Steps to Re-install and Restore Your Windows PC

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/155995-1/reinstall_and_restore_your_windows_pc_in_eight_easy_steps.html

Some Great PCs under $500 (w/no monitor)

PC Magazine reviews some good, some not so good PCs that are good for simple email and web surfing. And they are all under $500. The best of the lot is the Dell, which packs 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard disk, and a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip. Not bad for $499. Check out the reviews at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335136,00.asp

New PCs for trying time

PC Magazine reviews some new computers that give surprising performance for not that much money. Check it out at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2333554,00.asp.

PC Magazine tests 2009 security suites

Security suites have a bad reputation for slowing down your system when they are installed. PC Magazine has added some new tests to help show how much or how little the latest security suites affect typical PC operations. Check it out at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2333448,00.asp

Next Meeting: October 21st

The next meeting will be on October 21st, at 7:00 pm at the Canfield Prebyterian chrurch.

Some things we will talk about:

-- We will be showing some things you can do with your photos once you get them digitized on your computer. I'll be showing how to use Windows Movie Maker to make movies out of your photos. Windows Movie Maker comes free with Windows XP and Vista, and while it is not the most full-featured program, it is easy to use. And everybody has it!

-- Like making scrapbooks? You can make and share virtual scrapbooks online at http://scrapblog.com.

-- From Microsoft Labs, they have released a very interesting technology to the public called PhotoSynths. It is hard to describe, but it is essentially the next step beyond creating stitched together panoramas. You'll have to see the results to get a better idea, so go to http://photosynth.net to see photosynths that users have shared. (Warning, you will have to download one-time a big plug-in for your browser in order to view and create photosynths.)

-- We missed this the last time, so hopefully we'll take a look a web site/service that is very popular with the kids these days: Twitter! It's not for everybody, but if you want to see what the hottest place is on the web these days, head over to http://www.twitter.com.

As always, we will also try and answer any other computer questions you may have. I hope to see you there!

Youngstown Computer Show Oct 4, 2008 Show Notes

Oct 4, 2005

Show Notes



SEGMENT 1



Start of Show:

The Webcaster Settlement Bill of 2008 has passed both the House and Senate. It extended the deadline to allow further negotiations to set the royalty rates for web radio. The high rates that were supposed to go into effect threaten to close down small-time web radio stations. Web radio wants similar rates to that of radio, which pays less.

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/house-of-repres.html



Caller 1:

Q: Caller has copied pictures on a USB flash drive that can't be opened or deleted.

A: The filesystem on the USB flash drive is probably corrupt. If you have a copy of those pictures somewhere else, just fomat that drive over again and copy again. Otherwise, try to run chkdsk on the drive to try and fix errors so that the file system is usable again.



Caller 2:

Q: Caller is getting a HTTP 403 error.

A: The HTTP 403 error means that you are asking for a web page that you have no rights to see. It is telling you that even if the page is there, you need to log in or authenticate yourself somehow before you can see that page. The most likely cause is that the web site you are trying to load has gone through a re-organization.





SEGMENT 2



Caller 3:

Q: Caller had DSL problems with his laptop. After letting them troubleshoot his computer remotely, he can't type anything into the address bar of his browser, all the letters are jumbled up.

A: When they connected remotely to your computer, the keyboard mapping might have changed to their format. This is strange enough that you should bring in the computer into the shop.



Caller 4:

Q: Caller and his son both use the same computer. When the caller logs in, he gets a popup that he is infected, but not on his son's account. What could be wrong?

A: There seems to be some malware, but you need to bring the computer in for a closer look.

Q: another question: he shut off the comptuer the regular way, but the next day it would not turn on. They thought it might be the power strip so they plugged it straight into the wall and it worked. They plugged it back into the strip and it also worked.

A: Something was not right and it needed the power to be totally removed to reset it.



Caller 5:

Q: Caller gets a runtime error popup (from the description it sounds like when he goes to a web page).

A: Joe Danyi thinks that this is usually caused by having old software installed. It could be an actual coding error on the page. He suggests uninstalling Java and reinstalling the latest version.



Caller 6:

Q: Caller has a Mac G4 laptop. He bought a new hard drive for it and OSX Leopard (the latest version). Should he initialize the disk with the startup disk he got with the laptop or should he just start with the Leopard disk?

A: It is probably safer to start up with the one that came with your computer before trying to install Leopard.



