Front Range PC Users Group Newsletter

k-Byte

 Cover Art
  v. 18, n. 5/6 May/June 2001 Users Helping Users
Contents
1 State of the Group - Rick Mattingly
2 About k-Byte
3 April/May Meeting Reports - Mike Meyer
5 CD-R And CD-RW: The Floppy Of The Future? - Surya Singh
7 Flash Memory Gaining Ground - Ken Fermoyle
8 Missingmoney.com - Rick Mattingly
10 Faster Drives, For Free! - Fred Langa
11 What's The Big Squeeze About Compression? - Cary Quinn
13 FTP: File Transfer Protocol - John Woody
13 SnagIt 5.2 Upgrade Notice
14 Calendar of Events
16 June/July Calendars
18 Membership Application
22 What Goes Around Comes Around
23 Getspeed - High Speed Internet Access Locator
23 Free Internet Discussion Group
24 Unofficially, USB Could Mean 'User's Super Buddy' - Ken Fermoyle
26 Click To Convert Version 2.5 - Jim Gaffney
27 PartitionMagic 6.0 - Bee Reynolds
30 Trading Post
31 FRPCUG Contacts

Never mistake motion for action. -- Ernest Hemingway
State of the Group
by Rick Mattingly

The Rocky Mountain summer season is looming over us. Finally, after that particularly ugly winter we just experienced. I know that we are all more than ready to spend some time outdoors now but please remember to mark your calendars for the upcoming FRPCUG General Forum and SIG Meetings scheduled.

In June FRPCUG member Bert Broekstra is giving a presentation on the CD-RW drive. The Read/Write CD drive has dropped in price to the point that it should now be considered by most users as an efficient and cost effective storage media.

And, in July, Theresa Jacobs of Microsoft will be returning to give a presentation on the next generation of Microsoft Office - Office XP.

Remember, please give us your thoughts on what you would like to see for presentations at future meetings Now, don't forget the sunscreen!

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About k-Byte

Published bi-monthly, k-Byte is the official newsletter of the Front Range Personal Computer Users Group (FRPCUG): our mailing address is PMB 152, 305 W. Magnolia, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. Opinions expressed in k-Byte are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the group or its members. Publication of information in k-Byte constitutes no guarantee of accuracy. Use of any information found in this publication is at the sole risk of the user. Neither k-Byte, nor its officers, nor k-Byte, nor its editors or contributors assume any liability for damages resulting from use of information in this publication.

Submissions

Articles, letters and short items of interest on computer-related topics are welcome and encouraged. All items submitted for publication are subject to editing. Send your contribution to the editor via e-mail attachment or submit on disk. If you have questions about a submission, please contact the editor for information.

Copyright

k-Byte is copyrighted © 2001 by the Front Range Personal Computer Users Group. Unless otherwise noted, other nonprofit users groups may reprint or quote from any articles appearing in k-Byte without prior permission, provided that proper author and publication credits are given and that a copy of the publication in which the article appears is sent at no cost to k-Byte at the above mailing address. User groups wishing to exchange newsletters with FRPCUG are invited to send a copy of their newsletter together with an exchange request. IBM PC, OS/2, Compaq, MS-DOS, UNIX, Windows and other trademarks occasionally mentioned in k-Byte are registered trademarks of International Business Machines, Inc., Compaq Corporation, Microsoft, Digital Research, AT&T or their owners respectively. Neither FRPCUG nor its newsletter k-Byte are connected in any way with any manufacturer or seller. We, however, gratefully acknowledge sponsorship of our group by Data Service Center, Jim Becker, owner.

Advertising

Classified advertising is free to members for non-business ads. See “Trading Post” for pricing for camera-ready display ads. Charges for ad makeup from sketches, etc., are available on request. Deadline for camera-ready and classified ads is listed in the Calendar of Upcoming Events. Deadline for ad-makeup is the same as for articles.

About FRPCUG

FRPCUG is an independent nonprofit computer society, open to anyone interested in MS-DOS, OS/2, or UNIX microcomputers. Its purpose is to provide an educational and scientific forum of mutual benefit for members of the micro-computer community. FRPCUG holds a monthly meeting and conducts various special interest groups (SIGS) and seminars. Members have voting privileges, subscription to k-Byte newsletter, SIGs and selected seminars. Annual dues are $25 for individual/family membership and $50 for corporate/group membership.

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Scribe's Corner
April Meeting Report
 by Mike Meyer

39 people attended the April meeting. During the Announcements Period, President Rick Mattingly informed the membership that the May Meeting main program topic would be Adobe Acrobat. There also will be a Saturday morning presentation on April 7th by Bert Broekstra, covering the basics of computer hardware. This program was requested by some of our members in an earlier survey and will be held at the JYMIS office on So. College Ave. Doug Boicourt announced that the HTML SIG will resume its meetings, beginning on Monday evening, April 9th, at the JYMIS office.

Rick Mattingly opened the Open Forum Session with an extensive discussion of his experiences with the Epson Stylus 880 color printer for producing photo quality prints from pictures taken with a digital camera. He stated that reproduction of a portrait was excellent, using a medium-quality camera (1.8 mega-pixels). Considerable discussion then ensued about programs and techniques to eliminate or minimize SPAM, "cookies", etc. These included "PURGE IE" and "SPAM Killer". Glen York then cautioned that care must be exercised when using key words, phrases, etc., so they don't filter out a valid e-mail message. An older program still receiving good reviews is "ZONE ALARM".

The Main Program again was presented by Rick Mattingly and covered two very handy products ("SnagIt" and Camtasia") from TechSmith of East Lansing, MI. "SnagIt" is billed as an advanced screen capture program and is said to be the only such program capable of capturing images (i.e., anything seen), text (i.e., anything read), and video (i.e., anything moved on-screen) from your desktop. Once captured, the material can be manipulated, altered, saved, and used later for many other tasks. Rick carried out several demonstrations to illustrate clearly this program's capabilities. "SnagIt" is available to user groups at a 10% discount $35.95). Rick then went on to demonstrate "Camtasia", a powerful suite of tools designed to produce a video of anything seen on-screen. The resulting material can be recorded, edited, and published in the form of a high fidelity, compressed video.

Such videos can be used for training purposes, technical support, and various kinds of sales demonstrations. The suite of tools includes Camtasia Recorder, Camtasia Producer, and Dubit Audio Editor. It can be purchased directly from TechSmith at the 10% user group discount price of $134.95. The two programs together can be purchased for $152.95. Rick stated that the technical support from TechSmith for these products is excellent. They kindly provided us with some copies of the programs, which were raffled off at the meeting. They also provided some demonstration disks to the membership, which had a limited trial period, once activated. Everyone agreed this was a really fun meeting.

