Fresno Personal Computer Users' Group
April 2nd General Meeting
at
Hope Lutheran Church 364 East Barstow Avenue
Northwest corner of East Barstow Avene and North Fresno Street
in the Community Meeting Room
Program will start at 7:30 pm
Bring the family and/or a friend!
and what do they provide in services?  |
Do you watch the Golf Channel? Who are the people behind this channel? |
The Golf Channel, co-founded by Arnold Palmer and a subsidiary of the Comcast Corporation, is available in more than 90 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies.
Come and find out what Comcast has to offer in the way of Internet, Television and other services. There is much more to Comcast than what most of know or use.
This information sheet was done using a Free Program (OpenOffice2.0) if you want to save some money and need a new Office Suite, check out OpenOffice (www.openoffice.com).
Bill's Tricks & Tips
Microsoft Word's Insert Button
Have you ever ran into a problem where you move your cursor to edit text on MS Word and when you type, it ends up overwriting the characters after it?
Power Supply Reliability
Lately, there are a lot of power supplies out there that just don't get the job done. A very rough by easy method of figuring out power supply reliability/strength is, believe it or not, its weight. The more a power supply weighs, generally, the more powerful and reliable it is. When you think about it, it makes sense - the more a power supply weighs, the more "stuff" there is inside. Don't overlook your PSU - it's very often neglected, but it's a very crucial component - having a reliable power supply unit is paramount for a good build.
Show the Full Path to a File or Folder
Being able to see the full path (i.e. D:CollectionVideosMusicVideosclip.avi) rather than just the directory in which a file is located (i.e. MusicVideosclip.avi) helps a lot when one has opened many folders and needs to frequently switch between them. And if you happen to have folders with the same name located on different drives or in different subfolders, than enabling this option is a must to avoid confusion.
To enable this option, go to Folder Options in Control Panel and open the View tab. Alternatively, you can open the same tab if in a Windows Explorer window you select the Tools menu. When the View tab is open put a tick in the Display the Full Path in the Address Bar check box and click Apply. Now you should be able to see the whole path to a file or folder.
Defragmenting The Hard Drive
Defragmenting your harddrive(s) is a task that you must perform if you frequently copy and delete files (especially small ones) from your harddrive. Essentially, defragmenting the harddrive is nothing more than rearranging free and used blocks. The idea is that if all used blocks and all free blocks are grouped separately, searching for files on your harddrive will be faster because all the blocks of a file will be grouped together and not scattered all around the harddrive. How data is written in files and on the disk is complicated to explain in a tip but just take it for granted that defragmentation is a general housekeeping task and has to be performed regularly.
You can make defragmentation a scheduled task that runs at specified times (i.e. at night when you computer is idle) or you can start it at any time you like. To start the degragmenter, right-click My Computer icon on the desktop and select Manage. Then go to Storage and click Disk Defragmenter. Select the drive you want to defragment and click the Defragment button (or you may first click Analyze button to see if the drive needs defragmenting or not).
Restore Folders at Startup
If you are frequently using the same folders and you often shutdown or restart your computer, you will find it very handy to have the folders you left open before shutting down/restarting wait for you on the taskbar, when you boot again.
To enable this option, go to Folder Options in Control Panel and open the View tab. Alternatively, you can open the same tab if in a Windows Explorer window you select the Tools menu. When the View tab is open put a tick in the Restore Previous Folder Windows at Logon check box and click Apply.
Background Colors for Easier Reading
If you happen to read a lot onscreen, no wonder that your eyes start to hurt you even if you have a top-notch monitor. You can make things better, if you change the background color from white to pale grey, pale blue, pale green or select a gradient image for a background. You can do this either for all Windows applications or check if the particular applications you are using most often allow to change the background color or put an image (for instance, FireFox allows to change the background color).
Shift+F3 in MS Word
You have typed a whole paragraph of text and now you notice that you have left the Caps Lock on? Or all of a sudden it dawns on you that in headlines all words start with a capital letter? Don't worry - MS Word has a really cute keyboard shortcut for changing the case: Shift+F3. The same effect can be achieved if you select Format -> Change Case. This will open a dialog box you can select how exactly to change it - to Sentence Case, Upper Case, Lower Case, Title Case or just to toggle the case.
