Back to Main Essex Voice ICQ Page
Click on the links below to view all of the archives collected from my column in the Essex Voice. Feel free to use these as a resource.
As always, if you want to ask a question not included in this archive, click HERE and email it to me.
Let's go. It's 2009:
January 7, 2009 - A reader this week wants to know the difference between Windows Update and Microsoft Update. The difference between Windows Update and Microsoft Update is: Windows Update provides updates for the operating system and related components, such as definition updates to the Windows Defender antispyware product and Junk Mail filter updates for Windows Mail. Whereas Microsoft Update, provides updates not only for the operating system, but also certain Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, Windows Live applications, Microsoft Expression and some server products. Just follow the few simple steps to stop Windows Update web site from automatically redirecting to Microsoft Update: 1. Go to Windows Update or Microsoft Update site; 2. When you see the page asking you to click either Express or Custom, DO NOT click either one. At the left hand sidebar, click Change settings; 3. Scroll right to the bottom of the page and you’ll see an option to disable Microsoft Update. Check “Disable Microsoft Update software and let me use Windows Update only” and click Apply changes now button. Click Yes to continue; 4. You should get a confirmation page stating “You have successfully disabled the Microsoft Update software on your computer. To keep your computer up to date, make sure you have turned on Automatic Updates in Control Panel. You can also visit the Windows Update web site at any time.”
January 14, 2009 - This week, Michel emailed me and asked me, “How do I get my show desktop icon back? It was in my Quick Launch bar, but now it is gone.” To get the Show Desktop icon back is not too difficult. First, your computer must be set to display hidden files and folders. To accomplish this; Double-click on My Computer and select Tools from the menu after the My Computer box opens. From the Tools Menu, choose Folder Options. Select the View tab. From the list that appears, select the radio button beside the listing ; Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click on Apply and OK and you are set to go. Now every file and folder on your hard drive can be seen when navigating through the computer. Now it is time to navigate to the icon (shortcut) and put it back in your Quick Launch bar. Click on the following in this order to find the directory. Substitute my name in this path with the username associated with computer. Here we go: Double-click on My Computer >> C: drive>> Documents and Settings>>Scott Durward>>Application Data>>Microsoft>>Internet Explorer>>Quick Launch. When you get to this folder, an icon labeled Show Desktop will available. Drag the Show Desktop icon down to your Quick Launch bar at the bottom of your screen and release when a small black line appears between your other icons. Instantly, your Show Desktop icon will appear in the same Quick Launch bar just like it used to be.
February 4, 2009 - This week’s questions is from a reader who wants to be able to use Microsoft Office 2007 files that people send her. She doesn’t want to go and spend the hundreds of dollars buying the program just so she can open the files. The solution is to install the Microsoft Office 2007 compatibility pack from Microsoft. This allows a person to open and use office 2007 files. The compatibility package converts the file to Microsoft Office 2003 format for you to use. Under most circumstances, it will not re-save it as a 2007 file. This will not be an issue when you send it back to the 2007 user, because 2007 automatically converts the files from earlier versions. For this package to work follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en. Follow the directions accordingly on the web-site. You must be running Microsoft Office XP or Microsoft Office 2003 and be running Windows XP or Windows Vista. If the link above does not work, please visit the Essex Voice archives on my web-site and the link will work. You can find it at http://www.slconsultingsolutions.com. Click on the link for the Essex Voice and select 2009 from the screen that appears and the this article will be listed. Have fun and enjoy.
February 11, 2009 - Scott, I do not download files from Internet sites or from sites like Limewire and I prohibit my children from doing the same. Yet, each of the last three months I have received an email from Cogeco telling me we have used more than our 60 GB download/upload limit. I have scanned all of the computers in the house for viruses and malware and there are no infections on any of the computers. We have five computers in the house. My wife and I each have a laptop and my teenage children each have their own. Any suggestions? Dear reader, I would definitely ask a few questions and make a couple of observations regarding the internet use of the children. If they watch a lot of YouTube videos and other such sites while browsing the Internet, this can be part of the culprit. Remember that every video you watch is treated as downloaded data. For example, there are sites that you can watch full length movies. A full length movie watched over the Internet can be between 700 MB and 1.3 GB of data. Second, although you may have secured the computers against Limewire type programs, check them for Torrent programs. These are peer-to-peer programs that allow downloading. I know of one couple who had the same problem and it turned out that the kids were watching so many movies on their computers instead of watching TV that it put them over their limit.
February 18 - This week’s reader wants to know why Microsoft Outlook will not allow him to send or receive .exe files. I agree that it is stupid that it will not let you receive or send these files by default. Further, Microsoft Outlook will not allow you to change this unless of course you ask me how to do this. This feature being disabled is very inconvenient for a person in my profession and for many, many others. The following is how you can allow Microsoft Outlook to allow you to send and receive files that it normally won’t allow. This method involves modifying your registry. As always, back up your data and back up your registry before attempting this solution. Open your registry editor by type regedit in the Run box (click on Start>>Run). Once the registry is opened, Expand the branches to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Office\ 10.0\ Outlook\ Security (The 10.0 represents the version of office you have on your computer). Create a new string value by selecting New and then String Value from the Edit menu. Name the new value Level1Remove. Double-click the new Level1Remove to edit it, and enter the filename extensions you'd like to stop Outlook from blocking. Extensions should be typed in lower case, without the dots (.), and separated by semicolons (;). For example, type exe;mdb;vbs to allow .exe, .mdb, and .vbs attachments, respectfully. Click Ok and then close the Registry Editor when you're done. You may have to restart Outlook for this change to take effect. Remember this means you'll now be able to receive EXE files and other potentially harmful file types over email. Use this feature only when you know what you are getting and recognize that most viruses still come in Word documents and as .exe files.
February 25 - My hard drive says that I am running out of space. How can that be? I do not download music or movies. When I looked in my computer, I saw that I have a drive C:, D: E: and F:. I noticed that when I click on each drive (except F:. that is my DVD drive), it has different amounts of total hard drive space. So, I started installing my programs onto the other drives. Now this is kind of a pain in the rear. How do I make it so that I can have one continuous hard drive space and not have worry about where to install the programs? The good news is that anything is possible. The most popular solution is to save your important files and reinstall Windows. During the process you can delete all three partitions and make them into one before the re-installation. This is the fastest method to combine all drives into one. The second way takes a lot longer. First, save all important files to a USB jump drive or burn them to Cd's or DVD's (popular for pictures). Now un-install all programs that have been installed on the other partitions. This may take a while depending on how many programs you have installed on the other partitions. Once you have un-installed them, you are ready to delete the second and third partition in order to combine it with the first partition. In Windows XP Professional, click on Start >> Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools. Double-click Computer Management. Click on Disk Management. In the list that will appear, the existing hard drive partitions will be illustrated. We must delete the two existing partitions that we want to combine with the first partition. Select one of the partitions in the list and right-click your mouse and select Delete Partition from the list. It will warn you that all data will be lost by doing this action. Answer Yes. If you accidentally try to delete the partition that contains your operating system, it will not let you. Complete this step again for the other partition you want to change. After this is completed, your list of partitions will read C: and then a block of Unallocated hard drive space. Using your mouse, select the C: partition first and, while holding the Control key down, select the unallocated hard drive space. Right-click and select Extend partition from the list. After this task, the computer will extend your partition across the whole drive and you will be left with only your C: drive and DVD drive in My Computer. This second method is only for users who are certain all their important data is backed up and are intermediate to advanced users. It may prompt you to reboot your computer after you are finished. A third way to complete this task is to buy Norton Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Manager and it will guide you through the whole process and you will not have to pre-save any information or anything (at least that is what they tell you). As a precaution, I would back up everything in case something goes wrong.
