August 2007 - BigBearCC.org

Volume 7
August 2007
B
y
l
r
ea
Byte
s
Award Winning Newsletter of Big Bear Computer Club
www.bigbearcc.org
In This Issue
August Meeting
BBCC Club Information
Presidents Message
August BBCC Calendar
BBCC Helpline
About Bearly Bytes
Software Review
Software Review
Barbecue
Referrals Rewarded
Upcoming Events
Pc Infected?
Iphone review
Excel Classes
Memeber Input
Cash Flow Report
SWUG Conference
BBCC General Meeting
Door Prize Winners
Discounts, Offers & Deals
Review Products
Review Program
Build it Yourself
Build it Yourself
Build it Yourself
Upgrading
Upgrading
Car Wreck
Word Tip
Excel Tip
Windows Tip
Opportunities Available
Advertising Director
Membership Benefits
Membership Application
Map To Meeting
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Next BBCC Meeting: Tuesday,
August 14, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Presenting Rick Edwards
Rick Edwards will be doing a presentation on
photography at the next Big Bear
Computer Club meeting.
Everyone is Welcome!!
Bring your computer questions and bring your friends!
Besides informative computer related presentations we have
Our ever-popular RAM (Question and Answer) session
This is where you will meet friends who share your computer interests
Member’s Drawing for FREE Software products
BBCC Club Information
BBCC Officers and
Key Leaders
President...............................Yomar Cleary
878-5622 [email protected]
Vice President.......................Karen Tangeman
585-7413
[email protected]
Secretary...............................Rosemary Lloyd
584-9358 [email protected]
Treasurer...............................Barbara Moore
585-7981
[email protected]
Reviews Editor.......................Karen Tangeman
585-7413 [email protected]
Director-at-large......................Elaine Tennity
584-7158 [email protected]
Director-at-large......................Kent Gale
585-6460 [email protected]
Publicity...................................Yomar Cleary
878-5622 [email protected]
Equipment Director..................Don Odekirk
585-6728 [email protected]
Technical Director...................Jim Lloyd
584-9358 [email protected]
Webmaster...................Bill Flanagan
866-9379 [email protected]
Newsletter Editor....................Gordon West
(909) 584 9776 [email protected]
Membership Director..............Dorothy Sirk
585-3449 [email protected].
Parliamentarian......................David Philipson
585-9389 [email protected]
Historian.................................Nancy Hinz
585-8095 Sunshine Coordinator................Grace Fross
(951) 769-1225
[email protected]
Page 2
President’s Message
We just returned from
the Southwest User Group
Conference in San Diego
which was a great experience as always. As mentioned before there were
four of us who attended,
Barbara Moore, Treasurer;
Karen Tangeman, Vice President, Dorothy Sirk, Membership and myself.
All the presentations were fantastic with all the new
technology that is out there or coming in the near future.
There were 71 vendors who provided information on their
products. Each of us went to a breakfast presentation
then from workshop to workshop then to lunch and again
workshop to workshop, then to dinner. It seems all we
did was EAT but it was fun; we were all physically and
mentally exhausted by the time we got home but it was a
great learning experience, just ask Dorothy Sirk. We all
came home with at least one or two software programs
and lots of trial programs and t-shirts, we will share with
you. I was able to line up our presenters for 2008; I think
you will enjoy the presentations for next year.
The great news is that Rick Edwards submitted several pictures for the Photography Contest and he won for
the Club FIRST PLACE!!! Congratulations Rick!!!! It
was very exciting for the Big Bear Computer Club to win
this award as there were 70 photographs submitted. See
the mother Cheetah with her cubs picture in this newsletter. Rick is getting ready several pictures for the APCUG
Convention in January, 2008.
Yomar Cleary, President
BBCC Calendar
BBCC Events Calendar -- August, 2007
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
5
6
7
12
13
14
19
20
21
BBCC
General
Meeting
5:30 pm
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
4
8
9
10
11
15
16
17
18
Excel
Workshop
22
23
24
25
Air Fair
26
27
28
29
BBCC
Board Meeting
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31
BBCC
Help Line
The following members have
Generously offered to help
you with your PC problems by
phone or by e-mail.
Windows Beginners.....................Carole Allen
866-7677 [email protected]
Windows 95,98,ME,XP..............Bob Kopolow
584-7747 [email protected]
Outlook Express.......................Joan Kiehl
585-7894 [email protected]
MS Outlook....................... Bob Kopolow
584-7747 [email protected]
Bearly Bytes
Bearly Bytes is the official publication of Big Bear Compute Club. Winner SWUGC & APCUG newsletter contests. Views
expressed in Bearly Bytes are those of the authors and do not
reflect the opinions of Big Bear Computer Club. Other computer
user groups are welcome to reprint our articles as long as they
acknowledge the author and the source as Bearly Bytes,
Big Bear Computer Club. Editorial Staff: Gordon West, Editor. Columists: Larry Smith, Barbara Moore, Carole Allen,,Karen
Tangeman, Yomar Cleary & Rosemary Lloyd. Submissions: All
BBCC members are encouraged to send letters, articles, questions and comments to Bearly Bytes for inclusion in future issues.
Submi plain text via e-mail and graphics or photos on disk in TIFF
or JPEG format. Bearly Bytes Editor, Gordon West editorbbcc@
charter.net Box 4548, Big Bear City, CA 92314 (909) 584-9776
MS Word........................Karen Tangeman
585-1734 [email protected]
MS Excel.............................Yomar Cleary
878-5622 [email protected]
MSPublisher........................Yomar Cleary
878-5622 [email protected]
Digital Photos....................Barbara Moore
585-7981 [email protected]
CD Burning.............................Larry Smith
584-1284 [email protected]
Quicken...........................Michael Homan
584-2277 [email protected]
Hardware..............................Bob Kopolow
584-7747 [email protected]
Join our Help Line
Volunteers!
You don’t have to be an expert;
just help others find the
answers.
Contact any BBCC Board Member
to join.