Acronyms:

HTTP = Hypertext Transfer Protocol

GIF = Graphics Interchange Format

CD-R = Compact Disc Recordable

LAN = Local Area Network





SEGMENT 3



Tips and Tricks:

There is a video for this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHKwc37a1cY

A way to manage spam is to create disposable email accounts.



Caller 7:

Q: Caller was typing something in Word, he held down the shift key for a while and something came up and got activated, now he cannot type anything. The mouse still works.

A: There is probably some accessibility option got set. If the caps lock or num lock lights don't work, there might be a problem with the keyboard. You should bring in the keyboard to the shop.



Caller 8:

Q: Caller wants to clean up cookies and other things.

A: Open up My Computer, right-click on the C: drive, choose properties, choose Disk Cleanup.



Availability of XP:

The OEM Downgrade option was extended from January 31, 2009 to July 31, 2009.

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/xp_oem_licensing_extension_is_urban_myth.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535



At the Shop:

Nick at the shop will be doing a "Cleanup Clinic" on your computer today for a special price $40.



Caller 9:

Q: Caller has a Dell 8200, it takes 8-10 minutes to boot up, is there anything he can do to it?

A: The memory and CPU should be ok for you, you just have too many startup processess. You just need to have someone clean that up, like today at the shop!



Caller 10:

Q: Caller started a defrag, but got a message that she needed to run Chkdsk to fix some file system errors before doing the defrag.

A: The drive might be going bad, or the file system might be bad. You should bring it into the shop.





SEGMENT 4



Caller 11:

Q: Caller cannot get online. A techincian came over, and his laptop worked with the DSL modem, but the caller's computer won't.

A: There is either the cable to the computer, or the network adapter might be bad. You'll have to have this diagnosed at the shop.



Security Segment:

1. Wardriving = Hackers drive around looking for open wireless hotspots. They publish these locations on the internet. So please put a password on your wireless network.

2. If your computer starts making noises that are not normal, like clicking on your hard drive, you need to get your computer serviced as soon as possible to save all your data.



Caller 12:

Q: Caller is running Firefox 2.0, and it asks to remember passwords that he enters on websites. Should he let it?

A: Yes, it is a handy feature. There doesn't seem to be any security concerns.



Operation Java Installation:

Internet Cafe Coming Soon!





SEGMENT 5



Bonus Half-hour!

More Security:

Microsoft sues several "Scareware" companies.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10053565-83.html



Caller 13:

Q: Caller has re-installed a printer, but when she prints, it always goes to a file.

A: Joe Danyi suggests to check which printer is set as your default.



Caller 14:

Q: Caller has XP, is there a way to save a copy of his current XP and put it on his new computer to replace Vista.

A: If all you have is a recovery disk, you need to get an XP install disk and re-install XP on the new computer, the recovery disk is made only for your current computer. (JOEM: Note that legally, you cannot transfer a version of Windows that came with a computer to another one.) Norton Ghost, or any disk imaging program, will not help you either because your version of windows is already configured with drivers that match your current computer, that same configuration will just crash on another computer.



Scam Email update:

No reponse to our email reply.



Caller 15:

Q: Caller has Vista, "...and I wrote a bunch of stuff into a notepad, and when I went to save it, it turned into a DOS document, and now I can't open it up....it's saying 16-bit MS-DOS subsystem, and it's saying C:usersjoedesktoplatest, and the NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction."

A: Joe suggests renaming the file with a .TXT extension.

Q: another question, want to email a video, but am running into a size limit. Video is 84 MB.

A: Find a file storage website and upload it there and just send a link to the video.



Special $40 cleanup clinic at the shop today.





SEGMENT 6



Google Search Tips:

--use quotes around exact text that you want to search for:

"saturday night live" searches for that exact phrase, the three words with no quotes will be found in any order and not even together.

-- use + to mark words you need to have, especially useful to included words that Google normally ignores, like A, An, or The

-- use - to mark words that you don't want to have, eg. dolphins -football will not find the football team

-- use ~ to say to look for synonyms for a word, eg. ~crazy

-- use OR to say to find either word (not necessarily both), eg. red or blue

-- use .. for ranges, eg. $10..$80

-- use * for a wildcard, eg. angels *moon

-- you can do math, eg. 5 + 5 =

-- you can do conversions from one unit to another, eg. 1km in miles, 50 dollars in euros

-- it can do a reverse lookup of phone numbers


Caller 16:

Q: Caller has a laptop, he tried to install Norton AV but the computer quit working, now in BIOS in diagnostics it says 1-07 failed. What does that mean?

