Quicken

What makes a DLL file suddenly disappear, leaving one with a foreboding message during a bootup like "A required .DLL file, MRTRATE.DLL, was not found"? Should I care? On the surface of things, everything still seems to be working. What's it for, why did it leave, and how do I retrieve it if it's truly important? Dynamic link libraries, or DLLs, are small bits of code that handle repetitive tasks and other housekeeping. That MRTRATE.DLL error is caused by the popular Quicken personal-finance program conflicting with other parts of Windows designed to handle scheduling.

DEFIANCE, Ohio - Spurred by the latest statistics that confirm the rocky state of the economy, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain exhorted their supporters yesterday to intensify their efforts as the marathon presidential race turns into a sprint to the finish line. With five days before Election Day, the candidates stepped up their schedules, adding stops and rallies as they traveled to more battleground states. Throughout, the focus was on the economy, the issue that has dominated the last weeks of the campaign, and on the importance of voting.

The Christmas family knew it was onto "a good thing."It seemed everyone from great-aunt Helen Stevens to 9-month-old Grant Cassidy was at the races yesterday to see the Donelson Christmas family homebred gelding, Quicken, win the$40,000 Orme Wilson Jr. Memorial Stakes.Corrine Christmas Sullivan said in the paddock beforehand that she was nervous."I don't know what's worse, having a horse that can't run or having a horse that you think has some ability and then hoping he lives up to expectations," she said.

Airfares are on the rise as airlines keep a tighter rein on flights and seats - and that rise could accelerate if industry merger efforts bear fruit. The average cost of airline tickets in the United States was up 10.2 percent last month compared with a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as airlines struggle with surging fuel prices and a softening U.S. economy. Over the same period, overall inflation rose 4 percent. Already this year, most of the more than a dozen price-increase attempts have been matched by rivals.

I have only three employees in my shop, which sells low-cost merchandise in small lots to many customers. What kind of computer software should I be looking for to handle my receivables, payables, payroll, inventory and taxes? Your business sounds like it is the right size to computerize simply by buying the small-business upgrade of the super-popular Quicken sold to ordinary folks for their personal finances. It costs $79 and is called Quicken Premier 2003 for Home and Business. When Quicken executives gave me a dog-and-pony show for this software, I was amazed to see that the same software that can let you bank online from home comes with modules covering every item you said you needed.

The Microsoft Corp. has come up with three new Windows products for people who have powerful personal computers, but who do not need all the power of conventional Windows business software.It sounds like a narrow field, but it really is not. Computer prices are coming down as fast as computer technology is advancing, with the result that many beginning computer users today are starting out with machines that have the minimum requirements to run Windows software: a 386SX microprocessor, a few megabytes of system memory and at least 40 megabytes of hard disk drive storage.

This time of year I'm inundated with software or literature about software. Manufacturers, naturally, know people are on the prowl for gifts. And there are also plenty of people boxed in for the winter who are looking to improve their computer systems. Here are some of the more intriguing pieces I've found.BDL HOMEWARE. Bette Laswell, president of BDL Homeware, sent me some of her programs she describes as "ready to use -- you don't have to figure out how to customize it." Her programs, for IBM compatibles, are for home-based needs.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft Corp., in the software industry's largest acquisition ever, agreed yesterday to acquire Intuit Inc., the producer of the leading personal finance program, in a stock swap valued at about $1.5 billion.For Microsoft, the world's largest software company, the ownership of the Quicken program would put the company in a position to dominate the emerging market for writing checks, paying bills and shopping electronically from home.Quicken, with 6 million users, is already the leader by far in financial software for personal computers, and is used by a few small banks in the United States as the means for letting their customers do their banking from home.

The letter from the insurance company said an inspector would come to look over the house. He did a pretty thorough job, checking the roof and foundation, the sides of the house, gutters and driveway. He found everything in order - no rotting wood surfaces or peeling paint, no cracking or crumbling of foundation walls, no water stains, mildew or mold. I was feeling pretty smug because, by acing this free "home-care review," my homeowner's insurance premium would stay reasonably low. (If the inspection had turned up a problem and I fixed it in a timely manner, the premium wouldn't go up. Check whether your insurance company offers this inspection service.

Originally, the Start button and icons for Microsoft Windows were at the bottom of the monitor screen. All of a sudden I realized they had shifted to the right-hand edge of the screen, and I cannot find the key to return them to the screen bottom. There is no key. The mouse moves the task bar in Windows from the bottom to either side or the top. To move the bar, you put the cursor in a spot on the bar without icons and, while holding down the left mouse button, use a sweeping motion to move the whole thing to a different edge of the desktop.

