Inside this Issue… File Management Part Two…………………………....………..5 Members Ask…………………………………..………...………..7 Kindle 2—Are Newspapers Obsolete?……..………..……...10 I’ve Been Hacked…………………….………………….………11 Web Tour………………………………..……………..…………13 XP Utiities…………………………………………...……..……..14 Vista’s New Search Feature………………………...…………15 Online Backup Services………………………........………….17 NEWSLETTER MAIN MEETINGS West Side…...Tuesday, April 14 CollegeAmerica, 6533 N Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix East Side .Wednesday, April 15 University of Advancing Technologies 2625 W Baseline Rd, Tempe (one block west of Fry’s Electronics) Fountain Hills …..Thurs, April 16 Fountain Hills Library, 12901 N La Montana Drive, Fountain Hills Presentation David Yamamoto will be presenting a look into Windows 7 and IE-8. Check our Website at www.PhoenixPCUG.org to verify subject matter and time changes . ALL meetings! Phoenix PC Users Group Phoenix PC Users Group Officers President: Dean Botchuck Vice President: David Yamamoto Secretary: Chuck Lewis Treasurer Lo Hardman Staff Members Membership Coordinator: Chuck Lewis Webmaster: Hank Pearson Fountain Hills Coordinator: Tj East Side Coordinator: Marion Smith West Side Coordinator: Bill Aulepp Public Relations: Tj Newsletter Publisher: Steve Semon Newsletter Editor: Bill Aulepp Advertising Manager: David Yamamoto Contact Information Dean Botchuck: [email protected]David Yamamoto: [email protected]Chuck Lewis: [email protected]Lo Hardman: [email protected]Steve Semon: [email protected]Bill Aulepp: [email protected]Hank Pearson: [email protected]Steering Committee: Officers and Members who are present at the 6:00 P.M. West Side meeting.
Transcript
Inside this Issue…
File Management Part Two…………………………....………..5Members Ask…………………………………..………...………..7Kindle 2—Are Newspapers Obsolete?……..………..……...10I’ve Been Hacked…………………….………………….………11Web Tour………………………………..……………..…………13XP Utiities…………………………………………...……..……..14Vista’s New Search Feature………………………...…………15Online Backup Services………………………........………….17
NEWSLETTER
MAIN MEETINGS
West Side…...Tuesday, April 14CollegeAmerica, 6533 N Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix
East Side .Wednesday, April 15University of Advancing Technologies
2625 W Baseline Rd, Tempe
(one block west of Fry’s Electronics)
Fountain Hills …..Thurs, April 16Fountain Hills Library, 12901 N La Montana Drive,
Fountain Hills
Presentation
David Yamamoto will be presenting
a look into Windows 7 and IE-8.
Check our Website at www.PhoenixPCUG.orgto verify subject matter and time changes .
ALL meetings!
Phoenix PC Users GroupPhoenix PC Users GroupOfficers
Steering Committee:Officers and Members who are present
at the 6:00 P.M. West Side meeting.
Page 2 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
FROM OUR PRESIDENT from our editor
Bill Aulepp
Two columns will appear almost every monththat depend on feedback from our readers.This is your Newsletter so get involved.
MEMBERS ASK (see page 7) is hosted by DeanBotchuck. If you can’t make a “Q & A” meetingor the subject is too involved, then E-Mail thatquestion to Dean at:
I will be hosting WEB TOUR and Hank Pearsonwill place it on the our Website. (See page 13).That way we will have an archive of all of ourWeb Tour sites.
www.PhoenixPCUG.org
Instead of time consuming typing of the siteaddress, you can go to the our Website andclick on the site you want. Zingo you arethere. Let Hank do the work for you and youhave the fun. Thanks Hank.
This month David Yamamoto will be presentinga look into Windows 7 and IE-8. Should be inter-esting to see what's changed from Vista. Ourthanks to Gene Barlow for his Acronis presenta-tion last month. The Steering Committee devel-oped a list of proposed presentation topics forfuture presentations. We can look forward tosome interesting presentations this year. Weencourage all members to attend the SteeringCommittee Meetings, you are a member of thecommittee. 6:00PM before the West Side GeneralMeeting.
The Southwest Computer Conference is May 29,30 and 31 at the Town and Country Resort inSan Diego this year. Early registration $60 andthe hotel reduced the rates to $109 this year.Rates apply 3 days before and after the confer-ence.
The Merger Committee is still on hold becauseof a death in the ASCIi group's Hart family. TheFountain Hills General Interest SIG is on hold.Chuck Lewis, SIG leader, is out of town for a fewmonths.
Our group was invited to attend an accredita-tion meeting at the University of AdvancedTechnology April 6th. UAT has been an excel-lent resource for this group, providing a meet-ing location for the East Side Meeting for manyyears. Lo Hardman attended as our representa-tive and reported an interesting meeting. Hemade some useful contacts with other usergroups.
Send me those Members Ask questions! We canshare the information with the entire Group.Let's bring a friend to a meeting. Look aroundyour neighborhood and invite someone to a at-tend a meeting!
