C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XVII: NUMBER 3 March, 2002
NEXT MEETING: March 19, 2002 7:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: Concurrent 2 hour "Clinics" on Windows, Internet,
and Hardware starting at 6:00pm
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(3) Request For E-mail Addresses Dick Trissel
(4) Editor's Comments Dick Trissel
(5) Publication Library Barbara Godwin
(6) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(7) February Internet S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(8) Lean & Mean Dick Trissel
(9) Boosting Computer Performance Through Defrag.
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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/XP & VoiceControl
Gerry Miller 934-1396 Amy Malicki 925-5780
Gmiller@pronet.net amymal@juno.com
Secretary Hardware & DOS
Barbara Godwin 934-9885 Ray Isenson 937-6938
yung.bag@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer (acting) AOL
Gerry Miller 934-1396 Frank Maciel 922-2318
2741 Banyan Way frm8198@aol.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
Gmiller@pronet.net
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 934-1396
rtrissel@juno.com Gmiller@pronet.net
Program Chairman
Ray Isenson 937-6938
risenson@juno.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (S.I.G.s)
Windows 95/98/ME/XP (6:00pm) 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 March 2002
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Charles Barney
Getting a complete and accurate counting of all the people at the club
meetings, I've found, is no simple task. During the early part of the
evening you are scattered around at the various SIGs, or socializing
elsewhere and also arrive at different times. Our gathering on February
19th was certainly no exception! I have to rely on "secret scouts" to get a
head count when everyone is more or less assembled in the main room for the
business meeting. My scout, incidentally, reported that we had 70+ folks in
attendance this last time.
I am pleased to announce that joining the 4Cs were new members Carolyn
English-Smith, Rosalie Roy and Ronald McManigal. Welcome to our group! We
realize that this is a big step for you to take since all of us here were
also new members at one time. It is our sincere wish that your courageous
steps will be rewarded by a wealth of learning, fun and lasting
friendships.
Well, the democratic process is still alive and well, as was demonstrated
by the active debate and voting that took place during the business
meeting. At issue was a proposed amendment to the club bylaws regarding the
disposition of club assets in the event of dissolution (and no, we are not
breaking up). While I know that this is a solemn matter and many of you
expressed strong opinions, I appreciate your participation in the decision-
making process. The required majority of those voting was obtained and the
amendment was duly passed. The text of the updated bylaws will be added to
the "New Member Disks" along with a revised list of the club's book library
holdings. If any of you would like an updated copy, please bring your old
disk to the next meeting to "swap".
Kevin Walters, owner and operator of Comstar Computers in Santa Maria, was
our guest presenter once again and led us in a lively question and answer
session that I'm sure could have continued late into the night if allowed!
Among the many topics discussed were the pros and cons of building your own
computer, memory and processor upgrades, CD burner tips, system
configuration settings, scanners, the new USB2 standard, setting up a home
network, power management and protection options and the mysteries of
Windows crashes.
The evening's door prize winners were all present when the club computer
randomly selected their names from among the list of eligible active
members. That is indeed, a good thing (sorry Martha)! Donald Calhoun chose
Webster's Millennium 2002 Encyclopedia as his prize while Win Campbell (Mr.
Lucky) picked the JunkSpy 2.0 anti-spam program. Next up was Richard Savage
who grabbed a 7-pack of Color CD-R media with jewel cases followed by Vic
McLaughlin deciding to take Ixla Explorer Image Organizer software. The
last remaining prize, Ulead's PhotoImpact 5, was claimed by a beaming Carol
Chambard.
At our upcoming meeting on March 19th, we will be trying something
different. Instead of having the regular 45-minute SIGs, break and business
meeting followed by a guest presentation, we plan to have a number of
computer "clinics" for the first two hours. These are intended to allow
more time to address member's issues in depth and your active participation
in encouraged. At this time, the planned clinics will include Internet,
Hardware and Windows. I intend to keep the business discussion short and
yes, we WILL have a door prize drawing! Hope to see you all there. -
Charles.
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CCCC Page 3 March 2002
REQUEST FOR E-MAIL ADDRESSES
By Dick Trissel
The club maintains a CCCC membership database. We do not have E-mail
addresses for the following members who have paid for 2002:
Donald G. Calhoun,
Robert J. Carmichael,
Peter Dettelis
Maurice Ross
Edward Sage,
John Simko
Dorothy Raupp
It is desirable for the officers to have your E-mail address for contact
purposes. The club member e-mail addresses are confidential.
