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November - 2006

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Wright County Recycling

The county may (likely will) raise prices on computer recycling as of January first, and rumor has it, the price may double.  If you have things to recycle, do so before then...

Outlook's Address Book Settings  --top

If you use Outlook and have multiple contact lists, or you are under a Microsoft Exchange Server, your local primary Contact list may not be the default list. Fortunately there is an option to change that setting, but we are unsure if this setting is available for a standalone Outlook installation and/or what versions it may apply to. If your normal contacts do not appear as the default, give it a try... In Outlook open the Address Book (CTRL SHIFT B) then from the Tools menu > Options, change the "Show this address list first" setting as desired and also move the "When sending..." list up or down as desired.

Maximum Concurrent Downloads --top

If you initiate multiple downloads at the same time you probably have noticed the Internet Explorer will not begin a third download until one of the others has completed.  Fortunately there is a fix but it is a registry tweak so heed these warnings. 

 

It may seem like the default of two concurrent downloads is not enough but remember, each download initiated effectively cuts the speed of all downloads in half.

• Open the Registry Editor via Start > Run then (either) Regedit or Regedt32. 
• Locate the following key in the registry:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
• Click on the Internet Settings Key.
• Go to the Edit menu, point to NEW, and click DWORD Value.
• Type MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server for the name of this DWORD Value.
• Double-click on the MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server key you just created and enter the following information: Value data: 10 as a Decimal.  This is 10 maximum concurrent downloads.
• When finished press OK.
• Create another DWORD under Internet Settings named MaxConnectionsPerServer and assign it the same decimal value as the previous DWORD.
• Close the Registry Editor.

Improve Internet Explorer Performance --top

We stumbled across this article while researching other IE issues.  Some settings here will greatly improve performance for those with dialup service.  Settings include turning off automatic downloading of pictures and other data intensive features some web pages use...  The KB article.

Javascript / Norton Issue

We ran into an odd little problem where Norton was blocking some Javascript activities.  In that case, Norton was blocking Javascript buttons on some websites.  We have not found the specific fix but turning off Norton's ad blocking option resolves the problem.

Javascript is background programming behind most web pages.  Our pages use Javascript for the little quickmenu shown on the side, certain features such as the information balloon and the popup informational windows.  More on Javascripts below...

Norton 2007 --top

We have long been an advocate of Norton products.  Yes they consume a little more resources than other similar applications and yes they have their own little quirks but based on our experiences, Norton's protection is superior.

However, recently we assisted a customer with the downloading and installation of Norton 2007 and what we saw was shocking.  The new application is almost cartoon looking operating more like a web page than a (solid) application. 

In versions previous to '07 there has been an index on the left where you could choose between viewing the antivirus status, the Internet security status, reports, etc.  Version '07 now has enormous tabs along the top that lead to different sections and finally hyperlinks to reveal the desired information.  And for whatever reason, '07 also has an excessively large "fraud monitoring" bar in the Internet Explorer. 

Now (much like McAfee) Norton's virus definition and expiration dates are no longer readily available, instead you will need to "click around" to find it. 

We can only hope during this total revamping, Symantec has not compromised protection for performance and aesthetics (or lack thereof if you ask us). 

The Future for Norton

Windows Vista might just change everything for the antivirus companies.  Currently antivirus manufacturers are complaining that Microsoft has not released enough information about Vista's kernel.  In the unlikely event Microsoft can keep a lid on that information, current versions of Norton, McAfee and other antivirus applications may be ineffective.   The article.  Updated article.

Microsoft is likely doing this to promote their own OneCare antivirus application and perhaps that is the direction things should go.  Contrary to many lawsuits against Microsoft, we believe the operating system should include applications for basic system security including antivirus, system backup and the like.  For now, we will continue to use and recommend Symantec's Norton, but that may change with the release of Vista.  Check back next year...

Character Map --top

We cannot recall which version of Windows this little application began in but it sure is handy!

If you are looking for a specific character, open this "applet" and select a font from the list.  Unusual characters are found under Webdings and Wingdings but you may have other fonts that can create interesting characters. Click once to enlarge a character.  Double click to place character(s) in the characters to be copied list where you can select and copy.  Once copied they can be pasted in most word processors and other applications. You can find this applet under the All Programs > Accessories > System Tools.  Earlier versions of Windows offered this as well but it may be an option not automatically installed.

If you cannot find Character Map, look in the Control Panel > Add/Remove programs > Windows Components list.

