Youngstown Computer Show notes for July 25, 2009

Segment 1

Joe D starts the show.

Joe D got an iPhone 3GS. It is faster than the 3G. Haven't yet used some of the new features. Likes the new camera.

Adam is here. Asks about the new focus system.

New poll: what things do you think will be hooked to the internet next?

Joe D was looking at TVs and they now can be hooked to the internet. You can stream Netflix movies on the internet-enabled TV.

Ian wants to see Media Center extender tech in TVs.

Caller 1

Q: where do you think the digital tv is going to go? Are they going to increase the number of channels? I see that there are sub-channels on digital tv.

A: Joe D sees the demise of local TV.

Q: I'd like to see more range on digital TV. You can't get 45 or Pittsburgh or Cleveland.

Adam speaks up for digital tv. The needed to free up some bandwidth for emergency broadcasts. Joe D thinks that the airwaves are becoming clogged. {Joe M: actually, the digital channels use the same bandwidth as the analog channels, using data compression, they can broadcast up to 4 standard definition broadcasts in the space of one analog channel. }

Segment 2

Joe D saw a big uptick in the requests for having their data backed up.

Caller 2

Q: about an application for viewing powerpoint on iPhone and on a blackberry

A: there are about 4 apps in the app store that should handle that on the iPhone

Joe D talks about all the different types of apps for the iPhone.

Adam asks if anyone can make their phone as popular as the iPhone.

Michael pops in to say that you can convert the powerpoints to quicktime.

This wednesday, at the Youngstown Sports Grill, there will be a fundraiser, we will have gift certificates if you win at some Wii games. For JA.

For MDA, Joe D will be locked up in August.

Mike had a story about "cyber-warriors" that can protect us from cyber attacks from foreign countries.

Segment 3

Caller 3

Q: can I buy a computer where I can put my fingerprint on it and only I can use it?

A: yes, there are some laptops where you can log in with just your fingerprint. You can buy keyboards with fingerprint readers, or just stand-alone fingerprint readers.

Story about free content. Free internet content is coming to a close, it is not sustainable. Joe D thinks that the end user won't see the costs, it will be part of internet access. Ian and Adam both think that ad-supported news will always be available and wont go away. Newspapers wish it would, though.

Caller 4

Q: is it better to have an external hard drive or on-line backup

A: Joe D thinks that the on-line backup is too slow to have a total restore. doing a big restore is faster from a local drive

Q: my external drives failed, so I can put up with the download speeds

Ian was trying out carbonite, it seems to jump in and slow down your stuff when you least expect it. Joe D really doesn't like that it will back up a corrupted file, and not keep multiple version. Ian thinks the best way is to do both.

Segment 4

chat room question: you said to turn off auto updates? should we turn them on now?

What you should do is turn off the full auto operation which automatically installs updates without asking you sometimes at the worst moments like rebooting without asking, but set it to the setting right below to automatically download, but let you choose when to install them.

Caller 5

Q: is there a place that sells used computers?

A: no, sorry

Caller 6

Q: turned on my computer, the wireless card doesn't work, the touchpad doesn't work, and some of the keys don't work on the keyboard

A: sounds like a bad motherboard or corroded connector. might have had a spill of liquid?

We set up a multi-display computer this week. Most laptops allow you use another monitor in addition to the built-in monitor. Adam wonders if you have to keep the laptop monitor on all the time? Ian says that there are special keystrokes to turn off the laptop screen to only use the external screen.

Youngstown Computer Show notes for July 18, 2009

Segment 1

Joe D opens up the show. Adam seems not to be there.

Ribbon cutting yesterday at the new Niles store. Joe D was playing Rock Band.

Caller 1

Q: about the internet connection. When I turn on the cable modem, the hard drive starts going like crazy. What could be going on?

A: When you firs turn on, the network card gets an address, then you'll have to log in. Ian thinks that McCaffe might be slowing things down when it loads the firewall, see if you are too low on memory

Joe tells of an article where Apple is a little irritated with Microsoft's latest ads about people buying computers. Apple did lower their prices a little. Ian is replacing his old Powerbook.

Caller 2

Q: a repeat problem, he is getting messages that the Virtual Memory is low, what is the problem?

A: you can adjust the virtual memory higher, or add some more real memory.

Since memory is cheap, make sure you got enough memory. 2GB is good for Vista, 1GB is ok for XP. Remember that 32-bit operating systems, like XP cannot even see more than 4GB of RAM, so it is possible to put in too memory that your computer will not even use.