You also may want to consider subscribing to the free CCCC EXTRA4C e-mail
bulletin. Send request to:
extra4c@juno.com
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CCCC Page 4 March 2002
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
by Dick Trissel
As mentioned by President Charles Barney, there have been changes in the
club's Bylaws. There also have been changes in the club's Publication
Library. These changes are reflected in the floppy disks given to new
members. If any current member wants one of the upgraded floppies, bring
your old one to a monthly meeting for a trade and contact Gerry Miller.
Charles also announced the "Clinics" at the March meeting. Amy Malicki
will moderate the Windows and software group, I will moderate the Internet
and utilities group in the poolroom (starting at the usual 5:45pm time),
and Ray Isenson will handle all the rest of the computer questions in the
Library room. So, come early and bring all your computer questions,
problems, and suggestions, and pencil and paper.
Speaking of coming early-there are parking spaces throughout the Knollwood
Village area, not just at the clubhouse. Drive around-you'll find them.
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CCCC Page 5 March 2002
PUBLICATION LIBRARY
By Barbara Godwin 934-9885
yung.bag@verizon.net
The following is a list of books in the CCCC library. These can be checked
out one month at a time and renewed. They must be requested from Barbara--
they are not at the meetings. Asterisks indicate new to the library.
America Online for Windows
Bill Gates-The Road Ahead
Close the Gaps*
Computer Resource Guide
Fix Your Own PC, 2nd Edition
Getting Ready for Windows 95
How to Do Everything with the Internet*
Inside Windows 95
Introducing MS Windows 95
Master Office 97 Visually (w/CD)
Microsoft Windows Me for Dummies
Modems for Dummies
MS Windows 95 Resource Kit (with Floppies)
MS Windows 98-Getting Started
Official Netscape Guide to Internet Research
Official Netscape Navigator 2.0
PC Mechanics' Build Your Own PC
Personal Computers-A Guide for Seniors*
Pocket PC Starter Pak for Dummies (with CD)
Running Microsoft Windows 95
Teach Yourself the Internet in a Week, 2nd Edition
The Official America On Line, 2nd Ed.
The Secret Guide to Computers-24th Edition for 1998
The Ultimate MS Windows 95 Book
The Windows 95 Bug Collection
Upgrading & Repairing PC's, 2nd Ed.
Windows 95 Made Easy
Windows 95 Secrets Gold (with CD)
Windows 95 Secrets, 3rd Edition (w/CD)
Windows 95 Secrets, 4th Edition (w/CD)
Windows 98 for Busy People
Windows 98 for Dummies (X's 2)
Windows 98 in a Nutshell
Windows 98 Quick Reference*
Windows 98 Simplified
Windows Millennium-The Missing Manual
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CCCC Page 6 March 2002
WEB WANDERINGS
by Gil Smith
LAW MATTERS
There are a number of LAW SITES available on the Internet. Free access to
over 550 related databases will give you more information than you ever
thought possible. This site is fast and allows you to search federal and
state court opinions, statutes, constitutions, bills, forms, and more. The
information at these sites may not replace the need for a lawyer but it
will give you some very good legal information. Just for laughs take a
look at US Weird and Dumb Laws.
http://www.lawyertool.com/
http://www.advicetool.com
http://www.findlegalforms.com
http://www.usweirdanddumblaws.com
GOOGLE
Most of us are regular users of the fastest search engine on the Internet -
Google. Did you know that Google has catalogs of various companies -
Sears, Pennys, JC Whitney and many others available for you to peruse? Try
it - and if you like to scan catalogs, let me know which one you can't find
and, if we can get a copy, I can get it added to Google.
http://www.google.com
NEW YORK TIMES
Do you feel the need to read the New York Times? Well, forget about
getting that subscription, head to their web site instead. You'll have to
go through a free registration process, but it's relatively painless.
http://www.nytimes.com
CARHENGE
Fascinating, a reproduction of Stonehenge in cars. An interesting if odd
thing to reproduce. This site has some really excellent pictures of
Carhenge. It is a life size, accurate reproduction of Stonehenge. Located
in Alliance, Nebraska off of Highway 8, it towers above the Nebraska
plains.
http:P//www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/7835/carhenge.htm
DO YOU HAVE A HOBBY?
Interesting site with lots of how-to recipes. Learn how to make everything
from car wax to shampoo, bath oils to cosmetics. There are even projects
for your kids or grandkids to do, make clay, faerie castles, or slime.
http://www.make-stuff.com
A VIEW NOW LOST
Have you ever wondered what it looked like from the top of the World Trade
Center? With the loss of the Towers on September 11th, you can no longer
go experience it. But with this panoramic view you can experience what it
was like. So go ahead, try the world from a Bird's Eye View.
http://topoftheworld.lcitysearch.com/3.html
SEPTEMBER 11TH, WORLD TRADE CENTER
We'll always remember what happened on 9-11. Since that time, there have
been lots of pictures, images, and poems - and there's a site with all of
this in one place. Take a look.
http://www.mellon2k.com/9-11pix.htm
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CCCC Page 7 March 2002
FEBRUARY INTERNET S.I.G.
by Dick Trissel
I think we had even more fun at the February S.I.G. than usual. At least,
we covered a lot of territory. So much that some of the discussions will
have to be in separate articles in the newsletter or in EXTRA4C bulletins.
