Review Chairmans Industry Comments (1/06) The Computer Buffet

Sarasota PC Monitor

Review Chairmans Industry Comments (1/06)

The Computer Buffet

by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor

E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org

BARGAINS! BARGAINS! It's no secret that regardless of what you are looking to buy, chances are you can buy it for less on the internet. We all have our favorite shopping sites, but PC World recently did a head to head comparison and found the 3 best sites price-wise are (in order of best prices) pricerunner.com, pricegrabber.com, and shopping.yahoo.com. From personal experience, I prefer pricegrabber.com and bizrate.com. Enjoy your shopping!

PATCH TUESDAYS. Microsoft regularly updates and patches Windows via Windows Update Manager. It can be set to run automatically via control panel security if you do not already have it so configured. Actually, it is the safest and easiest way to be certain you get all your updates as they are released. Your indication of automatic updates is the little red shield sitting in you system tray that indicates automatic updates as you pass your pointer over it.

Some people, myself included, do not have automatic updates running continuously since it is yet another item using available memory. If you are among those, you need to be certain to check the Microsoft Windows update site at least every Tuesday. That's when Microsoft posts its regular updates if any have been released. The Windows update site is available in your start menu. Where do you find it if it's not there? Google, of course, like everything else!

AVOID USER LOGON PASSWORD. For most people, the home computer is not a big security concern. The only people that use the computer are family members, and they are probably not going to do anything malicious to your computer (at least not intentionally).

In light of this, most home computers do not require a password to get into the Windows XP operating system. If your computer has just one user account and you don't want to enter a password to get into it, you might as well completely eliminate that step. Here's how.

Click Start - Run, and then type this in the field: control userpasswords2 and click Ok. Find the option that says "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" and uncheck the box next to it. Click Ok. Now, restart the computer. You will see that it goes straight to the desktop, without requiring any clicks from you.

GHOSTSURF CAUTION. Recently I recommended GhostSurf as the application of choice to hide your IP address and surf anonymously. It is till the best app I have seen to reliably do the job. It does present a problem, however, in that you can't get to certain web sites or run some update URL's because they reject you as unseen. If you have a problem reaching certain sites or running some apps that need web access, you might try temporarily shutting GhostSurf down.

WHICH FIREWALL? Windows and a variety of antivirus apps, etc. offer you their own firewall, some better and some worse. Our advice is to pass them all by and use the best of the lot, ZoneAlarm (free version).

NETSENDFAKER allows you to send anonymous net send messages to anyone that is connected to the network. You can also emulate messages as if they were sent from other computer. The tool is designed with a user-friendly interface and is easy to use. http://www.nsauditor.com/freeware/index.html

WINDOWS DEFENDER will replace and contain substantial changes to the Windows AntiSpyware beta version. In addition to the spyware detection and removal technologies, Windows Defender will include other malware detection and removal features and will run as a service, giving it lower-level access to the OS. It will provide visibility and control, as well as protection, detection, and removal from other potentially unwanted software, including root kits, keystroke loggers, and more. A version of Windows Defender will be included in Windows Vista (due in late 2006), and Microsoft says that it continues to plan for a free Windows Defender version that will be made available to Windows XP users.

ALL-IN-ONE SECRETMAKER is free and combines several tools: Security Watchdog, Intruder Blocker, Spam Fighter, Pop-up Blocker, Banner Blocker, Movie Blocker, Privacy Protector, History Cleaners, Worm Hunter, and Cookie Eraser.

Security Watchdog recognizes malicious "mysteryware" and parasites that may assault your computer. Intruder Blocker can protect you from spyware, trackware, and viruses. Spam Fighter rates spam and works with any POP3 e-mail client, and the automated whitelist keeps preferred contacts up-to-date. Banner Blocker reduces advertising banners, and Movie Blocker blocks Flash ads. Pop-up Blocker stops unwanted pop-ups, and Privacy Protector hides your identity while you surf. Cookie Eraser circumvents profiling. History Cleaner clears needless files, logs, and tracks. Various whitelists allow user-specific optimizations. www.secretmaker.com

DIVX BUNDLE. This bundle includes the DivX Player and DivX 6 codec. Both are free and no adware is included in the package. The DivX Player plays all AVI and .divx files that contain DivX video and MP3 audio (including DivX 3, 4, 5 and 6 video formats), and enables access to DivX Video-on-Demand services. The DivX codec extends DivX playback support to all popular media players. This package supports English, French, German, and Japanese languages.

