C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XVI: NUMBER 12 December, 2001
NEXT MEETING: December 18, 2001 7:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: Christmas Party
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(4) President's Corner Addendum Charles Barney
(4) Editor's Comments Dick Trissel
(5) November Internet S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(6) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(7) Review: PQ's PartitionMagicV7.0 Ray Isenson
(8) Browser Cache Names Ray Isenson
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Officers Helplines
President Juno
Charles Barney 937-1240 Gilbert Smith 925-3743
cbarney@lightspeed.net Gs5081@aol.com
Vice President Windows 95/98/ME & Voice Control
Phil Grycel 937-1805 Amy Malicki 925-5780
feliksy@juno.com amymal@juno.com
Secretary Hardware & DOS
Barbara Godwin 934-9885 Ray Isenson 937-6938
yung.bag@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer AOL
Gerald Miller 934-1396 Frank Maciel 922-2318
2741 Banyan Way frm8198@aol.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
gmiller33@excite.com
Librarian Help With Any Problem
Sharon Allen 928-2209 Dick Savage 928-4932
sallen4060@aol.com rsavage65@hotmail.com
Publicity Help With Any Problem
Bill Corning 934-0775 Fred Adams 934-1128
foster95@juno.com wd64acj@netzero.net
Newsletter Editor Visual Basic
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Gerald Miller
rtrissel@juno.com Gmiller33@excite.com
Program Chairman AOL
Ray Isenson 937-6938 Frank Maciel 922-2318
risenson@juno.com frm8198@aol.com
Special Interest Groups (S.I.G.s)
Windows 95/98/ME Internet (5:45pm)
Amy Malicki Dick Trissel
amymal@juno.com rtrissel@juno.com
CCCC Membership is $15 for twelve months ($20 family). For this you
receive:
Monthly newsletter
EXTRA4C E-mail Messages
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 December 2001
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Charles Barney
A nice crowd of 71 people turned out on a chilly late-Fall evening for our
meeting on November 20th. New enrollees in the CCCC were Maureen Morrow,
Hank Dolcini and Jack Sutherlin. Welcome folks! We are thrilled to have you
join our group and it is our sincere wish that you will find your time
spent with us enjoyable as well as educational. Also, I'd like to
personally commend all of you for your courage to come to the meeting in
the first place. I remember how it feels going to that first meeting in a
strange place, not knowing anyone and wondering what the heck was going on.
It would be much easier just to stay home in these situations, but then we
would miss out on many of the best things life has to offer, wouldn't we?
Thank you for taking that first big step!
Our annual election was held and the club officers for 2002 were decided on
by the voting membership. I am pleased to be returning as your President in
the coming year along with Gerald Miller-Vice President, Barbara Godwin-
Secretary and Dick Savage-Treasurer.
The evening's program was presented by myself on Adobe Photoshop Elements.
This recent entry into the digital image editing arena is Adobe's attempt
to bridge the gap between the high and low-end types of picture editor
programs. The target users are those who are considered "enthusiasts;" not
quite beginners, but also those who have no need to purchase and learn a
professional program like the full-blown Photoshop. By stepping through a
number of various photo "enhancing" projects, I attempted to show something
of how the program's interface works and a few of its capabilities. It is
my hope that you will agree with me that Adobe has succeeded in producing a
value package with a good balance of features along with ease of use. Also,
that image editing can be a lot of fun!
After the presentation, packets were passed around to all those present
containing a CD with a number of "sampler" programs from Adobe. Another
included CD has a fully functional 30-day free trial of the Photoshop
Elements program.
I would encourage you all to try it out if you have not already done so.
There are a few packets remaining, so if you did not attend the meeting and
would like one, let me know.
The door prize winners for the evening were Jack Tyo - Printmaster Gold
Deluxe, Bill Corning - Conversion Plus Suite from DataViz, Win Campbell -
Electronic Arts' Need For Speed car racing game, Robert Dixon - Microsoft
Pinball Arcade, Spence Stimler - Green Street Publisher 3 and Fred Adams -
Techsmith's Camtasia. Unfortunate no-shows were Richard Holmes, Warren
Randall, Roy Grisso, Bob Gallagher, Ira Irwin and Dick Savage (who had to
leave early) - sorry Dick!
