TIPS & TRICKS: Restoring a Dell Machine Without Media

I've learned that Dell machines that have been (and all future ones, of course) shipped after July 2004 now have a hidden partition that contains an image of the factory restore. This means that if you need to do a restore of the machine to the original factory state, then you can do that with the BIOS command of CTRL-F11. This is, of course, assuming that your factory hard drive hasn't been reconfigured or reformatted to your own specs. NOTE: This will wipe your computer of all data, so make sure you have a backup of your important data.

NEWS: Apple iPod Settlement

This settlement involves "All persons or entities residing in the United States who purchased or obtained a First, Second, or Third Generation iPod on or before May 31, 2004." If you are one of these people, this includes me too, please go here (http://www.appleipodsettlement.com/). Good luck.

NEWS: Defective Palm m100, m105, or m125's

If you've owned any of the PDA's listed, please read the following:

"If you owned a Palm personal digital assistant model m100, m105, or m125 ("Palm PDA") manufactured by palmOne, Inc. (formerly Palm, Inc.) ("Palm"), this notice may be important to you. A proposed settlement has been reached in a lawsuit in which plaintiff claims that: (a) the Palm PDAs may be defective in that they sometimes lose data during the process of replacing batteries even when the user follows Palm's recommended procedure; and (b) Palm allegedly communicated and/or failed to communicate and disclose certain facts and circumstances in connection with data loss."...

"1. The claim process and relief to Settlement Class Members
As part of the settlement, Palm has agreed to exchange, at Palm's expense, the Palm PDA of any owner who: (a) returns the allegedly defective Palm PDA; (b) provides a sworn statement that the owner lost data while replacing batteries in accordance with Palm's recommended battery replacement procedure; and (c) provides adequate claim documentation (as described in the Claim Form) and proof of membership in the class. The replacement unit will be a new or refurbished unit of the same or a higher model. Palm reserves the right to inspect any Palm PDA submitted as part of this settlement. If Palm's records or its inspection of the Palm PDA show that the cause of data loss during the battery exchange process is due to abuse, mishandling, or misuse of the Palm PDA, the claim may be denied."

For further information and how to submit your claim please go here (http://www.taylorsettlement.com/).