Updates & News

"Make Peace With Your PC" is available now! At The Computer Guru office in Santa Fe (the only source for autographed copies!), on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and direct from the Publisher, Airleaf. And also Target (online), Shop.Com, the Vh1 Shop....

In "Make Peace With Your PC," I recommend Microsoft Outlook 2003 as an excellent industry-standard e-mail client with fine junk-mail control features (or spam-filtering, if you will). But some clients don't want to spring for Outlook 2003 ($110), and Microsoft's free version of Outlook, Outlook Express, has no junk-mail features at all. You have to upgrade to Microsoft's VISTA operating system in order to get "Windows Mail," the Outlook Express replacement which does have junk mail filtering capabilities.

Some internet service providers, like EarthLink, do a pretty good job of controlling junk mail for you, heading off junk mail "at the source" and providing a free e-mail client program (EarthLink Total Access E-Mail) with built-in junk mail management features. I've been told MSN controls spam pretty well also.

But if your ISP doesn't do a good job of controlling spam, and you can't (or won't) spring for Outlook 2003, what can you do?

Although I'm an Outlook man myself, the Thunderbird program offers good junk-mail filtering at zero cost, which doesn't sound too terrible. Is the program as good as Outlook 2003? I don't think so; the import and export features for both the address book and e-mail folders are minimal compared to Outlook, it doesn't have a calendar or tasks/notes manager, it doesn't have Outlook's handy "all-in-one" .PST file architecture...

For years, we shunned "web mail" programs like Yahoo Mail and Microsoft's Hotmail. We did this for many reasons. First, web mail systems require a "live" internet connection; you could only access your mail messages or address book when you were "online." If you weren't online, you couldn't get at your mail and your messages. Second, the interfaces were very "clunky" and the list of supported features was very short. It was painful to use web mail, in short. Third, because these free programs can be created and destroyed "on the fly," they were the favorite choice of scammers and spammers. It is still considered preferable in many circles to have a "real" e-mail address (at Comcast or Earthlink or MSN or even AOL!) then it is to have a "free" e-mail address.

But now, with ongoing improvements in the quality and usability of the interfaces, and the ubiquity of "always on" high-speed internet connections, you might want to give web mail systems a second look!

Nowadays, Yahoo Mail, Google's "GMail," and Comcast WebMail have pretty slick interfaces and work quite well. A major benefit of these web mail systems is that, first, your e-mail messages and address book are available to you from any web-connected computer on the planet, not just from your own system. Second, your e-mail messages and address book are backed up reliably on the e-mail company's servers, meaning, if your system hard drive crashes or your laptop is stolen or what-have-you, all your messages and address book remain intact, untouched! A nice feature, in a world where it is still difficult to convince people to back up their work!

So if you've "pooh-poohed" web mail systems in the past, you might want to reconsider web mail! Oh, in addition, web mail programs are free for the using, although (naturally) you will still need to pay for internet access, unless you're surfing the net for free in some wi-fi hot spot....

Of course, if you're using Google's G-Mail, then the Google Boys are probably mining your personal data and selling your e-mail address to anyone and everyone on the planet, especially greedy corporations (like Google) who have you in their sights and are ready to pull the trigger, but hey...

In "Make Peace With Your PC," I mentioned Microsoft's own Anti-Spyware program (named, in typical colorful Microsoft fashion, "Microsoft AntiSpyware"), but felt it was not quite ready for prime-time, and I questioned whether Microsoft would ever release it.

Sure enough, Microsoft has discontinued this product, and replaced it with a new product called "Microsoft Defender." Check it out at:

Seriously, I've tried it, and it's not half-bad! I like the fact that it has an automated scan scheduler built-in, which makes it potentially much more helpful for all those people who have Lavasoft's Ad-Aware or Spybot's Search and Destroy installed but never use them or even update them!!! I also like the fact that it checks for updated spyware definitions before it scans, which means you're always searching for the bad guys with the latest list of suspects in-hand.

All told, a solid improvement over Microsoft's earlier effort. But a program like AVG's Anti-Spyware still does a far better job of hunting down and removing spyware from your computer, although this product is only free for a month and you'll need to pay for it after the trial period is over. Spybot Search and Destroy is still a favorite, very powerful, but difficult to use correctly (I've tried to explain this, below). Lavasoft Ad-Aware has come up with a new version, 2007, which is difficult to use and confusing, awful in fact, so we're staying with the earlier version, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE, which is still available and much easier for folks to use.

