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Front Range PC Users Group Newsletter k-Byte |
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| v. 20, n. 7/8 July/August 2003 | Users Helping Users |
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Contents 1 State of the Group - Rick Mattingly 2 About k-Byte 3 I Was Thinking 3 Windows XP Activation Backup 4 Controlling A Remote Computer 5 Digital Photography Review.Com 7 Hunt For The Lost Font - Mick Topping 8 The Truth About Mail-In Rebates - Roger A. Poverny 10 Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum - Herb Goldstein 13 Do You Really Need A FAX Machine - Ira Wilsker 14 Calendar of Events 16 August/September Calendars 18 Membership Application 20 Make Your Own PDF Files - Paul Witheridge 23 How To Evade Data Disaster 29 Sharing Word Documents - Sue Whitehouse 30 Trading Post 31 FRPCUG Contacts No FRPCUG Meeting in August due to building maintenance at the Fort Collins Senior Center State of the Group by Rick Mattingly Here's hoping that everyone is having a great summer! Please remember that we will not be having our normal General Forum Meeting the first Tuesday of August due to building maintenance at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Our next scheduled monthly meeting will then take place in September. We have some great presentation topics scheduled for the fall months. At the September meeting we will be asking all members to let us know what topics you would like to see addressed for future meeting presentations and/or clinics. This is your club-Let us know what you need help with. See you in September! 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 ©2003 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, so incorporated with the State of Colorado and 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. If FedEx and UPS were to merge, would they call it FedUp? I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. How come you never hear about gruntled employees? If quitters never win and winners never quit, what fool came up with,"Quit while you're ahead"? Do Lipton employees take coffee breaks? What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men? I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans. I have found at my age that women that go bra-less pull all the wrinkles out of their face. I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older, then it dawned on me...they are cramming for their finals. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with little tiny spoons and forks so I wonder what Chinese mothers use. Perhaps toothpicks? Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think it should be..."A Good Doctor." Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do... write to these men? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen could look for them when they deliver the mail? You ever stop to think....and forget to start again..... If you ever need to reinstall Windows XP you will need to also perform reactivation through Microsoft. However, there is a way to avoid this. Windows XP stores it's activation information in a file named "wpa.dbl" which is stored in the \Windows\System32 subdirectory. Copy this small file to an external diskette and store in a safe location. At any point that new hardware may be installed to the system, be certain to recopy the wpa.dbl file to the diskette. Should Windows XP ever need to be reinstalled, upon completion of the installation process copy the backup wpa.dbl file from the diskette to the \windows\system32 subdirectory and reboot the system. Your reinstalled Windows XP operating system is now registered. VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a freeware client/server software package that allows remote control of another computer via a network. Although we have used VNC and liked it very much, we are impressed with the latest version-- TightVNC. TightVNC runs faster and is more versatile than the original VNC. You should give TightVNC a try. TightVNC can be used to perform remote administration tasks in Windows, Unix and mixed network environments. It can be very helpful in distance learning and remote customer support. Finally, you can find a number of additional VNC-compatible utilities and packages that can extend the areas where TightVNC can be helpful. http://www.tightvnc.com/ The Internet's Premier Digital Photography Resource by Douglas Agee Deciding which digital camera to buy can be a frustrating experience -- I know because I just bought one! Issues to be addressed include how you intend to use the camera; what features, capabilities and performance characteristics you'll need; and how much money you can afford to spend. In my quest to answer these questions, I visited many Internet sites, read through hundreds of pages of material, and monitored several discussion forums, where the participants freely discussed the Pros and Cons of particular cameras. The most useful and informative of these sites was Digital Photography Review http://www.dpreview.com. The website was established in late 1998 and is one of the most popular digital photography sites in the Internet, with approximately five million visitors per month. It has the latest digital photography news and camera reviews and hosts a variety of discussion forums where you can dialog with other camera users to share experiences, exchange technical information, and discuss problems. It also features a buying guide that can help you decide which camera is right for you. In this review, I intend to highlight the site's News Updates, Buying Guide, Camera Reviews and Discussion Forums and suggest how you can use these and other resources of the site to help you make you're purchasing decisions. News Updates: These reports cover all of the late breaking news in the world of digital photography, including announcements of new digital cameras, the latest developments in storage media, technological innovations, product recalls, new software applications and plug-ins, and reports of equipment, software and service problems. They also highlight the release of new digital camera reviews published by dpreview.com as well as other web based and print based media. The updates are usually concise and provide relevant and timely information, enabling you to keep up with the latest developments. Buying Guide: The buying guide can be used as an initial screening tool to compare the prices and features of cameras that interest you. The guide enables you to compare cameras based on various criteria including camera type, resolution, sensor type, zoom capabilities, focusing features, flash options, storage media, image formats, exposure options, shutter speeds, view finder type, and external connectivity options. Digital Camera Reviews: The camera reviews are among the most comprehensive and objective on the Internet and are considerably better than those published in camera magazines and other print media. The reviews are fully illustrated and include detailed descriptions of camera specifications, body and design characteristics, and operation of the controls, displays, and menus. They also contain detailed discussions of salient performance issues including: • how quickly the camera can be powered