May Meeting Report
 by Mike Meyer

Despite a slow start, 33 people ended up attending what proved to be a very interesting meeting. During the Announcements Period, President Rick Mattingly stated that the June monthly meeting program will be on reading and writing to CDs. He also announced that Microsoft will put on a presentation for our July monthly meeting. Doug Boicourt announced that the HTML SIG will meet at the JYMIS office on Monday, May 14th. Glen York mentioned that the Internet Safari Group monthly meeting would be held at the Barnes & Noble Book Store on Monday, May 7th, at 7 p.m.

During the Open Forum Session, a large number of user problems again were addressed. Glen York warned about a new virus ("Bad Trans") that began to show up around early to mid-April and advised people to make sure their virus protection programs are up-to-date. It is spread through Microsoft Outlook and can seriously damage some of your files. Other problems involved word processing, Windows "Startup" alterations, "Twain" drivers for scanners, WIN98 reinstallation, and e-mail messaging functions. Rick once again discussed the need to routinely carry out disk defragmentation.

The Main Program was ably presented by Rick Mattingly, and the topic was Adobe Acrobat Reader. While the current version is still 4.0, a new version (5.0) may now be available on Adobe's website. Standard files are identifiable as PDF (Portable Document Files) and now are being widely used on the Internet. Acrobat Reader is available free from Adobe and will read the PDF files; however, the full program is needed to create the PDF files.

The program is quite versatile, but somewhat expensive. Retail cost for the full package is about $230, although there also are some modules available for specialized purposes that can further increase the cost. The latest versions of COREL products, CoreDraw! and Wordperfect, include the capability to write PDF files. Rick advised that installation of Acrobat Reader must be done with care, with respect to placement in your browser, due to potential problems associated with certain file sizes. He then nicely demonstrated the use of Acrobat Reader's powerful capability to manipulate PDF files. He also pointed out that the extent to which a file can be manipulated is related to the security level assigned to that file by the document's original author.

Rick gave an excellent presentation, as usual. It was quite enjoyable and very informative to the membership.
Jim Nichols - In Remembrance


We regret to report that FRPCUG member Jim Nichols passed away in Fort Collins, Colorado on Friday, May 11, 2001. Jim was truly one of the original good guys and will be missed by a multitude of friends in the community. He will always be remembered for his sunny disposition and the unflagging donation of his time to his family, his community and his profession. Goodbye friend.

"We will meet again"

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CD-R And CD-RW: The Floppy Of The Future?
 by Surya Singh

Will CD-R and CD-RW Become the "Floppy of the Future"?
Editor's note: As a Web builder, you may be providing large files for your visitors to download. If so, you should understand what they have to do to store those files. Here's one solution.

Ten years ago the common method of sharing files was via a square piece of plastic, five and a quarter inches in diameter. This "floppy" disk held either 360 kilobytes or 1.2 megabytes depending on which type was being used. With today's ever increasing need for removable storage however, CD-R and CD-RW, may become as popular as the floppy disk was in its heyday.

CD-R and CD-RW are acronyms that stand for Compact Disc-Recordable and Compact Disc ReWriteable respectively. Both CD-R and CD-RW drives are extensions to the standard CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) drive format found in most every computer. These two systems are related to each other and present the consumer with a wide number of upgrade choices in this brave new world.

The key feature of CD-R and CD-RW drives over their now commonplace relative the CD-ROM drive is their ability to write data to a disc. CD-R media can be written once only to any particular area on the disc. CD-RW drives build on the CD-R standard and allow the user to write and rewrite to any particular area on a CD-RW disc many times. Most CD recordable drives available today have rewriteable features and can proces both CD-R and CD-RW media. However, a CD recordable must have rewriteable features to rewrite CD-RW discs. In other words, a CD-RW drive can only rewrite CD-RW media (not a CD-R discs) and a CD-R only drive can not process CD-RW media.

One of the caveats with CD-R media is that once its has been written or marked it can never be erased. Thus, working with CD-R media is quite similar to writing everything with a permanent ink pen: Nothing can ever be erased. Moreover, if a mistake is made, the whole process must be restarted and the erroneous disc is simply trashed. It was because of this vexing problem that CD-RW technology, using phase-change media was developed.

CD-R and CD-RW drives, unlike most drives, can record in a variety of formats, each of which effects the final utility of the finished disc. The most common CD-R and CD-RW formats are discussed as follows:

The Packet Writing Format - This means of using the disc allows for the disc to easily act as a removable media drive. If CD-RW media is used, the drive responds and acts as a diskette or Zip drive would. However, the disc first needs to be formatted to the UDF format style which reduces the storage capacity to approximately 550 MB. CD-R packet written discs can be read by any CD-ROM drive as long as they are at least "temporarily closed." If the UDF drivers are installed on a PC, a CD-RW packet written disc can be read by most modern CD-ROM drives as long as they support packet reading.
Standard Data Track Format - This means creates a CD data disc similar to most CD-ROM disc distributed with software. This format allows the user to store the full 640 MB that the disc can hold; however, the disc data must processed using a CD recording application (e.g., Adaptec's CD Creator) and can not be written to directly.
The Audio Track/Multisession Format - This is the standard means that digitalized forms of audio are added to CD discs. However, each time a series of songs are recorded, a new session is created. For a "multisession" to be read, the CD player must support the multisession format.

Why is CD recording such a complex system? Basically, it stems from the history of CD technology. CD technology was invented by Phillips Electronics and others almost two decades ago. The original CDs started out as an optical incarnation of long-playing vinyl records (LPs). For this reason CDs, unlike diskette and hard drives, read/write along a continuous, spiraling track instead of sectors. This causes the drives to vary their speed as data is read at various points on the disc because on the outside, more "media" goes by for a given angular velocity. However, data storage is best done using a sector or packet based approach and not the spiral-track approach of CDs. To accommodate data, CDs often place all their data in the first "track" along with a Table of Contents that stores information about all the files and where they are located. Even the speed ratings of most drives are a product of CD history as drive multipliers (e.g., 8x) are in proportion to the speed of the first drives that operated at a rate of 150 kilobytes per second.

Another reason for the great popularity of CD recorders is their economies of scale, which makes them extremely cost competitive for the storage of a large amount of data. CD-R discs or media cost about one dollar per disc and CD-RW discs are approximately $5 dollars a disc. This results in exceptionally low unit costs, or cost per megabyte (measured in cents/MB). CD-R discs have a unit cost of less than 1/6 cents/MB and CD-RW disc have a unit cost near 1 cents/MB. In comparison, hard drives have a unit cost ranging between 3 and 6 cents/MB and Iomega Zip disks have a unit cost almost 100 times greater than CD-R (i.e, 12 cents/MB). In addition to cost, CD-R and CD-RW are gaining popularity because of their backward compatibility with the CD-ROM standard. This allows distribution of data on CD-R discs to a wide number of users without having to worry if the user has the right drive to read the media.

