Sarasota PC Monitor
Review Chairmans Industry Comments (07/04)
The Computer Buffet
by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor
E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org
A VITAL REMINDER! Don't even think of turning your computer on unless:
1. You have visited windowsupdate.microsoft.com at least once this week. 2. You are running a firewall like Zone Alarm, Sygate, etc.
3. You are running an antivirus program and your updates are current.
4. You run a good spyware program at least weekly.
If you are looking for a one program that does it all, I recommend PC-Cillin Internet Security. Recent testing by PC World magazine found it to be the best of all competing products as an all in one solution to the above. It is by far the most continuously updated of them all and surprisingly, the least expensive. You can usually find the best price for PC-Cillin at amazon.com
NEW VERSION OF ZONE ALARM RELEASED. Zone Alarm, computerdom's quintessential firewall, Version 5.0 is now available. ZoneAlarm's most basic feature causes your computer to reject external ping requests, a method hackers use to find targets. It also controls which programs get to contact the Internet, a feature that keeps Trojan horses and spyware from sending out your personal information. Zone Labs put a lot of work into making the initial configuration easy enough so that any user should be able to set it up. A new, paid version of the software includes virus protection. Zone Labs also addresses complaints that ZoneAlarm sends too many alerts by making it easier to disable that feature.
ZoneAlarm is designed to protect your DSL or cable-connected PC from hackers. This program includes four interlocking security services: a firewall, an application control, an Internet lock, and zones. The firewall controls the door to your computer and allows only traffic that you understand and initiate. The application control allows you to decide which applications can and cannot use the Internet. The Internet lock blocks Internet traffic while your computer is unattended or while you are not using the Internet, and it can be activated automatically with your computer's screensaver or after a set period of inactivity. Zones monitor all activity on your computer and alert you when a new application attempts to access the Internet. ZoneAlarm 5 has further hardened security to keep users and their valuable personal information safe, even against targeted attacks.
In a recent review, download.com says "Zone Alarm is an effective and easy-to-use firewall program, that does a great job at keeping your PC safe from a variety of threats. ZoneAlarm makes configuring a firewall, which sounds like a daunting task for the majority of computer users, incredibly easy with an included wizard.
Maintaining and updating settings is also a snap when using the app's stylish interface and its simple slider controls. The program's Zones feature also allows you to assign different security levels for a local network and the Internet. We found ZoneAlarm to be very good at recognizing and automatically including settings for our local network. In all of our tests, the firewall guarded against all external and internal threats it encountered. Therefore, we think ZoneAlarm is an excellent firewall choice for just about any average user."
A WORD OF CAUTION RE: ZONE ALARM 5. The antivirus component in this new version is not compatible with other antivirus products. If you are using any such, you may have to uninstall it before you can install Zone Alarm 5. If you have become pleasingly dependant on your current antivirus software, you will need to weigh this matter carefully. If you force the issue and attempt to use two antivirus products simultaneously, you are asking for prime time trouble!
The current trend in utilities is to become all-in-one products. PC-Cillin, for example, now contains a firewall in addition to its original purpose as antivirus, but that firewall is not as versatile as Zone Alarm. Whether this is any indicator that Zone Alarm's antivirus component may not measure up to the antivirus protection afforded in PC-Cillin remains to be seen. For sure, the two are not compatible.
Within the limited scope of its availability, user complaints about incompatibility of Zone Alarm 5 are not promising. Our advice is not to rush to be the first kids on the block. Let the dust settle! The expert advice from Fred Langa is, "if you have a copy of ZA 4x, hang on to it. At the very least, the 5x version seems not ready for prime time; and it may simply have become too big, too complex, and too unwieldy for its own- or our- good."
SYGATE PERSONAL FIREWALL. If for any reason you may not like Zone Alarm, here's a very close runner-up. Free for personal use, Sygate Personal Firewall provides best-of-breed security in a user-friendly interface, protecting your PC from hackers, Trojan horses, and DOS attacks. New features include deep-packet inspection, anti-application-hijacking, a log dampener, and enhanced logging. Sygate Personal Firewall is the first free PC firewall to offer protection from malicious code intrusions, keeping the information on your PC safe and private. For multiple-seat licenses for businesses or advanced users, our award-winning Sygate Personal Firewall Pro is available starting at $39.95. www.sygate.com
XP SERVICE PAK 2 due out this summer will contain a firewall that will be on by default. It will, however, be unidirectional in that it will offer protection against incoming intrusions only. You will still need a bi-directional firewall like Zone Alarm to guard against outgoing material from your computer as well.
Many of the security lapses in XP could have been prevented if users had faithfully updated Windows at Microsoft's update site. Service Pak 2 will attack the problem by turning on automatic updating by default.
