Vista users rush for SP1, XP owners dawdle on SP3

This article appears on the ComputerWorld web site today.

I have both Vista and XP machines and am holding off on both until later in this year.

Vista users rush for SP1, XP owners dawdle on SP3

Wi-Fi Tweaks for Speed Freaks

For those of you who have played around with wi-fi for some time now, you may find something useful in this Computerworld article.

Here's a pdf for you: Wi-Fi Tweaks for Speed Freaks

or for ease of following links within the article, go straight to the Computerworld Article by clicking here.

Windows XP Service Pack 3

A customer asked me the other day about SP3. I think it was in my May 29 blog post that I recommenced against installing it and showed you how to block it from being downloaded.

My position on this has not changed. I have not installed it on any of my machines, and have only installed it on one customer's machine. I am giving it a little more time, and will probably install it on my machines before the end of the year.

There are no new bells and whistles that come with it, and it supposedly contains little more than all of the individual updates you and I have been installing along the way. Given that, and knowing that there were several problems caused by installing it, I will give it some more time.

15 great gadgets for the back-to-school crowd

Okay, I admit it, I've been lazy about trying to do a new post each day. It is SUMMER, after all!

I never recommend anything I haven't at least tried once, so I am not recommending any of the items in this Computerworld article. I just thought that those of you with college-aged kids might be hearing about some of these, so forewarned is forearmed.

15 great gadgets for the back-to-school crowd

Memory

I continue to be amazed at how many customers I help out who complain about a sluggish PC and who have 256MB of memory or RAM (Random Access memory) on their machines. 256MB worked for the early versions of Windows XP, but we have come a long way since then. We have had SP1, SP2, and many other security and other improvements since then, and 256MB just does NOT cut it any more.

Some also think that when I bring this up I am talking about the size of the hard drive. I am not. Hard (or disk) drive space is not usually a problem as long as one is careful and runs defragment (for space) and check disk (for health) once in a while.

Nowadays you should be thiking about having 1GB of RAM to run Windows XP and the other programs you run on it. Anti-virus and spyware programs, while free in the sense that there is no charge for them, also take up some valuable RAM.

Memory (RAM) has never been less expensive than it is today. Please revisit my post of April 2, "Thanks for the Memory" to see how you can find out if your machine can support a memory upgrade. Most can.

How much memory or RAM do you have on your machine now? Check my post of March 2 to see how you can find out.

Questions? Write or call me.

AVG Free Version 8

In case you missed it, in my blog post of July 12 I recommended migrating to AVG Free Version 8. If you have not yet made the conversion, you have until August 31 when updates to Version 7.5 will cease.

I have found that Version 8 is a fine product. I have it on all of my machines, and I have been installing it on all of my summer customers' machines.

Thumb Drives

I was in Costco last week and saw my same Cruzer Micro 8GB thumb drive now sports a price of $37! This is down from the $48 I paid just a short time ago. If you don't have a thumb drive and have a Costco membership (or know someone who does), this is a terrific buy.

AOL

Okay, sometimes I get a little grumpy about some products, like Vista and any fee-based security product (like Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, etc.).

Now I have to admit that I have just about had it with AOL. I do not understand why anyone would still be using it. I'm not just talking about the AOL 9.1 client, but even AOL Webmail.

I recommend giving it up. Get yourself a Google e-mail account and put all the fuss and muss about AOL behind you. Go ahead and write that note you have been putting off writing informing your friends and family that you have a new e-mail address, wait a month or two, and never use AOL again.

In the past week I have had to reinstall AOL 9.1 on a customer's machine because the current copy had somehow gotten corrupted. The reinstall eliminated the problem.

I have had a customer on satellite who was unable to access her AOL e-mail in any way, could not even access a plain aol.com home page, whether AOL Desktop or webmail. Checking online blogs we found several other AOL users, also on satellite, who had the same problem. This had been going on for about 3 days starting around July 20. I don't know if the problem is fixed yet, but come on, why satellite users only AOL? She could access her e-mail on another computer not satellite-linked. Weird!

A customer who switched from using the desktop client AOL 9.1 to AOL Webmail discovered that on Webmail she could not (and AOL confirmed this on the phone) access her saved e-mail that was saved on her own PC! Yes, any e-mail saved on AOL could be accessed on webmail. Go figure!

And, hard to believe, but some people are still paying for the privilege of using this bloated, problem-prone, program. It turns out that unless you are a paying customer, you can't call for help!

So who needs it? Bite the bullet! Cut the cord and experience freedom from AOL!

Spybot 1.6

There is a new version of Spybot, Version 1.6, available now, and compared to V1.5 it is as fast as lightning! They have somehow drastically improved its runtime speed.You can get it (free as always, but they do welcome donations) at download.com.

In a couple of days I will detail here how to set this up to run automatically, including getting updates, immunization, and a check for problems, automatically deleting all of the items it finds.

Skin Vista to Look Like Windows XP

Okay, some of you (those with Vista) may be a little tired of me bad-mouthing Vista, so I apologize to those who may feel that way. The plain truth is that I do not like Vista. I invested some $800 in a Vista laptop a year and a half ago. I needed it for teaching and for supporting my customers who had Vista, but I never said I liked it!

Years ago I heard of a company investing millions in a system with a name like Corporate Manufacturing Information System, or as it was called, CMIS. Users soon came to call it Corporate Mistake on an Incredible Scale. To me that is what Vista is, and Microsoft has only itself to blame.

So today I see this article on pcworld.com, and I had to smile. I have already made some but not all of the suggested changes. I think they are all fine but you may want to be sure you can return to the original before making any of them if, like me, you yearn for the good old days of XP!

Skin Vista to Look Like Windows XP

Buying a new Dell PC with Windows XP

I assisted a customer of mine 2 days ago with the online purchase of a new Dell PC that comes with Windows XP loaded and ready to go. We simply went to the Dell web site, clicked on Office (not Home), and then selected Small and Medium Business. We selected the machine we wanted and then customized the configuration. On the Ship To screen, we simply put the person's name, and when asked for the Company Name, repeated the customer's name. That's all there was to it. The new machine will be delivered within 3-5 business days. Oh, forgot to mention that it comes with a Vista installation disk so that should the customer ever want to migrate to Vista that can be done at no additional cost.

PC World - What Does It Take to get a PC with XP

Are you in the market for a new PC but concerned about Windows Vista (which you should be!)?

Online today at PCWorld is this article that explains how to get a new PC with Windows XP from any of the major vendors. Those of you in the market for a new PC may try one of the tactics featured in this article. I, for example, should be able to buy one for my business, the PC Doctor. I am sure most people have some sort of in-home business and could probably do the same.

PC World - What Does It Take to get a PC with XP

Time to migrate to AVG V8. Here’s How!

I migrated from AVG Free V7.5 to V8 yesterday on my desktop. I have done this several times (back and forth) to make sure I got it all right. I have documented this in detail if you want some help, but it really is fairly straightforward. I have also done this on several laptops, both my own and my customers. If you have been a customer of mine this summer, chances are you already have V8. Here's how to tell. First of all. the icon in your system tray for V8 looks like a patchwork quilt, with the 4 colored pieces forming the quilt. V7 and earlier icons are simple squares containing the 4 colors. Second, if you open up AVG to its Control Panel or User Interface as it's now called, click on Help up on top, and then About AVG, it will tell you the version. If it says V8, you are all set.

The detailed installation is captured in the attached pdf file. It's about a 2.7MB file, so give it a few seconds to download (on a high-speed internet connection).

The installation of V8 will also uninstall V7.5, so you do not have to go through that extra uninstall step. Note that the scene in the attached begins with a double click on the install file you downloaded to your desktop per the previous post.

Also, although you can delete the downloaded install file on your desktop, I'd recommend keeping it. Move it to a folder where you can find it if/when needed.

 Time to migrate to AVG V8. Click Here to See How!

Migrating to AVG Free Version 8

Okay, it's time to move forward. In the past few days I have tried Avast, another free anti-virus program, but have to say that I like AVG much more.

This is meant primarily for those students and customers of mine who may already have AVG Free Anti-virus Version 7.5 installed. However it may work for others who want to stop paying for their anti-virus program, those who may have Norton or McAfee or Trend Micro or other anti-virus programs installed.