on/shut off • time required to auto focus under nominal/low-light conditions • time required to save images to storage media • time required to activate and operate the displays • buffer capacity and continuous shooting performance • battery life (in terms of the number of shots under various operating conditions) • overall image quality and resolution • ISO sensitivities, white balance capabilities, and low-light noise • flash performance Each review concludes with a bulletized list of Pros and Cons followed by a succinct discussion of the camera's strengths, weaknesses, extant problems and issues. This discussion includes assessments of the camera's construction, features, image quality, lens/CCD quality, ease of use and value for the money. Discussion Forums: The website currently hosts 25 discussion forums, including 15 devoted to specific brands of cameras as well as others dealing with lighting techniques, storage media, printers/printing, PC tools, Mac tools and Q&A. I found the forums to be invaluable for obtaining user assessments of camera performance and candid, first-hand opinions of camera quality and ease of use. I monitored one of the forums for several weeks before buying my camera and learned a few things about the camera and its accessories that I could not have obtained from other sources. For example, I learned that many camera owners are using third-party external battery packs that cost considerably less than those available from the camera manufacturer. I also learned which camera bags provide the best fit for the camera and its accessories and where the bags and accessories can be obtained at reasonable prices. Further, I discovered a few tips and tricks on using the camera that are not covered in the manual. The forums are great venues for exhibiting and critiquing pictures, exchanging ideas on post-camera processing and obtaining answers to technical and aesthetic questions. Other Site Resources: The site also has other helpful features including a timeline, picture galleries, learning center, glossary, search engine and links to other digital photography sites. • Timeline: The timeline is a chronological listing of all digital camera product announcements since 1995. In calendar year 2002, for example, there were 92 digital camera announcements. Clicking on a particular camera brings up a press release that describes the camera and its features as well as a detailed list of camera specifications. • Picture Gallery: The picture gallery contains sample pictures for all cameras that have been reviewed by Digital Photography Review and enables you to view images taken with these cameras. Most of the images have been formatted in JPEG and compressed 50% to facilitate downloading, but original (untouched) images are available in some of the galleries. • Learning Center: The learning center currently has some interesting articles on imaging, lighting, photography and printing techniques and hopefully will be expanded to include a broader range of digital photography topics. • Glossary: The glossary provides concise, non-technical definitions of terms frequently encountered in digital photography. It is subdivided into five subsections: camera system, exposure, photographic, digital imaging and optical. If you're confused by terms like ISO sensitivity, CCD, CMOS, barrel distortion, color space, gamma, blooming, or EXIF, self-enlightenment is just a mouse click away! • Search Engine: The search engine enables you to search for all the news articles that have appeared on the site since its inception. It allows you to search for messages in the discussion forums, including those pertaining to a specific subject, author, date, or text. I've found this invaluable for retrieving information posted on the discussion forums in previous months. • Links: The site also provides links to other digital photography websites, several of which rival dpreview.com in the quality of their reviews. These sites include: Steve's Digicams at http://www.stevesdigicams.com Imaging Resource at http://www.imaging-resource.com Digital Camera Resource at http://www.dcresource.com and Short Courses at http://www.shortcourses.com. The websites also have excellent buying guides which are definitely worth checking out! Source: SWIPCC THROUGHPUT, El Paso, TX, March 2003 by Mick Topping Springfield, Missouri User Groups mtopping@mchsi.com Did you ever lose a font? A year or so ago I made up and printed a sheet of business cards that I was happy with. Last week, I gave away my last one. (I go through about one card a month.) When I opened the business card again (in Corel Draw-7), it complained that it could not find the font Andy Bold, and asked which font to substitute. Let me mention that I am not much of a font person. I usually couldn't care less about which font to use. I am an engineer, more interested in the meaning of the words than in how they are drawn. Arial, Courier, and Times New Roman are about all I ever use. But for my business card, I wanted something to reflect my casual insouciance, and convey the fact that I have a passion for informality, and that I am really not looking for work. Since I had put a good 10-15 minutes into the original font selection, I was somewhat concerned, and more than somewhat irritated that it was no longer available. So, I decided to hunt the critter down. First, I looked for "Andy" in every font folder on 3 computers. (I couldn't remember which machine I had used to print the cards.) Nothing like Andy Bold anywhere. Then I remembered, Windows applications (for the most part) keep their fonts in the C:\Windows\Fonts folder, and most applications just reach into this folder to use a font. And applications rarely delete their fonts when they are uninstalled. So any font that was ever put on a computer is likely still there, unless major surgery has been done. This fact pointed to my laptop computer as the culprit, as I had recently done a clean-install of WindowsXP, whereas the other computers had been little changed over the year. Regular experimentation had caused numerous apps to be installed on the laptop, then when the new version of Windows was installed only those apps still needed were re-installed. But which of those non-reinstalled applications came with the Andy Bold font? First a web-search on "lost font"--wow, I am not the only one who has lost a font. Over 300 web pages containing "lost font", none of which were very promising. Many of the links were inactive, and advertising overwhelmed others, and I was getting nowhere. Another search on "Andy Bold", only a few hits this time, and here was a “Bulkley Valley Christian” school web page, with a note that to appreciate the page you needed to have Andy Bold installed on your computer. And there was a link promising to let me download AndyB.ttf ! Unfortunately, it was another broken link. Most likely, someone had remembered that the fonts are copyrighted, and shouldn't be downloaded. In frustration, I finally gave-up, and printed 2 new sheets of business cards in Balloon… or Plump or Poster Boldoni, not sure which. Of course, the new cards were not out of the printer when I had another thought--maybe someone at Microsoft had considered this problem. Sure enough they had. It is not easy to