BBCC members are encouraged
to attend Board Meetings and
make suggestions about member
Benefits, events, services, etc. Please
Join us and share your opinions.
Page 4
Letter to the Editor
I enjoy very much the CC
Newsletters you have been sharing
with me. Although I am still in Spokane, WA this helps keep me connected to “home”. I don’t know how
long I will be staying here in Spokane
(I love it up here, too), but when I
come back home to Big Bear I will
certainly be back in touch and sign
up with the CC once again.
Again, thanks for keeping me
updated on whats happening with
the CC. I hope you will continue to
do so.
Best to all,
Jean Yonkers
Software Review
VISTA HOME EDITION
By Yomar Cleary
[email protected]
MY EXPERIENCE WITH VISTA HOME PREMIUM
Recently I decided to upgrade to Vista Home Premium Edition, so I ran the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. When
you run Vista Upgrade Advisor, it will notify you if your computer is Vista ready. It also notifies you which application could
cause a potential conflict during the upgrade and it will tell you to remove that application prior to installing the upgrade.
Make sure you remove that application, otherwise you will have problems. I found that my Compaq Presario had only
512 MB and I needed at least 1-Gigabit to run Vista Home Premium. We added another 512 of memory to bring it up to
1 gigabit. Before upgrading it is good to make a clone of your hard drive in case there is a problem with Vista, you can
revert back to your original status.
Since I had XP Home Edition, I was able to upgrade; anyone with XP Home Professional will have to do a clean
install. Vista requires plenty of power to efficiently run many of its features; anything less than the recommended guidelines, your computer will run slow. The installations went well but expect to spend a couple of hours doing the installation.
Once the upgrade was installed, my hard drive including my documents, my programs and my Outlook Express were
imported into my newly install Vista.
It’s confusing enough to learn a new operating system, but when familiar controls have been switched around, it
becomes a challenge. One example is the Control Panel, its nothing like the Control Panel we are used to in XP. Vista
has even changed the way you turn the machine off, which is great. Windows is put into a powered down state instead
of turning completely off. So you still save power but the system starts up immediately when you need it.
And Vista comes with great security features that anyone with Vista would not need any other software. There
is Windows Defender that protects you from spyware; a phishing filter is part of the security which notifies you if you are
at a fake site. Another security feature is the User Account Control which makes you authenticate all your actions that
change the system—this can become annoying after awhile but you do have the option to disable it. Not a good idea
though.
If you have Outlook or Outlook Express it will export into the Microsoft Windows Mail during installation. This is a
great feature having your contacts and favorites and all settings exported automatically. I found a new feature in which
you can go to the search box, type complete or partial words, you will get a list of all the email messages that contain your
search criteria. Another good feature is suspected junk mail is automatically moved to the junk mail folder but you need
to check it to make sure it does not send a good email to the Junk File folder; I found a few of my emails there.
I did run into a problem with Windows Mail, seemed to run very slow which caused some very frustrating moments.
I find that Windows Mail is still running rather slow. Microsoft Support worked with me very diligently to resolve my problems but I feel confident that the Microsoft Programmers will work out the problems being experienced by those using
Windows Mail. I have been a dedicated Outlook Express user for many years and feel that it should have been left as it
was.
In the Folder Pane under Windows Mail it provides a “Microsoft Communities” that I found helpful. You can go into
the Windows Mail Microsoft Communities newsgroup to read as to what types of problems other Vista users are experiencing and find helpful hints to your problem; and you can also post your own comments.
A unique feature in Vista is the Windows Sidebar. This is located on the right hand side of the desk top. This
Sidebar includes a clock, news headlines, weather and a photo viewer. There are several types of clocks you can select
which makes it interesting. The news headlines are a great feature, as you can keep up with the latest news right on your
desktop. I am always curious to know what the weather is doing and there it is right on the desktop. As for the photo
viewer, it’s a good touch but I could do without it on the desk top. The Windows Sidebar can clutter your desk top but
the good thing is; you can remove it.
Page 5
Another feature is the Aero which I am not able to experience as it requires a more powerful computer to run it.
So I am unable to tell you about Aero other than what I have read and that is that Window edges are translucent; menus
and windows fade away when closed; the taskbar shows actual thumbnail images of the open documents; all the icons
have been redesigned with a clean, 3-D look and greater resolution.
I ran into a snag when I tried to scan through my HP Officejet 5610 All-in-One printer. Vista does not recognize the
scan button on the printer; I panicked and then I went to the help line to find out why and how I could resolve the problem.
As it turns out Vista comes with its own scanner software. You go to “Photo Gallery” then to the “File” tab, down to “Import
from Camera or Scanner”; click on Scanner and your printer communicates with Vista. Whew!!!!!
I don’t feel I did Vista Home Premium justices in my review since I was unable to review all the programs due to
the fact that my PC software did not meet all the standards for Vista. I hope that this review has given you a glimpse of
what Vista is all about. So far what I have experienced working with Vista has been enjoyable but there is so much more
to learn. I have only touched the tip of the iceberg!
FIVE VISTA PROGRAMS:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Vista Basic ………………………..Least equipped
Vista Home Premium…………….Full experience
Vista Business,……………………Small & Midsized businesses
Vista Ultimate…………..……..…..High end users/gamers/multimedia
Vista Enterprise……. …….………Large Corporations
REQUIREMENTS:
1 Ghz but 2 Ghz processor is better for Home Premium
800 MHz CPU
1 Gigabyte of DDR RAM
Direct X9 capable graphics card
DVD-ROM Drive
Broadband Internet Connection
Windows Vista Ultimate $499
Windows Vista Business $379
Windows Vista Home Premium $299
Windows Vista Home Basic $259
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/
windowsvista/default.mspx
Page 6
It’s my privilege to be a charter member of the
Big Bear Computer Club since 1995. I am the current
President of the Computer Club and have been doing
the Publicity for the last seven years. I am also teaching Microsoft Excel for beginners at the Computer
Lab in partnership
with the Bear Valley
Parks & Recreation.