March 3 - This week, someone spilled a can of pop on their keyboard and it no longer works. The question is: How can I clean my keyboard without having to buy a new one. The solution is to put it in the dishwasher. If you have one of those $100 keyboards, I probably wouldn't try this. Before putting your keyboard in the dishwasher, either take a picture of your keyboard, or draw out the layout so you can remember the key placement when it is cleaned. Complete the following to clean your keyboard in the dishwasher: Disconnect your keyboard from your computer and wrap the connector tightly in plastic so no water can get in. Make sure the spilled beverage has been poured out of the keyboard. Place keyboard in the dishwasher and set to normal cycle. Add soap. Run the dishwasher but DO NOT let it go to the heated dry cycle. Set yourself a timer if you have to. Remove the keyboard when the cycle is done. Use a quarter, or small thin blunt device, to pop off all of the keys on your keyboard (see why we took the picture?). Unwrap the plastic on the end. This will allow the keyboard to completely dry. Lean the keyboard vertically against a wall or cabinet and let sit from three to five days. When completely dry, put the keys back on the keyboard using the layout you saved from an earlier step. Plug in your keyboard and Voila! It should work.
March 18 -For some time now, there have been devices that a person can hook up externally to your computer through your USB port that allows you to hook up an IDE device or a SATA device (such as hard drives or DVD-ROMs/RW’s). Most of the devices have two separate power switches for the devices. Here lies the problem. Most consumers are guilty of not reading the fine print on packaging. The print on the box of these devices reveals that you can hot swap (meaning the user can turn one on and the other off on the fly without having to shut down the computer) the devices when you need them. The fine print on the devices is what you discover when you read between the lines. By using the phrase “hot swap”, the manufacturer’s are making the assumption that only one device will be used at a time. If you continually have both devices powered on all of the time and are using them at the same time, something inevitable will happen. The power supply used to power these devices will burn out. Plain and simple, it will stop working. To avoid having a hard drive and DVD-ROM you cannot use, use them one at time. To accomplish this, just turn one off before turning the other on and your device will last a lot longer than one or two months.
April 1 - This week’s issue has to do with an un-mountable boot volume. The error stated that the winsrv file is missing or corrupt. The drive would not boot and the concern was with the integrity of the files on the hard drive and would he still be able to get the information off the drive. The good news is that this error usually indicates that there is no physical issue with the hard drive. As always, I preach that your information should be backed up on a regular basis. If this was the case, then retrieving the files would not be such an issue. But, as with many people, the files had not been backed up and we needed to retrieve them. In this case, you can simply remove the hard drive from the tower or laptop and attach it to an external hard drive connector, or into another tower, and remove the files from the drive by transferring them to a USB stick or another hard drive in the tower. After the files have been transferred, put the hard drive back into the original computer and reinstall your operating system. The problem originally occurred due to a program that was uninstalled and it took, or corrupted, that file at uninstall. Whenever these errors appear, the most likely culprit in an incorrect uninstall performed by a program not the user. An excellent program to help prevent these kinds of problems is Your Uninstaller.
April 8 - Jean from Toronto needs to tighten some security in her business. Too many people are chatting on line instead of working. She has blocked Microsoft messenger but needs some tips on how to further her security. She owns a fairly sophisticated network system and routing system. Here are some of the things we can do to tighten the use of messaging. With five kids at home, I have had lots of practice addressing these kinds of issues.
Block mail.yahoo.ca and mail.yahoo.com. Inherent in the new Yahoo mail is the ability to import all of your MSN contacts and be able to communicate with them through Yahoo mail. Block hotmail.com, home.live.com and windowslive.com. Each of these sites allows the user to sign in using the web interface rather than a messaging program. Again, after they have logged in, their interface is available to chat.
Further there are a few other programs that can be used to get around filters. A program called Pigeon, AOL messenger and iRC chat are the three most popular. Pigeon also uses a web interface for communication rather than using an installed program so it will be necessary to block epigeon-instant-messaging.com. The Pigeon program uses TCP port 3101 if we need to block it and iRC.net uses port 6667. I suggest blocking iRC.net so users cannot download the file. AOL messenger is trickier. AOL defaults to port 5190, however if you use the auto configure settings in the program, it changes the port to 21. As you know, port 21 is used for ftp file transfers so this may affect any file activity you may need. To fix this, you can add one machine as the DMZ so that you can transfer files without issue. If this is too complicated, blocking a range of ports will also do the job.
April 15 - This week’s question from our reader is about unwanted downloads initiating right after connecting to the internet. The computer has Windows XP on a Dell Desktop which is about 4 years old. After this download starts, a yellow football shaped icon appears in the task bar at the bottom of the screen on the right hand side. When I right click, it indicates the % of the download that is complete. It does not indicate what is being downloaded, and I do not know how to stop this download. I use dial up, and it significantly impacts any other internet activities that I start using. I believe that I have changed the selection for the automatic download of Windows updates from automatic to advise when downloads are available. So I assume that these downloads are not Windows related. I still will be downloading all the recommended windows security updates on an overnight schedule, so that it does not impact my internet activities during daytime use. Is there a way to identify what is being downloaded, and if it is not needed, is there a way to stop the download?
Unfortunately, almost all programs that are created these days that need updates are programmed to automatically connect to the Internet for the updates. The problem is that the software companies are making the assumption that everyone has a DSL or cable connection or better. For those who still have dial up, the slower speed that you are already experiencing becomes not worth the effort. Here are some suggestions: Do you have adobe products installed? What happens when you double click on the icon? Have you installed Java on your computer? Looks like an add on software that is trying to update. By right clicking on the icon, it should give you some idea as to what the program is called that is downloading the updates. Once you have that information, go to the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel and see if it is in the list for you to uninstall it. However, if the program is deemed necessary, find the program in your All Program list and open it and change the settings for automatic downloading as you did for the updates from Microsoft.
April 22 - This week's question is for the advanced user. The question came from a problem a user was having with his Pentium III notebook computer. He installed Windows XP onto a new 250 GB internal drive. He upgraded to Service Pack one. However, after a short time, the Windows would only recognize the hard drive as a 137 GB hard drive. When he took the hard drive to a different computer, it read as 250 GB. The BIOS of the notebook read it as 250 GB but as soon as he got into Windows, it registered as 137 GB. Now, it will not boot at all. After re-installing your operating system,try the solution below.
