Diablo Blue

The Newsletter of the Diablo Valley PC Users Group

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JANUARY 7, 2010: NO MEETING THIS MONTH

No January Meeting!
 

No January meeting! Because the Diablo Valley College campus will be closed during semester break which includes January 7, the first Thursday of the month, we will not have a DVPC meeting in January. Our next meeting will be on February 4, 2010. Look for the February issue of Diablo Blue for information about the topic and speaker at that month's meeting.

Where and When We Meet

DVPC monthly meetings are usually held on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Diablo Valley College In Pleasant Hill, California, on the Main Campus located at 321 Golf Club Road. Note there will be no meeting in January, 2010 because the DVC campus is closed for semester break. We meet in room H107 in the Humanities Building. See the campus map on the About DVPC page for driving directions, parking information, and how to get to room H107. Remember: there's a $2.00 parking fee, payable at the ticket machines in each lot. These ticket machines take dollar bills and quarters, but do not give change so be sure to bring correct bills and/or quarters to buy your parking ticket. Place the ticket face up on the driver's side of your dashboard.

We have a Networking Table from 6:30 to 7:00; if you have something to sell or trade, need technical help, or just want to exchange views, visit the Networking Table. The regular monthly meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. with Random Access where you can ask questions or report on technical problems, followed by a presentation by our guest speaker. Also, as usual, we'll have SIG news and some of our usual great door prizes.

Driving Directions:
680 Northbound:
Exit at Willow Pass Road
At the end of the exit ramp turn left onto Willow Pass Road
Continue on Willow Pass Road to the second signal and
turn right onto Contra Costa Blvd.

680 Southbound:
Exit at Concord Ave.
At the end of the exit ramp turn left on Contra Costa Blvd.

Direction into the Campus:
Continue on Contra Costa Blvd. to the signal at Golf Club Road and turn into Golf Club Road. At the second entrance into the campus turn left then immediately right to parking lot 7. Turn left into lot 7. Park (but don't use parking spaces that are reserved for faculty and staff only), then purchase a parking permit (see Parking Fees below) and put it on your dashboard. Click on this link (www.dvpc.org/about.html) to see:
> a detailed DVC map showing parking and our meeting room
> a map for driving to DVC
> an aerial view of the DVC campus

Parking fees:
On the Pleasant Hill campus parking permits are $2.00 per day. You can purchase permits at the parking permit machines marked with a red star on the maps on the DVPC website. Parking permit machines take nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins. Note that these parking permit dispensers do not make change. DVC parking permits are required Monday through Friday at all times that classes are in session. That includes the times that DVPC meetings are held! Do not park in metered or faculty/staff spaces.

You need to purchase a parking permit and place it face up on your dashboard so it is clearly visible through the windshield. If you attend classes at DVC and have a campus parking permit, you can use it when you attend DVPC meetings.

Some members park (for free) in the College Park High School lot across Viking Drive from the DVC campus. Do so at your own risk!

Parking violations:
Be sure to purchase a parking permit! Fines range from $35 for parking in a regular space without a permit, to over $275 for illegally parking in a space reserved for the handicapped.

Parking alternatives:
Some members carpool and share the parking fee; they park at Sun Valley Mall, have dinner at one of the many restaurants in the mall, then take one car to the meeting. Some members park in the lots in front of College Park High School, which is across Viking Drive from DVC. Remember: if you decide to use any of these parking alternatives, you do so at your own risk!

Diablo Blue Password Access
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

You will need the monthly password to access the current issue of the newsletter. If you are a paid-up member of DVPC you'll receive an email message, usually on the Weekend prior to the meeting, with the password.

As each month's issue is uploaded, it's placed in a password protected folder on dvpc.org. When you click on the link to go to the newsletter, a dialog box will be displayed asking for the password from the email message. The password is case-sensitive; either copy it from the email message or make sure you type it correctly.

As we add the current month's newsletter, the password on the prior month's newsletter will be removed so anyone coming to the DVPC website can access older issues of Diablo Blue.

