June 2009 Meeting

Warning: (HP) Hewlett-Packard is voluntarily recalling approximately 70,000 of its lithium-ion batteries because of a fire and burn hazard. These batteries are used in HP and Compaq notebook computers sold from August 2007-March 2008. For a listing of the numerous battery models, visit http://www.cpsc.gov/

Extended Warranties: (Kim Komando) According to Consumer Reports, extended warranties are notoriously bad deals. Some repairs are covered by the standard manufacturer warranty that comes with the product. “Products seldom break within the extended-warranty window—after the standard warranty has expired but within the typical two to three years of purchase—our data show. And when electronics and appliances do break, the repairs, on average, cost about the same as an extended warranty.” (Don’t forget that using a charge card doubles a manufacturer’s warranty – Myron). There was a vigorous discussion on the online security of using charge cards in various situations. The group thought that a single ideas and concepts class on security would be better attended than a four week course.

New products
Bing: Microsoft’s new search engine was demonstrated. It appears very similar to Google.
Dropbox: Would somebody try out this free product? It “Syncs your files between computers and online”
Free Ringer: Would somebody try this free phone service out for the next WSIG meeting? http://freeringer.biz/faq.shtml#q6
Smartbooks: Get ready for "smartbooks," a term being promoted by Qualcomm for wireless computers that are larger than cellular phones but smaller than netbooks.
Netbooks: It appears that 8 inch screen netbooks are unsuccessful in the market compared to 10 inch netbooks.
Internet Explorer 8: Based on views expressed it appears that IE8 is pretty well ready for general use by members. A few sites may not display properly yet, and there is no noticeable speed up in displaying sites, despite Microsoft’s claims.
Windows 7: (SNUG OK) Charlene said what they have done is take the best of Vista and best of XP and put them together.Pat: Go to Dave’s Computer Tips for a good article.Doris: If your peripherals are 16bt they won’t work with Vista or 7. (See also WSIG’s 64bit vs 32 bit discussion in May 2009.)Karl: Many people are still running XP. They don’t even have the capacity to run Vista.Bill: If you go on the MS compatibility site and run the tool, it tells you what hardware and software products are compatible with Vista. There should soon be a similar tool for Windows 7. Do this before you go out and buy a new machine.Doris said if you buy a computer now with Vista you will have to pay to go to Windows 7.Charlene said if your computer is doing what you want it to do and you have a good virus protector and good firewall stay with it.
(Cyber News, June) has an enthusiastic review of the Release Candidate for 7.

Demo: XP Power Toys at www.tinyurl.com/553fw6 were viewed; everybody should benefit from at least one of these 14. They were reviewed in Smart Computing 04/09 p.27

Plain Talk: Does all that technical computer talk leave you glassy eyed and ready to quit your PC? Fear not, http://asknerd.net has come to the rescue, where your dumb question is answered in non-technical language. Just beware its search engine is not so smart so just give it one keyword to search for, like firewall or password. (Kim Komando)

Software Versions: (KK) Having trouble making a new version of software work on your older machine? Go back to an earlier version that worked—there’s an extensive collection at http://www.oldversion.com/

Print text from the web. (Cyber News) Often times you want to print something from the Internet, but don't want to print the whole page. Here's a simple solution to that dilemma. Highlight the text you want to print, then click on File, Print, and under "Print Range" put a mark next to "Selection." Now click OK and it will print only the text you have highlighted instead of the whole page.

Office 2007: (KK) For long-time Office users, the Ribbon can be a huge annoyance. I've heard many complaints about it from readers and listeners. Well, you don't need to live with the Office Ribbon. Just download UBitMenu. It will bring back Office's old menus. UBitMenu is free for personal use. But you must select the correct download. On the UBitMenu site, click UBitMenu UK

May 2009 Meeting

Two Demonstrations were offered; one of the how and why of Zip files, the other explaining the how and why of File associations and how to change them.

A Members Question asked how to download songs, pictures or videos from websites; are you allowed to do it; and if so, how?

