Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Repair XP


How to Repair Windows XP

How to access Safe Mode:
Reboot your computer while holding down the F8 Key. At the Advanced Options Menu select the option for Safe Mode and press Enter.

How to access Last Known Good Configuration:
Reboot your computer while holding down the F8 Key. At the Advanced Options Menu select Last Known Good Configuration.

Hopefully you've set a restore point rather than let the computer do it for you. Download the program System Restore Point posted earlier in this blog.

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm#How%20to%20access%20Safe%20Mode:

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Windows Vista Tip of the Day

Restore the Run Command to Vista’s
Start Menu

From PC World Magazine
Scott Dunn

Here’s a quick fix for the omission of this important option from
the default Start menu in Vista.

If you use the default Start menu in Windows Vista (as opposed to
the Classic Start menu), the Run command doesn’t appear in it. To
change that, right-click the Start button and choose Properties. With
the Start Menu tab active, click the Customize button in the upper
right. Scroll through the list of options and check Run command.
Click OK twice. The command will now appear in the lower-right
corner of the Start menu.
April 29, 2008

Windows Steady State:

Lock down your user interface

Users sometimes go places and do things they shouldn't on shared machines. Now you can help protect sensitive locations and restrict user access to features such as Control Panel. Ever wish you could undo everything?

You can't always prevent problems during a user session, but now you can undo the whole session. Learn how Windows SteadyState can return your computer and hard disk to its exact condition before the user touched it, simply by rebooting.

I installed and used Returnil. It was a Giveawayoftheday freebie a little while ago. Returnil info at: http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/

Monday, April 28, 2008

Updated: Creation of a System Restore Point

System Restore Point

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_sysrestorepoint.htm

Note: version 1.2 is preferred.


Single Click Creation of a System Restore Point/Runs as a Scheduled Task
© 2002 - 2007 - Doug Knox

SysRestorePoint.exe is a small VB utility that will allow you to create a System Restore Point, with no user intervention.

There are now two versions:

v1.0 - When run automatically creates the Restore Point with no dialogs or notifications, unless there is a problem creating the Restore Point.

v1.1 - Displays a dialog while the Restore Point is being created, and a dialog will show that the Restore Point was successfully created or not. If it was successful, the dialog will automatically dismiss after 5 seconds.

v1.2 - Modified to work with Windows Vista.

Usage: Download the appropriate file and extract the contents to your hard drive. Create a shortcut to the EXE that you extracted. This shortcut can be placed in your Start Menu, on your Desktop or even your Quick Launch bar. To run this utility every time the system starts, simply place a shortcut in Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder. Restore Points are listed in the System Restore Calendar as "Automatic Restore Point" along with the time it was created.

v1.0 - SysRestorePoint.zip
v1.1 - SysRestorePoint_v11.zip
v1.2 - SysRestorePoint_v12.zip (Works with Windows XP and Windows Vista).

This utility is only intended for Windows® XP. If run on Windows 2000, it simply won't do anything. It may crash if the VB 6 runtimes are not installed, but it will NOT create a Restore Point, regardless.

Get Visual Basic Run Time 6.0 from here: http://tinyurl.com/6qy3m (Microsoft)

Based on original work by Bill James.

This page last updated 06/07/2007 15:13
All material © Doug Knox

The Portable Freeware Collection


Portable Freeware
Portable Means:
  • It must run without installation.
  • It must run on older versions of Windows which might not have been updated.
  • It must not have any coupling with Internet Explorer, audio/video codecs, DirectX etc.
  • It must not write settings to the registry or local filesystem.
  • It must not leave any trace on the host machine at all, even when the app crashes (hereby referred to as "stealth").
  • It must run with guest access rights.
  • It must be able to compensate for USB memory stick drive letter changes.
  • http://www.portablefreeware.com/
http://portablefreeware.com/forums/ is also a good place to go if you have trouble with any application. There are 1224 applications on this website.

