C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XV: NUMBER 8 AUGUST, 2000
NEXT MEETING: AUGUST 15, 2000 7:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(3) July Internet SIG/Windows Key Dick Trissel
(5) Editor's Comments/T.I.F. Index Dick Trissel
(6) Review: DriveImage Program Ray Isenson
(7) Saving Web Pages Dick Trissel
(8) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(9) Exploring Windows Explorer PT3 Dick Trissel
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Officers Helplines
President Juno
Charles Barney 937-1240 Gilbert Smith 925-3743
cbarney@lightspeed.net colgil1@juno.com
Vice President Windows 95
Frank Maciel 922-2318 Amy Malicki 925-5780
frm8198@juno.com amymal@juno.com
Secretary Hardware & DOS
Barbara Godwin 934-9885 Ray Isenson 937-6938
yungbag@best1.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer Voice control & Input/Output
Gerald Miller 934-1396 Amy Malicki 925-5780
gmiller33@excite.com amymal@juno.com
Librarian Desktop Publishing & scanners
Sharon Allen 928-2209 Don Harelson 934-3926
sallen4060@aol.com qef1@juno.com
Publicity Software User Identification
Bill Corning 934-0775 Fred Adams 934-1128
foster95@juno.com fred421@juno.com
Newsletter Editor Visual Basic
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Gerald Miller
rtrissel@slonet.org Gmiller33@excite.com
Program Chairman
Ray Isenson 937-6938
risenson@juno.com
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Windows 95/98 Internet
Amy Malicki Dick Trissel
amymal@juno.com rtrissel@slonet.org
CCCC Membership is $15 for twelve months. For this you receive:
Monthly newsletter
Access to the clubs software library
Disk of the month (usually for $1)
Helpline support
Monthly presentation
Valuable door prizes
Question and answer sessions
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CCCC Page 2 August 2000
President's Corner
by Charles Barney
As many of you know, I was away on vacation during the July 18th meeting
and, thanks to Vice President Frank Maciel filling-in, things continued to
function smoothly. A scout informed me that it was a good meeting with
about 80 persons in attendance.
Our own Ray Isenson, after scrambling to overcome some unforeseen technical
difficulties, gave the assembly a chilling demonstration of the
vulnerabilities to cyber attacks we face going online and some measures to
defend ourselves from unwanted intrusions.
Faithful club secretary Barbara Godwin provided me with a list of
winners/losers in the evening's door prize drawing as follows: 1) Al
Paquette, Winner - Ream of Paper. 2) Allen Alderson - Absent, Carol
Chambard, Winner - Easy Roller Trackball. 3) Win Campbell, Winner - Test
Drive Off Road 2. 4) Ray Shafer, Winner - Printmaster Classic 7.0. 5) Bill
Rust, Winner - Easy FamilyTree. 6) George Spingler, Winner - America's
Toughest 18 Holes. 7) Charles High, Winner - Bugs & Butterflies Animated
Screensaver. Wow, that's only one person who's name was called and not
present - that's pretty darn good!
Don't forget the August meeting slips in early on the 15th this time, so
mark your calendars. I look forward to seeing you all at the clubhouse. -
Charles
____________________________________________________________
How to set the default ISP for the DUN connections.
1. Go to Control Panel/Internet/Connection
2. In the Connection Section, choose Settings
3. Choose the DialUp Network connection you want (scroll for the
choices)
4. Adjust the logon info, etc.
5. OK your way back out.
____________________________________________________________
** WANTED: IDE 2X CD-ROM DRIVE. Call Ray Isenson 937-6938 **
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CCCC Page 3 August 2000
July Internet S.I.G.
by Dick Trissel
We started the July Internet S.I.G. even earlier than the announced 5:45pm
as there were already attendees with questions. Ultimately, we had 31
attendees in a room with 20 chairs. At least, no one has a problem hearing
what's going on.
The first problem involved an AOL user doing file downloads. After the
download is selected, Internet Explorer is invoked and the download is
interrupted. No solution was presented.
Several of us commented on our satisfaction with the free JUNO e-mail/Web
service. However, one criticism was the lack of a news server on JUNO to
access USENET. Some users say they lose the connection to JUNO
occasionally. Then, during the presentation later by Ray Isenson, we
weren't able to login to JUNO on the first attempt.
There was a short discussion about Internet cookies. I recommended users
look at the actual content of some of the cookies in the Windows\Cookies
folder. Although most of the content is unintelligible, some is
enlightening. As far as the recommendation as to whether to delete
cookies, it all depends. Some cookies are needed for user identification,
but most are for the Web site's use and can be deleted. The way to tell
what is needed is to delete all cookies, go to the Web site in question,
then immediately logoff and look at what cookies got written.
