C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XXII: NUMBER 4 APRIL, 2007
Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at the Knollwood
Village Clubhouse 4012 S. Bradley Dr., Santa Maria.
General meeting at 7:00PM. System Special Interest Group session is at
5:45PM. Guests are welcome.
Check out our web site: http://member.apcug.org/fourseas for the latest
program schedule information.
Membership is $15 for twelve months for individuals, $20 for families.
For this you receive: Monthly newsletters, EXTRA4C E-mail Messages,
Help-line support, Monthly presentations, Valuable door prizes, Question
and answer sessions.
NEXT MEETING: APRIL 17, 2007 KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: The April meeting will be: Chris Chandler on Wireless
Communication Devices.
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********** APRIL COOKIE PROVIDER IS AMY MALICKI ***********
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) OFFICERS, HELPLINES, S.I.G.S
(2) PRESIDENT'S CORNER Ted Tucker
(3) EDITOR'S COMMENTS Dick Trissel
(4) WEB WANDERINGS
(5) SYSTEMS S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(6) REVIEW: MS PLUS! SUPERPACK FOR XP Ray Isenson
(7) ACRONIS SOFTWARE SUPPORT OF VISTA Gene Barlow
(8) XP DISK MANAGEMENT Dick Trissel
(9) MORE ABOUT MS PLUS! SUPERPACK Dick Trissel
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OFFICERS HELPLINES
President Juno
Ted Tucker 937-2374 Dick Trissel 937-7572
genmail@verizon.net rtrissel@juno.com
Vice President Windows 95/98/ME/XP & VoiceControl
Vic McLaughlin 937-8326 Amy Malicki 925-5780
vnmclaughlin2448@msn.com msamym5@verizon.net
Secretary Hardware and Windows XP
John McCurdy 925-1825 Ray Isenson 937-6938
jmmccurdy.1@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer AOL
Gerry Miller 934-1396 Frank Maciel 922-2318
2741 Banyan Way frm8198@aol.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
gandamiller@verizon.net
Publicity Visual Basic and Genealogy
Bill Corning 934-0775 Gerald Miller 934-1396
foster95@impulse.net gandamiller@verizon.net
Newsletter Editor Help With Any Problem
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Ray Isenson 937-6938
rtrissel@juno.com risenson@juno.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (S.I.G.)
Systems (5:45pm)
Dick Trissel
rtrissel@juno.com
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CCCC Page 2 April 2007
PRESIDENT'S CORNER by Ted Tucker
Greetings to all, and welcome to the reorganization. REORGANIZATION ? ? ?
Spare me. I bet a lot of you have heard that word many times; too many
times perhaps. But we do need now to get some folks involved in yet another
reorganization.
I've mentioned before that Dick Trissel is way overloaded by his multiple
services to the club. He updates the club's Web site homepage as well as
newsletter content and index files; as editor he coordinates, drives the
schedule, provides articles and puts out the club Newsletter; coordinates
member roster and dues functions and maintains the address book; each month
he prepares for, makes a presentation at and moderates the System S.I.G. We
need to split up his burden and distribute it to more and new hands.
Dick is a stellar performer, and he's had a very long (seven years) and
successful tenure in these activities. I laud him and have done so before.
His stepping back to be among the crowd is his wish and he deserves it, but
it will leave a big void. We need a reorganization to deal with it in that
area. This is no left-over April Fool joke.
I am recruiting people. I expect it will take several members to pick up
where Dick leaves off, but I think there is strength in numbers, and some
reorganization can smooth the way to fit the people. It is an opportunity
to join an area to follow a topnotch guy. Interested persons please call me
at 937-2374 before the next meeting, and let us get our heads together (so
Dick can finally get some rest).
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CCCC Page 3 April 2007
EDITOR'S COMMENTS by Dick Trissel
You don't want to miss this one.
The program this month will feature Christian Chandler, Retail Data Manager
of AT&T Wireless Division, California Region - also the grandson of member
Spence Stimler. He will tell us about Wi-Fi Mobile Services; Blackberry
handheld phone Internet Service; Telenav GPS Global Positioning Service for
mapping and tracking; Wireless Laptop Devices, and Bluetooth and other
Mobile Smart Phones with music video features
There have been complaints by members that they can't see the details on the
projector screen, and can't hear all the comments from the group. But these
are coming from people sitting at the back of the room. We set up over 40
chairs with room for more (counting the front tables) that are within 10 to
30 feet from the screen. And, since we have from 30 to 40 attendees each
month, there are plenty of seats near the front of the room. If you have a
hearing or visual problem, come early and sit up front. This will also help
the speaker up front to hear the questions and comments from the audience.