find, but once you know where to look, http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/default.asp has a search engine that will allow you to find which applications came with which fonts. A quick lookup, and there was what I needed. Andy Bold is distributed with Microsoft Home Publisher, part of the never used software that had come with my laptop. A quick dig through my stack of CD-ROMs, and there it was, in the MHP\Fonts folder, an icon labeled AndyB.ttf. I drag it over to my Windows\Fonts folder, and it automatically installs, and I can now print my cards like I want them. Unfortunately, I have a 2-year supply of them done with the other font. Anyone want a card? Aw come on--please take a card. by Roger A. Poverny, TUGNET Mail-in rebates are a bonanza for retail computer stores: They can advertise a very low sales price (or even a free price, after mail-in rebates), and then charge buyers of these so-called bargains a higher-than-normal sales price. It brings in the customers who are looking for good deals, and who may purchase other items while they are in the store. It means higher sales figures for the retailer since these mail-in rebates are underwritten by the manufacturers, and they cost the retailers nothing. It also creates a cadre of unhappy customers. Why? Consider this: according to the Wall Street journal, up to 95% of people forget to claim the rebate. They end up paying more for the product then they would have without a rebate. For those who make the claim, there are a variety of reasons why the claims go unpaid. Some of these reasons are detailed below. Let's start with this premise: manufacturers don't want to rebate money to you, so they put a number of obstacles in your way. Sometimes the rebate forms are hidden in the store or you have to ask the cashier for a copy. The rebate form lists the submittal requirements in great complicated detail so that a simple non-compliance error on your part will void your claim. You must include a copy of your purchase receipt (sometimes with the purchased item circled or underlined) along with the original UPC code from the package. Be careful here, as some packages have multiple UPC codes with different numbers. Then you must mail the completed rebate form, with inclusions, to a specified address (usually a fulfillment house hired to handle the rebate). There is always a window of opportunity; i.e. an “offer expiration date” and a “postmark before” date. Most mail-in forms tell you to expect your rebate in eight to ten weeks. Very seldom will a rebate check arrive by the promised waiting period: you are forced to call their 800 number (although some don't have a toll-free number) to find out what the holdup is. The manufacturer is counting on you to forget that a rebate promise date has passed. If you do remember to call them, this is generally when the excuses start. Typical excuses are: “We didn't receive your UPC code or register receipt,” “We never received your letter,” “You didn't complete your rebate form properly,” “The offer has expired ... or is no longer funded by the manufacturer.” The fulfillment houses are experts at not paying, and as a matter of fact are hired by some manufacturers just because they are so tough. Many times you will get a postcard, not a letter, saying you were denied a rebate. Postcards are easy to lose or throw away in the trash, which is why many rebate checks are mailed in the form of a postcard. They don't even look like checks! Most people will stop trying once they have been rejected. The manufacturers count on this. At a FRY's the other day, a customer relations representative pointed at two 4-drawer filing cabinets and said they were full of customer complaints about rebates. That's eight drawers of unhappy customers, and they represent only that five percent (according to The Wall Street Journal) who actually sent in their rebate forms. After all is said and done, probably 2% of the customers receive a rebate check. Manufacturers and retailers make more money from us when the items they are selling have mail-in rebates, so it doesn't seem likely that the practice will end any time soon. The number of items using rebates appears to be rising exponentially, and the customer is the loser. It is just plain unfair. How can we fight back? Fighting Back There are two ways to fight back: (1) Politically, through our Legislatures, Better Business Bureaus, Federal Trade Commission, Retail Store Managers, etc. We can write letters or call and complain; (2) The second method is to make it so costly for the manufacturers to offer these rebates that they will abandon the practice. We can do this by making sure we get every one of the offered rebates. If you follow the directions outlined below, you will get every one. 1. Make sure you have the rebate form before you leave the store. Check the form to be sure you fall within the offering's dates. Also ask the cashier for a second copy of the purchase receipt. 2. As soon as you get home, remove the UPC code from the container or wrapping before you throw the packaging away. If you intend to try out the product first to make sure you want to keep it, and don't want to remove the UPC code yet in case you want to return it, see #7 below. 3. Read the form carefully so that you will comply exactly with their requirements. Read it a second time before you fill it in. Don't forget to circle or underline the item on the receipt if required to do so. 4. Make copies of everything you send, including the UPC code. This is where most people falter since they don't have copy machines. They set it aside to take to work or to a copy store and forget about it. But, most of us have scanners! Use them to make your copies. Even most fax machines will work. 5. Staple together all the pieces: receipt, UPC code, rebate form. Then they can't say they were not with your submittal, or must have fallen out of the envelope. 6. Mark the mailing date on your copy. Also mark the date when the waiting period ends, 8 to ten weeks later. 7. This next step will help you to remember. Go to: www.memotome.com (memo to me) and sign up for their free e-mail reminder service. Have them to send you an e-mail when the rebate check was promised. If you are trying out a product prior to sending in the rebate form, ask for a reminder in a couple of weeks. 8. If you haven't gotten your check after the promised time, call the telephone number listed on your copy of the rebate form. Try to talk to a live person. Tell them the waiting period has passed and insist that you be paid. Keep on insisting if you get the brush-off. Ask to speak to a supervisor. Mark the names of those you talked to, the dates and excuses on your rebate copy. If necessary, send another copy of your submittal in case they deny receipt of all submitted items. 