If you have any problems accessing a password protected newsletter, please email webbie@dvpc.org.

Watch for Updates!
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

With our new method of producing and publishing the monthly Diablo Blue newsletter, we can easily add updates to each month's issue. If an article is updated,the word Updated will be added in red

When we add a new article "mid-month" the entire entry will be shown in red in the Table of Contents.

DVPC Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
by Tom Krauss, DVPC

It’s hard to believe that ten years ago this month we were all stocking up on dried beans, canned goods, and bottled water so that we could survive the impending Y2K catastrophe. At the time I was a software developer for a company that had around 1000 clients for their mainframe payroll and human relations software, many of them Fortune 500 companies. Several years earlier they had decided to develop a PC based payroll/HR system, and as the Y2K event horizon approached we that client server system was actually up and more or less running with three or four clients. It was a complex, highly sophisticated system that could have set the industry standard.

Unfortunately, the marketing strategy was to tell their mainframe customers that we were not going to make that system Y2K compatible, so they would probably want to by our new, very expensive system. Most clients thought this over for a while and then went to our competitors. That company is now basically gone. The PC system was sold to an Asian group and there are a mere handful of mainframe clients left.

And I still have several boxes of gallon cans of rice, beans and dried carrots in my garage. At least I’ll be prepared for the end of the world, now scheduled for 2012.

On a brighter note, I have resolved my first Windows 7 problem. I got a new computer when I went to Windows 7. It does not have a parallel port for my old Canon i550 printer, so after a couple of weeks I finally braved the Christmas crowds at Fry’s and bought a parallel-to-USB cable.

As I mentioned at the December meeting, When I printed a document everything worked perfectly but the printer was oblivious to my print request. The computer wrote to the print queue, the document sat there for a few seconds and disappeared, and Windows thought everything had worked find. The extremely user friendly printer troubleshooting of Windows 7 told me that the printer was indeed there and everything was working fine. But no paper moved and no ink sprayed.

I returned the cable and bought one of a different brand and still nothing worked. So I turned to Microsoft.

The first thing they did on the website when I found troubleshooting and support was offer to tell me what if anything their help would cost. I took it as a bad sign that they tired but could not find my product ID, but when I entered it they were happy. They responded that I could chat or email and get free help. I was pleasantly surprised that this would be free, and even more surprised when it actually resulted in help. I sent an email relating my sad story and was told to expect an answering email within 24 hours.

24 hours later I checked my email and lo and behold, there was a reply from Microsoft Technical Support!

The responder introduced himself as Rajkiran (probably his real name) and said:

“From your description, I understand that when you are unable take printouts from your computer. This issue seems to have occurred because of the incompatible drivers installed in your Computer.

I understand the inconvenience you have experienced I have researched on the issue, and found that the issue seems to be with the conflict of some of the non-Microsoft applications installed in your Computer. I will do my best to resolve the issue, however during the course of troubleshooting if we find that we require assistance from another department, and then I will guide you accordingly.

Please follow these steps, and do contact us if you have any questions.”

Such understanding and compassion brought a tear to my eye as I read on through 6 things to try, each of which had a list of 8-10 steps. These steps were clearly described and easy to follow. I was amazed as I went through them. Usually when you follow steps like this by the third or fourth one what you are looking at on your computer bears no relationship to what the documentation says you should be seeing. But I got nearly through the third alternative, well into editing the registry, before I saw the first discrepancy.

Normally in this kind of situation I try to second guess them and invariably totally screw things up. But this time I decided to trust Rajkiran and keep going. I finally got through all six alternatives without crashing my computer. Unfortunately, I was still not printing, either. So I replied to the email and went to bed.

The next day I was at work around 2:00 p.m. when my cell phone rang. It was my new buddy Rajkiran! He thanked me for my reply and apologized for not having fixed my problem. He told me to call him Prem (so maybe Rajkiran was an alias after all). He then asked if I would be willing to let him log on to my computer and try some things. I told him I would love that, but I was at work ten miles from the computer. I asked him if he was in India and he said yes. We agreed that he would call me the following morning at 6:30. He also said he would send another email with some other things to try before the call, if I didn’t mind.

