Dave Bytes

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

Here's A Windows XP Tip

Displaying the Traditional Desktop Icons

Older versions of Windows had a few icons that always appeared on the desktop:

My Documents
My Computer
My Network Places
Internet Explorer
Recycle Bin

Of these five, only the Recycle Bin appears on the Windows XP desktop by default. If you want to display any of the other icons, follow these steps:

Right-click anywhere on the desktop. Make sure you right-click the desktop itself, not on an object lying on the desktop. Windows displays a context menu.
Choose Properties. The Display Properties dialog box springs into view.
On the Desktop tab, click the Customize Desktop button. Windows displays the Desktop Items dialog box with the General tab selected.
At the top of the dialog box, select the check boxes corresponding to the icons you want displayed on the desktop. Conversely, you can deselect the check boxes of any icons you don't want displayed.
Keep clicking OK to dismiss all the dialog boxes onscreen.

The icons you selected should be visible onscreen, along with all the others you have.

Now Entering The Newbie Zone

GIF, JPG, TXT, DOC, HTML, WAV, BMP, ETC

You'll see them over and over again as you encounter manuals, web sites, and anything related to your computer. Tons of file extensions. Whole pickup
truck loads of 'em running back and forth on the info highway.

File extensions are easy enough to understand, and with just a bit of history, you'll know everything you need to know about files, and not a bit
more.

Back in the DOS days (DOS stands for Disk Operating System), before the invention of Windows, every file had to be named with a maximum of 8
characters, and could include a three letter "file extension."

For example, lets say you want to save that recipe for Quevos Rancheros. You were forced to use a maximum of 8 characters. So you call it queranch.
Hmm, in Spanish, that's like, "What ranch?" Or that's a loose translation, at least.

You were limited. Severely. So along comes the long file name. You can use a whole mess of characters now, calling your file "My greatest recipe
using eggs and tortillas since the invention of the wheel." The sentence between the quote marks is the name of the file, or "filename."

The stated character limit is 255, but in reality it comes in just a tad under, like 253 or something. The techies can quibble over that. Regardless,
it's l-o-n-g. And more than adequate to describe the content of your creation!

Now, notice that many files have extensions. They all do, really. In fact, your computer doesn't know what to do with a file if it doesn't have an extension.

The extension is the three letter part following the main name. (You didn't see an extension on my quevos rancheros example, because I left it off.)
Here's an example:

My Word processing report.doc

The ".doc" part of the file's name tells Windows to use the program that's associated with .doc files to open it. So, let's say you've got Microsoft
Word installed. Whenever the Windows operating system realizes you've clicked a file with the extension ".doc" it fires up Word, and Word opens the
file.

Presto.

There are lots of file extensions. Here's a table for you that includes a few common file types you may encounter during your web travels.

Common file types

Extension Type of file

txt Text File, such as Notepad produces

doc Document File, for example, MS Word

gif Graphics Interchange Format (graphics)

jpg Joint Photographic Experts Group (graphics)

pdf Portable Document File

htm Hypertext Markup (special coded text files)

html Hypertext Markup Language (ditto)

zip Compressed file requiring special software to decompress the file

tar Same as zip. Just another compression style

pdf Portable Document File (universal text file)

wav Sound files

bmp Bitmap files (graphics)

If you try to open a file extension that's unregistered (unregistered means Windows doesn't know what to do with it 'cause there's no association in the Windows Registry), Windows throws the Open With dialog box at you

This dialog box lets you decide what program to open the file with. For example, I tried to open the file named 'java.usj' and I got this screen as a
result. Since nothing on my computer is set up to edit or open a '.usj' file, I have to locate and use a program that "understands" that type of
file extension. Now that's another trick altogether!

Commonly, people will send Power Point presentation files or Microsoft Publisher files as attachments to people who don't have Microsoft Office
installed on their computer. So those files cannot be viewed unless the appropriate software is installed.

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 1500 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.

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While Wandering The Web

Airport Monitor

Airport Monitor is a dynamic, interactive display of air traffic and flight information available on many airport Web sites. Airport Monitor tracks
flights from approximately 100 miles from the terminal right down to the runway. View information such as flight origin, destination, aircraft type,
altitude, and flight ID. Airport Monitor has a ten minute delay and filtered information for security purposes, but replays with full flight
information are available for the previous three months.

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From The "Bytes" Mailbag

Dave -- a couple of days ago I started getting this very aggressive pop-up ad from SpySherif, advising me that my computer was infected and that I should use their software immediately to get rid of infections. A black pop-up screen with red lettering is now permanently on my desk top and I receive periodic pop-ups tied to the start task bar which advise me to order their software. None of the standard ways of getting rid of unwanted programs will budge this. (My daughter-in-law in Phoenix is having the same problem and her software husband has been unable to cure it.)

A software friend advises that Internet Explorer, until now my web browser, has serious weaknesses and that this company has exploited these weaknesses to infect my computer with their ads. He also advises to switch to Firefox, which I've done. I still have the SpySherif ads on my computer. When I run my anti-virus scanner (eTrust), it displays infections but I can't seem to do anything about them -- eTrust will not cure them.

Any advice?

Any ideas on how to get rid of these permanent ads and pop-ups? And can any action be taken against this company?

Thanks much,
George

Dear George
SpySherriff can infect your computer regardless of which browser you're using. Here;s what I found from my friends at Sunbelt Software.

Threat: SpySheriff

Threat type: Adware - Adware is generally software that displays advertisements. Some advertisers may covertly install adware on your system and generate a stream of unsolicited advertisements that can clutter your desktop and affect your productivity. The advertisements may also contain pornographic or other material that you might find inappropriate. The extra processing required to track you or to display advertisements can tax your computer and hurt your system performance.

Advice: Remove This is a very high risk threat and should be removed immediately as to prevent harm to your computer or your privacy.

Threat risk: Moderate Risk
Moderate threats may profile users online habits or broadcast data back to a server with 'opt-out' permission. In most cases this type of threat is more along the lines of commercial type adware that offer a premium service in exchange for tracking your user online performance.

Description: SpySheriff is a fake Spyware removal program. It is usually bundled with other malware.

SpySheriff pops warnings advertising itself, displaying a list of 17 spyware "found". This application is usually delivered bundled with lots of other malware.

Should you be infected with SpySheriff, you can clean your machine of this spyware threat for free by downloading CounterSpy now.

Here's A Neat Net Trick