Dean Botchuck
SIG (Special Interest Groups)GENERAL INTEREST:
Chuck Lewis leads this SIG.At present it is on hiatus
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY:Bill Funk leads this SIG
Meets: Wed April. 22nd 6:00 PM.At CollegeAmerica
DIGITAL VIDEO:David Yamamoto leads this SIG.
Meets: After Photography Sig.
just in from our members
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 3
CALENDAR
CALENDARCALENDARFor room and time changes,
check your website: phoenixpcug.org .
GENERAL MEETINGS
WEST SIDE: CollegeAmerica (see map - page 18)
- Tuesday, April 14, 2009
- 6:00 PM Steering Committee
- 6:30 PM - Q and A
- Followed by Presentation - Windows 7, IE 8, IE History Viewer
EAST SIDE: University of Advancing Technology (see map - page 18)
- Wednesday, April 15, 2009
- 6:30 PM - Q and A
- Followed by Presentation - Windows 7, IE 8, IE History Viewer
- Followed by Presentation - Windows 7, IE 8, IE History Viewer
SIG MEETINGS
WEST SIDE: CollegeAmerica (see map - page 18)
- Digital Photography Sig
- Wednesday, April 22, 2009
- 6:00 – 7:30 PM – Q and A - Topic is Shutters
- Followed by: Digital Video Sig
Note : The Fountain Hills General Sig Meeting is on hiatus
Page 4 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
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For each paid subscription using the source code 8305, our user group will becredited one credit. Results are calculated each quarter, and credits will accumulateuntil the group reaches five paid subscriptions, at which time they will contact thePPCUG.
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April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 5
File Management – Part TwoWritten by Ron Hirsch, Contributing Edi-tor, Boca Raton Computer Society, Floridawww.brcs.orgronhirsch1439 (at) comcast.com
This article has been obtained from AP-CUG with the author’s permission for pub-lication by APCUG member groups; allother uses require the permission of theauthor (see e-mail address above).
This month's lesson picks up where weleft off last month. We're now going to dosome file operations on the special file wecreated for the exercise
1. First, we're going to set up a new folder,and prepare to move testfile.txt into thatfolder.In the left hand listing, click once on theMy Documents folder. Go to the menu atthe top of the Explorer window, and clickon FILE>NEW>FOLDER. Now you will see anew folder named "New Folder" directlybelow My Documents. It should be high-lighted. If not, click once on it, and thenclick on the F2 key. This puts you in "edit"mode, and you can change the name of thefolder. Change it to "Files for yourname" (type in your name, without thequotes). After typing that in, hit the enterkey. Now you have a new folder which is apersonalized place for you to store yourdocuments.
2. Next we're going to move the testfile.txtdocument to the new folder. One simpleway to do this is to drag it from its presentfolder to its new home. Get the listing ofall the folders on C: in the left hand win-dow. Then double click on My Documents.The new folder we just created should beshowing in the listing on the left, and alsoin the right hand section listing the con-t e n t s o f M y D oc u m e n t s . C l i c k o n“testfile.txt” to select it, and then drag itonto the new folder which you just person-alized with your name. The file has nowbeen moved. To confirm that, double click
on your new folder, and it should open andlist the contents.
Depending upon what Windows versionyou are using, and what file manager youare using the dragging protocol may beslightly different. Generally in Windows,dragging moves the file, if you're draggingto any folder on the same drive. Draggingto a different drive, copies the file. Andholding the CTRL key down while drag-ging, always copies the file, and using theShift key always moves the files, irrespec-tive of the target location. To be sure thatyou move or copy as you want to do, holdthe SHIFT key down and drag to move, andthe CTRL key down and drag to copy. Thiswill work under any circumstance. Win-dows does give you a "hint" about this. Ifyou drag and see a small + sign in next tothe moving mouse cursor, the process youare doing is copying. If there's no + sign,then you are moving.
3. Next, we're going to copy this file to afloppy disk. Insert a floppy into the driveA. Left click on testfile.txt in the newfolder to select it. Now, hold down theCTRL key while dragging the file to driveA. To confirm that you have copied to file,double click on drive A on the left handlisting of Explorer. It should show the filelisted there. Then go back to the originalfolder for your documents, to see that it isstill there also. If it is - you've succeeded. Ifyour system does not have a floppy diskdrive, or another hard drive, copy to aflash drive. If you have none, just skip thisstep
4. Since this isn't a file that you want tokeep, let's delete it. Click on it once to se-lect it on, wherever it was copied to. Thenhit the delete key and OK. Repeat the proc-ess for the other location also.
NOTE: During these activities, you proba-bly have noticed small "+" and "-" signs oncertain of the listings in Windows Explorer
(Continued on page 6)
File Management – Part Two
Page 6 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
(or any file manager). The "+" sign indi-cates that there are subfolders within thefolder listed. To expand the listing toshow them, click on the "+" sign. The "-"sign indicates that the folder has subfold-ers, and they are already shown. To col-lapse that listing, click on the "-"sign.Clicking toggles the situation back andforth. NOTE: Windows Explorer is not“Internet Explorer”, so don't get confusedhere.
This is the end of the exercise on the be-ginning basics of file management. Obvi-ously you can modify any of the proce-dures given to suit your specific needs.And, if you are now adept at all the steps,you've got a good start on things. As withmost things in Windows, there are gener-ally several ways to so things. Rather thanconfuse things, I'm keeping things as sim-ple as I can.
