TrevorF chaired the meeting, 24 attended, in the absence of other volunteers
JohnS agreed to collate the notes.
BUT this is not going to work unless you E-mail me with your comments {:-((
Items discussed:

1. RegCleaner Access/Download - JohnK

2. Problems staying connected to TIP - EstherM
Seems to be disconnected regularly after (usually) 10 mins using the normal
(not 10 min) line.
A few more suggestions from the group concerning W98 Inactivity timers etc.
Nothing definite proposed. Ed: Worth checking a couple of Outlook Express
options.
    a. Tools|Options|Connection - make sure that "Hang up after Sending and
Receiving" box is NOT checked.
    b. Tools|Options|Connection|Change Button|Highlight TIP|Click Settings
button|Advanced|Make sure "Disconnect if Idle for 10 minutes" is not ticked,
or extend the time. The problem is sometimes -what constitutes "Idle" time?
Different software tends to interpret this in different ways.

3. A. Media Player 7 - JohnS
    Discovered that this player defaults to playing Audio CDs in "Digital"
mode. What this appears to do is to convert the CD track "on the fly" to a
Wave file and then plays that via the PCI bus interface to the soundcard
which converts back to an analogue file for output to the Speakers. This
task then becomes CPU and memory intensive (even on my 128Mb system CD audio
can be momentarily interrupted by memory swapping when "background"
printing). Also the soundcard Mixer cannot be used to adjust the relative
volume between the CD and System (Wave) sounds - the simple CDROM drive to
Soundcard Audio input cable is not used at all. There are several reasons
for this - not the least, direct CD "digital" copying. But the feature can
be disabled in Media player by Tools|Options|CD Audio| Untick "Digital
Playback" and the sound input returns to Analogue and can be controlled by
the CD Audio Mixer volume control.
    B. APC Magazine DVD - JohnS
    October's Australian Personal Computer magazine includes a DVD ROM as
well as the nearly obligatory dual CD ROMs. Nearly 6 Gb of Software, Video
and MP3 files, etc. This particular offering tends to prove that you get
what you pay for IMHO!

4. "One of life's mysteries", Region Free DVD Player software (except DVD
ROM players made post Jan 2000 - Ed), and Autorun CDs - KenM

5. Dropped connections - RodS
Had a sudden upsurge in dropouts over the last fortnight - culminating in 5
in less than an hour last Friday. Nobody else had similar experiences.
A line quality check, dialling a single digit and listening, showed no noise
on the line.
Since Tuesday there have been no further dropouts.

6. Photos on CD - MikeD

7. Boot up system - Autoload and Desk top W98 - Office and W98 tool bar.
BobS

8. Ribbons for Panasonic printer - AnneG

9. A. PCUG may fold due lack of volunteers. New committee all have other
jobs. - AlanM

    General consensus seemed to be that the group ethos has drifted away
from "Users helping Users" to "Volunteers helping Customers". A reduction of
expectations for the Magazine and Centre might help reduce costs.
    B. Great Freeware download site is
www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Circuit/9810/"BestofFreware" (this URL looks
a bit suspect - I have not tried it yet - so fool around a bit - Ed).




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