A new trial endeavor by the club this past month has been the Extra4C e-
mail broadcasting. This allows timely intercommunication in matters of
interest to the general membership. I believe that this resource has great
potential and would encourage you all to participate in it. Dick Trissel,
who is administering the program, does not have all of your current e-mail
addresses however. This is strictly voluntary, but if you want to be
included in this club activity, please send Dick an e-mail to that effect
or sign up on the list that will be circulating at the next meeting.
At this time of the year, I like to recognize the many people who have
contributed their time and efforts to club service and who also make my job
a lot easier; the ones that unselfishly give of themselves so that you may
better enjoy your club experience. Applause is due to staff members Vice
President-Phil Grycel, Secretary-Barbara Godwin, Treasurer-Gerald Miller,
Librarian-Sharon Allen and Program Chairman-Ray Isenson; Past President
Advisor-Gilbert Smith; Publicity Manager-Bill Corning; SIG leader and
Advisor-Amy Malicki; SIG leader, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, etc.-Dick
Trissel; Kitchen Workers-Barbara Flood and Eldean Voris; Clubhouse Setup
Director-Fred Adams; Setup Assistant-Carl Geisler; Backup Treasurer-Howard
Williams; Free Materials Table Manager-Glen Wood; Election Committee Chair-
Ken Stiffler; 50-50 Drawing Manager and Equipment Technician-Vic
McLaughlin; Backup 50-50 Drawing Manager-Spence Stimler; Help Coordinator-
Dick Savage and Greeter-Bob Sanford. Thank you all and I hope I didn't
forget anybody!
We will be having our annual club Christmas party at the next meeting on
December 18th and no SIGs or program are scheduled. Everyone is asked to
bring "finger foods" to the event; something easy to handle and yummy! The
utensils and beverages will be provided. If you attended last year's party,
you know that there were some pretty nice door prizes given away. This year
Santa has outdone himself and has promised me that we will have the best
prize drawing ever! I hope to see you at the clubhouse for this traditional
and fun year-end event.
Wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful holiday season. -Charles
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CCCC Page 3 December 2001
PRESIDENT'S CORNER ADDENDUM
And now, unfortunately, I will have to play the Grinch for a while. Folks,
we are in jeopardy of losing our meeting place at the Knollwood Village
Clubhouse due to the careless and disrespectful behavior of some of our
members! That's right, we could lose our wonderful facility that has been
the 4C's base for several years now. The problem stems from a complaint
against the club by the Knollwood manager on the day following the November
20th meeting. According to the manager, there was coffee with cream spilled
on the carpet in the main room, papers scattered in the lobby and trash
left in the ashtray outside the front entrance. This sloppiness is totally
unacceptable! It is a privilege for us to use the facility (at no cost to
the club) as guests of the Knollwood residents. The management is clearly
displeased with the condition we left the place in and has indicated that
in order to continue our use, things will have to improve considerably. To
that end, I ask for your cooperation in treating the meeting place with the
same respect you would your own home. I know that accidents will happen,
but they should be owned up to and taken care of on the spot. We will be
providing more convenient trash receptacles and I would like some
volunteers to stay after the meetings and make sure everything is left
clean and orderly. We must do a better job of caring for this facility
people, for if we do not, the consequences are unthinkable! -Charles
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CCCC Page 4 December 2001
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
by Dick Trissel
I'm pleased to announce that the new EXTRA4C e-mail newsletter is being
very well received. I want to thank all the subscribers that have written
telling me how much they appreciate it.
