BENTSEN GROVE RESORT COMPUTER CLUB BULLETIN
December 2007

MEETINGS
MONDAY
ROOM 3R

BEGINNERS
9:30 AM

GENERAL
MEETING
10:30 AM
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS:
If you would like to meet in a small group to discuss special computer related subjects or form a Special Interest Group lets discuss it.
Harold

Our bulletin is also available on line by visiting http://www.bgrcc.com/ and clicking on bulletin.

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EMERGENCY
RESPONSE
TEAM

John Abbott..........424-7113
Harold Buechly.....581-3180
Corinne Higbee.....585-5664

SIG Special Interest Group.
Financial = Corinne Higbee 358-3528
Genealogy = Betty Tesch 566-3003
Linux = John Abbott 424-7113, Thursday 11/29 10:00 AM and weekly thereafter at 3R

Site of the month  If you dare go there, have plenty of time available. You will not want to leave.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday December 3, 10, 17,  2007,    9:30 AM New User Lesson By Corinne Higbee
Monday December 3, 10, 17,  2007,  10:30 AM General Meeting By Harold Buechly
Monday December 10, 2007,   9:00 AM, During Break, After Meeting Equipment Sale By Pat Ingram
Monday December 17, 2007, 10:35 AM, Door prize drawing for members By Corinne Higbee
Monday December 17, 2007,  NOON lunch Pizza SIG at Mr. Gattis By Corinne Higbee

GENERAL CALENDAR OF EVENTS THROUGH APRIL 14, 2008
Beginners and General Meeting each Monday except 12/24/07 and 12/31/07.
In Addition:
Second Monday each month. Used equipment sale by Pat Ingram.
Third Monday each month. Door prizes for members and Pizza SIG by Corinne Higbee.
If a guest speaker brings door prizes all attendees qualify for a chance to win.
Winners must be present to claim door prizes.
Annual Membership is $5.00. January 1, through December 31.
SIG's, Special Interest Groups meet as announced throughout the winter.

HaroldIs a new computer in your future By Harold Buechly
In this bulletin there are several articles on modern computers. You may want to consider several key features of the computer itself in order for it to handle current and future operating systems. Study them closely before you buy. There is several flavors of Vista and Linux and they will run much better with the better hardware. The following articles seem to agree with my thoughts, that you will be much more satisfied with a computer that will handle todays and tomorrows software.
If you end up with a new computer with Vista Basic, you will find that the computer itself is basic with limitations you may not find satisfactory. The processor will be to slow, the RAM will be too small and the manufacturer has taken excessive shortcuts just to make the price attractive. You probably will be limited to a minimal operating system because the processer is not upgradeable to a faster processer to handle software properly.
If you buy a new computer and want to stick with Windows, Vista Home Premium should be the standard for home use. The computer itself must be premium as well with a processor and RAM to handle every day processes.

SandyBuying a New Vista Computer? Read This First!
By Sandy Berger, Compukiss.com
www.compukiss.com
sandy(at)compukiss.com

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Windows Vista is finally ready for prime time. Over the last several months, the drivers for many devices like printers and scanners have been updated to accommodate Vista. Most software has also been updated to be Vista compatible. If you are ready for a new computer you may be ready for Vista. However, you might want to do a little homework before you make your purchase.

While many devices and much software has been made compatible, not every software program or every piece of hardware will work with Vista. So before you make the move you should check with the manufacturer of your peripheral devices like printers and scanners to make sure that they can be used with Vista. You should also check the compatibility of software programs that you use. Most hardware manufacturer’s offer updated drivers which you can obtain at their website at no extra cost. Although some software manufacturers offer free updates, for some, you will to have to purchase a new version that is compatible with Vista. For instance, the anti-virus program that you are using on your Windows XP computer will probably not work with Vista. While many of today’s computers come with anti-virus software, they are usually only good for one or two months. So be sure to leave a little extra in your budget to purchase any necessary software updates. With careful investigation, you should be able to decide which of your programs will need to be updated and how much it will cost before you make your computer purchase.

Purchasing a Windows Vista computer is a bit more difficult for the average computer user because there are several very different versions of Vista. Windows XP came in two main versions, Home and Professional. The choice was fairly easy. Home suited most home users and Professional was better for businesses. With Vista, Microsoft has muddied the water by offering five versions: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate.

Let me clarify your options. Whether you are a home user or a business, the Ultimate version will give you everything that Vista has to offer including remote access, scheduled backups, special encryption, Windows faxing, and all of the entertainment features in Vista. Although you will pay more for Ultimate, it does include everything you could possibly want.