A: Check with the manufacturer for the meaning of the code.

IE7 Tips

This is my first YouTube video. I hope you like it!

Build a sub-$250 computer

For the do-it-yourselfers, PCmag.com has a nice article on how to build your own sub-$250 desktop PC. To save money, it does run Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows, but you'll find that it provides just about all the functionality you need to surf the web, listen to music, burn CDs, write email, etc. Take a look and see what it takes to build an inexpensive PC.

Youngstown Computer Show Sept 27, 2008 Show Notes

Youngstown Computer Show
September 27, 2008
Show Notes

PART 1

Show Opening:
Sarah Palin got her email account got hacked. All the hackers did was use the password reset feature in Yahoo mail to reset her email password by guessing/looking up the answers to her security questions. To protect yourself, make sure that the answers to your security questions are something that only you will know. Mess up the answers in a way that you only know, like knowingly misspell something.

Caller 1:
Q: Caller has a HP computer, after the last power outage the computer will not turn on. What could have happened?
A: First, disconnect all devices on the computer and try. If that does not do anything, then the power supply needs replaced.

Caller 2:
Q: The caller asks a non-computer question about the government bail-out.

Caller 3:
Q: The caller has a few friends that have Norton Anti-Virus and every time they get on the internet, there are all these updates that slow up his system. Is there a way around it?
A: You really should let those updates happen so that you are protected against the latest threats. You should be able to adjust the update schedule and have it only update once a week maybe, if the updates are slowing you down. You could try starting the computer and just let it do its job for a little bit then come back to it.


PART 2

Caller 4:
Q: Caller has a C: drive that is almost filled up. “…but I’ve got an extra drive installed also. Is there any way I can make the extra drive, the bigger drive, my default drive so that everything doesn’t keep going to the C: drive and filling it up, or can I transfer that stuff off of the C: drive to another larger capacity drive?”
A: Since the files seem to be mostly audio/video files, you should be able to copy those from the C: drive to your new drive. Each program usually has its own default area to put files, so you will have to go into the settings of your software to change the default location to the new drive.
Q: A second question about a router. “…since I bought a router last, it looks like they sped up a little bit, I got a couple of TiVo’s and my router is hooked to both of those. It takes quite a while to load video. Is there a certain type I should look for to speed up that process?”
A: You have a wireless G router now, and wireless N routers can be faster, but you also need wireless N adapters on the TiVo’s too.

As a reminder, there is a demo of wireless networking today at the shop at 4:00pm.

Performance tip:
The tip is a little different this time. From this point on we will have a video on the website for you to watch as the performance tip is demonstrated. This week covers the Firefox browser and how to streamline your browsing: how to set up your start/home pages, how to use the bookmark bar, and how to organize your bookmarks into folders. The video link is: http://youngstowncomputer.com/performance.htm, or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nN1ICesQ-4.

Then, there was some discussion of web browsers, what does Joe Danyi use? He sticks with Firefox 2, he won’t upgrade to Firefox 3, or Google’s Chrome, or Opera.

Caller 5:
Q: The caller’s wife’s computer came with Vista, how does he put XP back on there? Could they use the XP disk that came with his computer?
A: If you don’t want to set up a dual boot situation where you can choose Vista or XP, you will just have to wipe the drive and install XP from scratch. You might not be able to use the XP disk from your computer because it is probably a restore disk that has XP set up just for your computer’s configuration and not your wife’s.

Caller 6:
Q: The caller has a Gateway Pentium 4 circa 2002. How does that stack up to the latest Core 2 chips? Should I buy a new computer or just add more memory?
A: If you check the Task manager and your CPU usage is not 99% all the time, then you might not need to get a new PC.

Maintenance:
Yearly maintenance tasks: make sure anti-virus is up-to-date, defrag hard disk, clean out files, and clean out dust and dirt.


PART 3

Caller 7:
Q: The caller had XP SP3 come in as an update, and one computer updated fine, while another Dell desktop seemed to install ok, but only boots to a blue screen.
A: This will require some expert work to fix. They will have to replace the files that SP3 updated with an earlier version that worked, then check for viruses to make sure that the update installs cleanly.
Q: A second question: he has a laptop where there is a row of keys where only the ones on the end work, nothing in the middle of the row.
A: Sounds like some conductors are broken, the keyboard should be replaced. However, the caller claims it was replaced a year ago and now the same thing is happening again, so it might be software related.

