An old PC speed-up hoax reappears

Like bad pennies and Nigerian money scams, those bogus offers to speed up your online connection keep coming back.

Jason Wallwork saw that claim on YouTube, but fortunately, his BS detectors were working five-by-five.

    * "I don't really believe this is true, but a video on YouTube claims you can speed up your Internet by 80% by changing one setting.

      "Would changing it get a boost at all in Internet speed? Is it even safe to touch? I've heard about [Quality of Service] QoS before, but I don't know which applications are QoS-aware. Can you shed some light on this?"

That particular hoax stems from a misunderstanding of the Quality of Service network setting. QoS first appeared in Windows 2000 a full decade ago. It's been in every version of Windows since, including Windows 7. (See Figure 1.) It was originally designed as a technology to improve networking over slow and noisy telephone lines.

That's the first item in my latest weekly Q&A column for WindowsSecrets.com; the item goes on to discuss QoS, and how it should be handled.

Other reader questions this week:

• Setting up Remote Desktop over dial-up
• Installing software for multiple user accounts
• Insomniac PC simply won't stay asleep

The rest of the issue, in totality:

Free content posted on Nov. 18, 2010:

TOP STORY By Michael Lasky Microsoft TechNet for the rest of us TechNet Magazine yields a wealth of tips Find hot new tips on the TechNet Blogs site Sysinternal's massive catalog of utilities LOUNGE LIFE By Tracey Capen Thoughts on the nominal end of Windows XP WACKY WEB WEEK By Revia Romberg Fast-talking boy gets everything he's after

 
Paid content:

LANGALIST PLUS By Fred Langa An old PC speed-up hoax reappears Speed up your Internet connection by 80%! Setting up Remote Desktop over dial-up Installing software for multiple user accounts Insomniac PC simply won't stay asleep

BEST PRACTICES By Susan Bradley Make your e-mail more professional and portable Good business reasons for unique domain names Untethering your e-mail address via Web hosting Managing the transition to a new e-mail address

WOODY'S WINDOWS By Woody Leonhard Hotmail finally gets secure — sorta The poster child for unsecured Web activities How signing into Hotmail leads to sidejacking What you lose with HTTPS turned on in Hotmail The best techniques for using secure Hotmail

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http://WindowsSecrets.com/comp/101118

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