The first step you should take is to download AVG Free V8 ( Version 8 ) to your desktop. It's a good idea to do this again now even if you have done it before, because AVG V8 had its share of early install problems and is already on about its 4th version, so it pays to download the latest.

You can download the program, and remember it's FREE, from this web site:

Download AVG Free Version 8 here

When you go to the link above, click on Download Now and note that the file is about 46MB in size, so this is really an exercise for high-speed internet users and not dial-up users. (If you are a dial-up user at home, you might consider going to a place that has high-speed internet, like your local library, downloading the file to the desktop there, and then copying it to your own thumb drive so you can take it home with you.)

What you are downloading is AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0.138. If you do this sometime in the future, the version number may well have changed by that time, and that's okay, just go ahead and download.

When you are finished, you will have the AVG Free V8 install file on your desktop.  Stay tuned for more.

 

 

AVG Free Version 7.5

From the AVG Free Forum July 9, 2008:

"AVG 7.5 Free - Support ends 31/08/2008

Posted by: michaelhd - AVG Team (IP Logged)

Date: July 9, 2008 04:07PM

Support for AVG 7.5 Free Edition is planned to end on 31st August 2008.

No more virus updates are planned for after that date.

Note that no more 'program' updates are due! Only virus updates will continue until the end date.

AVG 7.5 Paid version will be supported until 31/12/08."

 

It looks like it is time for us to move on now to AVG FREE Version 8. Over the next few days I will post steps you can follow to install Version 8.

Microsoft sets XP SP3 automatic download for Thursday

If this article is correct, you have until 1 PM Eastern time TOMORROW to take the action I prescribed in this blog on May 7. That action will let you avoid the download of XP SP3. I still believe XP SP3 needs another few months before I will download it willingly.

Microsoft sets XP SP3 automatic download for Thursday

HAPPY 4th ALL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!

 

 

Mission Accomplished!

On June 23 I wrote "I am planning to replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive. To do this I will need to make an exact copy of my current C drive on the external 250GB drive. For this I will use Norton Ghost. After making the copy, I’ll physically replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive and hope I can then reboot my machine from the new internal 250GB drive. I will hold onto the 80GB drive, probably inserting it into the enclosure now housing the 250GB drive. The 80GB drive will be a good place to carry another backup copy of MY DOCUMENTS (all of my data)."

Two days ago I completed this task, though not exactly the way I had planned. Not surprisingly, Norton Ghost did not do the job for me. I have become accustomed to being disappointed with Symantec products over the years, and Norton Ghost didn't let me down! It did not perform as advertised, and after two days on a Norton Ghost  forum where the best Norton Ghost minds tried their best to help me, I decided to download and try Acronis True Image Home Version 11.0. This program was hyped as one which would do exactly what I wanted to do, and was available on a 15 day free trial. It did the job very quickly (15 minutes) and smoothly and had an intuitive user interface, one even I could understand (unlike Norton Ghost).

So now I have my 250GB drive as my internal system drive and my 1TB drive as my external drive for backups and for my ever-increasing libraries of videos, music, and photos.

Windows XP Departs: Good Riddance or Sad Farewell?

June 30 has come and gone, and so, for the most part, has Windows XP. You can read the pros and cons of this departure in this PCWorld article.

Windows XP Departs: Good Riddance or Sad Farewell?

AVG Free Edition Version 7.5

The updates keep rolling in. I got one on 6/26 and one on 6/27. I am hopeful that the bulletin board post that I have posted herein earlier is correct, and that 12/31/2008 is the correct end of updates for us.

It is terribly annoying that AVG continues to send those pop-ups warning of the end of updates on 6/25.

I am planning to create a video, or several smaller videos, of the Version 8 installation process. I have been installing Version 8 on customer machines as I service them, and I have had no problems to date. I will keep you posted.

Redundant?

Okay, I am being redundant I know when I ask you to be redundant or, in other words, to have a backup plan for your data. So many times I hear from customers that they have a problem with their PC and, when I ask them if they have their data backed up, the answer comes back as "no" probably 90% of the time!

PLEASE, do yourself a big favor and create a plan for backup. The data you should be backing up includes most everything contained in your MY DOCUMENTS (XP) folder or your DOCUMENTS (VISTA) folder. Included therein should be all of your digital photos, music, and movies or videos. If you have an office product (MS Office or Open Office, etc.) all of the documents, spreadsheets, presentations, publications, etc. that you have created and saved will also be there.

It is not terribly difficult to learn how to back up this data to a CD or a DVD or to an external hard drive or even, on a somewhat temporary basis, to a flash or thumb drive.

So make a commitment to do this on a regular basis, but at least quarterly, PLEASE!

If your e-mail is important to you, you can easily back that up as well. The method used will depend on how you process your e-mail (Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.). If you have questions about this, please write.

Migrating from Firefox Version 2 to Version 3

Okay, I'm trying something new, and my first foray into the world of video is only mildly successful. It would be better if I could better capture the screen so that you could actually read it. However, as I look at it, I find that maybe my narration will somewhat make up for it - at least in this simple case.

If you are a Firefox user, or even if you are not, you may find this helpful. For you current users, you will find this a very easy upgrade. It is fast and straightforward. Even if you don't want to upgrade at this point in time, you may find the video useful. The bottom line is that this is an easy upgrade and one you can implement without worry. The new version looks very much like the old.

If you have never used Firefox as your browser, you may want to install it even if you later decide not to make it your default browser. You can also follow the video's instructions. Firefox will copy all of your Internet Explorer (IE) Favorites so the end product will look much like IE.

I welcome your feedback, so please write with comments.

 Migrating from Firefox Version 2 to Version 3 Video

1 Terabyte Hard Drive

A terabyte (TB) is 1000 Gigabytes (GB). A GB is 1000 megabytes (MB). A MB is 1000 kilobytes (KB). A KB is 1000 bytes or characters in computerese. (In actuality, a KB is 1024 bytes, but normally rounded off to 1000 for ease of computation.) I used to teach this stuff at SeniorNet, and never felt that the magnitude of these numbers ever sank in.

A TB is 1,000,000,000,000 bytes or characters! Now that's a lot of zeroes, and I have gone over that string several times to make sure I have it right! :-)

I have been waiting for what seems like a long time to buy a hard drive with a 1TB capacity. They have been around for a while but rather costly, and I had decided that when they were priced lower than $200 I would buy one. Well, thanks to Costco and one of their coupons, I purchased one last week for $199!

It is a Western Digital My Book Home Edition External Hard Drive. It comes in its own enclosure and attaches to a PC via a USB cable (it can also attach using FIREWIRE or eSATA).

I have plans for what I am going to do now that my desktop, with its internal 80GB hard drive and its external 250GB hard drive, have this new capacity available to me. Both my internal and external drives have been pushing the limits of their capacity. I have used the 250GB drive for backups mostly, maintaining several backups of my data at any one time.

I am planning to replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive. To do this I will need to make an exact copy of my current C drive on the external 250GB drive. For this I will use Norton Ghost. After making the copy, I'll physically replace the 80GB drive with the 250GB drive and hope I can then reboot my machine from the new internal 250GB drive. I will hold onto the 80GB drive, probably inserting it into the enclosure now housing the 250GB drive. The 80GB drive will be a good place to carry another backup copy of MY DOCUMENTS (all of my data).

I have already moved my My Documents folder to the external 1TB drive. To see how to move the location of your My Documents folder, see this handy Microsoft link:

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder

Below is what my 1TB drive looked like after I formatted it, getting rid of all the annoying "management" software included by Western Digital:

You can click on that image above to see the full sized version.

More on this subject as I progress with the above plan. If you have any questions, send me an e-mail.

Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap

This is a very good ComputerWorld article for those of you who own aging laptops and are also do-it-yourselfers (DIY). Even if you are not a DIY, I think all laptop owners will find this article interesting.

For what it's worth (FWIW), I installed Ubuntu on an aging laptop and was very impressed. It is free and installed easily. It uses very little of your aging system's precious resources. If all you want to do is web browsing and e-mail, then you should consider Ubuntu for your aging laptop. This is covered in some detail in this ComputerWorld article. I should add that Ubuntu comes with Open Office already installed, so the machine is also equipped to do word processing, spreadsheets, etc. You can learn more about Open Office here: http://www.openoffice.org/

Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap

Do not pay for AVG!

Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to be bullied into paying for AVG anti-virus. Those of you who are on AVG Free Edition 7.5, stay there until further notice. As already stated earlier, not even AVG knows the real answer - apparently - about when virus definitions will stop coming for 7.5. If it does stop on 6/25, I will advise you as soon as I know. Even if that should be on 6/25, there is no need to panic, and there is no need to pay!

If support for 7.5 does stop soon, we can all go to AVG Free Edition 8.0. The key word there is FREE! I have downloaded, installed, and uninstalled Version 8 several times on several of my machines. There is nothing to fear about Version 8. Yes, it's a little bigger, a little slower, and more intrusive, but it works and is far better than the fee-based alternatives like Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, etc.

Earlier posts herein tell you where you can download Version 8, so if you feel worried about all of this (you shouldn't) and somewhat adventurous, go ahead and download it and install it.

However, I recommend sitting tight for the moment with your version 7.5, as I am doing.

Firefox Version 3

Firefox Version 3 has just become available. I don't normally get excited about products I haven't tested and used myself, but I am looking forward to this. It has been a long time coming, and there has been lots of hype about it.

If you are not a Firefox web browser user, perhaps you should give it a try. Firefox has been my browser of choice for several years now.

Firefox Version 3 Reviewed by CNET

Firefox Version 3 Reviewed by ComputerWorld

AVG - the saga continues

Like many of you I keep getting the pop-up informing me that support for AVG 7.5 will end on June 25. This could be true but it also could be a horrible case of creative marketing gone wrong. This is the latest from the AVG Free Forum:

Re: AVG 7.5 FREE, ending or not?

Posted by: michaelhd - AVG Team (IP Logged)

Date: May 29, 2008 01:54PM

Hello all,

Two points to discuss here.

Firstly, like all companies we have to develop a strategy to get our users past the end of old windows editions. MS will stop supporting these older operating systems and we need to move along and provide software that works best on the newer OSs.
Secondly we need to encourage users to upgrade to our newer products so that we can remain focused on a select number of products, and keep improving these products.

The result is ever-changing dates for releases, end of support dates, end of definition updates downloads etc, etc. its not chaos - but the different dates and changes do cause unwanted confusion.

As you will all remember from AVG 7... There will be a final date, then a REALLY final date. We will be fair to our customers and we will give due notice of changes that may seriously affect the users.
May 31st is VERY close. I can assure you that this date will not be the end of 7.5. However the 31.12.08 date is not cast in stone - though I consider it a solid date. AVG may bring termination of specific sevices or products forward, but if we do we will do so responsibly and by giving fair notice.

We will make official announcements HERE on this forum and on our corporate website, and resellers will be emailed directly.

I apologise for the differing information given by sales and by other sources, but I stand by the 31.12.08 date for now, and will put any changes here.

Thanks to all for bringing this matter up.

 

As you can see, even within the AVG corporate structure there is apparently division. This is not good for their company, nor is it good for us, the users.

 

I continue using AVG 7 and still see regular updates coming in. However, please read my May 24 post on this subject. Version 8 is solid and performs well, and you should not hesitate to download it and install it if you are uncomfortable with this whole scenario.

 

As an option, you can continue to watch here and I will give you the latest news. The installation of Ver 8 is not difficult, but Ver 7 continues to be my choice until I know more.

 

 

PC World - How to Get and Keep Windows XP After June 30 2008

I continue to be skeptical about the future of Microsoft's Windows Vista, but encouraged by news articles such as this one from PC World that inform readers about loopholes, or ways in which one can still buy a new PC with Windows XP. This article also confirms earlier posts indicating that Windows XP will be supported through 2014. If I needed to buy a new PC today, I would try very hard to find and justify the cost of a machine that has the XP downgrade feature, as explained in this article. And I'd use XP, knowing that I had the ability to "upgrade" to Vista at a later date at no extra cost.

PC World - How to Get and Keep Windows XP After June 30 2008 

AVG

I had been running AVG Version 8, without the Link Scanner, for about 3 weeks, and had no issues with it. I could tell it was larger and less nimble than its predecessor, Version 7.5. The full system scan, run daily at 5 AM, was taking over 2 hours, vs. just around 1.5 hours on Version 7.5. For this reason and also thinking of all of you who may read this blog and are running version 7.5, I decided to go back to Version 7.5.

So this morning I uninstalled version 8, telling it to keep all of my settings (hoping that 7.5 might pick them up - it didn't!), and went to http://www.filehippo.com/download_avg_antivirus/ where I downloaded the last 7.5 version.

I installed 7.5 and it went smoothly as usual. I checked for updates and found one. I changed my schedule settings and also the e-mail settings to remove the e-mail certification, and am back in business. If the AVG Free Forum is correct, I will continue to get updates through 12/31/2008. I will post again in a couple of days to update this status.

If you are one of those who like to have the latest and greatest, than go right ahead and install Version 8. As I said I had no problems with it, although I ran it without the Link Scanner feature. It is bigger and a little slower, and although I did not measure it, I am sure it uses more system resources that version 7.5.

I intend to stay on 7.5 on my main machine (a desktop), and do some more testing with version 8 on my laptop.

Time-Warner’s (TW) Roadrunner - Update

In my post of April 4, 2008, I wrote "The next level is called Road Runner High Speed Online and is their standard offering. Advertised speeds are 5 mbps download and 384 kbps upload."

I have tested out the speed of this service using speedtest.net and found that TW is indeed delivering what they promised. My download speeds are consistently very close to 5 mbps and my upload speeds are very close to the 384 kbps advertised.

So far I would have to say that I am pleased with this level of service, especially since I know that if I need better I can upgrade to the TW Turbo level and get 10mbps download speed.

If you are experiencing speeds from TW radically different from these, please let me know.

Best Buy testing free e-waste recycling program

Here is some good news from the Best Buy company. Although it won't be piloted in our area, it's nonetheless a good thing, and let's hope it succeeds and we see it in all markets. This AP article is from money.cnn.com:

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Under pressure to help dispose some of the electronic waste it helped create, Best Buy Co. is testing a free program that will offer consumers a convenient way to ensure millions of obsolescent TVs, old computers and other unwanted gadgets don't poison the nation's dumps.

The trial, expected to be announced Monday, covers 117 Best Buy stores scattered across eight states that will collect a wide variety of electronic detritus at no charge, even if the Richfield, Minn.-based retailer didn't originally sell the merchandise.

The pilot stores are in Best Buy's Northern California, Minneapolis and Baltimore markets, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Depending on how the test goes, the nation's largest electronics retailer may expand the recycling program to all of its 922 stores in the United States.

"We want to take the time to learn if we can handle this before we go any further," said Best Buy spokeswoman Kelly Groehler. "We know the need is there and the waste stream is there. We think everyone needs to bear some responsibility for this _ consumers, retailers and manufacturers."

As it is, Best Buy's test is believed to be the most extensive free electronics recycling program to be offered by a major retailer so far.

Consumers will be able to bring in up to two gadgets per day at the participating Best Buy stores. The list of acceptable items includes computer processors, computer monitors and televisions with screens up to 32 inches. Console televisions, air conditioners, microwave ovens and other large appliances won't be accepted.

Best Buy agreed to set up the recycling trial after a social responsibility group, As You Sow, submitted a proposal that would have asked the company's shareholders to endorse an electronics recycling program. As You Sow withdrew the proposal after Best Buy indicated it was already exploring ways to expand its existing recycling programs.

"This is a step in the right direction," said Conrad MacKerron, director of As You Sow's corporate social responsibility program. He is hoping Best Buy's recycling trial will prompt other major electronics retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. to set up similar programs.

The disposal of electronics waste has become a more prevalent problem in recent years as technology's relentless advances turn cutting-edge devices into relics every few years.

That has threatened to create environmental headaches because the old stuff contains lead and other hazardous materials that aren't supposed to be put in the trash.

All Best Buy stores already have been accepting some electronics waste _ such as cell phones, empty ink-jet cartridges and worn-out batteries _ for several years. The retailer also will haul away old appliances and television sets when customers pay to have a replacement delivered to their homes.

Many community groups, local governments and recycling specialists also offer to accept electronics waste, often for a fee.

But environmentalists are worried about what will happen as more consumers replace their existing TVs to prepare for the scheduled February 2009 shift from analog to digital broadcasting.

Although old TVs will still be able to receive the digital signals with the help of a converter, millions of consumers have simply been buying state-of-the-art TVs _ a trend that has helped boost Best Buy's profits.