While home users can certainly use the Ultimate version, for most the Home Premium version will suffice. This is an excellent version that includes the Media Center which gives you great features for working with photos and music. With a TV tuner in your computer, this version, like the Ultimate version, will let you watch TV on your computer and record television programming just as you would with a stand-alone digital recorder or TIVO, but with no monthly charges. It has a themed slide shows and DVD Maker software included. It also has several cool games like Chess, Titans, Mahjong Titans, and Inkball. In reality, Home Premium is the only fully featured home version.
The Home Basic version of Vista is one you will want to avoid. It seems that Microsoft created this version for the sole purpose of getting people into Vista cheaply and having them pay more to upgrade to a better version later. The Home Basic version is stripped of many of the features that make Vista so good. It has none of the television, photo, or music features that are found in the Home Premium version. It doesn’t even include the scheduled backup that is included in all of the other versions. So Basic is stripped of many of the features that make using the computer easier and more entertaining.
Home Basic doesn’t have the Aero Glass interface that is standard in all other versions. This interface is what makes Vista so visually appealing when you are using it. It also gives you a smoother-performing desktop. In my opinion, it is also easier on the eyes. While some may say it is just cosmetic, I think it is a great loss not to have it.
If you purchase a computer with Home Basic, Microsoft makes it easy to upgrade to Home Premium online. Just pay them more money and download the upgrade. However, Home Basic only requires 512MB of ram, while all the other versions require 1GB (twice as much) of memory. Also Home Basic will run on a computer with lower graphics requirements. So you may find that the new computer you just purchased with Home Basic does not have the power to run the better versions of Vista like Home Premium or Ultimate without adding more memory and upgrading the video card. Also since Home Basic is so “basic” it does not even come close to meeting the requirements for most networked businesses.

The bottom line is……Stay away from Vista Home Basic. If you purchase a new computer for home use, stick to Home Premium or Ultimate. If you purchase a new computer for your business, the choices in Vista are not always clear cut. Check with a knowledgeable consultant to determine which version of Vista best suits your needs.
If you do a little research before you purchase that Vista computer, you will be happier with your purchase.

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).

Moving on to Vista – Part 1
by Neil Stahfest, Shareware Librarian, Tacoma Area PC User Group, WA
www.tapcug.org
ncstahfest(at)msn.com

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

I tested a pre-release version of Windows Vista last year. I thought that the eye candy was nice but there really wasn't a lot about the program to make it worth upgrading my PC to use it. Since then I've heard stories about problems with Vista that made me even reluctant to upgrade to it. But, things happen. I "needed" a new laptop to demonstrate programs for the Flight Simulator S.I.G. <wink><wink> Many of you will be buying new computers in the next year or so, so I'll share some of my experiences and impressions with you.

I took the plunge in August 2007 and bought a new HP laptop. And of course it only comes pre-loaded with Windows Vista. (Note - If you buy a new PC, make sure you get at least the Vista Home Premium Version. The Home Basic Version is crippled, you wont like it, and the manufacture may even provide the Premium version as a "free" upgrade.)

I opened the box, plugged in the battery charger, turned the PC on (per the instructions) and the computer worked. HP pre-activates Windows Vista saving you from going through the exercise of activating it. I had to answer a few questions of course; name, password, my preference for mydesktop, etc. Nothing too difficult. So now I have Windows Vista and it works.

Connection to my wireless home LAN was important to me; fortunately Vista made that very easy. Just follow the Internet Wizard, a click here, a click there and you are connected. The first thing I used the Internet connection for was to check for Windows Vista updates. There were about 18. I'm not sure what they were all supposed to do, but for now, I decided to trust Microsoft and installed all of them.

The next few days were spent playing with the computer, learning what things did. I sure miss the days when you got a "real" manual with a PC. It took me five days to discover a pressure sensitive strip at the top of the keyboard that lets you increase and decrease speaker volume by sliding your finger over it. Searching the Hewlett Packard web site I located a manual for my computer (in .pdf format) and downloaded it for future reference.

I never have cared for the touch pads that they put on laptop PCs to provide a mouse function but this one works pretty good. Still, I prefer a real mouse. Unfortunately, this laptop doesn't have the standard mouse connector like my old laptop. HP only provides USB connections so none of the mice I have will work on it. A check at the web site of my favorite PC supply store indicated that they were out of stock. As luck would have it, later the same day, I was walking past the writing supplies area in my local Safeway when I spotted a laptop mouse manufactured by Targus. For $19 and change I bought a cute little two button USB optical mini-mouse (no mouse pad required) with a little thing on the connecting wire that lets me pull out as much or as little wire as I need. Problem solved! (Update – I lost my original mouse after about three weeks. I discovered that Office Max sells a variety of mini-mice made by different manufacturers. I bought another Targus mini-mouse.)