Control of whether cookies are accepted (allowed to be written into the
cookie folder), not accepted, or user queried, can be controlled in the Web
browser options. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools (or View)/Internet
Options/Advanced and scroll to Cookies.
Because the regular presentation was to be on computer security, I
recommended the best security for private documents is to archive them onto
mass media storage--floppies, Zip, CD, or another hard drive (or use a
separate non-online computer). If the files aren't on your computer while
it is online, they are safe--as the new generation would say--DUH!
There was a brief discussion of the free voice mail service called e-voice.
I have had excellent service and recommend it. It is available at:
http://www.evoice.com
Phone calls that come while your phone line is busy (or if allowed to ring
a certain number of times) will be intercepted with a personal message to
the caller and the caller can leave a message. You are then notified (if
you choose) by e-mail, or by calling e-voice by phone, or by going to their
Web site. In all instances, the audio message is available, either on your
phone or on your computer.
(continued next page)
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CCCC Page 4 August 2000
July Internet S.I.G.
(continued)
Because of the member e-mail list signup sheet available again this month,
I explained that it will be used if we need to send a mid-month
announcement. Any message sent will NOT contain the list of recipients.
This is because BCC (Blind Courtesy Copy) will be used--only your address
will be in the message header.
Some problems and answers that were presented:
RealPlayer 7 for streaming audio not working. Another user uses it with no
problem--no solution.
Find list of file extensions on the Web--
http://www.cknow.com/ckinfo/acronyms/fileaextensions.htm
http://whatis.com/ff.htm#a
Change file associations (what application runs for a particular file
type)--
To get the application option, right-click on the file, select Open With,
choose the appropriate application from the menu. Be sure to uncheck the
option to use that application for that file type, unless you want that.
How often should you defrag?--Kim Komando says, once a week. I suggest you
turn off the screen saver, virtual memory, and any running programs before
starting a defrag.
Where can one get a hexadecimal display file editor?--One Web site for
Hexedit is:
http://www.chez.com/prigaux/hexedit.html
Hexedit is a DOS based hexadecimal/text display file editor.
A comment was made that chain e-mail letters should not be forwarded-AMEN
____________________________________________________________
Windows Keys
Ever wonder what good those "Windows Keys" are (the two on the bottom row
with the windows flag on them? Well now you will know.
Use your Windows key to open a variety of commands quickly.
The Windows key will access the Start menu when it's pressed.
You can also depress the Windows key and press the letter E to
launch Windows Explorer.
The Windows-F combination will launch the File Finder.
To minimize all windows, press the letter M while holding down the
Windows key.
Conversely, you can maximize all windows by depressing the Windows
key and pressing Shift-M.
To access the Start menu's Run command, simply hold down the Windows
key and press the letter R on your keyboard.
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CCCC Page 5 August 2000
Editor's Comments
by Dick Trissel
It's time for another reminder of the presence of the CCCC Web site at:
http://member.apcug.org/fourseas
You may not be aware that along with several other useful links, there is a
link to a section that has verbatim copies of the clubs newsletters since
February 2000. So, if there's an article that you want to read again, it's
there.
Also, there is a link to a table of contents for all the newsletters since
January 1998.
In this month's newsletter there's an article on how to save information
from Web sites using your browser. This way you can put a copy of the
newsletter in a file and print it out.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the members that have
contributed to the CCCC newsletter since I've taken the "temporary" job as
editor. As you probably have noticed, there's not much "white" space as a
consequence of lack of material. This doesn't mean I don't still want any
and all articles you care to submit. I'll use most anything (preferrably,
computer or club related).
And I also want suggestions as to what you want to see in "your"
newsletter. Do you want, computer-world news articles, program reviews,
technical stuff (in the computer world, "stuff" is a technical term),
puzzles (word and math), local gossip (Bruce took Maggie home after last
month's meeting), or what? This is your newsletter-you're paying for it.
____________________________________________________________
T.I.F. Index.dat Delete
by Dick Trissel
OK, you've finally decided to delete all the Temporary Internet Files
(T.I.F.) to get back those umpsteen megabytes of disk space. But, when you
check the T.I.F. properties, you still have several hundred kilobytes being
used. Where are they? AHA! They are in a special file that's not
listable called index.dat in the T.I.F. folder (there's one in the Cookies
folder, also). And, like all the other T.I.F. folders and files, it can be
removed without hurting anything. It will be recreated by the system, but
only about 32Kb in size.
The trick is how to delete the index.dat file if you can't see it. Since
it is a system file, you have to do the job in DOS--real DOS, not Windows
DOS. So, go to Start/Shut Down/Restart in MS-DOS. This will put you into
DOS at the C:\Windows> prompt. Type:
cd tempor~1 and press Enter.