Windows XP SP3

If you have been able to avoid downloading and installing SP3, good for you! Instructions on how to do that are in an earlier post. To date I have installed it on only one machine, but the conditions need to be right before you do this, and so I'd wait a little longer.

One good reason why is highlighted in the ComputerWorld article linked to below. Apparently Symantec, the makers of the Norton product line of security programs, is one of the culprits wreaking havoc on unsuspecting XP users who use one of their products and then try to install XP SP3. The results can be catastrophic to a casual user, so be careful and wait a little longer.

As most of you know, I do not recommend any of the Norton product line. They used to offer a nice Norton Anti-virus program. It was fairly small, fairly efficient, affordable, and did an excellent job. I used it. My experience has been that their newer versions are much bigger, hog system resources slowing down your machine, and are very costly, compared to what they used to be. Time after time I see customers paying too much for a resource hog Norton product.

Symantec's Warning to XP Users re. SP3

Cooling Your Laptop

 

Here is some good advice from Kim Komando regarding keeping your laptop cool. I have worked on a lot of laptops, and I would say they all run hot. After a short while you can feel the heat. The important thing is to make sure the fan is still working. If the fan fails, that can lead to trouble. If you listen, you can hear the fan doing its thing while you are using your laptop. Kim's tips will help your laptop run cooler.

Cooling Your Laptop

Copyright 2008 WestStar TalkRadio Network. Reprinted with permission. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent of WestStar TalkRadio Network. Visit Kim Komando and sign up for herfree e-mail newsletters at: www.komando.com

 

XP deathwatch, T minus 5 weeks

The countdown is on, but there are several loopholes. Find out what they are at the link below. This is a Computerworld online article dated today.

XP deathwatch, T minus 5 weeks

AVG Free Version 8

It seems that Grisoft has backed off of its announced last date of updates for AVG Free Version 7.5, the one we have come to know and love. If you already have Version 7.5 installed, I'd not upgrade to Version 8. Wait a while and verify that you are in fact getting updates after May 31 before making your final decision about this. See this post by an AVG team member on the AVG Free Forum.

AVG Free Version 7.5 Updates will be available through 12/31/2008

That being said, however, if you feel you can't wait and must jump on the AVG Free Version 8 bandwagon, you can download it here.

Download AVG Free Version 8 from Download.com

or here

Download AVG Free Version 8 from the Grisoft Web Site

Note that the Version 8 download is 46MB, so be prepared for a longer than usual download. I have installed AVG Free Version 8 on several machines, and I have had no problem. My biggest issue with Version 8 is that Grisoft seems to feel, like every one of its competitors, that it has to do everything in one package, so the plain but good standalone anti-virus program is no longer. The new Version 8 has several extra components, including anti-spyware, built-in. The problem with this bundling is that the program will be larger, take more resources, and slow down your machine.

It is possible to trim down the package somewhat. In a subsequent post I will detail how to eliminate the Link Scanner component of Version 8 for those of you who may not like it or who feel the overhead of the package is too great.

I also do not select the Tool Bar when asked if I want it during the installation process. Don't we have enough tool bars now? For those of you who are techincally inclined, you may wish to check out the AVG Free version forum. There you can read for yourself what other users think about Version 8.

AVG Free Forum

FYI, AVG Free Version 7.5 can still be downloaded at this site:

Download AVG Free Version 7.5 from FileHippo.com

 

XP Service Pack 3

I continue to advise against installing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. Articles such as this one from the May 20 Computerworld web site are the norm and not the exception. Forums, such as those at annoyances.org, contain discussions of many more issues with SP3.

It's beginning to look like a 3 month wait before installation is a good idea.

XP Service Pack Corrupts Registry?

Surge Suppressors and Uninterruptible Power Supplies

This comes from Kim Komando's web site.

Many people think a $10 power strip is a surge suppressor, until later when they discover their error and it's too late.

Surge Suppressors and Uninterruptible Power Supplies

 

Copyright 2008 WestStar TalkRadio Network. Reprinted with permission. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent of WestStar TalkRadio Network. Visit Kim Komando and sign up for herfree e-mail newsletters at: www.komando.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to back up and to restore Outlook Express data

If you use Outlook Express, this is required reading. Microsoft has had this information posted on their web site for years now, and it is still valid and very important for you OE users.

Please, do yourself a favor and back up your OE mail, address book, and account settings by following the directions at this web site. After you've gotten through it once, it'll be easy for you to do the next time, and it's something you can do every 6 months to assure yourself that you'll not lose your e-mail due to some unforeseen problem.

The article not only tells you how to back all this very important information up, but also shows you how to restore it if/when you need to do that. I suggest printing the article and keeping it in a handy place in your desk for retrieval later.

How to back up and to restore Outlook Express data

Looking for a printer?

PC World has an article identifying their picks for the top 5 inkjet printers, and they are all affordable.

Top 5 Inkjet Printers

AVG

Grisoft has forums for us to look at to see what is happening with the new Version 8. Some of you have wondered why I recommend waiting a bit. It's easy to see why if you read the forums, as I do on your behalf each day. Be patient and look back here in a week or two for my final recommendation.

 AVG Free Forum

Windows XP Service Pack 3

XP SP3 is available starting today at Windows Update. It is NOT yet being downloaded through Automatic Updates - fortunately! :-) I went to the Windows Update web site and although they make it very difficult to say "Don't ask me to install these updates again", I managed to do so by starting the download and then NOT agreeing with the End User License Agreement (EULA). When I declined to agree, I got the old window that enabled me to check the box as shown below:

Since this is not being 'forced' on us through Automatic Updates - YET! - I wanted to see if I could block it, and as you can see I did just that. You can do the same or watch this site for further information. You can always block it even after it is downloaded as an Automatic Update.

AVG users

If you use AVG Free Edition Antivirus, as I do, you may have received a pop-up telling you that Version 8 is available now. Do NOT click on download and get into the situation where you have to buy a fee version.

Please read the press release linked to below.

Avg Version 8 also has a FREE version. For those of you who have gotten used to the older version 7 as I have, Version 8 is quite different, but still FREE!! In the next couple of weeks I will document here for all of you the steps you need to take to upgrade to the FREE Version 8. Please be patient and keep looking here for those instructions.

AVG Version 8 FREE Edition

Below is the warning screen you may receive. Just click on UPGRADE LATER.

Get more with Vista’s ‘secret’ features

For you Vista users out there, here is an article from Kim Komando's web site, http://komando.com. I found this on her web site today even though it has a February date.

Get more with Vista’s ‘secret’ features

A very unhappy birthday to spam, age 30

This article from the San Francisco Chronicle documents the history of spam and has some interesting tidbits about the history of the internet as well.

A very unhappy birthday to spam, age 30

Exporting your Outlook Express Address Book and then Importing it into your webmail account

It's funny how these things happen, but twice this week I have had customers ask for help in exporting their Outlook Express Address Book and then importing it into their servicer's webmail system. I have laid out the steps one needs to follow to do this, and hope it will prove helpful to others as well. Not all servicers will look alike when you go to do the import step, but perhaps with the example given (Time Warner) you will be able to figure yours out.

Webmail can be used when you are away from home and using someone else's computer, so it's very nice to have your complete address book available to you when operating in that mode. Webmail is also a backup system should you be experiencing problems with Outlook Express.

Exporting your Outlook Express Address Book and then Importing it into your webmail account

Burning CDs and DVDs

Most computers come with application software you can use to burn CDs and DVDs. You may or may not be a happy user of that software. More often than not I find that my customers are not happy with the software they have and in fact, they struggle with it every time they want to create a CD or DVD. Many have even given up and do not burn CDs or DVDs. This is too bad because these discs make excellent backup media, and backup of your data is very important.

I use and recommend a free CD & DVD burner called CDBurnerXP. In spite of its name, it also works in Vista. Not only is it free, but there are always new versions being introduced with enhanced features. All of this is still free. I just downloaded and installed the latest version today.

I think the program's routines are rather intuitive and easy to use. If you want to try this program, you can download it free at the link below.

 CDBurnerXP

8GB Flash Drive

A while ago I wrote here about my new 4GB Sandisk Micro Cruzer flash drive. I had purchased it at Costco for $28, a price that I thought was just terrific. These devices are getting less expensive, like so many other items in our electronic world as competition and breakthroughs in technology drive the prices down.