CD-R and CD-RW systems however, are not perfect. One key disadvantage is that CD-R and CD-RW drives can be somewhat expensive. For example, CD-RW drives range from $200 to $400 depending on the drive's speed and interface. A second disadvantage with CD-R and CD-RW drives is that they are relatively slow. Most of these drives operate only two or four times the speed of the original CD-ROM specification. Thus, even the fastest CD recorders are 10-15 times slower (while writing) than a hard drive and 2-3 times slower than CD-ROM readers.

In terms of marketability and support, CD-R and CD-RW have not seen a major advertising campaign (excluding a small campaign by Phillips electronics) nor have they been endorsed by any major computer vendor. Nonetheless, CD-R and CD-RW drives have generated a great deal of end user support and are increasing tremendously in popularity. Since CD-R and CD-RW are not proprietary standards, there is a great deal of competition between a number of CD-R and CD-RW manufactures. This competition should not only lower the prices on the drives, but may help CD-R and CD-RW become more widely accepted in the computing industry.

In summary, the complexity of today's software and the data files associated with it, has grown exponentially. One of the most promising and cost effective solutions could be the CD-R and CD-RW system. However, for this technology to replace the floppy the price of the drives must come down and performance must be increased.

This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an International organization to which this user group belongs. Surya Singh is a member and SIG leader of the East Tennessee Computer Society in Knoxville Tennessee.

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Flash Memory Gaining Ground As Portable Devices Increase
by Ken Fermoyle

Perhaps "flash memory" is not part of our daily vocabularies, but the technology is rapidly becoming part of our lives, even if many of us don't realize it. Flash memory, you see, is used in cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 music players and other portable devices we all use more and more these days. It also plays a big role in unseen areas, such as networking networking devices from companies like Cisco.
Perhaps the most visible use of flash memory to consumers currently is in the little memory cards or sticks that slip in and out of digital cameras. Familiar brand names include SmartMedia and CompactFlash. Many other devices have built-in flash memory, so we aren't even aware that it's there.

But it is, and in growing numbers. Sales for 2000 are expected to hit $10 billion or more, more than double the total for 1999. Manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, Atmel and Fujitsu will reap substantial profits as a result. And companies continue to announce new products or developments almost weekly.

For example, Intel Corporation in October 2000 introduced a new flash memory chip designed to enhance the performance of next-generation Internet phones and wireless devices. Intel claims that the new 1.8 Volt Wireless Flash Memory is the "highest performance flash chip available, carrying out key functions up to four times faster than existing flash solutions."

The increased performance will result in higher data throughput rates to speed up data-intensive Internet phone applications such as browsing, data streaming and text messaging, the company reports. Energy savings of up to 60 percent are also claimed for the new low-voltage memory.

In another indication of flash memory growth, AMD earlier announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) to supply flash memory products over the next three years. Under the contract, AMD will provide HP with flash memory products designed to support a broad range of products including its inkjet printers and various print servers.

"Our high density and Page Mode flash memory devices offer an ideal complement to HP's innovative products," said Walid Maghribi, group vice president of AMD's Memory Group.

AMD produces a broad spectrum of flash memory products, including the award winning Simultaneous Read Write (SRW) product family, Super Low Voltage 1.8V flash memory devices, and Burst and Page mode devices. Significantly, all of AMD's flash memory products are guaranteed for a minimum of one million write cycles per sector and 20 years data retention, "making them the most reliable non-volatile memory devices offered in the industry," according to AMD claims.

Copyright 2000 by Ken Fermoyle, Fermoyle Publications. Ken Fermoyle has written some 2,500 articles for publications ranging from Playboy and Popular Science to MacWeek, Microtimes & PC Laptop. Ken's Korner, a syndicated monthly column, is available free to User Groups. For information or permission to reprint this article, contact kfermoyle@earthlink.net.

From the January 2001 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter

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Missingmoney.com
 by Rick Mattingly

Finding money that you didn't know that you had is a highlight of anyone's day. It is possible that there is money out there with your name on it that you don't know about. Old stocks or bonds unclaimed, utility refunds or deposits unclaimed, bank account residual amounts unclaimed, consumer product refunds unclaimed -- and the list of potential sources goes on. In such cases, the law requires that unclaimed funds must be turned over to the appropriate State Treasurers Office after seven years. Such funds are then held in an escrow account, drawing interest, until reclaimed.

For some time now there have been a number of Web sites available which maintain databases of such unclaimed funds. By and large, these sites have been money-making enterprises which typically require a payment upfront before they will reveal who it is that owes you money.

Missingmoney.com is a different animal. This service is sponsered by NAUPA (The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators) which represent the Treasurers Offices of a number of States. As of May, 2001 twenty-seven states are members of this Internet resource. They claim that in just one year's time, MissingMoney.com, along with participating States, have helped consumers claim over 360,000 lost properties worth an estimated $90 million!

After logging into Missingmoney.com, you will find that you may search for unclaimed funds in a number of ways, including by name, family name or Social Security Number. Now for the exciting part. If your name rolls up as being due unclaimed funds you can file for the funds right online - free!

Unfortunately, my name was not on the list. But, my brother's was. In his case, he was due a refund of nearly two hundred dollars for an unclaimed balance on a utility account which he had completely forgotten about after a move years ago. Yep, he now owes me a nice dinner.

Check out Missingmoney.com ( http://www.missingmoney.com/ ). You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you are a winner give me a call and let me know where you're buying dinner.

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Faster Drives, For Free!
 by Fred Langa
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-01-15.htm#1

There's a good chance you can speed up your hard drives and your CDs, CDRs and DVDs--- for free--- via Windows' almost-hidden DMA setting. Doing so can make your drives as much as 15% faster, and reduce the load on your CPU by as much as 40%. We first discussed DMA in this space over a year ago, but despite this easy-to-obtain speed benefit, some new systems still ship with the older, slower, non-DMA disk and CD/CDR/DVD access enabled; and many readers who could manually enable DMA access haven't done so.

Here's the scoop: DMA is "direct memory access" (sometimes also called "bus mastering") is a way a part of your computer to bypass the CPU and take a short cut through the system. This can significantly speed operations.

In Windows, you can see your drives' current DMA settings by right-clicking on My Computer, then Properties, then Device Manager. Next, click on Disk Drives, then on your hard drive(s)--- you may see a nonspecific name such as "Generic IDE Disk Type 01"--- then on Properties, and then click on the Settings Tab. See if the DMA box is checked.

Next, follow the same steps for the CDROM(s) listed in your Device Manager.