The Computer club
has broadened my
computer knowledge
tremendously especially by attending
the Computer User
Group Conference in
San Diego and Las
Vegas. I have been
involved with computers since 1978 and
loved every minute.
UPCOMING BARBECUE
At the August 14th Computer Club meeting,
the Board is having a barbecue with hamburgers,
cheese burgers, hot dogs, chips, potato salad, macaroni salad and the condiments. All we need is for
you to come and enjoy the barbecue. Oh yes, all
you have to do is bring your non-alcoholic beverage.
This is a way to “thank you” for your support of the
club. The meeting will start at 5:00 pm instead of
5:30 pm so we will eat first, followed by our meeting
and presentation.
Are you sure your PC
is not infected?
NEW MEMBER REFERRALS
REWARDED
Did you know that if you bring a guest to a
meeting that you will get an EXTRA door prize red
ticket? Now, if you bring a guest and that guest
signs up as a member you will get to pick a free gift
from our special gift table. Also you can pick a free
gift if you refer someone to the Computer Club and
they join. They need to announce that they were referred by you. DON’T MISS OUT ON THE GREAT
FREE GIFTS!
UPCOMING EVENTS
We present the new Panda TotalScan, Panda’s
most powerful online scanner. With TotalScan, you can
and find out whether it is infected with viruses, spyware,
Trojans or any other threat.
Scan your PC with TotalScan and make sure it is
not infected.
EXCEL WORKSHOP..........................August 18th
LATEST TOTALSCAN STATS
National Nite Out…..................…….…August 7th
Hundreds of thousands of PCs scanned
1,100,000 viruses, spyware and other threats detected
54.44% of the PCs scanned have viruses
2,500 new viruses, spyware and other threats every day
Air Show……………...................….….August 25th
www.nanoscan.com/as/v1/
Powered by TotalScan
Page 7
IPHONE REVIEW
BY JACK WILLIAMS
MAC USER GROUP
I decided to get a couple of weeks experience with the iPhone under our belts before giving you a review.
Yes, Ellyn and I decided late on June 29th to join the line at the Victoria Gardens Apple Store and buy two iPhones.
We arrived about an hour and a half after the phones went on sale and the line was only 200 feet long by then. Victoria
Gardens security folks told us the line was almost 300 yards long at the 6:00 PM launch time. Apple Store staff walked
the line on a regular basis handing out water bottles and even taking coffee orders (ours was for coffee with cream). Fifty
minutes after joining the line we had two new 8GB iPhones and belt-clip cases.
Now that we’ve lived with them for two weeks, we love them. The screen’s touch technology is truly unique and
amazing; we were both quite skeptical about the virtual keyboard but even it works surprisingly well. AT&T’s weak coverage in the eastern end of the Big Bear Valley seems to be the only downside. Evidently, Cingular is/was using the TMobile site out there and there’s been a disconnect with AT&T’s acquisition. AT&T is aware of the issue and says they’re
working on it.
The reality of the iPhone is that it’s not a cellphone with a lot of other stuff pasted on to it. It’s truly a microcomputer
that has the services of a cellphone included.
Apple’s agreement with AT&T greatly simplified their pricing structure into three tiers with a lot of unlimited services
which can be seen at http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/rateplans.html
The bottom line for us is that we’re very happy with our iPhones and are curious what new features may be coming
through software updates.
P.S. With the iPhone, I’ve retired my pristine Hewlett-Packard iPAQ PDA, do you know anyone who could put it to
good use?
MICROSOFT EXCEL CLASSES
The Big Bear Computer Club is offering a Workshop on basic knowledge of “MICROSOFT EXCEL” on Saturday,
August 18, 2007 from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. The Excel Workshop will be held at the Computer Lab at the Big Bear
Valley Parks and Recreation Building located on 41220 Park Avenue in Big Bear Lake, CA. Yomar Cleary will be the
instructor for this Workshop.
The “Microsoft Excel” Workshop will include Getting Started, Editing the Workbook, Formatting and Creating
Charts, plus much more. For more information or to sign up for the Workshop, please contact the instructor, Yomar
Cleary, at (909) 878-5622 or email her at [email protected].
Anyone wanting to learn on how to get the full use of their computer should plan on attending the Big Bear Computer Club meetings held the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 5:30 pm. The meetings are held at the Big Bear Discovery
Center which is located at 40971 North Shore Drive in Fawnskin, CA. The public is welcome to attend.
Page 8
BIG BEAR COMPUTER CLUB
CASH FLOW STATEMENT
NEED MEMBER INPUT
The Board would like to make the club meetings
more interesting to the beginner computer user, intermediate and advance but we need your input as to what you
would like to see and hear at the meetings. We want YOU
to come to the meetings and enjoy coming so we welcome
any suggestions you have to offer.
~
What type of presentations would you like?
~
Do you want training meetings?
~
More time with RAM (Question & Answer period)
~
Time of the day you would like the meetings to be, morning, afternoons, or evenings?
~
Day of the week?
~
Do you want a postcard mailed to you as a re
minder of the meeting?
~
Are you okay with having the newsletter emailed to you?
Jot down your thoughts and bring them to the next
meeting, the Board really wants to hear from you. You
can also mail them to our P. O. Box 645, Big Bear City,
CA 92314. No need to sign your name if you want to stay
anonymous. We want to see you at the meetings, remember mark your calendar for the 2nd Tuesday of the month
at 5:30 pm Big Bear Discovery Center.
July 2007
Cash in Bank CASH RECEIVED
Membership Dues
$300.00
Fundraising Equipment $0.00
Donation 50/.50
$25.00
Donations
$1.00
Advertising
$60.00
Bank $0.00
Other Income
$0.00
Total Income
$386.00
CASH DISPERSED
Petty Cash
$0.00
Dues & Fees
$0.00
Fundraising
$0.00
Newsletter
$17.95
Equipment
$0.00
Promotion
$50.00
Programs
$0.00
Advertising
$0.00
Supplies
$21.32
Other $0.00
Total Expenses
$89.27
$2,618.18
$3,004.18
$2,914.91
Philipson & Erdmier
Attorneys
~ Criminal Defense
~ Workers Compensation
~ Personal Injury ~ Civil Litigation
~ Family Law ~ Probate Law
Page 9
719 Pine Knot Ave, Big Bear Lake
909.866.4140 or 909.878.2118
BBCC Memebrs at the
Southwest User Group Conference in San Diego,
left to right; Dorothy Sirk, Karen Tangeman, Yomar Cleary, & Barbara Moore
BIG BEAR GETS RECOGNITION IN
SAN DIEGO
Rick Edwards winning photo at the Southwest
User group Conference!
SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
We have four Advertisers supporting
our Bearly Bytes newsletter; one way to say
“thank you” is by supporting their business.
They are: The Paper Clip Stationers: Gear
Works; Philipson & Erdmier Attorneys and
the Abacus Group. If you or you know of
someone who would like to advertise in the
club newsletter, contact Yomar Cleary at
[email protected]. The cost is very minimal $10 per month.
Page 10
At the Southwest Computer User Group
Conference held in San Diego recently, Rick
Edwards, a member of the Big Bear Computer
Club, was awarded First Prize on the submission of a picture of a mother Cheetah with her
cubs taken in Kenya. Rick Edwards is an associate of The Royal Photographic Society who
perfected his photography while living in Nairobi
Kenya watching wildlife in the many parks in
Kenya. During his last two years of his stay in
Kenya he became the official photographer for
the Kenya Wildlife Service. Ricks work can be
seen in numerous brochures, magazines and
books on wildlife and his beloved Kenya. www.
fotodimensions.com.
Sue’s avon
Need Avon? Just go to Sue Crane’s website and look over the catalogue. This is a
way she can earn money to pay for her MS
medication which has become very expensive so why not help her out.
http://www.youravon.com/suecrane
Door Prize Winners
July 2007
Panda Antivirus by Panda - Doug MacIver
Tour Coupon (4 people) by Big Bear Discovery Center - Ray Norman
Laplink Everywhere 4 by Laplink - Barbara Moore
HP Photosmart 325 by HP - Jerry Land
Microsoft Vista Launch Kit by Microsoft - Albert Neal
50/50 WINNER $12.00 - Yomar Cleary
BBCC GENERAL MEETING
July 2007
The presentation began with Ivan explaining the different video formats available. They are DVD (MPEG-2),
SVCD, VCD (MPEG-1), MPEG-4 and DivX. Ivan focused on two items in the ADS Technologies product line. The first
was the DVD Xpress DX2. It is essentially a video capture ‘card’ in a box. Connect it to the USB port of a computer.
Then connect a VCR, an old video camera, a newer DV camera, a DVD player or other video source to the DVD Xpress
DX2. You can copy the video directly to DVD or CD or make movies for your Sony PSP or Apple iPod using the easy
wizard. Make high quality video without a lot of effort or learning curve. A few years ago, people spent a lot of money
on video capture cards and the editing software that went with them. Today the technology available makes converting
old video much easier. Secondly, Ivan talked about converting analog audio to digital files. ADS Technologies offers a
product called Instant Music. It is a small box that connects to the computer via USB. To capture music, connect a tape
player or record player to the Instant Music device. It enables you to capture the audio and convert it to MP3, WAV or
WMA files. Then the music can be burned on CD or downloaded to an iPod or played on the computer. Again, a wizard
walks you through the process, including automatically cleaning up the files (reducing pops, clicks and hiss). However,
if you want to manually play with the sound files, there is a wave editor program included. Both of the items that Ivan
showed to us might come in handy for people who want to convert their analog audio and video to digital – before the
magnetic tapes lose their data and the LP’s warp.
After Ivan’s presentation, Rosemary and some members answered a few member questions in the RAM session.
Topics covered included what to do if Windows complains that the page file is too small and should you be concerned if
your anti-spyware program finds one file that it considers a threat?
The door prizes were given out and we concluded another educational enlightening evening.
Submitted by Rosemary Lloyd, Secretary
July 13, 2007
Page 11
DISCOUNTS, OFFERS & DEALS
UG Discount from Total Training
Total Training is pleased to offer 15% savings on our products to Adobe UserGroups. Our full product line offers comprehensive video tutorials on creative design, web design, digital video, and digital photography. Use coupon code
“save15ug” to order any of our point products. Please share this discount with the members of your group and let our
Adobe experts do the rest. Offer is not valid on closeout or bundle products. http://www.totaltraining.com/home.asp?c=u
sergroup&n=010107 Coupon code: save15ug
O’Reilly Books
As for new books, O’Reilly has 5 new titles for Vista alone (“Windows Vista: The Missing Manual,” “Windows Vista for
Starters,” “Vista in a Nutshell,” “Vista: The Definitive Guide,” and “Windows Vista Pocket Reference” and 8 Microsoft Office 2007 titles which include a Missing Manual and For Starters book each for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access. We
also have the long-awaited “Rails Cookbook” just in time for Rails 1.2. We have many new releases’ for this month.
For the full list of new titles, go to: http://www.oreilly.com/store/newreleases.csp For New Releases on Books, PDFs, and
Rough Cuts: Get 35% off from O’Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint, Syngress,
or YoungJin books you purchase directly from O’Reilly. Just use code DSUG when ordering online or by phone 800-9989938. http://www.oreilly.com/store/ Free ground shipping on orders of $29.95 or more. For more details, go to:
http://www.oreilly.com/news/freeshipping_0703.html Did you know you can request a free book or PDF to review for your
group? Ask your Review Editor for more information.
Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal
Is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes a one-click approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. It
provides an all-in-one and super convenient solution for PC maintenance and protection. This fantastic program is available free of charge for private use. www.iobit.com
Peachpit
We provide your group members with a 30% discount off the list price of any of our books. At checkout, right before they
put their credit card number in, they must enter the user group coupon code UE-23AA-PEUF (case-sensitive). This coupon code is an exclusive offer that may not be used in conjunction with any other coupon codes. www.peachpit.com
Tiger Direct, through its parent company Global Computer, is offering all APCUG member user groups discount pricing
on all products they carry (and that is a lot). This program will provide similar discounts that vendors normally provide their
corporate accounts. All products include everything on their web site, in their catalogs, and special orders. Most items
will have a varied % off but all items will be lower than advertised. In other words software, hardware, peripherals, printers, servers, all may have a slightly different discount rate as do brands such as HP, EPSON, LENOVO, IBM, etc. This
discount includes all major brands, including their own Global and Tiger Direct Systemax custom computers as well as
printer ink and toners, peripherals of all kinds, and media. To get the UG discount, your members should call Clay Bennett, Senior Manager, Global Computer, and identify themselves as belonging to your user group which is a member of
APCUG. Please have the item number and description to give Clay, as well as quantity and a credit card for payment.
Clay may be reached at 866 310 1947.
The web site is: http://www.globalcomputer.com
Page 12
PicturesToExe Deluxe 5.0: A powerful slide show software for
all Windows operating systems including Vista. This program has
genuinely unique features designed to bring the simplicity and convenience of creating impressively beautiful and professionally-looking slide shows consisting of any number of pictures
in a standalone EXE file or SCR format (screen saver) to home PC users, amateur and professional photographers, designers, painters, lecture readers, teachers, and all the people desiring to make their interactive galleries or presentations
look both wonderful and gorgeous. A very special feature of PicturesToExe Deluxe 5.0 is the possibility to turn a slide
show into a standard screen saver for Windows. Additionally, users of PicturesToExe can also simply save their slide
shows as an AVI file. There are many more special features to this program. MSRP Standard Edition $39 Deluxe Edition
$59. For more information and system requirements please visit http://www.wnsoft.com/.
Review Products
Screensaver Factory 4.5: This is the latest version of Blumentals powerful screensaver development software that
enables users to create stunning professional screensavers within minutes. Screensavers can be made from any set of
images, video files and Flash(SWF) animation clips. Background music can be added and it is possible to select from
over 100 smooth picture transition effects and other options. Screensaver Factory is very easy to use and it enables one
to make standalone self-installing screensaver files and CDs for easy setup and distribution. Screensaver Factory 4 is
fully compatible with Windows 98, Me, 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. Pricing and Availability Screensaver Factory is available in Standard, Professional and Enterprise editions. A free trial of Screensaver Factory is available immediately at
www.blumentals.net, Pricing varies from $39.85 US to $79.85 US. Upgrade pricing is available for existing customers.
Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery! GAME. While on a well deserved vacation, Professor Fizzwizzle’s
investigation of a strange volcano has landed him in a hot spot of trouble. Now it’s up to you to master exciting new gadgets, outwit the Bat-Bots, and vanquish a truly cunning villain! Available on PC, Mac, and Linux, Professor Fizzwizzle’s
latest adventure pits him against the fiendish foe, Penny Pyroclast, and her island full of mind melting puzzles. Featuring over 210 levels in three different difficulty levels, Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery is packed with fun for
gamers of all ages and skill levels. For more information on system Requirements and price please go to www.grubbygames.com.
BBCC Review Program
One of the great benefits of Big Bear Computer Club is FREE software, hardware (that’s right, even free hardware!), and books for BBCC members. In return, all the member has to do is write a Product Review for Bearly Bytes. That’s
it, and the review product is theirs! How are members going to know if a product is any good unless another member tells
them? Our members are all notified of free product reviews through e-mail press releases and our monthly newsletter. Also,
at every monthly meeting 2 products up for review are presented and explained to all club members.
Upon accepting a product for review, the review editor sends the member 2 documents on “How to write a Review.”
One is a question/answer form and the other is a guideline outlining exactly what information you need to include in writing
the review. You have 60 days to complete the review and return it to the review editor. That’s it. The review is then published
in our monthly newsletter Bearly Bytes for other members to read. The review is also sent to the vendor who markets the
product. The program is then yours. The review editor is available at all times if any member has any questions or problems
with the review. Our review program is a wonderful way to receive free products and to keep other members educated.
Page 13
Build It Yourself
By Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D., Columnist, Sarasota PCUG, Florida
www.spcug.org
[email protected]
Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
You may never have considered building your own computer, but it is really just an assembly job. When you are
familiar with the components of your system, you will find it is easier to understand and possibly diagnose problems.
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to assemble two new computers for one of my children. She needed two
additional systems for the growing work force in her business. I had forgotten how much fun it is to put a new system
together. So, I thought I would share some of the reasoning behind the selection of the components and assembling
them into a working product. Even if you don’t build a new computer, it might be useful the next time you are looking for
a new system.
For these computers it was not necessary that they be “state of the art”, so I selected an Intel Celeron D central processor(CPU). These CPUs function quite well, especially at the 3.2 Ghz speed. Since they were intended for
a specific office environment the price point and the speed were ideal. However, Celeron processors do not support
dual-threading nor are they dual-core processors. If you want the latest in processors then you should consider the Intel
Core-2 Duo or an AMD dual processor. Another alternative would be to use a 64 bit processor instead of these 32 bit
processors. The main drawback to that is that most software isn’t really ready to take advantage of 64 bit processing
and there are still problems with some drivers for peripheral equipment.
Once I decided on the CPU, the next step was to find an appropriate motherboard. I selected an Intel 946 series
with the 775 socket. This motherboard supports Intel processors from the Celeron D to the Core-2 Duo. This makes it
a good choice for any upgrades to another CPU. It also supports up to 4GB of RAM. This board also features built-in
sound and video. Naturally that has both pros and cons associated with these features. With the integrated video you
can run Windows Vista in the mode which uses the “Aero Glass” graphics because it borrows memory from the system
RAM. As this graphic interface is one of the primary features of Vista, you would need to install a separate video card
which meets the requirements of the Vista video specification. For the computers I was building this was not a problem
as they will not be running Vista. Instead I purchased 2 OEM copies of Windows XP which run very well with the integrated graphics on this Intel board.