9. If all else fails, go to the retail store where you purchased the item. Bring your paperwork and insist that they do whatever is necessary to get you the rebate check. Roger A. Poverny is on the Board of Directors of The Users' Group Network (TUGNET) in Granada Hills, California. A Software Review by Herb Goldstein CD-RW drives have become the hottest addition to computers today. They have become up to 16 times faster than they were just a short time back, and CD media can be purchased in quantity for peanuts! Little wonder that CD burning has become the path of choice for storing both data and audio CDs. The best CD-RW drive is only as good as the software you select to create your own CDs. Almost every drive today is accompanied by a basic version of the most popular and ubiquitous program available, Roxio's (formerly Adaptec, the parent company) Easy CD Creator. When you get real serious about CD burning, however, you will want to step up to Roxio's top of the line, Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum, the latest and greatest, just released version. Roxio's flagship CD creation product has every bell and whistle you will want or need for making your own audio or data CDs, and a brand new graphic interface makes it easy, enjoyable, yet extremely powerful. Here's just a few of the things this king of CD creation software will readily do for you: * Automatically convert your favorite music CDs into high quality MP3 files. * Download and store your favorite music from the Internet. * Create CDs from your old LPs or cassettes while improving the sound quality by filtering out the scratchy hisses and pops. * safely store all your photos and pictures on CDs. * Duplicate data, photos, graphics and audio to share with your friends and family. * Backup the data from your hard drive. * Create custom labels for all your CDs. Version 5 has a brand new look and feel along with many usability improvements. They include the following: * A new MP3 encoder that will convert your audio CD tracks to MP3. * An MP3 playlist editor that allows you to play your selections in any order, not necessarily alphabetically. * A normalizer for balancing loudness between tracks. * A video encoder to permit conversion of your video files to an acceptable format for recording. * A bonus CD that includes many MP3s, video clips, and 4 movies from Atom Films. To use this software properly, you will need a system with a minimum speed of 200 MHz. Although 32 MB of RAM is acceptable, it is barely so. You really should have at least 64. To copy a CD directly, a good CD-ROM drive that supports audio digital extraction is necessary. Of course, you can always copy data directly from your hard drive. Installing the program is effortless, and using it is equally so. Its beautiful graphic interface makes your choices clear and simple. An opening screen Project Selector permits you to choose the task you have in mind; making a music, data, photo, or video CD, or producing a CD label. A simple click on the appropriate button will bring you to a screen with all your operational sub-choices for your chosen category. Choices are simple, straightforward, and uncomplicated. Your sub choices are basically unique utilities within each category that combine to make Easy CD Creator the superb program it is. The most prominent of these utility modules are: SoundStream 2 Quickly and easily create custom audio CDs. You can combine MP3s, WMAs, WAV files, tracks off other CDs, or analog sources. Oppositely, you can rip audio CDs to separate these components. You can record from CD to CD, making an exact copy with perfect audio fidelity. Furthermore, you can combine your selections in the order of your choice. In both this and all other modules (data, photo, etc.), you can finalize your recording or leave it open for later further additions. Music Library allows you to compile your music in compressed format on to your hard drive for later sorting and further placement. Spin Doctor Clean up and transfer music from another source such as an old vinyl LP. Eliminates hisses, scratches, pops, etc. Music CD Project Add special effects such as cross-fades and fade in and out between your musical selections to further customize the CD you are creating. MP3 CD Project Create your own MP3s. Holds around 100 songs in compressed format to keep you entertained for hours. Direct CD Use your CD like a floppy disk. Drag and drop data files directly. Take Two Back up your hard drive data in compressed format for complete or selective restoration later. CD Copier Easily copy the complete contents of another CD. Video Postcards Create personalized video postcards that combine text and video clips on a personalized background. You will not need special talents to perform any of these tasks. All the utilities within the program are highly intuitive with superb graphical guidance. We tried each of the various modules and all performed like a champ without a single glitch. There is no competition for CD Creator 5 Platinum. It is, hands-down, the most comprehensive software of its kind available. If you have a CD-RW drive, it's a must-have! The software lists at $100 and has a street price of $82. A special upgrade price of $49 is available to version 4 owners. Roxio, (408)934-7283. www.roxio.com Copyright Sarasota PC Monitor, Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. Use your PC! by Ira Wilsker Golden Triangle PC Club There have recently been some commercials on TV extolling the virtues of a fax machine for home use, or a multi-function fax-printer-scanner machine. Concurrently, at least one of the cable shopping channels has been heavily promoting both such multi function devices and home fax machines. With the heavy proliferation of personal computers in the home, most home users (and possibly many small business users) may be able to save some money by using their personal computers as an adequate substitute for a fax machine. This is both possible and likely very cost effective based on the fact that almost all computer modems, for both PCs and Macs manufactured and installed in recent years have the capability to both send and receive faxes directly from the computer. Personally, I fax about a dozen pages from my computer each month. I prepare most of my documents to be faxed with one of my word processors (MSWord, WordPerfect, or WordPro), a spreadsheet (usually Quattro Pro, Excel, or Lotus), or any one of the many programs I have on my computer. It is amazingly easy to fax from a PC or Mac connected to a voice grade phone line with a fax-capable modem. Almost all modern modems, either aftermarket or factory installed, come with at least basic fax software. The software works just like a printer, and appears as a printer in the pull down printer selection box when “print” is chosen. To send almost any document prepared on a computer as a fax, first create the document, spreadsheet, image, or other item. Spell check and proofread as appropriate, save the document for safety reasons, and then click on the print icon or click on FILE - PRINT. On Windows PCs, the print window will appear, with the default printer appearing in the pull down menu at the top of the print window. Rather than using the printer, open the pull down menu, and select whatever fax software is installed. Click on “OK” just as if you were printing to paper, and the fax software will load and convert the document to a universal fax format, usually a “tiff” file. If properly installed and configured, the fax software will ask for a phone number (or offer a selection from an existing phone directory or contact list, if compatible), dial the phone modem, and send the fax. It is really that fast