If you had difficulty following the previoussteps, it might be a good idea for you toconsider one of the introductory Windowscourses given by various organizations inour area. When someone asks me "what doyou mean by 'click'?", I pass for the mo-ment. It's like the person who called Com-paq tech support. He couldn't find the "anykey", when the instructions said "click onany key", he said his keyboard didn't havean "any key."
Now that you can handle file managementbasics, you should consider getting a bet-ter file manager. There are two goodchoices out there. As with all things, if youplan on using a file manager often now,you should use a more capable program.It's like a car. If you plan on driving a lot, anew 2008 Lexus is generally more funthan a stripped down old 1965 Chevy.
II was disappointed when I saw that Micro-soft has done very little with Windows Ex-plorer. Of all the good programs MS may
have provided, Windows Explorer was notone. Not to worry though - all the thingsyou've learned so far will carry over intoany file manager. There are a variety ofgood and one GREAT file managers outthere. Do a general Google search for“Windows file managers”, and a bunch ofhits will display. Some are add-ons to Win-dows Explorer, and others are standaloneprograms. If you want the finest file man-ager ever created for Widows, look atOpus 9 at http://nudel.dopus.com/opus9/ . Be warned however, that this isnot a cheap program. It costs about $57(US), but it is without peer. If you are an ad-vanced user, this is the one to get. For oth-ers, there are lots of freeware and share-ware programs. Review the Google searchresults to see what will fit you best, as-suming you would like to work with some-thing superior to Windows Explorer.
Another good (and free) choice is PowerD-esk . You can get a free copy of version 7of the program by downloading it fromh t t p : / / w w w . s n a p f i l e s . c o m / g e t /p o w e r d e s k f r e e . h t h t t p : / /www.snapfiles.com/reviews/powerdesk/powerdeskfree.html . ZDNet should alsohave it available. If you like the program,you can purchase a registered version,with a few more features, and no nagscreens.
With any of these file managers, or Win-dows Explorer, the best way to learn is to"browse around", and play with things.Click on various menu items, practicecopying and moving files, and be inquisi-tive. And, REMEMBER, all the things youlearn in these exercises apply to all theprograms you'll be using on your Windowscomputer.
Computer learning can be likened to tak-ing piano lessons - you can't learn to playif you don't practice. Maybe someday we'llbe able to get a "chip" that we can pluginto our brains to acquire all sorts of
(Continued from page 5)
(Continued on page 7)
File Management – Part Two
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 7
Question: Change desktop icons
XP icons:1. Right click on the icon to be changed2. Click on Properties3. Click on Change Icon button4. You have two choices.a. select from Windows iconsb. browse from your selection of icons5. After finding an icon, click OK6. If you are satisfied, click Apply
Vista icons:1. Right click on the icon to be changed2. Click on Properties3. Click on the Short Cut tab.4. Click on Change Icon button5. Click on Browse button6. Navigate to Widows> system32>
imageres.dll7. Open the imageres.dll file8. Select the new icon from the list9. Click OK10. Click Apply
You may have to close and reopen beforethe new icon shows. XP icons are 16x16 or32x32, Vista icons are 256x256 pixels.Icons have an .ICO file extension. A largeselection of ready-made icons can bedownloaded from the Internet. Or you canmake custom icons. Icons may be ani-mated also.
Make your own icons with a free editor.Google 'ICOFX' and download the latestfree version. I recommend you download itonly from the ICOFX website. Most popu-lar photo editors do not save in .ICO for-mat. The ICOFX application is designed ex-pressly for this purpose. Works great onall sizes of icons. I suggest that you readthe Readme! Put the new icons in a folderand browse for them when you changeicons.
capabilities without the time consumingold-fashioned learning process. But fornow, we have to rely on present tech-niques which take time and effort. But, inthe long run, the effort is well worth it
Learning to manage your files is a very im-portant activity for all computer users tolearn. So, how about getting started onthat right now. Remember, you don't al-ways have to be doing a formal lesson.Start exploring and investigate all the ar-eas where you haven't been before. In-stead of surfing the Internet, surf you owncomputer. You'll find lots of excitingthings. And remember, any time you wantto get help on something, just press theF1 key, and a help window should pop up.
This concludes the brief learning experi-ence of file management. Remember,you've only scratched the surface here.This is similar to learning chess. Manypeople think that when they have learnedto move the pieces, that they know how toplay chess - but they are a long way frombeing a "chess player." The name of thegame is practice. This lesson is just a starttowards a better understanding of thatmarvelous machine you have at your fin-gertips.
If you find this material useful, you maywant to download this article in PDF for-mat, from our web site www.brcs.org.This allows readers to keep the materialeither as a PDF file, and/or print it out,and place it in a loose leaf notebook forfuture reference.
(Continued from page 6)
Page 8 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
Business cards
How to Submit Commercial Advertisements
Send commercial ad copy and payments to:Ad Manager, Phoenix PCUG Newsletter,5555 N 7th Street Suite 5 PMB 101Phoenix, AZ 85014
Make checks payable to Phoenix PCUG(Note: AD PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY AD unless credit arrangements have been made).Commercial advertising rates per issue are shown below. Submit camera-ready black and whitecopy.