View Folder Bar
The Folder Bar, which displays the folders of your computer in an expandable and collapsible manner, can be very handy when browsing through the files and folders on your computer. While this feature is set to appear, by default, in Windows Explorer, it is not shown when viewing My Documents of My Computer. To make the Folder Bar viewable (from within My Documents or My computer), click on View > Explorer Bar > Folders. The Folder Bar should now appear in a panel along the left side of the window.
View Internet History
While in Internet Explorer, one may view a list of recently visited webpages by pressing Ctrl + H or going to View > Explorer Bar > History. If everything went correctly, a new panel should appear on the left side of the window. One may now view which sites were recently visited and be able to open those sites again.
Pressing F4 will also bring up a list of the most recent websites which were typed into the address bar.
FPCUG News
- Due to other obligations Ronnie Ugulano will not be able to continue as Newsletter Editor. There is a pressing need for someone to fill this role. Experience with word processing is necessary.
- Raffle Item: Fenton 800VA Uninterruptible Power Supply Tickets only $1!
Spin It Again
At this year’s (2007) APCUG Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada was a Demo put on by a nearby Oakhurst company. You know the company by the name of Acoustica. They gave us a presentation a few years back on a Disk Labeler Program called Acoustica
Acoustica was founded in 1998 and is located in the foothills of the Yosemite Valley. In January 2002, they officially became Acoustica, Inc.
Acoustica's mission is to create high quality, intuitive and powerful software. With value, diligence, creativity, and innovation. To ensure maximum customer satisfaction, they provide multiple levels of support and availability. At Acoustica, the customer comes first!
The demo was on their program Spin It Again.
It was the best demo I have seen in a long time. The person who did the presentation
was the person who developed the program. He lives in Las Vegas so he was an able
to do the presentation himself. The meeting room was full with about sixty or so
members of APCUG. The only drawback was it was not video taped so everyone could
see/hear it. He used a LP from the early 70’s that had been in the basement of his
folk’s home in Illinois. It still had the cover on but was in very bad shape as it was in a
flooded basement a number of years ago. It had not been cleaned. He played the LP
on a very old record player that was connected to his laptop. The LP had a lot of hisses
and pops when played at first and then he made his copy using Spin It Again to put it on
a CD. It was a very good copy when he finished the demo.
I have never owned a LP in my life so I do not know a lot about them. Go to their website and download a Free Trial. www.acoustica.com
Late last year (2006), they gave every member opportunity to download a free copy of their program Photos Forever. I hope you all took advantage of the offer. If you did, I hope you sent them a thank you note via email. If not, it’s not too late to do so.
The Easy Way to Convert Your LPs and Cassettes to Clean, Digital Recordings. Remember all those 'oldies but goodies'? They just don't make those classic vinyl LPs and cassette tapes on CD. Well, dust off your old 33s, 45s & 78s, because Acoustica's new software, Spin It Again™, can easily record any vinyl LP to CD or cassette to CD. Not only will our software make the whole recording and track dividing process child's play, but it will also dramatically clean your recordings by getting rid of click and pop record noise, or by removing hiss and hum off old cassettes. You can also record your LP collection and cassettes to your iPod or portable MP3 player! So let your music come to life and Spin-It-Again™! If you have a Windows computer with a soundcard, you're ready to use our software. Give it a try if you have LP’s and tapes you want to save and play again! It is a great program.
This product will make a great general meeting program. Would anyone like to present it?
Stop! Think! Click!
The world has changed. Today we can work, check bank balances, book travel, research medical questions, talk to friends and family members, order books and music, bid on auction items, and even buy a car without leaving home. Thanks to the Internet, we have access to entertainment, shopping, email and other information, 24 hours a day. This access to information is greater than most folks in my generation could have ever imagined. However, the Internet is not without hazards. The Internet and the anonymity it affords can give online scammers, hackers, and identify thieves access to your computer, personal information, finances and more.