For example--how to control what gets started at startup; how to shutdown
programs running in the background; and the built-in troubleshooting
programs.
A comment was made that Verizon DSL is still sending audio advertising, and
they need to be complained to.
It was noted that in the past I've recommended deleting Temporary Internet
Files (TIFs) and Cookies. However, the Index.dat files are still there and
can't be deleted. Yep, just ignore them unless you want to go into DOS and
delete them from there.
It should be noted that the TIFs can be relocated to a different named
folder. In Internet Explorer / Tools (View in IE4) / Internet Options /
General / Temporary Internet Files Settings / Move Folder you can specify
an existing folder as the place for Web files.
A mention was made about the use of the Start / Programs / Accessories /
Accessibility options--particularly Sticky Keys. Which brought out the
note that the two shift keys are recognized as two different keys. Another
neat option in Accessibility is the Caps Lock warning tone option.
One of the many suggestive hints made was to defrag your hard disk often.
Many short defrag operations of 2 to 3 minutes is better than fewer defrags
of several hours. It's easier on the hard drive and makes the computer
function faster. Before defragging be sure to stop all running programs,
especially anti-virus and screen saver programs.
Which brought up the question on how to kill the SysTray icons (programs
that are running). If they can't be stopped by clicking on them (probably
a right click), then use CTRL-ALT-DEL (carefully) and "End Task" all except
Systray and Explorer (Exploring... can be ended).
Another suggestion was to keep your computer covered when not in use (let
it cool off before covering).
Everyone that knows me knows I use Windows Explorer more than any other
program in Windows. There is a program that has more features than
Explorer that some may find useful. It is PowerDesk by Ontrack. The
1.128Mb download program is Pwrdesk.exe. You can get it through
http://www.google.com
and search for powerdesk. Go to the first reference.
This was not mentioned but should have been. Please quit sending HTML e-
mail unless you really mean to. Most of us would rather receive text e-
mail. If you are sending HTML, I'll bet you don't even know you are.
Here's an example of how to check for this. In Outlook Express / Tools /
Options / Send, there is a choice in Mail Sending Format to use HTML or
Plain Text. Select Plain Text. Thank you.
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CCCC Page 8 March 2002
LEAN & MEAN
By Dick Trissel
Most of you have heard me harping on cleaning out the junk on your
computers to make them run faster and more trouble free. Here's a
professional's advice--from a San Diego computer magazine.
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Question...
Since computers are so much faster, bigger, and more powerful these days,
could you please give your readers an overview of some of the ways for an
intermediate user to improve performance?
I have a 9-month-old, 800MHz Pentium III, with 900MB of RAM (on a
motherboard that will support even more). It can take forever to do simple
things, or even open programs, and it also is prone to locking up if I try
to go too fast.
My hope that more RAM would help is proving incorrect. I am not into gaming
or graphics -mostly music and Internet surfing with a cable modem.
While not a complete list, some of the programs I have running in the
background include Zone Alarm, Norton Utilities, a free pop-up stopper, and
others (about 20 altogether). Are these programs the problem?
Is there something I can adjust, or do, to pinpoint and solve the problem?
Also, is there a "Moore's Law" regarding user frustration? Scott
Dear Scott,
You have 900MB of RAM in your PC? Your programs probably are getting lost
in there and can't find their way out! If you are trying to run lots of
programs at the same time, having enough RAM certainly helps, but once you
have enough for each to fit, adding more does nothing to speed up your
computer.
Even with plenty of RAM, your CPU still has to pay attention to all the
programs that are running. Though it seems like they are all running at the
same time, what is really happening is that each one is taking its turn
running for a very short time slice, and then has to turn the CPU over to
the next program.
When you have 20 programs running all the time, you have a lot of CPU used
up on the programs to start with. On top of that, there is a lot of CPU
used just figuring out whose turn it is. You need to clean up all the junk
and pare down to just the things that really need to be running.
My favorite machine is running Windows 2000. I have almost no background
tasks running on it-no junk, just Windows right out of the box. My wife
always comments at how fast this computer seems, especially starting up,
shutting down and starting applications.