BANNER YEAR FOR PC'S. CNET's Dana Sharma recently indicated that nearly 100 million PCs are likely to be replaced this year, with 120 million being swapped out in 2005, according to data research firm Gartner. The volume of replacements in the next two years will surpass the number of units replaced in the run-up to Y2K in 1998 and 1999, Gartner said. In 2004, replacement units will drive global shipments to 186.4 million-an increase of 13.6 percent over 2003.
"Our first-quarter results suggest the...replacement cycle that vendors have been anticipating for more than a year is under way," George Shiffler, principal analyst for Gartner's client platforms research, said in a statement. Gartner analysts said more than 30 percent of installed PCs are now at least three years old. Many of those machines run older versions of Windows operating systems, for which full technical support may not be available. This, they said, will play a major role in pushing sales of replacements. Strong economic growth in the United States, the Asia-Pacific region and Japan is also likely to boost sales of new PCs.
In a forecast it issued in February, Gartner had said consumer sales would be driven by upgrades to new desktops in order to handle new applications like digital photography or multimedia. The market researcher said PC shipments for the second quarter of 2004 are projected to increase 14.3 percent from the second quarter of last year.
SPYBOT 1.3 has replaced V1.2 and is a much improved product. You will need to uninstall V1.2 before installing 1.3. This newer version features regular updates.
SAMSUNG ML-1710. The Samsung is a simple, compact laser printer that offers high-speed, good-quality text printing. It's ideal for personal and home-office use. If you rarely, if ever, print in color, you are wasting your money on the high cost of ink in an inkjet printer. A laser printer does the job much faster, higher quality output and considerably less expensive. This Samsung is an excellent product and sells for about $130.
WINDOWS TASK MANAGER is what comes up when you select it by right-clicking your task bar or by pressing ctrl-alt-delete. It gives you a list of what's running in case you want to get rid of something that has frozen your computer or that is running unnecessarily in memory. So far, so good. The problem is that most of what's on the list is abbreviated in such a manner that you don't know what applications they apply to, or you don't know what they control. To the rescue comes an alphabetical listing at http://www.answersthat work.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_s.htm which gives you a plain-English explanation of what each entry is all about. Bookmark this URL. Guaranteed you'll use it more than once!
ACTDEN.COM provides useful tutorials on FrontPage, Office, Internet Explorer, PowerPoint, Outlook Express, and a host of other subjects. You are sure to pick up useful pointers on some of your favorite software apps at this location. Don't miss it! SHARPEN UP YOUR MONITOR DISPLAY. If you think your eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be, you might get a clearer view of the text on your screen by switching to ClearType fonts. ClearType applies a filter and smoothes jagged edges of text, making it seem clearer. You may not see a dramatic difference, but there will definitely be a change, and it will be more noticeable on a sharper LCD monitor. To enable ClearType fonts, right click a blank area on your desktop and select Properties. Click on the Appearance Tab, then on Effects, and check ClearType from the drop-down box.
You'll need to have your display set for at least 16-bit colors. To check this, go back to any blank spot on your desktop and right click, go to Properties, then click on Settings tab and verify that your system is set for 16-bit colors or higher mode. IMAGE ANALYZER 1.2 will give you free advanced image editing, enhancement and analysis software. The program contains both most image enhancement features found in conventional image editors plus a number of advanced features not even available in professional photo suites. Get it free at http://meesoft.logicnet.dk/Analyzer/
FEATURES:
Automatic brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation adjustment.
Build-in conventional and adaptive filters for noise reduction, edge extraction etc.
Deconvolution for out-of-focus and motion blur compensation.
Easy red-eye removal.
User specified filters in spatial and frequency domain.
Resize, rotate, crop and warping of images.
Scanner, camera and printer support.
File format support: Read/write BMP, ICO, CUR, WMF, EMF, PNG, MNG, GIF, PCX, JPEG and JPEG 2000 images Read RAS, PNM, PGM, PPM, HIPS and Matlab files, Morphological operations, Color model conversion: RGB, CMY, HSI, Lab, YCbCr, YIQ and PCA Distance, Fourier and discrete cosine transformation.
Math expression module for creating and transforming images and advanced "pocket" calculator with equation solver and plug-in system for adding more specialized features.
WEATHER WATCHER is your personal Windows desktop weather station. Automatically retrieve the current conditions, hourly forecast, daily forecast, detailed forecast, severe weather alerts, and weather maps for almost any city world-wide. The current conditions can be quickly viewed via the Weather Watcher system tray icon.
There are many features to explore. http://www.singerscreations.com/AboutWeatherWatcher.asp
PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS. History buffs and students will find today's site useful. The rest of us will find it interesting. It's a collection of the public papers of the presidents back to Herbert Hoover. You'll find official papers and speeches. Included is a digest of the presidents' daily schedule, meetings and general interest items. You can search for specific items, such as a particular Executive Order, but most people will just want to browse through the material. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/index.html
FREEWARE GALORE! For some of the best freeware apps you will find anywhere, take a trip to http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/PL2004ProgramIndex.php/ It's well worth the journey.