Segment 2

Joe D ran into a new Malware called Personal Antivirus, it pretends to be an AntiVirus program. It is pretty difficult to remove. It will ask you for money to install it. If you see this, give us a call to get it removed as soon as possible.

Caller 3

Q: got a Dell, about 5-years old, has ZoneAlarm, also got Norton AV, all of a sudden I can't get online, so I disabled Zonealarm, I tried to get rid of Norton, so now every time I want to go on, I have to disable zonealarm, why does it do this?

A: you only want to have one AV/security program running at a time. Just us a good AV program like Norton 2009, and Windows does have a good firewall.

Talking about some technology flops. Things that were hyped up, but didn't sell. Like the CueCat to scan barcodes. Ian's G1 phone has a program to scan barcodes. WebTV was also on the list. Laserdisk is also on the list. Zip disks are also on the list. and Packard Bell.

Segment 3

Joe D tells that NASA discovered that they lost the original moon footage.

Caller 4

Q: has a acer laptop, has time/warner, have a long wait to get on the internet, they came in to check, and they said the cable and modem were ok, but they said the laptop was "overloaded". what does that mean?

A: We will have to come out and inspect the machine and see exactly what is causing the slowness, we then give you an estimate.

Caller 5

Q: got a Dell laptop, about 3-years old, when online, the fan seems to speed up, is that normal?

A: yes, the fan speed is automatic to keep the CPU cool, so it could be clogged with some dust, or depending on what you do on line, the CPU could get more busy and get hot, and then the fan gets faster. try downloading a program called SpeedFan.

Caller 6

Q: was doing a windows update, it said to download activex, got a security warning, should I do this?

A: windows update is itself an activeX control, so you do need to use activeX when using windows update. if you get activeX warnings on other sites, you will have to be aware

Caller 7

Q: I was looking at getting a new laptop, should I hold off for Windows 7, is there a lot wrong with Vista?

A: windows 7 does look good, though Vista is running fine now on new machines, you can get a free (or low cost) upgrade to win 7 when it comes out.

Caller 8

Q: my spyware program expired, so I got a warning, so I clicked on it, and it offered several different ones, I chose a 90-day trial for Trend Micro, and I hear that you should buy the disk instead of downloading online?

A: we recommend to do a fresh install each year, it doesn't have to be from disk or online. just uninstall the old version, and install the new version, don't do a upgrade. we choose one that works best for a particular situation.

Segment 4

Caller 9

Q: got several old computers, like commodore 64, 128, etc. how do I get rid of them?

A: try selling them on ebay, there are lots of people that like those classic computers. Look for the green team to have a recycle period to take computers for recycling.

Caller 10

Q: I got my daugher a macbook, but she doesn't get the amount of problems we get on the home computer. is that normal?

A: yes, there are not that many viruses and malware that are targeting for macs. So, you do pay a bit more, but you do not have to worry about the level of malware.

Caller 11

Q: leaving my computer on all the time, pros or cons?

A: well, it does use power, so make sure that you set up power-saving modes to shut down the system if it not in use.

Q: do you turn it off at night?

A: Joe D does not say what he does. {Joe M says turn your computer off at night}

Q: I have problems seeing. Are there some programs to magnify the screen?

A: IE can make the text bigger, if you use it.

Q: I downloaded a screen magnifier, but it makes it too big.

A: Joe D recommends IE to zoom in.

Caller 12

Q: had my computer in for cleanup, on the desktop I have an icon on the desktop, like firefox, it takes like a half a minute to come up, is there a way to speed that up?

A: it is tough to tell what could be slowing that down. Firefox has been getting slower and slower with each version.

Q: any search engines you recommend?

A: Ian just uses Google.

There is an add-on called User Agent Switcher to make your firefox browser look like different browsers.

Youngstown Computer Show notes for July 11, 2009

Segment 1

Joe shares a story. He was driving behind a driver that was veering across the center line and was driving slow. He finally passed him, and Joe saw he was texting on his phone. Joe D is now an advocate for stopping texting during driving. Adam asks about hands free things? Joe is ok with that. Adam however took three calls on the way to work today.

YoCo week, grand opening of the Niles store this week. Because of the news this week of denial-of-service attacks this week, YoCo will have an amnesty week. YoCo will check for infections, and check that your computer is running ok. You will save between $25-$75 off of the service if you mention you heard this offer on the radio show.

Ribbon cutting at 4pm Friday and then party starting at 5pm.

Caller 1

Q: After getting my computer cleaned at YoCo, when I go to bring up my email from my Favorites, I used to go right in, now I have to log in every time.

A: You will have to turn on the autosave option and let it save your login info once and then it should remember. Joe D recommends password management software to stop this from happening again when YoCo cleans your computer.