In addition to the initial test mailing and the lost notebook message, we
have sent out the following messages:
EXTRA4C 24/11/01 Thanksgiving poem
EXTRA4C 24/11/01 Knollwood Clubhouse Complaint
EXTRA4C 25/11/01 Microsoft Support Ending
EXTRA4C 26/11/01 instakiss Virus Warning
EXTRA4C 28/11/01 Exploring Windows Explorer Part 1 of 4
EXTRA4C 29/11/01 Trojan/Worm w32.badtrans.B@mm
EXTRA4C 01/12/01 E-mail Newsletters
EXTRA4C 03/12/01 LangaList Standard Edition 2001-12-03
If anyone wants a back issue, send an e-mail to EXTRA4C@juno.com requesting
the issue by name.
As of this writing, we only have about two-thirds of the membership
subscribing. Anyone wishing to subscribe, send an e-mail to:
extra4c@juno.com and say subscribe. Anyone wishing to unsubscribe, send an
e-mail to: extra4c@juno.com and say unsubscribe.
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CCCC Page 5 December 2001
NOVEMBER INTERNET S.I.G.
by Dick Trissel
What a great turnout for a holiday week meeting. There were 35 members in
attendance.
We had a lot of discussion about Juno e-mail. If you are having a problem
forwarding messages with attachments and having the attachment included, go
to Options / E-mail Options and check the box for "Include all attachments
in forwarded messages". While you are there you can check the box for
"Save all sender's addresses", if you so desire. This is also available in
Outlook Express in Tools / Options / General "Automatically put people I
reply to in my Address Book".
There was a lengthy discussion about "firewalls". A popular (and free)
software firewall is ZoneAlarm. It can be downloaded from
http://www.grc.com. At this Web site there also is a free online test of
the vulnerability of your computer.
A firewall is not the same as virus protection. However, some virus
protection software companies will also provide firewalls.
There was a brief discussion about HTML (Web site) frames. A frame
displayed by your Web browser is effectively a separate item on the Web
page. And, therefore, must be handled separately. That is, you have to
select it if you want to save it. If you look at your browser cache
(Temporary Internet Files, if you are using Internet Explorer), the *.gif,
*.jpg, etc. type files are used in frames.
There was a question of why a user's system quit allowing him to click on a
URL (Web link) embedded in an e-mail, which should result in the browser
being invoked. This was in Outlook Express. It was suggested he verify
the settings in Internet Explorer that it (IE) is the default browser, and
check Outlook Express for any options pertaining to this problem. We used
the club's computer to demonstrate this procedure.
The caution about "spyware" was made. Spyware is the attempt by a Web site
to detect where you are going on the Web and what you are interested in, so
they can tailor their advertising and spam e-mail to you. This can be done
with Web site programs in real time, or may be in the form of cookies on
your computer for future reference. There are spyware prevention programs
available. I believe one is named AdWare. Or, you can delete the cookie
files from your system.
We talked about how you should "compact" ("compress" in Juno) folders with
deleted contents. For example, in Outlook Express-delete messages in a
folder; then delete the files in the Delete folder; then go to Files /
Folders / Compact. The original disk space is not made available until you
compact the folder--even after deleting the Delete folder contents. Also,
disk defrag operation will NOT free up the disk space until you perform a
compact operation.
That brought up my advise to defrag often--every week is good. If you are
doing a defrag often enough, it should only take 3 or 4 minutes. However,
it's a good policy to turn off the screen saver, power management, anti-
virus, and anything else running so the defrag operation doesn't get
interrupted.
There was a brief mention of setting "Virtual Memory" to a fixed amount--
good idea, more at another time.
Before the meeting, Fred Adams was demonstrating a programmable phone modem
for a cell phone--reminiscent of the original acoustical modems of 20 years
ago, but with a modern twist.
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CCCC Page 6 December 2001
WEB WANDERINGS
by Gil Smith
THE LATEST NEWS
Here's a news site that grabs information off of other news sites and gives
you the very latest headlines from all over the world. If you're looking
for an article on a breaking story, you'll enjoy this site.
http://www.newsblip.com/
SO YOU WANNA?