AutoSave in Word: Can be established thus: Tools > Options > Save tab > check Save auto Recover info box > choose Every (number of minutes)

The BCC box: (from Cyber News) “Something that I just can't get through my head is why intelligent people send out mass emails with everyone listed in the To: box. When they do that they are broadcasting all those people's email addresses to the world, and that is a major contributor of spam. Everyone complains about junk email but they don't want to take steps to prevent it. The next time you want to send a message to more than one person put all the names in the BCC: box. (Blind carbon copy) That's the safe and polite way to do it. Never put more than one name in the To: box!”

Revisiting 64-bit systems: Myron Thorner told us that there are 32- and 64-bit PC systems, Operating systems and application programs, and explained what happened when you run various mixtures of these. The main problem area with 64-bit is with peripherals that may not be supported—yet. Check the manufacturer’s website for your printer, scanner, external hard drive etc to find out if they have drivers that support 64-bit systems. If not, you should wait, or if you can’t wait, you can buy a new peripheral that is supported. Or you may still be able to buy a 32-bit system that will be able to support all your existing peripherals.

Also there are applications that were designed for 32-bit that won’t work for 64-bit systems, for example the Zone Alarm firewall. You can use the more limited Windows firewall on 64-bit systems. You need to do some web research on other important older programs that may no longer work for you.

Cleaning up email: (from Cyber News) ”If you are using Outlook Express as your email client, do some housekeeping. Don't let messages sit forever in your Inbox, Sent Items and Deleted Items boxes. Keep them cleaned out and after you clean up then click on File/Folder/Compact All Folders. This will only take a few seconds and get things back to normal. After completing this procedure you will find many .bak (back up) files in your recycle bin which are safe to delete.”

Internet Explorer 8 was discussed following several quotes.
(from CNet 4/09) Very mixed reviews. “If you are happy with IE 7, Firefox etc, there’s no great reason to upgrade at this time.” One member with IE8 indicated she was happy with it so far.

(from Microsoft) “Includes MSN Homepage, MSN Toolbar, Microsoft® Silverlight™, and Search.” Are they required or optional?

(Message from MS) “Sorry, you already have Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 8 optimized for MSN is only available when upgrading from a previous version of Internet Explorer. Please check back soon for a special download to optimize your experience. Until then we recommend you customize your experience with MSN homepage and MSN Toolbar.”

(from Cyber News) “Microsoft's new browser version 8.0 is being released through Windows updates. If you have upgraded you may find that you have problems with Gmail and Yahoo web mail. Two solutions to this problem, until they get it fixed, is to say no to the download or use my preferred browser, Firefox.”

Watch this space for more...

WSIG meeting, April 10

Control Panel Series this month demonstrated the features on the Control Panel’s Display icon.

 

If you have Unwanted Windows passwords you can manage them as follows:

To remove your password in Vista, Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Make changes to your user account > Remove your password > Enter the password in the box > Click Remove > Close the Control Panel.

In Windows XP, Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Your account > Remove my password > Enter your password in the box > Remove Password > Close the open windows.

With visiting grandchildren you may choose to set temporary password control in the same way.

 

When launching Internet Explorer, two members get a “Connecting” message that just sits there. Once IE is closed and restarted, IE comes up normally. There was no known explanation for this behavior that appears related to IE Version 7.
 
Another member wondered about a “squiggle” appearing next to certain file names. This could indicate temp files created by Word and normally deleted when Word closes. Open Word and close it again, temp files should disappear.

Frank Weitzmann stated that Windows XP and Office 2003 “mainstream” support (i.e. free) ends April 14, meaning no new features or fixes except for critical security patches. That date would be your last chance to upgrade to Service Pack 3. Free support for XP with SP2 continues through July 13, 2010, and XP with SP3 is covered until April 2014.