DivX Player is optimized to play DivX media files with full support for all the advanced features of the DivX Media Format including scene selection menus, chapters, subtitles, video tags and alternate audio tracks. In addition, DivX Player is enhanced to give you the full value of DivX HD video through new features such as performance adaptive quality enhancement and the latest DivX 6 decoder. The DivX Play Bundle includes the optional Google Toolbar for easy web searches and pop-up blocking. www.divx.com

AVG ANTIVIRUS FREE EDITION is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).

Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files. www.grisoft.com

SMARTFTP allows you to transfer files across the Internet. It features an Explorer-like, customizable interface and supports drag-and-drop functions. Multiple FTP connections can be opened at the same time, and you can copy files from one remote host to another (FXP). Remote-host directory information is cached for future viewing, and FTP URLs are supported. Other features include a Favorites list; the ability to resume broken downloads; a global history; background transfers; proxy support; a passive transfer mode; and the ability to perform recursive downloads, uploads, and deletes. Version 1.5.990.26 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes. www. smartftp.com

ICQ PRO 2003b is the latest release of ICQ, the instant-messaging program that lets you communicate with friends and colleagues in real time. To seek out a friend on the ICQ network, simply enter his or her ICQ number, name, nickname, or e-mail address.

Once your contact list is set up, you'll be notified when your friends are online so you can chat; send instant messages, files, and URLs; play games; or just hang out.

ICQ Pro 2003b includes ICQphone, a feature that incorporates IP telephony functions into the ICQ program. Users can initiate and participate in PC-to-PC and PC-to-phone calls. In addition, users can also utilize SMS technology, send wireless-pager messages, view up-to-date information on ICQ channels, and integrate ICQ with Outlook.

With the latest version of ICQ, you can move instantly from the Pro to Lite versions just by clicking "Switch to ICQ lite" from the Main menu, and the shared ICQ preferences and password make it easy to move between Lite and Pro versions without losing your settings. Other new features include improved e-mail integration and user interface, enhanced integration with Windows XP, automatic firewall detection, and the new Search Google window which allows you instant access to Google searches through the ICQ interface, plus much more. For a complete list of new features, visit the ICQ New Features page. www.icq.com

ARES GOLD. Search for and download MP3s, movies, and media files on major P2P networks. Ares Gold is a file-sharing program that builds on the latest P2P technology to offer a unique and exciting user experience. Ares Gold completely eliminates the performance problems that have plagued other P2P networks like Kazaa, LimeWire, and Ares Galaxy. Within seconds, Ares Gold brings up thousands of audio, video, image, software, and media files, which can be downloaded from multiple sources and managed in a media library. The built-in theater also allows you to enjoy your music and movie files. Version 1.85 filters out fake MP3 files and adds several options for tweaking performance. www.aresgold.com

ASTERISK KEY reveals passwords that are hidden under asterisks. Unlike many others, this program works both with password dialog boxes and web page login forms. Asterisk Key is easy to use, just press a button, while the dialog or web page is open and it will detect and reveal all masked passwords. www.lostpassword.com/asterisk.htm

EASEUS DISK COPY enables you to create an exact copy/clone of your internal hard drive, by copying the data from one drive to the other, including all operating system settings, programs, data etc. This is useful when you are upgrading or replacing your hard drive as it eliminates the need to reinstall Windows and all your programs. The program runs from a boot floppy and includes a wizard that will create the floppy disk for you. In order for EaseUs Disk Copy to work, the new hard drive must already be installed (external USB or Firewire drives are not supported) and configured as a Secondary Master - this may require you to change Bios settings. Documentation does not come included but is offered from the web site. http://www.easeus.com/