A few weeks ago I loaned my 4GB drive to a friend in need. I didn't expect to get it back and, in fact, told her she could keep it.

This weekend I went to Costco to replace it, but was disappointed to find that the product was no longer being carried by Costco, at least not in my local store. Much to my surprise, however, they had on display an 8GB Sandisk Micro Cruzer. The price: $48!

I have no real need for an 8GB capacity, but if I thought the 4GB drive was affordable, then this was even better, and I bought it. This is truly an amazing capacity at a great price, and I have no doubts that the capacity/price ratio for these devices will continue to improve.

I got home, went to the Sandisk web site and downloaded the U3 Removal Tool (see my April 17 post), and in less than a minute I had a full 8GB of flash memory available for my use.

I must read up on the new feature in Windows Vista that will use an empty flash drive as an extension of RAM. Lord knows that Vista can use all the help it can get in that regard, and it will be interesting to see if I observe any boost in speed.

Microsoft starts Vista SP1 auto delivery

Be forewarned. The promised rollout is apparently beginning. Microsoft has apparently worked out the kinks, but I am not impressed, nor am I sold on the value in SP1. I am going to pass.

You too can pass if you choose to do so. Check out the second half of my April 22 post on clues as to how to do this. What I wrote there was XP-oriented so the details will be different, but the high-level approach is the same: just tell Microsoft you don't want it now.

Microsoft starts Vista SP1 auto delivery

The 10 Best Compact Cameras

PC World lists their choices for the 10 best compact cameras in this article posted online today. Most people I know have lots of digital photos on their PCs, and some of us may be looking for a better camera. This article is probably best for the novice digital photographer, but also has some cameras that might be a good choice for the user with an older camera (like me) wanting to move up a notch.

The 10 Best Compact Cameras

Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7

IE 7 as it is known is an integral part of Windows Vista. But if you are a Windows XP user and have Automatuic Updates enabled, as you should, you probably also have IE 7 installed on your system.

It was probably downloaded and installed in the last several months. I have seen several customers of mine experiencing problems since this happened, and backing out IE 7 and returning to IE 6 seems to have eliminated the problems.

This is an opinion of mine: IE 7 caused so many problems in Windows XP after it was downloaded through Automatic Updates, that Microsoft responded by making it easy to remove. Nice of them.

If you do have IE 7 and have experienced some strange problems since you got it, it may be time for you to get rid of it. I have personally uninstalled it on about 10 to 15 customer machines. You can tell you have it if the small blue 'e' icon, for Internet Explorer, has a gold band around it.

To uninstall it, use the Add or Remove Programs icon on the Control Panel (START/CONTROL PANEL). Look for Windows Internet Explorer 7 way down near the botton of the list and click on it once (highlight or select it) and then select Remove over on the right. You will be asked only one scary question when a window pops up and lists programs and you are informed that if these programs depend on IE 7 they may not work if you remove IE 7. Just click YES indicating you want to continue.

The rest of the uninstall is easy and fast, and when you are done you will have IE 6. Note that there is no longer a gold band around the 'e' icon.

IE 6 is nimbler than IE 7. It has less overhead and will appear to be faster. It is.

There is a bad news side to this story. Microsoft will try to install IE 7 again through Automatic Updates. So you have to take one more step.

Go to Windows Update (START/ALL PROGRAMS and look up on top of the list for Microsoft Update or Windows Update and click on it). If you have kept things up to date on your machine, you will then see an EXPRESS button and a CUSTOM button. Click on Custom and wait, and wait, and wait while Microsoft churns and churns and eventually brings up a list of the latest updates.

IE 7 will be included in the list of High Priority Updates. List the high priority updates (there may be none other than IE 7), click on the box with the checkmark in it (thus removing the checkmark)to the left of IE 7, and then as it expands, you will see a box you can check that indicates "Don't Show this update again". Click on that box thus inserting a checkmark in it. Then close IE 6.

That's it. You will not be bothered again about IE 7. The next thing to worry about is IE 8, coming down the pike pretty soon. Let's hope they don't make it an Automatic Update!

If you do have IE 7 and have been experiencing problems since it was installed, and would rather not go through the above procedure, give me a call. I can take care of this for you in about one hour.

Removing hard drive data — the YouTube way

Computerworld presents a humorous look at the popular question of what to do with the hard drive from your old computer. Click on the links provided under each photo and then view Computerworld's own technique at the bottom of the article.

Removing hard drive data -- the YouTube way

Used laptops needed

Over the past few months I became aware of a need at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). Some of the people staying there had a need for laptop computers. These people were from out of state, had come here not knowing how long they would be here, but did not plan or pack for a long stay. They had brought their school-aged children with them. They had a need for laptop computing so that they could update family and friends at home, and they needed to do this both at the RMH and also at the hospital. Also, their kids needed to keep up with the classes they were missing and could get homework assignments and turn in their work via a computer. In one case, a student connected via a camera and Skype to her own classroom back home. They needed to have wireless capability so they could login wherever they might be within the RMH or the hospital. The net is that I loaned them 2 of my laptops.

I got to thinking that there are probably others in the area with similar needs who could make good use of a wireless capable laptop PC, and not just the people at the RMH. So I have started a campaign asking people who may have their last laptop sitting around the house gathering dust to consider donating it to this cause. I will try to put together a few working computers that I could lend to people in need through non-profit organizations like the RMH.

It'd be great to get one or two or three Windows XP capable machines, but so far I have only gotten older machines from which I can gather usable parts for another PC. If you have such a laptop that you no longer need, even if it has a bad part or two (remember, I can get parts from other machines), please consider donating it to the cause.

I will offer my services to get the machines up and running, and to keep them running smoothly and efficiently by cleaning them up between users.

Please get in touch with me via the Contact the PC Doc link over on the right side of this display. Thank you.

Sandisk Flash Drive Annoyance

I recently bought a Sandisk Flash Drive and was disappointed to find that Sandisk had decided to load some proprietary software on it to make it easier to use! Well, I did not find their U3 Launchpad user-friendly. I was rather annoyed that it could not be gotten rid of easily, but a Google search led me to the Sandisk web site where they have, lo and behold, a U3 Removal Tool! If you experience this U3 software on one of the Sandisk products, you can download this simple and fast tool to get rid of it at this web site.

Sandisk U3 Removal Tool

Windows XP SP3

Service Pack 3 for Windows XP is expected to be available at the end of this month. As usual, my recommendation on an update as important as this one is to wait a while before installing it on your machines. I have read that it will not be considered a high priority update, initially at least, and therefore not an Automatic Update. This is good news. The date for that will likely be in June or later, depending on the level of noise generated by those who choose to download it as an option before then.

I will install SP3 on my machine in mid-May and will report back here on my experience, so stay tuned. Also, I will alert readers about the exact date SP3 will become an automatic update. You should know that just because an update is Automatic this does not mean you must get it. There are ways you can indicate that you don't want certain updates. More in a later post on this.

Web Cams

It's fun to look at some of the many web cams available today, but one of my favorites is the Dartmouth Baker Tower Web Cam. I am glad to say that all of the snow has finally melted away and the grass is now getting greener by the day.

Dartmouth Baker Tower Web Cam

Running Spybot Search & Destroy

Spybot is one of those free tools that I use regularly (once a week) on my PC. I covered this tool in my Best Offense is a Good Defense white paper. For those of you who already have Spybot S&D Version 1.5 or later installed on your machines, I have documented the steps to take to run it in today's link. If you have an older version (like 1.4), these steps are different than what you may be used to.

I run Spybot and then always delete everything it finds. I have never been hurt doing this. I hope you will find this documentation helpful.

How to run Spybot Version 1.5 and later

Google Alerts

"Google Alerts" is a fun feature of Google, and it's free. It's like an online clipping service. All you have to do is provide a search item, your e-mail address, and select a couple of options to get it going. What happens next is that you will get an e-mail from Google Alerts containing capsule summaries and links to articles that relate to your search item.

I have 3 such Google Alerts. They are my last name, Jericho, and East Boothbay. I selected the daily frequency and the comprehensive search criteria. Each day I get 3 e-mails, each returning information of interest to me.

If you get too much information (I don't), you can modify your search criteria. It is also very easy to cancel an alert. You can do this right at the bottom of every incoming e-mail.