Some folks can't believe how frequently new updates come "down the pike" -- as often as two or even three times a week, for some anti-virus/internet security programs, for example!

To the question, "How often does Microsoft provide updates to the Windows operating system and Internet Explorer web browser," the answer is, "Microsoft's package of security updates is released on the second Tuesday of every month."

In "Make Peace With Your PC, I devote an entire chapter to the all-important subject of backup. I describe various methods of backing up one's work, everything from simple "drag and drop" to specialized backup programs you must purchase at additional cost..

One method I recommend is the built-in backup utility included in Microsoft Windows XP Professional. I should point out that this utility is also included on Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition disks, but is not installed by default. Therefore, if you have Home Edition on your PC and would like to try Microsoft's backup program, you can find it on the CD in the \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP directory.

If your system did not come with a standard XP disk (for example, if it came with XP software "pre-installed" on the hard drive, or a set of "recovery disks" rather than a "real" XP Home Edition disk), or if you've lost your disk, or what-have-you, then you might have a harder time grabbing the backup utility. Try contacting your computer manufacturer for help, or bring the system to your local computer guru and ask them to add the utility to your XP Home Edition installation.

Users who've tried the Microsoft backup program report difficulty with passwords. Specifically, the system asks you for a password before performing the backup, even though you don't have a password set up on your system. How can you enter a password that doesn't exist, and why does the program ask you for one?!?!?

The easiest workaround for this issue is to CREATE a User Password on your Windows XP system before trying the XP backup utility. Then, once you've established a password, simply enter this password when the XP backup utility asks you for a password. Then things will start happening as they should.

To create a password: Start - Control Panel - User Accounts - Change An Account - (Click on The Account) -- Create A Password.

After all this, however, customers still report that they simply can't figure out Windows XP backup, and that it doesn't work very well. They've also reported that the program doesn't overwrite existing backup files, even when you ask it to. HEY, you get what you pay for, and this is a free program! So remember the recommendation in my book: use Stompsoft's PC Backup instead (note: Stompsoft has been acquired by Migo Software).

News Flash: Microsoft has introduced Easy, One-Button Backup in "Vista," the newest version of Microsoft Windows, scheduled for release at the end of this year. This is a vast improvement over the current, "geeky" backup utility in XP, which no ordinary user seems to be able to figure out. Stay tuned!

The next time you're faced with the decision, "which high-speed internet service provider should I choose?" -- or, alternatively, "which internet security (firewall, antivirus, antispyware) software should I buy?" -- consider this: Comcast ( www.comcast.net ) offers its customers free McAfee internet security programs!

These are not the "web-based" programs I advise against in "Make Peace With Your PC," but real, full versions of McAfee's antivirus, firewall, and privacy service programs. The antivirus program also takes care of spyware, although I'd suggest using additional antispyware programs as well, and I don't recommend you bother with the privacy service). These programs would cost you anywhere from $40 - $80 if you bought them at the store -- any store, including mine!

So, if you're "on" Comcast, be sure to take advantage of Comcast's excellent offer.

I recently had the opportunity of performing near-simultaneous downloads of a very large file on two internet-connected machines. One was served by Comcast cable, and the other by a popular DSL service (whom I don't want to bash because they are as good or better than any other DSL service!).

I was startled to find that the download done over Comcast was much, much faster than the download done over DSL (1.5MBPS). The Comcast download was finished while the DSL download was just chugging away!

The popular, free Spyware detection and removal program, "Spybot Search and Destroy" (download at: http://www.spybot.com/en/download/index.html ) has helped many users keep their systems free from Spyware. But many clients have no idea how to use it.

4. Immunize the System Based on the updates you downloaded/installed in Step 3

Nothing to it, in other words...perform this drill every few weeks and your system should remain clean (providing you "just say no" to malicious downloads, stay away from nasty porno and online gaming sites, and opt out of any get-rich-quick schemes hailing from Nigeria).

Many of my clients still have trouble with might be called the basics of CD (or DVD) Burning. So here is a (very) quick primer to help users get a handle on the essentials of burning disks.

Disks used for burning may be divided into two basic categories: RECORDABLE (CD-R , DVD-R) and REWRITABLE (CD-RW, DVD-RW). The "W" stands for "-WRITABLE," right.