COFFEECUP PRIVACY CLEANER allows you to clean your Internet and computer usage history, either on demand or automatically. The cleaning options include cookie management, history, visited websites, typed URLs, Temp folders and more. You can optionally run the program in stealth mode and on a regular schedule, and it also provides an option to securely erase the files rather than using the conventional delete method. Additional features include IE Home Page protection, Boss Key, and more. It offers support for Internet Explorer, Opera and Netscape browser. www.coffeecup.com/privacy-cleaner/

FOXIT PDF READER is an alternative to Adobe Reader, that allows you to view and print PDF files. Unlike Adobe Reader, it opens PDF files very fast, without any delay. It supports all the standard features, browser integration, and also select/copy of text from the documents. www.foxitsoftware.com/

CRYPTOEXPERT 2005 LITE allows you to create a virtual drive and use it to securely store documents, images or any other files. The content of the secure container acts and looks just like any other drive, however it is encrypted on-the-fly and only accessible if the user has logged in. Additional features include integrated emailing of files, secure file deletion, auto or hotkey dismount and more. The program uses 128-bit CAST encryption, and the free version is limited to a 20mb container size, you can create multiple containers, each up to 20 mb. www.secureaction.com/cryptoexpert/lite/index2.shtml

APO USB AUTORUN enables you to add autorun functionality to your USB drive. It automatically searches for the standard autorun.inf (as used with CDs) and executes it. This simple, but very handy functionality allows you to create an autorun menus in the same way you would for a CD and use it with your USB drive, or launch playlists, html pages and any other type of file as soon as the USB drive is inserted. In addition to the autorun functionality, the program also allows you to quickly access the files on the USB drive(s) from the tray icon menu. www.archidune.com/apo

ENCRYPTONCLICK is a simple encryption/decryption tool, that uses military grade 256-bit AES encryption which is fully compatible with WinZip 9. It encrypts selected files or folders and compresses them at the same time. The encrypted file can be decrypted by EncryptOnClick, as well as anyone that uses WinZip 9 and has the proper password. www.2brightsparks.com/

WHAT'S A "BOT?" A frequent question. It's simply short for "robot."

WINGUARD PRO 2006 can password protect your programs, windows and web pages in one easy to use program! What's more, there is also encryption for your personal files and folders. It offers an all-in-one security solution for your computer. With extra features to lock the desktop, boot keys, task keys, blocking software installations and internet access. WinGuard Pro 2006 comes in a Free and Premium edition. www.winguardpro.com/

QUICKTIME ALTERNATIVE. QuickTime is a common format, but QuickTime's player is huge. Avoid that space hog by watching your QuickTime files in QuickTime Alternative. This free codec works in a number of browsers, too. With QuickTime Alternative, you can watch QuickTime files over Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape, and Opera. http://free-codecs.com/

MAXTHON (previously named MyIE2) v1.5 Build 95 Combo. Tired of watching browser windows fill your entire taskbar? Maxthon uses a tabbed interface so you can hop from page to page from the same window. You can cascade or tile them in the window, if you prefer. Enable the Mouse Gesture feature to cut back on clicking and using the tab key. Super Drag&Drop opens pages by dragging-and-dropping a link, or runs searches when you drag-and-drop highlighted text into the built-in search engine. Keep useful items such as Web services, favorites, the Google Toolbar, and even external programs handy by putting them in the Maxthon toolbar.

Privacy concerns become less worrisome with the combined browser/history/address/cookie-clearing function-especially if you schedule it to sweep up when you close out of the program. AD Hunter can be used as either an ironclad pop-up blocker, a filter list, or a white list.

Please note that Maxthon is not a stand-alone program; you need to have Internet Explorer installed to run the program. Also, the Lite version only includes the FlashSave and ViewSource plugins; the full (or "combo") version includes those as well as AI Roboform, EnableRightClick, Up a Directory, and Weather. www.maxthon.com/

PC PROBLEMS? Visit www.pcpitstop for a free diagnosis for your computer via the web.

