Print-Friendly PDF Fresno Personal Computer Users’ Group General Meeting
January 8th, 7:30 PM
Program Is:
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is coming, and many are wondering what is in store. January's main topic will be about some of what we can expect from the new features included in Windows Vista.
There's no doubt about it, for those that have the hardware to pull it off, Windows Vista is certainly eye candy for the computer, with its new translucent-appearing GUI interface called Windows Aero.
Many Windows users will love some of the new features, such as Windows Sidebar which gives you quick access to user-chosen gadgets like picture slide shows, Windows Media Player controls, or news headlines.
Vista also makes an effort to make it easier to find programs and files by allowing you to type a word, phrase or even a keyword assigned by the user. Finally, Windows Vista has a way to simplify your move from a previous Windows operating system to Vista called Easy Transfer. This new tool is a data transfer wizard that helps you transfer the data that is important to you, such as:
- User accounts
- Files and folders
- Program data files and settings
- E-mail messages, settings, and contacts
- Photos, music, and videos
- Windows settings
- Internet settings
This month's presentation will introduce some of these new features of Vista and others to pave the way to upcoming Operating System upgrades. So, there will be lots to see in this Microsoft DVD Presentation! Don't miss it!
Bill's Tricks & Tips
How to USE Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer is above all a file manager - i.e. a program that allows you to perform various operations with files and folders - copy them, move
In a sense, you see Windows through its Explorer and there are many ways in which you can customize it to see it the way you like it. For instance, you can select different views - Thumbnails, Tiles, List, Icons, Details or have a custom picture as background. Each of the five views is handy in different situations - for instance for a pictures folder, Thumbnails lets you have a quick glimpse on the pictures, while the Details view is useful when you need to have at a glance information like when files have been last modified.
Also, you can select to show the directory tree on the left and the files and folders in a particular folder on the right or to show only the files and folders. You can keep to the classic view of Windows Explorer or show common tasks in folders.
Windows Explorer can be used also for sharing files, folders and drives and for synchronizing offline files. Actually, Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer are the same piece of code and the next version 7 is called Windows Internet Explorer. This does not mean that you have exactly the same functionality for browsing online and for dealing with files and folders on your computer but just keep in mind that the two Explorers have very much in common.
File Navigation
File navigation in Windows Explorer is pretty intuitive, after you manage to learn the basics - like what a drive is, what a folder is, etc. If you know the location of a file (i.e. D:\MyStuff\Pics\Vacation\beach.gif), then you can get to it either by opening the MyStuff folder on drive D, then by opening the Pics subfolder and so on, or you can just type D:\MyStuff\Pics\Vacation\beach.gif in the address bar of Windows Explorer, press Enter and the file will open. If you are in the Vacation subfolder and you have many files there, you can select them all and open them at once, although this is hardly recommendable - you'd better use an image browser or Thumbnails view.
A handy trick that can save you a lot of scrolling in a folder with a long list of files is to type (not in the address bar, just press the letter on the keyboard) the first letter of the filename. This will take you automatically to the first file in the folder that starts with this letter - i.e. if you type "p" and the first file starting with "p" is "peaches.gif", you need to scroll just a little further (or press the down arrow) till you get to "peanuts.jpg". Of course, you can use the Pg Up and Pg Dn keys to scroll one screen at a time, but typing the first letter generally brings you closer to your target.
Bypassing the Recycle Bin
If you are fed up with deleting files twice - once in the folder and once in Recycle Bin, you can bypass the Recycle Bin and files will be deleted right away. One way to do it is to select the file(s) for deletion and to press Shift + Delete. An alternative way, if you want permanently to bypass Recycle Bin is to right-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, select Properties from the resulting menu and in the Global tab put a tick in front of Do Not Move Files to the Recycle Bin. Remove Files Immediately When Deleted (if drives are not configured independently, or put a tick in front of the above-mentioned setting for each drive (if the drives are configured separately).
Windows Explorer to Internet Explorer (And Vice Versa)
To access your drives (Optical and Hard Disk), My Documents, and My Computer quickly from within Internet Explorer, simply type in one of the following commands in the address bar.
- My Documents which directs you to, obviously, your My Documents folder.
- My Computer ; which directs you to your My Computer menu.
- Letter of drive + " : " (ex. D: ) ; which directs you to the drive you typed in. Or, in this case, to the D drive.
Alternatively, from within Windows Explorer, you can access webpages by typing in the site address into the address bar; essentially turning the Windows Explorer window you have open into an Internet Explorer window.
Additionally, the user may start applications from the address bar of both Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. Obviously, this only works with applications which are already installed on the user's computer. Now, this may seem like more work that simply clicking on the program's desktop icon to start it. However, it also eliminates the need for the mouse when starting applications, and can be a time saver if the user is already viewing Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer. Remember, to access the address bar without using the mouse the user may press F6 instead.