TASK KILLER. XP's Powerful "Tskill" and "Taskkill" Commands can come in handy. You probably know that in XP (all versions), Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't reboot the PC (as it does in Win98), but rather brings up the Task Manager, which shows you (among other things) all the top-level tasks (like "Word," "Excel," "Eudora" or what not) that are running; and the individual low-level processes created or controlled by the operating system and the top-level tasks.
You can use the Task Manager to terminate a hung or errant task or process. You simply select it from the list and click "End Task" or "End Process." Of course, you also can use this to kill a task or process that isn't hung, although you must do so with caution: A forced exit may cause you to lose any unsaved data generated by a task, for example. But if there is no unsaved data in play, then usually no harm is done.
But you don't really need Task manager for that: The "Tskill" command (without the quotes) actually can do the same thing. If you're running a program called XYZ, you can kill it by typing TSKILL XYZ /A on the Start/Run line, or by entering that command in a Command window, or via script or batch file. As long as XYZ has no open files or unsaved data, it will close, and that's that.
You can see for yourself with a 15 second test: Open an empty Notepad, then click to Start/Run. Type TSKILL NOTEPAD /A and click OK. Presto: Notepad will close. It's a kind of selective shutdown that lets you close top-level programs; and, as long as they're not applications that contain unsaved data, there's no problem.
Both XP Home and Pro support Tskill, but XP Pro also has an even more powerful tool called TASKKILL. It's a little harder to use, but much more flexible in what it can shut down- even if the software balks and doesn't want to "let go." For example, taskkill /f /im XYZ.EXE will almost surely cause XYZ to shut down, no matter what!
REMOVE SPYWARE, ADWARE AND OTHER PESKY PC PESTS. These digital "Peeping Toms" are out to steal your identity and violate your privacy. Now you can find out FOR FREE what's landed on your computer without your permission.
PestScan from PestPatrol is the quick and easy way to scan your PC for spyware, keyloggers, porn dialers and other destructive pests. Scan your PC for free, then save $10 on your purchase of PestPatrol (only $29.95) to safely remove what PestScan finds. http://www.pestscan.com/Promo33102
ED. NOTE: The above is Kim Komando's ad for Pest Patrol. I include it here for 3 reasons. Firstly, it is an excellent product for doing exactly what it says it does. Secondly, it will give you a chance to scan your system free and see exactly what kind of junk you have accumulated. Lastly, it will give you the opportunity to buy the product, if you wish, at a $10 discount from its normal price.
FEDERAL ANTI-SPAM LAWS. Not only did illegal, sexually explicit spam fail to slow down after the regulations took effect May 19, but one antispam company found that pornographic e-mail traffic jumped from about 2 million messages in a 40-hour period last week to about 2.5 million during the same period this week.
COMCAST PHONE SERVICE. In a major turnaround, top U.S. cable company Comcast said it will rely more on voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), an emerging technology for placing phone calls over the Net. The move could increase the cable industry's momentum toward unseating traditional phone companies.
Comcast now plans to outfit half its network with VoIP technology by year's end and to have the entire network outfitted by the end of 2005. Executives said the company will use the technology to sell phone services this year in Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass. Comcast expects to begin selling phone service nationwide in 2006 to about 40 million homes.
AN EXCELLENT ASSORTMENT OF FREEWARE is located at http://freeware4u.com/modules/mydownloads/ This site is well worth the visit. Don't miss it!
A TIP FROM A MEMBER who writes: "Dear Herb, I always get a tip or more from your monthly columns and appreciate the effort you put into it..
Regarding the alphabetize "favorites" I finally figured out how to find a link I had lost in my long list of "favorites" that may be worth passing along (unless you know a better way).. In Windows XP find the "Favorites" folder, it has a star beside it. right click and from the pull down that appears click Search , insert the key word you are looking for and quickly all the links you stored that have the key word will appear..
Thanks and keep up the good work. it's a great help.~ Rod Warner"
A PRIZE PHISH CAUGHT. You've read a lot about phishing lately-an attempt by some cyber-thief to steal your personal information by posing as a legitimate source. Here's an example of phish that came through my e-mail recently posing as a communication from Comcast:
Dear Comcast customer,
Comcast recently attempted to charge your account but their was an error shown when charging your card. This may occur for a variety of reasons including card expiration, over-limit, suspicion of fraud, or several other technical difficulties. Please visit the Comcast Payment Center, by clicking the below link, and update your information so that this issue can be cleared up. udjdjsk Comcast Payment Center
Thank you, Michael Watson Comcastr
Had I clicked on the provided link, I would have been asked to give up personal information, especially credit card numbers, etc. Be on your guard and suspect of all such communications.
WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 10. The revamped Windows Media Player 10, which will be released in final form to the consumer market later this year, contains substantial changes to the way music, videos and other media can be organized and retrieved. But the biggest changes in the new "technical beta" software will be invisible to most users until new portable music and video players reach store shelves this summer and fall.
LOOKING FOR LOWEST PRICES? Here are the quintessential sites you want to visit to do price comparing:
PriceWatch - http://www.pricewatch. com/
PriceGrabber - http://www. pricegrabber.com/
Shopper. com - http://shopper.cnet.com/
PriceScan - http://www.pricescan.com/
ResellerRatings - http://www. reseller rat ings.com/Biz Rate - http ://www.bizrate.com/
LOOKING FOR BARGAINS? Here Are two bargain sites that can clue you in to some:
EDealInfo - http://www.edealinfo.com/TechBargains - http://www. techbargains. com/
ALL ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOWS. TV Tome has over 2,100 complete guides covering almost all the current shows and many of your favorite classics. There's also an additional 3,000+ guides that are partially complete or under development. Use the search box to find your favorite or browse through the list of all shows. www.tvtome.com/
THOSE CRAZY WINDOWS ERROR MESSAGES. The only weirder thing than Windows errors is the message that comes up when it happens. Did you ever get an 'Illegal Operation' or 'Page Fault' error message and wonder what it meant? WinErrs is a database of 1,554 Windows error codes and their definitions. These codes are extracted directly from Microsoft Windows and are their descriptions. With over 1,500 error codes they certainly seemed prepared for the worst. http://camtech 2000.net/Pages/WinErrs.html
A SUPERB COLLECTION OF FREEWARE in a multitude of categories is yours for the trip to www.snapfiles.com/freeware/freeware.html/ This one is well worth your visit. Don't miss it!
SHORTCUT TO A WEBSITE. Easiest Way in the world to get a shortcut to any website on your desktop is to go to that website, right-click anywhere, and select "create shortcut." I know you will want to do this for google.com if you haven't already.
THAT DAMNED CAPS LOCK KEY. Sometimes I just forget to turn it off, and other times I hit it by accident. What a pain to type a whole line in caps before I catch the error. It's worse for me because I am not a touch typist where my focus would be on the screen rather than the keyboard. Fear not.here's a way to make your computer beep and your screen flash when you hit the caps lock key:
- Go to control panel and open Accessibility Options. Click the "Use Toggle Keys" option. So much for beeping!
- Under Accessibility Options, select the Sound Tab and choose "Use Sound Sentry." From the "Warning for Windowed Programs" drop down box, select "Flash Active Window." Now you will also get a momentary flash when you hit caps lock.
ZERO ASSUMPTION DIGITAL IMAGE RECOVERY is a freeware data recovery tool, specifically designed to work with digital images. It allows you to recover digital photos accidentally deleted from digital camera memory." It recovers these formats: GIF, JPEG, TIFF, CRW - Canon RAW data, MOV - QuickTime movie, WAV - Waveform audio.
LOST WINDOWS PRODUCT KEY? For whatever reason you may need to reinstall Windows but are stymied because you can't find your product key, here's the solution: Go to www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml/ Not only will it dig the lost product key out of your registry, but it's freeware as well.
SOLVING WINDOWS PROBLEMS. Got a problem with Windows that you can't resolve. Here's a site that will help you do the job. Add it to your list of favorites. Guaranteed that at one time or another you will be glad you did! http://www. annoyances.org/ OPENEXPERT enables you to specify any number of suitable applications for each file type. In this way, when you open a file, instead of being restricted to using a single pre-determined application, you can easily choose among a list of suitable applications. Easily open your graphic files in your favorite paint programs or view your HTML files in either Netscape or Internet Explorer, just with a few mouse clicks. You can even add different versions of the same program to the OpenExpert menu. The programs inserts itself in the Windows Explorer right-click menu so you can use it on the fly. It's a real handy thing to have and it's free. www.baxbex.com/openexpert.html
REGSEEKER is a handy free-ware tool for managing several popular registry items and searching the registry by keyword. Among its other uses, it's a great way to get rid of the remains of software you have uninstalled but (as usual) leaves lots of junk behind in the registry. The program also includes a registry cleaning feature that finds invalid and unused registry entries, allowing you to delete them. RegSeeker can automatically create a backup before deleting any registry entries. The program comes with an attractive, easy to use interface. Nevertheless it is not intended for complete beginners and you should feel comfortable working with the Windows registry before using it.
It also offers quick access to Startup Entries, Uninstall Information, Color Schemes, History items (URLs, Recent Documents etc) and IE Favorites. www. snapfiles.com/get/regseeker.html :
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Copyright 2004. This article is from the July 2004 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
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