FASTSTONE IMAGE VIEWER is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touch the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image frames, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF and DNG). www.faststone.org

ACCESS MANAGER provides fast, easy and secure storage for all your passwords. You can organize passwords into types and categories for easy access and keep notes, web site links and e-mail addresses with each password.

Email addresses or web site URLs can be automatically launched from within the program. The program is easy to use and uses a clean MS Outlook style interface and can be protected with a master password. Also included is an option to generate random passwords, search functions, printing of password lists and more. Very nice! Free for personal use. http://www.accessmanager.co.uk/

TRACE. We're used to associating danger with Web sites and emails that might have viruses, but the truth is that the Word document you receive over your own computer network might have risks of its own. Trace utility gives you a security risk rating on the presence of hidden information in your Office documents. Among other things, it looks for server names, macros, email addresses, track changes and comments. It works for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The ratings you'll receive are High, Medium and Low. http://workshare.com/products/trace/default.aspx

CD, DVD JEWEL CASE & LABEL CREATOR FOR WORD. Now you can create your own beautiful and professional CD Jewel Cases and CD Labels in just minutes! Perfect for business, home, or hobby. Works with any type of paper or CD label including centered label sheets. Making Jewel Cases and Labels has never been so quick and easy! It's easy to make both front and rear CD Jewel Case Covers with Side Spines, CD Booklets, as well as CD Labels - all in one package! This program can also make DVD labels! It's not free, but costs only $15. www.createcdlabels.com/

CLIPBOARD HELP+SPELL is a clipboard utility that automatically captures and stores all text content that is copied to the Windows clipboard. It automatically organizes entries by new and old and can remove entries after X days, back up the database, and filter the list by keyword.

In addition to clipboard management, the program also includes tools to process the captured text. You can spell check, convert case, remove and format characters, trim line breaks, find/replace, and more.

An all-around clipboard utility helps you maintain an organized list of frequently used text snippets for quick pasting to the clipboard, keep track of clipboard history, process text, spell check text in any application and more. http://windows.fileoftheday.com/archives/data_ clipboard _helpspell_v10501.html

SPYCATCHER EXPRESS protects all Web surfers by providing the safest and most advanced antispyware solution available as a free service. SpyCatcher Express protects against next-generation, mutating spyware and puts users back in control of their PCs. SpyCatcher is the only antispyware solution that goes beyond traditional signature matching by incorporating a three-pronged method for threat detection (profiles, behavioral analysis and contextual intelligence) to ensure cutting-edge protection. Competitors typically use one detection model, preventing them from blocking mutations and the latest threats.

DeepDefense prevents the installation of rootkits, removes aggressive spyware, and intercepts all API calls and blocks reinstallation of aggressive spyware. With SpyCatcher Express there are no gimmicks or time restrictions, just the most advanced antispyware solution available provided by Tenebril as a free service to the Internet. www.tenebril.com

TURN ON CLEARTYPE. Activate the ClearType effect located on the Display Properties control panel. To get to the right control, open the Control Panel and then open the Display Properties control panel. From there, navigate to the Appearance tab and click the Effects button

Click the second check box for smoothing font edges and choose the ClearType option. Click OK a few times and you should see the fonts displayed much more crisply on the screen. Once you install the Microsoft PowerToys you can adjust the ClearType settings to achieve a more personalized display.

AUDACITY. This free audio editor can record and play sounds and import and export WAV, AIFF, MP3, and OGG files. Edit your sounds using cut, copy, and paste features (with unlimited undo functionality), mix tracks, or apply effects to your recordings. The program also has a built-in amplitude-envelope editor, a customizable spectrogram mode, and a frequency-analysis window for audio-analysis applications. Built-in effects include bass boost, wah wah, and noise removal, and the program also supports VST plug-in effects. This program is open-source, and this version adds tool tips, keyboard shortcuts, and OGG exporting and fixes some bugs.