Javascript Tricks --top

Javascript is an Internet programming language used by most websites for one thing or another.  Like almost everything in this world, Javascript can be used for harm, but mostly it is used respectfully. 

Try this:  Open a new session of the Internet browser then go to a website that has a few images, e.g., http://www.annandalelionsclub.org/  Come back to this page, select then (CTRL C) copy the entire paragraph (below.)  Go back to the Lions site and (CTRL V) paste that to the Internet browser's address bar and press enter.  Be sure to get the entire paragraph.  Very cool...

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24;x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images; DIL=DI.length;function A(){for(i=0; i<DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style;DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5;DIS.top=Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5}R++ }setInterval('A()',5); void(0)

from Al Lowe

Vista; Application Friendly? --top

As we discussed last month, one thing to be aware of before updating to Microsoft Vista is application compatibility.  Reports and articles are starting to appear and according to one  article, here are a few applications that so far are incompatible with Vista:  Crystal Reports, Microsoft Expression Web, Oracle Developer Suite 10g, Oracle Workflow Builder, Cisco Security Agent firewall, Windows LiveMail Beta, Diskeeper Professional Premier, HP OpenView Service Desk, Novell Client and Symantec/Norton Partition Magic.  The article.

Sony Recall

Better late than never?  Sony finally began their own recall...  The article.

Top 10 List --top

We could not improve on the "10 dumb things users do that can mess up their computers" so here is the article.

Limited Transferring --top

Retail software including Windows typically has been a per installation license where you could install the software on one computer, but as long as you uninstall it from that first machine you could install it on a second, and so on.  There are variations on the agreements. For example OEM software cannot be moved to another machine. 

Microsoft is changing all that.  Beginning with Windows Vista, you can now move that software only one time.  Vista is basically a per machine license.  It is very likely Microsoft Office and other software will follow suit..

There are many other license changes with Vista.  If you want to read the agreement for most any Microsoft product including Vista, click here.

Vista Upgrade --top

We purchased the Windows Vista beta to experiment with.  This version is available for about $6 from Microsoft (here) and is valid until (about) June 07 at which time it will stop working and would have be purchased.

If you want to install and experiment with Vista, be sure it is on a machine that you do not rely on!  Once installed there may be no "undo," forcing you to format the drive and reinstall the previous operating system from scratch.  And as we discussed last month, you will be able to update from Windows XP and Windows 2000, but not 98 or ME.  Windows 98 and ME users must purchase a "full install" version and will have to format their drive and install a clean copy.  Also note that Vista requires a DVD drive...

We installed Vista on our laptop by upgrading Windows XP Pro.  Vista allowed us to upgrade from within Windows XP, i.e., with the computer running, we inserted the DVD and began the upgrade.  The installation process offered us the chance to go online and run the compatibility wizard, but because we were curious how it installs and operates, we opted not to do the check and we continued with the installation.

Initially and almost immediately, Vista stopped the installation and made us uninstall an incompatible application called Sonic DLA.  Once that was removed we rebooted and began the process again. 

The installation again stopped and gave us a report of more incompatible applications, but at that point allowed us to continue the installation.  Those applications were:  Intel Proset wireless, Netwaiting, Digital Line Detect, Symantec products (both retail and corporate editions), Alps Touch Pad, Easy Capture, ATI control, Zero Configure, Broadcom Control and our network configurations.  More on these next month.

The overall process took over 1 1/2 hours.  About 1/2 hour of that was waiting on the "completing upgrade" process.  Note:  This is a fairly quick, three year old laptop with the Intel Centrino processor suite, 512 ram with plenty of disk space.

After the update Norton Internet Security no longer worked (it was one of the incompatible applications), so we attempted to uninstall it.  The uninstall process began but never finished.  If you someday do update to Vista, be sure to check the compatibility advisor and uninstall incompatible applications before upgrading.

Clean Install

Due to that Norton issue, we decided to do a full format and clean installation of Vista.  The entire format and install process took less than an hour.  (Much quicker than the upgrade.)

Now we have a laptop running Vista Ultimate.  More on operation, "personalizing" and other options next month...

We will leave you with this from Al Lowe

The family had gathered in the lawyer's office for the reading of Jack's Last Will and Testament. "To my dear wife, Esther, I leave our house, all our land, and $1 million. To my son, Barry, I leave my Lexus, the Jaguar, and $500,000. To my daughter, Suzy, I leave my yacht and $500,000. And to my brother-in-law, Jeff, who always insisted to me that health is better than wealth, I leave my treadmill!"