WinPenPack Free USB portable apps


winPenPack is an applications environment of Free Softwares, modified for being run and used from an USB pendrive, without need of installation. The removable device, so, is no more a simple data container, but becomes a really self-contained environment, within programs and documents are homogeneously integrated.
"Portable" softwares included into winPenPack does not need to be installed, does not write their settings into host PC, and can be easily carried between multiple computers through any external device, as removable hard disks or USB pendrives.
After inserting the USB pendrive into a free USB port of host PC, user will have immediately available a collection of pre-configured and ready to use programs, subdivided in categories and executable through a practical menu, analogue to Windows Quick Launch, the winPenPack Launcher. User will feel as is working on its own PC, with web browsers, e-mail clients, image and drawing editors, chat clients, PC maintenance and security, school, development. All he needs, always available. All these features make winPenPack extremely useful in any field.

http://winpenpack.com/main/page.php?10
http://winpenpack.com/main/download.php
Even more Portable apps to come.

Portable Apps for your USB drive


PortableApps.com provides a truly open platform that works with any hardware you like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc). It's open source built around an open format that any hardware vendor or software developer can use.
We've shown this before but this is still a good website with lots of FREE software. You don't have to use a USB drive to run this software, come to a SPCUG meeting and we'll show you how to install it. There are several other apps similar to this, more to follow on this blog.

http://portableapps.com/

KeyScrambler Personal 2.0


KeyScrambler Personal 2.0

The anti-keylogging program protects all parts of the browser and encrypts everything you type into a web page—logins, account numbers, addresses, and email messages. Absolutely Free.
Installation Specifications:
- Windows 2000, 2003, XP, or Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Firefox 1.5 and later, Flock 1.0 and later, or others
- Internect connection
- File size: ~1.2MB
- Download time: 2 minutes
MD5 checksum: No longer necessary. KeyScrambler 1.2.0 and later are digitally signed by QFX Software Corporation.

Note: I've been using this for about a year and it works fine, great for people that do banking online!

http://www.qfxsoftware.com/Download.htm

Track email received and MORE music on line.

Now you can find out when your email has been read by the recipient! No more guessing: "Has he or she read my email yet?" SpyPig is a simple email tracking system that sends you a notification email as soon as the recipient opens and reads your message. It works with virtually all modern email programs: Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo Email, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL Email and many others. http://www.spypig.com

Music on Demand: http://www.deezer.com/ On line music, radio, etc. Free. NO downloads necessary.

Broadband 2.0

Wow - speeds up to 50-100 mbps! Wonder when that will hit Sequim?

Read more about it here.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Karen's Replicator v3.5.12 Backup Utility Free


Automatically backup files, directories, even entire drives! Karen's Replicator copies selected files from one drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can reside anywhere on your network.

Options include repeated copies at intervals as short as a few minutes, or as long as several months, copy only files that have changed, and the replication of folder and file deletions.

New features allow you to specify which files should not be copied, and also which days a file should be skipped!



http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp

Duh..........















Click on IMAGE for full-sized view....

Friday, April 25, 2008

Wireless Internet in Sequim

Nikola Broadband - Wireless, high speed internet. No contracts. Faster than DSL or Cable. 99.9% up time. Up to 8Mbps. Service starts at $49 month. Visit the web site at: http://www.broadband.nikola.com or call 582-1051. Nikola is a local, Sequim company on Washington Street in downtown Sequim.

Pangea Day films.....10 May, 11AM, PDST

http://www.pangeaday.org/winningFilms.php
.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Electronic parts, printable papers, NEWS, free books and Psych on line

Search for electronic parts: http://octopart.com/


Printable papers. Graph paper, lined, stationary, musical staves, etc. FREE http://www.printablepaper.net/


RocketNews - http://www.rocketnews.com/


Mentioned before, in issue 93 of this newsletter, RocketNews discovers the most popular stories from over 60,000 news sources from around the web. RocketNews organizes all stories into categories like sports and entertainment and into subjects making it easy for users to find and connect to the issues and stories that interest them. RocketNews discovers the most popular stories from over 60,000 news sources from around the web.


RocketNews organizes all stories into categories like sports and entertainment and into subjects making it easy for users to find and connect to the issues and stories that interest them.

J
ustFreeBooks http://www.justfreebooks.info/
“JustFreeBooks search the content of more than 450 web sites, including gutenberg.org, wikibooks.org and archive.org. With JustFreeBooks you can find public domain texts, open books, free audio books, ad-supported books and more.”


AllPsych Online http://allpsych.com/ AllPsych Online is one of the largest and most comprehensive psychology websites on the Internet. Inside the site you'll find over over 920 individual, cross referenced, web pages and an estimated 3000 pages of printed material.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0

Basic antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows available to download for free. Limited features, no support, for private and non-commercial use only. This replaces AVG Free 7.5.