Typesetting service and photographic services provided at additional cost and must bescheduled and paid for IN ADVANCE. Payment must accompany ad. Copy will not be re-turned unless return postage is prepaid. Single insertion ad rates are as follows:
Full Page (7.5" by 10.0") $50.00Half Page (7.5" by 5.0") $25.00 Ask about multiple insertion discounts!!!Quarter Page (3.75" by 5.0") $15.00 Note: Oversized ads are charged to the next higher sizerate!!Business Cards (2.0" by 3.5") $ 5.00 (minimum of 3 months prepaid)
For questions please contact David Yamamoto 602 418-1249 or write to above.
Submission deadlines are the 25th of each month prior to month of publication. Pricessubject to change without notice.
number and e-mail address on the first lines of the
article.
All materials submitted will be considered for
inclusion in the "News", but the Editor reserves the
right to edit as necessary, to maintain standards of
literacy, grammar, and length requirements. No
materials will be returned unless arrangements are
made made in advance.
DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET YOU’RE YOURNEWSLETTER ELECTRONICALLY EACH MONTH ?
Or did you expect to get a copy electronically and stillreceived a paper copy?
Just send an email — [email protected] — or checkthe box on your membership application. You will get a notice
each month when the newsletter is available.
MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS !
NEWSLETTER POLICIES
Page 10 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
The Kindle2 May Make Newspapers ObsoleteWritten by Sandy Berger, CompuKISSwww.compukiss.comsandy (at) compukiss.com
This article has been obtained from APCUGwith the author’s permission for publicationby APCUG member groups; all other uses re-quire the permission of the author (see e-mailaddress above).
Every now and then a revolutionary new prod-uct comes along at a time when it is mostneeded. So it is with the just released Kindle2wireless reading device, fondly called an e-book reader.
Up to now, electronic book readers have beenvery slow in taking off. Sony has had a bookreading device for several years. Last yearAmazon came out with the first version of theKindle, which was impressive and fairly popu-lar, but had a few drawbacks.
Now, however, the time for these devices mayhave finally come. At 8" x 5.3" the Kindle2 isabout the size of a paperback. At about 1/3"thick, it thin but strong. In this second itera-tion, Amazon has corrected the design flawsof the original Kindle. It is now easy to use.The e-ink technology allows you to read thewords on the Kindle just as you would read abook, with no eye strain or glare. You can ad-just the size of the text to your liking. To turnthe page you simply press a button. Thereader even lets you read several books atonce, always returning you to just where youleft off. You can look up any word with thebuilt-in dictionary. You can underline wordsand add your own notes to the pages. This Kin-dle will even read the text of most books toyou. So if you are engrossed in a book on theKindle and need to pick up the kids, you cantake the Kindle along and have it read to youin the car.
The best part of the Kindle, however, is thereading material and how it is delivered. TheKindle2 can hold more than 1,500 books. Youcan choose from over 240,000 books in theKindle's Amazon store. Most of the books arepriced at $9.99. You can also subscribe tonewspapers and magazines on the Kindle. Thebooks, newspapers, and magazines aredownloaded directly to the device over a free
cellular network. I drove down a rural highwayin North Carolina and downloaded a book andwas reading it in less than five minutes. Betteryet would be sitting on a beach and download-ing a romance novel. In any case, the Kindle isultimately useable. The biggest drawback forthe Kindle right now is the price. At $359, theKindle is pretty expensive.
But if you are you ready to watch the ebookmarket explode, stick around for awhile. TheKindle2 has appeared on the horizon just asthe economy is slumping. There are manyhard-hit business sectors, but the newspaperand magazine industry is already showingsigns of cracking. CNN reports that many ma-jor newspapers are struggling including theSan Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and theMiami Herald. Certainly online versions ofnewspapers and magazines are an alternative,but up to this point very few newspapers ormagazines have been able to support them-selves with online subscriptions and/or ad-vertising.
As the print industry is looking for ways to cutcosts, ebook readers may be an answer. Ifthere were no print costs, perhaps large news-papers would be able to provide e-book read-ers to subscribers as part of the subscriptioncosts or at least at a highly reduced rate. If theelectronic device were done well enough, itcould mimic the printed version and be filledwith ads just like the print newspapers andmagazines. Normally I would expect that thistype of transition would take a few years, butthe economic woes may put a rush on thistype of move. The Hearst Corp., one of thelargest publishers, is already planning tolaunch its own wireless e-book reader. Mostare speculating that this would be a devicewith a larger screen that would more closelyimitate the newspaper and magazine readingexperience. Hearst, who is a mega-publisher,would be in a great position to create the liai-sons needed to make this type of device andits content work. Fortune reports that theHearst device will be available sometime thisyear.
There is no doubt that we live in a world thatis changing because of technology and thistype of technology may be in your handssooner than you think.
Kindle2 are Newspapers Obsolete ?