The Intel motherboard also requires DDR2 RAM (system memory) modules which improve the processing
speed over that of the original DDR RAM. It also has a front-side bus which can run at 533, 800 or 1066 MHz.
With the Celeron D this bus runs at 533 MHz. For those who are not familiar with bus speeds, the front side
bus refers to the speed at which information is transferred to/from the various peripheral slots to the CPU. In today’s
computers this can be one of the bottlenecks for data transfer. The other is the Input/Output transfer for the hard drive.
Other features of this board include 8 USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100 LAN port and four SATA hard drive ports.
I have always found Intel motherboards to very solid and dependable performers. If I were intent on building a
faster system with a Core-2 Duo or AMD processor then I would be looking for an ASUS motherboard. In general they
get much stronger reviews related to state-of-the-art installations. I have also used them in a number of systems some
of which are still running some five years later. So I always consider them for a top of the line system.
The next item I considered was the case for these systems. The one I selected was an Antec Sonata II which
is a mid-size tower. This comes with an air control system that channels air from outside the case directly to the CPU.
It has a 120 mm exhaust fan and provisions for an additional fan in the front of the case. The Antec power supply
provides 450 watts maximum and has two fans. The exhaust fan runs only when the power supply reaches a specific
temperature. As it turned out, this was the quietest case I have ever used. The fans are really whisper quiet. With
any ambient noise in the work space you really can’t hear the computer. This is also related to the shock mounting of
the hard drives. The hard drive cage has individual removable mounts with rubber grommets around the attachment
screws. Each drive is therefore mounted on these rubber grommets and essentially no vibration is transmitted to the
cage or the case.
One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the RAM I installed. For these computers, considering how they were to be
Page 14
used, I only installed one GB of RAM. This was one Kingston 1GB DDR2 240 pin module for each system. This leaves
one slot open for additional memory should an upgrade be needed.
Installation of the components into the case is not really difficult. The first part is to screw in the motherboard
supports and to replace the I/O shield at the back with the one supplied with the motherboard. I always install the CPU,
the CPU fan and the RAM before I try to put the motherboard in the case. Then the trick in getting the motherboard
into position is to make sure that you tilt it toward the back so it fits the I/O shield and then lay it on the supports. You
generally have to put a little pressure on the front edge of the motherboard to get the screw holes lined up. Once it
is screwed down you can install the power connectors and the various connectors for the LEDs and front panel USB
connectors. The Antec case manual is quite helpful in this regard. The Intel instructions are all pictorial and might take
some thinking if you’ve never done this before. I found that the ASUS motherboard manuals are much better designed
for non-commercial installers. Intel obviously figures that anyone using their motherboard has done this before.
Now we get to another really important component, the hard drive. As I mentioned earlier the motherboard
supports up to four SATA (serial ATA) drives. So I selected Seagate Barracuda SATA2 160 GB hard drives for these
systems. I went with Seagate because I have found over the years that they are more reliable than other brands. Even
though some are now Seagate subsidiaries, I still prefer the Seagate label. Also, I would not consider installing IDE
drives in any new computers. The transfer rates for SATA2 are so much better it doesn’t make sense to install an IDE
drive anymore. The other point is that the price of SATA2 is quite competitive with IDE. I suspect that it won’t be long
before it will be very difficult to find IDE drives. Oh yes, the cost of 160 GB drives is only a few dollars more than an 80
GB drive. And, you can go up to 500 GB for not much more. The attachment to the motherboard uses a power cable
from the power supply and the data cable which comes with the motherboard. Each of these are keyed so they fit only
one way into the drive and the motherboard.
At this point I usually do a power-on test to see if everything wakes up. So I connect the video monitor and
external power, then press the power switch. Once the power connection is made the motherboard LED lights up. Then
pressing the power on results in the case fan and CPU fan spinning. Of course I get an error message on the monitor
that there is no operating system. But everything else looks good. So I just hold in the power button until the system
powers down. Then I disconnect the power and video.
The only other internal drive that I installed was an NEC DVD burner. This fits into one of the exposed 5 ¼”
drive slots. To get this in you have to remove one of the slot covers. The easiest way in the Antec case is to push it
out from the inside. Then on the back of this cover are two rails that are removed and attached to the DVD drive with
the supplied screws. Then you simply slide the drive it so it is supported by the rails. The motherboard comes with an
IDE cable that attaches to the motherboard and to the drive. Each end is keyed so you really can’t attach it incorrectly.
These systems did not require a floppy drive.
The monitors I selected for these systems are a Samsung 17” LCD. The monitors have an adjustable height
stand and can be rotated for either portrait or landscape orientation. The contrast ratio is one of the highest I’ve seen
for LCD monitors. In addition, I didn’t find any dead pixels in any of the three systems I purchased. I’ve had similar success with other Samsung monitors I have installed.
The final hardware components are the mouse, keyboard and speakers. The speakers for these systems are
an inexpensive CyberAcoustic set since they are headed for an office environment. You can certainly find better and
more expensive speakers if you prefer. The keyboard and mouse are a wireless combination from Logitech. As I use
Logitech’s wireless systems, I find I really like the way they operate. the only drawback is that they do require batteries. However, in the mouse that I use with my laptop the two AA alkaline batteries lasted for a year. The mouse and
keyboard operate using an RF (radio frequency) receiver that plugs into the PS/2 ports on the case. With Windows XP
both of these were immediately recognized as being the usual PS/2 components.
As I mentioned earlier, the operating system for these computers is Windows XP. After I had all the components
installed I put the Windows CD in the drive and rebooted the computer. The system booted from the CD with no problem. Then it all that was needed was to follow the on-screen instructions to partition and format the new drive. After
that Windows continued with the installation of XP. That took about 30 minutes after the completion of the drive formatting.
The final steps in the preparation of these systems was the downloading of various software components. These
included Firefox, Avast anti-virus, ZoneAlarm firewall, Spybot, Spyware Blaster, Ad-Aware and OpenOffice software
suite. I can highly recommend all of these components as I have used them myself for multiple years and installed
them on many other computers. Oh yes, the total cost for each system, including the monitors was just over $800.00.