Even if you have a system of reasonably recent vintage, there's an excellent chance you'll see an *UN*checked DMA option in the dialog box in one or both places. That's because non-DMA drive operations avoid possible compatibility issues. By choosing slower, more-conservative settings, system vendors can save themselves some support calls.

Sorting out whether or not to use DMA on a specific system isn't hard, but it takes a little explaining, so in order not to rush through the topic, I've made it the focus of this week's column at WinMag.Com. Because of the US national holiday Monday, the column will go live Tuesday, January 16th.

With a full column's worth of space to deal with, we can treat the subject right: I've already done the homework for you, and will show you the relevant portions of the Microsoft KnowledgeBase, and bring you to the DMA-specific portions of the web sites of some large drive manufacturers. Then, we'll step through the process of enabling--- and testing!--- DMA access on your system.

If done carefully and right, enabling DMA access can result in a huge payoff on almost all systems. For example, if you have an older, slower system, DMA's ability to let parts of your system bypass the CPU may make things considerably faster.

But even the newest, fastest system can benefit. For example, on my newest system, a 1.2GHz Athlon box with 256MB of RAM and an Ultra-ATA hard drive, manually enabling DMA speeded my hard drive read operations by almost 10MB/sec, and speeded writes by 13MB/sec.

And all for free!

For further information drop by the WinMag area http://www.winmag.com/columns/explorer/2001/02.htm.

This item reprinted with permission from The LangaList (a free email newsletter available at http://www.langa.com/newsletter.htm), Copyright (c) 2000 Langa Consulting."

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What's the Big Squeeze about Compression?
 by Cary Quinn, P*PcompAS

What's the big deal about ZIP files?

Computer programmers and hobbyists learned early on in the PC era that data is easier to transport and transmit if it can be compressed. Most compression programs also allow you to "package" several different files together, such as including help files in the same package as a shareware program that you could download from the Net.

While there are many types of compression formats, Zip files had become the de facto standard early on, and still remain largely so today. The Zip format was created by the late Phil Katz of PKWare fame, who will be remembered as one of the early pioneers of the BBS and Shareware movements. The program he created, PKZip, was considered to be *the* standard against which all other DOS compression programs were measured. It is only in recent years that programs for Windows such as Winzip by Nico Mak, PKware's PKZip for Windows, and other programs have enabled Zip files to be more like extra folders on your system, rather than just as offline storage. For the majority of Windows/DOS PC users, the Zip format is the type most likely to be encountered.

But, I don't even use that much compression on my computer, why should I care?

Believe it or not, many of the common tasks that you do with computers these days involves some type of compression. If you do any Web surfing, many of the graphics files you encounter are saved in GIF format, which is a type of file compression closely related to the method that Zip files use to save data. If you are on a dial-up connection, your modem may be trying to compress the signal between it and your ISP, to achieve a higher speed connection.

Programs that you install are likely to have come in a compressed package, but did you know that the programs themselves may already have been compressed to allow them to load faster on your system? With the faster CPUs in most system these days, it can be faster to load a file into RAM and uncompress it on the fly than it would be to load the uncompressed file from the hard drive in the first place. This can also be a benefit when storing files for later use, because a user would no longer have as long a wait in trying to extract a specific file from a Zip archive for editing or viewing purposes.

Are there other types of compression I should be familiar with?

PDF: Portable Document Format - Created by Adobe, Inc. as a means of saving documents so they would look the same way, regardless of whether you are viewing them on Windows, the Macintosh, Linux/Unix, and other Operating Systems. PDF is not a compression method in itself, but can include compression to make the PDF file smaller than the original file it may have been made from. More advanced PDF files have other neat features, such as allowing the user to fill out forms in the document on their computer, and embedding audio or video files into the document for multimedia presentations.

MPEG: If you bought a DVD player lately, or are starting to get Digital Broadcasting over cable or satellite, then you have already come in contact with DV (Digital Video). MPEG, which stands for Motion Picture Experts Group, is a way of taking a high-resolution video signal (which can take up many megabytes of storage for only a few minutes of video) and saving it in a way that takes less storage, but can retain the quality of a show or movie.

SIT: Just as Zip is the popular standard for file distribution on PC's, SIT or Stuffit files are most popular on the Macintosh Platform.

CAB: If you've ever installed Windows 95, 98 or the new Windows Me, then you may have noticed the source files for the programs being loaded from CABinet files, a format established by the Microsoft Corporation. CAB files are more commonly seen when installing drivers for the peripheral hardware on your system.

TAR, GZ, TAZ, TGZ and Z: These file formats are very common on Unix-like platforms.

Although with the popularity of OSes like Linux and BeOS, they are being seen in more and more areas of PC usage. Some of the Windows programs for handling Zip files can also handle these file types. Be aware that the .Z extension is also used by a Windows program installer called Installshield.

For more information, and some download links:

PKWARE http://www.pkware.com
WINZIP http://www.winzip.com
STUFFIT http://www.aladdinsys.com

October, 2000 Bits of Bytes newsletter

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FTP: File Transfer Protocol What Does It Do?
 by John Woody, Alamo PC Users Group

Any discussion of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) must be accompanied by a short review of the Internet basics. Under all this glitzy, we need to remember that the Internet protocols do three functions: e-mail, file transfer, and remote log in. File Transfer Protocol, or FTP as it is known, is one of the first client applications developed primarily for the movement of data files from one Internet location to another. Its latest versions are as important to the serious researcher as it was in the beginning.


Command Line FTP

In the beginning, 1968ish, the Founding Fathers determined that a means to move files from one computer to another was required. Thus, FTP's beginning was in the time far away of UNIX command line interfaces. In fact, FTP is built into nearly all versions of UNIX.

FTP is a client application used under the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) protocols. It in fact, is mis-named. File Transfer Protocol implies that it is a protocol or standard. It is not quite that. The Founding Fathers were a little confused as to standards and applications. FTP is now called an "application protocol" by some writers. FTP is really a client application.

Remember, in 1968, there were very few users, who all knew each other, and knew where the files might be located. This location knowledge was important because FTP does not search for files, but only transfers them from their exact remote location to another location.

Actually, FTP works both directions, in that you can transfer your files to another location as well as bring them into your computer from the remote location. FTP is a client/server application as all TCP/IP applications. FTP's job is to move files from one location to another. It does not matter where the computers are located, how they are connected, or whether they use the same operating system.

FTP was responsible for the development of many database services along the growth of the Internet. From the beginning, information was stored in databases that covered every imagined subject from legal opinions to recipes to public software on public server computers which could be accessed by users.

Some FTP servers required a password to gain access, while other servers were truly public and were accessed anonymously. FTP servers remain in the Internet in great numbers. Data stored in their archives is rich in content and vast in quantity. And the neat part of it is, that these "application protocols" are layered in the TCP/IP standards for seamless operation every time. FTP works seamlessly from within our browsers, but more on that later.