The solution is to tell your Windows operating system to allow 48-bit LBA support for ATAPI disk drives. First, you must check what version you have of the Atapi.sys file. You must have the version 5.1.2600.1135 or later. It is located in your %systemroot%\system32\drivers folder. The best way to search to see if it is the right version is to search your computer for the Atapi.sys file using Search. Make sure your computer is set to show hidden files and folders. When you have located the file, right click on it and click on properties. It will display the version number for you. If you do not have the right version number, go here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331958/ to learn how to update the file. Remember that you must have Windows XP with Service Pack One installed to fix this problem. As always,there is risk when messing with the registry, so make sure all important files are backed up. We do have to go to the registry to fix the problem. You must have a BIOS that supports 48-bit LBA and a hard drive greater than 137 GB to proceed. To do this, set the EnableBigLba registry value to 1 in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Atapi\Parameters\. You can navigate this string by invoking the Registry Editor by clicking Start>>Run and type regedit in the box that opens and pressing enter. When set to 1, the registry has been told to recognize drives larger than 137 GB. I repeat that you must meet the conditions above of Windows XP SP1, a greater than 137 GB hard drive and a BIOS that supports the 48 bit LBA and have your data backed up in the event of hard drive corruption.
April 29 - This week, our reader would like to know how to save the nice pictures they saw in a PowerPoint presentation that was sent to them by a friend. The easiest way to accomplish saving the pictures from a PowerPoint presentation is to do the following steps. First , and foremost, you need to have Microsoft Office PowerPoint installed on your computer. After saving the presentation to your computer, open it using PowerPoint. After you have opened PowerPoint, select the slide where the picture is located. Now select the picture on the slide and right-click your mouse. From the menu that appears, select Save picture As.... Once selected, the save file dialog box will appear and you can pick the location of where you want to save the file. It is as easy as that. If you are using OpenOffice, open the PowerPoint presentation with the program and follow the same procedure. If you do not have either of those installed, you can use the print screen function and paste it into Microsoft Paint.
May 6 - Our reader this week has the Trojan.Win32.Agent.azsy virus. This is a malicious virus (considered a Critical Virus Threat) that steals passwords and send them across the Internet to the creator of the virus. This kind of virus must be eliminated as soon as possible from the computer. Trojan.win32.agent.azsy infiltrates the target host computer via firewall flaws and other minor security splits. This intrusion is undetected and usually remains obscure all the way until a professional antivirus program is used. The program detects and alerts the user. This is the point where the user is surprised at the fact that there is a virus on the computer. When inside and active, Trojan.win32.agent.azsy virus installs a program named Personal Antivirus into your computer. An icon appears in the bottom right corner of your screen telling you that you have infected files. It hi-jacks your Internet Explorer and navigates to a security scare screen trying to lure you in. Now that we are all scared, How do we get rid of it. If you purchase Spybot Search and Destroy or MalwareBytes, you may have luck in removing it from your computer. However, because of the way it gets into the computer, you will also need to run a registry repair tool (such as Registry Mechanic) to remove all references from the registry. Next, you may have to manually check the registry and remove some entries. Remember when dealing with the registry, be sure to back up all important data first. Next, make sure that you have System Restore turned off so the virus cannot hide there. Even after you have gone through all of the pain above, you must still manually removed the PAV folder from the hard drive (typically your C: drive). You may have to use the Task Manager to disable the Personal Antivirus before starting. For those who are undaunted by this task and dare to try; the registry solution is found on my web-site at http://www.slconsultingsolutions.com/2009.htm. Otherwise, the novice user can rely on the software programs mentioned above to help you out. If you do not find success, it will be best t hire a professional to resolve your virus issue. Below is the manual instructions for removal. You may discover that some of the steps are not needed. That is OK.
The following program files, links and folders are to be deleted are listed below:
* %Documents and Settings%\All Users\Desktop\Personal Antivirus.lnk
* %Documents and Settings%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus
* %Documents and Settings%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus\Personal Antivirus Home Page.lnk
* %Documents and Settings%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus\Personal Antivirus.lnk
* %Documents and Settings%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus\Purchase License.lnk
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Personal Antivirus.lnk
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\settings.ini
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\uill.ini
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\unins000.exe
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\Uninstall Personal Antivirus.lnk
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\config.cfg
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\Timeout.inf
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\Urls.inf
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\log.txt
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\pguard.ini
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\services.exe
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\activate.ico
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\Explorer.ico
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\PerAvir.exe
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\unins000.dat
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\uninstall.ico
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\working.log
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\db
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\db\DBInfo.ver
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\db\ia080614.db
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\db\ia080618x.db
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\Languages
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAEs.lng
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAFr.lng
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAGer.lng
* %Program Files%\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAIt.lng
* %WINDOWS%\system32\log.txt
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\winlogon.exe
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iGSh.png
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iMSh.png
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iPSh.png
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iv.exe
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\log.txt
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\pguard.ini
* %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\services.exe
The related registry entries to be removed are as follows:
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Personal Antivirus_is1
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_ITGRDENGINE
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ITGrdEngine
* HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer “PrS”
* HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Personal Antivirus”
Please, be aware that manual removal of Trojan.win32.agent.azsy trojan is a difficult and sometimes confusing process and does not always ensure complete deletion of the malware, due to the fact that some files might be hidden or may get reanimated or renamed automatically afterwards.
May 13 - This week’s question comes from an elderly reader who wants to know what a Blog is and what in the world is Twitter. Blog is short form for “Web blog”. A web blog is sort of a journal. It is a chronological account of events written by the author. It may involve someone’s daily life, a political point of view that people can comment on or a story you create and continue. A blog is the same as the old fashioned bulletin board services from the late 1980’s. The real difference is that you can use pictures, sounds and interact in better real time. A blogger is someone who writes or maintains the blog. A blog itself is the topic that people are going to journal. Individual items on a blog are called blog posts. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”.
Twitter sounds a bit like a exotic spider. According to the authors at Wikipedia, “Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter web site, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.” Because you have only 140 characters in which to express your point, Twitter keeps moving at a faster pace. There isn’t much room for embellishment or rude facts. Twitter has taken the best of MySpace and Facebook and tried to narrow it into something more convenient and user friendly. Some have told me that Twitter is more real-time and real life because the responses are instantaneous. Twitter can be highly addictive because you will always want to know what happened next in someone’s life or conversation. Some Twitter sites more resemble soap operas rather than commentary. However, that is the beauty of Twitter and blogs sites. It can be whatever you want it to be for FREE.
