Most of you who know me or have read some of my articles know that I subscribe to several PC magazines. I travel a lot and save up my magazines to read on the plane. I especially like the special issues that tell you about the 101-Best of whatever’s such as the best freeware, websites, buys, etc. Well, this month’s PC World Magazine (October) has a bunch of tips and tricks and I thought I’d pass along some, so here’s a few.

We’ve all heard of "cookies". If you’re new to using the Internet or just want to find out more about the nosy little critters go to Cookie Central (www.cookiecentral.com) for one of the best sources for cookie information on the web. Here you’ll find complete info on what they are, how to find and read them on your PC and what to do about them.

If you use Microsoft’s wheel-mouse like I do, there is a new IntelliPoint 2.2 driver out at www.microsoft.com/msdownload/intellipoint/intellieng.asp that is supposed to take care of some glitches under Windows 98. I didn’t have any trouble with mine but it’s FREE! (and you know how I like FREE STUFF!)

If you have a favorite CD-ROM that’s gotten a bad scratch on it, try cleaning it by placing a few drops of water on a lint-free cloth and gently wiping the data side (non-label) of the disc from its center to its edge. After it has dried, place it back in the CD-ROM drive and try again. If that doesn’t work, Memorex makes a Scratch Repair Kit for $10 (www.memorex.com) and Esprit makes Wipeout for $15 that does the same thing (www.cdrepair.com). To protect your CD discs you should always handle them by the edges and store them in their sleeves when not in use.

For some reason many people are leery of giving a credit card number over the Internet to purchase something but think nothing of physically giving the credit card to a waiter or waitress whom they have never seen before. Does this make sense? Estimates are that sales via the Internet will reach $20 billion by the year 2000. Just make sure you’re using a secure server and go for it. There are a lot of good buys over the Internet and, if nothing else, you’re likely to save on the sales tax. But obviously not all buys are best buys. To find out if you’re getting a good deal, comparison-shop at sites such as Excite’s Product Finder (www.excite.com). Use this service before you settle on a particular vendor.

If you have scads of folders and sub-folders, as I do, you may have trouble finding particular folders from time to time, as I do. Well, there is a FREEWARE utility (and you know I like FREE STUFF!) that you can get from www.fileworld.com called DirNow that appears as a small box in which you type a few characters of the folder you are seeking, press <Enter>, and up pops a list of folders matching your entry. DirNow is fast and small and FREE!

For a more complete listing of tips and tricks and a troubleshooting guide for your PC, pick up a copy of PCWorld Magazine. It’s worth the cost. u