Come and meet all the employees on Friday

Segment 2

Joe D talks about the recent cyber-attacks. They are starting to include self-destructing elements, so that it will destroy all data to cover their tracks.

Be sure to always backup your important data since your drive will crash at some point. Ian was trying Carbonite, an on-line backup and likes it. Joe D does not like it since it will take forever to restore it. Also, if it is not able to get all our your stuff uploaded in the time you give it, some things might not ever get backed up.

Caller 2

Q: I left the computer on, and it shut itself off, but then it could not boot again, and then I could not run the recovery disc.

A: we'd have to look at it in the shop to see if it overheated, or the hard drive just crashed

Q: now I bought a new computer, but it is not as fast as the old one.

A: Joe D thinks that it might not have enough ram, Ian says that there might be some crapware programs loaded and YoCo can get rid of them if you bring it in for us to look at it.

Segment 3

questions from the chatroom: servicehost is crashing, you'll have to troubleshoot what service is crashing

a friend is planning on getting a new computer, what should he spend more money on? Joe D says more ram, 4GB. Get up to a 1TB drive, perhaps use an external drive for backups. Don't have to worry about the CPU.

What operating system to go with? Now is a bad time to make a decision. Joe D does not want to use Win 7 right out of the gate. XP is at the end of life, so the only choice is Vista right now. If you can hold off until Win 7 is out for a while, do that.

They think that they will need to keep XP support because of the all the netbooks that are being sold with XP.

Patch tuesday is coming on July 14.

Ian talks about XP vs Vista. If your really need the laptop now, go with Vista, since the differences between Vista and 7 are far less than the differences between XP and 7.

Adam asks about the Google OS. Joe D thinks that it dumbing down your computer, so that most of the smarts will come from the internet instead of using the full power of the computer. Ian does not like the idea just because they already have a OS right now: android.

Caller 3

Q: having trouble with a virus scan, it says it got a virus when I accessed a web site from a Westmorland Library, it keeps coming up and it does not get rid of it.

A: it is probably best to bring the computer in to check it out to see what is really happening.

Segment 4

Caller 4

Q: windows xp, older computer, author DVDs, if I open a video file in media player the computer crashes, but I can play it in the authoring program

A: Ian thinks it is a video card driver problem, try both the newest version, or roll back to a previous version. Joe D suggests reinstalling media player without addins

questions from chatroom: toshiba laptop keeps eating powercords, what is the problem?

If they are burning up, check your room wiring to make sure it is correct

Caller 5

Q: normally I get windows, now I get a black screen saying press F1 to continue

A: something before the system boots is affecting the system. try to shut the computer down, then unplug the computer, hit the power button to release any stored energy, then plug it back in, sometimes the bios gets messed up

Caller 6

Q: reading about on-line backup, read in the paper about Acronis imaging software.

A: the imaging software takes an exact copy of the hard disk, it allows you to recover faster from a crash, you can restore the image onto a new disk, you don't have to re-install everything. it can take a long time to image.

Caller 7

Q: downloaded a large file, ubuntu, 739MB, but it wont fit on a cd?

A: the ubuntu image will fit, no problem. the ISO image is slightly bigger than it will be on disk

Whole week of amnesty checks, if you mention you heard the offer on the radio.

Thursday is movie night at Mauthy park. Friday is grand opening in Niles, 25 Main St.

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for June 27

Segment 1

YoCo did a movie night on Wednesday in Struthers. And Joe D bought a popcorn machine. You can hire us for backyard parties. Send in your stories to win a free party.

Be sure to subscribe now to the YoCo newsletter. See http://youngstowncomputer.com for details.

Caller 1
Q: When you click on a email link, Outlook express opens up, but I don't use it.
A: You can tell IE of Firefox you can tell us which program to use for email. However, if you use webmail, you might have to look at the address in the link, or Ian suggests to set up your local email program to use the outbound mail server.

Caller 2
Q: when the screensaver goes on in vista I have to log in, is this normal?
A: Yes, just go into the screensaver properties to turn this off
Q: firefox 3 crashing, is that normal?
A: it is probably an add-on

Joe D and Nick will be "put in jail" for charity. See http://youngstowncomputer.com for details.