May 20 - Can a peer-to-peer connection be set up using the internal Wi-Fi of each of the laptops without resorting to a router? True, the security problem is a consideration, but this would not be used at public hot spots only intermittently on my premises. The range of the connection would be within the same room. I have Windows XP on both computers. The good news is that you do not have to buy anything for your computers. The solution will take around 15-20 minutes if you are computer savvy. If not factor a little longer. There will be no security issues at all unless you tell someone what you have named your internal network. Click Start >> Control Panel. The Control Panel window opens. If your Control Panel is in Category View, click Network and Internet Connections. The Network and Internet Connections window opens. Click/Double-click Network Connections. The Network Connections window opens. Right-click Wireless Network Connection, then click View Available Wireless Networks. The Connect to Wireless Network dialog box opens. Click Advanced. The Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog box opens. Click the Wireless Networks tab. Click Add. The Wireless Network Properties dialog box opens. Type the name of the network in the Network name (SSID) box. For a peer-to-peer network, this can be any network name not already in use, for example Adhoc. Click the This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network check box. If an encryption key has been agreed to by the other members of your network, continue at the next step. If you do not want to have an encrypted network, you can skip the next few steps. I really recommend the encryption to secure your data from outside people. Click the Data encryption (WEP enabled) check box. Click to clear the “The key is provided for me automatically” check box. Type the network key in the Network key box. Click the arrow button to open the Key format list, then click the key format you have agreed to. Click the arrow button to open the Key length list, then click the key length you have agreed to. Click the up or down arrow button to select the key index you have agreed to from the Key index (advanced) list. Click OK to close the Wireless Network Properties dialog box. Now, repeat this process on the other computer. Remember to name the network the same and use the same key. After completion, you will now be able to connect to each computer and share information. The easiest way will be to put the information you want to share into the Shared Documents folder.
June 3 - A reader wants to get creative. He wants to change the sound that plays when his computer logs on. He is tired of the old sound that windows XP plays as it finishes booting into windows. To change the sound is quite easy. The most important part of changing the sound is that the file you want to play is in the .wav format. It will not play any other format. Second the file should only be one megabyte at most. The file can be larger but it will only play the first one megabyte of the sound or song. Click Start >> Control Panel. Find the icon named Sounds and Audio Devices. Double-click on the icon. When the window opens, click on the tab labeled Sounds. On the screen in front of you, there is a list labeled Program Events. In the list is an event labeled Windows Logon. Select that item in the list. Below, the box labeled Sounds will have the value Windows XP Logon Sound. Click on the browse button and browse to the location of the file on your computer. Ideally, you will have wanted to put the file in the C:\Windows\Media directory. When you have completed selecting the sound, click OK to exit. The next time you boot your computer, the new sound should play for you.
June 17- This week's article is another reminder about the use of a good anti-virus program. Over the last few weeks, I have been inundated with computer after computer with an endless number of viruses and spy-ware. The real and only difference from this time to the last time I wrote about viruses is that adults are the only people using these computers. Usually, children get a hold of our computers and go places they aren't supposed to. Of the fifteen computers I have worked on in the last few weeks, ten (that is 10) of them did not have an up-to-date virus program. Virus programs may update the definitions automatically, but remember they do not renew their subscription automatically. Only three of them had an up-to-date spy-ware program. With the sophistication of spy-ware and viruses, no one can assume to be safe. Yes, even if you do not have an Internet connection. It can steal your passwords, credit card information and browsing habits and send them across the world to a remote location. By the time you realize it has been stolen, you are trying to explain to a credit card company that you did not go to the Bahamas last week. Shawn from Windsor spent almost three years getting his identity back because he was hi-jacked on-line. AVG remains the choice for a reliable anti-virus and MalWareBytes continues to lead in the spy-ware category. SpyBot Search and Destroy is a good tool to help you get rid of an already existing problem. Please beware. The Internet is a wonderful tool and helpful beyond all comprehension. It also has its share of crooks and thieves trying to steal from you. Anti-virus and spy-ware protectors are your protection, as is common sense, in surfing the net.
June24 - I have lost my Microsoft Word which I use a lot can you tell me how to find it. I am afraid I may have uninstalled it. As it turns out, she had just deleted her shortcut to Microsoft Word from her desktop and her Program Files in the Start Menu. To make a new shortcut: Double-click My Computer, Double-click C: drive, Double-click Program Files, Double-click Microsoft Office, Double-click Office10 (yours may be labeled differently if you have a different version. It could say Office11, or Office9), locate the file called WINWORD. Right click on the file and select Send To.. From that menu, choose send to Desktop as shortcut. A shortcut to the program will appear on your desktop. Double-click it and your MSWord will work.
An update to last week’s article. There is a compatibility issue between Ad-Aware and MalwareBytes. MalWareBytes will uninstall Ad-Aware when it is installing. Just be careful. A warning message should come up and warn of the incompatibility. If the warning does not come up, that does not necessarily mean it will be compatible. Thank you to our reader Paul for pointing this out.
July 1 - This week we will discuss how to send an email in Microsoft Outlook but delay sending it until a later time. Our reader wants to be able to send a reminder to someone but be able to write the email earlier in the week. It is kind of like the reminder I send to my church to remind them to send me the weekly bulletin. Click on New to create a new email. After completing your email, click on Options found in the tool bar of the email message In Outlook 2007, it is called delay Delivery). In the Options, there is a section named Delivery options. Select the Do not deliver before option and select the time and date you do not want to have the message delivered before. Once selected, click Close. Click Send and you will see that your Outbox will contain the message. As long as your Outlook is open the email will send when you told it to.
July 8 - Our reader would like to know two things: 1. How to copy files to a thumb drive and, 2. How to use the Safely remove hardware button located in the taskbar by the clock. Our reader has Windows Vista. The easiest way to transfer files to your thumb drive(for those who do not remember; a thumb drive is a USB stick/hard drive that goes into your USB slot and is portable) is to right-click on the file you want to transfer. Select Send To from the menu that appears. Once selected, the menu will show your USB drive as a choice to send the file. Select the drive and the file will transfer there automatically. There, you are done transferring. To safely remove the drive, complete the following. First, what does safe mean. Your operating system holds some of the information on your drive in a buffer (or limbo of sorts) before and after writing the file. By selecting the icon in the taskbar labeled Safely Remove Hardware, you are allowing the computer to finish writing all important information to the drive and close it off properly so all data is safe. When you remove your USB drive without completing this step, you risk corrupting some of the data on the UAB stick. Therefore, I would always use the Safely Remove Hardware process before removing the USB drive.
July 22 - Hi All. Sorry I missed you last week but I was too ill. I have received a few emails from concerned parents about a web-site called stickcam.com. It is a web-portal site where you can be on web cam across the whole world 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Therefore, you have people from teenagers to grown adults that have their web-cams on all the time. This means that if you are dressing or undressing, the world can see. If you are watching TV, reading, eating or anything else you want to imagine, the world can see. The scary part is not the web-site. The scary part is the parent that allows the child to have a computer in the room with internet access and a web-cam. The problem continues when the parent does not monitor what is going on in the child’s room. In an age where the kids are usually more tech-savvy than the parents, the parents need to stay informed. Many experts share the opinion that if there is a computer in the room, the door must always remain open. If the child throws a fit about privacy etc, the parents’ next question should address what are they trying to hide. When completing the research for the article, I witnessed a few very troubling things. What troubled me the absolute most was watching the parents walking by in the background completely oblivious as to what their child is doing on-line. Research reveals that sexual predators and criminals are all over these sites (like they are with MySpace, MSN, Facebook, etc.) waiting for one of the naïve to make a mistake and who will eventually become a statistic of crime. Stickcam.com has very strict rules about nudity and content but with over half a million users on at a time, it is virtually impossible to track all of them. I will close by putting the responsibility where it belongs: the parents. Challenge your kids about their on-line activities and be a part of it and it will greatly reduce the chances of problems and inappropriate behaviours and lower the risk to your child of becoming an on-line criminal statistic.