Page 15
Sure, you can buy a computer for less, but you may not get what I consider to be quality components. And, you won’t
know your system as well as the one you built.
How long does it take to assemble a computer? With experience it will take a few hours. If you have never done
it before, I suspect it could be 4-8 hours. But like anything else, when you do it yourself there is a great deal of satisfaction obtained from a final working system. Who knows, you might enjoy trying it. Even if you don’t I hope this article has
given you some additional insight into the workings inside that “black box” called a computer.
Dr. Lewis is a former university and medical school professor, but not in computer science. He has been working
with personal computers for over thirty years teaching, repairing, assembling and writing software for computer systems. He can be reached at bwsail at yahoo.com.
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).
Thoughts on Upgrading PC Hardware and Software
By Dick Maybach, Columnist, Brookdale Computer User Group (BCUG) Brookdale, NJ
www.bcug.org
[email protected]
Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
I can think of three valid reasons for upgrading a PC: (1) to try something new, (2) to improve performance,
and (3) to solve a problem. Trying something new means you are treating your PC as a hobby. In this case you don’t
really need to upgrade, but you want to. Just bear in mind that there are risks, which means that you may get more
adventure than you planned on. Improving performance is difficult to justify, unless your system is very old. Almost any
system will do just fine surfing the net, word processing, balancing your checkbook, etc. Upgrading your hardware will
often provide no discernable speed-up, because the speed is really limited by your typing speed or Internet connection.
Upgrading your software may actually slow things down, because newer software has more features and requires more
computer resources. This leaves problem solving. Your hard disk may be full; your motherboard may have only old,
slow version 1 USB ports; or your bank may require a recent version of Quicken for on-line banking.
You shouldn’t upgrade to Windows Vista unless you replace the PC, and even then you may have problems. A
friend of mine bought a new Dell PC with Vista and found his old printer wouldn’t work and he could no longer access
the Internet. Operating system designers can’t possibly test every combination of hardware and software. As a result,
they concentrate on new components, since most operating system sales are for new computers, and there may be
problems with older peripherals and software.
You should back up all your files before you make any system change, no matter how trivial. And any time you
open your system case, you should use a grounding strap to avoid damaging components with static electricity. This is
especially important during the approaching winter months, when the humidity in your house is low.
Let’s look at the easy upgrades first. Adding RAM is usually not difficult; just plug it in and look at your CMOS
screen to be sure the PC has recognized it. (Of course you must use the correct chips. Check your PC manual.)
You can usually add new peripherals, such a CD-ROM, DVD, or a second hard disk drive without problems, although if
you have already filled all of the available ATA slots, you will have to add a second disk controller. Take your system to
a reliable shop if you have doubts about your abilities. Replacing a hard disk is somewhat more difficult, because you
must transfer all your software to the new unit, which requires disk copying software. You can’t just copy your files with
Windows Explorer.
More adventuresome is installing a new motherboard. Be aware that upgrading your motherboard may not result
in a noticeable performance improvement unless you also upgrade your hard disk and/or your video controller. If your
current motherboard is very old, you must also upgrade its case and power supply. Changing the video controller or
monitor is also not too hard. Most monitors are plug-and-play so Windows should automatically recognize your new
monitor.
Page 16
When you buy new peripherals, be sure you get any drivers they need. Many PC manufacturers don’t include a
complete Windows, but strip off all the drivers except for the equipment they sell you. If necessary, download any missing drivers from the Internet before you change your hardware.
An alternative to an upgrade is a complete new system, and the vendor will insure that all the software and
hardware plays well together. This leaves your old system intact so you can transfer your files without risk of losing
anything.
Regardless of your approach, you must also choose where and what to buy. Where is a choice between mail order and
a local dealer. What is a choice between name brand and commodity hardware.
The choice between mail order and local dealer depends on how much experience and time you have. The low
profit margins in PC hardware mean that both component manufacturers and system assemblers spend little time on
testing. Dead-on-arrival hardware and infant mortalities are common. When this happens you are entirely dependent
on the company that sold it to you. If you purchase from a mail-order firm, you must either trouble-shoot any problems
yourself or ship the entire system back to the seller, while a good local dealer can often make repairs in a few hours.
You are trading off convenience for cost, because using mail order can often save you a few dollars.
Name brand hardware costs more than its commodity equivalent. The difference is between Sound Blaster and
“Sound Blaster equivalent”. I favor name brands. You can be sure that every vendor of software that uses sound has
tested its products with Sound Blaster cards, but it is impossible for a small manufacturer to test its sound card with
every program.
The less you pay for a system, the more likely it is to contain commodity parts. System manufacturers and assemblers usually purchase components on an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) basis, and most parts sold at
computer shows are OEM. The cost of these is less because the dealer relieves the manufacturer from all customer
support. This means that the component manufacturer often won’t even talk to the end purchaser. Your only warranty is
from the seller, and you must select him or her with care.
Finally, schedule any upgrade when you have some time. Plan on taking a weekend for simple jobs and more
for complex ones. I’ve found that I need a couple of weeks (not full time of course) to get my PC fully functional after
reinstalling an operating system for example.
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).
BBCC Member
Karen Tangeman’s car after hitting a power pole
I had come around the little curve and just
passed the 30MPH sign and I heard a noise from
the engine, and the car started pulling to the right.
The next thing I knew I had hit the power pole.
That’s it. No other cars involved; nothing. Sure totaled my car. I can’t believe I walked away with
only bruising. The Lord is good.
Page 17
WORD TIP
EXCEL TIP
By Karen Tangeman
By Yomar Cleary
Searching for Text with a
Certain Format
Viewing More Than Two
Places in a Worksheet
Word has a power search capability that you can use to search
not only for text, but also for any
formatting you have applied. For instance, you can search for specific
character formats applied to your
text by following these steps:
Applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002,
2003, and 2007
1. Press Ctrl+F. Word displays the Find tab of the Find and
Replace dialog box.