 

David led a discussion All about cookies; What are they? Why are they? and Where are they? (C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Cookies.) Cookie types described include Temporary Cookies, Permanent Cookies, First Party Cookies and Third party cookies. You can delete a cookie thus: (IE7 > Tools > Internet Options > General tab > Browsing History > Settings > View Files > sort them by Name > Locate cookie wanted > Rt. Click > Delete > OK) or you can delete all cookies (IE7 > Tools > Internet Options > General tab > Browsing History > Delete > Delete Cookies > Yes > Close > OK.)  Some members in the group routinely delete all cookies, some leave them in place, and some didn’t know what to do. It’s a personal choice.

 

Another discussion was on Netbooks and how they compare with regular laptops or notebooks. Some pluses include low weight, easy to carry, low cost, and perhaps more robust. Minuses are the small screen only 8”-9” diagonal, a cramped keyboard and trackpad, tinny sounding speakers and no built in CD/DVD drive. They are considered quite suitable for e-mail, web browsing, word processing and instant text messaging and perhaps audio and video chat. They are not recommended for processor and memory intensive apps like Photoshop, video editing, and shoot-‘em-up games.

 

Introducing the topic of Data Rot, or bit rot, David mentioned two aspects. One is the deterioration over time of media such as 8-track tapes, VHS tapes and floppy disks. The other is that players may no longer be easily available. The main discussion however was about converting photo slides and 8 mm movies to DVD format. Frank Weitzmann did such a major conversion and said mainline photo stores will recommend specialists to do this for you. He also cautioned that the “Blu-Ray” DVD format might eventually disappear due to marginal benefit and high costs.

 

Meeting, March 13, 2009

WARNING: Email viruses are going around with Subjects like XP Antivirus 2008, XP Antivirus 2009, Antivirus 360, AVg scan (note small g). Don’t open them, or any attachment from an unknown source.

CAN’T START WINDOWS? Click (F8) during bootup to enter Safe Mode with Networking. Then go to an earlier System Restore Point, that can be accessed from the Help and Support Center.

MAGIC JACK gadget, looks like a flash drive. Plug a land phone into it and then plug its USB connector into your PC. Make free local and long distance calls in the US and Canada. It costs $40 plus $20 annual sub after the first year. Recommended by PC Magazine 01/09. See also article in Smart Computing 02/09, p.23. This from SNUG OK: “You have to leave the computer running all the time. Sometime this year it will have the portability to use your present phone number. You can change this number one time for free. The best part of Magic Jack is your kids (or grandkids) can get their own phone line for $10 a year. It doesn’t put a program on your computer. “If I go to Germany and call back here on Magic Jack it is a local call.”  There is a 30-day free trail. It knows whether you have XP or Vista on your computer.” Anybody here tried it? www.magicjack.com This evolved into an extensive discussion of varying experiences with Verizon and BrightHouse services. Jay Hall added a supportive explanation of Google Voice that allows you to integrate landline, cellphone, and internet phone services—for free.

AMAZON’S SECOND-GENERATION KINDLE e-book costs $359 and lets you download up to 1500 books. You do not need a PC to download books. (it uses whispernet free on Sprint network) Bestsellers about $10, classics about $2, first chapter often free. It also has text-to-speech and is lighter weight so you can easily hold it in one hand. Six-inch screen and small keyboard. Any experience?

MEMBER Q&A. Andy asked if it is a good idea to leave a laptop plugged in. Absolutely, with the newer Li-Ion laptop batteries. A question about income tax brought out the interesting fact that you can do the whole thing for free, including e-filing, provided your adjusted gross income is less than $56K. Click e-file at www.irs.gov  

DEMO: Getting comfortable with the Control Panel. The Accessibility icon offers access to Windows features providing support for those with limited vision and hearing and poor control of keyboard and mouse.

DEMO: The Photo link is now available in OLLI Life USF. David pointed out this feature is still under development, particularly regarding the quality of images on the site.