FTP has always been a complex program because there are different ways to handle the files and file structures in the various FTP archives. This was and is especially true when used from the command line. In the beginning, it was used from the UNIX command line and had to handle the different ways of archived files. Files were stored either as binary or ASCII by writers or server maintainers. And, some files were compressed, while others were not. Finally, in the UNIX world, the transfer process was in two parts. File movement in either direction meant that one had to first direct the program to upload or download the file to one's own server before moving it to the final location. A download FTP transfer was first moved from the archive server to your own server, then the file was moved from your server to your computer. An uploaded file had to go through the reverse process, from your computer to your server, then to the remote location. This has all changed in the graphics OS (Windows) environment, but more on that later.

Files located in non-public FTP servers required that one log in with a password to gain access, then exercise the above procedures. There was also a method of gaining access to public FTP servers through a process known as ANONYMOUS FTP. ANONYMOUS FTP allows one to log into any FTP server with public access whether you have an account or password at that server or not. In this procedure, you log in as ANONYMOUS, then enter your e-mail address at the prompt. Anonymous FTP is by far the most used FTP application, even today.

In the beginning, FTP had very limited search, ie., directory browsing capability. One almost had to know the exact directory location on the server to complete the FTP operation. Other client programs were developed to make file searching really possible. Most notably, GOPHER, was that program, the first stateless search application. But that is another article.

Graphics (Windows) FTP

The graphics based FTP programs have taken all of the hard to follow command line key strokes out of using FTP to move files from one place to another. Windows based FTP applications continue to have some complex settings to keep in mind when using. Files are still archived either as binary or ASCII. Different computers have different line end characters that must be handled by the transfer.

For example, DOS and Windows computers end each line with two characters; a carriage return and line feed. UNIX computers end each line with only a line feed. Apple computers end each line with a carriage return.

ASCII mode is used to transfer plain text files such as README.TXT or files known to be archived in .TXT form. Binary archives hold everything including text, drawings, executable files, or graphics. Files copied in ASCII form are adjusted by FTP to conform to the text conventions of the receiving computer. Binary code files copied by FTP, are transferred verbatim. Windows FTP application programs give one the option to set the mode before the transfer is made. It is suggested that one use binary code to copy anything that isn't a plain text file including archives or compressed files that contain text files. Windows 3.xx and Windows 95/98 FTP programs all use point and click to make the connection. An old Internet Program Suite, Chameleon, I have used contains a Windows version FTP application. Other programs are similar in their setup and presentation. I currently use CuteFTP, a downloaded program from one of the software download sites.

Most Windows FTP applications have two sides in the opening screen. The left side is usually entitled "Local" meaning your computer directories and the right side entitled "Remote" containing the FTP server directories. Subdirectories display in the top parts of these windows and files display in the lower parts. The center section of the screen usually provides choices which govern how the transfer is to take place, ie., ASCII or Binary, control direction to and from your computer and the remote site and file control with arrows pointing either to the local or remote side. Normally, the standard Windows pull down menu headings are at the top of the screen. These menu headings open other screens. For example, File controls what to open, save, print, and exit.

Connect opens the screen from which the remote server can be identified. The Host name, User, Password, System (network protocol, etc.), and in my application a window for pre-set hosts from which I use as the FTP address book to set the Connect screen.

Finally in this screen there are buttons for OK (start the session) Cancel, and Reset.

The main screen Setting pull down menu item provides setup for Preferences, Log, and Connection Profile. Each of these selections opens another setup screen. Of importance is the Connection Profile which is the "address book" entry screen. This is where remote FTP servers which you want to go back to are entered and saved. The Connection Profile screen has three sections, each for control of part of the FTP session. Description names the profile. Host provides the remote FTP site name, the port, and in my case, the network. It should be noted here that all FTP servers are addressed as:ftp.name.domain. FTP. In the address is not actually required for most FTP applications. It is a good idea to be complete in all addresses, however. Log in provides for User, usually Anonymous, Password, usually e-mail address, and Account for controlled FTP. The third section provides for the local and remote directories. Buttons on the right control the permanent addition of this Connection Profile to the setup. It is this information one sees in the Connect description window.

FTP applications upload/downloads normally run faster than upload/downloads through the WWW. This is because there are not as many layers of IP protocols to go through to slow the transfer down. FTP downloads can be made from WWW browsers, but uploads can not be made easily. There is a way to do FTP uploads in Netscape, but you have to remember to use the File | Upload menu choice, placing FTP:// as part of the address prefix.

Go to either Stroud's or Tucows and then the FTP application headings for either Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0. There are both Freeware and Shareware programs available.

(John Woody is a networking communications consultant specializing in small office, home office networks, training setup, and Internet connectivity.)

October Bits of Bytes newsletter
 SnagIt Version 5.2 Upgrade Now Available

SnagIt, the powerful video capture utility from TechSmith, just got even more powerful with the release of Version 5.2. This upgrade is free to Version 5 users.

Visit the TechSmith Web site at http://www.techsmith.com for further details of the exciting new features of SnagIt Version 5.2.

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Calendar of Events
- IMPORTANT NOTICE -
FRPCUG meetings are held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Check below for directions to the Senior Center.

June General Forum Meeting
We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, June 5 at 7:00 pm.

Meeting Agenda
7:00 - 7:15 Announcements
7:15 - 7:45 Open Forum
7:45 - 8:00 Break
8:00 - 9:30 CD-RW - FRPCUG member Bert Broekstra will give a presentation on CD-RW, the future of the CD drive.

July General Forum Meeting
We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, July 3 at 7:00 pm.

Meeting Agenda
7:00 - 7:15 Announcements
7:15 - 7:45 Open Forum
7:45 - 8:00 Break
8:00 - 9:30 Microsoft Office XP - Theresa Jacobs of Microsoft will give a presentation on the new Office XP software application.

See you at the meetings!

Up-Coming SIG's, Seminars and Meetings

Board Meeting
FRPCUG's executive board meets on Wednesday of the week following the General Forum Meeting at 7:00 p.m. All members are welcome and are encouraged to attend. These meetings are held at the offices of JYM Information Systems: 311 S College Avenue in Fort Collins.

LINUX SIG
This SIG, supports LINUX and other non-Windows operating systems for PC compatible hardware. This includes all distributions of LINUX, the BE Operating system, and OS2. These meetings are held at the offices of JYM Information Systems: 311 S College Avenue in Fort Collins. For more information contact Chuck McJilton at 493-2987 or email linuxsig@jymis.com.

