Dave "Bytes"

Please remember to use your thinker, before you tinker!
May 15, 2004

A Periodic Newsletter for the Members of the Sarasota PC User Group

Click here to subscribe to Dave "Bytes
(Please provide your name and email address)

Here's A Windows XP Tip

Turn off Indexing to speed up XP

Windows XP keeps a record of all files on the hard disk so when you do a search on the hard drive it is faster. There is a downside to this and because the computer has to index all files, it will slow down normal file commands like open, close, etc. If you do not do a whole lot of searches on your hard drive then I suggest turning this feature off:

1. Control Panel
2. Administrative Tools
3. Services
4. Disable Indexing Services

BITS

BYTES

Clicking on Dave will take you to the

"Bits & Bytes"

site where you can listen to the most recent broadcast and our Commercial too !!!

Dave's Cool Download

EvilLyrics - A lyrics search tool

Don't be confused by the name for there is nothing "Evil" to be found here.

Automatically searches for lyrics as your song is played in your player

Searches over 5,000,000 lyrics : karaoke :: stores lyrics for offline viewing :: translates lyrics :: allows searching for guitar chords, AMG profiles, album covers arts, posters, Amazon profiles etc. :: Only 300 kB installation file

Contains no spyware or ad-ware and is completely free

Why not give the gift that keeps on giving all year round? I'm referring to a subscription to either Smart Computing or CPU Magazines. If you are a current subscriber and order a gift subscription, the folks at Smart Computing will add 2 additional issues to your current subscription at no charge. And remember that even gift subscriptions will be credited to the SPCUG account so that we can accumulate free subscriptions to give away to our membership.

To order call 1-800-733-3809 and be sure to give the following Code Numbers so that SPCUG gets proper credit.
Smart Computing (11607) CPU Magazine (272)

PC Today (146) CE Tips (219)

Click the banner above to print an order form.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to print

If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer you can get it by clicking this button

Smart Computing Adds New Feature Available Only to Subscribers

My Personal Library

Wish you could organize all the wonderful computing articles they give you so that you can form your own library? Starting next Thursday, May 20th, Smart Computing is giving you that opportunity! As a subscriber, you will see an Add To My Personal Library link in the upper right of ANY full article from Smart Computing and their sister publications. Click the link to add the article to your library. Create as many folders and store as many articles as you like! Don't forget to check out this great new feature!

This Site Is Soooo Strange It Deserves Special Recognition

From Frank Langa

Truly odd--- and some impressive programming. First, go here and try out the page: http://www.subservientchicken.com/

It appears to be a live web cam showing a guy in a chicken suit who will do almost anything you ask: You type in your commands and he obeys.
For information on all the nouns and verbs it understands, and the separate clips that are strung together to create the illusion of a live cam, see: http://www.xeni.net/images/bb/clipData.html

Note that many people give commands that are either, um, risqué or anatomically impossible; the list of commands reflects that, and is not something the easily-offended will want to read. (Ahem.) But that's how the programmers made the chickenman be able to respond to even bizarre or off-color suggestions.

Presenting the SPCUG May Volunteer of the Month

Ann Dodderidge

In May we were happy to honor Ann Dodderidge as our Volunteer of the Month. Ann has been a member of our group for a little over 1 ½ years. She always has a smile on her face and is willing to step up and help out when needed. She has been actively involved in the PC Refurbishing group and created a media show which illustrates what they are doing. Ann also records the winners in our monthly drawing so they can be published in the newsletter.

Ann has been volunteering most of her life. She is active in Rotary and does volunteer work at the hospital and Woman’s Resource Center in Venice. Her enthusiasm is contagious and seems to affect those around her. She has also recruited many new members for SPCUG as she is always pointing out all the fun she has with our members and how much she is learning. SPCUG is fortunate to have volunteers like Ann who are the heart and soul of our organization.

Here's A Microsoft "Front Page" Tip

Add a time stamp to a Web page

A time stamp will display either the time or the date, or both, that the page was created or last changed. For example, a time stamp lets site visitors know whether the information on your site has changed since their last visit.