Some upcoming classes: July 7 + 9 - starter computer classes
July 14 + 16 - Internet and email
July 23 + 25 - using computers for marketing and selling


Segment 2

Caller during the break: tell us about Netbooks. They are low-cost laptops, small, light, not as powerful as most laptops, just to get you on the internet. Netbooks normally don't have optical drives, that means no CD-ROM or DVD player. They also have small screens, usuall 10" or less. Even the keyboards are not full size. But you can get on the internet and check mail fine. Joe D says they are getting more popular. How can you justfy a $200 OS like Win 7 or Vista on a computer that only costs $300? Ian brings up that you get the OS with the netbooks. Joe D says if it comes with XP, will you go and buy Win 7? Ian says no. (or course, if you order now you can get Win 7 for $49). The costs of repairing are also the same as the whole unit.

Joe D got a blue screen this morning. Probably due to an update to a sprint wireless card.

Caller 3
Q: windows gets all the way to the desktop then it goes to a blue screen
A: you will have to go into safe mode and try installing recent programs. this requires some troubleshooting, perhaps bring the computer in

Ian adds about blue screens, some of the fake AV programs can put up a fake blue screen. Joe D says that some computers will restart automatically on a blue screen. You might want to turn this off in system properties so you can see the error to troublshoot it. Adam asks should you reboot before the memory gets dumped? No, let it finish.


Segment 3

Joe D talks about Bing.com. Ian hates the name. Google seems afraid of Bing. Ian was impressed by the live.com searches. Adam likes the commercials.

Caller 4
Q: is it possible to have two AV programs fight each other?
A: yes, try to only use AV from one vendor instead load up multiple ones. Norton 2009 seems to be good. AV software only helps so much, you must control what you do on the Internet, be careful what you click on

Adam asks about new iMac keyboards that have no numeric keypad.

Caller 5
Q: when I start up IE it comes with a small window.
A: it depends on the program, but you should just have to resize the window, and close out the window so it can remember the window size. Joe D says there have been cases where the user profile is messed up so bad so that the window size might not be able to be saved (could also be caused by some over-protective AV software that is locking out your settings, like having IE save its settings and size)


Segment 4

Grand opening party on July 11.

Caller 6
Q: got put on hold due to audio problems, something about mail attachments not working

Caller 7
Q: problems with a mac G4 with OS 10.3. Internet access is timing out. Programs get shut down after downloading after about 2MB of data
A: we will have to troubleshoot this offline, try to create a new user account and try the same thing

Caller 8
Q: when I first connect to wireless, it get good speed, then the speed drops off
A: there might be some interference with wireless phones and wireless speakers, try another channel, otherwise you might need a rage expander

Adam got a new larger hard drive.

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for June 13 2009

Segment 1

The computer show will be at this year's air show at the Youngstown Air base.

Apple dev show was this week. the 3.0 iPhone software will be out next week, new iPhone 3GS in July.

Price drop on some Macs. Snow Leopard will be $29.

Storms will happen, and your electricity will go out. To protect when the power flickers, get some power conditioning. And maybe a battery backup.

Consider unplugging all electronic devices when you go on vacation.

Caller 1
Q: get a message about wanting to download a p.exe file when I start firefox.
A: could be an addon for amazon, or perhaps try resetting your user profile, make a new user and log on and use firefox to see if it still works

You can reset your profile in firefox in the tools menu, you will use all your favorites, so make sure you backup what you want.


Segment 2

Caller 2
Q: I seem to have a lot of hard disk crashes, I just got a new drive, and it crashed. Why?
A: try to keep the disk away from heat
Q: how hard is it to replace drives?
A: just make sure you unscrew it, get the data and power cables connected.
Q: how to reload the data on the disk?
A: it is easiest to use a restore CD rom and boot fromo that. otherwise, you will need to find an install disk and use the key on the computer to reactivate it

question from the chat room: using CA anti-virus, it is not rated well, should I get something else?
A: Joe Danyi does not like CA anti-virus, it slows down the system

Joe Danyi talks about backing up to memory sticks, or external drive. Every version of windows has the "breifcase" folder. Does not explain how to use the briefcase however.

When reinstalling the operating system, you will probably need to either use a driver disk that came with your computer, or go to the web to download. sometimes you don't know exactly what components you got. For Dells, you can go to the web, put in your service tag, and it will tell you the drivers for your specific computer (as it shipped).

NIC = Network Interface Card


Segment 3

Talking about Domain names and domain squatters. Joe reads a list of the most expensive domain names.

Adam talks about installing the Vista SP2 upgrade. He noticed that the sound driver got changed. His settings for default audio in and out got changed. There is always a chance that a service pack install might mess up your settings.