I have written about it before, and so have many others, but [...] I wanted to provide an update on that Internet bugaboo: SECURITY!!! First of all, for those of you who are concerned about using your credit cards for Internet purchases, a couple of things to consider: first, most CC companies have either a $50 maximum amount which you are liable for if someone uses your # without your permission. In fact, many have a $0 liability policy, sometimes tied to a requirement that you report the use within a certain time-frame. So, step one should be to check with your CC customer service and find out what the policy is. Also, it is possible, with many CCs to get a one-time use # which might be a new account number, or just the 3 digit # on the reverse side of your card. Check with the CC company or the issuing bank. Obviously, you will want to check your CC account regularly to see if any bogus charges have been added and this is pretty easy if you setup an online account. Even easier if your issuing bank or CC company has an alert setup that will notify you if an unusual charge appears. Remember that all the other security measures that affect your computer, e.g. anti virus, anti spy/malware, firewall, updating your operating system, etc. further insure your safety. A good reference is: www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses.
The Washington State AARP folks gave an excellent presentation on this topic at the national AARP convention and graciously gave me their permission to use any parts I wanted to for this column. Here are a few of the pretty extensive notes I took.
Protect your privacy and personal information online; if you are asked for personal information such as your name, email, address, telephone number, account numbers, or Social Security number, find out how the information is going to be used before you share it. Find out how the requester protects your personal information. Remember, it is your information.
Whether you are shopping, banking, or conducting other business online, do not provide your personal or financial information through a company's website until you have checked for indicators that the site is secure. Look for "https" in the Web address (the "s" stands for secure). Look for a padlock or an unbroken key in the lower right corner of the status bar. Double-click the padlock or key to ensure that the "issued by" name on the security certificate matches the name in the address bar.
If you get an email or pop-up message asking for personal information, do not reply or click on the link in the message. If you think there may be a need to provide information to the requester (you have an account with the company or have placed an order) con- tact the company directly by telephone. Do not send your personal information via email; it is not a secure transmission method.
Here is an excellent place to review the topic of phishing: http://microsoft.com/athome/security
Anyone can set up shop online. It is a good practice to know whom you are dealing with and what you are getting into. Proceed with caution in your online activities. If you shop online, check out the seller before you buy. A legitimate business or individual seller should give you a physical address and a working telephone number you can call in case you have problems. Call the telephone number before you buy. Never send cash, personal checks or money orders for online purchases. Check out the terms of the deal, like refund policies and delivery dates. The law requires sellers to ship items as promised or within 30 days after the order date if no specific date is promised.
Delete junk email without opening the message. If you open the email, it can alert the spammer that the address is good. Never reply to spam. This includes responding to an option to "Remove me from your list." Do not buy anything or give to any charity marketing through spam. Spammers may swap or sell email addresses of their customers. If you make a purchase as the result of a spam email, it may result in more spam. Do not forward chain email messages. You lose control over who sees your email address. You might also be forwarding a hoax aiding in the delivery of a virus.
Passwords are the key to unlocking your computer and online accounts. A strong password provides better security against hackers and thieves. Strong passwords should be over eight characters in length, combine letters, numbers, and symbols, and should avoid using common words. Do not use your name, your spouse's name, your birthday or location.
Change your passwords regularly or at least every 90 days.
Do not use the same password for each online account you use. Keep your passwords secret. Do not give passwords out to family or friends or send your passwords over email. Do not enable the "Save Password Option" if you receive a dialog box asking you if you would like the computer to remember your password. Do not store written passwords on or near your computer.
Record passwords and store in a safe, secure place. One way to create a strong and memorable password is to think of a "pass phrase." Think of a phrase that is easy to remember like "I save my pennies for a rainy day." Use the first letter of each word as your password, converting some letters into numbers that resemble letters; for example "Ism¢4ard." Notice the combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
Pay attention to what kids do and whom they meet online. Consider a rule that no child reveals personal information, including photos, without permission. Warn kids never to meet Internet "friends" in person. Parental controls are provided by most Internet Service Providers, or sold as separate software. No software can substitute for parental supervision. Talk to your kids and/or grandkids about safe computing as well as things they are seeing and doing online.
Stop and think before you click; before you provide information, open files or attachments, or download files from unknown senders, take a minute to stop and think before you click.
Free downloads can contain spyware. To avoid it, resist the urge to install any software unless you know exactly what it is. You can install anti-spyware software and then use it regularly to scan for and delete spyware programs that may sneak onto your computer.