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 11 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
My PayPal Account's Been HackedWritten by Steve Bass, a former Contributing Editorwith PC World, a 23 year veteran of PIBMUG, and afounding member of APCUG. He's also the author ofPC Annoyances: How to Fix the Most AnnoyingThings about Your Personal Computer, O’ReillyPress. It's available on Amazon at dirt cheap prices.http://snipurl.com/annoy2
This column originally appeared in Bass's TechBitenewsletter. Subscribe to Bass's free weekly news-letter and read Bass's blog at www.snurl.com/techbiteblog. Contents copyright 2009, TechBite,LLC.
This article has been obtained from APCUG with theauthor’s permission for publication by APCUGmember groups; all other uses require the permis-sion of the author (see e-mail address above).
The e-mail from PayPal said I'd sent $400 to a gam-ing firm in Germany. It's a dopey phishing expedi-tion, I thought, and authentic-looking, for sure, butnothing to worry about.
The trouble was that when I logged on to PayPal, Ireally did have a $400 withdrawal. It was clear thatsomeone had my password.
Quick Password TipsHere are the three essential things you need toknow about password security:
-- Use a password generator, a program that willcreate a long, complicated password.
-- Don't ever use dictionary words, even if youstick in symbols, like bill$gate$. They're very easyto break using simple hacker programs. (LOL --Thanks, Rod.)
-- Use a different password for every importantsite. Using the same password on every site, espe-cially critical ones, such as banking, is risky. Imag-ine using your one password on an unsavory, andpossibly unscrupulous site. With that golden pass-word, and a few guesses on your login name -- ste-vebass, steve_bass, sbass -- and they're in likeFlynn.
Who's Got My Password?I contacted PayPal (888/221-1161), supplied the de-tails, and they opened up a case. My account is fro-zen and I don't doubt PayPal will credit me for theloss. (As I started editing this newsletter, PayPayreversed the charges.) PayPal is investigating, but Idon't think they'll ever find out how someone gotinto my account, though it was clear the person hadmy password. The rep said I probably fell for a well-crafted e-mail spoof.That's a blow to my ego. I see myself as suspicious -- verging on paranoid -- when it comes to phishinge-mails. What better prize than bragging rights to
hacking a PC World guy, right? So I'm as vigilant asmy dog is when I try to get her to take a pillwrapped in peanut butter. (Hey, you can't fool me,pal, she probably thinks...)
If an e-mail -- suspicious or not -- refers to any of myimportant accounts and provides a link to click, Iignore the offer. It's safer to manually type the URLinto my browser's address field. And yes, I'll coverphishing hassles -- and ways to guard against it -- ina future newsletter.
Password: z24x680uBS4!44
I'm also careful with my passwords and, at least un-til now, thought they were super stealthy. For exam-ple, on PayPal I used four numbers, a symbol, andthree letters. According to Microsoft's PasswordChecker, my standard password pattern -- 1600%wtf -- is strong. But it could be better.
Microsoft says that the most effective passwordsare 14 characters and have a combination of upperand lower case letters, numbers, and a symbol ortwo. For example, z24x680uBS4!44 is strongenough for them to call it "best."
Test your passwords on Microsoft's site and seehow well they stand up. Then browse Microsoft'sexcellent Strong passwords: How to create and usethem. I promise you'll learn something. http://tinyurl.com/2e7tmw
Use Microsoft's Password checker to testyour password's strength. You might be surprised.
http://tinyurl.com/ypc3dc
Generating Strong PasswordsCreating a strong password is easy, provided youdon't try to think one up on your own. There aredozens of Web sites that'll create passwords, but Idon't use any of them. The last thing I'll do is trustsomeone online watching me create new pass-
(Continued on page 12)
I’VE BEEN Hacked
Page 12 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
words. Instead, download Password Generator, afreebie, and crank out all sorts of 14-characterpasswords.
http://tinyurl.com/4j8e8
Keeping Track of Your PasswordsI just looked and counted roughly 220sites I use that require a password.
Some site passwords, however, areimmaterial. For instance, I use a sim-ple-to-remember word for spots Irarely visit, places such as newspa-pers that force you to register and login just to read articles, or tech siteswith forum messages.
However, ever since the PayPal fiasco,I've changed every significant pass-word on my system to a 14-digit go-rilla.
Remembering all those passwords isa PITA , so you ought to consider us-ing a password management tool.There are lots available. Many peoplelike KeePass , a freebie; others swearby LargeSoft's $30 Password Man-ager . I anticipate easily 100 e-mails -- no make that200 -- kvetching that I haven't mentioned your fa-vorite. But as far as I'm concerned, RoboForm is thebest one around, and I've used it since it was firstintroduced.
RoboForm, The Master at PasswordsRoboForm is a $30 program with more features forpassword management, privacy, and passwordidentification than any other program I know. Youprovide RoboForm with all the vitals you mightneed to complete a site's form--name, address,phone numbers, and even credit card numbers.When you click the Fill Forms button, the programdoes just that. I've created multiple identities, eachwith different info. For instance, I have one with
MasterCard info, another with VISA accounts. Ihave another identify I call "anonymous" that I useto fill in forms on sites that I'll never visit again.
Enter data into RoboForm's Identity card and fill inonline forms.