July 29 - This week’s article address the changes that are coming to those people who access their hotmail using either Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express or Entourage. Microsoft has sent the following email to all customers:
“To continue to receive e-mail from your Hotmail account, please select one of the alternative solutions below before September 1, 2009. After this day, new e-mail can only be delivered to your mail programs through the following alternative solutions.
“If you use Microsoft Office Outlook to view Hotmail, you can download free Office Outlook Connector to continue accessing your Windows Live Hotmail within Outlook 2003 or 2007. If you're using Outlook 2002, you will need to change the settings on your program to access your Hotmail. Follow this link to learn more (http://microsoft.windowslive.com/Key=33990.KCpk.K.H0.PPcbp).”
“If you use Outlook Express to view Hotmail, you can choose to download free Windows Live Mail (recommended) or change the settings on your program to access your Hotmail within Outlook Express. Follow this link to learn more about your options (http://microsoft.windowslive.com/Key=33990.KCpk.L.H0.Jl6cd6).”
“If you use Entourage to view Hotmail, you can change the settings in your program to view your e-mail. Follow this link to learn more (http://microsoft.windowslive.com/Key=33990.KCpk.M.H0.C4BZRJ).”
“Why is this happening? Outlook, Outlook Express, and Entourage use a legacy communications method (known as the DAV protocol) to access Hotmail. Because the DAV protocol is not optimally suited for programs to access large inboxes such as Hotmail which now provides users ever-growing storage, new alternatives have been built. Last year, customers asked us to postpone plans to retire the DAV protocol until more options were available. Now that these options (including the POP3 protocol) are available, we are ready to retire the DAV protocol.”
The main reason for the change is that more people are keeping all of their emails and the original protocols were just designed for accessing a few messages. With people keeping pictures, videos and everything else in their inboxes, the software must adjust with the times.
August 12 - This week, we will discuss the need to download files correctly and without viruses. First off, I do not condone the illegal downloading of music or software from any site. The people own the rights to them and should be paid. Due the large number of computers that I continue to get that are infected with viruses, we will discuss the proper way to download a file and protect yourself from the virus it may contain. The obvious point is that you must have a good anti-virus program installed. The world leader at present is the avg free anti-virus located and grisoft.com. That is not enough to get the job done. What a person also needs is a procedure. The only way to guarantee no infections is to make sure you scan the file you have just download for viruses BEFORE trying to open the file. As good as anti-viruses can be on its own, it is more effective when used strategically and with purpose. Remember, the keys are a leading edge anti-virus that is kept up-to-date and the knowledge that all files should be scanned for viruses before executing them. Of course the 100% guarantee is to not download pirated songs or software in the first place.
On a separate note, the newly anticipated Windows 7 release date has been announced. It will be released to manufacturing (RTM) on October 22 of this year. For those who have been beta testing Windows 7, your license will still expire next March. Further, a very limited amount of licenses are being approved for the continued installation of Windows 7 RC1.
August 19 - For those who haven’t noticed yet, it is brown out season in Essex County. With the increasing heat and humidity comes the increase in demand on the power grid to operate all of the air conditioners people rely so heavily on for relief. But one of the down sides to our comfort is the strain on the power grid. When demand is too high on the grid, it temporarily adjusts itself by funneling and filtering power to where it is needed. The filtering and funneling of the power out of an area creates a brown out, or temporary loss of power, to your home or business. It could last less than a second or it may last a few seconds. Bottom line is that your computer equipment is hooked up to this unpredictable power supply. As I have discussed in the past, a brown out can be more harmful that a power surge and can damage your equipment equally. Our reminder today is to make sure your most important electronic equipment is on a power surge protection system and ideally a power conditioning system. A power surge system is the more affordable of the two. You can use an UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and surge protection power bars. A power conditioner intercepts the power when it comes in and evens it out so that no matter what happens on the outside world, the power is constant and consistent to your inside world. A power conditioner is not a replacement for surge protection. It becomes part of the overall plan. Take heed and protect your equipment. Most of us forget to protect our printers because they are out of the way or perceived as “not as important”. Don’t forget. I have talked to four people in the last week who are replacing printers because they were not protected.
August 26 - This week’s question is from Alexander in Essex. His computer started doing strange things. Sometimes, it would boot to windows and sometimes it would tell him that it cannot find a hard drive. Even when the BIOS registers the hard drive, the computer would say no hard drive is attached. On the final boot, the blue screen came up outlining that it was checking file indexes and verifying sectors. The summary at the end defined over 800 bad sectors and over 1000 corrupt files. After running diagnostics on his computer, I found many things. First, his hard drive is nine years old. True, some do last forever. Second, he had a second hard drive in his computer that was ten years old (His computer is only five years old). Trying to restore the master boot record by running fixmbr was unsuccessful. Using Winternals Emergency Repair Disk was unsuccessful at retrieving information from the hard drive. I conducted the memory system test and there were no errors. I conducted the motherboard and expansion slot diagnostics and it returned no errors. I ran the hard drive diagnostic for the hard drive and the result was an unrecoverable error. Since the hard drive is so old, there is no warranty on it. Whatever was on the drive is not recoverable and, as a result, lost. Again, I remind our readers to back up your important information on a regular basis because this type of event can happen at any time and hard drive vendors do not warranty your information. They just warranty the drive.
September 2 - I was in Stouffville this week at a car show and overheard two gentlemen in a discussion about whether or not you can make the 30 day trial on Windows software extend beyond the thirty day trials. One was arguing yes and the other was saying that only if you have an illegal crack is that possible. Here is the truth. Starting with Windows Vista through to Windows 7, Microsoft has a built in utility provided with the software that will extend a thirty day trial up to three more times for a possible 120 days from a thirty day trial. It is actually quite easy. What follows is the method to use for Windows 7. On day 29 or thirty of your evaluation of Windows 7, click on Start >> Run. In the window that opens, type cmd in the box and click ok. When the command prompt window opens, type the following: slmgr –rearm. There must be a space between the slmgr and the –rearm. The dash must be there as well. After typing select enter. Reboot your computer immediately and your thirty day trial has started over. As I stated before, you can do this procedure three times for a maximum total of 120 days of the trial software. Now at the end of the 120 days, you will have to buy a license. I suggest installing the professional version because it is the least expensive license and will do almost everything a normal user would need. Next week, I will tell you how to install the ultimate version but only have to pay for the Professional version and it is totally legal.