2. Click on the More button if
it is available. Word displays an expanded version of the Find and Replace dialog box. Delete anything in
the Find What box. Click on the No
Formatting button if it is available.
3. Click on the Format button
and then choose Font. Word displays the Find Font dialog box. Notice that all the character attributes
(Superscript, Subscript, and so on)
in the Effects area are shaded. This
means these attributes do not matter; they are ignored by Word when
searching.
4. Select the character attributes you want the matched text
to have. Make sure the check box
beside the attribute is selected. It
should have a check mark in it without any gray.
5. Click on OK.
6. Click on Find Next.
This tip applies to Microsoft Word
versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 |
2007
Page 18
Jesse asked if there is a
way to view more than two areas
of a worksheet at the same time,
other than by hiding rows.
The easiest solution is to
just open additional windows for
the worksheet. Choose Window |
New Window (prior to Excel 2007)
or display the View tab of the ruler
and click New Window in the Window group (Excel 2007). Excel
opens additional windows that contain the exact same worksheet. You
can then choose Window | Arrange
(or click Arrange All in the Window
group of the ribbon) to arrange the
windows any way desired.
When you open additional
windows in this manner, the windows are independent of each
other, meaning that you can scroll
them independently. If you make a
change in one window, the same
change is made in all the windows.
(This makes sense, since they all
display the same data.)
Once the windows are situated the way you want them, you
could save the arrangement as
a view (View | Custom Views or,
in Excel 2007, Custom Views in
the Workbook Views group of the
ruler). That way you could quickly
recall the appearance of your windows any time you desire.
WINDOW TIP
By Larry Smith
Memory Performance Tweak:
These Settings will fine tune your
systems memory management.
You should have at least 512MB
of ram. Go to start\run\regedit and
then to the following key: HKEY_
LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory
Management.
Then DisablePagingExecutive and
double click it and in the decimal
put a 1. This allows XP to keep data
in memory now instead of paging
sections of ram to harddrive yeilds
faster performance. Then LargeSystemCache and double click it
and change the decimal to 1. This
allows XP Kernel to Run in memory
improves system performance alot.
Reboot and watch your system fly.
Remove text from desktop
icons: Removing the text below an
icon on your desktop has been a
classic Windows tweak for years. In
Windows Vista, the same old tweak
works. Right click on the icon and
select Rename. Then hold down
the ALT key and type in 255 on your
right keypad. If you are on a laptop
turn on numlock and use the K and I
keys to enter in 255. This is the code
for a space. Hit Enter when you are
done. If you want to remove the text
from multiple icons then make sure
that you do ALT + 255 a different
number of times for each icon.
Get rid of the dog on the
search screen: Click “Change preferences” on the main screen of the
search utility then click “Without an
animated screen character.” The
dog will disappear.
OPPORTUNITIES
AVAILABLE
Don’t Forget!
Bring your empty printer
cartridges to the meeting.
NAME TAG OPPORTUNITY
How would you like a very easy, simple job to help
the club? There is one and that is to hand out the name
tags as members and guest arrive to the meeting and collect those name tags after the meeting. Come on you can
do!! Just so you won’t sit there bored, you can sell 50/50
fundraiser tickets to those members who want to participate—THAT IS IT!! See Yomar at the meeting or call her
at (909) 878-5622.
The printer cartridge program is
a BBCC fund-raiser
that helps us purchase
supplies and pay for Big
Bear Computer Club expenses.
Thank you for your
participation.
Advertising Director
Bill Flanagan
Bill Flanagan has accepted the position of Advertising Director and will be looking for advertisers
so if you or you know of someone who would like to
support the Computer Club, please direct them to Bill
at (909) 866-9379
Membership Benefits
Monthly Meeting with:
Presentation and demonstration of
popular hardware and software.
RAM (Question & Answer)
Session
Tech news and Virus Alerts
Member Software Raffle
50/50 Drawing
Bearly Bytes -- BBCC’s award winning
monthly newsletter mailed
to you first class.
Club Website: www.bigbearcc.org
Free software review program
Members Help Line
Members E-mail Notifications
Members only Discounts
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
All this for only $25 per year!!
Mail your application and dues to:
BBCC Treasurer
PO Box 645
Big Bear City, CA 92314
or bring your application to a meeting
For information and directions phone
Yomar Cleary, President 878-5622
Page 19
BIG BEAR COMPUTER CLUB, INC. Membership Application
□N
ew
□R
enewal
□U
Full Name__________________________________
Mailing Address_____________________________
City, State, Zip_______________________________
Phone_____________ Message________________
Owner
E-mail address______________________________
Area you live in ______________________________
pdate Information □
□
□
□ Retired
DEMOGRAPHICS
Student
Working Adult
Business
FAMILY MEMBERS WHO WANT TO JOIN AS ASSOCIATES ($5/YEAR):
Name__________________________
_______________________________
Operating System(s)
□
WINDOWS
Beginner
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E-mail______________________
______________________
Apple/MAC
□
Intermediate LINUX
□
OTHER _____
Advanced
Instructor
MS Office
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Digital Imaging □
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Desktop Publishing
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Web Design
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Other Interests:________________________________________________
□ YES! CALL ME, I WOULD LIKE TO GET INVOLVED & MEET NEW
FRIENDS.
Big Bear Computer Club Meetings are held at
Big Bear Discovery Center - 2nd Tuesday, 530PM
MEETING MAP
BIG BEAR COMPUTER CLUB, INC.
PO Box 645
Big Bear City, CA 92314
Where computer enthusiasts meet
to share knowledge and experiences
and have a lot of fun!
BBCC is a non-profit educational
community organization open to
everyone interested in computers
and how to make them more useful
and friendly.
To learn more about
BBCC:
Come to a meeting:
2nd Tuesday of the month, 530
pm, Everyone is welcome!
Visit our web site:
www.bigbearcc.org
Contact our President:
Yomar Cleary
878-5622
[email protected]
Page 20
BBCC is a proud member of APCUG and
Southern California Regional User Groups