and easy. Almost all fax software, from the free or “lite” or limited versions included with modems, to the full-featured commercial fax software, will allow for the preview and saving of outgoing faxes. Almost all will allow for the creation of a cover page, and many offer a library of attractive cover pages to choose from. Most fax software will also allow for the sending of a “quick fax” where the fax software itself, without using a word processor, offers a simple text editor where simple faxes can be created and quickly sent. Obviously there may be a need to receive faxes, as well as send them. The fax software can be loaded either manually when needed, or auto-loaded at boot, and can detect when an incoming fax reaches the modem. The modem will answer, receive the data, and the fax software will convert the phone signal into an image, exactly as if received on a separate fax machine. The received fax can be viewed, printed, or saved as needed. The only disadvantage to receiving faxes with the computer is that faxes cannot be received (or sent) while online (the sender will likely get a busy signal), or with the computer turned off. Some computers with a “sleep mode” can be set to “wake” when an incoming fax is detected, receive the fax, and then return to sleep mode. When awakened by the user, a window is often displayed indicating that a fax was received. Personally, while my computer supports sleep mode, I prefer not to use it, but instead shut down my computer totally (power off), unless I am explicitly expecting a fax. There are a variety of fax software products available at local stores, or for download. The local TUCOWS site at tucows.exp.net/fax95.html has over a dozen fax utilities available for download; eight of the programs are “try before you buy” shareware, and a few are demo versions of commercial software. None were listed as “freeware”. According to published sales figures, Symantec's $99 retail (usually available for less in the local stores, and often with a rebate) WinFaxPro is the top selling commercial fax software. WinFaxPro Lite, which is totally adequate for most home users, is included with many of the other Norton products. I recently installed the latest version of Lite when I installed Norton System Works 2002. For several years, I have been a very satisfied user of one of the other commercial fax software programs, Communicate! Pro ($50 retail) from 01Com, available at retail and from www.01com.com (zero one com). Home users may prefer the less expensive ($30) Communicate! Version 10. Both of the Communicate! Series are very feature rich, not only including an excellent fax utility, but also an answering machine with voice mail, a contact manager, and other useful utilities. Many users also can use their scanner as a send-fax machine. Most scanners now come with simple scan-to-fax software. While a scanner may be necessary to prepare a computer-fax from non-computerized documents, scanners have also become widely available at low prices. In a recent Sunday sale book, one of the major office supply stores had a scanner with decent specifications and capabilities advertised for under $20 after rebates. I recently purchased, from a local office supply retailer, a scanner with excellent specifications and capabilities for $39, after rebate. Compared to the price of even an inexpensive fax machine, and the possible cost of an additional phone line, a computer user can save substantial money by using what they already own for sending and receiving faxes. From the September 2002 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter - IMPORTANT NOTICE - FRPCUG meetings are held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Check this page for directions to the Senior Center. August General Forum Meeting No General Forum Meeting in August due to building maintenance at the Fort Collins Senior Center! September General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00 pm. Meeting Agenda 7:00 - 7:15 Announcements 7:15 - 8:30 Video Capture-Capturing image still frames from streaming video sources. 8:30 - 8:45 Break 8:45 - 9:30 Open Forum Have a great summer and We'll see you in September! Directions The Fort Collins Senior Center is located at 1200 Raintree Drive. This site is situated at the northwest corner of the Shields and West Drake intersection, on the north side of the Raintree Shopping Center. Check the marquee at the main entrance for directions to the specific meeting room. 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. New Directions SIG The LINUX SIG and the Telecommunications SIG have been combined to form the new Advanced Systems Support SIG. This SIG provides advanced support for all PC-related operating system and telecommunication issues. The meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday 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. 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/. 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. 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. 5 NO FRPCUG General Forum Meeting THIS MONTH! 13 PCUG Board Meeting 7:00PM NRFNUG Meeting 5:00PM 21 New Directions SIG 7:00PMSeptember 2003 2 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00PM 10 PCUG Board Meeting 7:00PM NRFNUG Meeting 5:00PM 18 New Directions SIG 7:00PM by Paul Witheridge I'm currently Shareware Librarian of the Sarnia Computer Users' Group and a Past President. I'm in my 14th year with SCUG and am a semi-retired computer consultant. I'd appreciate a copy of any newsletter it appears in. (I think that's the normal APCUG practice, no?) It's always nice to see what kinds of newsletters think it's worthy of space. One of today's biggest computing irritations is competing standards! While there are standards out there for such things as e-mail, file transfer and Internet protocols, and HTML coding for web display, someone is always "pushing the envelope" (to be polite) or "ignoring them" (to be blunt). Document sharing is an example. Many think that Microsoft Word is the standard for documents but it is only one in a field of word processors. At one time, they simply pretended each other didn't exist and if you created a document using one word processor, you couldn't share it with others who were using a competitive product. Now, at least the major brands provide the ability to convert between formats but often at the expense of some of your painstaking efforts to create that Beautiful Format. Enter Adobe and the Portable Document Format (PDF). If you can create (or "export to") a PDF file with your word processor, you can produce a "stand-alone" document that anyone can see or print exactly as it was created fonts, pictures, whatever but without the program that created it! Catch? Of course there's a catch! First of all, you need the Acrobat Adobe Reader to see/print these. Yes, it's free; but it is a few megabytes in size and usually has to be downloaded and installed. But how to create the PDF in the first place? Are we still somewhat at the mercy of the Adobes, Microsofts and Corels? Read on! There are two freeware (free for non-commercial, home use) programs that can enable you to create (and read) standard PDF files (as well as postscript