Recordable Disks are generally used for "one-time" burns. That means you designate the files and/or folders (or music) that you want to burn, and then you burn the disk (using the burning software included with your computer), and that's it: the disk is finished, you can not add or remove any information from the disk once you've burned it. Consider the disk (and the matter) "closed."

The permanent nature of the data stored on "-R" disks makes them good for archiving information; for example, taking a bunch of photographs, burning them onto the disk, and then putting the disk on your shelf for possible later access and/or long-term storage. It also makes recordable disks the best choice when you need to hand somebody a disk with information on it (photos, word processing documents, etc.). You generally don't want people deleting or modifying the information you've given them; information on recordable disks can not be deleted or modified, hence, they are the perfect choice!

Lastly, recordable disks are the only disks to use when making audio CDs; you do not want to be using rewritable (RW) disks to make standard Audio CDs; they won't work, and even if they did, the disk could be wiped out with a few clicks of a mouse. There go those precious Dylan bootlegs...

When you buy boxed software at the store, the disks you receive are Recordable Disks, and it's a good thing they are, otherwise, someone could erase the disks, rendering them useless. There goes PhotoShop...

Rewritable Disks, on the other hand, can and should be used when you want the capability to burn information over and over onto the same disk. You can easily remove or delete files and folders from rewritable disks, as often as necessary, and just as easily, you can add new information whenever you need to, up to the capacity of the disk.

For these reasons, rewritable disks are popular for backup purposes, although the relatively small storage capacity of CD-RWs (700-800MB max) makes them increasingly less useful over time, compared to external hard drives (which easily store 100-200 or more gigabytes of information -- photographs, video, etc.). Rewritable DVDs, which can hold up to 4.7GB (single-layer) or 8.4GB (dual-layer) are somewhat better, obviously, but still can not compare to the huge capacity of hard drive technology.

Of course, it's a lot easier to hand somebody a CD or DVD with your "stuff" on it, then it is to hand them a $200 hard drive with your stuff on it, and ask them to please hook it up, copy the files onto their own machine, and return the drive to you next week?!?!?

Rewritable Disks (-RW) must be formatted before they can be used. There is a format utility included with the burning software on your PC; some newer programs automate the formatting process by initiating it when you first ask to burn some information onto a new, unformatted rewritable disk. "Autoformat," is what we call this.

Recordable Disks (-R) can generally be read by any reasonably modern/healthy personal computer; recordable music disks, once burned, can be read by most (but not all) reasonably modern/healthy PCs or home/automobile CD players.

Rewritable Disks (-RW) often can not be read by computers other than the one they were created with, unless both computers by happy coincidence use the same brand of CD/DVD recording software. Manufacturers have attempted to solve this problem by automatically placing a small program on the RW disk that installs on the target computer and enables that machine to read the disk. But how cool is it to install software on somebody else's computer, even if the software is "clean" and "light" and generally trouble-free?

So you can see why recordable (-R) disks are often far less trouble to use than rewritable (-RW) disks when "swapping" disks between machines -- unless specific steps are taken by knowledgeable individuals to ensure compatibility.

If you go into the Windows Control Panel and double-click on the "Automatic Updates" icon, you will notice that most users have (unknowingly?) specified or accepted the default update time of 3AM to have updates performed automatically. However, most users, also, have their computers turned off at that time! The upshot? No updates get done! So, gang, (deep breath), EITHER make sure your system is switched on at 3AM, or change the default update time to an hour when you know the system is turned on.

The way to protect yourself against data loss is to backup your work. In my book, www.makepeacewithyourpc.com , I devote an entire chapter to this subject. I say it over, and over, and over again: backup your work!!! If I had a dollar for every time I'd said it, I'd be wealthy by now. If I had a dollar for every time a user failed to heed this advice after I'd said it, I'd be doubly wealthy. But when a user simply fails to follow this sound advice, what can be done?

I frequently install automated backup systems which can backup all your work reliably, every day, with no effort whatsoever on the user's part -- all automatic. The user does not have to lift a finger. I use such systems myself. Naturally, these backup systems cost some money, although they are well worth it. Some clients are wise enough to have me install these backup systems for them; many others do not choose to do so, presumably because they do not wish to incur the expense, however modest. In this scenario -- automated backup systems are available, but the client does not choose to use one -- what can be done?