That evening I had another email from Prem, again with several things tried, the steps carefully and clearly documented. One of the suggestions involved doing a “clean boot” and seeing if the problem was resolved by not starting any non-windows programs, If so, it then told me how to determine which program was the culprit. I have included these steps at the end of this article.

After trying his suggestions and playing around a bit myself, I was suddenly able to print! However, every time I printed something an error message appeared telling me to turn Enable bidirectional support on in the printer’s Properties dialogue box. And every time I did that and either applied or saved the change, it was gone when I reopened the box. But I was printing. So I emailed Prem again and went to bed.

The next morning I took my cup of coffee and sat down at my computer at 6:28. Two minutes later my phone rang and it was Prem, exactly on time!, Again, I had a tear in my eye as I tried to focus on the directions he gave me to allow him to take control of my computer.

I watched as he kind of wandered around. I may not know what to do on my own, but I can generally watch someone who does know what they are doing and understand what they are trying. So I watched Prem and 10 minutes or so later, after trying a few minor things, we were printing and the error message was gone.

I told him that as far as I could tell it looked like he fixed the problem by switching ports and then switching back, and he agreed: that was indeed what resolved this last problem. I thanked him profusely and we said goodby.

And that is the best support experience I ever had. I love Windows 7. Mostly…

To Perform a Clean Boot and follow the divide and conquer method to identify the issue cause:

Follow the steps below to perform "Clean boot"

1. Click the Start on your Desktop.
2. Type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
3. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
4. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
5. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.
6. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
7. Click OK.  

When you are prompted, click Restart.

If this does resolve the issue, then see the following Microsoft Article on "Clean boot" and the section "How to determine what is causing the problem" to determine which program or service maybe causing the issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

How to set your computer back, to boot normal:

1. Click the Start on your Desktop
2. In the Start Search box. Type msconfig and then press ENTER.
3. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
4. Click the General tab.
5. Click Normal Startup - load all device drivers and services, and then click OK.
6. When you are prompted, click Restart to restart the computer.

After performing a clean boot, if you find programs that are responsible for the problem please disable those programs.

Links to Interesting Online Articles
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

Here are links to some interesting articles I've found online. Check them out!

Computerworld — Kill JavaScript in Adobe Reader to ward off zero-day exploit, experts urge
Users should disable JavaScript in Adobe's Reader and Acrobat tools to protect themselves until a patch for a just-disclosed vulnerability is available, security experts said today (the instructions are in the sixth paragraph that starts "To disable")...
Read more

NetworkWorld — FCC Examines Verizon's Doubling of Early Termination Fees
Barack Obama's consumer-friendly FCC is asking Verizon Wireless to explain why it recently doubled Early Termination Fees for its customers...
Read more

PCMag.com — Hands On with Google's Public DNS
DNS is the switchboard of the internet: Type in a text URL like www.pcmag.com, and it finds the numeric IP address to get you there. Google, which seems to be releasing something in just about every consumer-facing software space, has now entered this behind the scenes networking space with its new Google Public DNS...
Read more

InfoWorld.com — AT&T's Net neutrality doublethink
The November 2009 issue of Diablo Blue had an article on Net Neutrality; here more on that subject: The company is attempting to convince us that it favors Net neutrality and an open Internet, when in fact it is lobbying hard for the opposite result...
Read more

Microsoft Malware Protection Center — Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR)
Microsoft's latest (Volume 7) Security Intelligence Report (SIR) on Internet hacking. It comes in two flavors - the Summary and the complete report...
Read more

AARP Bulletin Today —Save a Buck: What’s Your Promo Code?
If you shop online, you’ve probably noticed a box on the checkout page of most retailers’ websites asking if you have a discount or promotional code...
Read more