Email attachments and links sent over email will not damage your computer without your participation. You have to open an email or attachment that includes a virus or follow a link to a site that is programmed to infect your computer. Hackers use a variety of enticing file names such as "Per your request!" or "Fwd: FUNNY" to get you to open the email attachment or click on the link. Do not open an email attachment unless you expect it and know what it contains. You can help others trust your attachments by including a message in your text that explains what you are attaching.
"Instant messaging" is a form of online communication like email. You can type messages to someone and they can see the messages almost immediately. Files attached to instant messages can also contain viruses. In most cases, viruses spread when you open an infected file attached to an instant message appearing to come from someone you know.
Finally, two things, share your knowledge with others so that they will be more vigilant on the 'net and report abuses, including spam, via the Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov, your Internet Service Provider and your bank or credit union. Most have addresses to use that may begin with phishing, abuse or spoof. Check their web pages for the correct one.
That's it for now, until next time, have fun with all those computer and electronic goodies, but remember to be careful out there on the 'net!
Aloha, Lou
There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author. The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.Acronis Software Support of WindowsVista
Copyrighted March 2007
On February 7, 2007, Acronis, Inc. announced that it will "fully support Microsoft’s latest operating system, Vista, with its products for desktop operating systems". This statement of intent has already been accomplished for two of their most popular products for home users – Acronis True Image 10.0 Home and Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0. This article will show you how to obtain these Vista supporting utilities.
Acronis True Image 10.0 Home: This is the top rated backup utility on the market today. It helps you backup your important data files as well as your entire computer -- operating system, application programs, and all. Used regularly it will protect your important files from hard drive crashes and other system problems. Acronis True Image 10.0 Home edition was released three months prior to the release of Vista, with full support of Vista included in the product. Earlier this month, Acronis made available build 4942 of True Image to correct any problems with their new release. You should install this new build to give you the latest True Image software.
Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0: This is an outstanding partitioning utility to help you organize and manage your computer’s hard drive. Using this utility, you can have both Windows XP and Vista running on the same computer. This is a much safer way to start to use Vista rather than instantly replacing your stable XP system with Vista. Earlier this month, Acronis made available build 2160 of Disk Director Suite to provide full support of Vista in this excel lent partitioning utility.
So, how does this announcement affect you? There are three options to consider as follows:
Not a User of Acronis Utilities: If you do not already use one or both of these excellent Acronis products, now is the perfect time to get them. We are offering both of these products that normally list for $50 each at our user group discount price of just $29 each. That price includes a special tutorial with each product to help you start to use them quickly and safely. To order either or both of these Acronis products, go to www.usergroupstore.com and place your order using our secure online ordering system. The order code for this special price is UGNL0307.
Use Older Acronis Utilities: If you already have one or both of these Acronis products, but are still using an older version (prior to version 10.0), you should get the latest release (version 10.0) to be ready for Windows Vista in the future. Our user group discount prices for these products is lower than the upgrade price from Acronis, so order a new license of the product from us at a great discount price and get the tutorials as a bonus. To do this, follow the ordering instructions in the prior paragraph.
Use Version 10 Acronis Utilities: If you already use version 10 of these Acronis products, then it is important that you download the new builds for these products to get the full benefits of your software. The process to download these new builds is quick and easy to accomplish. There is no charge for these updates as long as you are a current owner of version 10 of these products. For those that we promised a free update of Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 with Vista support, this is what you need to do. Follow the instructions below to download these new builds and install them on your computer.
Downloading New Builds from Acronis: To download the new builds from Acronis is quick and easy to do. There are three steps to accomplish this. First, you must set up an account on the Acronis web site. Next, you must register the Acronis products you use in your account. Finally, you can download the latest builds of your registered products from your Acronis account. I describe these three steps in detail at www.ugr.com/questions.html. Print out these instructions and follow them carefully and you will have your new builds installed quickly.
I hope this information helps you take advantage of the Vista support in Acronis True Image 10.0 Home and Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0. Download and install these new builds and your Acronis software will be ready for Windows Vista when you are. If you have questions about this article or the downloading of new builds, please send a note to gene@ugr.com and I will try to assist you.