Now you are at the
C:\Windows\tempor~1> directory. Type:
dir and press Enter.
You should see the index.dat file listed. Type:
del index.dat and press Enter.
Type dir and Enter again and it should be gone.
To get back to Windows, just type:
exit and press Enter for a restart.
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CCCC Page 6 August 2000
Review: DRIVE IMAGE v3.0
by Ray Isenson
Considerably more versatile than the similarly named PowerQuest program,
Drive Copy, reviewed last month, Drive Image 3.0 provides a fast, easily
used means for managing the information stored on your hard drive. Drive
Image support isn't limited to operating systems in the Microsoft Windows
family although installation and implementation is somewhat easier for
them. It will handle almost any personal computer operating system in use
today; including OS/2, DOS 5.0 or later and Linux ext2. (It does not
support Windows NT Server or Windows 2000 Sever.)
Like Drive Copy, it can be used to upgrade from an existing hard drive to a
new one. Clear instructions for so doing are included in the 100 plus page
printed manual. If this is the user's sole objective, Drive Copy is easier
to employ. However, Drive Image is so versatile, so powerful, that it is a
must for any serious personal computer user.
For the typical home computer user, Drive Image makes sense of the
humongous hard drives currently being sold. Similarly, it makes practical
the use of a second installed hard drive or an external hard drive or a ZIP
drive. It is a very flexible, very elegant utility for backing up
(imaging) part or all of a hard drive. Selectively, it can be used to
create an image copy of an operating system partition. Thus, in the event
of a catastrophic accident, the damaged partition can easily be restored
rather than requiring a complete new installation. Or, depending upon the
size of the hard drive and number of programs and amount of stored data, a
data partition or even the entire utilized portion of the drive can be
backed up in another area of that drive or to one of the other above listed
devices. If needed, then, the entire hard drive can be restored with the
punch of a button.
The image copy is a compressed version of the original. However, included
in Drive Image is a special file editor that can be used under Windows 95,
98 or NT. With it the user can get into the compressed image and
selectively call out, copy or remove any part or parts of interest. As one
further bonus, Drive Image 3.0 provides many of the features of another
PowerQuest program, Partition Magic. With it one can create, remove or
resize partitions on the drive; all while following simple, explicit
functions that are presented on the computer monitor. A final bonus is a
free copy of another PowerQuest file management program, DataKeeper 3.0.
Data keeper is a program that creates backup data files on a continuous
basis with little or no intervention on the user's part.
The free copy is downloadable from PowerQuest's WEB site when Drive Image
3.0 is registered.
The best part, user group members may purchase Drive Image 3.0 at a special
$30 price by ordering from the secure web site at: www.ugr.com/order/
Indicate the special price code of UGEVAL00 with your order.
Drive Image, PowerQuest Corp. P.O. Box 1911
Orem, UT 84059
tel 801-437-8900
Special UG price, $30
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CCCC Page 7 August 2000
Saving Web Pages
by Dick Trissel
In Internet Explorer there are five ways to save a Web page you are viewing
online so that you can use the text or graphics offline. I will explain
each method for I.E. Netscape users have the same capability and will have
to find the equivalent commands.
There are five ways to save Web pages in Internet Explorer.
A Web page display may be made up of text, frames, tables, graphics or
combinations thereof. My use of the term Web page includes everything you
see by scrolling up, down or sideways; not just the one screen display.
Let's deal with the overall page content first.
Save As
While viewing the Web page of interest, click on the File option in the
toolbar and choose Save As. Choose the folder, file name, and file type.
If you choose HTML as the file type, you'll get a full copy of the Web
page-not just the single screen display. If you choose TXT as the file
type, you'll get just the words in the Web page with blank areas where the
.graphics were. Make a note as to where you put the file.
Selected Text
Let's say you only want all the words from the Web page. Click on the Edit
option and choose Select All. Then click on Edit and choose Copy. This
puts all the text (no graphics) into your clipboard. Remember, you have to
save from the clipboard into another application before putting anything
else in the clipboard or you'll lose the first copy. Another way to do a
Select all is to put the mouse pointer on a region of text (not a graphic)
and do a right click. Then choose Select All.
If you just want certain words from the text, use the mouse left button to
select and then Edit/Copy.
Graphics and Frames
Now let's say you want to save that neat graphic from the Web page. Put
the mouse pointer on the graphic, press the right button, and choose Save
Picture As. Choose the folder, file name and file type.
Or you can choose to save the graphic as a background. Use the Save As
Wallpaper option.
Print Screen
If you want a graphical image of the entire screen display (including
scroll bars, etc.), press the Print Scrn button on your keyboard (upper
right area). This puts a graphic in the clipboard.
Temporary Internet Files
Now it gets tricky. While you are online, the Web page body, the graphics,
the sounds, etc. are all put into the Temporary Internet Files folder.
This means you can go offline and then re-display all the pages, graphics,
etc. over again. And, from them, extract the same stuff I described above
using the same techniques.
Using Windows Explorer, go to Windows\Temporary Internet Files folder.
Double click the appropriate file, and choose to stay offline. You may
have to say OK to a warning message.
Or, go offline with Internet Explorer, choose File/Open/Browse.
Choose Windows\Temporary Internet Files. Choose File-Type/ All. Scroll
through the files and double click the file of interest.
Summary
The two main operations to capturing information from a Web page is the use
of the Save to a file, and the use of the clipboard. And remembering where
you put the darned files.
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CCCC Page 8 August 2000
Web Wanderings
by Gil Smith
Here are some web sites which you may find interesting, and/or useful.
1] http:// www.time.gov - The official time for any TIME zone which you
want to check. It gives a continuous change each second. You may have to
pick a time when everyone else isn't trying to check the time.
2] http://www.nature.com - This is the web site of the International
Weekly Journal of SCIENCE. I found Issue # 1 (4 Nov, 1869) interesting and
also the article on Souped Up Search Engines. For scientists, finding the
information they want on the world wide web is a hit-and-miss affair. More
sophisticated and specialized search technologies are promising to change
all that.
3] http://www.google.com - This is one of the more advanced SEARCH ENGINES
mentioned in the Nature web site. It is fast. The more specific you
enter the item on which you want information, the fewer number of options
(links) you will receive. Type in any item and you will get many many
possible locations where you can find information on it.
4] http://www.usps.gov/nscs/
lookups/lookup_zip+4.html - If you have an address (street, city, and
state) this web site will give you the 9-digit ZIP CODE for that address.
If you want to speed up mail delivery, use the 9-digit number.
5] http://www.earningswhispers.
com/stocks.asp - It's always a good idea to know how your PORTFOLIO is
doing. The Whisper Report provides detailed information on analysts and
earnings estimates for the most actively traded stocks, earnings surprise
information, and company warnings. Since earnings are the # 1 factor that
drives stock, it is important for you to get the most accurate estimates
for your stock.
6] http://www.bluemountain.com - For sending that ELECTRONIC GREETING CARD
for any occasion and in any language. Cards are musically animated and
have a place to include a personal note. Especially handy when you
remember a birthday or other special date and don't have time to mail a
card.
____________________________________________________________
Getting File Properties
You hear people talk about getting the "properties" of a file or folder.
How do you do that? One way is to do a right-click on the file or folder
and choose Properties. Another way is to select the file or folder (single
click) and the press Alt and Enter simultaneously. Which is easier? It's
your choice.
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CCCC Page 9 August 2000
Exploring Windows Explorer
Part 3
by Dick Trissel
Before I get into the actual folder and file manipulation, I want to list a
few of the most used keyboard shortcuts for Windows Explorer. There are
nearly a hundred Windows keyboard shortcuts, and not all apply in Explorer.
These listed do.
KEY ACTION
F1 Help
F2 Rename the selected file or folder
F3 Find dialog box
F4 Drop-down address list
F5 Refresh (update) the display
F6 or Tab Move the focus from pane to pane to address.
F10 Selects File in Toolbar
Backspace Move up one level in the folder hierarchy
Arrow keys Move up and down the folder tree or file list.
OR
Right arrow Expand the selected folder or go to subfolder.
Left arrow Collapse the selected folder or go to parent folder.
CTRL+Arrow keys OR PgUp and PgDn keys
Scroll the left or right pane.
Enter Runs the right-pane selected file or opens a folder.
Shift+F10 Same as right click (displays the context menu).
Keypad + Expand selected folder (same as Right Arrow).
Keypad - Collapse selected folder (same as Left Arrow).
Keypad * Expand all levels of subfolders
Alt+Spacebar Open the system menu (restore, move, size,
maximize, close).
Alt+Enter Display the folder's properties sheets.
Letter(s) Jump to first or next folder starting with those letters.
Alt+F4 Close Explorer (or any application in Windows).
The following are dangerous in Explorer:
CTRL+A Select all right-pane items.
CTRL+X Cut selected item.
CTRL+C Copy selected item.
CTRL+V Paste copied or cut item/
CTRL+Z Undo a previous action (repeat for multiple actions).
Delete Puts selected item in Recycle Bin.
Shift+Delete Deletes item permanently (not into Recycle Bin).
There are a few more general Windows keyboard shortcuts applicable to
Windows Explorer. These listed ought to suffice for awhile.
All of these shortcut actions can be accomplished with mouse actions and
menu selections. Use what is comfortable for you.
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