Sign up here

Comcast Update

In my posts of March 21, 2008 and March 28, 2008, I presented my own experiences with Comcast's High Speed Internet.

Since then, I have had phone conversations with them on the phone, and the last request I made of them was for them to replace my cable modem, currently rented from Comcast. The Executive Office people I dealt with on the phone arranged for a service call to my house, and yesterday they came as promised.

I got a brand new Motorola cable modem to replace my older Terayon cable modem (originally provided by Adelphia). In the process of installing the new modem, the Comcast technician discovered that their PowerBoost feature was not enabled on my account for some reason. He installed the modem and communicated with his home office to have PowerBoost enabled.

From their web site, this is what Comcast says about PowerBoost: "PowerBoost technology utilizes available capacity already built into Comcast's advanced fiber network to provide customers with extra bursts of download speed – up to 12Mbps and16Mbps, respectively, on Comcast's 6 and 8Meg services."

As noted earlier, I am a 6Mbps customer. The result of the combined new modem and PowerBoost is incredible! I cannot believe the high speeds I now get.

Using the aforementioned speedtest.net web site to check my speeds yesterday and today, I consistently measure over 11000 kbps download and 1600 kbps upload! This is what I reported on March 28 in my post: 5366 kbps download and 365 kbps upload. Amazing!


The net of this is, at least for Comcast customers, especially if you were once an Adelphia high speed internet customer:

1) Call Comcast and make sure you are on their 6000 kbps download plan, which is their standard offering. Originally I found that I was still on the old Adelphia standard speed of 4000 kbps. Comcast simply changed something in my account profile and almost instantaneously I got download speeds increased from around 4000 kbps download to near 6000 kbps download.

2) If you rent your cable modem from Comcast and still have your old Adelphia-issued modem, I suggest you ask for a newer modem.

3) Check speedtest.net frequently, but especially today to see if you are getting the same results, more or less, which I now enjoy.

OS Smackdown: Linux vs. Mac OS X vs. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP

This excellent article appears on today's Computerworld web site. Although the contributors are biased towards their own products, just as in TV's Smackdowns, the article contains some good nuggets, and should serve as a good reference for anyone who has any questions about today's popular desktop personal computer operating systems.

Operating System Smackdown

Backing up your data

I am often called upon to try to salvage user data, like Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, photos, music files, and so on. Of all of these items, photos must be the most valuable. This is a plea to all PC users to commit to making a backup plan that works for you. First of all make an effort to learn how Windows XP or Vista stores your data. What folders are your files kept in? Once you know exactly where your data is, backing it up is easy. You don't need any special software. A click and drag of a folder from one device to another is something simple enough that all users should be able to master the process.

What sort of devices can be used for backup? The most common and popular these days are flash drives, aka thumb drives or jump drives. I recently bought a 4 GB thumb drive at Costco for $28! That is an amazing buy, and even as I write this I know that prices are coming down every week, and someone somewhere is selling that same capacity thumb drive for less. Rule of thumb (pun intended) is to buy the thumb drive with the largest affordable capacity you can find. Your big box stores have specials on these every week. I am not sure how large these will become, but I see 8 GB flash drives advertised online. That is a lot of data!

The second most popular way to backup data is by using an external hard drive. These are sold by nearly every big box store and usually attach as a USB device. They are a hard drive in a case with a USB cable. Plug it in and it will be recognized immediately by your system as just another hard drive. These come in much larger sizes. I am waiting for the 1 TB (terabyte) model to become affordable. In the meantime, I use a 250 GB external drive. In my case, I separately purchased a hard drive and an enclosure (a simple aluminum case which holds the hard drive). This was less expensive. My 250 GB external drive is large enough to carry multiple copies of all of My Documents, so I back up My Documents every quarter and keep 3 backups. The beauty of the external drive is you can simply unplug it from one PC and plug it into another, so if you have multiple PCs in your house, this is a simple way to backup the user data of all of your computers.

Bottom line, have a plan please! I hate to have to tell a customer that their precious photographs or expensive music files are irretrievable.

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Time Warner

Like Comcast in Vermont, Time Warner inherited the old Adelphia cable business in Maine. I spoke to them yesterday, and speaking for the midcoast region of Maine, this is what I learned about their high speed internet offering.

Time Warner offers 3 levels of service. The first is called Road Runner Lite. Their advertised speeds for this service are 750 kbps download and 128 kbps upload.

The next level is called Road Runner High Speed Online and is their standard offering. Advertised speeds are 5 mbps download and 384 kbps upload.

Finally, there is Road Runner Turbo. This advertises speeds of 10 mbps download and 768 kbps upload.

If you are a Time Warner Road Runner customer, check out your speed at speedtest.net and see where you fit in. If you do not know which of the three plans you are on, the chances are you are on the standard offering plan and should see download speeds near 5 mbps. I would be interested in hearing what your results are.

Check your actual speeds here

A newbie’s guide to Facebook

If you don't know what Facebook is, the chances are you don't have much contact with teenagers. If you do know a teenager, you can just ask him or her what it is. Facebook is described as a "fast-growing social networking site". This excellent guide I found at computerworld.com will fill you in on all you'll need to know as a newbie, and even shows you how to join.

 A newbie's guide to Facebook

Thanks for the Memory

Those of you who have taken one of my classes know how strongly I feel about this: DON'T SKIMP ON THE MEMORY! Your computer's memory, or RAM as it is sometimes called, is a very critical component of your system and affects its performance in a big way. Memory is also one of the least expensive components of your system.

If you are buying a new computer with Vista Home Premium installed, make sure you get at least 2 GB (gigabytes) of memory or RAM. I am working on a customer's nearly brand new Compaq laptop right now. It has 1 GB of RAM. For starters, the HP company and the store who sold her the machine should be ashamed of themselves. This just isn't going to cut it. My customer says the system is slow. Well DUH! Any store clerk in a big box store should know this. My recomendation is to buy a new Vista machine with a minimum of 2 GB. While you are there, ask what the price differential is to upgrade to 3 GB or even 4 GB. I think you'll be surprised at how little the difference is, so go for the most you can afford, but PLEASE, don't get anything less than 2 GB. My customer is running Vista Home Premium, Norton Internet Security, and AOL, and these three are among the biggest memory hogs I know.

If you have a Windows XP machine, look into upgrading to 1 GB at least. Normally an XP machine does just fine with 1 GB of RAM. However, many machines were sold with 256 MB of memory and are still at that level. This just won't cut it any more. XP itself has grown and most of the applications that we have been running have also grown with updates and upgrades to later versions.

A good site to check the maximum memory permitted in your older machines, and to get an idea of cost for upgrading, is linked to below. Check out your system and think about upgrading. You will not be sorry. Memory is not only inexpensive but it is also very easy to install. Send me a note if you have any questions about this.

Kingston Manufacturing

Enterprises pass on IE7, Windows Vista

No real surprise here. Having come from the corporate world I have an understanding of what a massive undertaking it would be to convert a huge corporate network to IE7 and Vista. I don't know how Microsoft could have expected anything different.

Enterprises pass on IE7, Windows Vista

CCleaner

Back on February 15 I wrote about running Disk Cleanup on a regular basis. I also stated "For the more experienced user, there are better ways to do this by using free downloadable programs."

One better way is to use the tool I am recommending today: CCleaner. CCleaner was originally known as Crap Cleaner, but it has since been renamed. It is a really excellent tool to use to get rid of the clutter, the unnecessary files that dwell on your system. Nowadays CCleaner is the first program I run as a part of my cleaning and tuneups.

The best part of CCleaner? Like most of the programs I recommend, it is FREE. You can download CCleaner at the site linked to below and begin to realize the benefits of this fine program.

It is very fast and beats Microsoft's Disk Cleanup easily, both in terms of its speed and in terms of what it deletes. I always delete everything CCleaner identifies.

Write me if you have usage questions after downloading and installing Cleaner.

Download CCleaner here

Spyware, Malware, Adware

"March 28, 2008 (Computerworld) Hannaford Bros. Co. disclosed this week that the intruders who stole up to 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers from the grocer's systems did so by planting malware programs on servers at each of its stores in New England, New York and Florida."

I highlighted the word malware in the Computerworld article above. While most of us have heard of spyware, malware is not a very commonly used word, but you get the idea as soon as you see it. Malware is malicious software.

In all 3 cases, spyware, malware, and adware, other people are attempting to plant some program in our computer that is obviously up to no good.