Caller 8:
Q: The caller has a laptop that has a pop-up that says he is infected with a serious virus. He used to have Norton AV, but the subscription ran out, but this used to pop up even then.
A: This is classic malware. Either a smal program got installed (usually when you installed some freeware that you downloaded, or website did a drive-by install by taking advantage of a security hole to install software without your knowledge), or you are just seeing a web page ad that makes it look like an error screen. Bring in the computer for a malware cleaninig.
Q: His son has a laptop and the mouse has quit working.
A: If the mouse is a wireless mouse, then it does have a battery and it probably needs replaced.
Q: Can you use these laptops anywhere?
A: You can use the laptop to work on data that is stored locally on the laptop anywhere as long as you have power. If you want to be on the internet, you need to be in a place where there is a wireless hotspot you can connect to. A lot of coffee shops have hotspots, airports have hotspots, some stores, etc. (JOEM: For internet connections just about anywhere, you can get internet connection through the cell phone network. You usually have a small dongle that plugs in and uses the cell network for internet connections anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. They do cost a bit.)

Security Segment:
Same thing as with the performance segment, we will have a video for this from now on. This week's segment is about firewalls. "A firewall is a device or a peice of software that separates you from the internet. Traffic goes one way where you make requests out, but there are times when something from the internet makes a request back from you. For instance if someone tries to use your IP address, when you connect to the internet you have an IP address, so they connect to your IP address to maybe look at a web site or download a file, and that request comes over a port number. Now, firewalls are set to block communications on some ports and allow communications on other ports. Now if you have a router, a Linksys router, you have essentially something acting as a firewall separating you from the internet. If you have something like Zone Alarm or you have the Windows firewall set up, you have software that is allowing or disallowing traffic on certain ports on your computer. We reccommend that you get something physical, something like a Linksys router or something like a Pix firewall, or something physical to separate your computer from the internet."

They got one of those scam emails wanting you to help them get their money by cashing a foreign check (which is bogus). They will string along the scammer and tell us about all the things they go through to see how the scam develops.


PART 4

Caller 9:
Q: The caller is getting an error in Internet Explorer when she tries to get into her program: "A newer version of the enhanced printing/report generation activeX control could not be installed...the system will default to basic printing and view generation for this session."
A: This error sounds like it is from a custom application that uses a specialized printing/reporting custom component that is not updating itself properly. You probably need to contact the people who made the program or website you are trying to use. If you are a home user, you yourself are the "system administrator". If you are in an office, you can call the computer support guys.
Q: another question: "Up on the top bar, there's a question mark saying 'This website wants to install the following addon: ' and I never know whether to let it. This one is IRCSHARC.CAB from Market Links...how do I know if I trust it?"
A: You'll want to deny just about all of these sorts of install messages. (JOEM: Some Google searching seems to point to this addon coming from a company that used to be called Geac, that made financial and property managment software. So it seems that the caller is trying to run a web version of some custom program that needs specialized add-ons and activeX controls. The solution is to contact the maker of this software for support.)

Talking about Acronis True Image:
Acronis is a type of backup software that makes an "image" of your entire hard disk and stores it. It allows you to completely restore a system to the last time you made an "image" of your hard disk. It also is useful for migrating to a larger hard disk, by allowing you to transfer an "image" onto a new drive.

Project Java Installation:
They want to set up a place where the community can go for technology stuff. Part will be an Internet Cafe, part will be a recording studio, etc.

Acronyms:
People want a glossary for computer acronyms, like what is "WiFi?" It is just a branding that wireless networking devices use to say that they use standards so that different brands will work together with no problems. It is a play off of "High-Fidelity": it means "Wireless-Fidelity". Study up on Acronyms for next week, there might be a contest.

Bloatware free laptops

Over at PCMAG.com I found this article about some laptops that are bloatware free. Check out the article at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329282,00.asp

Vista Performance Roundtable

There was a recent webcast about Vista performance hosted by Mark Russinovich, author of the many SysInternals utilities. Check it out at https://ms.istreamplanet.com/springboard/portal.asp.