Art Bonwell — Car of the Future - General Motors Hy-wire
The Hy-wire (Hydrogen drive-by-wire) is a concept car from General Motors originally introduced in January 2002[1]. The car runs on hydrogen fuel cells and uses a drive-by-wire system, meaning that the car is controlled electronically. View this YouTube demo...
Read more

cnet news — Google gets into the URL-shrinking biz with Goo.gl
Google launches its own URL shortening tool called Goo.gl. The good news? It's light and fast. The bad news? It's only built-into its own products — but that includes the Google Toolbar...
Read more

cnet tv — CNET Top 5: Worst holiday tech gifts
Do not put these tech gifts under the tree unless the recipient has been very, very naughty...
Read more

TechRepublic TR Dojo— Five cool Microsoft applications that are completely free
Microsoft isn’t known for giving away its products, but if you know where to look you can find a handful of pretty cool, free applications...
Read more

InfoWorld — 10 wacky USB devices
Got a spare USB port on your PC? Check out these crazy-but-inspired USB add-ons...
Read more

Using Acronis True Image Home 2010
by Gene Barlow, User Group Relations

The attached paper that's linked to this article (see below) is a step by step guide to installing and using Acronis True Image Home 2010 on your computer. I recommend that you print this paper and follow it carefully as you use True Image for the first few times. Once you have more experience in using True Image, you will no longer need to follow this paper. It is intended to help you get started quickly and effectively in using True Image.

The attached paper is divided into four parts to make it easier to work with.

1. Installation (5 pages) deals with installing Acronis True Image Home 2010 on your computer and maintaining it with the latest builds. It also covers setting up an external hard drive to save your backups to.
2. Backup (8 pages) deals with backing up your computer’s main hard drive with True Image. It shows you the best way to do your backups using this powerful backup utility.
3. Automatic Backup (5 pages) deals with setting up your True Image software to do scheduled backups for you on an automatic basis. Making regular backups of your computer is very important to do. Users tend to forget to do this important process. So, setting up your system to do backups on an automatic basis is the best way to go.
4. Restore (5 pages) deals with restoring your entire hard drive or restoring a few individual files and folders from your backup image. True Image lets you do either of these restoring steps quickly and easily.

If you want to learn more about True Image, you can read the official Acronis True Image Home 2010 Users Guide (193 pages). This guide is available to download from the Acronis website, and it is also on the CD you get when you order from User Group Relations.

To read the attached paper, click here. This is an Adobe Acrobat document; if you don't have Adobe Acrobat version 5 or higher installed, click this icon to download and install the latest version:

O'Reilly User Group Program News
by Marsee Henon, O'Reilly.com

Save 40% on All Microsoft Press Books and 50% on Ebooks

We're Celebrating Our New Partnership with Microsoft Press!

The gift-giving season is upon us and we want to help you save. From now until the New Year you can purchase Microsoft Press books from O'Reilly direct by clicking here oreilly.com and save. Select from over 600 print titles, and 200 DRM-free ebooks. All ebooks are available in four convenient formats, for the price of one: ePub, PDF, MOBI, and Android

Use discount code MSINT in the shopping cart to get your savings on every Microsoft Press title, including Windows 7 Plain and Simple and Windows 7 Step by Step.

Here's the complete list of Microsoft Press titles: http://microsoftpress.oreilly.com/

Thanks!
Marsee Henon

The PC Decrapifier — A Software Review
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

Did you buy (or even better, receive) a new computer this holiday season? If so, you've probably discovered that regardless of the version of Windows (yeah, that means XP, Vista, and Windows 7) it is littered with applications, trial-ware, and "buy me" crapware that you don't need or want. And removing them is not a simple process! It can take hours on some PCs over-saturated with this junque. You might find that some of it just seems to stick around no matter whether you thought you uninstalled all of it; next time you boot up... woops! It's baaaack! What can you do?

Well, The PC Decrapifier will help you solve this problem. The PC Decrapifier was designed to remove programs from new computers running Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. If you have an older PC and have some of the programs installed that are in The PC Decrapifier's What it Removes list, then it might be able to remove them, but don't be surprised if it won't.