Gene Barlow
User Group Relations
PO Box 911600
St George, UT 84791-1600
FPCUG Board of Directors Meeting Summary
The following items were discussed or decided upon:
- In June, Gary Gipson will be leaving the club when his membership expires. Don Cummins agreed to take over his job duties at this time as Presentation Coordinator.
- Discussion was made regarding bylaws and changing the number of board members from 9 to 7. The primary reason at this time, is that the group is much smaller than it once was.
- After following due proceess, Brian Faulk was removed from the board. Kayhan Aminian will fill in Brian's term.
- There was discussion about having a membership list/directory available to all members. Members would be contacted to determine what information they would want listed.
- There was more discussion on having all membership fees due the same month for everyone. It is expected that this would reduce the amount of time spent on bookkeeping.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Digital Photo SIG:
The Digital Photo SIG is held on the first Saturday of the month at CompUSA on N. Blackstone at 10:30am and is hosted by Nancy Mason and Jo Townley.
Sanity Savers
Sanity Savers are members who have volunteered to help other members with their computing problems. SIG Leaders are also a valuable information resource.
Do not expect long term counseling, house calls, or to get pirated copies of software recommended to you. Also do not expect any of the volunteers to help you if you are not the legitimate owner of a software package.
If you have any experience in an area of computing, feel free to add your name to the Sanity Saver's list. You do not need to be an expert to be listed as a Sanity Saver--patience and willingness to help count for a lot.
| DOS | Dean Mason & Krikor Geyoghlian |
| Excel | Krikor Geyoghlian |
| General Computing | Bill Myers |
| Internet Help | Dean Mason |
| Audio Help | Robert Caraway |
| Linux | Ben Lutes |
| Lotus 1-2-3 | Krikor Geyoghlian |
| Medical | Cecil Bullard |
| MS Word | Krikor Geyoghlian |
| Office 97/2000/XP | Krikor Geyoghlian & Laura Barnard |
| Windows 3.x | Krikor Geyoghlian |
The Fine Print
The Fresno PC User's Group (FPCUG) is a non-profit organization run by and for users of IBM compatible computers. The only membership eligibility requirement is an interest in computers.
FPCUG meetings are generally held the first Monday of the month at:
| President | Bill Myers |
| 1st VP | Stan Barnes |
| 2nd VP | Jo Townley |
| Secretary | David Smith |
| Treasurer | Wilda Moller |
| 1. | Regles Bellamy |
| 2. | Gary Gipson |
| 3. | Monica Braun |
| 4. | Brian Fulk |
This newsletter was prepared using Macromedia HomeSite 5.5. Ronnie Ugulano is editor.
Contributions.While there's no guarantee that submitted material will be used, contributions to the FPCUG Newsletter are appreciated. Articles of 200-500 words should be submitted in MS Word doc or rtf format. Contributions can be in the form of an article written by a member or an article found on the internet with permission to reprint. Any screenshots or photos should be sharp and high resolution, and sent as jpgs, bmp, or tiff files, preferably not gifs. Files submitted as pdfs are likely to have their text and graphics extracted as separate entities so that they can be converted to html format. Graphics might be cropped or reduced to fit into available space. Contact Ronnie Ugulano for further information.
Reproduction Rights. Original articles may be reproduced by other computer users groups for internal, non-profit use, provided credit is given to the Fresno PC Users Group and the author(s) of the reproduced articles. This notice does not supersede the rights of authors whose copyrighted material is used by permission.
Disclaimer. Trademarks used in this publication are hereby recognized and acknowledged. The information provided in this newsletter is believed and intended to be correct and useful. However, the Fresno PC Users Group cannot assume responsibility for errors contained in the articles or misapplications of the information provided. Unless specifically stated otherwise, opinions expressed are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the opinions of, nor endorsement by, the Fresno PC Users Group. The Fresno PC Users Group is an independent, non-profit users group and is not affiliated in any way with any vendor or equipment manufacturer.
Vendor Notice. Only review products that have been obtained by the product review coordinator and received through the FPCUG address shall be considered the responsibility of the FPCUG, unless otherwise indicated by the Board of Directors and with the full knowledge of the review coordinator.