Caller 3
Q: ati2eva2 gives me a blue screen
A: ATI has some buggy drivers. The best bet is to go to the laptop manufacturer's site to get their latest version customized for your laptop.

question from the chatroot: what is the best encryption for his wireless?
A: just use WPA, with a personal shared key. However, it depends on what devices you have, like the Nintendo DS only supports the WEP

Joe Danyi talks about SAAS (software as a service). Each install of software used to be per machine. Now they are thinking about licencing per user instead. Panda anti-virus brings this up with its new cloud anti-virus. Joe does not seem to like this type of licensing.


Segment 4

No computer show next show.

Adam talks about the NHL finals. He is now a fan.

The Niles store is open. The door to go in is the middle door in the suite.

Caller 4
Q: do you teach computers for old people?
A: there are weekly classes. They are all in our office. Contact Nick to get on the mailing list to get a list of the classes.

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for June 6, 2009

Segment 1

Had a movie night on Friday, went good until it started raining. Call in to convince us to come to your house to have a movie night.

On Monday, there will be an announcement about the iPhone. Talking about the Palm Pre, Joe is not impressed. Rumors about the iPhone: a 4GB one for $99 in July.

Calller 1
Q: when watching TV shows online, all the voices sound high-pitched, faster
A: look for a orange icon for your sound card, look for a setting for pitch correction. You might have to uninstall and reinstall the sound card driver.

Caller 2
Q: missing the "My Documents" in vista
A: it is there, there is just "Documents" now. all the other folders that used to be in there are now in the folder underneath, this is the folder that has your user name

Talk about parental controls, Joe likes some new products from McAfee and Symmantec. http://Onlinefamily.norton.com


Segment 2

Online question: should I go for Vista?
Joe has been warming up to Vista. Ian says that windows 7 is so close, wait for it. Adam points out that there will be free update coupons for Windows 7.

Joe starts talking about http://onlinefamily.norton.com. It is free for trying out now. McAffe is also coming out with a similar program.

Caller 3
Q: are there problems with consistently using hibernating or sleep mode all the time?
A: sleep is good for short periods of inactivity, hibernate is for long periods.
Q: should you shut down multiple times during an evening?
A: just leave it on, then just turn it off at the end of the day
Q: what is the difference between having the laptop running all the time?
A: there are power meters you can put on the plug, you can measure the power used there

Adam asks about the shutdown menu on vista, is it still there? Yes, it is small little menu next to the shutdown button.


Segment 3

Talking about Kraftwek music.

Signs are going up for the Niles store, right across from the McKinley Memorial.

Caller 4
Q: getting a "SMART" message from the hard drive when starting up. does that mean it is going to die?
A: yes, that is telling you that your hard drive is about to die. Make sure you got a good backup and bring it into the shop.

Joe talks about how they backup and recover data. If you don't have a backup, they will do it for $25.

Talking about the little parts inside the hard disk. Listen for strange noises from the hard disk, and if disk accesses get very slow.

Caller 5
Q: get a popup that says that virtual memory is low, and it seems that norton is the cause.
A: it could be a damaged program, reinstall the program. in general, you'll have to check to see you have enough ram, and also turn off any unnecessary processes.


Segment 4

Talking about how to speed up your computer. 1. more RAM, 2. cut down on the startup programs. Joe Danyi recommends from http://download.com Startup Inspector. It will highlight which ones are manditory, which are optional, and which are unknown.

Adam asks about the startup items for java and itunes. They are just for updates.

Adam asks about what happens when I run out of space on my disk? Either uninstall some big programs (World of Warcraft) or get a new disk and then you can copy stuff over to it.

Talking about Microsoft's Bing search/decision site. Joe Danyi will check it out this week.

The Best Ways to Share Your Digital Photos

There is no doubt that you get the most joy from your photos when you share them. Here is an article that gives a good overview of the different photo sharing services that are avilable.

The Best Ways to Share Your Digital Photos

12 Free Security Tools from PC Magazine

Here is a nice article that starts with an overview of some free anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, firewall, and password manager software and then follows up with reviews of each.

link to article

The $800 Killer Gaming PC

Over at extremetech.com, they have put together another great gaming PC at a great price. Even if you are not a gamer, but just want to put together your own PC, this is a great starting place: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2347620,00.asp

Youngstown Computer Show Notes May 23, 2009

Segment 1

Poll: would you pay for news on the internet?

Caller 1
Q: tried to buy and download a song from walmart.com, now I can't get on the internet.
A: check out that you were not infected with something. you can bring it in to the shop to check it out

A little girl in New Zeleand bought a earth mover. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10247857-2.html

　
Segment 2

Caller 2
Q: have a digital camera, trying to making a DVD from the movies on the camera, it says to "insert disk" but it does not work. she has a sony cybershot camera
A: XP does not come with a DVD authoring program, try something like Sony Vegas.