It's easy to use The PC Decrapifier. Simply download the program file and run it — there's no install to go through. You will be guided through the decrapifying process with a wizard that asks a series of simple questions. Most importantly, you will have the choice to pick and choose what you want to remove. The PC Decrapifier will not begin removing anything without prompting you first!

By the way, The PC Decrapifier is freeware for personal use. There's also a commercial version for corporate IT departments, and the ability to donate to the developers that gives you a personal use license that will give you advanced notices of new versions and access to high priority support forums.

Electronic Waste — Where to Dispose of It
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

Here's a list of ewaste donation sites in Central Contra County County. We've included sites where you can recycle single-use and rechargeable batteries, and to dispose of unneeded pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medications. Be sure to check the websites to determine what they will accept. If you know or learn of others, please let me know with the location, hours, and website URL.

Computers and Electronics

Hauling Pros Recycling Center
www.dumpmytv.com
73A South Buchanan Circle
(on the left behind S&S Roofing)
Pacheco, CA 94553
925-682-8987
Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rapid Recycle
www.rapidrecycle.net
110 Second Ave., South B-1
Pacheco, CA 94553
925-671-8008
Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Recycle for Breast Cancer
www.recycleforbreastcancer.org/dropoffanytime.htm
31 Beta Court, Suite C
San Ramon, CA 94583
800-315-9580
7 days a week excluding holidays 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
A completed donation form is requested at the time of donation; this form can be downloaded from their website

e-Recycle OnUs
www.erecycleonus.com
1271 Boulevard Way
(at back left corner past East Bay Art and CTA)
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
925-934-1515
Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Electronic Waste Management
www.noewaste.com
E-Waste recycling events at Diablo Valley College
321 Golf Club Road
(in DVC overflow parking lot across from north side of main campus)
Pleasant Hill, CA
866-335-3373
First Saturday of every month (except holidays)
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where to recycle Batteries

Single-Use Household Batteries
CVS/Longs Drugs
www.longs.com
Alamo, Blackhawk, Danville, Lafayette,
Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, San Ramon
Right Aid Drugstores
www.rightaid.com
Orinda, Walnut Creek
Radio Shack
www.radioshack.com
Danville, Walnut Creek
Check websites for store hours

Rechargeable Batteries
Right Aid Drugstores
www.rightaid.com
Check website for store hours

Where to Dispose of Unneeded Pharmaceutical and Over-the-Counter Medications
Walnut Creek City Hall
www.walnut-creek.org
1666 North Main Street, Walnut Creek
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Look for the green Pharmaceutical Disposal bin
Please don't flush your drugs!

How and Where to Recycle or Dispose of Other Household Waste Items
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
The CCCSD has a two-page Disposal Guide for Central Contra Costa County brochure that can be viewed online or printed. This handy guide tells how to dispose of common household waste in safe, simple, and environmentally healthy ways. Click on the link below to access the brochure.
www.centralsan.org/documents/Brochure_Disposal_Guide.pdf

This brochure requires Adobe Acrobat Reader; you can download and install the latest version of Acrobat Reader by clicking this icon.

Photoshop Elements SIG Meeting Program
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

The Adobe Photoshop Elements SIG meeting will be held on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the home of Peggy Johnson in Concord, CA.

We cover and discuss the Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements software programs, along with other photo and video manipulation programs. As usual, check out the Elements SIG pages at www.bkbrown.net for all the latest news, information and tutorials.

The Photoshop Elements SIG meets on the third or fourth Thursday of each month; be sure to check Peggy's email notice for the topic and meeting date!

Please email Peggy for further information and/or directions.

Windows SIG Meeting Program
by Walt Parsons, DVPC

Because of the New Year's holiday, there will be no Windows SIG meeting on January 4, 2010. Our next meeting will be on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the Concord Police Headquarters. Check next month's Diablo Blue or the DVPC website for information about the topic for that meeting.

The Windows SIG meetings are held in the Community Room at the Concord Police Station. See the detailed directions on the DVPC SIG News page.

The Daily Dilbert Cartoon
by Scott Adams