Here are a few examples:
Typing in "windows defender" causes Windows Defender to start, and typing in "ewido anti-malware" causes Ewido to start. Pretty cool, eh?
Missing File
Can't find an important file any more? Don't remember where you downloaded a file to or where you saved a document to? Tired of browsing through tens of folders to find that one missing file? Well, this tip is all about using Windows XP built in search utility to help locate and access that missing file:
- Open up Windows Search by clicking on Start and then on Search (beside the magnifying glass).
- Set the parameters for the search. You can choose between searching for Media files (music, pictures, or video), Documents, Computers or People (on network on in address book), or All Files and Folders. Depending on which type of Search you desire to perform, you may be asked to set a few more settings, such as when the document was last modified. However, don't worry if you don't know, the scan will only take slightly longer to complete.
- Enter part or all of the filename. Additionally, under advanced search options the user may specify a specific phrase within the document to search for.
- Click Search and wait. When the search has finished, you will be notified.
If you are lucky, then the Search Utility will have helped locate that missing file or files which you couldn't manually find. If the search yields unsuccessful results, then try again and change the parameters.
FPCUG News
- Congratulations to Brian Fulk who won the Pentium 4 computer last month!!
- FPCUG Board elections are coming up, and there will be a vice president and 2 Directors at Large positions open and needing to be filled. Contact any Board member for more information.
- There has been a request to have the newsletter available in pdf format for easy printability. This month will be the first efforts at that, a basic version now, hopefully better over the next month or two. You may notice some differences in the content for a time, but it is hoped that these issues will be ironed out in coming months. Contact Ronnie Ugulano with any questions, comments or notices of correction.
Disk of the Month
- Dean Mason has retired as Librarian and so the Disk of the Month has been temporarily discontinued.
Preparing for Windows Vista
Is your user group ready for Windows Vista? Did someone say, “What is there to be ready?” Undoubtedly, Microsoft will bring out its biggest marketing guns when Vista is released, but user groups need to start thinking about it.
Most of us can remember the major milestones of Microsoft Windows, at least the ones since Windows 3.0. My recollection is that MS-DOS lingered on our members' PCs until Windows 98 was itself being superseded by Windows ME.
In the Windows 98 days, I remember wondering if there was still a need to publish articles about MS-DOS batch files – which were once a badge of honor for geeks. More recently, I had to wonder if publishing Windows 98 content would annoy members who used Windows XP. In our case, a current member survey shows that Windows XP is used on 78% of member PCs. Similarly, you will need to keep track of your members' configurations and support earlier versions for some years.
My user group runs training courses. We will need to make a budget allowence for buying copies of Vista for all training PCs. Since we make some money from training, we buy such software. Our SIGs either share 2-3 PCs in our club rooms or the suburban SIGs sometimes have their own PC. They will all ask for a copy to be installed.
Newsletter editors will relish the thought of publishing reviews of Windows Vista, which will probably have to be written by themselves. SIG leaders would love to get presenters from Microsoft, but that is unlikely unless you are situated in a major city.
OK, it seems that self-help might be the best approach. So how can your user group prepare for Vista?
There are some hardware requirements to consider, so your older PCs will probably not work with Vista. If you have the funds, you should plan for new PCs.
Bookmark the page http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/ and check it out from time to time as new content will be added all the time. Note that there are Server (Longhorn) and Client (Vista) editions, which will affect those groups that have professional SIGs.
In the coming months, the release timeframe of Windows Vista will be known and your user group Board can plan to feature it in your meetings, write about it in the newsletter, or make a budget allowance for user group PCs. Before too many others say it – Hasta la Vista!
Software Review: OpenOffice
I didn't have time to monkey around. It had to work out of the box. I got an email from the FPCUG Board saying that they would like to be able to offer the newsletter in PDF for easy printing, pretty please. To be honest, I knew this was coming, but it now was time to implement. OK, what are my options? What do I already have that I can use to do this? I could copy and layout the text and graphics in Microsoft Word, but I'd still need to convert it to PDF. I've been working with Linux lately, and it has Scribus available, a lovely Desktop Publishing program, but I already have everything for the newsletter set up on my Windows computer, and wasn't ready to flit back and forth with that, yet.
Oh, yeah, I remembered! OpenOffice, the available-free office suite program has a PDF converter built into it's word processing program, and there's a Windows version! The big questions are: "Can I use what I know about MS Word enough to make it work as fast as I need it to?" I hope so. So, I rummage through my collection of downloaded, saved utilities and programs, and find it right where I left it. Double click, install and open the program.
Well, the tools appear familiar. I just may get this to work, after all.