In Page view, at the bottom of the document window, click Design .
Place the insertion point where you want to add a time stamp.
On the Insert menu, click Date and Time.
Specify the type of time stamp to display.
Specify a format for the date and for the time.
Like the following

Last Updated On

04/13/2007 06:46 AM

Countdown To June General Meeting

The "Bytes" Beg, Bargain & Barter Basement

Got something "computer related" to sell? Looking for that rare peripheral? If it's computer related you can submit a short classified ad for exposure in Dave "Bytes". Be sure to include your name and e-mail address in the ad. You can also include a picture of the item. Now some would suggest that there be a charge for this feature but alas, since my bookkeeping skills leave much to be desired I've determined that this will be a free service to all SPCUG members in good standing. "Bytes" is currently sent to almost 1000 homes in the area. Ad requests will be included as soon as possible. I assume absolutely no responsibility as to the accuracy or completeness of supplied info. All transactions are between consulting adults which leaves me entirely off the hook. Please let me know by clicking HERE when your merchandise is sold so that I can remove it from the listing. I will try to run each ad for a month.

Philips DVDRW208 (DO1) DVD+RW/CD-RW Internal Drive.
12x10x32 CD-RW; 2.5x8 DVD+RW. EIDE interface.
Speeds: 2.5x DVD rewrite; 8x DVD read; 12x CD write; 10x CD rewrite; 32x CD read
Excellent condition
Barely used
$50.00
Lyle Moses
lyle.lylem@verizon.net

Canon 100-400 L
Fits All Canon Digital & Film SLR Camera's
Pristine Condition, In the Original Box with All paper work.
$1150.00 Firm
Contact John Moore
955-2381

Click Here To Submit Your Ad

Symantec stops frustrating virus-notification alerts

From: Silicon.com

Symantec has shown the way for other antivirus firms to finally end the proliferation of false user email notifications, which wrongly identity the source of a virus and add to the general email deluge swamping users' inboxes.

Users who remain uninfected by computer viruses still often see a huge increase in email traffic as they are inundated with notifications resulting from spoofed email addresses in the 'from:' field that wrongly tell them they've sent a virus when, generally, it is in fact somebody whose address book that they appear in that has been infected.

Some users have been getting so frustrated at the high numbers of such emails that they have been dubbed "as annoying as spam", according to Greg Day, solutions architect at rival antivirus firm McAfee.

Symantec said concerns about system resources and storage as well as employee productivity played a major part in the planning of the product.

During peaks of malware activity, users can receive hundreds of such emails per day but now the latest iteration of the Symantec's SMTP email security solution not only claims to remove the malware but also does away with the bandwidth-sapping, inbox-cluttering email notifications.

McAfee's Day is confident that all major antivirus companies will follow suit -- including his own. However, he added that many corporate customers "as an interim measure have already turned off user alerts".

"It's something we will do with each relevant product as soon as possible," Day told silicon.com, adding that he expects every major antivirus vendor to do likewise, citing vocal end-user frustration at the messages.

Who Says There's No Place For Humor In Computing?

How Long Will It Take For Your Browser To Look Like This?

Keep Installing Toolbars And It Will

Here's A Windows XP Tip

Using Briefcase

The Briefcase feature in Windows XP helps you keep your files updated by automatically synchronizing multiple copies of individual files. In other words, Briefcase keeps track of the relationship between files on two or more computers. For example, if you use a desktop computer at the office, and you use a portable computer when you are on the road, Briefcase synchronizes and updates the files on your desktop computer to the modified versions when you reconnect your portable computer to the desktop computer.

Briefcase stores and displays the update status of files. It keeps track of whether a file is linked to the original file on your main computer, or whether it is an orphan file (a file stored in Briefcase that is not linked to another file). You can use this information to keep your files organized and to keep track of the most recent versions of your files.

Use Briefcase when you use two or more computers to work on files, and when you need to frequently transfer files between computers by using a direct cable connection or a removable disk.

How to Create a New Briefcase

1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.

2. Click the folder in which you want to create a new briefcase.

3. On the File menu, click New, and then click Briefcase.

The new briefcase is created. To open the briefcase, double-click it.

If you want to create a new briefcase on your desktop, right-click an empty area of your desktop, click New, and then click Briefcase.

How to Use Briefcase to Synchronize Files on Two Computers

NOTE: The following steps assume that you use a desktop computer as your primary computer and a portable computer as your secondary computer.

v Connect your portable computer to your desktop computer.

You can connect your computers either over a network or by using a direct cable connection.

v Start Briefcase on your portable computer, and then drag the files or folders that you want to work with from your desktop computer to Briefcase.

NOTE: Before you copy folders and files from your desktop computer to Briefcase, the folders containing the files must be shared.

v Start Briefcase, and then make the changes that you want to the files.

v When you have finished working on the files, reconnect your portable computer to your desktop computer (if they were disconnected), and then start Briefcase on your portable computer.

v Do one of the following:

Ø To update all files, click Update All on the Briefcase menu.

