BENTSEN
GROVE COMPUTER CLUB BULLETIN
Month
of September 2003
|
|
MEETINGS NONE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED |
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS: If you would like to meet in a small group to
discuss one of the following subjects, contact the following people.
If you would like to lead a SIG, discuss it with
Val. Our bulletin is also available on line by visiting http://www.bgrcc.com/ and clicking on bulletin. You may also select bulletins by its subject |
NEED
SOME HELP
Click on HELP EMERGENCY
RESPONSE
TEAM
John Abbott….424-0537 Val Barron….…519-2319 Harold Buechly.519-7375 Claude Westfall 580-4042 |
|
Barron’s Bytes By Val Barron
Introduction To begin this column I would like to give a great big THANK YOU to the people that contributed to last month’s Bulletin. John Abbott led off with his announcement of the Bentsen Grove Linux Users Group. I look forward to attending his meetings and drinking some of his famous coffee. Harold Buechly next described the workings of our club’s web site. If you are using Internet Explorer for a browser, you can just type in “bgrcc” without the quotes then hit Ctrl Enter to go to our site. Harold did such a good job on his description that I’ll forgive him his dig about the web page that I started and was too dumb to make it work right. Hopefully Harold will repeat his SIG web design class and I can absorb a little more knowledge. I especially appreciated Barbara Goff’s piece on transferring and enhancing old records and tapes to CD. I really do plan to do this someday.
So thanks again to these club members. I hope your efforts encourage some of our other members to submit bulletin articles soon. How about some tips for AOL MSN or CompuServe users. Any and all tips are welcome-they can be short or long. The bottom of every Bulletin shows how to submit your items to our editor Harold Buechly.
The tropical storms and hurricanes have steadfastedly refused to give the
Blaster And Other Bedevilments Of Microsoft Windows In order to keep these infections out of our computer or computers there are two or three things that every computer owner should do.
The first thing is to install and run antivirus software on your computer. When the three-month subscription that came with your new computer expires, renew it. Be sure to turn your automatic update feature ON or do manual updates as soon as you are notified they are available. For example with Norton Antivirus 2003, click Start, Programs (Win 98) or All Programs Win XP), Norton Antivirus, Norton Antivirus 2003, Options, and select the 3 Recommended options.
Next be sure you are receiving critical software fixes from Microsoft's Windows Update service and again turn automatic updates on or do manual updates as soon as you are notified.
In Windows XP, you make these settings in the System Control Panel. Go to Start, Control Panel, System, then select the Automatic Updates tab. Select which method of notification and installation you prefer. On the Automatic Updates tab, there are links to Help topics to give you additional information. If you opt for manual download or installation, be sure to install the upgrades when notified.
Windows ME has a similar Automatic Update feature to Windows XP. In Windows 98 it is necessary to manually update by clicking Start, then Windows Update. If you do not find Windows Update on the Start menu then click Start, Settings, then Windows Update. This will take you to the update web page, where you can download the Critical Updates and other updates. Although Windows 98 does not have an automatic update capability it is possible to get automatic notification of Critical Updates, for information about this see “Description of the Windows Critical Update Notification Utility” at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;224420 .
Protection For Always On Connections If you have an always-on connection-DSL, Cable Modem, or 2nd Phone line a firewall is essential.
If you have windows XP, turn on the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF). The ICF is turned on from Network Connections in Control Panel. For instructions go to Start, Help and Support, type ICF in the Search window, and then click the arrow.
If you have other versions of Windows, Zone Alarm is a good free firewall available from Zone Labs at http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp .
Home Network Security For those of us who have a home network with two or more computers the Microsoft Interconnection Firewall (ICF) is a poor choice because it cripples file exchange and printing. For us Zone Alarm is a good choice. Unfortunately it’s network configuration is very, VERY tricky, but Business Week Online has a very good explanation of how to make the configuration at http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_36/b3848038.htm .
My Recent Documents-Val’s Tip For This Month The Start menu in Windows XP normally shows recent documents in a manner slightly different from Windows 98. In XP recent documents are shown under a heading called My Recent Documents. I have been surprised to see a few new computers recently that do not show this category on the Start menu. Because I find this feature useful I thought I would show the rather convoluted steps needed to show My Recent Documents on the Start Menu if you do not have it. Right click Start then Properties. Click Customize then click the Advanced tab. Under Recent Documents, click to select the “List my most recently opened documents” check box. Next click OK. The next time you click Start, the My Recent Documents command is displayed on the Start menu. More information is available from Microsoft at:
Note: If clicking on the above links doesn’t work, copy and paste them into your browser address window.
Happy Computing, Val |
|
A web site that you and others in the computer club may find interesting Is: ExtremeTech - Deep technology for enthusiasts and professionals This site and the information it contains is excellent for those wanting to learn more about computer components, building a computer and lots of other information. There is a good active discussion forum to allow anyone to discuss and answer questions others may have. Check it out. Claude |
|
BARB’S PICKS By Barbara Goff I got this great info from the Kim Komando news letter. Q. The time on my computer is not right. I have to fix it every few weeks. Is there a way around this problem? A. Let's start with Windows XP. It includes a utility that sets the time. To access the utility, click Start>Control Panel. Double-click Date and Time. In the Date and Time Properties window, select the Internet Time tab. Check "Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server." That will synchronize the clock weekly. It works best with an always-on broadband connection. If you have a dial-up connection, automatic synchronization might not always work. Solve that by using the Update Now button. Windows 98 and ME do not have a time utility. But you can download Atomic Clock Sync from World Time Server.com. It's free and works well: <http://www.worldtimeserver.com/> You can set Atomic Clock Sync to update your computer clock daily. Or you can run it manually. World Time Server promises that no spyware will accompany the Atomic Clock Sync download. If you continue to have time problems, your computer battery may be bad. The clock runs off the battery. This problem is especially likely in a Windows 98 machine, which is probably several years old. The battery is located on the motherboard. Some snap in and out, and are easy to replace. If the battery is soldered in, I would take it to a computer shop. There's more on batteries in my online tip: |
|
Submit Your article; deadline for next bulletin is the last of each
month. Share your computer experiences with other members. We need articles to publish in the BGRCC Bulletin each month. Simply click here EDITOR AT BGRCC and paste your write-up to submit it. |
|
UPDATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP Change your e-mail address, unsubscribe to this bulletin, etc. Use link below. |