QUESTIONS CARRIED FORWARD from earlier SNUG.
Mal Kaser: I get messages asking if I want to debug certain lines of code. If I say yes and follow directions, nothing happens. I downloaded Microsoft debugging tools but it is super complicated and requires two computers. Control of Java script errors may be exercised from the Java Control panel accessed from the Windows Control Panel. If it occurs while viewing a webpage, click on the Advanced tab of Internet Options, then look for the "Disable script debugging" line and put a check mark in the box. Then look for the "Display a notification about every script error" line and remove the check mark in the box.

DPH: What’s involved in transferring my stuff from my XP computer to a new Vista machine? Before contemplating doing this, read Smart Computing, 11/08, p.35

Cecelia Vance: My computer is about 6 years old and I do not have enough USB ports in the back so I have to plug in my wireless mouse in the front.  Can USB ports be added to the back?  Now with my mouse plugged into the front, when I boot up I have to hit F1 to continue the start up.  Exactly what does F1 do and why is that necessary. All USB ports are the same. Try hitting F2 instead; this may let you change a BIOS setting to avoid the stoppage.

Gail Benton: What is cloud computing--significance for future.  What companies are involved in this? One aspect is when your programs and data are securely on the Web instead of in your PC. You access them through a browser. Examples: Web mail programs (Gmail etc), online tax preparation services (from TaxCut etc), online virus scans (from Trend Micro etc) See Wikipedia’s article for more details.

Shirley Miller: Printing out from Webmail, I get only very small print. Workaround by copying and pasting it into Word, where you can adjust type size before printing.

 

WSIG February 6, 2009

David Henry opened the 11 am meeting (normally 11:30 am) and eventually 15 members attended.

MEMBER QUESTIONS:
A member who occasionally receives a “Windows is gathering information” message during shut down was advised to ignore it. Googling the exact message would likely provide an explanation.
Another member is unable to discover how to set up a distribution list in Windows Mail.
A member was advised to use the PC Decrapifier program to remove unwanted programs from her new Dell laptop. It’s a free download for Vista and XP.
With a USB mouse plugged into the front of her PC, a member’s machine shows a black screen during startup. It is released by hitting F1.

WINDOWS 7 BETA
Richard Clary told us one objective of Windows 7 is to fix some of the many complaints Microsoft received about Vista. There does not appear to be much new functionality in this OS, expected for release late 2009 or early 2010. He updated us on recent reviews of this release; as is typical, some are positive, some not.

64 BIT VS. 32 BIT COMPUTERS
David said only power users may benefit from the extra capabilities of a 64-bit PC and OS. Typical users will pay extra and encounter some possible disadvantages until software development catches up. A short Smart Computing article summarizes this topic (Feb ’09 issue, p. 13)

HANDOUT: THE DREADED RED X
The handout listed three settings which should be examined if you are still encountering this problem. Most members present remarked they don’t see this problem much more.

DEMO: NEW SENIORNET SITE
The site has been redesigned and enhanced in 2008 and may be accessed via the SeniorNet link at www.ollilifeusf.org HQ has moved from California to Virginia “in a strategic move to grow partnerships with Federal agencies and to pursue new strategic alliances.” Members were unaware of who, if anybody monitored this site in the interests of OLLI computer classes.

DEMO: www.smartcomputing.com was not given due to lack of time. David briefly described some of the very useful features of this site. Some are available to everybody; all are available only to subscribers of the print edition:
Software and hardware reviews
Q&A Board
Dictionary & Encyclopedia
Daily Tip email and archive
Read current or back issues
My Personal Library

WSIG meeting January 9, 2009

A late start meant there wasn’t enough time to set up the demos.

A preliminary discussion on comparing laptops vs. desktops illuminated many points that are reported in the January SNUG minutes.

DISCUSS: Backup. Smart Computing, 1/09 (SC) has several articles on Backup & Restore. The Vista backup and restore center, once set up makes it pretty easy, with changed files automatically backed up, preferably to an external hard drive. You only need to spell out the file extensions you want to backup—SC, p 60. Extensions list—SC, p 50. Automatic online backup for a fee—SC, p 57.