files): MakePDF, (http://www.lexacorp.com.pg/soft/makepdf22.zip) a freeware utility for converting the postscript translations from GhostScript to a Portable Document Format file (Note:When I checked this link, the software had been upgraded to version 2.5 so I changed it and pointed the the '/soft' directory. Go there and look for 'MakePDF' on that page for the latest version. - jl) and GhostScript, (ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/AFPL/gs703/gs703w32.exe) a free postscript interpreter which translates postscript documents. NOTE: If the version numbers change, the above links will become outdated. If you visit the Lexacorp site first, there is a link there to GhostScript as well as to MakePDF. Stuart also offers several other MAKEPDF tips and tricks at http://www.lexacorp.com.pg After downloading both of these, install GhostScript by double-clicking the GS703W32.EXE file. Then simply unzip MAKEPDF21.ZIP into the folder of your choice (no installation needed). I must assume that the reader can do this using their favorite compressed file unpacker. Then, you need to define a printer that can produce postscript output such as the HP Laserjet III PostScript+ in your selection of printers. You do not need to have this printer connected, you merely need to add/install it as if it were installed and configure it to send output to a .PRN file. Here's how. In Windows, click Start|Settings|Printers and then double-click 'Add Printer'. Choose 'Local Printer' and click 'Next'. Now select the printer you'd like, making sure that it can produce postscript. The HP Laserjet III PostScript+ is an obvious choice but other manufacturers are available on the list you'll see. After selecting one, you'll be asked where to output your data and this is where you will choose 'FILE:' and then click 'Next'. Most likely you will not want this to be your default printer, but this option is always available later if your needs should change. Click 'Next' and then 'Finish' and you will most likely be prompted to insert your Windows installation CD in order to retrieve the necessary driver files. After the printer driver files have been copied, you will be prompted for a PRN filename (in case you wanted to print a test page). You can click 'Cancel' to skip this step. Did you know that you could also rename this printer installation to something more helpful like PostScript Creation? Right click it and rename! Once the process is complete to this point, you will have an additional printer option whenever you wish to "print" a document from any application you are using. When choosing this new option you have just installed, you will be asked for a filename and destination folder since the output will not be a "hard copy" on paper, but a .PRN file on your computer. We now need to create a way to easily send these PRN files created by your newly installed postscript-capable (phantom) printer driver to MAKEPDF which will use GhostScript to finally create the PDF file. One way to provide this "connection" is to add a shortcut in your SendTo links that will appear when you right-click a file in Windows Explorer (or other file manager) and select 'Send To'. Open your \Windows\SendTo folder and right-click a blank spot. Click New|Shortcut and insert a command line similar to the following, but insert the proper path for your installation of MAKEPDF in place of the square bracketed portion. C:\Utils]\MAKEPDF.EXE Click 'Next' and then name it MakePDF or whatever you like. Click 'Finish' and you're done. Now you can right-click any PRN file created by your phantom printer and then choose SendTo|MakePDF to create your PDF file. You could also create a shortcut on your desktop in the same way and just drag and drop PRN files onto the icon. There are a few other clever tricks the more advanced user can perform either by defining a new filetype (see end of this article) or using macros in your word processor or creating a custom printer port or having your PDF sent directly to your e-mail client but you can read about those in Stuart McLachlan's (author of MAKEPDF) Readme text file that comes with MAKEPDF. Most of us will be quite happy with a shortcut in the SendTo folder! Using MAKEPDF The first time you send a PRN file to MakePDF, you will be asked if you want to locate the GhostScript program. Click 'Yes' and browse your way to the GSWIN32.EXE file which, if you used the default location will be in the C:\GS\GS7.03\BIN folder. [Note that there are two similarly named executable files at this location. The one with the 'C' is for command-line operation.] Single-click the GSWIN32.EXE file and click 'Open' and this path will be saved in a MAKEPDF.INI file for future reference and you won't have to repeat this step. MakePDF will now open and you will see the path and filename of your (input) PRN file and the same path but different file extension for the output PDF file. Unless you want the PDF file to be put somewhere else or have a different name, you can accept the default offering. There are options offered, most of which I usually ignore; but here is a brief explanation of them as I understand them: Delete Input File - deletes the PRN file after it has been translated to save collecting large numbers of these intermediate files. Lower Case Output - produces a PDF filename with all lower case letters for feeding to other applications which may require that. Sticky Output Directory - use this if you want the folder you set in 'Output Filename/Directory' ALWAYS to be the destination of your PDF files. View Output File - check this if you want Acrobat Reader to open your new PDF as soon as it's created. Auto-Exit on success - check this to save having to click the 'Quit' button No Messages - all message boxes are suppressed. I wouldn't recommend this for the beginner. Choose the version of PDF file you wish to create and after a few seconds, you will see a confirmation dialogue box that the process has been successful. NOTE: In case your intended recipient has an older version of Acrobat Reader, it may be best to create an older version PDF. The resulting PDF file you have now created can be double-clicked to be opened in Acrobat Reader and it will appear exactly as you created it in your original application and anyone with Acrobat Reader can do the same. And print it! But the Reader does not allow editing, just reading and printing. This can be a very good thing when you don't want your document altered by others! For The Advanced User For the more adventurous, (once you are comfortable that you have everything working) you could even establish a new filetype (change PRN to something completely new that is not already registered on your computer) so that a simple double-click on files of that type will start MAKEPDF and open them. This involves first avoiding any of the extensions already listed in Start|Settings|Folder options|File Types and then in there creating a 'New Type' and specifying a command line similar to the following to open those files: "C:\Utils]\MAKEPDF.EXE" %1 /D /V1.2 /OC:\My Documents\PDFfile.PDF again, inserting the proper path for your installation in place of the bracketed portion. 