-or-

Ø To update only some of the files, select the file or files that you want to update, and then click Update Selection on the Briefcase menu.

v The Update dialog box is displayed. Confirm the update action on the files or folders that are displayed in the dialog box, and then click Update.

The files on your desktop computer are updated with the modified versions of those files in Briefcase on your portable computer.

Here's The Latest Virus Information

size=2 width="100%" align=center>

Want to Join SPCUG or Renew Your Membership?

Click the SPCUG Logo for an online
Membership Application that you can
type into and print

Spyware, Spyware ... Everywhere You Look?

Click on name for additional info

Pause For Thought

"I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image."

-Stephen Hawking

size=2 width="100%" align=center>

While Wandering The Web

"Every File Format in the World"

This is a list of file name extension or suffixes that indicate the format or usage of a file and a brief description of that format. We don't really show the file format itself here. In fact, many formats are proprietary and we couldn't show them to you. In some cases, we link to a definition of the file format or to related information.

Click Here to visit

Don't Be an Invisible Member

Get Involved

To inquire about volunteer opportunities

Click Here

Remember.. "The more you put in....

the more you'll take out"

Here's A Windows Tip

All for one, one for all

This trick works with Windows 9x, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP. The choices you'll actually see when you select Properties will vary depending on whether you're checking a local drive or a network drive.

Quickly view information on multiple hard drives at the same time

Most of the time, users only have one hard drive on their systems, along with several mapped network drives. Occasionally, however, you've got a user who has multiple hard drives in his or her system or one hard drive that has several partitions. Windows Explorer will display the free space for the drive, but how do you quickly find information about the drives without right-clicking each drive and choosing Properties over and over? Just follow a few easy steps.

Opening multiple drives at once

Open My Computer.
Click the C: drive.
Press and hold [Ctrl], then click the other drives you want to check.
Release [Ctrl].
Right-click the highlighted drives and select Properties.

When you do, you'll see the Properties screen shown below. As you can see, each drive will appear in its own tab.

You can view multiple drives at once

As you can see in the figure, the Properties tab looks the same in the multitabbed version as the General tab does when you select Properties on a single drive. You can see graphically the amount of space left on a disk and the file system. You can also run Disk Cleanup and, on NTFS drives, run disk compression and index the drive.

Remember

Don't Let Your

Membership Lapse

contact: membership@spcug.org

Listen ... Do You Want To Keep A Secret
(with apologies to the Beatles)

This article describes how to encrypt a folder by using Encrypting File System (EFS).

Encryption is the process of converting data into a format that cannot be read by others. You can use EFS in Windows XP to automatically encrypt your data when it is stored on the hard disk..

How to Encrypt a Folder

NOTE: You can encrypt files and folders only on volumes that use the NTFS file system.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.

2. Locate and right-click the folder that you want, and then click Properties.

3. On the General tab, click Advanced.

4. Under Compress or Encrypt attributes, select the Encrypt contents to secure data check box, and then click OK.

5. Click OK.

6. In the Confirm Attribute Changes dialog box that appears, use one of the following steps:

Ø If you want to encrypt only the folder, click Apply changes to this folder only, and then click OK.

Ø If you want to encrypt the existing folder contents along with the folder, click Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files, and then click OK.

The folder becomes an encrypted folder. New files that you create in this folder are automatically encrypted. Note that this does not prevent others from viewing the contents of the folder. This prevents others from opening items in the encrypted folder. For example, if another user attempts to open a Microsoft Word document that has been created in the encrypted folder, the following message appears:

Word cannot open the document: Username does not have access privileges
(drive:\filename.doc)

If another user attempts to copy or move a document from the encrypted folder to another location on the hard disk, the following message appears:

Error Copying File or Folder

Cannot copy Filename: Access is denied.

Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Looking for a SIG or Forum?

The best place to go is the SPCUG Event Calendar.
Once there you can view everything planned for SPCUG members.
Want to register for a SIG? There is no better place to do that then at http://www.calsplus.com/spcug
This calendar is updated on a daily basis making it the most accurate way to see what's happening in the world of SPCUG.

Click here for the Dave "Bytes" Archives

P.S. Don't forget to say "Hi" at the meeting!!

Sarasota Personal Computer User Group, Inc

Phone: 877-SPCUG-HI

To Send A Message To Dave Click Below