In case you missed the 24 March EXTRA4C bulletin article, Spence Stimler
took 26 candid pictures of the CCCC members during the March meeting and
they are available for viewing and downloading at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/spence923/20072003CCCC?authkey=9nttINoCNnA
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CCCC Page 4 April 2007
WEB WANDERINGS
FIND A WI-FI HOTSPOT
These days, you'll find Wi-Fi just about anywhere you go. This is convenient
for checking your e-mail and sending photos while you're travelling.
Unfortunately, finding free Wi-Fi is another story. Many hotspot operators
charge for access - and the price can be outrageous.
So, if you're planning on travelling, stop by the Wi-Fi FreeSpot first. You
can get a state-by-state list of free Wi-Fi hotspots.
You can check airports, hotels and campgrounds. And, if you're going abroad,
you'll even find international hotspots.
www.wififreespot.com
CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORTS
Identity theft is always in the news. Thanks largely to carelessness, your
data is put at risk. So, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your credit
report. This could clue you in if someone tries to use your personal data.
Ordering your credit report from the credit reporting agencies can be
costly. But, you are entitled to a free report from each agency every year.
At AnnualCreditReport.com, you can request your free credit reports. You'll
need to enter your Social Security number. The site uses encryption. But, if
you're uncomfortable doing this, there are instructions for ordering your
reports over the phone.
www.annualcreditreport.com
DIET SMARTLY
We all feel the pressure to be thin. That's because the people we see on TV
and in magazines are often thin.
And, truth be told, we do have a growing weight problem in this country. So,
some of us could stand to lose a little weight.
There are many sites on the Internet that offer advice on how to lose
weight. But, some are out to sell you things. Others may not have the most
complete information.
So, if you're looking for diet advice on the Net, visit HealthRatings.org.
It gives an unbiased look at the quality of popular diet sites.
The top 20 sites are ranked by traffic. Just click on one to see how it
stacks up in certain key areas.
www.healthratings.org
TAG YOUR PHOTOS
Thanks to digital cameras, we're taking more photographs than ever. With so
many on the hard drive, they can be difficult to organize.
Many programs will help you organize your photos. Unfortunately, that
doesn't help when you're in Windows Explorer.
But you can download Photo Info. It works with both Windows XP and Vista.
This handy little program lets you edit information about your photos.
Once it's installed, just right-click a photo and click Photo Info. You can
add a title, description and other information about your photo. Then, you
can view this in Windows Explorer. You'll love it!
www.microsoft.com
HOW BIG CAN YOU PRINT YOUR PHOTOS?
If there is one combination that trips up many people, it is resolution and
megapixels. Many people equate the number of megapixels with a camera's
resolution.
Of course, manufacturers contribute to the confusion. They lead you to
believe that megapixels are the single most important aspect when it comes
to judging cameras.
That said, there is a correlation between megapixels and resolution. The
more megapixels a camera has, the larger you can make prints - and still get
a decent resolution.
Of course, you probably wouldn't know offhand how big you can go with an 8-
megapixel camera. That's where today's Cool Site comes in.
It's a chart that shows you how big you should make your prints. This is
handy for anyone buying a camera. If you already own a camera, it is still
handy. So bookmark it for future reference!
www.design215.com
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CCCC Page 5 April 2007
SYSTEMS S.I.G. by Dick Trissel
Since the Wi-Fi security presentation a couple of years ago, more people
have become concerned about their wireless router security. So, I repeated
the PowerPoint presentation. However, there was a question about the
Procedure items:
D. Select the Security section.
1. Determine if you have WPA capability.
a. Select highest encryption option compatible with other computers.
b. Or, select WEP.
E. Select Firewall option.
1. Enable firewall if compatible with other computers.
Item E. 1. should be deleted. The original author was confusing encryption
with firewalls.
There is a little known feature in the excellent free program SIW (System
Information for Windows). It will reveal hidden passwords in programs on
your computer. Just click on the program option icon "EUREKA" and run the
program with the password. Drag the magnify icon over the password window
to reveal the literal password. To get the SIW program, type SIW in a
Google search.
