Getting used to DSL
 

Well, my new DSL connection was up and running a couple days early, so I've spent quite a bit of time online this weekend.

I'm used to navagating in Compuserve, so I'm getting used to some new things, like Outlook, which, I've never liked.

I'm already starting to miss some of the features of CS. For instance, the mail center was always on top and instantly acessable. When I get mail now, I have to launch Outlook and keep it running. That's just another program running and slowing things down.

The speed is better online, but not what I thought. It's 2-3 times faster, but that's like going from a 1300cc VW to a new Beetle. I was expecting a Porsche. It has to be mentioned that I'm a little down on memory and rather than expand, I'm looking a new computers with the whole package of faster processor, big memory and drive.

Back to mail, I'm getting duplicate mail. It comes to me in the Verizon (my ISP), or I can open Outlook. Verizon is really a PITA to access. It takes MINUTES to log in.

Another little secret I did and miss, was to keep a 'new message' screen going all the time and when I needed to check spelling of a word, I typed it in and did the check. That's a lot faster than going back and forth between Pelican BBS and Word. I don't even see the spell check in Outlook, but I'm sure it's there.

What are the slick ways to streamline DSL? And rather than navagate in Explorer, is there a better solution? TIA

Zeke - when creating a new message in Outlook the Spell Checker can be found under the Tools menu. If it's not there, I suspect that you do not have Microsoft Office installed. Or if Office is installed, something isn't right - the Office products and Outlook all share the same Spell Check module.

As for the speed - go to www.dslreports.com , along the left side click on "Tests & Tools" then click on "Speed Tests". Follow the screens and see what it gives you for a Download Speed. Did you sign up for the basic 384K DSL or up to 1.5Mb DSL?

Unlike cable companies, the phone companies are regulated and have to guarantee a certain speed with DSL or they can't provide it. I'm not sure what the exact bottom line is (I think it is in the 244K download speed range) but if you are not getting at least that, then you need to call Verizon and see what's up.

All this is assuming that your machine is free of viruses and spyware which will hinder the performance of any machine.

Also, a faster machine and more memory will always help :-)

Hey, Milt!

Got a couple of tips for you. firtly, to enhance your DSL speed and performance, try toing to http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks and running their DSL test. There is a little applet at the site that will test your setup and suggest modifications to improve performance.

Second, if you don't want to work with Internet Explorer, there are several alternatives. Netscape is probably the second most used browser around, followed Opera.

Netscape, in my opinion, doesn't seem to work as fast as Explorer, but Opera, which is streamlined, without a lot of the bells and whistles, seems to work much faster than bot of them.

Randy

Don't bother with Netscape, just go straight for Mozilla (www.mozilla.org). It is what Netscape is based on, and more actively developed. Also, don't forget your security updates, etc. and you NEED a firewall - either a hardware router/fw combo (cheap at bestbuy, etc) or software based (zone alarm, tiny pfw, etc). Not trusing windows, I'd go for the hardware one.

Zeke - one more possibility for the missing spell check if you use Outlook Express 6.0 (you mentioned Outlook - so not sure if it's Outllook or Outlook Express).

Microsoft has an article where the Spelling command in Outlook Express 6 is no longer available after you install Works 7.0. Here is a link to that article in case it applies to your situation:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;832537&Product=oex

Milt,

Getting DSL forced me to get a new computer. My old computer just couldn't process all the info fast enough to really take advantage of DSL. You could always get more memory to speed things up a little.