It's the time of year to start thinking about New Year's resolutions and, if you're like many of us, dieting and budgeting will make your list. Neither word conjures up fun. And even with the best of intentions behind them, both resolutions stand a good chance of being broken before too long. Keeping to a budget and sticking to it might become more important, though. Sure, we've gone through worse economic times without having to change our spending. But the days of easy credit appear to be over.

If we spend $500 for groceries each month and can't possibly lower the total, then it's foolish to budget $450. Budgets must be based on reality, which is why I recommend keeping track of all expenses for at least three months before drawing up a budget. With more discretionary expenses, flexibility is possible and essential. Say we allow $100 a month for eating out, and one month we spend $50. Like rollover minutes in a cell phone plan, we now have a reserve we can spend the next month.

Pikesville had the right strategy to challenge No. 5 Century in last night's state Class 2A-1A girls lacrosse championship at UMBC Stadium, but not enough firepower to prevent the Knights from winning their second straight title. Jenny Steadman scored seven goals and Katie Schwarzmann added four as the Knights dominated the second half en route to a 15-5 victory and their third Class 2A-1A crown in four years Last year, the Panthers fell to the Knights, 16-6, in the championship and, last night, they planned to stifle Century's quick-strike attack.

The letter from the insurance company said an inspector would come to look over the house. He did a pretty thorough job, checking the roof and foundation, the sides of the house, gutters and driveway. He found everything in order - no rotting wood surfaces or peeling paint, no cracking or crumbling of foundation walls, no water stains, mildew or mold. I was feeling pretty smug because, by acing this free "home-care review," my homeowner's insurance premium would stay reasonably low. (If the inspection had turned up a problem and I fixed it in a timely manner, the premium wouldn't go up. Check whether your insurance company offers this inspection service.

What makes a DLL file suddenly disappear, leaving one with a foreboding message during a bootup like "A required .DLL file, MRTRATE.DLL, was not found"? Should I care? On the surface of things, everything still seems to be working. What's it for, why did it leave, and how do I retrieve it if it's truly important? Dynamic link libraries, or DLLs, are small bits of code that handle repetitive tasks and other housekeeping. That MRTRATE.DLL error is caused by the popular Quicken personal-finance program conflicting with other parts of Windows designed to handle scheduling.

I have only three employees in my shop, which sells low-cost merchandise in small lots to many customers. What kind of computer software should I be looking for to handle my receivables, payables, payroll, inventory and taxes? Your business sounds like it is the right size to computerize simply by buying the small-business upgrade of the super-popular Quicken sold to ordinary folks for their personal finances. It costs $79 and is called Quicken Premier 2003 for Home and Business. When Quicken executives gave me a dog-and-pony show for this software, I was amazed to see that the same software that can let you bank online from home comes with modules covering every item you said you needed.

Originally, my Windows Start button and icons were at the bottom of my monitor screen. All of a sudden I realized they had shifted to the right-hand edge of the screen, and I cannot find the key to return them to the screen bottom. It isn't a key, but the mouse that moves the task bar in Windows from the bottom to either side or the top. To move the bar, put the cursor in a spot on the bar without icons and, while holding down the left mouse button, use a sweeping motion to move the whole thing to a different edge of the desktop.

IF YOU ARE willing to let a computer program try to help set your financial house in order, the arrival of your January bank statement heralds the best time to do it. For reasons involving the Internal Revenue Service, getting your records organized for the entire year may help reduce the pain on April 15, 1999.Both Intuit's Quicken 98 and Microsoft Money 98 can do a good job of tracking accounts, assets and budgets, but "computerized" financial management is not the same as "effortless." Getting the most from either program requires spending plenty of time entering data and mastering unfamiliar conventions.

Keep reminding yourself that Oklahoma guard Hollis Price is tough and that he's a star, and you'll be OK. It saves the embarrassment of thinking otherwise after you check out the face that everyone talks about -- the one that earned the nickname "Webster," though it's more like Dudley from Different Strokes. It happens when you judge a book by its 405 area code and the seven national football titles that sit in Norman, Okla., and it happens when you decide to pay the most attention to teammate Aaron McGhee.

Originally, the Start button and icons for Microsoft Windows were at the bottom of the monitor screen. All of a sudden I realized they had shifted to the right-hand edge of the screen, and I cannot find the key to return them to the screen bottom. There is no key. The mouse moves the task bar in Windows from the bottom to either side or the top. To move the bar, you put the cursor in a spot on the bar without icons and, while holding down the left mouse button, use a sweeping motion to move the whole thing to a different edge of the desktop.