MCCC September 2008 Meeting Notes

Download and listen to old episodes of The Youngstown Computer show

1. Open up the web page at http://www.youngstowcomputer.com/
   
2. Click on the words "MP3 download"
   
3. On the page that opens up scroll to the bottom and you will find a list of 2008 broadcasts.
   
4. Right-click on the links that say "download" or "hour 1" or "hour2". On the pop-up menu choose "Save target as…"
   
5. In the "Save As" window, click on "My Documents" in the column on the left, then find "My music" in the list of folders and double-click on it.
   
6. Click the Save button. The radio show will download into the "My Music" folder.
   
7. When you want to listen to the program you downloaded, double-click on "My Documents" on your desktop, to open it (or click on it from the Start menu).
   
8. Find "My Music" in the bunch of folders you'll see and double-click it to open
   
9. Find the show (or shows) you downloaded. Their names will start with "YCS". Double-click on a the show to listen to it.
   

Tips to get your photos organized on your computer

1. Windows provides a pre-made folder to hold your pictures called "My Pictures." It is found in "My Documents".
   
2. Create folders in "My Pictures" to group pictures together by date or subject.
   
3. Practice making folders. Open "My Documents" by double-clicking on it, then open "My Pictures" by double-clicking on it. Make a new folder by choosing "File", then "New", then "Folder" . Type a name for the new folder, and hit Enter, otherwise it will be named "New Folder".
   
4. Windows knows the date you took your pictures, because you camera put the date in the picture file. So be sure to set the correct date and time on your camera!
   
5. If you download Windows Live Photo Gallery (it's free!) you can also organize your photos by "tags", which are just words you can attach to your photos to describe them. You can put a tag on your pictures called "dog", and then you can quickly find all pictures tagged "dog", no matter what folder the picture happens to be in. In Windows Live Photo Gallery, right-click on a photo, then choose "Add Tags" on the pop-up menu. You'll see info area appear on the right side of the window with a text box where you can type in a tag for that photo.
   
6. You can add tags to multiple pictures at once by holding down the Ctrl key as you click on multiple pictures, then click on the words "Add Tags" in the info pane on the right side, and type in one tag for all the ones you have selected.
   

How to download Windows Live Photo Gallery

1. Go to the web page http://get.live.com/.
   
2. Click the orange button that says "Get Windows Live"
   
3. Clear out all the check boxes on the next page except for Photo Gallery.
   
4. Click the orange button that says "Install"
   
5. On the pop-up window, click Run. A short program will download.
   
6. On the next pop-up window, again click Run. Photo Gallery and any prerequisites will download.
   
7. When finished you can click the words "Start Photo Gallery" to run the program, or just click on "Close" to close the installer.
   

To start Photo Gallery in the future, you will find "Windows Live Photo Gallery" under "All Programs" on the Start menu.

Youngstown Computer Show Sept 20, 2008 Show Notes

Youngstown Computer Show
September 20 2008
Show Notes

PART 1

Talking about losing electricity during the wind storm on Sunday.
Regular surge suppressors are not designed to help with power outages and fluctuating power. They only protect against short spikes in the power. A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is better in these situations to keep your equipment running long enough to shut them down safely. He does not recommend plugging computer equipment into a generator (though he is not an electrician).
For more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector

Caller 1:
Q: The caller's computer "crashed" in that he found the screen completely black, he attempted to reboot and he finally got it to go through some sort of recovery mode, and it took forever, but he lost his Office 2003 programs, he doesn't have the cd key or the installation disks. Is there any way to regain that somehow?
A: They do make programs to dig that out of the registry, but it look like a system recovery was initiated, and normally if you don't have that key, there is really no way to dig it from anywhere.


PART 2

Caller 2:
Q: The caller can't seem to get any range from their wireless router, it only lasts for maybe two rooms, signal is lost going upstairs.
A: There are range expander kits that you plug in to repeat the signal over a greater area.
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wireless/ss/wirelessgear_7.htm

Caller 3:
Q: A friend has a HP 3100 printer that has mysteriously stopped printing. This is the second time this has happened.
A: Check to make sure that the print spooler process is running, make sure the printer is not in some power saver mode, swap out the cable, check that the driver is up-to-date, there is not much else to do.
To check the print spooler in Vista:

1. open the Start Menu
2. right-click on Computer (in the second column)
3. Choose "Manage"
4. in the list on the left, expand "Services and Applications"
5. Choose "Services"
6. Scroll down the list on the right (it is in alphabetical order) and look for Print Spooler, make sure it is Running and is Automatic.

(JoeM: Or the new fast way:
Open the Start Menu
Type "services" then hit Enter.
See step 6 above.)