You wanna learn how to do something? Here's an awesome site that will
help. They can show you how to do everything from finding an apartment to
playing better poker. Very bookmark-able!
http://www.soyouwanna.com
MISS ABBIGAIL
Check out Miss Abigail's time warp advice. Folks ask her questions and she
and Ann Landers type answers - but with a twist. She also includes answers
to similar questions that were asked years ago (sometimes over 100 years
ago). I guess we have the same problems, just in different times.
http://www.missabigail.com/
JUST FOR WOMEN
Looking for an online site that's just for women? Here it is. It covers
tons of topics; everything from home and family to careers and health.
http://www.women.com/
FIGURE IT OUT
Are you looking for some information? Check out Knowledge Hound. Tons of
great information on just about everything. A must have link for anyone
who has school reports to do.
http://www.knowledgehound.com/
PHONE VIA COMPUTER
Net2phone Comm Center is the latest in Internet calling software. Now you
can call any telephone or any Communications Center-enabled computer
anywhere in the world - right from your computer with ease. The software
can be downloaded and it's free.
http://www.net2phone.com/
EXPLORE MATH
Do you or your kids or grandkids need help with math? Well, here's a site
that gives you kind of an alternate way to learn high school math. They do
it in a more visual, interactive way. Check it out.
http://exploremath.com/
NEWS FORECAST
Wanna know what the news is 'going' to be? Here's a site that tries to
tell you just that. Forget about keeping up with current events, know it
before it happens.
http://www.newsahead.com/
THERE GOES MY HERO
With all of the bad news, sometimes the world seems like a very cruel
place. But positive things do happen and this site recognizes the heroes
that do good in this world. Get inspired by the heroic deeds of others!
http://www.heroicstories.com
PC EMERGENCY 911
For every computer problem solution imaginable, go to:
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto
CORRECTION: Last months AUTO SHOP ONLINE URL should be:
http://www.autoshop-online.com
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CCCC Page 7 December 2001
REVIEW: POWERQUEST'S PARTITIONMAGIC V7.0
by Ray Isenson
Partition Magic, Powerquest's queen of hard drive management programs, is
now available as version 7.0. Do you need a copy in your software
repertoire? Read on!
In keeping with their prior practices, software engineers at Powerquest
have made the requisite changes to keep up with the hardware and software
states of the arts. Functional limits of this latest version have been
enlarged to include Windows XP, hard drives up to 80 GBytes in size and to
split partitions and data at the folder level. None of the desirable
features of the earlier versions (see FourSeas Newsletters for January and
December of CY 2000 for reviews of PM 5.0 and PM 6.0, respectively) have
been dropped. Again, in keeping with past practices, at least one very
desirable function was added. PartitionMagic v7.0 includes a utility that
will erase securely all files on a hard drive that is intended to be
recycled.
As reviews of previous versions have argued, Partition Magic is an
invaluable tool for optimizing hard drive space utilization and file
allocation.
With the advent of Windows XP a new and significant aspect of concern
emerges. Rather than being built on an MS-DOS base, Windows XP emulates
MS-DOS. Doing so allows it to run some DOS applications but not all.
Further, Windows XP cannot handle some older Windows applications, versions
of America OnLine (AOL) software prior to version 7 being prime examples.
This review focuses on the value of PM v7 as a tool to overcome those
limitations.
Many businesses and individuals, who have used personal computers for a
number of years, maintain some of their most important records in older
data base programs. Even though computers were replaced by faster models
with larger storage capacity and more RAM and although some applications,
such as word processors and spreadsheets, were upgraded, some data base
programs were not replaced. The effort entailed in converting extensive
files to a new format or keyboard entering or retraining clerical entry
persons or the associated costs were just too great. In other cases, the
older programs were deemed to better serve the user needs than newer ones.
Generally these data base programs were written in machine language or
special languages with no consideration to possible integration into a
Windows environment. Although these important programs could be accessed
in Win95 through ME in their respective MSDOS modes, some will not run in
the emulation in an exclusively XP environment. That's what one will get
with a new computer purchase or a not fully thought out Windows upgrade.
As a bonus, PM v7 will let you do a trial load of Windows XP to determine
whether you can live with it before you make a final commitment. Of course
you'll need a copy of Windows XP to load for the test.