A member complained that his system defrag was taking hours to run. It was
suggested he try running in Safe Mode (tap the F8 key during system startup
and choose Safe Mode). The defrag operation will be interrupted by some
programs running in the background, so turn off a screen saver, etc.
Another question was how to remove the unwanted e-mail addresses when
forwarding an e-mail. This should be a simple deletion of the unwanted
addresses in the To: window after selecting "Forward".
A member announced that there is an update to the excellent free program
CCLEANER. The latest version is 1.38. I downloaded the new version, but
didn't see any apparent changes except the activity scroll bar is solid blue
instead of green squares.
When the group was asked, "How many are using Vista", no one raised their
hand.
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CCCC Page 6 April 2007
REVIEW: MICROSOFT PLUS! SUPERPACK FOR WINDOWS XP
by Ray Isenson
"Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP" is a set of two CDs containing
applets and augmenting capabilities for Windows XP. The disks, and their
contents, which consist of a little bit of something for everyone, are not
something new; dating back, in some cases, to the year 2001. Surprisingly,
they've not been heavily advertised; consequently their existence does not
seem to be widely known.
Generally speaking, these small programs serve to move the PC from being
simply an office machine to a true Media Center machine--whether the user is
interested in providing enhanced capabilities for handling of still or cine
photography, or prefers to be able to emulate a disk jockey with an
automated music center capable of creating custom playlists from the music
stored in the computer.
A particularly valuable capability is offered by the MP3 Audio Converter
which converts MP3 files to Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, freeing up
considerable disk space in the process.
En toto there are some twenty plus new or enhanced capabilities provided by
the Program Suite. These include such things as specialized speaker drivers
to afford theater quality sound to the music output of the PC, to an alarm
clock which can play music or other sound through the Windows Player at a
scheduled time or turn it off after some predetermined period. Obviously,
your computer must have a sound card for that feature. Additionally then,
if you have a microphone you can add narration to your film clips or photo
album and you can use voice commands to call up many of the computer's
functions. If nothing more, the casual user should find value in some new
games or the CD Label Maker program.
The computer, in addition to running Windows XP as its operating system,
needs only modest capabilities. The CPU must have at least a 500 MHz
processor; although a 750 MHz CPU is preferable. A minimum of 256 Mbytes of
RAM is essential, as is a monitor capable of displaying Super VGA. Internet
access is essential for some of the functions; as is the availability of 400
Mbytes, or more, free hard disk space.
Street price ranges from $17 up. More information is available at:
http://microsoft.com/windows/plus/PlusHome.asp
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CCCC Page 7 April 2007
ACRONIS SOFTWARE SUPPORT OF WINDOWS VISTA
By Gene Barlow, User Group Relations, Copyrighted March 2007
On February 7, 2007, Acronis, Inc. announced that it will "fully support
Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista, with its products for desktop
operating systems". This statement of intent has already been accomplished
for two of their most popular products for home users - Acronis True Image
10.0 Home and Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0. This article will show you
how to obtain these Vista supporting utilities.
Acronis True Image 10.0 Home: This is the top rated backup utility on the
market today. It helps you backup your important data files as well as your
entire computer -- operating system, application programs, and all. Used
regularly it will protect your important files from hard drive crashes and
other system problems. Acronis True Image 10.0 Home edition was released
three months prior to the release of Vista, with full support of Vista
included in the product. Earlier this month, Acronis made available build
4942 of True Image to correct any problems with their new release. You
should install this new build to give you the latest True Image software.
Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0: This is an outstanding partitioning
utility to help you organize and manage your computer's hard drive. Using
this utility, you can have both Windows XP and Vista running on the same
computer. This is a much safer way to start to use Vista rather than
instantly replacing your stable XP system with Vista. Earlier this month,
Acronis made available build 2160 of Disk Director Suite to provide full
support of Vista in this excellent partitioning utility.
So, how does this announcement affect you? There are three options to
consider as follows:
Not a User of Acronis Utilities: If you do not already use one or both of
these excellent Acronis products, now is the perfect time to get them. We
are offering both of these products that normally list for $50 each at our
user group discount price of just $29 each. That price includes a special
tutorial with each product to help you start to use them quickly and safely.
To order either or both of these Acronis products, go to
www.usergroupstore.com and place your order using our secure online ordering
system. The order code for this special price is UGNL0307.