DEMO: http://www.smartcomputing.com/ Click Tech Support Center and search for pertinent articles. Or, submit your question online, and subscribe to their email answer service. Best of all, call 800-368-8304 (Print edition subscribers only.)

DEMO: Avoid printing unwanted stuff from websites. Go to http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/static/web/screencast.html

DEMO: If you want the latest driver for that legacy printer or other peripheral, visit http://www.windrivers.com/ that says it is the World Resource for Windows Tech Support and Drivers. You’ll need to Register first (free).

DISCUSS: What do we know about Windows 7? Remember it is a Beta release. Microsoft has attended to many of the complaints about Vista. 1/09 reviews in both CNet and ZNet are quite positive.

DISCUSS: How to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft when you get rid of an old computer – even if you delete all the files? Smash the hard drive with a hammer.

WSIG meeting Nov 2008

Have you seen what happens when you send an error report to Microsoft? Check it out at http://www.updatexp.com/we-share-your-pain.html (MS UK actually)

A new release of Java Standard Edition 6 Update 10 is available from java.com This is aimed at home users who should install this update for its quicker start and ability to drag and drop browser applets on the desktop as stand alone applications. Mention of quick start led to a discussion on Standby, Sleep, Hibernate, Restart and the use of a PC’s on/off button. It was clear we need some education on this topic.

There is a Smart Strip power strip ($44) that can turn off peripherals when you shut down your PC. The residual energy used by them can therefore be reduced from 24/7 to 9/5. It also appears to avoid conflicting transformers as the outlets are further apart than normal.

Here is the GE standard of excellence (Good Enough): “When a computer is running well and you are able to perform most of your regular tasks, that’s Good Enough. Don’t tweak, don’t poke, don’t putter, don’t fine tune. The more tweaking you do, the greater the probability that you will end up singing the Tweakers Lament: Why didn’t I leave well enough alone?” – (Smart Computing’s Mr Modem)… Or the more vulgar “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Why does my printer still say “your color cartridge is low” even after installing a new one the day before? What is your experience? It was pointed out that special circuitry in HP and other cartridges is designed to inhibit refills. If you remove a cartridge for a refill, carry it back and forth in a Ziploc bag with a damp paper towel to avoid clogging the print head. Also, shelf life of new cartridges is quite limited, and the suggested approach was to wait some months after installing a new cartridge before purchasing another one.

Under the partnership announced Wednesday, people can drop off any number of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice and other accessories at any of Staples’ 1,500 U.S. stores for recycling, without having to make a purchase.

For the first time, laptop shipments to both consumer and business markets accounted for more than half of sales in a quarter, toppling desktop computers from their traditional top spot. Several members seem ready to take the laptop leap.

Are you thinking about buying a new computer? The rumor now is that Microsoft will release the latest and greatest operating system (Windows 7) in time for the Christmas season of next year (2009). My advice would be to bypass Vista and wait until then. Probably a good "tune up" will hold you over. More on the next operating system, Windows 7, from PC World. (Cyber News)

Acronis just announced a significant new release of their top rated backup utility, Acronis True Image Home 2009. It is hard to understand how they could possibly improve on this excellent product, but they did it with dozens of important new features. The product may be ordered now on our secure web site at www.ugr.com/TrueImage.html for only $29 (as a download) or $29 plus shipping (on a CD). (Gene Barlow, User Group Relations)

The best security for storing sensitive data online is claimed to be at www.Carbonite.com It’s completely automatic, making / updating an online copy any time a Save or File command is issued. $50 a year. (Kim Komando)

Maybe you know about 1-800-free411, that gives you phone numbers – after a brief advertisement. It’s great when you are on the road. It’s a number worth putting in your cell phone, or your home phone speed dial. Now Google has gone one better with a similar service also free but with no ads – at 1-800-goog411. (Donna Gilbert. Donna added that Google’s is a “yellow page” or business listing service)