Hard drive failures are an unfortunate fact of life. I replace dozens of failed hard drives every month, every brand of hard drive (Maxtor, Seagate, Western Digital, Fujitsu), on every brand of machine you care to mention (Dell, Compaq, Gateway, E-Machines, HP). I sometimes receive brand new hard drives that do not function -- DOA! Because I use premium hard drives in my custom-built systems, the hard drive failure rate on my own machines is well below average -- but still, it happens. There is no way of getting around the fact that a hard drive may fail at any time, without warning. In such scenarios, data loss is often total. There is no way to predict it, no way to eliminate it, absolutely nothing to be done about it except -- you guessed it: back up all your work at all times.

FYI, technically speaking, I am only obligated to replace the failed component to comply with the terms of my warranty. I am not obligated to restore the Windows operating system or Windows applications, most of which were not even purchased from me! That means I could charge a user as much as $ 300 or more to replace a failed hard drive within the warranty period, unless they wanted to put Windows and all their applications back themselves. Because I am generous and because I offer premium value for money, however, I do NOT charge my customers for the significant amount of labor required to put Windows and Windows applications back, although I would be within my warranty rights if I did so.

If you have any questions about the procedures I follow in the event of in-warranty hard drive failures, recommended backup procedures or methods, computers or hard drives or technology in general, please don't hesitate to contact me.

1. Vista looks exactly like Macintosh OS/X! I might have hoped for a little more "interface originality" from the world's number one software company. Well, ha-ha, at least it looks good! Transparent and translucent windows, shimmering borders, flippable 3-D windows, all very up-to-date and cool, yet perhaps lacking the unity and seamless consistency that comes from the Apple Macintosh interface. While Microsoft was raiding the industry's best interface techniques, they also "pinched" the "Google Gadgets" idea (analog clocks, stock tickers, weather reports, etc.) for Vista's new desktop accessories feature. Hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best!

2. Vista requires significant video, processor, and RAM resources -- as much as ten times what people are accustomed to using today. All those cheapo E-Machines and HP/Compaq black boxes sourced from Office Depot for $500 (with printer!) are going to need lots more RAM and add-in video cards in order to run VISTA well. I'm cool with this, but how many of your average cost-conscious, penny-pinching consumers are going to be?

3. Windows VISTA has a bunch of new, useful features, which I will enumerate and explore as the days roll by. For example, it will play DVD movie disks out of the box, without requiring the installation of a separate third-party DVD encoder program. Way to go, Redmond! Doesn't this make more sense than shipping machines with Windows Media Player or Media Center, advertising these players as being capable of playing DVD movies, and STILL requiring third-party software to be installed before the players can do what they are advertised as being able to do, and forcing confused consumers to choose between DVD players??!?!

4. Improved File Move/Copy Functions. So you're moving or copying a bunch of files from one location on your computer to another. By chance, one of the files you're copying is called "suzie.jpg" but there is also a file in your destination location called suzie.jpg, a different file. With XP, you'd get a warning that you were about to overwrite the original file with a different one (thus, losing the original file forever), and you'd have the choice of continuing or cancelling the procedure (annoying if there are fifty more files remaining to be copied or moved). With Vista, in the above scenario, you get a third choice -- continue the file move/copy, but automatically rename one of the files to something unique so that the procedure can continue without losing any files. If there are a bunch of files with the same problem, you can tell Vista to automatically rename the entire batch. That's a great solution, really handy. Bravo, Microsoft.

5. Improved Search Functions. Finding "stuff" on your computer is easier than ever. Vista seems to have search fields everywhere, and you just type in what you're looking for and it finds it -- whether it's a web page, an e-mail message, a word document, or what-have-you, it finds it. Super duper search with Vista. They call it "Instant Search." Of course, the search is SO powerful now that it can get confusing -- when you search, what exactly are you searching? Your local hard drive? The internet? Your favorites? All of the above? It can take some getting used to, this "search everywhere" functionality, obviously a knee-jerk paranoid reaction to Google's inexplicable success in this area.

6. Limited Third-Party Hardware and Software Support. In English, this means: do not assume that any existing software program or hardware gadget (printer, scanner) you are using will work with Vista. It MIGHT. Then again, it might NOT. I have a $1,000 Olympus Dye-Sublimation P-440 photo printer that is now a fancy paperweight, thanks to Vista. Olympus does not offer Vista drivers; Microsoft does not offer Vista drivers; Vista drivers for this printer do not exist anywhere on this planet (and probably nowhere in the entire cosmos, either). So the printer can not be used with Vista. Unless you feel like running out and buying a bunch of new hardware and software, do your research first and do not assume anything.