26 smart strategies for backing up your most vital files-and for recovering them if you didn't. by Lincoln Spector You've heard all the reasons you should back up your data files regularly: One errant click could wipe out a critical document; a virus could munch whole folders; and mechanical problems could destroy your hard drive. So why do so few people do it? Perhaps because the backup process is confusing and time-consuming, and provides as much immediate gratification as updating your insurance coverage. Okay, so I can't make backing up your files a thrill. But I can make it easier and faster. In this article I answer some common questions about data backups so you can keep the most important things in your computer--documents, spreadsheets, e-mail addresses, and financial information--safe from data disaster. But even if you resolve to back up regularly, you may fall off the wagon occasionally. So I've included tips on ways to try to recover your data when you don't have a copy--and that really is a thrill. Backing Up Data How often should I back up? How can I make it easy? >>TIP You should back up your data every day you use your computer. I know that sounds painful, but if you set things up properly, it takes only a minute or two. You can still be out the door before your boss arrives with that last-minute assignment. You'll most often perform an incremental data backup. While a complete data backup copies every file in the folders that contain documents and other data you create, an incremental one backs up only the files created or changed since your last backup--thus it's much faster. A good backup program makes it easy to back up your essential documents and files. It allows you to select what you will and won't back up, and lets you schedule complete and incremental data backups. What program should you use? >>TIP I recommend Stomp's BackUp MyPC. It handles the basics and it's easy to use (for a full review, see "Tools for Trouble-Free Computing"). >>TIP Apps like Iomega's QuickSync back up your data on the fly, as you save it to your hard drive. But if you back up to a CD, you still have to remember to put in the disc in the morning, then remove it to a safe place at night. And any program that works in the background will use some resources and could slow your PC. There are good arguments for backing up your entire hard drive--not just your data, but your applications and OS as well. But the task is tedious and could incline you to avoid doing any backing up. And you already have copies of your software--the original CD-ROMs. (If you prefer to back up your entire drive, your best bet is to use a drive imaging program, such as PowerQuest's Drive Image.) What kind of media should I back up to? >>TIP This one's easy: CD-RWs. There are lots of good reasons. Compact discs don't cost much, and they're removable, so you can store copies of your data off-site--your best protection against fire, flood, or theft. Rewritable CDs allow you to use the same media over and over again for regular incremental backups. CD-RW drives are fast enough that you won't need a good book every time you back up. And CDs are large enough (at 650MB) that you may be able to fit all your data on one disc. If you collect many photos or music files, My Documents can outgrow a single CD. But since these files don't change much, you need not back them up regularly. >>TIP Move such files out of the backup folders and archive them on CD-R discs. These are the best option for long-term storage and will ensure that no one overwrites your favorite photos or tunes. What files should I back up? >>TIP If you're using Windows 98 or Me, you should back up the My Documents folder, usually located at C:\My Documents. You should also back up the following Windows subfolders (not every Windows installation has all of these folders; if you can't find one, don't worry): All Users, Application Data, Desktop, Favorites, Local Settings, and Start Menu. >>TIP If you're using Windows 2000 or XP, back up C:\Documents and Settings. This folder contains a subfolder for every user registered for that computer. Each subfolder contains, among other things, a folder called Local Settings (this folder is hidden by default in Windows Explorer, but it should be visible through your backup program's interface). Each Local Settings folder contains three folders that you should not back up: Temporary Internet Files, Temp, and History. You definitely should back up Application Data (the other Local Settings subfolder). Unfortunately, not all programs store their data in these folders. >>TIP If you're unsure where an app stores its data, go into the program and add a piece of information, such as an address. Then quit the program. Now look for the file, using the Search or Find option in the Start menu. Search for files modified within the last day. When a file list appears, click the column header labeled Modified or Date Modified. This will show you the most recently changed files on your computer; near the top will be the file that you just changed. If you don't recognize the file name, look at the folder where it's stored; this information is shown to the right. The path will usually include the name of the program used to create the file. If a program is storing data outside the folders you're backing up, you can include in your backup the file or folder that the program uses, or you can employ the program's customization options to change where the data is stored. Now that I'm prepared, how do I actually go about creating my backup? Most backup programs allow you to create jobs--sets of rules that define what should get backed up and how. The programs generally use a Windows Explorer-like interface to enable you to specify the folders and files to be copied. >>TIP Define two jobs. The first should be a complete data backup that copies the files in essential data folders and overwrites everything already on the CD-RW you're using for the backup. The second job is an incremental data backup that's stored on the free space left on a CD and doesn't overwrite existing data. You can't reliably back up a file if it's open in another program that may be writing data to it. >>TIP Close all apps that open or save data before backing up. >>TIP Set aside three CD-RW discs for backups. The first time you use one, do a complete backup. Then, once a day, perform an incremental backup. Every couple of weeks--or when the first CD starts to get full--switch to another disc, starting once again with a complete backup on that day and incremental ones after that. After a couple of weeks with the third disc, go back to the first one. With this system, you'll always have a copy of your most recent work as well as copies of versions as much as six weeks old --just in case the PowerPoint slides you killed last week suddenly become vital again. Recovering Data How do I retrieve a single file from my backup? In 19 years of computer use, I've had one hard drive die. But I can't tell you how many times I've overwritten a vital file. Mechanical problems can't hold a candle to human stupidity. Luckily, if you create backups regularly, restoring a lost file is no more than a minor hassle. >>TIP Remember, if you do daily backups, you're likely to have several versions of a file. A good backup program like BackUp MyPC will aggregate the contents of all available backups into