Performance Tip:
Three things to make Vista more like XP:
Turn on classic view in the control panel.
1. Goto Start -> Control Panel, then click on "Classic View" on the left-hand side

Make the Start Menu like XP
1. in the classic control panel view, find "Taskbar and Start Menu"
2. Go to the "Start Menu" tab
3. Choose "Classic Start Menu" selection.
(JoeM: This actually makes the start menu not like XP, but Windows 2000.)
Turn on the Windows Classic View
1. In the classic Control Panel, open "Personalize" (JoeM: or right-click the desktop and choose "Personalize")
2. Choose "Window Color and Appearance"
3. Click on "Open Classic Appearance Properties"
4. Select "Windows Classic" and click OK.
Turn off Windows Indexing service
1. in the Vista-style control panel, click on "System and Maintenance"
2. click on "Indexing Options"
3. click on "Modify"
4. find the users pane (at the bottom)
5. Click on "Users" in the bottom pane. (JoeM: you will need to click on the "Show All Locations" button to see this)
6. Un-check "Users" on the top pane.
7. Do the same thing for "Start Menu"
8. Click OK

Next week on Sept 27 at 4:00pm at the shop, there will be a demonstration of wireless networking. Please call ahead. If you are planning to buy any wireless equipment, call the shop and they will buy the equipment for you and have it for you on Saturday.


PART 3

Caller 4:
Q: Caller is having the same problem as previous caller about printer not working. What was that service?
A: The Print Spooler service

Caller 5:
Q: The caller is having problems with an LCD monitor, it started to flicker then went dark. After he turns it on, it stays on for 2 seconds then it goes out. Connecting to another computer shows the same problem.
A: Joe Danyi seems to think it is a problem with the pins or cable might be bad.

Security Tips:
Run as a limited user instead of an administrator. Viruses run with the same privileges as the user, so if you are an admin, then the virus can make system-wide changes. Normal users can't make system-wide changes.
In the Control Panel, go to User Accounts, choose a user to switch, change them to limited users, and add a password if it doesn't have one.
(JoeM: You might just have one account created, usually it is called "Owner". The first account you create on a new system is the administrator. So if you only have one account, create another account and make it a limited user. Use the limited user for day-to-day computing and save the admin account for when you need to make system changes.)
A previous caller had a question about parental control software, Joe Danyi recommends Net Nanny (http://www.netnanny.com/).

Caller 6:
Q: Caller has an error popping up when logging on: host process RUNDLL32 has stopped working, windows host process has been closed. He also can't access some programs in the control panel, like setting the date and time.
A: It seems like there might be the beginnings of an infection. He will probably need expert help to fix this.
Q: Caller shut down all non-microsoft services, and that helped.
A: Try starting those one-by-one to isolate which one is bad.


PART 4

Email question:
Q: User doesn't like in Vista where you get a list of accounts to choose from before you get to the desktop.
A: Use either the classic start menu -> run or find Run under accessories and type "netplwiz", uncheck the option that says "Users must enter a user name" and click OK.

Caller 7:
Q: When the power went out, was able to get on the Computer wednesday, it comes up to a blank screen, you see the mouse cursor and that's all. Starting up in safe mode, it never gets to the desktop. Now, we try it again, the desktop is back, but none of his programs or files are visible.
A: Chances are that there might be some lingering damage to the operating system. He will probably need expert repair to the system. They will probably do a fresh install of Windows. His stuff should still be in there, if there is no damage to the files system.

Caller 8:
Q: Caller talks about how HP service troubleshooted a problem with his printer, and they eventually shipped him a brand new printer.

Caller 9:
Q: Caller has a problem with their Toshiba laptop that is now telling her that there is a problem with the cooling system, that she needs to shut down the system and bring it in for repair. Is this a major problem? Is it going to be expensive?
A: There are some workarounds you might be able to do. If the fans have failed completely, then you will have to have it serviced. You might try and clearing out the air vents if they look like they are filled with dust. You can get a cooling pad from an office supply store that you can put the laptop on to keep it cool.

Test

This is just a test.

Best Bang-for-Buck PC

For you DIY'ers out there looking to spec out a new PC, here's a recent artcle from ExtremeTech.com that shows their current list of components that give you the best bang for the buck.

[Link to article]

Sept 16, 2008 Meeting Announcement

I hope you all made it through the wind ok, and I hope you have power (so you can read this post!).

The next meeting will be on September 16th, at 7:00 pm at the Canfield Prebyterian chrurch.