Caller 3
Q: how did ActiveX factor into making my computer real slow?
A: you might have some programs that are interfering with each other, perhaps you need more memory, there might be more than one reason, try not to use the online fix-it programs.

What is ActiveX? ActiveX controls are extensions that a web browse can load in to extend web pages. Like Flash player, which allows you to watch videos in the browser, is an activeX control.

Caller 4
Q: mouse seems to be sticking
A: get a new optical mouse
　

Segment 3

What is clickjacking? When you click on a site but you go somewhere else. They create inline frames that make it look like the links are from the site you are at.

Caller 5
Q: if I put 2 gig of ram on the motherboard, then nothing works, one gig will work though
A: if there is not a problem with the motherboard, maybe one of the ram sticks might be bad.
discussion about installing RAM

Caller 6
Q: videos don't work right on the web, they stop after a while
A: the video has to buffer, try to just start the video, then pause it and wait
Q: can the old windows updates be deleted?
A: just leave them on.

　
Segment 4

Discussion about how people call hard drives "memory", but that is not correct. Hard drives are considered long-term storage.

Discussion of ReadyBoost. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost

Caller 7
Q: can you give me some info about Avast anti-virus?
A: it is a free anti-virus, it seems to be ok, but you have to keep re-registering every month

Caller 8
Q: I only seem to have one usb that works on the motherboard
A: we have seen this before, it seems that the motherboard might be bad.　

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for May 2 2009

Segment 1

Last week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/034

Windows 7 might be out on October 23 this year -- http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132464

This week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/035 -- Will you move to Windows 7?

Joe Danyi getting started on facebook

Getting started with classes for the spring and summer. Please let us know what you want to learn.


Segment 2

Talking about the Psystar Mac clone back in the courts -- http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/01/apple_says_psystar_holding_back_info_in_mac_clone_legal_case.html

Talking about Google is getting sued due to the name Android trademark -- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/01/google_android_trademark/

Talking about how a guy learned how to deliver a baby from a youtube video -- http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10231586-71.html

Talking about Vista parental controls -- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/parental-controls.aspx


Segment 3

Caller 1
Q: My Internet froze up, who should I call, AT&T or my computer maker?
A: usually call AT&T for those type of problems

Caller 2
Q: want to print out a puzzle from Parade's web site, but it has a background that takes lots of ink, can I print it out without the background?
A:

Caller 3
Q: excel is not printing out lines, how do I turn it on
A: use print preview, and use the print options to turn them on

Caller 4
Q: how can I share one printer with two computers
A: there are auto USB switchboxes, or you can share the computer over the network, hook the printer to just one, and right click the printer and choose share

Caller 5
Q: how do i turn off the vista sidebar?
A: there is a small icon that allows you to turn it off. you can even go to properties and tell it not to start up


Segment 4

Adam asks for advice for new graduates.

More features of vista parental controls

Conficker has infected some hospital devices -- http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10226448-83.html

Talking about different categories of viruses -- http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2004/11/malware.ars
spyware=something that tracks you or steals passwords or records keystrokes
adware=creates pop-ups
malware=lies to you or tricks you

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for April 25 2009

Segment 1

Conficker virus starts to be active: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345917,00.asp

Last week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/033

Discussion about the price of Macs vs. PCs

This week's poll: are you energy concious: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/034


Segment 2

More talk about macs vs PCs, gamers don't use Macs.

Discussion about facebook and twitter.


Segment 3

Caller 1
--talking about how he uses MySpace to promote bands and festivals

Caller 2
Q: calling from Florida, can receive mail but can't send email, he is using Armstrong
A: if you are out of state, you might not be able to send out email because it is only for local customers.

Caller 3
Q: cleaned up my computer from a virus, but explorer.exe is not starting,
A: try making a new profile, see if that new profile works, otherwise is might be a registry problem

Caller 4
Q: computer does not want to start up this morning
A: do some basic troubleshooting, but it sounds like a blown power supply

Caller 5
--you can send mail through Armstrong's web mail service

Caller 6
Q: my laptop cannot connect to the internet unless I place it next to the router
A: it seems that your computer for some reason is trying to connect to another wireless network that happens to be stronger at your location. try removing all wireless profiles and renaming your wireless network

Caller 7
Q: the computer seems to take 15 minutes to get into windows, has a weird "USBd" message
A: you will probably need to bring that in to check it out


Segment 4

Update on the Niles store: AT&T did not show up to hook up service, so we cancelled and went with VOIP from Time-Warner

Will have a boot camp for novices probably first weekend of May at the new store.