I've downloaded and tried this, it has a new user interface and appears to be easier to use and configure.

Archival Storage Materials, including CDs and DVDs

Have a look at this site if you have a need for archival storage of papers, pictures and data. For example: http://tinyurl.com/6d56lt

The gold CDs are supposed to be viable for 300 years. The problem is what to play them on in 300 years, right?

The new gold CD-R and DVD (-R) have been tested for long life capability by subjecting them to accelerated exposure to extreme heat, humidity, bright lighting and other factors.

New template coming...

Our competent and professional web designer is working on some templates and color schemes which will better suit our materials and a unique site design we are want to see here.

Hard drive with the COVER off - TURN ON YOUR SOUND.


This video was made with an inexpensive FLIP video camera at my home office. It was then imported into iMovie, where the titles and transition between scenes was added. I bought my Flip camera at CostCo for $89.00. Flip video at: http://www.theflip.com
While filming, I wrote and read to the drive, but the heads did not move enough to show on the video.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A couple of new links...save ink, make podcasts, etc.

Do complete uninstalls of programs, and clean out your system. Revo Uninstaller solves an all-too-common problem: Programs whose uninstallation routines are sloppy. Not uncommonly, when you uninstall programs in Windows, they leave bits and pieces of themselves behind, such as Registry entries. This program promises to find all those bits and pieces and zap them so that when you uninstall software, your computer gets truly clean.

The program does more than just uninstall software. Revo Uninstaller also includes other cleaning tools, including an Autorun manager, that will show you all the programs that start on system startup--and lets you kill or remove any that you don't want run. And there's a very useful "Tracks Cleaner" that will remove traces of your browsing history, as well as traces left behind by Microsoft Office applications. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,66703/download.html


---------------------
Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
File Size: 23602KB
Downloads Count: 2089
Author: GreenPrint Technologies
Streamline your printouts and save money with this free utility.

The GreenPrint Technologies CEO says the company's goal is "ending wasteful printing worldwide." To that end, it recently released this free version of the $35 GreenPrint Home.

GreenPrint World has many of the same features: It scans print jobs and removes pages that it determines are waste, like Web pages with just one line of text. It also removes most ads from Web pages automatically; lets you preview print jobs and remove images, text, or full pages; creates PDFs; and tracks the paper, money, and greenhouse gases you're saving. The free version is ad supported, with pitches for eco-conscious companies that appear in the Preview window. It lacks tech support, automatic version updates, and a few other features that the paid versions support.

In my tests GreenPrint World worked well. It installs as a separate printer that you select when printing from any application. You can set the default device that GreenPrint uses when you install the software, and you can change devices once you're in the program's Preview screen. You can also customize GreenPrint's parameters, choosing to strip out all graphics, for example. The program removes most advertisements, but not all, so you may need to do some fine tuning--but that's easily accomplished.

GreenPrint World is a great tool for home users who hate to waste printer ink and paper. Businesses are invited to evaluate the free version, but asked to upgrade to the $70 GreenPrint Enterprise edition. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,69661/download.html
----------------------
License Type: Free
Price: Free
Date Added: Feb 2008
Operating Systems: Windows XP
Requirements: Microphone, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
File Size: 25931KB
Downloads Count: 4001
Author: Equicast Media LLC
Podcast like a pro with this easy-to-use recording, mixing, show-building software. You don't need a professional recording studio to immortalize your brilliant thoughts and dulcet tones. All you need is a free program called WildVoice Studio.

WildVoice Studio's compact main window is broken into four components: Sound FX, Background Tracks, Mixer, and Show Builder. WVS includes a number of common sound effects--car horns, kisses, thunder, and so forth--and lets you add your own as well. Background Tracks can search your folders for files in the supported formats (AIFF, MP1, MP2, MP3, OGG, WAV,) and fade them in and out of your show. In Mixer, you move the sliders to get the volume mix right. Show Builder shows you a recording preview so you can see the volume levels, and you can create several clips to paste together into one show. None of this takes any special knowledge or equipment, although of course better recording equipment will produce better results.

