Indiana County PC Users Group
http://www.icpcug.com
Meetings
3rd Tuesday of each month
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
at the
Indiana County
Technology Center
Hamill Rd., Indiana, PA
Everyone
Welcome
Tuesday, February
15, 2005:
The Indiana PC Users Group held its monthly meeting at the Indiana County
Technology Center, Hamill Road, Indiana, PA President Larry Rodack opened
the meeting at 7:03 p.m.
Treasurer’s
Report:
Treasurer Estelle Onyett reported the ICPCUG account has a balance of
$738.64. The members accepted this report
Secretary’s
Report:
Bob Dalecki was not able to attend the meeting.
Program:
Steve Higgins spoke to the group about “File Management, Vacation e-mail,
Spyware, Adware, Malware.
· Steve believes everyone should have “Winzip” on his computer.
· He explained everything you need to know about how to file your documents and how to find them when you need them.
· He feels that everyone should clean off their desktop. He feels you should only keep on the desktop those icons of programs you use all the time.
· He explained that an icon on the desktop without an arrow on it is a shortcut, otherwise the icon is a real program.
· He discussed email while on the road or on vacation.You can go to www.mail2web.com, give your email address and make a password and the site goes out and gets your mail if you have mail but you should get rid of your cache first.
· He spoke about Flash Drives, the Stealth-surfer. It has software on it and has a web browser, Netscape 7. It uses Netscape 7 software that is on it rather than the computer’s browser. A 128 mb drive is $100 – larger drives are available but cost more money. These drives are great for users who frequent public computers. It can also be used at a friend’s house because all transactions are private.
· On flash drives that you may already have, you can use Imagine LAN software to put on the drive and it will turn your older flash drive into a stealth drive for email. Software rewrites paths.
· Steve spoke again about spyware and thinks instead of the free version of Adaware, you should move up to the Plus version for $26.95 as it is “proactive and keeps the bad guys from coming in.”
· He suggested you look at www.pcpitstop.com for other information on spyware, etc.
· Steve suggested you get rid of all temp files and one of the easiest ways to do that is to install “ccleaner” – it analyzes your hard drive and suggests what to take off and it does an outstanding job of cleaning the hard drive. And it is free!
· If you wish to check your DSL or Cable speed, go to www.toast.net, choose shadow test and it will tell you how fast your speed is and if you are getting what you are paying for.
As a follow-up to the meeting, Steve provided the following information in an email to Pres. Larry Rodack:
“Hi
Larry ... as a follow up to last night's meeting, I thought I'd provide a
listing of the links we used as well as some additional commentary. Please
send this out to the general membership.
File Management --- searched today for answers to the question of setting
the default view in Windows Explorer to Details. I found several but the
following seem to provide some sort of answer -- the second seems too
straight forward when you read the first and understand the troubles they
were having --- as always, each machine is different, while being the same.
So.... try some of the suggestions, they just might work:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1016223391
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=29744&seqNum=8
Removal of temporary files ---- while it may have seemed a bit cavalier, you
really should remove/clean out temporary files form time to time. They have
been known to spoil some software installations. Windows will only let you
delete the temporary files that it is currently not using. Each session,
Windows normally writes several temporary files then removes them when you
shut down.
Public Computing/Vacation Email ---- again, depending upon where you view
your personal email is what sets the steps you should follow for security.
If using IE --Delete the cache before leaving the public machine (go to
Control Panel|Internet Options|General - delete cookies, delete files
including all off line content, and delete history) If you are using
Netscape - use Edit|Preferences to find the cache and history and delete.
Mail2Web ----
www.mail2web.com ---- enter your email address and password and you'll
be able to work with you mail
OR.....
Two products
providing security StealthSurfer (http://stealthsurfer.biz)
is the flash drive containing Netscape that allows browsing the internet and
reading your mail anonymously --- and PI Protector (http://imaginelan.com)
which is for those already owning a flash drive and only needs software -
this uses the guest machine's browser and mail client but has data moved to
the flash drive
Spyware --- we provided a recommendation that you purchase AdAware's next
level up spyware remover -- AdAware Plus in order to have a proactive
software eliminating spyware before it gets into the registry.
AntiVirus -- we also mentioned a different program, Avast! (www.avast.com)
that we've been testing recently
Steven T. Higgins
Sassafras Forge
Shaping 21st Century Technology
t - 412-309-3495
f - 724-354-2961
Thank you Steve for an outstanding program and your follow up notes for the group.
Open Forum:
There was a question about an HP printer not printing and seemingly hanging
– an updated driver was installed and Steve thought going back to the
previous driver may cure the problem.
There were several questions pertaining to the evening’s program. Steve showed everyone how they can get free programs that will help keep the computer free of viruses and spyware.
The next meeting of the ICPCUG will be held Tuesday, March 15, 2005. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:56 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/
Larry Rodack, Pres.
Per Robert Dalecki, Secretary