Some things we will talk about:

-- Check out the web site for the new Youngstown Computer radio show at http://www.youngstowncomputer.com. You can listen live on Saturdays at 1:00pm with a replay on Wednesdays at 6:00pm. You can also download old episodes.

-- We will be starting our series on getting your photos on your PC so you can do neat things with them, like making a DVD slideshow, among other things. So first things first, we want to talk about exactly how to get photos into your computer: there are several ways to do this, and where do the pictures go when they are stored on your computer, and some tips to keep your photos organized so you can find them again. For users with Windows XP and Vista, I reccommend that you go to http://get.live.com and download the free Windows Live Photo Gallery. You may have some other program to help you organize your photos, that's fine. If you don't have any software like that, Windows Live Photo Gallery is totally free, and it makes organizing your photos pretty easy.

-- For your enjoyment, we'll take a look a web site/service that is very popular with the kids these days: Twitter! It's not for everybody, but if you want to see what the hottest place is on the web these days, head over to http://www.twitter.com.

As always, we will also try and answer any other computer questions you may have. I hope to see you there!

Clarifying My Stand on Vista

I wanted to clarify my stance on Vista. I know I got excited last night, because it hurts me to see so much unjustified bashing of Vista when I and many others have had a very good experience with it. However, I wanted to make some things clear.

I don't recommend you to upgrade your present machine from XP to Vista. Even though I really like Vista, and it worked well on an older machine I had, installing Vista on older hardware can be problematic. Please, don't go and think you have to upgrade to Vista. You don't have to.

However, if you want to live dangerously and try upgrading to Vista, I highly recommend that you first download and run the Vista Upgrade advisor. It analyses your present machine and tells you what will and what won't work in Vista. You can download it at this location.

The best experience is to buy a new PC with Vista already installed. If you do, I suggest getting a machine with a Intel Core 2 chip, at least 2 GB of RAM, and a dedicated graphics card. Don't be confused by all the different versions of Vista; get the Home Premium edition. If you want to use older devices with your new computer, please check out the Vista Compatibility Center or the manufacturer's web site to see if there are Vista drivers available for your older devices. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my several-year-old HP PSC 2110 printer was supported out-of-the-box, I didn't need to download any drivers.

I hope I didn't give you the wrong impression that Vista was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is not perfect, but it is not an embarassment or the worst version of Windows ever, as some in the press might lead you to believe. Don't be afraid of getting a new PC with Vista, just do a little bit of homework by checking out the Vista Compatibility Center to see if your older devices work ok.

Club Meeting August 19, 2008

The next meeting will be on August 19th, at 7:00 pm at the Canfield Prebyterian chrurch.

Some things we will talk about:

-- Google Calendar. http://calendar.google.com/. In addition to the free email that Google provides that we mentioned last month, they have a very nice calendar service. We'll go through the basics of signing up, adding an event, viewing your calendar, and setting a reminder. You can view and print out different views of your calendar, from a daily agenda list to a full month view. Of course, it's free! I like free.

-- Tim Ryan is fighting for you! Visit our representative's web site at http://timryan.house.gov/. You can see the cheapest gas prices in the area!

-- We might have some nice reserves of oil in the northern United States, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation.

-- There is a new computer radio show on AM 570 at 1:00pm Saturdays.

-- Skeptical about Vista? Check out http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/ to learn more.

-- Anybody else having problems watching video on http://nbcolympics.com/. Perhaps you should try a new ZIP code.

As always, we will also try and answer any other computer questions you may have. I hope to see you there!

July 2008 Meeting Notes

File Associations

• You “associate” a file type to the program that opens it in Windows.
• Associations are usually made for you when you install programs. So if you don’t have an association already for a file type, that usually means you don’t have the software to view that file type installed.
• How do you find out what software to install? Look up the file type on Google, or ask the person who sent you the file what software to use.
• The file type is the last part of the file name; it is a period followed by three letters.
• You can see the file associations that are already set up by opening My Computer, choose Tools -> Folder Options on the menu, then choose the File Types tab.
  If a file is being opened by the wrong program, you can change the association by right-clicking the file, choose Properties, then look for the Change button next to the “Opens with:” line.

Gmail

• http://mail.google.com/


• Free, web-based email. 6+ GB of storage. You never have to delete any mail.
• Quickly search through all your old emails.