I tested WildVoice Studio by reading bits of a Dickens novel aloud, doing each paragraph as one take. WildVoice lets you add sound effects and your own background tracks as you go, instead of creating separate tracks to mix. I slapped in a few of WildVoice's provided sound effects for good measure. One nifty feature: You can freeze all the tracks in place if you have to stop for a moment, then unfreeze when you're ready to record again.

Building the show was a snap. I just lined up my clips, saved the show as a WildVoice file, then selected "Save Show to MP3 and Publish" (skipping the "publish" part) to save as MP3.

That said, if you register with WildVoice, you can upload your podcasts to WildVoice.com, where your adoring fans can listen, comment, and Digg your work. It's a simple way to broadcast your shows without eating up your own bandwidth.

Note: WildVoice Studio Setup will install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, if it's not already installed on your PC. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,69518/download.html

------------------
Oh, and if you do decide to get a new router, here's a tool that'll help if you ever lose your router's wireless network keys--the WEP or WPA codes. (We've all been there, right?) NirSoft's free WirelessKeyView lets you recover them all, saving everything to a file or right onto your clipboard. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wirelesskeyview.zip
Nirsoft has a lot of utilities on their site. Check it out.

Bleak future predicted for Windows

Article from Tech World.

WebReaper...download whole web sites...FREE

The WebReaper home page - WebReaper is web crawler or spider, which can work its way through a website, downloading pages, pictures and objects that it finds so that they can be viewed locally, without needing to be connected to the internet.

The sites can be saved locally as a fully-browsable website which can be viewed with any browser (such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, etc), or they can be saved into the Internet Explorer cache and viewed using IE's off line mode as if the you'd surfed the sites 'by hand'. I have used it for over a year and I find it easy to install and use. It's fast and I have never had a problem with it. I've used it recently to download the whole SPCUG web site. -tp. BTW...doesn't work with VISTA, but I know of one that does, so there are FREEBIES for this task if you look. I use the search string: "download web site + freeware" [no quotation marks].

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Windows Sysinternals troubleshooting tools

Great troubleshooting tools by Microsoft

The Sysinternals web site was created in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to host their advanced system utilities and technical information. Microsoft acquired Sysinternals in July, 2006. Whether you’re an IT Pro or a developer, you’ll find Sysinternals utilities to help you manage, troubleshoot and diagnose your Windows systems and applications. If you have a question about a tool or how to use them, please visit the Sysinternals Forum for answers and help from other users and our moderators.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

Any time we post, we will try to make all the URLs "hot", so you do not have to type in the URL. -Site Admin.

Easy WiFi Radar

Easy WiFi Radar

Some things in life should be free. Easy WiFi Radar helps you find and connect to open wireless access points with a single mouseclick. It's WiFi for Dummies. And we're giving it away for your PC.

If you have ever tried to use Windows XP's built-in connection manager, you know what a hassle it can be to quickly check your mail or browse the web on the go. You need to browse through a list of access points, find one that you can connect to, manually try to connect to it, confirm the connection and then wait. Even if it says that's it connected, often it doesn't open a webpage or you mail will stall. Easy WiFi Radar automates all of this. It's main goal is to let you get your mail or surf the web without having to go through all of the connection trouble, and without having to pull your creditcard. Just run it and it'll connect you for FREE to the internet. It doesn't get easier than this.

free wifiGet your mail and browse the web without being charged. The ideal WiFi-tool for frequent travellers and mobile professionals. Easy WiFi Radar will connect to open hotspots automatically and shows you exactly what it is doing in a cool animated radar screen. Access points are represented as green, yellow or red dots. It plays a sound and opens your webbrowser as soons as it succesfully finds a free connection.

CHANGE OF TEMPLATE FOR SITE

The template was changed to accommmodate information in left hand column. The previous template did not accommodate the information in the narrow, RIGHT column.

T. Pitre
Blogster

Monday, April 21, 2008

Latest posts...electronics shopping and what's your IP info?

Product advisor for ELECTRONICS...prices, pictures, etc. Good resource when shopping: http://www.retrevo.com/


What's MY IP address...where am I...etc.
http://www.ip-adress.com/ipaddresstolocation/

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Mail To Web....

mail2web.com provides a free web-based email retrieval application that allows users from anywhere to anonymously pick up their email from almost any POP3 and IMAP4 email server. No registration is required to access or use the application. Rather than offer another email address like Hotmail® or Yahoo Mail!®, mail2web.com allows you to use your existing email account.

