Dave "Bytes"

Please remember to use your thinker, before you tinker!

January 31, 2007

A Periodic Newsletter for the Members of the Sarasota PC User Group and the World!!

Here's A Windows Tip

Installing Just What You Need
You should carefully select what bells and whistles you install on your Windows system. Paring down Windows to just what you need frees up hard drive space and makes your system run faster.

Fortunately, uninstalling Windows XP components isn't that difficult. Follow these steps:

Choose Start, Control Panel.
Click Add or Remove Programs. If you're using the Control Panel's Classic view, double-click the Add or Remove Programs applet. In either case, the Add or Remove Programs window appears.
At the left side of the window, click Add/Remove Windows Components. The Windows XP Setup program starts running and shortly you see the Windows Components Wizard. Note the Total Disk Space Required statistic at the bottom of the window. Your goal is to get this figure as low as possible, without sacrificing what you really want to do with Windows.
Pick and choose what you want installed. For instance, most people don't need Fax Services or Internet Information Services. Deselecting the check box beside these two saves you over 19MB of disk space right off the bat.
For more information about a particular option, select an option and click the Details button.
When you're satisfied, click Next.
Click Finish.

You probably don't need the Windows installation CDs if you're removing features. You do need them, however, if you try to install features. Either way, it's a good idea to have the CDs close by.

If you don't use the Microsoft-installed games like Spider Solitaire and Free Cell, you can free up over 12MB of disk space just by uninstalling them.

Microsoft Debuts Vista in Global Marketing Blitz

Microsoft Corp. rolled out Windows Vista at retailers in 70 countries on Tuesday, delivering a new computer operating system that aims to better manage the explosion of digital media and protect users from the dangers of the Internet.

The world's biggest software maker marked the launch of its first all-new Windows operating system in five years with a marketing blitz, including commercials featuring basketball star Lebron James and appearances by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on morning and late-night chat shows.

Windows runs on more than 95 percent of the world's computers, and the long-delayed new version is the first major release of a new Microsoft operating system since it introduced Windows XP in 2001.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft called Vista the most important release of its dominant operating system since Windows 95 more than a decade ago, when shoppers waited for hours to be among the first to run the new software.

Consumer fanfare of that magnitude seems unlikely since Vista is not the dramatic leap in technology of past releases, but the new Windows could ultimately be just as successful.

"Vista will be successful. It's been a long time since Microsoft introduced a new operating system. There are a lot of nice features that people will like," said Morningstar analyst Toan Tran.

The most obvious change is the new look. Vista's "Aero" interface uses 3-D graphics to create translucent windows that appear to float above the background screen.

Other changes are more subtle like improved security, search bars to help users find information easier and a new multimedia platform for digital video, music and pictures.

Apple Inc. calls Vista a copycat version of its Mac OS X Tiger operating system that introduced many of those new features. The iPod maker plans to introduce a new operating system of its own later this year.

The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, in his review of Vista, called it a "worthy, but largely unexciting, product."

In the first year of its release, Vista, which required a $6 billion investment from Microsoft, will be installed on more than 100 million PCs worldwide, according to research reports.

But because only about 15 percent of existing computers have memory and graphics cards powerful enough to run premium versions of Vista, most users will have to buy a whole new computer if they want to upgrade.

"There is a pent-up set of consumers who are going to get new PCs," Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in an interview on Monday. "We will see an uptick (in PC sales). Sales will be stronger than they otherwise would have been."

To accompany the launch, events are planned near New York's Times Square and U.S. retailers will hold midnight sales across the country.

The company's chairman and most recognizable face, Bill Gates, hit the talk show circuit to hype the launch, sitting down for interviews on NBC's "Today" show and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

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New Series

Top 10 Dumb Things Users Do That Can Mess Up Their Computers

We all do dumb things now and then, and computer users are no exception. Inadvertently pressing the wrong key combination or innocently clicking OK in the wrong dialog box can change important settings that alter a computer’s behavior or even crash the system.
Nervous newbies are often fearful that one wrong move might break the computer forever. Luckily, short of taking a sledge hammer to the box, the consequences aren’t usually quite that dire. Even so, users often do create problems for their computers and for your network. In this series we'll examine a description of common missteps (in no particular order) you can use to help steer clear of preventable problems.

Click on everything
Opening attachments isn’t the only type of mouse click that can get you in trouble. Clicking on hyperlinks in e-mail messages or on Web pages can take you to Web sites that have embedded ActiveX controls or scripts that can perform all sorts of malicious activities, from wiping your hard disk to installing a backdoor program on your computer that a hacker can use to get in and take control of it.
Clicking the wrong link can also take you to inappropriate Web sites that feature pornography, pirated music or software, or other content that can get you in trouble if you’re using a computer on the job or even get you in trouble with the law.
Don’t give in to “click mania.” Think before you click a link. Links can also be disguised in “phishing” messages or on Web sites to appear to take you to a different site from the ones they really point to.
For example, the link might say www.safesite.com, but it actually takes you to www.gotcha.com. You can often find out the real URL by hovering over the link without clicking it.

Dave's Cool Downloads

Free Hide Folder is a free computer security software to hide your private folders. It is very useful to keep your personal data away from others. Others will not know where your personal files exist and they will not be able to accidentally view them. You can hide folders simply with a few mouse clicks. Free Hide Folder is protected by a password that you can change or remove at any time.

Why do you need Free Hide Folder?
Most everyone has files or folders on their computer that they do not want to share with others.
The best way to protect your personal information is to make the folders visible ONLY to you.
Free Hide Folder does exactly that and it does it easily and well.

Office Invaders
Work got you down? Play this game where you can fire rubber-bands at co-workers who are determined to slow you down from rising to the executive suite.
Provided by Baskin-Robbins