September 9 - I would like to start this week’s article by thanking the Hole-in-the-wall moving company affectionately known as: Matty, Travis, Mark, Brian, Chris, Andrew, Cory, Britney, Geoffrey and Danielle. Thank you for the help in a successful move. Like it or not, at some point your trial will run out on your Windows 7 and you will have to buy a CD key. The 32-bit versions and 64-bit versions take the same CD key. The keys are not different for the different platforms. Therefore Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit has the same key as Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. To clarify, Windows 7 Ultimate will not work for Windows 7 Home Premium and vice versa. Let’s figure out how you can pay only for Windows 7 Home Premium when you have installed Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows Home Premium is quite a bit cheaper than the Ultimate version and most people will be installing the Home Premium version. It is important to install the version you want as a trial so when it comes time to pay, you have the right version installed. If you install the Ultimate version without knowing this secret, you will be stuck with having to do a complete reinstall to use your home premium key. Each install DVD has all versions on it. In order to install the version you want, all you have to do is delete a single file on the DVD. The secret is to delete or rename the ei.cfg file found in the\sources directory on the installation DVD. Most people will download the DVD. IN this case, use an iso utility that allows you to modify and re-save the iso file. Use a DVD burning utility to burn you modified iso file. When you proceed to install the software from a hard boot, a menu will appear allowing you to choose whatever version of Windows 7 you want to install. Make sure you install the right version of Windows 7 and you won’t have to reinstall it and pay an exorbitant price later. The end result is that you can have Ultimate installed but only have to enter a Home Premium key in the end when your trial runs out. If you are going to attempt this, try it on a computer that is not your primary computer in case something goes wrong and you have to start over. (My thanks to Woody Leonhard and Seth Bareiss for their help in researching this topic.)
September 16 - Ted wanted to know what it meant to map a network drive and why someone would want to do it. First off, most users at a workplace that has a network have hard drives mapped to their computer. What this translates to is it allows the company to store all of your information on one computer making it easy to backup all information for the company. You map a hard drive by and selecting and right-clicking over My Computer (Computer for Vista and Windows 7 users) and select Map Network Drive from the menu that appears. In the next dialog box that appears, the best option to select is Browse. Very few of us know the direct path across a network to find the hard drive we are mapping to. Still fewer know the naming conventions necessary to successfully type in the proper command line in the box. Pick a letter from the Drive letter drop down list. Pick any letter you choose because it makes no difference to the computer. Click on Browse and navigate to the computer or folder you wish to have open and be available to you each and every time you log in. Once you have located the drive or folder, click it once and click OK to close the popup box. Once clicked you will return to the first dialog box and the path to the new drive or folder will be displayed. Be sure to check that the box Reconnect at Logon is checked. His will insure that every time you log into your computer, the mapped drive will be available. A key point here is that if your computer maps to a drive across a network, or to someone else’s computer, that computer must be on for you to access it. The end result is you now have access to this resource at all times. When you double-click on My Computer, it will appear as an icon similar to a hard drive icon. Just double-click on the icon and your resource is available. It is no longer necessary to always have to go through My Network Places to find the location on the network. You can even drag and drop to the mapped drive, as well as, copy and paste. Enjoy!
September 23 - Today, we will help diagnose an error that keeps appearing on reader’s DELL M1710 notebook computer. Just recently the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) has starting appearing. It seems to have no rhyme or reason as to when it will come. He could be playing a game or just browsing the internet. One other thing he has noticed is that the heat being emitted from his notebook has increased significantly. The error that pops up with his BSOD is the Memory Parity Error. This is not good news. Generally the memory parity error that shuts a computer down involves a problem with your video card. The heat sink compound may have deteriorated. The fan on the video card may have failed. The card itself may have failed. These are the three real possibilities. With the extra heat, the card cannot function properly. Whether it is the card that is failing or the fan is not working does not matter. The end result is the breakdown of the computer. If left untreated, the extra heat from the video card could further destroy the motherboard and the need for a new computer would be necessary. If you haven’t opened a notebook computer before and performed service, now is not the time to try it for the first time. Someone skilled in notebook repair needs to handle the details. You can buy video card replacements for most notebook computers three to five years old without much issue. A person must be prepared to spend from $150-$500 for the repair. Next week, we will celebrate our 200th issue together.
September 30 - I thought for my 200th article, I would provide some humour in computers. Please enjoy. If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, 'Who's on First?' might have turned out something like this: COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you? COSTELLO: Thanks I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer. ABBOTT: Mac? COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou. ABBOTT: Your computer? COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one. ABBOTT: Mac? COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou. ABBOTT: What about Windows? COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here? ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?ABBOTT: Wallpaper. COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software. ABBOTT: Software for Windows? COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have? ABBOTT: Office. COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything? ABBOTT: I just did. COSTELLO: You just did what? ABBOTT: Recommend something. COSTELLO: You recommended something? ABBOTT: Yes. COSTELLO: For my office? ABBOTT: Yes. COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office? ABBOTT: Office. COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!m ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows. COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need? ABBOTT: Word. COSTELLO: What word?ABBOTT: Word in Office. COSTELLO: The only word in office is office. ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows. COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows? ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'. COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'w' if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with? ABBOTT: Money. COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have? ABBOTT: Money. COSTELLO: I need money to track my money? ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer. COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer? ABBOTT: Money. COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer? ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge. COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much? ABBOTT: One copy. COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money? ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money. COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money? ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT! (A few days later) ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you? COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off? ABBOTT: Click on 'START'............. Anonymous writer.
October 7 - Last week was my 200th article with the Essex Voice. We’ve dealt with questions and concerns from readers in Europe, the U.S, and Canada. I truly enjoy answering your emails and helping you with your computer questions. Thank you for all of the questions. I would not have made it to 200 articles without your questions. Please keep them coming. Our question this week is about a reader who recently acquired a BlackBerry. The BlackBerry usually arrives with the standard edition of Documents to Go on it. Our reader doesn’t want to pay the seventy dollar upgrade price to the Premium Edition just to view files. The standard edition allows you to open Word and PowerPoint files, but not create new ones. He wants to know what he can do. If you have email set up on your Blackberry, the solution is quite simple. Email your BlackBerry email address with a Word file and/or a PowerPoint file attached to it. When you receive it on your BlackBerry, save it into the Documents folder under your Document to Go. Now you have a file to open up and view. You can use the Save As.. to rename the file if you so desire.
October 14 - Frank from Essex had an interesting quandary this past week. He was trying to do a system restore and his computer generated the following error, “Message: "Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored . . . " The Norton web-site says the following about this issue: “Norton 2006 and later products have a security feature that prevents outside programs from making changes to the Norton product. This security feature can prevent Windows System Restore from changing Norton files, resulting in the "Restoration Incomplete" message. So how do you fix this. You will have to temporarily turn off the Norton product protection before you run Windows System Restore. Start Norton and click on the Settings tab or button. Click Miscellaneous Settings. Under Product Security, next to Norton Product Tamper Protection, click the status indicator to the off position. Click Apply. Now you can run the System Restore. After the System Restore, go back to the Norton product and turn the tamper protection back on. For Norton 2007 and 2008 products you will be looking to turn Auto-Protect off.
October 21 - This week’s question comes from Norma in Essex. While trying to play a DVD with windows media player I got the following message: Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer. I have a Windows XP operating system and Windows Media Player Version 9. Please advise me what to do and provide any links that might help me. Appreciate any help or advice you can give me in this matter.