Click a Web site from the RoboForm Passcardscreen, and RoboForm transports your Webbrowser to the site, logging you in if necessary.Need an industrial-strength password? RoboFormwill generate one for you. And don't worry aboutsecurity: RoboForm is itself password-protected.The program will also safely send an encryptedpassword through e-mail to another RoboFormuser. (I was recently discussing with my wife thefact that neither of us can function without it.)BTW, RoboForm foils keyloggers (programs thatwatch keystrokes) because instead of typing,RoboForm inserts characters into form fields.
(Continued on page 13)
I’VE BEEN Hacked
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 13 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
Web tour
This month we provide some excellent programsthat will provide the “must have” features your PCdeserves and they are all free !
If you have better choices or know of items wehave missed please email us at:
WEB BROWSERFirefoxhttp://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.htmlThe latest security and stability release.
EMAIL SERVICEThunderbirdh t t p://w w w .m ozil la m e ssa g in g .com /e n -US/thunderbird/Tunderbird email client includes intelligent spamfilters, powerful search and customizable views.
OFFICE SUITEOpen OfficeIncludes word processing, spreadsheets, presenta-tions, graphics, databases and more.http://www.openoffice.org/This complete All-in-One Office Suite contains allthat is needed for a productive day at the office. Fea-turing word processing, spreadsheets, presenta-tions, graphics, databases and more.
MEDIA PLAYERVLCh t t p : / / w w w . v i d e o l a n . o r g / v l c / d o w n l o a d -windows.htmlThis is a highly portable multimedia player for vari-ous audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2,MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs,and various streaming protocols.
CD/ DVD BURNING SOFTWAREInfrarecorderhttp://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5It is a burning solution for Microsoft Windows. Itoffers a wide range of powerful features; allthrough an easy to use application interface withWindows Explorer integration.
PHOTO IMAGE SHOPGimphttp://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.htmlAn image manipulation program with a new GUI(graphical user interface ) that makes it easier touse.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTINGGNU Cashhttp://sourceforge.net/projects/gnucash/A complete personal and small-business financial-accounting software.
Here's a summary of RoboForm's features (http://www.roboform.com/features.html), a comprehen-sive FAQ (http://www.roboform.com/faq.html)with answers to your most technical RoboFormquestions and a way to compare the free and Proversions (http://www.roboform.com/why-pro.html).
If you need portability, RoboForm2Go gives youthe same protection when you carry your pass-words on a flash drive and use it outside the of-fice. Both the RoboForm program and your pass-word files reside on a USB key, so you can takethem from one computer to another. The toolcosts $40, but if you buy it at the same time youget RoboForm, the price drops to $20. If you digaround, you'll occasionally find discounts. (GoogleRoboForm discount.)
Siber Systems offers a 30-day trial of both prod-ucts. They work in all versions of Windows andsupport IE and Firefox, but not Google Chrome,Opera, or a few other browsers. Take a look at thecompatibility list. http://www.roboform.com/browsers.html
There's lots more to say about password manage-ment, but I'm almost out of space. So while you'rehot on the topic, read Bitmill's smart series ofPassword Security 101 articles. They're less basict h a n y o u m i g h t i m a g i n e . h t t p : / /www.thebitmill.com/articles/
(Continued from page 12)
AUDIO RECORDERAudacityhttp://sourceforge.net/projects/audacyMulti-track audio recorder and editor.
REGISTRY AND FILE CLEANERAdvanced SystemCare Free v3http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.htmlHelp protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC
ZIP COMPRESSION TOOL7-Ziphttp://www.7zip.com/7-Zip is fast, efficient and free
REMEMBER: All of the Web Tour sites are archivedand instantly available on our website. Don’twaste time consuming typing of the site addresswhen you can get there with a simple “click”.
www.PhoenixPCUG.org
I’ve been hacked
Page 14 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
XP UtilitiesWritten by Warner Mach, Editor of theSEMCO DATA BUS, newsletter of the South-east Michigan Computer Organizationhttp://www.semco.orgmachw (at) att.net
This article has been obtained from APCUGwith the author’s permission for publica-tion by APCUG member groups; all otheruses require the permission of the author(see e-mail address above).
I have discovered that Windows XP ischock full of various utilities to solve vari-ous kinds of problems. Some of the utili-ties that I have occasion to use in recentmonths:
(1) Windows Task ManagerYou bring up the Windows Task Managerby holding down cntl-alt-delete. Some ofthe useful features are: (a) Go to the appli-cations tab. This shows therunning tasks and is usefulfor ending a task that re-fuses to go away. (b) Go toprocess tab. This shows allthe miscellaneous tasks inthe system and shows the CPU time thateach is using. This can frequently be use-ful when you are not sure what the systemis doing. (c) Go to performance tab. Thisshows the use of resources. Especially use-ful is the dynamic graph of CPU usage.
(2) Event ViewerThe Event Viewer has a log of recentevents, including events at power up andpower down. This was of value to me whenI was attempting to learn about certainmessages that were appearing at powerdown time. Under the ‘application’ and‘system’ tabs the logs are listed. To getmore detailed information on a particularproblem, double-click on the ‘type’ portionof a particular entry. This will give some
keyword search hints that can be typedinto Google. You bring up the Event Viewerby going to start=>run and typing‘Eventvwr.msc’ into the box => OK.