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for April 18 2009

Segment 1

Last show's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/032, it was the biggest response of any poll so far, what won was fines equal to damages.

The fallout of the conficker virus. Paralells between cybercrimes and real-world crimes.


Segment 2

This week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/033, why don't you own a Mac?

Facebook to make money? http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10222191-82.html

Pirate Bay got busted: http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/fredrik-soderling-the-pirate-bay-sentence-is-surprisingly-harsh-1.846920

Psystar - selling Mac clones: http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/psystar-open-3-manages-to-ship-gets-unboxed-by-lucky-customer/


Segment 3

Caller 1
Q: trying to replace hard drive, but it won't recognize the new hard drive
A: try a different cable, or try a different machine, sounds like a bigger problem, so call the office

New office shaping up in Niles: 25 Main st.

Caller 2
Q: my computer is running really slow, I tried to reinstall windows with the restore CD, but it does not seem to "accept it"
A: first, try to see if it really is infected, check the process list to see what is taking up too much CPU. you can also try to hit F12 when you boot up, to choose what device to boot from

Caller 3
Q: on my laptop, I can't get it to power up, the power light flashes 3 times
A: you did all the right steps, it sounds like the video card is shot

What is Ian's last name? Bergmeyer, or Bergie!

Caller 4
Q: can't delete messages on Gmail?? on an iMac?
A: the old web browser on OS9 is probably not supported anymore, there is a slower HTML-only version that might work


Segment 4

We are big fans of Firefox, there is an add-in called IE tabs, that allows you to run IE in a tab for sites that won't work with Firefox. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

Macs are not immune, there appears to be a Mac botnet: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=25756

Still looking for a new tech for the Niles store, please send resumes to joe@youngstowncomputer.com

25 Golden Rules of E-mail

Before there was the web, there was e-mail. Some people still haven't figured it out. Here's a list of 25 things that you should know about e-mail.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2344692,00.asp

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for April 4 2009

Segment 1

Last week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/031

This week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/032 What should be done with virus authors?

Chat room today! See link on website http://www.youngstowncomputer.com/chat.htm

The conficker virus did not do any damage on April 1st, despite the hype.

Caller 1
Q: computer tech that came to fix my computer, removed mcaffee and put on avast. is this a problem?
A: avast is not bad, if you control your behavior, you will be ok. norton 2009 seems to be the best right now.


Segment 2

Talking about different anti-virus products to use in different situations

Caller 2
Q: his friend has DSL but cannot connect. what can they do?
A: you have to run the setup CD first to activate the modem, so check that first. then check to see if the filters are correctly installed

Caller 3
Q: has a dial-up connection, got SP2 from her daughter, how can I do SP3?
A: SP3 is going to be larger, so you should have someone else download it for you
Q: any news about more broadband to rural areas?
A: the costs are higher, maybe when they start rolling out 4G networks, the president also has broadband plans

Caller 4
Q: got a flash drive full, so I moved off the pictures, but the system still says it is full, yet there are no files appearing
A: there might be some hidden files, the quickest way is to just format the drive


Segment 3

Status report on new niles office, looking for a new computer tech

Caller 5
Q: should I leave a computer off after a few hours of use, then turn it on later on in the day?
A: it is just a matter of personal perference, recommend to let the computer go into sleep mode during periods of no use
Q: any notes about IE8? it seems to take a long time to load, of course I have an older P4 1.5Ghz
A: Ian seems to like it ok, it seems faster than IE7
adam asks should we download IE8 now? Ian kind of likes it, it is more standards compliant.

Caller 6
Q: some software is not running unless I take off the "spyware"?
A: some anti-virus software does block some internet access software like web cams, so you might have to disable your anti-spryware to have the webcam work

In Europe, the people blocked the Google street view. You can have pictures removed from streetview if you submit a complaint, so it is easy enough to protect your privacy. http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/03/angry-british-villagers-block-google-street-view-car-incident-c/


Segment 4

when you run a conficker removal tool on vista, you need to run as admin

Caller 7
Q: I tried this removal tool, but it seemed to be running too long
A: it might run about 45 minutes
Q: on AOL dial-up, for some reason, it says we are always not protected, we have to always click "to fix"
A: you probably should upgrade to a better product like norton 2009

Caller 8
Q: got a umbuntu dual boot system, the initial install was ok, but it is not stable, can I change the default boot to XP instead?
A: in the system, administration, there should be a option for the boot manager, then you can tell which partition to be the default.

