Hunterdon Computer Club

In the absence of Lon Hosford, John Gbur, Vice President of the club, handled the meeting. Since there was no old or new business to attend to, John went to taking questions from the members about their computer problems.

Q. I closed down my computer with the large button on the front and it locked up. I couldn’t turn it back on. I called HP and they said to repeat the procedure but to wait for at least one minute before restarting the computer so the software has time to close down.

A. It is not a good idea to shut down the computer with the power button unless there is no other way that will shut it down. Control, Alt, Delete will bring up the task manager and will allow you to close programs. You can also click “log off” and a new “log in” screen will come up and will allow you to restart.

Q. I have used some anti-virus software that blocked my computer. Can you recommend a better free anti-virus program?

A. MS Security Essentials anti-virus and anti-spyware is very good.

Q. If I install MS Security Essentials, do I need to delete AVG?
A. Yes. They will conflict. First download the MS Security system, then delete AVG, close down the Internet, then install the MS Security system, and then reconnect to the Internet.

If you prefer to install AVG 9, it scans all of your folders when first installed and it takes hours to complete. Select “rapid install” when you initially install it, or it will go on forever.

Q. How do you get rid of McAfee or Norton that comes with a new computer purchase?
A. You can use the Add/Remove option or the Programs and Features option under the Control Panel. Norton needs additional software to completely remove it that you need to obtain from the Norton website. With the Add/Remove program utility you can sort software by the date installed and you can determine which programs were on your computer when you purchased it. It will help you determine which software you do not use and may want to remove.

MS Config will show what is opening on starting up your computer. Uncheck those that you do not want to open on start up. Super Uninstall or PC Decrapifier can be used to clean off junk software from your computer. Go to the websites for each to read more about the software and to download the software if you wish.

Super Uninstall can be downloaded at http://disk.software.informer.com/download-disk-super-uninstall/, PC Decrapifier, http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/ , is free for personal use and can be used with XP, Vista, and is Windows 7 compatible.

Q. How do I create a PDF file?
A. CutePDF is free software that will convert your file to a PDF file from any printable document. It can be downloaded at http://www.cutepdf.com/ . The software can be downloaded to a flash drive.

Paul Weeks was our presenter for this meeting. His topic was Setting Up and Using a Wireless Router. Paul described how to set up the router and explained the various fields where information is required and what should be entered in those fields and what channels are the best to use. He also discussed enabling wireless security to prevent people from using your Internet access, especially if the nearest house or residence is within 100 feet of your house, If you are concerned about your Internet data transmission integrity and if you don’t want others using your network wireless access use a different channel than your neighbors.

When setting up your security, use a unique MAC address and set the table of allowable MAC numbers so it will only accept your MAC number. If other MAC addresses try to access your systems, access will not be allowed.

For more information and all the details, go to Paul’s presentation slides which he sent to club members through a message attachment from our Yahoo group, Hunterdon Computer Club. Paul has also sent out information on NetStumbler software. For information on this software, refer to his email message also sent to our club group on Yahoo.

Now that I’m back from a few days vacation, I’m catching up with writing some notes from our club meeting held on January 16. Bear with me; I’ll try to decipher what we said. But even before I do that, let me express my disappointment that the hotel where we stayed still wanted to charge for internet access. All hotels are totally wired and internet access should be available free to guests, not for a per hour charge or a per day charge. I much prefer the chains, such as the Hilton hotel chain, that provide codes for free internet access when you check in, whether you ask for it or not! This should be standard, but it isn’t. But, back to the notes from our club meeting.

Lon Hosford, President, said he put pictures on the hunterdoncomputerclub.org website of the breakfast meeting held on October 17. Go to the website and click on the Photos link to see those pictures and more.

A few of the members wondered whether or not it might be possible to videotape the presentations made at the club and post them on YouTube. Lon said a team of club members have agreed to collaborate to see if the presentations could be videotaped and posted. Stay tuned, this might be coming in the future. Others suggested we add links on our web page to interesting articles, websites, and videos.

You can go to Yahoo Groups, the Hunterdon Computer Club group, to see the messages posted by the group and to send a message to other members. If you still need help to sign up, just ask John Gbur for help.