Northern Front Range Netware Users Group
NFRNUG meets at 5:30 pm on the second Wednesday of each month at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife building, 2101 Oakridge Drive in Fort Collins. NFRNUG meetings are open to any users that are involved with Novell networking products and integration of other networking products into the Novell environment (Unix, NT, Mac, etc.). Contact Jim Stephens at 303-541-3376 or jcsteph@concentric.net or contact Chuck Kluko at 970-663-4770 or c.kluko@ix.netcom.com for further membership information. Yearly dues are $000.00 (yes, FREE) with pizza and pop served at 5:00 pm prior to meeting. Saturday labs and training sessions open to NRFNUG members only, space is limited.

Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group
Meets on the second Tuesday of 'odd' months at NCAR in Boulder. Meetings start at 7:00 pm, but members are encouraged to arrive at 6:30 pm for informal networking and refreshments. NCAR is located in Boulder at 1850 Table Mesa Drive. For more information see the RMIUG Web site at: http://www.rmiug.org/.

Telecommuncation SIG
The Telecommunications SIG covers topics related to computer communications hardware and software including modems, xDSL, networking, ISDN and the Internet. The meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the third Thursdays of each month at the offices of JYM Information Systems: 311 S College Avenue in Fort Collins. For more information contact Chuck McJilton at 493-2987 or email telecomsig@jymis.com.

Web Design SIG
If you're an HTML author/WEB page designer, or would like to learn, contact SIG coordinator Doug Boicourt at 495-6949 or e-mail db@jymis.com for the date and location of the next SIG meeting.

RIBUG Meeting
The Regional Internet Business Users Group (RIBUG) deals with issues of business utilization of the Internet. This group meets the last Wednesday of each month. Contact Will Horton in Fort Collins at 223-0330 or e-mail whorton@jymis.com for details.

Internet Safari
This free Internet discussion group meets the first Monday of each month at the Barnes and Noble book store 4045 S. College. This group covers any topics and questions relating to using the Internet and is open to beginners and experienced Internet users. Meetings start at 7:00PM. For more information call JYM Information Systems at 416-9286 or email info@jymis.com.

Upcoming FRPCUG Meetings
Along with presentations of new hardware and software, we will certainly continue to present tips, hints, solutions, as well as what is new with Public Domain and Shareware offerings. If you have ideas for presentations which you would like to see at future General Forum meetings or seminars, please let us know. We would appreciate the input and opportunity to improve your meetings.

Know of a another computer-related meeting in our area? Please let us know so we can post it here.

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June 2001

 5 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00PM

11 HTML SIG Meeting 7:00PM

13 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00PM

   NRFNUG Meeting 5:00PM

17 Father's Day

21 Telcomm SIG 7:00PM

28 LINUX SIG 7:00PM
July 2001

 3 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00PM

 4 Independence Day

 9 HTML SIG Meeting 7:00PM

11 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00PM

   NRFNUG Meeting 5:00PM

19 Telcomm SIG 7:00PM

26 LINUX SIG 7:00PM

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What Goes Around Comes Around

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.
"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of."

And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, he graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time?

Penicillin!

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Someone once said: What goes around comes around. Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.

Thanks to Dean Adams

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GetSpeed

Looking for faster Internet access? Today's common solution is Broadband - DLS/ISDN, cable or satellite. Now, to figure out which of these services are available at your service location.

One useful tool is the GetSpeed Web site at http://www.getspeed.com. Log in to this site and choose the option to determine what services are available. Fill in the simple questionaire: Zip Code, Street Address, Telephone Prefix and whether the service will be for residential or business use. GetSpeed will then display which Broadband options are currently available at that location, including direct links to the providers.
FREE Internet Discussion Group

JYM Information Systems and the Barnes & Noble Book Store on South College Avenue in Fort Collins are sponsoring a monthly "Internet Safari" discussion group. This group meets at 7 PM in the Barnes & Noble Book Store the first Monday of each month.

This is an open discussion and we examine current issues involving the Internet, how to use the Internet and subjects raised by those present. This group is open to the public without cost or obligation. This is a good chance learn how others are using the Internet.
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Unofficially, USB Could Mean 'User's Super Buddy'
 by Ken Fermoyle
From the March 2001 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter

Officially, USB stands for "Universal Serial Bus." Unofficially, I think it could translate to "User's Super Buddy" for PC and Mac users. Anybody who tried to install and configure a peripheral device in the old pre-USB days likely will agree. Back then, the chore was a major one, especially with PCs.

It required a ton of computer savvy and no little amount of luck.

First, you had to figure out which port to use from a bunch of confusing possibilities.

Then in most cases, you had to pull the cover off your computer (always scary, for either Mac or PC) to install an add-in card. For PCs, this often required setting pesky DIP switches. Next came the job of finding and configuring an available IRQ, not always easy. Basic system components used up some IRQs; serial devices already installed used up still more.

It was a fun job, yessir! I can recall blowing the better part of a day trying to install a single new peripheral in computers ranging from the venerable XT through a variety of X86 machines, even into WinTel systems of the '90s. (Mac users had it easier but USB has been a boon for them, too.) Windows Plug'n'Play eased the problem, when it worked, but it took USB to solve it completely.

With USB, a computer automatically recognizes the device connected and installs the appropriate drivers. It enables computer users to "hot-plug" computer peripherals to their PCs. ("Hot-plugging" means you can plug in and unplug peripherals with have to power down and then reboot your computer, no small benefit.)

Not that there weren't difficulties at first. I heard many complaints from people who tried to install USB ports and devices in the early days of the technology. The problems usually arose from trying to use USB in hardware or software systems that weren't ready for it; i.e. older systems that hadn't been built with USB compatibility in mind. I do not recall getting any similar complaints during the past year. Lack of USB devices was a problem at first but now they're everywhere.

USB offers many more benefits than simple installation.

First, USB (Version 1.1) can carry data at up to 12 megabits per second (Mbps), 100 times faster than any serial port. This broad category includes digital cameras, modems, keyboards, mice, printers, digital joysticks, some CD-ROM drives, tape and floppy drives, digital scanners and specialty printers.

USB's data rate also accommodates a whole new generation of peripherals: MPEG-2 video-base products, data gloves, digitizers and computer-telephony, expected to be a big growth area for PCs and Macs. (In addition, USB provides an interface such business-oriented technologies as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and digital PBXs.)

The latest version of USB, Version 2.0, introduced late in 2000, offers even faster communication, with bandwidth up to 400 Mbps. It easily accommodates high-performance peripherals, such as monitors, video conferencing cameras, next-generation printers, and faster storage devices. Happily, USB 2.0 is backward-compatible with Version 1.1

Next, one or two USB ports can support many peripherals. In theory, up to 127 devices can be "daisy chained" from a single port. There are practical limitations, power supplies among them, and most of us will never use anywhere near that number. The ability to plug a USB hub into a USB port and then connect four or more peripherals to it is a real convenience. You can place a hub anywhere on your desktop for easy access; no more crawling under the desk to connect or disconnect a mouse, digital camera or any other USB-compatible device.

