Letters to the Editor - 22 Jan 2002

Deceptive Fixmbr Error Message
I used the information in Kathy Ivens's Getting Started with Windows 2000: "The Recovery Console" (August 2001, InstantDoc ID 21538) to install the Recovery Console (RC) on our file and print servers and on my own workstation. I made all the Group Policy changes that the article recommended. Two days later, my computer wouldn't boot into Windows. Outside consultants told me they suspected a problem with the Master Boot Record (MBR)—possibly a virus. They told me to boot into the RC and use the fixmbr command. I received an error message telling me that I seemed to have an invalid boot record and that using this command might destroy my computer. I ended up reinstalling Win2K Professional. Is there an RC command that will fix an invalid boot record?

—Jerome Glass

My Microsoft RC expert tells me that you could have safely ignored the message. Apparently, the message always appears, and it's deceiving. He wouldn't call this situation a bug, but I have no problem labeling it with that term! The Microsoft article "Error Message When You Run fixmbr Command" (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q266745) addresses the problem.

—Kathy Ivens

The Well-Connected Traveler
I'm a resident of Calabar, Nigeria. Although I haven't yet traveled to any country other than Cameroon, John D. Ruley's Mobile & Wireless: "The Well-Connected Traveler" (August 2001, InstantDoc ID 21540) paints me a very good picture of the challenges of staying tuned to the Internet irrespective of one's location as a traveler. Before 2001, Nigeria wasn't a licensed Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) country, and international roaming wasn't possible. Now we have two GSM operators.

I've been trying to get two phone lines from our national carrier for my proposed Internet café, but the national carrier claims that its capacity has been exceeded in my neighborhood. Although I'm still considering leasing one phone line from the company, I want to use a GSM digital phone as a backup. Can you tell me how to link up the GSM cell phone with my desktop computer? Would Palm's Mobile Internet Kit be suitable? Do you know of any interface that might speed up the link?

—Iniobong Ekpo
[email protected]

Palm's Mobile Internet Kit works only for connecting a Palm PDA to a GSM phone. I've never heard of anyone using a GSM phone with a desktop PC, but I'm sure it's possible if you use the techniques for connecting a notebook PC and a GSM phone. Xircom sells a GSM Connection Kit (http://www.xircom.com/cda/page/0,1298,0-0-1_1-324,00.html) that might work. The solution is based on a PC Card, so you need a way to use that with your desktop PC. To do the same thing without a PC Card slot, you need a serial cable that connects your notebook and your phone. TeleAdapt (http://www.teleadaptusa.com/nme/datacables_generic101.htm) sells those, along with the driver.

—John D. Ruley

DHCP Client Service
Table 3 in Jordan Ayala's "Win2K Server Services, Part 2" (November 15, 2001, InstantDoc ID 22762) indicates that you can disable the DHCP Client service if you're assigning a static IP address to a server (e.g., a domain controller—DC). The statement is correct, but this service also provides the "dynamic" function in dynamic DNS (DDNS)—it updates DNS with the corresponding SRV and CNAME records. If you disable this service, you'll have to manually enter the DNS records within the _msdcs, _sites, _tcp, and _udp zones. In an average network, this task would quickly become tedious and prone to errors. So, disabling the DHCP Client service isn't practical.

—Bill Thomas
[email protected]

The message said I might have an invalid boot record and using the command might destroy my computer.

OOPS
Market Watch: "Videoconferencing" (December 2001, InstantDoc ID 22946) includes an incorrect vendor contact telephone number for Winnov's Videum 1000 and Videum MXC Color Camera. The correct telephone number is 408-744-9777.

Buyer's Guide: "Backup Software" (September 15, 2001, InstantDoc ID 22003) includes incorrect vendor contact information for BridgeHead Software's HyperTape. The correct contact information is BridgeHead Software, 800-262-8296, http://www.bridgeheadsoftware.com. We apologize for any inconvenience these errors might have caused.