In the document linked to in my March 4 post, I advocated the use of three programs: AdAware, Spybot, and Windows Defender. These are three FREE programs which when used together will enable you to keep your system free of spyware, malware, and adware.

This week I was reminded of just how valuable these tools are when I used them to clean up a customer's heavily infected machine. Between the two of them, AdAware and Spybot, more than 150 incidents were removed, and many of these were definitely what you would call malicious and serious. I am sure my customer would agree.

With the addition of Windows Defender and the regular use of Spybot and AdAware, this computer will remain trouble-free. In light of the news from Hannaford, it might be worth your while to revisit my white paper: The Best Offense is a Good Defense. This white paper includes  detailed instructions for downloading, installing, and using Spybot.

The Best Offense is a Good Defense

Router Interference?

My March 21 post about Comcast drew a surprising phone call from Comcast "Executive Offices" in Philadelphia. They had seen my post and were concerned about the fact that I may not be getting the service I should. They promised a follow-up phone call from a person who would review my account. I did get that phone call in the form of a message from a person who left her name and number. We finally connected after some telephone tag.

First I'd like to say that I was impressed and pleased to see Comcast take this step. Unfortunately, after reviewing the numbers (I had said in that post that I averaged around 5300 kbps download) I was told that my service level was where it should be and that Comcast could do nothing to improve it. In the course of the phone conversation I was told that my use of a router would have a negative impact on my experiencing their advertised download rate of 6000 kbps.

So yesterday I ran a little test. I ran a speed test 5 times with the router connected and 5 times without the router. The results surprised me. I had bought into the argument that the router would interfere with performance. It made sense to me that it would. The results of my test did not confirm this. In fact, the opposite was true.

My 5 download speeds with the router removed as measured by speedtest.net were 5250, 5231, 5324, 5255, and 5350. I thought these were amazingly consistent and averaged 5282 kbps, which is just about what I have always observed.

My 5 download speeds with the router in place as measured by speedtest.net were 5328, 5415, 5385, 5251, and 5449. These averaged 5366 kbps. As you can see, I did better with the router in place, defying all logic as I viewed it!

However, the improvement was so small that I think it can be discounted and I can conclude that, at least in my rather limited sample, the router does not interfere with performance. BTW, I ran all 10 speed tests back to back beginning at 11 AM on 3/27.

FYI, my 10 upload speeds as measured by the test were all at or within one or two of 365 kbps, with and without the router.

Now more than ever I am interested in trying to understand why I am not getting higher numbers for my download speed. I'd like to see numbers up close to the expected and advertised 6000 kbps.

The next thing I did was to leave a mesage for my new Comcast contact asking if I could swap my cable modem for the latest and greatest cable modem that Comcast provides. I expect an answer from them today. If I cannot, I may investigate buying my own modem after carefully researching the options.

I am very interested in YOUR experience with Comcast and the kind of speeds you are getting. Please let me know by clicking on "Contact the PC Doc" above right.

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Burlington Telecomm

This is perhaps the best high speed internet offering in our Northeast Region of Vermont. Burlington Telecomm did it right when they built their entire infrastructure from scratch using fiber optics. Comcast and Verizon both utilized their existing copper networks, and fiber optics is much faster. The downside is, of course, you have to live in their service area to get the service.

These next 2 paragraphs come from their web site, and the link to it is below.

Broadband comes from the words "broad bandwidth." Bandwidth typically refers to how fast data flows through the path that it travels to your computer; it’s usually measured in kilobits, megabits or gigabits per second. The greater the bandwidth, the greater the amount of data that can travel in a given time period.

Burlington Telecom offers what is know as "Symmetrical Bandwidth" which means that your upload and download speeds are potentially the same. This is a huge benefit for those who send large files such as photos, music, and video out across the internet. Typically with symmetrical bandwidth outgoing e-mail leaves a much quicker rate freeing the resources of your PC for other tasks.

BT offers speeds of 3M/3M, 5M/5M, and 8M/8M to their resiential customers. Noet that due to their symmetrical bandwidth feature the download and upload speeds are the same.

If you live in their service area, you can check out the prices at this link.

Burlington Telecomm

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Wild Blue

Okay, here is the second of the two satellite service providers I know of that serve Northern Vermont. I should have mentioned yesterday that I know Hughes also serves Maine, and Wild Blue does too. Check their home page and enter your zip code to see if they service your area.

Wild Blue, like Hughes, requires a satellite dish. They offer three plans that you can view at the web site link below. As with HughesNet, Wild Blue should be viewed as possibly competing with Verizon's DSL, although Verizon's Power Plan is double the speed of the fastest Wild Blue plan.

Wild Blue Satellite Internet Plans

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - HughesNet Satellite

Okay, so you live in Northern Vermont and can't get Verizon's DSL or Comcast high speed internet in your area. There may be other choices for you. There are two companies I am aware of that will offer satellite service at speeds far greater than dial-up but still quite a bit slower than cable (Comcast).

One of these two is HughesNet, and I know of at least 4 of their customers in Underhill. HughesNet requires a satellite dish to be installed, and I won't even attempt to get into their pricing, but I will provide you the link below that will answer many of your questions. You can take it from there.

If interested, your best bet is to view this as a step up from dial-up, and not to compare this to Comcast HSI. You'll be disappointed if you do the latter. The web site will show you the download and upload speeds for the various plans. Some of the HughesNet plans claim speeds comparable to Verizon's DSL, as you will see.

HughesNet Satellite Internet Plans

Windows XP: Going, going … gone?

This excellent Computerworld article is today's feature story on their web site. Mostly it is about not being able to buy a new copy of Windows XP at our local Best Buy, Staples, Circuit City, or whatever after a certain date. It once again, however, does show the Windows XP timeline and how XP will be supported by Microsoft through 2014. So, if you plan to run XP until 2014, and do not have your original install CDs or DVDs, you can go out any buy a fresh copy of it now - but not for long. You can keep this fresh copy on your bookshelf should the unthinkable happen (which, unfortunately, it does once in a while!) and you have a need to reinstall XP.

Windows XP: Going, going ... gone?

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone. What a gorgeous day here in Northern Vermont. It was sunny all day with the temps around 20. Spring is surely coming soon! I spent most of the past 2 days playing around with this guy!

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Verizon

Okay, in my previous post I laid out a lot of the groundwork, so this post is a bit easier, and easy for you all to understand, I hope. Please let me know if you have any questions, and most of all, please let me see some of your results from speedtest.net.

Verizon's high speed internet offering is frequently referred to simply as DSL. DSL means Digital Subscriber Line. In Northern Vermont Verizon offers two plans. One is called the Starter Plan and the other is the Power Plan. IMHO I think Starter Plan is a bad name, because it implies (at least to me) that they expect you to upgrade at some point to the Power Plan. The Starter Plan is the one you see and hear advertised and is usually the subject of any USPS solicitations you may receive from Verizon. They seem to always have specials on the Starter Plan (you know, the first 6 months are at a reduced rate, etc.). If you subscribe, be sure to ask about specials.

So what are the advertised speed rates for Verizon DSL? Here they are:

Starter Plan: 768 kbps download & 128 kbps upload.

Power Plan: 3000 kbps download and 768 kbps upload.

FWIW, Verizon tends to compare their speeds against dial-up, and that's fair since they know most prospective DSL customers are using dial-up and can't wait to get high speed internet.

On the other hand, you can now compare the DSL speeds to what Comcast offers and make your decision about which way to go based on costs and your computing needs. Of course, I am speaking about those fortunate enough to have their choice of ISPs offering high speed internet, realizing that those of us with that choice are few and far between in Northern Vermont.

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Comcast

I will address each ISP's "advertised" speed rates one at a time and in separate posts. First, I will discuss the Comcast High Speed Internet offering in Northern Vermont, where I live. I am a Comcast customer, and have had high speed internet since Adelphia (since gobbled up by Comcast) first offered it in our area. I stress that this is for MY area because I have learned that Comcast offers different packages in different areas of the country, each with its own advertised speed rates.

A few posts ago I introduced speedtest.net as a good web site to measure your own actual speeds. If you did that you noticed that they measured download speed and also upload speed. The reason for this is that each ISP advertises their download speeds and also their upload speeds, so there are two numbers you should be concerned about.

So what about Comcast high speed internet in Northern Vermont?