(3) System Configuration UtilityThe tab that was useful to me was the‘startup’ tab. These are tasks that auto-matically come up at startup. By uncheck-ing groups of entries (and saying ‘apply’and then rebooting) I was able to zero inon one particular entry that was causing aproblem. You bring up the System Configu-ration Utility by going to start=>run andtyping ‘msconfig’ into the box => OK.
(4) Check DiskThis utility checks the space usage on thedisk. It also checks the control blockchains to be sure that they are correct. Got o s t a r t = > a l l p r o -grams=>accessories=>command promptand type in ‘chkdsk.’ If the program de-
tects bad commandchains and you wantto correct the situa-tion then type in‘chkdsk /F’ . Thiscommand may re-
quire a reboot during which it runs stand-alone.
Useful ResourcesThere is a useful list of utilities, with exam-ples and explanations at:<http://tinyurl.com/9um8or>.There is also information about the Micro-soft ‘906569’ update at:< h t t p : / / s u p p o r t . m i c r o s o f t . c o m /kb/906569>.This update “… adds the tools tab to theSystem Configuration Utilities in WindowsXP Service pack 2.” But even if you don’twant to do this, there is a list of usefulutilities with an explanation of their func-tion.
XP UTILITIES
The Event Viewer has a log of
recent events, including events
at power up and power down.
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 15 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
Moving on to Vista – Part 14by Neil Stahfest, Librarian, Tacoma Area PC
User Group, Washingtonwww.tapcug.orgncstahfest(at)msn.com
This article has been obtained from APCUGwith the author’s permission for publicationby APCUG member groups; all other uses re-quire the permission of the author (see e-mail
address above).
One of the features that I liked about previous
versions of Windows was the *Search” feature.Just click on the “Start” button”, Click on“Search” and enter the file name that you wantto find. If you have multiple hard drives, you
can specify which ones to search. Its easy andsimple.
Vista is different. Vista has a totally new
search feature that is in some ways easier touse, fast and very sophisticated. It doesn'tjust try to match file names. It looks inside
files and reads and searches the contents oftext files, your Windows Contacts and Calen-dar as well as any Microsoft Office files(documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint
files). To do this Vista automatically main-tains an index file which contains all this in-formation for the file linked to your personaluser folder. To keep the index file from be-
coming too large and to speed up the searchprocess, it does not maintain a list of files lo-cated in your Windows system folder, con-
tents of application file folders or on a localcomputer network (information usually onlyuseful to computer programmers). When youstart searching for a file or word, it only has to
check this index file to find what you want.The results are displayed almost as fast asyou can type the search name.
To use the most basic features of Vista'ssearch engine, click on the “Start” button.When the “Start Menu” appears, a “Start
Search” box appears directly above the “StartButton”. As you start to type a folder or filename, a list of folders and files appears above
the box. As you type more letters, the list ofnames becomes more specific. If you don't
see what you are looking for, at the bottom ofthe list is an option to search for the file name
on the Internet (assuming that you have an
Internet connection of course). When you dothis, the Internet search uses your defaultInternet search engine whether it be Micro-soft, Google, Yahoo, etc.
The Search Results window does not show thename of every file match found. Using some
form of artificial intelligence Vista limits itselfto to the 20 most likely matches. It showsthem under file group headings such as“Programs”, “Files” and “Communications”.
An interesting aspect of this feature is thatyou can point and click on a program listed inthe Search Results window and actually run it.
Document or spreadsheet files can also be ac-cessed this way. Printing at the file name acti-vates the default file program, such as Micro-
soft Word.
Using this feature of Vista's search functionmoves it beyond just a way to locate files and
folders. It becomes a way to quickly locatefiles and then take action to use them. To pre-pare this column I simply went to my desktop,clicked on the Start Button, entered “vista.rtf”
in the Search Box and then clicked on the filename to open it with my word processing pro-gram. How simple is that! No need to open a
series of folders to burrow down to my Vistacolumn files.
In most cases, doing the above steps will lo-
cate the information you are looking for. Butsuppose it doesn't. Windows will tell you thatthe information can't be located and suggest
that you use some of the advanced search fea-tures. We'll address advanced search featuresnext month.
VISTa’s new search feature
KEEP CURRENTCHECK OUR WEBSITEwww.PhoenixPCUG.org
Page 16 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
East Side MeetingThe University for AdvancingTechnologies
2625 W Baseline Rd, Tempe
South side of Baseline Rd, oneblock west of Fry’s Electronics.
Fountain Hills MeetingFountain Hills Library12901 N La Montana Dr, FountainHills
Just west of the fountain.
Co-located with the Fountain HillsLibrary and Museum.
West Side MeetingCollege America Room 2
6533 N Black Canyon HwyPhoenix
Turn right (east) on McLellanBlvd.
Immediately turn right (south)into parking lot..
HOW TO GET THERE
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 17 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
Online Backup ServicesThere Are Pros & Cons But They Are Up &ComingWritten by Ira Brickman, President, ICONPC User Group, Inc., New YorkFrom The ICON Graphic, Newsletter ofICONPCUG, October 2008 Editionwww.iconpcug.orgpresident (at) iconpcug.org
This article has been obtained from AP-CUG for publication by APCUG membergroups; all other uses require the permis-sion of the author (see e-mail addressabove).