Checking my own home computer I find a number of programs that might be
lost to me in an exclusive XP environment. For example, there's an APCUG
(Association of Personal Computer User Groups) vendors' database that I
frequently access on computer club business. It'd take a Herculean effort
to move all of the information into Access or some other Windows compliant
database. I still maintain a copy of the club roster and our personal
Christmas list in an older Parson's Address Book program. All of my
financial records are stored in a relational data base program that I wrote
in a language called DataBaseIII, back in 1987, and still believe to be
superior to any similar, commercially available program. In your case it
may be a program to evaluate e-bonds or your address book or a drug
reference or some hobby- associated program. But odds are that if you've
been working with a computer for 5 or more years, you rely upon more than
one program that may not run in an XP machine.
For several years my computer has had a dual boot capability (one that
allows the user optionally to boot the computer in one of two or more
operating systems that are resident on the hard drive.) Although the
"special" programs listed above can be run in Windows 98SE, the dual
capability enables faster access to them. Meanwhile I have Windows 9x
available for publishing, text editing, Internet access and the like. Were
I to move from Windows 98SE (or ME) to Windows XP, dual boot might not be
an option; it might be absolutely essential. PartitionMagic 7.0, as did
all versions since 4.0, brings with it a utility called "BootMagic".
BootMagic simplifies multiple operating system-computer operation for the
user. Explicit, step-by-step, instructions contained in the Users' Manual
on the CD, demonstrate how to install a second (or third) operating system
on your computer and to set the computer up for multiple boot operation
using BootMagic. I found those instructions to be superior to any that
were in the otherwise excellent 151-page User Guide that accompanies the CD
ROM disk. I've set up the dual boot. You can do it! Having done it,
whether the second operating system is any version of MSDOS after 6.0,
IBM's OS/2, Linux or Windows 9x, you'll have control over how your computer
is used. You'll be able to continue the use of those special programs. PM
v7.0 is no lightweight. It is designed to make a big job easy; that takes
muscle. A typical (recommended) installation took over 64 Mbytes of the
available space on the test hard drive.
However, that includes an excellent help manual. The executable file is
significantly smaller. Fortunately, much of the file space can be
recovered after the program has done its job. During program installation
you will make an emergency version that fits on to two 3 1/4" floppies.
Obviously, the working part of the program is not much over one Mbyte.
Despite its size and apparent complexity, PM v7.0 is very easy to use.
Once installed, the hard drive configuration functions are handled by
"Wizards". The user, by clicking on the graphical interface or tool bar,
indicates the desired function whether it be creating a new partition,
changing a partition size or partition characteristics or moving it about.
A Wizard takes over and changes the representation of the drive layout as
viewed on the screen to reflect the requested change. At that time, if the
user is satisfied with the new layout, he or she gives the command to
proceed. Only then are the changes actually made. Extensive changes can
take considerable time. Patience is required!
As a special offer to recognized computer user group members, the user
group members may purchase PartitionMagic v7 at a special price of $35 by
ordering from the secure web site at [www.ugr.com/order/]. Indicate the
special price code of UGEVAL01 with your order.
PartitionMagic v7; PowerQuest Corp.; P.O. Box 1911; Orem, UT 84059-1911;
Sales (800) 379-2566, SRP $69.95 (see special UG price above)
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CCCC Page 8 December 2001
Browser Cache Names
by Dick Trissel
Ever wonder why such strange folder names are used in the Internet Explorer
Windows\Temporary Internet Files folder (\ContentIE5 in Internet Explorer
5)? You know, the names like QFATCDSG, etc. Of course, these folders
contain recognizable file names that can be clicked on in Windows Explorer
and viewed in Internet Explorer while offline.
Well, I finally found a reasonable explanation. It's Microsoft's way of
providing security to prevent bad guys from using these browser activity
files to gain information about your activity on the Web.
Netscape uses a similar technique by using strange names for the browser
files in the Cache folders. However, this also makes it difficult for the
user to playback the files because they are not readily recognizable in
Windows Explorer.
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