I know it's tempting to download and install all those neat toys available
on the Web. Try to restrain yourself. Every new gadget that wants to run
"in the background" is taking up a little more of your computer's
resources.
I think the frustration factor is multiplied by every simultaneous task you
have running. The stuff just gets in the way. For instance, your pop-up
eliminator has to jump into the data stream to see if there is a pop-up
coming down the pipe. That naturally slows down everything flowing that
way.
Run a lean and mean machine and you'll be much happier.
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CCCC Page 9 March 2002
BOOSTING COMPUTER PERFORMANCE THROUGH DEFRAGMENTATION
Edited by Dick Trissel
The following comments were taken from a recent computer publication. I
should add, defrag often. How often? I recommend every 20 hours of usage
of any type. It is easier on the hard drive and retains top performance
for the user. If you defrag often it will only take a few minutes. If you
wait a few months, it may take a few hours.
Also, don't be fooled by the defrag program report that defrag is not
necessary--it's a lie! Just a few hours usage will cause fragmentation.
Besides the user files, the registry files and virtual memory are usually
being modified.
Many users hit a snag when they attempt to defrag whereby the operation
starts over at about the 10 percent point--sometimes with the message "Hard
disk has changed". If you can't complete a defrag it is because there is
something else running--a screensaver, a virus scan program, etc.
Stop all the programs you can from the taskbar and systray. Do a CTRL-ALT-
DELETE and "End Task" everything except EXPLORER and SYSTRAY (you can end
EXPLORING). Be careful--don't click "Shutdown". And don't do another
CTRL-ALT-DELETE from the end task window. A possibly more simple method,
if you know how, is to restart in the "Safe Mode"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When it comes to increasing computer speed, most users think "better CPU"
or "more memory." In fact, quite substantial amounts of performance gain
can be obtained without engaging in expensive hardware upgrades.
What's the slowest component in the modern computer architecture? While CPU
and memory speeds are measured in the millionths and billionths of seconds,
hard disks are measured in terms of thousandths of seconds. The CPU may be
zipping along in the gigahertz-plus range, but the disk is spinning at no
more than 7200rpm (5400rpm for older drives). To make matters worse, the
speed that data is accessed can be slowed down severely by a condition
known as "fragmentation", where files are splintered into many different
pieces that are scattered around the hard drive. Defragmentation software
consolidates files into one piece (and gathers them in a packed area of the
drive), thereby increasing the performance and reliability of both new and
older machines by decreasing the amount of drive head movement.
Defragmenting-a Popular Choice
"The use of defragmenters are rising sharply in popularity as people
realize [that this software] can often deliver comparable performance gains
to traditional hardware upgrades-at a fraction of the cost", states a
system management software analyst. "This might be related to the apparent
diminishing returns from recent CPU releases."
Take the case of a senior analyst for engineering services. Since
installing a leading defragmentation software program (Diskeeper, by
Executive Software, www.diskeeper.com), she has noticed that the computers
she services run faster and have fewer crashes than machines without it.
"My machines run much faster- and stay up much longer-than any other
department's computers".
What Is Fragmentation? Fragmentation occurs as a natural result of the way
Windows saves files.
Instead of keeping the file together in one place on a disk, Windows splits
the file into pieces to fit into the first available slots throughout the
hard disk. Doing this is faster, and makes more efficient use of available
disk space.
This fragmentation starts even when a program is first installed on a disk
and, over time, the files tend to be split into more and smaller pieces.
How many pieces? A study by American Business Research Corporation found
that 80 percent of the companies surveyed had desktop files split into
anywhere from 1,050 to 51,222 pieces. Each one of these fragments requires
a separate process to locate it and load it into memory so it can be used.
With hard disks performing just a few hundred operations per second,
fragmentation creates a bottleneck in the computer, slowing down everything
else.
Defragmentation software takes these pieces and consolidates them in one
place on the disk, so that the computer can retrieve the file with a single
action-not thousands, thereby speeding up file access and overall system
performance. How much of a difference does it make? National Software
Testing Laboratories found that a Windows 2000 desktop that had been
defragmented received as much as an 85.5 to 219.6 percent performance boost
on running common programs, such as email and spreadsheets.
"By using a defragmentation utility, it is possible to achieve performance
gains that meet or exceed many hardware upgrades," says a senior analyst.
"From a cost standpoint alone, this is an attractive proposition."
Built-In Defragmenter Software. Those using Windows95, 98, 98SE, 2000 or XP
can access a built-in defragmenter by going to the Start menu and clicking
on Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Defragmenter. Once there,
you can either analyze your disks (recommended as a first action), or
defragment them.
A study . . . found that 80 percent of the companies surveyed had desktop
files split into anywhere from 1,050 to 51,222 pieces.
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