Personal computers are very personal. I spent most of the first week that I owned this computer, customizing it. I added utility and application programs that do what I need to do the way I like to do it. Vista may offer “better” ways to organize and present information. If so I'll probably discover them. In the meantime my desktop looks similar to my old Windows XP computer, littered with desktop icons that are shortcuts to various programs.

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).



VinniMake Vista Work Better
by Vinny La Bash, Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., FL
www.spcug.org
vlabash(at)comcast.net

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

No matter how good an operating system may be, someone will complain that it could have been better. Vista is a very good operating system that some people find wanting. Some people are never satisfied, but that is not the issue here. Of course Vista should have been better, but Microsoft has only so much time and resources to develop a system, and Vista was late to market in addition to being less than perfect.

In this article we'll show how to make Vista work better for you, and that's all we can reasonably ask of any operating system. Let's take care of the power users first. Power users are too impatient for menus. They think menus are for wimps. After encountering Vista User Account Control they may have a point.

Left-click the orb at the bottom left side of the screen.
In the Search box type cmd.exe.
Right-click on cmd.exe and choose Properties from the popup menu.
Select Pin to the Start Menu.
The Command Prompt is now always available from the Start menu. If you would like to make additional tweaks to the prompt, right-click the shortcut from the Start menu and choose Properties.

The blinking cursor, otherwise known as the insertion point, tells you where you can type or insert text. The cursor can be difficult to locate because it's so thin, but Vista has a way to fatten it up.

Open Control Panel.
A dialog box appears. In the upper right corner, type "Optimize visual display."
The Ease of Access Center icon will appear. Select the link below the icon.
Locate the Make the focus rectangle thicker box and put a checkmark in it.
Set the thickness to whatever you like. Don't get carried away with some ridiculous number. Bumping up the thickness by one or two points should be sufficient.
When you install a large high resolution monitor, you quickly become aware of the relationship between high resolution and eyestrain. Vista provides a way to make text easier to read without having to sacrifice resolution.

From the Start Menu open Control Panel.
In the Search box at the upper right corner of the dialog box, type adjust font size.
The resulting list will probably consist of one item, Adjust font size.
Select it and you can choose to accept the larger text option or click on the Custom DPL button and experiment.

Vista comes equipped with an excellent Snipping Tool that was originally designed for a different version of Windows. In its generosity, Microsoft chose to include the tool in every version of Vista except Vista Home Basic, which is fine because nobody should buy Vista Home Basic. Snippy lets you capture any portion of a screen, either rectangular or free form. You can then paste it into a document, email or save it as a graphic. Don't use it to copy and paste text for editing because a graphic image can't be edited like text. Here's how to get it:

From the Start Menu type snip in the search box.
The Snipping Tool should be at the top of the list. Right-click on it and select Pin to the Start Menu. You can also add it to the Quick Launch Bar if you like.
Vista has added several new wrinkles to the Quick Launch bar. It's been around since Windows 95, but it's never been more useful. If you hold the shift key down while right-clicking on a shortcut, you will see an expanded popup window with additional options. One option is to put the shortcut icon on the Quick Launch bar. You can still use the traditional drag and drop method, but having another alternative when the desktop isn't visible is always helpful.

When the Quick Launch bar is active, that means you can see it on the Task bar. If you need to activate Quick Launch right-click on a clean area of the Task bar. Drag your mouse to the Toolbars option, and select Quick Launch.

Each of the first ten shortcuts on the Quick Launch bar has its own custom keyboard shortcut. If the Calculator is the third icon from the left, press the Windows key and the number 3 and you activate the calculator. Limiting the number of built-in keyboard shortcuts may be Microsoft's way of telling you that more then ten items on the Quick Launch bar is too many.

Vista keyboard shortcuts are a great way of performing little tasks more easily. Instead of having to reach for your mouse, you can press two or three keystrokes. There are those keyboard shortcuts that are common to all versions of Windows and now there are some new ones. Among the new features introduced in Windows Vista, is a new set of shortcut keys that are used to launch various programs or perform different tasks. These new keyboard shortcuts are listed below.

Windows Key + G (cycles through the Gadgets)

Windows Key + L (locks the computer)

Windows Key + U (activates the Ease Of Use Center)

Windows Key + X (cycles through the Mobility Center)

Windows Key + Spacebar (moves the focus to the Sidebar)

Windows Key + Pause (opens the System Properties portion of Control Panel)

Windows Key + Tab (opens persistent Flip 3D) :

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).

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