Use Older Acronis Utilities: If you already have one or both of these
Acronis products, but are still using an older version (prior to version
10.0), you should get the latest release (version 10.0) to be ready for
Windows Vista in the future. Our user group discount prices for these
products is lower than the upgrade price from Acronis, so order a new
license of the product from us at a great discount price and get the
tutorials as a bonus. To do this, follow the ordering instructions in the
prior paragraph.
Use Version 10 Acronis Utilities: If you already use version 10 of these
Acronis products, then it is important that you download the new builds for
these products to get the full benefits of your software. The process to
download these new builds is quick and easy to accomplish. There is no
charge for these updates as long as you are a current owner of version 10 of
these products. For those that we promised a free update of Acronis Disk
Director Suite 10.0 with Vista support, this is what you need to do. Follow
the instructions below to download these new builds and install them on your
computer.
Downloading New Builds from Acronis: To download the new builds from Acronis
is quick and easy to do. There are three steps to accomplish this. First,
you must set up an account on the Acronis web site. Next, you must register
the Acronis products you use in your account. Finally, you can download the
latest builds of your registered products from your Acronis account. I
describe these three steps in detail at www.ugr.com/questions.html. Print
out these instructions and follow them carefully and you will have your new
builds installed quickly.
I hope this information helps you take advantage of the Vista support in
Acronis True Image 10.0 Home and Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0. Download
and install these new builds and your Acronis software will be ready for
Windows Vista when you are. If you have questions about this article or the
downloading of new builds, please send a note to gene@ugr.com and I will try
to assist you.
Gene Barlow
User Group Relations
PO Box 911600
St George, UT 84791-1600
gene@ugr.com or www.ugr.com
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CCCC Page 8 April 2007
XP DISK MANAGEMENT
by Dick Trissel from e-mail newsletter
Windows XP includes a utility called Disk Management that provides virtually
every tool you'll need to manage disks, partitions, volumes, and logical
drives. The Disk Management utility is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
snap-in, and it can be accessed in either of the following ways:
At any command prompt, enter diskmgmt.msc.
Right-click the My Computer icon on the Start menu, choose Manage, and then
select Disk Management from the console pane on the left side of the
Computer Management window.
Disk Management provides a wealth of information about physical disks and
the volumes, partitions, and logical drives in place on those disks. You can
use this utility to perform virtually any disk-related task. If you've
recently upgraded from Windows 98 or Windows Me, this set of tools will be
as welcome as a breath of fresh air. Instead of the ancient and arcane Fdisk
and the command-line Format utility, you can use this sleek graphical tool
to perform any of the following tasks:
Check the size, file system, status, and other properties of disks and
volumes
Create partitions, logical drives, and volumes
Format volumes
Delete partitions, logical drives, and volumes
Assign drive letters to hard disk volumes, removable disk drives, and CD-
ROM drives
Create mounted drives
Convert basic disks to dynamic disks, and vice versa
Create spanned volumes and striped volumes, which combine storage space
from two or more disks into a single drive letter
Extend volumes to increase the size of a drive using free space from the
same disk or another disk in the same system
For the most part, when you make changes to your disk configuration with the
Disk Management utility you don't need to restart your computer. With tasks
that are potentially destructive, such as deleting a partition or formatting
a drive, you'll still have to click through one or two "Are you sure?"
messages. But after you give your assent, Disk Management makes the changes
immediately.
Some of these disk management tasks also apply to removable disks (such as
Zip disks and CDs). For example, you can use Disk Management to format a Zip
disk (although there's no particular reason to, because you can also format
from other programs that you're more likely to have open: Windows Explorer
or a command prompt). More important, you use Disk Management to assign
drive letters (or drive paths for mounted drives, if you prefer) for all
types of drives-a task you can't perform elsewhere.
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CCCC Page 9 April 2007
MORE ABOUT MICROSOFT PLUS! SUPERPACK
by Dick Trissel
What is Microsoft Plus! SuperPack for Windows XP, and why do you need it?
It is a program set on two CDs. One CD is Microsoft Plus! for XP, and the
other is Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition. These may sound familiar to
you as they have existed separately in earlier releases (around year 2001).
An early reviewer wrote, "Microsoft Plus! has the programs that should have
been included in the original Windows XP." The Plus! CD files are dated
2002, but the copyright is 2004.