Version 1.2.2 has a Meter Toolbar added for monitoring volume levels during playback and recording, allows you to export multiple files at once, attempts to automatically correct latency in full-duplex recordings, and contains some bug fixes. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

3GPTORAWAVI. You're likelier to have a camera phone with you than a bulky video camera, but many camera phones record in the unusual 3GPP format. With 3gpToRawAvi, you can convert files from this esoteric format to the better-known (and more useful) AVI format. Once converted to AVI, your candid camera moments will play on most media players. You can even edit them, e-mail them, or burn them to DVD. www.allaboutsymbian.com/software/

There's no shortage of software that will permanently erase files, but if you simply want the very best there is and one that spares none of the bells and whistles, East-Tec Eraser leads the pack. It's for those who demand that their erasures, albeit a single file or an entire disk is erased in such a way as to be totally, completely, and unequivocally gone and unrecoverable by any means or entity known to man. In fact it surpasses even top-secret military requirements.

East-Tec erasure is not only the leading permanent deleting utility, it offers an extremely useful associated bag of tricks you can employ at your choosing:

It will search any of your drives or partitions for remnants of previously deleted files and remove any trace.

It will wipe any remnants that exist in the free space of your drives and in your swap files.

East-Tec's Privacy Guard will wipe web pages, pictures, temp files, history, recent docs and all other tracks you usually accumulate in your internet wanderings, newsreaders and web browser.

. It will permanently erase the contents of your recycle bin.

It will permanently erase the contents of your "deleted items" folder in Outlook Express and compact the information in your other folders.

It will permit you to schedule regular erasure tasks to run at your time and choosing.

Eraser installs in your context (right-click) menu in Windows Explorer or your alternative file manager. If you right click on any files or folders you have selected, eraser can promptly dispatch them beyond recovery

Eraser can completely wipe an entire hard, CD or other media making it safe for disposal.

You can password protect the use of Eraser.

You are provided a choice among several permanent and secure erasure methods which are fully explained.

The program is child's play to install and use. A total novice will have no problem employing any or all of its wizard-driven features. It has received top awards in such computer publications as PC World.

East-Tec Eraser provides the most advanced, thorough and effective erasure utility of its kind to safeguard and protect your privacy. It is more than worth its cost of $30. You can try it free or purchase it at www.east-tec.com Windows XP For Starters. The Missing Manual

It used to be that when you bought software, it came with a manual that, for better or worse, taught you how to use the program. Unfortunately, it was more often for worse than better. And frequently you would swear you were reading an Arabic translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. So when the vast majority of software publishers for economic reasons stopped including extensive documentation in the box, most users hardly noticed it wasn't there.

For the more thoroughly experienced among us, the software help files or on-line documentation offered adequate solutions to most queries. For those lesser experienced it became a stumble-your-way-through or head for the computer section at Barnes and Noble experience.

Then along from out of the blue came O'Reilly Publishing that began to make available a diversity of computer manuals offering practical guidance and written in plain English. Among the most welcome of these is a gem written by David Pogue, noted New York Times columnist and author. Of his many contributions, the one that stands out most in my mind and offers the greatest assistance to PC Users is "Windows XP For Starters, The missing Manual." Yes, it is the missing manual that under ideal circumstances should have been included in Microsoft's box.

This manual is a must for Windows XP newbies. It offers the greatest amount of well-organized information to XP users, especially those interested in learning in a thoroughly clarified manner what this most common Windows operating system is all about. In 13 information-filled chapters and 385 pages, David Pogue will make it all abundantly clear to you. From the first XP screen that appears on your computer on startup to the intricacies of the Control Panel and the ins and outs of the Internet, Pogue explains in step-by-step fashion how to live comfortably with and master Windows XP, no means an easy task.

The book was written with both the inexperienced beginner in mind, as well as the overconfidents who think they know it all and will discover how much they really missed. You will go from simply logging on to mastering the ins and outs of the Internet; from basic terminology or setting up home networks; from e-mailing, using the security center to making adequate backups via XP. In other words, this manual covers all the XP bases and a whole lot more.

I highly recommend this book for every Windows XP user. It normally lists for $19.95, but you can get a user group discount at oreilly.com. Further info is available from Pogue Press, www.missingmanuals.com and O'reilly's sales department, 800-998-9938 :

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Copyright 2005. This article is from the January 2006 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/

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