Retrieving and sending email with mail2web.com is as simple as entering your email address and password. Now you can easily read, reply, forward and even delete messages all while you're away from your regular email program. [From Steve S.] Pub. on SPCUG web site for members in August of 2007.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Quiz question for today...4/19

I am an international CHESS champion from Hungary. My name is Zsusa Polgar.

Friday, April 18, 2008

SPCUG Photos



Assorted photographs and graphics pertaining to the Sequim PC Users Group from 2005 through 2008.

Click on the individual pictures for larger images. There is even a map to our meeting place and the meeting room, itself, in this series of images.

Latest links

Reverse telephone look up on AnyWho: http://www.anywho.com/qry/wp_rl

Only2Clicks - speed dial to favorite web site and make it your start page: http://http://www.only2clicks.com/

PicLens Version: 1.6.2 License Type: Free Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP Add PicLens to your Firefox Web browser to get a new way of viewing many photos at once on selected sites. Supported sites include Flickr, Smugmug, Facebook, Google Images, and others. On those sites, if you mouseover a photo you'll see a small play button in the lower left of the image. Click that button to get the PicLens photo display, a 3D-animated presentation screen with a wall of thumbnails for all the pics on the page you started on. You can shift left and right through the wall using a box at the bottom of the display. If you ever view photos on the supported sites, give PicLens a whirl. It's not oftn that an applet makes something more glitzy and more efficient at the same time. -- Erik Larkin Go to the download page now: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,70443-order,1-page,1/description.html?tk=nl_ddxdwn

Update. a-squared Free 3.5.0.8 (formerly a² free) Freeware! A2 is a free of charge Anti-Trojan, Anti-Worm, Anti-Dialer and Anti-Spyware Software - optimal protection: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/ Download a-squared Free - Free for private use! http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/ Direct link to first, download mirror: http://download6.emsisoft.com/a2FreeSetup.exe

Thursday, April 17, 2008

PANGEADAY 10 May - 11AM, PDST

NSFW - not safe for work

Ever clicked a link and felt embarrassed with the content in front of your co-workers?
Ever caught unaware because the funny link your friend sent was a little beyond funny?
Main page at: http://nsfw.in/

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Boomdeada.......



I guarantee a warm fuzzy feeling if you watch this short video.

Example of SHARED file on A DRIVE

This is a .pdf TEMPLATE for a CD or DVD envelope.


http://adrive.com/public/2a027775c5e510d460af05c944b88c9fee2ef5392a0d0b12f404e65cc3d7d48d.html

Monday, April 14, 2008

Officers Will Have Access


One really nice feature is that all the officers can have access to posting information, graphics, and sources. This should really bring more of a sense of ownership to the club's web presence and maybe create some interest that wasn't there before.

Announcement

The Sequim PC User's Group will be directed to this BLOG late in the year. The SPCUG web site will be decommissioned, thus saving the club time, money and resources which can be better used elsewhere.
T. Pitre, VP, SPCUG

Friday, April 4, 2008

Marketing on The Web with VIDEO - 4 Apr., 2008

NEW YORK — You don't need a pan and a stream in California to join the next gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do.

A vast array of professional and semiprofessional producers are starting to use those tools to create ad-friendly entertainment and news videos expressly for the Web. The goal is to dramatically change people's video-viewing habits — and cash in on a potentially enormous business opportunity.

"It's like the early days of cable," says former Viacom executive Herb Scannell, now CEO of Internet video investment and support firm Next New Networks. "We're inventing new business models, new talent and new programming models."

Internet users already can find countless fresh choices in the middle ground between reruns of slick network TV programming, such as the shows on Hulu.com, and amateur clips such as the kind popularized by YouTube.

Popular genres for original Web productions include dramatic series (Lonelygirl15and Prom Queen), topical comedy (BarelyPolitical.com, 236.com and comic Will Ferrell's Funny Or Die), news analysis (TalkingPointsMemo) and specialized interests (for example, ThreadBanger offers the latest about sewing and knitting).

Producers have powerful incentive to test the market: Ad spending for Internet videos will rise 455% by 2011 to $4.3 billion, says research firm eMarketer.

"It's growing faster than any other advertising category," says George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal's chief digital officer. "There's just a sea change." That's one reason his company and other major TV network owners are starting to dip their toes into original Web production. Over the past few weeks: