This Month:

What's New

  • Windows Vista

  • Microsoft Antivirus

    •

    Warnings

  • Auction Machines

  • Symantec's Norton Exploit

  • Update, Update, Update!

  • Be Careful Searching! (new)

    •

    Internet

  • Another Google Web Application

  • Backup Outlook

    •

    FYI

  • Blinking Taskbar

  • PowerPoint Slideshow

  • Tin Whiskers

    •

    Laugh a Little

    We are PC correct but not necessarily when it comes to humor.. :-)
     

    Any suggestions, recommendations or ideas found on this site are applied at your own risk.

     

    It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously.
    Peter Ustinov


    June - 2006

    12 years in business

    9 years of newsletters

    Have problems or ideas you would like to have us address?  Let us know!
    Like most sites, this one is designed for an 800x600 screen resolution.
    For previous newsletters click here.  (Web Printing Hints)

    A Few Reminders...

    If you have a new computer: Save your original CDs!
    No Operating System Restore CD?  See our July 05 newsletter

    • Be sure to activate the antivirus application immediately! 
       
    • If your new computer is more than *90 days old, or
      if you have not paid for a subscription within the last year,
      your antivirus application is out-of-date and you are not protected.       More details on this issue in the March 02 newsletter.

    * Many new computers come with a 90-day free trial version, but after that period you must pay to renew the subscription.  Wonder if your antivirus is up-to-date?  Click here

    Looking to buy a new computer: 

    Click here for some ideas that may help your decision.

    --top

     

     

    Windows Vista

    Windows Vista is the next major release of the operating system and should be available after the first of the year.

    The minimum requirements for Vista (currently) are: An 800 MHz processor, 512Mb of memory, a 20Gb hard drive with 15Gb of free space and a CD-ROM drive.  Computers built in the last couple of years should easily meet these but anything older than about three years would likely have issues.

    These minimums guarantee access to Vista's core features, but not Aero and other premium features.  More information.

    Changes are many including an intelligent document finder, increased security ;-), increased web integration :-(, increased performance ;-), better backup system, speech recognition, built-in email, calendar and for businesses, scanning and faxing. 

    There will likely be multiple platforms where businesses pay more...

    Screenshots

    Microsoft Antivirus

    Windows Live OneCare is Microsoft's Antivirus (plus) application and apparently will be available this week for $49.95 per year.  This price will license the product for installation on up to three computers. 

    In addition to an antivirus application, OneCare offers firewall*, data backup* and an automated defragmenter (should have been part of the original operating system).  Click here for Microsoft OneCare download site.

    * It is still unclear to us if the firewall will replace or enhance the current (weak) Windows XP firewall.  The backup system may be limited to using an external drive.

    We are not yet sold on trusting Microsoft with even more control, but if nothing else, hopefully this will drive down the price of Symantec, McAfee and other antivirus applications.

    As this article states, the biggest problem with any antivirus application is getting the end user to renew the subscription before it expires...

     

    --top

    Auction Machines

    A warning of a slightly different kind...

    If you are looking at purchasing a computer from the county (or other) auctions, know what you are bidding on!

    Most of the time the entire drive is wiped clean, i.e., there is no operating system loaded.  If that is the case you can expect to spend well over $100 for the (full install) operating system.  You still would have to purchase whatever applications you may want, so if you want Microsoft Office, you will spend another $100-$300. 

    More times than not, laptops found at these auctions are "well used" and may have bad batteries, bad CD drives, damaged monitors, etc.

    So even if you get a really good deal like $50, you could potentially spend another $400 just to get it usable.

    With new desktop computers starting at $300 and laptops starting at $500, one should think twice about spending that kind of money on a used machine.

    Symantec's Norton Exploit

    It has been reported that Norton version 10 Corporate Edition has an obscure exploit that could allow a hacker to take control of a computer but so far there have been no reports of this actually occurring.

    The consumer editions (Norton Antivirus and Internet Security) are not affected.  This is apparently limited to the one "corporate" edition... The article.