Frosting on the cake comes in the form of an impressive hardware package from Belkin: the USB BusStation. This versatile docking station not only serves as a hub that gives you up to seven USB ports. Using optional adapters, it can accommodate many non-USB peripherals. It also offers a laundry list of other features:
• Innovative modular tower with three slide-out modules that fit into the palm of your hand.
• Configure your own low-cost universal docking station; choose whatever module combination is right for you, whether you are a PC or Mac user. (Compatible with Windows(r) 95 rev. B, Windows(r) 98, Windows(r) 2000, Mac(r) OS 8.1 or higher)
• 7-port hub (standard configuration) connects seven devices to a single USB port on your PC.
Freedom to Connect keyboards, mice, joysticks, speakers and more to a single USB port on your computer.
4A (Ampere) power supply provides true 500-mA (milliAmp) power to each port.
Modules available for Ethernet, SCSI devices, serial, parallel, PS/2 and additional USB ports.
• Illuminated green LEDs for easy access to port status.
Supports all high-speed and low-speed USB devices.
• Includes a Belkin Pro Series 3 ft. USB Device cable for a quality connection, lifetime Belkin warranty and USB Wizard to make configuration even easier.

I've been using a BusStation for many months now and find it invaluable. (Faithful readers know I don't report on a service or product until it has proved itself over a reasonable length of time and I have become thoroughly familiar with it.) Even before installing it in my main computer, I vowed never to buy another non-USB peripheral again.

With BusStation, I've found it easy to connect some of my older devices, including one of my several scanners and a digital camera with only a serial interface. This rates as an especially valuable feature for those of us who can't afford to replace all of our currently owned peripherals with new USB products.

One caution: The BusStation User Manual clearly states that that the 4A power supply is more than enough to supply adequate power to all ports in normal configuration. At 500mA per port, the power draw would be 3.5A. (Low-power devices such as mice and keyboards draw only about 100mA

However, adding a 4-port hub as one of the modules would overtax the BusStation. In such case, the 4-port hub must have its own 2.1A power supply, supplied with optional 4-port hub modules.

I like the fact that the BusStation includes built-in "Overcurrent Protection," which shuts off a port if it draws too much current, protecting both the connected device and BusStation from damage.

At the usual price of $79.99, I consider this Belkin product a good value. The cost is higher than two standard 4-port USB hubs, but you get more versatility. The price is competitive with multifunction hubs, even when you add in the cost of an adapter module or two (adapters range from about $50 an up.) and, again you have greater choice in integrating USB into your system.

Copyright 2001 by Ken Fermoyle. Mr. Fermoyle has written some 2,500 articles for publications ranging from Playboy & Popular Science to MacWeek & PC World. Ken's Korner, a syndicated monthly column, is available free to User Groups and other non-profit or educational organizations. For information or permission to reprint, contact kfermoyle@earthlink.net.

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Click To Convert Version 2.5
 by Jim Gaffney
Source: SWIPPC Throughput, January 2001 El Paso, TX
NOTE: This article has been condensed

Three months ago, I looked at a package designed to create web pages from documents that might otherwise be destined for output in the print media. To refresh your memory, Click to Convert installs itself as a printer driver on Windows systems. By so doing, any application that generates a printer output may be used to generate hypertext markup language (HTML) pages for use on the World-Wide Web. In my review, I found the product to do an excellent job, citing but two minor complaints. The faults had to do with character spacing in word processing documents that used "justified" text (i.e., straight left and right margins with intra-character spacing added), and the placing of scrolling arrows at the top of the output HTML pages even when a single page was generated.

On December 1, 2000, Binary Research International announced the availability of version 2.5 of Click to Convert. Significant new features in the version revision include:

• Compatibility with all current Windows versions: Windows 95, 98, Millennium, NT, and 2000.
• Drag and Drop your Microsoft Office files to automatically prepare them for publishing. Select many documents at one time for faster conversion.
• Automatic left alignment of justified text and better handling of stretched and squashed text so that text does not need to be turned into images. This addresses (and fixes) one of the complaints in my original review. The authors have also added the screen display of a cautionary note explaining how to avoid the problem source code whenever it is encountered.
• PowerPoint! Convert your PowerPoint documents by dragging and dropping them onto the Click to Convert icon or window. (This seems to work very well with output HTML that is superior to that created by using the Office application's "save as HTML").
• Cropping. Remove the white space from around your documents with automatic cropping. No more weird white space from the margins set in your original document.
• Font Mapping. This matches your fonts with the closest browser-standard font if the original font is not available. I tried pushing this a bit by convert-ing some complex documents -- even using the print function from Adobe Acrobat in a PDF document. In most cases, C2C performed very well -- only rarely confused by graphic fonts contained in the PDF format. This is by no means an indictment as HTML and PDF are created for similar purposes and conversion from one format to the other serves no useful purpose. The exercise served only to sate my intellectual curiosity.
• Search Engine ready web pages are produced. Any text that is turned into images is added to the ALT tag for that image(s) so that search engines can reference all the text in your docu-ments.

All in all, Version 2.5 represents an excellent advancement from its predecessor. If you have numerous documents that you would like to post to a web site, Click to Convert will do the job quickly and accurately. The time and frustration that you save in the process will easily offset the moderate cost of the software license.

System requirements are a 486 or higher processor, 16 MB of RAM and 100 MB of free disk space to support conversion workspace. Installation on my system re-quired 4.12 MB of storage space for the application files and drivers - not too bad when you look around at some of the software behemoths that are pervasive in the marketplace.

If you'd like to try it for yourself, you can download a trial version of C2C at: http://downloads.binaryresearch.net.

If you have already discovered the joys of Click to Convert Version 2.0 or earlier, don't forget to update to this great new version!

Multi-license and academic discounts available, Creators: lnzone Software, Aukland, New Zealand; US Representatives: Binary Research International, Glendale, WI.

March/April 2001 issue Certified Engineering Technician magazine

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PartitionMagic 6.0 from PowerQuest Corporation
by Bee Reynolds

I've used PartitionMagic programs since version 1.0, and this promises to be one of the most versitile, useful, and easy to use of them all..! It is a must-have utility for anyone having a computer, and especially if that unit has one or more large hard drives or one or more operating systems (OSs). It works with most flavors of computers and systems, and takes a minimum of 54 MB of hard disk space. You should NOT be without it.

Some of the new features in 6.0 give the user the ability to split and/or undelete partitions, it recognizes the new Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000 operating systems, and the program now has a tree-view interface. One of the first options you notice during the installation is your ability to include BootMagic, a disk management tool and graphical interface which allows you to make safe switches between different operating systems. Each time you start your computer, BootMagic presents you with a list of the installed operating systems and allows you to choose which one you want to use. In addition to Windows, it is compatible with Linux, BeOS, OS/2, and several versions of MS-DOS.