• You do have to be on the internet to read your mail, but you can get to your email no matter what computer you are on as long as you can get to the internet.


• Built-in spam filter, and other tools to help control unwanted mail.


• Built-in converters for some file types, eliminates the “file association problem” mentioned above.

Cleaning Malware
How do users get malware?
They download apps that include adware and spyware
They click on misleading popups or banners
They visit sites that use exploits to inject malware
Many users still don’t patch or don’t use antivirus or antispyware

Why doesn’t antivirus and antispyware stop malware?
They are dependent on signatures (they can only defend against what they know about)
Malware directly attacks it

Malware cleaning steps:
Disconnect from the network
Identify malicious processes and drivers
Terminate identified processes
Identify and delete malware autostarts
Delete malware files
Reboot and repeat

Essential Processes needed to run Windows
System Idle Process
explorer.exe
taskmgr.exe
spoolsv.exe
lsass.exe
csrss.exe
smss.exe
winlogon.exe
svchost.exe - (There will be a few of these)
services.exe
By shutting down anything other than these processes, stand alone Windows should operate fine, however if any of these processes are shutdown, Windows will start to become unstable or unusable.

What are you looking for?
Processes that…
have no icon
have no description or company name
are unsigned Microsoft images
live in Windows directory
are packed
host suspicious DLLs or services

July 2008 meeting

The next meeting will be on July 15th, at 7:00 pm at the Canfield Prebyterian chrurch.

Some things we will talk about:

-- My experiences cleaning out an infection of malware. I had to clean out a bad infection of malware on a neighbor's computer, and I wanted to share what I had to do. I used all of those nice tools from sysinternals that I had shown before: Autoruns, Process Explorer, and Rootkit Revealer, and lots of searches on Google. I also had to use a built-in tool that comes with Windows, the Recovery Console. We'll talk about how you can tell if your computer has an infection, and how to prevent it in the first place.

-- File associations. I had a question about how to view some unknown file that they got in an email. It says they have to set up a "file association". We'll take a look at what that is and how to set one up.

-- Using Gmail, Google's web email program. Gmail is my primary email program now. I'll show you how it works, and why you might want to set up a Gmail account yourself. It's totally free! Gmail also has some neat tools that help you with file attachments, so you don't have to worry about the "file associations" I mentioned above.
As always, we will also try and answer any other computer questions you may have. I hope to see you there!

June 17, 2008 Meeting

The next meeting will be on June 17th, at 7:00 pm at the Canfield Prebyterian chrurch.
Some things we will talk about:-- Using Audio books from Audible.com. Audible.com is the leading source of audio books on the internet. However, they do use special audio file formats for their files, so you will need to download their software to use their files. We'll go over what you need, and details on how to get a free audio book from Audible.com.

-- The future of Windows XP. Retail sales of Windows XP will end on June 30. However, there are no plans to ever turn off product activation for XP, so you don't have to worry if you have to re-install Windows XP. There will also be ways to still get Windows XP even after June 30. We will talk about these and more details about the future of Windows XP.

-- Downloading files using BitTorrent. If you have gotten yourself a nice fast internet connection, you're probably want to download some big files that you never could download before. In your searches on the internet, you'll probably come across a popular method of downloading files called BitTorrent downloads. We'll explain what those are and what programs you need to use BitTorrent.

As always, we will also try and answer your computer questions. I hope to see you there!

Build a PC with the Best Bang for your Buck

Did I mention I'm thinking of a new PC? Extreme Tech must be thinking the same thing beause they have another article that list components that give the best bang for the buck.

This Month's Meeting is moved to March 25

Instead of March 18, this month we needed to move our meeting to March 25.

Build a $800 gaming PC

I'm getting the itch to get an updated computer, and I noticed this artcle at Extreme Tech. They put together a pretty decent system for only $800. What do you think?

Check Urban Legends at snopes.com

I know people are trying to be helpful when they pass on that email that has been forwarded ten times all around the planet. Before you act on any data that gets passed on you, try looking it up first at http://snopes.com.

Free tools for new PCs

Some free tools for new PCs: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=989

Getting maimum performance in vista

This is an exerpt from the great book by Ed Bott, Windows Vista: Inside Out. Some more tips for getting the best performance out of your computer.

Windows Basics

Here is an article the has a bunch of links to beginner videos to help with the very basics of Windows.

Optimize Windows Vista for better permormance

Here is an interesting article from the Windows Home blog. Most of these tips also apply to other versions of Windows.