    Windows Updates

    Be sure you are receiving notifications of available Windows Security updates.  You may not be receiving them if you have not yet installed their Genuine Validation engine. 

    Go online and force a Windows Update...

    Be careful what you search for!

    We ran across this one after our notification and thought it was important enough to include this month...

    Dangerous sites soared to as much as 72% of results for certain risky keywords. Particularly dangerous keywords include "free screensavers", "bearshare", "kazaa", "download music", and "free games."  

    More information, click here.

    --top 

    Yet Another Google Web Application

    Google is offering this free 3D drawing tool.  Currently it is very basic and is (almost) hard to use but it is available for free... http://sketchup.google.com/

    Have fun!

    Backing up Outlook

    A question we often get asked is "how can I backup my Outlook file?" 

    Microsoft offers a free download for Outlook 2000 and later.  Click here for the download and information on using the backup. 

    Be aware, Outlook 2002* and earlier can have a data file size of nearly 2Gb.  If you are using a CD burner, the maximum you can store is 700Mb (about one-third the potential Outlook data file).

    *Outlook '03 and '07 data limit is in the 20 Gb range. More information here.

    If you have set up autoarchiving for your Outlook folders, you could easily stay within the CD limit but you will need to backup multiple files to multiple CDs.

     
    To set up autoarchiving, right click the folder of interest, click to the autoarchive tab and change the settings as desired.

    You will want to move old items to a different file.

    We suggest a folder named PSTFiles under your My Documents folder for easy backup.

    Name the archive file to indicate what is archived there, e.g., "archived-inbox.pst."

    Outlook Express

    Sorry OE users but backing up your data is not so easy.  See Microsoft's article 270670 for more information.

    --top

    Blinking Taskbar Item

    If an item in the taskbar is blinking, it indicates that this particular program has a dialog box open or is otherwise waiting for a response from you.

    Most of the time these dialog boxes popup over the application and are readily available to deal with, but on occasion the box will open under the application or even off screen forcing you to seek it out. 

    Clicking on the blinking icon normally brings up the pending dialog box but sometimes that does not work.  In which case, try ALT TAB (hold ALT while tapping TAB) to find the dialog box. 

    Sometimes the pending dialog box will simply not surface no matter what you do.  You can try right clicking the icon and closing the application but chances are that will not work either because it is already waiting for a response.  In this event you may have no other choice than to CTRL ALT DEL and "end the task" altogether.  You may even have to shut down and restart the computer.  In either of these cases, unsaved work would be lost.  Save early, save often.

    Power Point

    If you would like to make a slideshow of your pictures, it is very easy in version 2002 & 2003: 

    • On the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click New Photo Album.
    • Under Insert Picture From, locate and select the picture(s) you want to add.   How to select multiple files.
    • When done selecting pictures, specify the "look" of the album under Album Layout. Then click Create.

    Sudden Failure

    Have you had an electronic part that suddenly failed for no apparent reason?  The cause could be "Tin Whiskers." Images  And as "lead free" circuit boards become more popular, this issue could become even more troublesome...

    Most electronic parts, circuit boards, chips and the like are made with the inexpensive metal tin.  Tin has this strange property where tiny whiskers will actually grow.  These whiskers will eventually grow to a point where they touch another part and create a short circuit causing the device to fail.

    This type of failure has caused problems not only in everyday items such as computers, radios, etc., but also in jet fighters, satellites and even Nuclear power plants!   In fact, tin whiskers were the likely cause of pager and other failures over most of the country in 1998, see Galaxy 4 satellite.   More articles from NASA.

    -- top

    Two computer geeks were talking. "Guess what?" said one. "What?" said the other. "Yesterday, I met a gorgeous blonde in a bar." "Really? How'd it go?" "Great. I invited her to my place, we had some drinks, she got into the mood, and she asked me to undress her." "Whoa." "Yeah. I took off her dress, picked her up, and put her on my desk beside my new laptop." "No kidding! You got a new laptop?!"

    This explains it...

    LONDON (Reuters) - More than 60 percent of Britons use items such as screwdrivers, scissors and earrings to remove food from between their teeth, according to a survey published Friday.