The SuperPack lists for $19.99 including Microsoft Plus! Digital Media
Edition. Microsoft Plus! Digital Media sells separately for $14.99. For
more information go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/PlusHome.asp
and http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/updates.asp
The minimum and recommended requirements for Plus! Super Pack are as
follows:
750-MHz processor (500 MHz processor minimum required), 256 MB RAM or higher
recommended (128 MB minimum required), 400 MB of free hard disk space,
Windows XP-compatible sound card, CD-ROM or DVD drive, Super VGA (800 x 600)
or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor, Video adapter with 3-D
graphics acceleration and 16 MB of memory (minimum), Internet access having
56 Kbps or higher telephone/fax modem, cable modem, or DSL modem (necessary
to activate Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition.)
The following is a list of the additional items required to use certain
Plus! features:
Computer microphone, Printer, 2 GB of free hard disk space, CD burner drive,
Sound card with a line-in port, Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2 (XP SP2),
1.5 GHz or higher processor.
*** MICROSOFT PLUS! ***
Here is a list of the programs on the Microsoft Plus! CD:
CD Label Maker--Design and print labels for your CDs, and inserts and
booklets for your CD cases.
Games--HyperBowl, Russian Square, The Labyrinth Plus! Edition
MP3 Audio Converter--Free up significant disk space by converting MP3 audio
files to Windows Media Audio (.WMA) files.
Personal DJ--Easy to create custom playlists using the songs in the Media
Library in Windows Media Player for Windows XP.
Screensavers--Mercury Pool, Robot Circus, Sand Pendulum.
Skins and 3-D Visualizations--For Windows Media Player.
Speaker Enhancement--Improves the sound quality of the audio played
by Microsoft Windows Media Player.
Voice Command--Voice Command for Windows Media Player enables you to control
Microsoft Windows Media Player by simply speaking commands.
Windows--Wallpaper (Aquarium, Nature, Space, daVinci).
*** MICROSOFT PLUS! DIGITAL MEDIA EDITION ***
Internet access is mandatory for Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition
because it has to be activated over the Internet.
Here is a list of the programs on the Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition
CD and their special requirements:
Plus! Photo Story--Helps you create exciting video stories from your
pictures that you can share with family and friends.
Plus! Sound card--requires a microphone to record narration.
Plus! Analog Recorder--Transfer music from your analog audio device, such as
a record, cassette, eight-track, or reel-to-reel player, to your digital
music library--requires a sound card with a line-in port.
Plus! CD Label Maker--Design and print custom labels for your compact discs
(CDs), and inserts (or index cards) and booklets for your CD cases--requires
a printer.
Plus! Dancer--Displays a two-dimensional, animated dancer or pair of dancers
on your Windows desktop--requires 680 MB of free hard disk space to install
both large and small dancers.
Plus! Sync & Go for Pocket PC--Synchronize content quickly and easily
between your desktop computer and portable device--requires Microsoft
Windows Mobile™ 2003 software for Pocket PCs, Microsoft Pocket PC 2002
software, or Microsoft Pocket PC 2000 software (Compaq iPAQ only), and 64 MB
or greater CompactFlash, PC Card (PCMCIA), MultiMedia (MMC), or
SecureDigital (SD) Pocket PC storage card.
Plus! Effects & Transitions for Movie Maker 2--includes 25 new video effects
and 25 new video transitions that you can use to enhance the movies you
create and edit using Windows Movie Maker 2--requires audio capture device
to capture audio from external sources, video capture device (digital or
analog) to capture video from external sources.
Plus! Effects & Transitions for Movie Maker 2--Includes 25 new video effects
and 25 new video transitions that you can use to enhance the movies you
create and edit using Windows Movie Maker--requires Microsoft Windows Movie
Maker 2, audio capture device to capture audio from external sources, video
capture device (digital or analog) to capture video from external sources.
Plus! Party Mode for Windows Media Player--Turns your computer into a
jukebox that you and your guests can use to play music and other content
from Windows Media Player Media Library.
Plus! Audio Converter--Optimize your audio files by converting them to
Windows Media Audio (WMA) files or MP3 files, if you have an MP3 encoder
installed on your computer.
Plus! Alarm Clock--Schedule alarms that play your music or audio content in
Windows Media Player.
Plus! Sleep Timer--Set a timer that turns off the audio and video content
playing in Windows Media Player after a specified number of minutes.
Plus! Skins for Windows Media Player 9 Series--Eight Plus! Skins that enable
you to personalize the appearance and features of Windows Media Player 9
Series.
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