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for Mar 28, 2009

Segment 1

Last week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/030

This week's poll: How much do you rely on email? http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/031

Caller 1
Q: can't get the start menu, or start page, when I click on "owner" to log in, nothing happens
A: hold down F5 to go into safe mode, then see if things work, it can get complicated if things are really messed up, then you should go to get the computer serviced.

Phone poll: when you call in, we will ask you if you are exclusively cell phone, or voip, or land-line


Segment 2

article from John C. Dvorak: email is dead? http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343209,00.asp
1. ever-changing address
2. spam
3. empty box?
4. email tourist
5. useless filter

Computer pranks for April fools
- try hitting Ctrl-alt-down to flip the screen upside down

Caller 2
Q: have anti-virus for his apple, but it has run out. anything to get?
A: we will check with Ian to see what he reccommends
Q: to clean, use disk utility, repairing permissions, is there a way to get rid of temp files
A: try just going and clearing the cache in the internet browser

Caller 3
Q: when I plugged in the magic jack, MacAffe it said I was not protected, it said the "register" is open?
A: you do have to open your firewall to let magic jack work


Segment 3

virus to execute on April 1? conficker
To protect yourself:
1. turn off autoplay, that will stop the virus from spreading
2. make sure you have the latest patches from windows update
3. get an anti-virus software
4. and make sure it has the updated definitions

another prank
- mess up the auto-correct settings in Word or other word processor on your co-worker's machine

Caller 4
Q: I got a message from verizon breifcase, it is going away, what does this mean?
A: it sounds like you have some sort of on-line backup, run a restore to a local drive to get your files off of there, then you can cancel it.


Segment 4

Caller 5
Q: the battery for my laptop doesn't hold a charge, it that a problem with the battery
A: it seems a little soon for the battery to go, but that is what happens eventually

Caller 6
Q: talking about techonolgies
Paul Pantone - fuel technology
Rex research
Tesla Tech
A: we will look into those

http://kineticresume.com/: try out to make your resume to network yourself

another prank:
- download clippy prank program, make your own text file with questions to have clippy ask
http://www.youngstowncomputer.com/files/clippy.zip

Spring Cleaning your PC and other gadgets

Here is a series of articles that give some helpful tips to do some spring cleaning on your PC and other tech gadgets.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343264,00.asp

How To Buy a Cheap Desktop PC

Here is an article from pcmag.com that discusses how to buy a new PC for $500 or less. They also review some promising candiates.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343538,00.asp

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for Mar 14, 2009

Youngstown Computer Show
March 14, 2009


Segment 1

Story on NYC 24-hour crackdown on driving while on cell phone, 9000 tickets
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03132009/news/regionalnews/nypd_cell_phone_crackdown_yields_thousan_159415.htm

Last week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/027

This week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/028 Are you interested in giving Linux a try?

Are white pages still needed?
http://www.slate.com/id/2187035/

Super-charging batteries
http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/fast-charging-battery-2-3-year.html

Taking calls about Linux with Ian today.


Segment 2

Special guest today: Ian talks about Linux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux


Segment 3

Question from Adam: What is your favorite Distro?
Ian: runs 3 distros, rccommends Umbuntu

Do we need printed phonebooks anymore?

New updates for the iPhone: tethering available (rumored), MMS, copy/paste

Caller 1
Q: there is a program called newcatch that will open up quicken files
A: yes, there are lots of replacements for PC programs

Google is revitalizing their Grand Central product it bought. https://www.google.com/voice/about


Segment 4

Question from Adam: I'm running out of room on my windows partition, how can I get more room?
You will need to resize some partitions and move things around

Caller 2
Q: how much to fix a power jack on a laptop?
A: we will have to complely break down the laptop, usually costs about $200

Caller 3
Q: my computer does not seem to be able to handle video editing of home videos to get them from a hi-8 camera to DVD, what can I do to make this easier?
A: try saving smaller clips from the camer, that will make it easier to work with. You got a dazzle external capture device, try to get a PCI card or firewire device, try pinnacle products

Looking at a new space in Niles, looking at having a home theater seminar, operation Java is still coming.

Next Meeting March 17 2009

The next meeting will be on March 17, at 7:00 pm at the Canfield Prebyterian chrurch.

Some things we will talk about:

• Vice President Dick Wilson will show off his new Flip Video camera.
• I'm going to talk about using Google more effectively. More than any time before, the Google search page is usually the first place to look for stuff on the Internet. I think it is worth it to go back and look at how you are using Google, and how you can use it better. We'll look at simple things you can do to search better, then we will look at the more advanced things you can do with Google search.

Check our web site at http://mahccc.blogspot.com for additional items that are posted between meetings.

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