For those not familiar with the PowerQuest programs (they also have DriveImage, DriveCopy, Easy Restore, and others) I think you will find that their User Guides are the most concise, informative and well thought-out manuals on the market. With PartitionMagic, you are stepped through the program installation in a manner that proves to be useful to a beginner or the more experienced user. In this case, I would recommend first that everyone read Chapter 3, as it introduces you to the basics of creating, resizing and otherwise working with partitions and large hard drives. All this information is presented in the context of how PartitionMagic will perform the needed tasks and get the work done with a minimum of time and effort. After absorbing this information, you will not get butterflies in your stomach when you press the "Apply" button to make changes in your working hard drive which has all of your priceless programs and data.

Previous versions of PartitionMagic displayed the partitions of one hard drive at a time in the main window. It was necessary for the user to change his/her view from one drive to another. This main window in 6.0 has now been expanded. There is a Tree-View display on the left and to the right are the partition maps for each hard drive, with the drive information shown in a graphical manner. And, underneath is a partition list for each selected drive which shows the partition information in text form. It is possible to display your partition maps to scale with each partition represented by a different color, based on the file system it uses. Another great feature in this view are small triangle indicators which mark the 2 GB boot boundary and the 1024 MB cylinder limits which are established by your OS. Hard drives larger than 20 GB can be partitioned.

PartitionMagic allows the user to create and delete partitions (and to undelete something where your fingers might have moved in error). You can copy, move, split and merge partitions, and when everything is done, you can scan for errors, check disk information, and format one or more partitions knowing that the integrity of your hard drive is complete. It is also possible to check and correct for cluster waste if you're using the FAT or FAT32 file systems. There are a few advanced disk operations, such as the ability to change a drive letter, hiding and unhiding a partition and resizing the root directory, along with setting an active partition. PartitionMagic also permits you to convert from one type of file system to another in order to use one or another OS on the same disk. There is no data loss.

At the bottom of the program's main window are five wizards which automate common tasks associated with the program. They allow you to create or resize a partition, redistribute free space, and merge or copy partitions. It is also possible to hide these wizard buttons. For the more advanced users, the program includes an ability to change drive letter references with DriveMapper and to change bootable partitions with PQBoot.

PowerQuest includes in their guide an appendix explaining how PartitionMagic works with other programs, i.e.: Norton Utilities, virus protection software, drive overlay programs, and others. There is also a fine troubleshooting appendix which I hope no one will need.

If you have more than a casual interest in the operation of your system and its hard drives, I would strongly recommend that you include PartitionMagic as one of your favorite programs. It allows you to look into the workings of your drives and the OS with confidence and assurance, and I recommend it highly for everyone.

Tulsa Computer Society
From the January 2001 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
CLEARING THE WAY FOR A DRAG-AND-DROP
by Mark Richardson
win98tw@hotmail.com

Have you ever grabbed something and started dragging it only to find that your destination is obscured by an open window? Here's a little trick that will help in these situations. Continue to hold the item you're dragging, and move it over your system tray. Keep it still for a second or two, and every open window automatically minimizes, leaving you an open desktop.

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Trading Post

Free: 50 – 3.5" floppy discs. Call Paul Ostrof at 970-484-7680.

For Sale: Harmon/Kardon HK speakers. Came with my Dell computer and still unpacked - $20. Call Paul Ostrof at 970-484-7680.


SELL IT IN THE TRADING POST WITH A FREE AD FOR FRPCUG MEMBERS

About Trading Post

k-Byte runs classified ads in Trading Post for three consecutive issues. Trading Post ads up to 10 lines (or 70 words) long are free to FRPCUG members: $5 for non-members. To place an ad in Trading Post contact Will Horton at 223-2154 or email whorton@will-design.com.

Commercial Advertising
Specifications (Monthly rate)

Full Page (8 1/2” X 7”) $30
Half Page (3 1/4” X 7”) $20
One Third Page (3” X 4”) $15
Business Card (2 3/4” X 1 1/2”) $ 5


We offer a substantial discount for repeat ads and continuing contracts. For additional charge, we will design your ad for you. Contact Will Horton for information on this service at 223-2154 or email whorton@will-design.com.

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FRPCUG CONTACTS
Telephone Area Code 970


          FRPCUG Officers         Name            Work        Home      e-Mail 

          President               Rick Mattingly              223-6618  rmatt(at)jymis.com 

          Vice President          Don Anderson    498-3534    482-0943  dona(at)jymis.com

          Treasurer               Dennis Nimetz               686-2212  nimetz(at)netzero.net

          Secretary	          Mike Meyer      482-5600    223-0919  mm(at)jymis.com




          k-Byte Staff

          Editor-in-Chief         Open - We need a volunteer!  Contact Rick Mattingly in interim.

          Features Editor         Open - We need a volunteer! 

          Calendar Editor         Rick Mattingly	      223-6618  rmatt(at)jymis.com

          Review Editor

          Advertising Coordinator Will Horton     223-0330    223-2154  whorton(at)will-design.com

          Team Member OS/2 Column Brad Kell	              495-1184  bkell(at)jymis.com

          Nuts & Bolts Column     Chuck McJilton  416-9286    493-2987  cdmcj(at)jymis.com

          On the Web Column       R. Glenn York   493-1895    224-5266  rgyork(at)jymis.com




          Other Contacts

          Membership Coordinator  Jack Linder                 663-2151  jack(at)frpcug.org

          Telecommunication SIG	

             and RMIUG	          Chuck McJilton  416-9286    493-2987  cdmcj(at)jymis.com  

          NRFNUG		  Chuck Kluko     663-4770 x224         c.kluko(at)ix.netcom.com

          Door Prize Coordinator  Will Horton     223-0330    223-2154  whorton(at)will-design.com

          HTML SIG		  Doug Boicourt   495-6949    495-6949  db(at)wwwdata.com

          Programmers SIG	    

          FRPCUG Fax Line	                  493-1408

          FRPCUG Home Page w/E-Mail               httpz://www.frpcug.org

          FRPCUG Officer E-Mail		          frpcug-offer(at)frpcug.org



          FRPCUG Discussion List		  frpcug-discuss(a)frpcug.org

          FRPCUG Announce List			  frpcug-announce(at)frpcug.org

          To subscribe to these lists send email to majordomo(at)jymis.com with

          the following in the body of the message: subscribe frpcug-discuss 

          or subscribe frpcug-announce.




          k-Byte

          Front Range PC Users Group

          PMB 152

          305 W. Magnolia

          Fort Collins, CO  80521-2804
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