If you go to the site http://www.divx.com/en/products/software/windows/divx , you can download the DIVX player. Click on the free Download. This is a perfectly safe download. When the software installs, it will install something known as the Divx codec. It is a particular piece of software that helps interpret DVD signals. Once installed, and you have restarted your computer, Windows Media Player should play your DVD’s OK.
October 28 - Have you wondered if you can change the information shown when you open Windows explorer? Windows explorer is opened whenever you double-click on My Computer or navigate other ways in your computer (shortcut key is to hold down the Windows key and press the letter E at the same time). Typically when you open Windows explorer, the default view is thumbnails. To change how the layout looks, choose View from the menu bar and Select Details from the list. Now your thumbnails change to a list of the files. The default view will show the file name, the size of the file and the date it was last modified. If it is a music folder, it may also show the duration of the song or video. But if you are an information hound, you may want to see and know more about the files on your computer, you can do the following. In a Windows Explorer folder, click on View from the Menus at the top. In the list that appears, choose Choose Details… from the list. From the popup screen that appears, you can select from a number of other pieces of information to be displayed along with the file name. This information will only be shown when you have chosen the Details view. There are a couple of limitations I have noticed so far. The Details view does not recognize mp4 file formats or mpeg formats for movies. Other than that, you can view the author, name, size, track number, year and a large number of other attributes.
November 4 - This week, I have had a couple of questions about using computers in libraries, hotels, internet cafés and in public places. Our readers want to know how safe and secure they are to use. I will outline a few safety tips for using public computers. First, Don't save your logon information. Always log out of Web sites by clicking "log out" on the site. It's not enough to simply close the browser window or type in another address. Many programs (especially instant messenger programs) include automatic login features that will save your user name and password. Disable this option so no one can log in as you. Second, Don't leave the computer unattended with sensitive information on the screen. If you have to leave the public computer, log out of all programs and close all windows that might display sensitive information. Third, erase your tracks. Web browsers such as Internet Explorer keep a record of your passwords and every page you visit, even after you’ve closed them and logged out. To disable the feature that stores passwords (before you go to the Web), turn off the Internet Explorer feature that "remembers" your passwords. In Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet Options. Click the Content tab, and then click AutoComplete. Click to clear both check boxes having to do with passwords. To delete your temporary Internet files and your history, when you finish your use of a public computer, you should delete all the temporary files and your Internet history. In Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet Options. On the General tab, under Temporary Internet files, click Delete Files, and then click Delete Cookies. Under History, click Clear History (the process is similar in Firefox). If you're using a corporate Web site that allows you to view internal corporate documents, you may be inadvertently storing sensitive documents on the public computer. Delete all the files in the temporary folder of your user account. You can find them by browsing to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp. Username will be whatever your logon name is for the windows session.
November 11 - This week, we remember those who have fought, and are fighting for our freedoms, we enjoy every day. Please take a minute to reflect on our gifts that we have received from our soldiers. If you see a soldier, thank them. If you remember a fallen soldier, thank them as well. This week’s request comes from Mike. Mike just had a recent hard drive crash and wants to know how to save all of his system settings and files in the event it happens again. There are three different scenarios a person can use when a person says they want to back up their system files. Click on Start>>All Programs>Accessories>>System Tools>>Back-up. A wizard opens that allows the user to choose what kind of back up of data to perform. If you choose All information on this computer, the wizard will also help you create a recovery disk to help restore your computer in the event of a major failure. The only drawback of this wizard is that you need to have a floppy drive installed on your computer to make the emergency recovery diskette. In my case, I would not be able to use the wizard because I do not have a floppy drive in my computer. If you just want to back up your files, you can make that selection too. Only the complete section will back up your files and programs to be restored completely later. If you are interested in backing up only your files, it is faster to burn them directly to a CD without using the wizard. The most popular way of backing up a complete operating system and installed software is to Ghost the complete system after you have it set up the way you like it. Programs such as Norton Ghost make this process extremely easy. It requires you to have a DVD burner in your computer and a lot of space on your hard drive to temporarily store your complete copy before you make it into a DVD. Norton Ghost has a great user interface that makes the process easy. If you wish to create a Windows XP SP2 CD as a backup of your operating system installation CD, you can find the instructions at this link http://www.5starsupport.com/tutorial/xp-recovery-cd.htm.
To all my faithful readers, I am participating in a worthwhile fundraiser to help physically challenged kids and adults. I will be bowling to raise money on November 26, 2009. If you feel that you would like to sponsor me for this excellent event, please use this URL https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/LoginRegister.aspx?EventID=39158. When the page opens, click on Sponsor a Team (lower left). Now type in the word wing’s and click Search. Please click on the top Wing’s link. Next, click on my name to sponsor me. I thank anyone in advance who chooses to sponsor me and I thank all others for the consideration. If the link above does not work, go to www.slconsultingsolutions.com and click on the Essex Voice link. Find this week’s article under 2009 and just click on the link in your browser.
November 18 - Where do we put old printer and computer components? That is the question posed to us this week. No longer is it environmentally responsible to put computers, monitors, TVs, cell phones, CD players, DVD players and other electrical gadgets into the trash. They end up in our landfill and the toxins from their component parts leech into the ground water. So, what do we do with them? Locally, some stores in town will accept ink jet cartridges and toner cartridges for recycling. The metal and plastic outers and rubber inners can be disposed in your garbage pail. Metal parts like computer cases cannot be recycled because they contain powder coated paint. Electronic components such as monitors, motherboards, hard drives, video cards and printer circuitry must be removed from any system before disposal. For the home user, entire computer systems, printers and electrical devices and computer components can be taken to the landfill at station #2 on Albuna Townline in Kingsville. You weigh in and out like usual and they charge you based on the weight. For computer systems less than four years old and other electronics that are still functioning, consider donating them to a charity such as Computers For Kids in Windsor or contact your local church. A good option for companies that have a lot of equipment to get rid of is to contact the manufacturer. Manufacturers such as Dell, HP and IBM -Lenovo have recycling programs for used or discarded computer systems and printers on their web-sites. Dell’s program is free. Others allow you to get a quote on returning old equipment for disposal. No longer do we live in a world where we can throw everything in the garbage. Do not be surprised if waste management leaves it on the curb on garbage day. One last option is to keep your eyes and ears open for a community recycle day as announced by your municipality.