Members suggested that a simple way to keep track of the many passwords that a person may need is to keep the passwords in a file on their computer. This password file can be encrypted and the encrypted file can be copied to a flash drive so it can be used at computers away from home. If the file is encrypted, there is no danger if the flash drive is lost. Another suggestion was to add a Note Pad file with the owner’s name and contact information on the flash drive so it can be returned if lost. Or, the passwords can be arranged in the file on your computer so you can just print out a small list to keep with you if you are traveling or plan to use a computer away from home.

It was also suggested that you use a U3 compatible flash drive. This type of flash drive, made by SanDisk, has its own applications on it and many more can be downloaded from the U3 website. Check out this website, http://software.u3.com/SoftwareCentral.aspx?skip=1 , for more information and applications.

Q&A (a brief summary since many questions were asked)

Q: A friend experienced a problem with Windows 7 not being able to open files. What can she do?
A: You can download a free utility from Microsoft to use to open Office 2003 to 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

Q: How do you clean the hard drive before disposing of your computer?
A: Killdisk software will overwrite all information on your hard drive, but there is no turning back once you activate the software. A free version of Killdisk can be downloaded at http://www.killdisk.com/ . Or, you can use a large hammer!

Q: I am annoyed by the new Yahoo general page. It is very frustrating.
A: Do not use the Yahoo main page. Set up and open Yahoo at a MyYahoo page instead.

Q: What is the Add-On Manager?
A: The Add-On Manager is part of IE and Firefox. This software allows you to look at what things have been added to your browsers by third-party providers, such as extra toolbars and search providers. Disable those that you don’t want to use to speed up your browser.

Q: What is an MP4 player?
A: An MP4 player is a portable media player. It is the successor to the MP3 player. The MP4 is a container format, allowing a combination of audio, video, and pictures. You can download many videos in the MP4 format to use with your player.

Presentation: Windows Home Server, Presenter: Paul Weeks (The club website was not updated to show this presentation was the one scheduled.)
Paul was looking for a way to back up his very extensive family pictures and financial files that he wanted to be sure were never destroyed. Because he has several computers at home used by several people in his home, Paul needed a system that would backup files from each of his computers simply and automatically without constant interaction by him.

Paul purchased a home server system that consists of a box containing five internal hard drives powered by software from Microsoft. There is no DVD/CD drive or monitor, keyboard or mouse. Storage in these home servers can be 600 GB or more depending on what is purchased. The computers need to be wireless or connected to the Ethernet. The home server requires only a power cord and an Ethernet connection to work.

This home server is primarily used to back up the content of Paul’s computers’ hard drives. It can easily restore the content of the hard drives when a failure occurs. It can recover files that were mistakenly deleted and it can function as a media server for photos, music, videos, and data with access from any computer, locally or over the internet. Basically, it creates files accessible to various computers that take up a lot of space. The server can only accommodate access by 10 computers.

Access to the Windows Home Server is through the console. The console provides access to the functions that allow him to monitor the backup and the server backs up each hard driver separately. Paul makes duplicate copies of his photos and data for added protection. The user must have a password in order to access the system. Windows will allow the user to choose the options for the computers and back up pages. Folders can be added for special purposes that can be accessed from any computer in the house. Folders on the system can be protected.

The MS Window Home Server software sells for about $100. The box for the server unit costs about $300 to $800 depending on the server’s capability and storage capacity. Electrical power for the server can vary from $2 a month to $10-20 a month in California.

The only concern was that hard drives may crash and all the data could be lost. Even with all the files duplicated on a second, or even third, hard drive there is still a risk. It was suggested that the data should be burned onto gold covered disks for archival storage. These disks are uneditable, unerasable and are guaranteed to safely store digital information for 300 years. But no one has tested that 300 year guarantee yet!

Thanks, Paul, for bringing this home server information to the club’s attention.

Presentation: Internet Radio, Presenter: Bruce Arnold
Bruce was the lucky recipient of an internet radio for Christmas because of the poor radio reception where he lives. These radios start at $150 and are made by Logitech. They are not widely available in stores but can be purchased on the internet on the Best Buy or Amazon websites. With these radios, you have access to the whole world of internet radio stations. Bruce’s model has a small video screen and still pictures are displayed. There are also many other applications available with the radio. Because of time, this presentation was cut short, but Bruce will tell us more about this radio at another meeting.