Their advertised download speed is 6000 kbps (That's kilobits per second. Divide by 8 for a rough approximation of the actual number of bytes or characters.) Their advertised upload speed is 384 kbps. These are the rates advertised for their standard offering. This is the plan I have.

Comcast does offer an option to upgrade for $10 a month to 8000 kbps download and 768 kbps upload.

I learned while visiting a Comcast customer in Boston recently that there Comcast offers a third and slower basic rate for less money. I do not know if that option is available in VT, but it sounded like an offer that would be competitive with Verizon's slower DSL offering.

So, I have been tracking my actual speeds achieved over the past few weeks with Comcast, and have found that on the average I get 5300 kbps download and 365 kbps upload. I intend to speak to Comcast to get their side of why I might not be getting the full 6000 kbps, but I would have to say that I am a pretty satisfied customer. I do use a router in addition to their modem, and have a wireless network within my home. I'd have to think that the router will slow things down a tad.

If you are a Comcast customer here in Northern Vermont, I'd be interested in knowing your experience. Do take many measurements before making your conclusion about your speeds. BTW, I normally use the Portland, ME pyramid while at speedtest.net. You can contact me by clicking on "Contact the PC DOC" over to the right of this post.

Five things you’ll love (or hate) about IE8

Getting ahead of the curve a little, here is one man's opinion of Internet Explorer 8. IMHO, it seems to look a lot like Firefox, my favorite browser.

Five things you'll love (or hate) about IE8

They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.

Even the New York Times gets in on the act of blasting Microsoft's Windows Vista. Read about the lawsuit against Microsoft and some of the e-mails written by Microsoft current and former executives.

I concur with the comment about Vista performance based on my own experience. I frankly have very few nice things to say about Vista.

They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.

Hannaford Reports Data Theft

Geez, all Northeast stores are affected, and the theft includes both credit and debit cards. If you are not tracking your credit cards online, perhaps you should. Most credit card providers give us the option to view daily activity online, so you can keep close tabs on charges and report any suspicious activity at the earliest possible date. Read more about this at the link below.

Hannaford chain reports data theft

Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Are you a Windows Vista user? Rumor has it that SP1 will be released to users tomorrow, March 18. I would suggest that, if you have an option to accept it now or to install it later, you defer. I'd suggest waiting a few months before installing it. Early releases of new software are frequently problematic.

Got High Speed Internet?

Do you really? Below is a good web site that will tell you just how fast your connection really is. Click on the link below and once there, click on the yellow pyramid. You can watch the test as it progresses, measuring download and upload speeds. When the test is finished, you will see your results in the lower left hand corner of the screen, but give it a moment and it will then give you a second screen with the results displayed there too. On the second screen your results are displayed in the upper left hand corner. Notice that on the right side, right below the "Rate Your ISP" box are smaller letters spelling out "View your past results.....". Click on that and on the third screen you will once again see your results, but in the bottom half of that window, they will keep a record of your results every time you try the test. This is an excellent FREE tool (have you gotten the idea that I like FREE?!). Now click on TEST AGAIN in the upper right hand portion of this third screen, and start all over. Select another pyramid if you want. Do this test many times and you will soon have a universe of samples large enough (on the lower portion of screen 3) so that you can say that "on the average" my ISP provides me a download speed of xxxx kb/s and an upload speed of yyyy kb/s.

In a subsequent post I'll list what the various ISPs in our region CLAIM to be their download and upload speeds, and you can judge your own system's performance for yourself.

FYI, the notation "kb/s" means kilobits per second, or thousands of bits per second. If you wish to further translate that into something you may understand, divide each number by 8 to get a rough approximation of how many characters (or bytes if you prefer) are actually being downloaded or uploaded per second.

SPEEDTEST.NET

Checking the System Properties of your Windows XP PC

Do you know the level of the operating system software on your XP PC? Do you have a feel for the speed of your microprocessor(s)? Do you know how much RAM (random access memory) your computer has? Click below to find out how to check up on these things and more.

 Checking System Properties in Windows XP

And now, a word from our sponsor

As usual, I am offering a special Spring cleanup and tuning of your PC, this year for a flat fee of $100. This includes up to 3 hours of my time. This offer is valid for the Jericho-Underhill area between now and April 30. The same offer applies for Boothbay Region customers between May 1 and June 15. Please contact me for arrangements if you live outside of these areas.

If your PC seems to have lost its get up and go, you probably need a cleanup and tuning.

Did you know that I can now support you from a remote site? I do not have to come to your home, which means I can support Mainers from Vermont and Vermonters from Maine. A prerequisite is that your PC can still connect to the internet, and you must have a high speed internet connection (DSL, Cable, Wild Blue, or Hughes Network).

Visit my web site for contact information

Tuning Windows XP

The System Configuration Utility, an easy to use program in Windows XP,  will take you one step closer to having a well-tuned Windows XP system. I use it every time I visit a customer's home or office as a part of my system tune-up process.

The System Configuration Utility in Windows XP

The Best Offense is a Good Defense

Even if you’re not paranoid, that doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you, so be careful, and take preventive measures. You do not have to become a victim and you can avoid PC problems if you read and follow the suggestions in my The Best Offense is a Good Defense white paper.

The Best Offense is a Good Defense

If you have any questions after reading the above white paper, you can contact me here:

Contact the PC Doctor

Summer vacation on the coast of Maine

If you've ever thought of taking a vacation on the coast of Maine, I have a web site for you. This is one where you can deal directly with the cottage owner, so there are no middle man commissions or other overhead. These cottages are located in the very popular Boothbay Region. Check it out.

Boothbay Region For Rent By Owner (BRFRBO) 

Movie Fan?

If you are a fan of movies, past or present, you should spend some time at The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) web site. Here you can find amazing amounts of data about almost any picture ever made. Give it a try.

IMDB Web Site

Kim Komando

I've hesitated to post this for two reasons: one, Kim has begun offering paid membership to parts of her web site and only paid-up members can access these areas. Too bad. Two, Kim has taken to recycling old posts without updating them, and these sometimes contain dated material.

However, with some caution the casual user may find tidbits at her site that are helpful and useful. I recommend that you do NOT sign up for her free newsletters. I have tried them all, and they are chock full of ads. Kim is enjoying great success, and is able to attract firms wanting to insert ads in her free subscription e-mail reports. You suffer if you sign up.

Instead, visit her web site frequently, check out the Tip of the Day and other items of interest to you posted under News. Also, her message boards do contain some good information.

Kim's radio show is broadcast every Saturday morning in most areas of the country, and her syndicated column appears in many Sunday newspapers.

Kim Komando's Web Site

Kim Komando's Message Boards

 

Checking the health of your hard drive

It's important, especially on older computers, to keep an eye on the health of your hard drive. It goes without saying that you should have a plan to back up all of your personal data on a regular basis. That done, you should run the Check Disk utility, provided by Microsoft in both XP & Vista, on a scheduled basis to ensure that the health of your hard drive is good. If yours shows what appear to be serious errors and not just the "cleaning up of minor inconsistencies" you should keep a close eye on the drive to see if similar errors occur again. Your hard drive may be failing.

You can see how to run Check Disk by clicking below:

Running CHKDSK in Windows XP

Running CHKDSK in Windows Vista

Snopes

We have all received e-mails warning us of impending doom from a computer virus that will destroy all of the information on our hard drives. Other e-mails may promise riches or something else too good to be true, but only if we do what we are asked to do. And we have all been asked to forward that e-mail to everyone in our address books. Unfortunately, many of us do just that without doing any checking.

Here is a web site that will help you decide if the note you received is for real or not, and if you'll take the time to search it for the supposed virus, worm, or trojan or scam or whatever, you may find that it is indeed a hoax that has been around for a while or even many years. Once you know it is a hoax, you can reply to the sender informing them, instead of forwarding the e-mail on to all in your address book.

Snopes.com

Woody’s Lounge

I recently was doing some research on a problem with Microsoft Outlook and stumbled upon a site called Woody's Lounge. I found what I needed there, and I believe that it might be useful to others as well. Mostly it was touted as a resource for Microsoft Office applications, like Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Access, etc., but it also has some more generic fora, like Windows XP for example. There is also an Outlook Express forum. You can view and search the many fora to see if maybe your problem has already been discussed. It is also worthwhile registering so that you can post your problem. Check it out at:

Woody's Lounge