November 25 - With the introduction of Windows 7, the question as to whether a user should have a 32-bit operating system or 64-bit operating has appeared again. The easiest way to decipher the difference between a 32-bit and 64-bit operating system is to think about it in terms of your computer's processor speed. The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to how well a computer's processor can handle the information and tasks the user is demanding of it. Therefore, if you purchase a computer with a 32-bit processor, you'll want to install a 32-bit operating system and vice versa. Those two items go hand in hand when you're dealing with the way a computer handles certain tasks and processes. If you're in the market to buy a new computer, you'll need to make sure that the operating system and the processor match. For example, if you buy a computer with a 64-bit version of Windows 7 installed on it, the computer MUST have a 64-bit processor as well. The same rule is true for 32-bit versions. To check what kind of processor you have, Windows Vista - Go to Start, Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance. Click on the System link. Next, click on the General tab and you will be able to see your computer's processor type and speed. Windows XP – Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information. You cannot use a 32-bit operating system with a 64-bit processor and vice versa. This also applies to the types of programs you use on your computer. Most programs are designed to work with both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems without any problems. If you have a 64-bit computer, it's best that you run 64-bit programs on it if you want the best performance out of both components. Usually, there is no problem running 32-bit programs on 64-bit computers. Only occasionally do you run into difficulty. What can a 64-bit computer can do that a 32-bit can't? For starters, a 64-bit processor can process your information twice as fast as a 32-bit. That's nice, but is it really necessary? It is if you're working with large video and graphic files, large database searches or hosting or if you use your computer for a lot of gaming. All of those things take up a lot more memory and processing resources and a 64-bit processor would really help in those situations. Next, the 64-bit system takes full advantage of your ram. A 32-bit system can only take advantage of 3 GB of your ram where a 64-bit Windows 7 system can take and use up to 128 GB. Bottom line is: If you use your computer to do the basic tasks such as web surfing, email and writing letters, a 32-bit system will suffice.
December 2 - ‘Tis the season of Christmas cheer, Christmas cards and Christmas Viruses (unfortunately, I don’t mean the common cold). Many of us no longer send Christmas Cards by snail mail. Most cards of the younger generation are sent using email and e-cards. When we are dealing with sending emails and programs and links with them, we always must worry about viruses too. The golden rule of accepting e-Christmas cards is if you do not know the person sending it, DO NOT open it. When sending an e-greeting to someone, there is a good chance that will end up in their spam folder due to how the e-cards are scripted and compiled. Microsoft Outlook will disable all links and pictures until you explicitly tell it to allow the links and pictures. IN programs such as Hotmail and Yahoo, you have to move the email to the inbox before the program will allow you to use the links. E-greetings are wonderful ways to say in touch with friends and neighbours. Just be sure about the greeting before opening it. A lot of computer repair people I know get increased business this time of year because of unsuspecting users who have received a free Christmas virus.
December 9 - This week, I received two emails asking how to restore the Show Desktop icon from the Quick Launch toolbar. Usually, the icon is deleted accidentally. On rare occasions, uninstalling a program takes the shortcut with it. This is a very useful icon for a lot of people. With one click of the button, all screens are minimized and your desktop appears. Some may not know that you can accomplish the same result without having the Show Desktop icon. If you use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + D or Windows Key + M, your desktop will appear just as if you had the Show Desktop icon. There are two simple ways to restore the Show Desktop icon to the Quick Launch Toolbar. The first method requires you to open Notepad. Save the file with the name “Show Desktop”. Be sure to include the quotes. Type the following exactly into the notepad document (I have indicated the word return after each entry. When you see the word return that means you are to start a new line in the document and not to include the work Return: [Shell] Return Command=2 Return IconFile=explorer.exe,3 Return [Taskbar] Return Command=ToggleDesktop. It is time to copy this file and paste it into the Quick Launch toolbar. You can either drag and drop it to the toolbar or you can select Start>>Run and type the following in the Run dialog box: Type "%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" in RUN dialog box and press Enter (without quotes). It'll open Quick Launch folder. Paste the file in this folder. The second method is quite a bit simpler. Click on Start>>Run. Type the following in the Run dialog box: regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32.dll. A dialog box will appear acknowledging that your command was successful. It is time to reboot your computer and the Show Desktop icon will reappear in your Quick Launch toolbar. This will also work for Windows 7. I would like to ask how many MAC users are out there and need similar help that I have been providing the last five years for the PC. Please email me and let me know if you would like me to provide MAC user advice as well as PC advice. I thank you in advance.
December 16 - Help! I have a USB drive and I accidentally removed the partition (at least that is what the computer is telling me). Now, I cannot put any files on it because I do not have a partition. Aren’t partitions a wall or something found in an office? All is not lost. A partition is like a wall in computer land. A partition holds something between it. In the case of computers, it holds information between bounds set by internal software running the on the computer. Every device that is used for storage, needs to have a partition defined on it so that the computer software knows where and how to store data. In the case of your USB drive, putting the partition back together is quite easy. Click on Start>>Control Panel>>Administrative Tools>>Computer Management. Administrative Tools are included with Windows XP Professional Edition. With XP home, you will have to choose classic view in the Control Panel before you see the Administrative Tools icon. Double-Click on Administrative Tools. On the screen that appears, click on the Disk Management. Make sure your USB device is plugged in and you know the capacity of it. In the screen that appears, you will see a list of all storage devices attached to your computer. If you USB drive is a 4 GB drive, a description of a 3.91 BG unpartitioned drive is listed in the storage devices list. Right click over top of the graphic displaying your unpartitioned space. Select New partition from the menu that appears. Follow the directions by setting a label for the drive (i.e. Scott’s Storage). Set the storage to FAT32. This insure maximum compatibility with other computers. It will ask you if you want to format it. Performing the format is like building the partition walls around the room to keep the information in when stored. Once finished, the computer will tell you so and you will be able to remove your drive and store information on it in the future. If your USB device came with a custom start up program that ran every time you plugged it in, it will no longer be there. When a partition is removed from a storage device, all information including start up software is lost.
December 23 - I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and may your 2010 be wonderful. Since it is the Christmas season, I thought we would talk about cookies. There are cookies you eat and there are cookies on your computer system. Just like the kitchen, there are good cookies and not so good cookies in your computer. If you surf the internet, there are cookies on your computer. A cookie is a small file that is saved on your computer when you visit a web-site to help your computer remember it if you go back there again. It is the same file that remembers your passwords when you select Save Password when you visit banking sites, eBay or such. The bad cookies are small files that track your every move and keystroke. These are called tracing cookies. These types of cookies are normally invited by users on the computer by clicking on links on web-sites that have them disguised under other links. The best way to rid yourself of these tracing cookies is to have a good spyware program on your computer. A good spyware program will leave the good cookies and eat the bad ones. Everyone should make sure they do a spyware scan on a regular basis to make sure the outside world stays on the outside of your computer and not the inside.
December 30 - This week's question asks, "What are the main differences between Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Professional?" The two major differences are the bit locker and the languages. The bit locker is used for encrypting your data. There are a lot of other security tools used for encrypting that are free or a lower price. A program call TrueCrypt is free and able to encrypt your files more securely. The other major difference is the thirty additional languages supported by Ultimate. Again, if you plan on communicating in seven or eight different languages, Ultimate is for you. Otherwise, stay with Professional and save money. If you plan on using a Tablet PC, there are some additional features the user can take advantage of. For the person that wants to run CoD 4 or World of Warcraft, Professional will work just fine. Leave the Ultimate edition for the enterprise user. At an additional $120.00, I will let you make the call. I hope that your new year is prosperous and full of fun. I look forward to our sixth year together. You can always find ALL past articles at http://www.slconsultingsolutions.com/essex_voice_archives.htm.