The changing face of how we use our com-puters includes the latest concept: usingprograms and services directly from theInternet. Many of us, for example, havefound itmore convenient to access our email usinga Web browser (a.k.a. “Webmail”) insteadof a dedicated client like Outlook Express.The Internet’s evermore ubiquitous naturemeans that receiving email is as simple asfinding an available computer withbrowser software. Backing up your harddrive using an online service is one of theup and coming online services. The advan-tages are:• No need to buy backup software or pur-chase external USB drives or optical mediato backup to.• Not storing backups where the computeris located secures against fire, theft, andother risks.• Like Webmail, the backups are availablefrom any computer with an Internet con-nection & a browser.
As good as that sounds, some of the otherconsiderations are:• There are some costs usually involved.• Backup privacy and security is depend-ent on a third party and transmitting your
data over the Internet adds privacy and se-curity risks.• You become dependent the backup ser-vice staying in business. If not, you are outof luck.• It takes a lot longer to backup or restorethan using a local hard drive.• There is no imaging which means youare not backing up a picture of your harddrive, including your operating system in-stallation. Rather you are backing up fold-ers and files.
All in all, the pros certainly make tryingonline backup worthwhile. The cons, how-ever, mean you have to judge how privatethe files are and how large your backupswillbe. And the risk of a service folding meansyou should be wary of using smaller, to-tally free backup services for anythingvery critical to you.
There are some well-known, reliable ser-vices which can be free to use, within cer-tain limitations. Or for a small monthlyfee, you can get all the pros and limit yourrisks.If you want to use an online backup ser-vices, there are three commercial servicesyou can explore and consider to start with.They are: Amazon S3/Jungle Disk, Mozy,and Carbonite. All three have similarities:
• They require that you download and in-stall a desktop client to configure back-ups, manage restores.• Once your first backup is created, the cli-ent program then works in the back-ground to backup of new and altered files.• All three encrypt your data before trans-mission and store it in encrypted form onremote servers.• None require you to restore from theoriginal computer.
(Continued on page 18)
Online Backup Services
Page 18 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
You can also restore your data to a differ-ent computer.
If you search the Web, you will find anabundance of reviews about each of theseservices. There is much that has beenpositively written about Jungle Disk andAmazon’s Simple Storage Service (AmazonS3). The S3 service is part of a package ofAmazon services meant to be accessedthrough third party software. Jungle Diskisthe leading program to do that. It“mounts” the online storage so that itseamlessly appears as another drive inyour Windows Explorer. Jungle Disk canschedule automatic backups, but themounted drive means you can drag anddrop to manually backup files and foldersAnd it allows for incremental backups.
This last is important because there arecosts involved. Amazon currently charges10 cents per Gigabyte per month for stor-age and another 17 cents per GB for thedata transfer . Incremental backups meanthe transfer costs are kept to a minimumafter your initial backup.
JungleDisk costs $20 after a 30-day freetrial. Amazon S3: http://tinyurl.com/qx87aJungle Disk: http://www.jungledisk.com
Mozy, at http://mozy.com/, on the otherh an d, c an be f r e e i f you u s e t h e“MozyHome” alternative, limited to 2Gb ofstorage. But for $4.95 per month, Mozy of-fers unlimited backup of a single homecomputer. Though not as convenient asJungle Disk, the MozyHome softwaremakes backing up easy and has manybackup options..
Carbonite, http://www.carbonite.com/, of-fers a yearly subscription for unlimited
backup of a hard drive, starting at $49.95per year, with lower costs for upfront pay-mentof multi-year subscriptions. This makes ita little less expensive than Mozy per year.The Carbonite software might be a littleeasier to use than Mozy. Some reviewersfound Casrbonite to be slower and theCarbonite Web site does contain a cautionabout speed.
With costs potentially less than the up-front cost of a hard drive, these backupservices are at least worth a look for theirconvenience for computer users.
(Continued from page 17)
Online Backup Services
PPCUG’s Ride SharingProgram
Bill Aulepp, long time group member hasvolunteered to coordinate membercommunication for those who need ridesand those who can provide them.
To join the program for either side, emailBill at [email protected] Provide yourname, your address, a way to contact you,and whether you can give or need a ride.Please do not wait until the last minute torequest a ride,
Bill will gather the information fromeveryone who responds and connect updrivers with riders. It will be theresponsibility of the individual membersto organize the actual rides, dates, andpick up information.
Able to Provide a Ride?Are you willing to pick up, transport anddrive another member to one meeting amonth? As an added bonus, any driverparticipating will receive one extra raffleticket each time they drive a member to ameeting.
April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group Page 19 April 2009 Phoenix PC Users Group
MEMBERSHIPMEMBERSHIP DUES
The Official Policy of the Phoenix PC Users Group is that wedo not condone software piracy in any form.
City, State: _________________________________________________ Zip Code: ___________________
Home Phone: _______________________ Work Phone: _______________________ Ext: _____________Please note: We DO-NOT share phone numbers outside the club, and will generally only use your phone information, if we cannot contact you in timelyfashion, via e-mail, or the club web-site
Release my address to vendors ? Yes No Note: Phone numbers will not be listed.