one file list. You can then find the file in this list and select a version to restore. I just deleted a file with no backup. Can I get it back? Be glad you only deleted it. If you had overwritten the file--saving another file with the same name to the same folder--It would probably be gone for good. >>TIP The number one rule when you want to retrieve a deleted file is: Don't write anything else to your hard drive. The data that makes up a deleted file is still there--temporarily. The system sees the space the data occupies as available, however. The next time you save something, it may replace the deleted file with new data. Don't save or create a file or install a program until the deleted file is restored or you've given up hope. When you delete a file, Windows moves it to the Recycle Bin. As long as you have not emptied the bin, it's easy to get the file out again. >>TIP Simply double-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, find the file, right-click it, and select Restore. What can you do if you've already emptied the Recycle Bin? If you act quickly, you may still be able to retrieve the file. Both Ontrack's SystemSuite and Symantec's Norton Utilities (sold separately and as part of Norton's SystemWorks suite) have tools designed to retrieve files in these situations. >>TIP In SystemSuite, launch the FileUndeleter. In Norton Utilities, use the UnErase Wizard. >>TIP If you run out and buy one of these packages after deleting a file, don't install the program--it could overwrite the very file you want to restore. Both packages offer a way to run from their CD-ROM to undelete a file. An important Office file has become corrupted. Can I repair it? Funny thing about files you use all the time. They sure can get messed up. But even if you don't have the file backed up, all may not be lost. >>TIP At least two companies sell software for recovering Office data files. Ontrack offers its EasyRecovery FileRepair line of programs, and Recoveronix sells its OfficeRecovery programs. Both companies provide free demonstrations on their sites. The demos don't recover your data, but they do let you see whether the full programs will be able to. My hard drive suddenly died. What should I do? Scream. Curse. Wail. Then, if you've got a backup, smile. If you don't, you'll want to return to screaming, cursing, and wailing. >>TIP If the situation renders your PC inoperative, you'll need to remove the misbehaving drive and attach it as a slave drive to a working system. >>TIP Do not take the preceding step, though, if the drive makes scraping, grinding, or clicking noises. Those alarming sounds indicate physical problems with the hard drive. In that case, shut the drive down immediately and remove it from the system to minimize damage. >>TIP If you have a recent data backup, the backup program will walk you through the steps of restoring all your data files in one fell swoop. Of course, if you don't have an image of your entire drive, you'll need to reinstall your OS and applications. >>TIP If you don't have even a data backup, there's still hope. Both Ontrack's EasyRecovery programs and Runtime Software's GetDataBack will attempt to pull files from a bad drive and copy recovered data to another location, such as a second hard drive or a CD-RW disc. Both companies' Web sites offer free demo versions that can show you the likelihood of success in your case. >>TIP If these emergency programs don't do the job, or if your hard drive is making strange noises, you'll have to decide if it's worth shelling out big bucks for a data retrieval service. A number of companies, including Ontrack, Advanced Data Solutions, and DriveSavers (see full review), offer these services. You can expect to pay anywhere from $95 to $5000 to get your files back---if you can get them back at all. Guess what? Backups are cheaper. Lincoln Spector is a PC World contributing editor. See related downloads for more backup utilities. Product List - What it does Iomega QuickSync$40 Backs up files in the background while you work, so you never have to remember to do it. Ontrack EasyRecoveryPersonal $179; Professional $489Copies recovered data off damaged drives. Personal Edition supports DOS, Windows 3.x, 95, 98, and Me. Professional version adds support for Windows 2000, NT, and XP. Ontrack EasyRecovery FileRepairIndividual programs $129-$379; full suite $749. Programs restore damaged Office data files; a free demo will tell you if a file is salvageable. Recoveronix OfficeRecoveryIndividual programs $149-$399; full suite $899. Programs restore damaged Office data files; a free demo will tell you if a file is salvageable. Runtime Software GetDataBackFAT version $69; NTFS version $129Copies files off corrupted drives. FAT version supports FAT and FAT32 drives (typically Windows 95, 98, and Me systems). NTFS version supports NTFS drives (typically Windows 2000, NT, and XP systems). Stomp BackUp MyPC $79 First-rate basic backup program backs up files and folders either completely or incrementally. Take My Advice: Two Hard Drives Beat Tape >>TIP I stopped using tapes and Zip drives for backups and started backing up my data to another hard drive. A second hard drive is cheaper when you consider the cost of tapes and Zip disks. And swapping hard drives in an emergency is a snap. I bought two hard drives with the same capacity; I then installed two mobile mounts in my PC case and connected the drives' IDE cables so the drive in the upper mount is an IDE1 master and the backup drive in the lower mount is an IDE2 master. I use PowerQuest's $50 DriveCopy to copy data from the upper drive to the lower one. I back up at night and in the morning put the backup drive somewhere safe. On that sad day when my regular drive fails, I'll just replace it with my backup drive. --Clifford Ford, supervisory civil engineer, Pasadena, California >>TIP Use File, Save As to preserve an additional version of the same file under a different name. >>TIP Keep backups of your work files at home, and vice versa, in case of fire or other catastrophe. >>TIP To restore an older file without losing the current version, restore it to an alternate folder. - PCWorld.com: From the June 2002 issue of PC World magazine Some of us need to share Word documents with people who don't use Word. For example, some of the people who need a copy of your document may use Word Perfect. The best approach is to choose File|Save As. When the Save As dialog opens, click the arrow at the right side of the "Save as type" list box. Select the type of document that you need if it's available. If there is no matching type for the target word processor, choose Rich Text Format (*.rtf) and save the file. RTF is readable by all commercial word processors, and most freeware processors as well. Note that you'll lose any special formatting when you save a Word file as anything other than a Word file. - Sue Whitehouse eMazing.com FOR SALE: Gateway 800C Desktop w/Monitor, 20GB Hard Drive plus Epson Stylus Color 777 printer. Less than one year old. Only $600 complete. Contact Frances in Fort Collins at (970) 224-0776. 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 Rick Mattingly at 223-2154 or email rmatt@jymis.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@willsigns.com. |