-
times a rainbow effect. Your first
course of action is to run several
degauss cycles on the monitor,
waiting 20 minutes between each
cycle. This option is usually avail-
able via the onboard controls. Also
move any objects near the monitor
that may include internal steel, iron,
or magnetic material. Examples
include speakers, small black
power transformers, telephones,
staplers, electric pencil sharpen-
ers, etc. If the monitor rests on a
steel desk or table, or
if you have steel office furniture
nearby, move the monitor to another
location to see if that is a problem.
Also try rotating the monitor by 180
degrees and degauss it as above. If
the problem persists, try a manual
degaussing coil, available on the
Internet, which is capable of pro-
ducing greater degrees of the alter-
nating magnetism necessary to
neutralize the offending magnetism.
The fine lines you’re noticing
across the width of the screen are
characteristic of aperture-grille
CRTs in particular. An aperture
grille is a series of vertical wires
running from top to bottom behind
the screen, and through which the
CRT’s electron beam passes when
creating the image you see
onscreen. Any movement to these
wires can cause the image to jiggle
or become otherwise distorted. To
keep the aperture grille taut and
the image stable, very fine “damp-
ening wires” span the grille hori-
zontally at select points. Depending
on the size of the monitor, there can
be one, two, or three dampening
wires present, and faintly visible.MYSTERY MEM
I have a single 512MB stick of
PC3200 DDR memory in mysystem. The module is covered
by a nonremovable copper
heatsink and there is no label
to tell me who made it. Is there
some sort of program I can use
to get information about my
mystery memory module?
—DAVID EDGARMost RAM tools let you read the
SPD, or serial presence detect,
chip on the module. The SPD usu-
ally contains RAM timings and
other data that the motherboard’s
BIOS reads when it initializes the
motherboard and sets the memory
speed, and oftentimes the SPD
will reveal the name of the manu-
facturer. Ultra-X’s (www.uxd.com)
hardware diagnostic tool RAM
Stress Test Pro 2 provides exten-
sive information about your RAM
including the SPD data, but it costs
$699. A cheaper method is to get
the pro version of SiSoft Sandra
(www.sisoftware.net), which will
read the SPD data at the very least.
Keep in mind that the memory mak-
er’s name will only be there if the
company programmed it in. Many
generic modules contain little more
than the basic info necessary to get
the board up and running.I’VE GOT THE POWER!
I have a new Toshiba M200
Tablet PC, which I love, but I
can’t seem to find an external
DVD-ROM drive that doesn’t
require an external power
source. I’ve seen a Toshiba CD-
RW/DVD combo drive that
comes with a battery pack andallows for portable play, but it
only lasts about two hours. I
really want an external drive
that requires only the power
from a USB 2.0 port. I don’t care
if it can record DVDs or CDs
because I don’t really need to
do that away from home. I just
need an ultra-portable
drive. Does such a thing exist?
—JONATHAN SCHMIDTThe Doctor consulted with Plextor
and learned that bus-powered
USB 2.0 devices are limited to a
maximum current draw of 100mA
(milliamps) at startup, and 500mA
after that. A Plextor optical drive
can use up to 2A (amps), which is
four times what a USB 2.0 port can
provide (and you always want to
leave plenty of headroom when
dealing with power usage). This
explains why the Doctor has never
seen a bus-powered external opti-
cal drive either in the Lab or out in
the field.
If your Tablet PC has a lot of
free hard drive space, you may
want to consider installing a virtu-
al CD program and creating disk
images of CDs you want to take
with you (for example, you can
create disk images with Nero and
mount the images with the free-
ware app Daemon Tools available
at http://www.daemon-tools.cc). For
DVDs, you also have the option of
compressing the contents into a
manageable DivX or Xvid file for
use on your Tablet PC (go to http://www.
dvdrhelp.com for tons of tutorials
on the subject). ■THE HARD, AND SOFT, WAY
Hey, Doc, I just set up a network
in my house and have a quick
question: If I have a router that
comes with a built-in firewall, do I
also need to run a software firewall
like ZoneAlarm? I want to make
sure I’m fully protected.
—RICK BROIDAStrictly speaking, you don’t need to run a
software firewall if you have a hardware
firewall in place. However, it’s not a bad
idea. In the event that a malicious worm
gets past your firewall in the form of an
e-mail attachment, a software firewall
running on the PCs in your network
will prevent the worm from spreading
throughout your LAN.
Note: If any of the computers on your net-
work are used away from the LAN, and therefore
the router’s built-in firewall, they should abso-
lutely run a software firewall for protection.Like a peaceful Native American bringing fish and fowl to
starving settlers, the Doctor is here to grace you with PC
repair advice from his vast cornucopia of knowledge. As
always, if you have PC problems, send the Doc an e-mail at
[email protected].Even if you have a hardware firewall, it isn’t
a bad idea to also run a software firewall like
ZoneAlarm , especially on any machine that’s used
beyond the safe haven of your LAN.NOVEMBER 2004 MA XIMUMPC 69