Windows Me For Dummies Corrections
These corrections have all been made for the current printing of Windows Me For Dummies.
Page 4, Grammar Gotchas
The first sentence on that page says:
You’ve gotten by one way or another, hopefully with the help of a computer guru — either a friend at the office, somebody down the street, or your fourth-grader.
One reader wrote, “The word gotten can not stand alone. It is probably “gotten this far by one way” or “gotten here by one way.” Either one would work.”
However, another reader wrote a year or so later saying, “Your sentence is correct. ‘Gotten’, or more correctly ‘got’ is the past tense and past participle of the verb ‘get’. It is both transitive, which requires a direct object, or intransitive, and does not reqire one. This English teacher couldn’t let this misconception go without some explanation.”
Chapter 2, Page 22, Missing Autoplay Explanation
Windows Me offers an “AutoPlay” feature. When you place the CD into the drive, Windows Me notices, and automatically loads the disc’s content. If Autoplay doesn’t work, the fix is supposed to be found in Chapter 18.
Several scurrying fingers found that information to be missing from Chapter 18, and it’s now included here:
- Right-click on your Desktop’s My Computer icon.
- Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
- Click the Device Manager tab. (Make sure “View devices by type” is selected along the top.)
- Click the plus sign next to the word CDROM.
- Double-click your CD-ROM drive’s name.
- Click the Settings tab.
- In the Options area, make sure there’s a checkmark in the Auto Insert Notification box.
- Click OK until you’ve closed all the menus.
Windows Me should now notice when your CD is inserted into the drive.
One small caution, however; some older CD drives don’t understand the Autoplay feature. If your drive is four or five years old – and turning on the Auto insert notification feature doesn’t work, look for the CD manufacturer’s Web site on the Web. If you’re lucky, the manufacturer might be providing an updated driver for that drive. Lacking that, though, it might be time to upgrade.
Chapter 7, Page 124, Repetitious Second and Third Paragraph
Whoops! The page’s second and third paragraphs — the one about the “helpful Windows Me detective” — were repeated. Please cross out the second paragraph.
Bogus “Freewwweb” Link (Chap. 13, p. 273; Chap. 15, p. 307):
When I wrote “Windows Me For Dummies” in April, 2000, Freewwweb was a respected Internet Service Provider providing free internet service to more than 100,000 subscribers throughout 93 percent of the country.
The company had been in business for the past three years, starting with $50 million in investment capital. Although several sites provided free Internet access at that time, I chose to mention Freewwweb in the book because it looked the most stable.
Unfortunately, a few months after the book hit print, the “dot-com” crisis hit, knocking many Web sites off their feet. Freewwweb was one of them, declaring bankruptcy shortly after “Windows Me For Dummies” hit print. Another free site, Juno, bought Freewwweb’s current subscribers, bringing them over to Juno.
Unfortunately, in a last-grasp bid to raise cash and pay off its creditors, Freewwweb sold its last tangible asset — its domain name. And they’ve sold the name to an adult-themed site. Many other authors, publishers and other companies are facing the same problem.
Please be assured that all mention of Freewwweb is being removed from future printings of the book.