I want the printed newsletter to look as much like the html version as much as possible, so the first order of business is to convert some of the CSS “graphics” to jpgs or gifs, which I do using Paint Shop Pro 9. The next job is placement. How do I insert a graphic file? . .ah, there it is, similar to MS Word, under Insert > Picture > From File. OK, place them where I want them, size them to proper dimensions, and it's good.
Next, every newsletter has certain features that appear in every issue, such as The Fine Print, the Sanity Savers and the list of board members/officers. All that is specially formatted with tables. How will I migrate that? . .I try clicking, dragging, and pasting thinking “I'll just have to fix the formatting later”, and bam! Much to my surprise, the formatting holds up. Not only that, but the specialized shading does too. I mentally throw a little confetti in celebration. What about rather standardized, simple keyboard commands like Ctrl + Z (undo), Ctrl + C (copy), Ctrl + V (paste), Ctrl + B (bold) and Ctrl + I (italics)? No surprises there, things work as usual.
Then of course, you never know what you'll get when you right click on something, right? Hmm. Right click gives you the tools menu seen at right, and double clicking on the graphic itself (In OpenOffice Writer - in the html version, you'll get the full sized graphic) once it's placed, allows you to set how much space you want around the graphic, among other things.
The newsletter has colored headers, and font color is in almost exactly the same place as MS Word, so finding that is a no-brainer. There are about 100 colors to choose from there, and I choose the one closest to the color I use on the html version of the newsletter.
Next, was page numbers. The html version doesn't need them, but the printed edition will. In MS Word, choosing to add page numbers will almost automatically place those numbers in the margin as you specify. With Writer, you choose to create the footer first, by going Format > Page > Click Footer Tab > OK, click in the created footer and then click Insert > Fields > Page Number. Doing this automatically places the page number consecutively on each page.
There are plenty of other word processing tools, including columns, mail merge, macros and so forth, and they are outside what I need for this first time around, but they are there, and findable, when I need them.
The last tool I'll need, and the whole purpose of this exercise, is the PDF conversion tool. For this, I initially created this document in a separate file so I can test drive this option before I use it on the newsletter itself. It's time to click that button now, and just like magic, a PDF is created!
You know, I've never progressed past my copy of Office 97. I've just never bothered to upgrade – probably because I'm too cheap. Every new computer I've built, I've just reloaded the old Office 97 as part of my setup ritual. It may be that on my next computer, I'll be loading OpenOffice.org instead.
Inner Circles
The birth of a new year brings changes in membership and planning activities within the "Inner Circles" that often operate almost like occult groups in their private inner sanctums. They are elected or appointed to serve others and work without compensation. These "Inner Circles" operate in civic organizations like computer clubs and represent a very small percentage of the memberships. While those of us who served in the military were told never to volunteer, the "Inner Circles" volunteered!
Volunteerism is the very life blood of many civic organizations. Research has verified the positive rewards of doing for others and finding meaning in activities which greatly contributes to an older person's ability to age successfully. Older volunteers with their longer experience, often assume leadership roles within nonprofit organizations whose programs and activities are dependent on volunteers for help. Volunteers sometimes receive only modest recognition - since their activities involve free will, beneficence, and lack of reimbursement
Research has further verified that staying active contributes to a healthier and longer lived life and that social supports are critical to healthy aging. Fisher and Shaeffer in their book, "Older Volunteers" list the following benefits: "self satisfaction, altruism, potential learning or acquisition of new skills, specific benefits for the receivers of volunteer efforts, relaxation, socialization, status of reward, career opportunities, and community involvement."
National Volunteer Week was created in 1974 by President Richard Nixon who signed an executive order establishing an annual celebration of volunteering as a time to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers at the local, state, and national level. The Points of Light Foundation, based in Washington DC, and the Volunteer National Network together reach millions of people to encourage volunteerism. The Foundation has received national recognition as America's address for volunteering. As President George W. Bush commented, "The Points of Light Foundation embodies America's spirit of volunteerism and the goodwill of its citizens."
Why not make a New Year's resolution (and not break it) to express your appreciation to the past and present members of the "Inner Circle" in your computer club? "A mind is a terrible thing to waste," and like a muscle "use it or lose it." Get involved and volunteer in your computer club in 2007!
Happy New Year from the Computer Club of Oklahoma City and the Association of PC Users Groups!
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.FPCUG Board of Directors Meeting Summary
The following items were discussed or decided upon:
- New elections are coming up in February of 2007. Need to start nominations at the December meeting and form a Nomination Committee.
- It was suggested that board Members and officers wear name tags to the meetings to help members feel more at ease in interacting with the officers/board members.
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 |
| Desktop Publishing, Graphics, Adobe Acrobat | Susy Ball |
| 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 | Dean Mason |
| 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. The pdf version of the newsletter was prepared using OpenOffice.org's Writer. 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.