Dave Bytes

Dave "Bytes"

Please remember to use your thinker, before you tinker!

A Periodic Newsletter for the Members of the Sarasota PC User Group

January 11, 2004

Click here to subscribe to Dave "Bytes
(if you haven't already)

Here's A Web Browsing Tip

Develop Double Vision

If you don't want to leave the Web page you're on, but wish to visit another page which is linked on it, just RIGHT click the link you're interested in, and click 'Open in New Window'.

Another browser opens and the new page displays. Magic!

OR; Hold down the shift key while clicking on a link. A new browser window opens with the page displayed.

When you're finished reading, just close the browser, and you're back on the original page.

What does the Federal CAN-SPAM Act Mean for You?

Congress has passed the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. When it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2004, bulk commercial e-mailers - marketers, publishers, and e-billers - will have a new set of email standards.

This new law WILL NOT immediately stop unwanted advertising from reaching your inbox, as many of the most egregious spammers are either outside the United States, or are so deceptive and fraudulent in their practices that the government will have a hard time tracking them down. The law, however, will reduce spam over time in a few significant ways.

Here are the requirements for companies who send you unsolicited commercial email. They must:

Include an obvious, Internet-based opt-out mechanism that must be processed within 10 days. Include their physical address in the email in case you would like to opt-out by sending them a postcard or letter.
Use clear, honest FROM and SUBJECT lines. Clearly label the email as an advertisement in the subject line or in the body. The law also prevents people and companies from mailing to email addresses that are collected surreptitiously, and it makes sure that any sexually explicit emails are clearly labeled as such - with the explicit content hidden from initial view in the email.

Effects of the Law on You:

You should report any email sent to you that does not meet the above standards, and that you did not proactively sign up to receive, to your ISP and the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has a spam complaint process set up. Send unwanted commercial email to uce@ftc.gov. As an individual, you cannot sue companies under this law. But the FTC will prosecute violators, who are punishable by substantial fines and/or prison time.
The old rule-of-thumb was to never reply to a spam message or click on a link allowing you to "opt-out" of receiving future messages from the same sender. The thinking was that such action would just verify to the spammer that you actually exist - with the result that you'd receive even more spam in the future. Now, however, when an email meets the standards provided above, and when it comes from a legitimate business, you can unsubscribe safely from the email list and your request must be processed within 10 days.
You will able to identify spam more easily by determining whether an email complies with the law as outlined above. If a sender does not include the necessary information, or uses deceptive tactics to get you to open the email, you should report the email as spam.
By unsubscribing from unwanted email, and reporting the most blatant examples of spam, you will be able to control the amount of unwanted email that makes it into your inbox on a continuing basis. Remember, there's a significant amount of "good" commercial email out there! Most of us have, at one time or another, signed up to receive newsletters or emails from companies we know or whose Web sites we have visited. Emails you receive from companies you have signed up for - whether about products, services, or account status - do not need to adhere to all the rules in the new law, though most probably will do so. Do not assume that just because a postal address is not in an email, it is spam. Instead, consider your
relationship with the sending company and whether or not you previously agreed to receive email from them.

The law also prevents people and companies from mailing to email addresses that are collected surreptitiously, and it makes sure that any sexually explicit emails are clearly labeled as such - with the explicit content hidden from initial view in the email.

If you have questions about how to report spam, contact your ISP or visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov/spam

George's
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Bytes

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site where you can listen to the most recent broadcast and our Commercial too !!!

From the "Bytes" Mailbag

I love reading your newsletters. I am always so anxious waiting for your next letter to come.
I have a question. I was trying to make some room on my computer and was deleting cookies and temp. internet files.
Is it safe to delete everything in your C:\Windows\Temp folder? Some ofthe items there are years old and some are a few days old.

Thanks again for your wonderful information. Keep up the good work!!!
Nancy

Dear Nancy,
It is usually safe to delete everything in your Windows\Temp folder.
What I normally do, just to be on the safe side is only delete items that are more than a week old.

To delete your temporary files:

1. On your desktop, double click on "My Computer", or in XP click on "Start" and then "My Computer".

2. Double click on your C: drive, then double click on the "Windows" folder and finally on the "Temp" folder.

3. Click on the Heading that says "Modified" or "Date Modified". This will arrange your files by date. Select only the files that are more than one week old, by clicking on the first file you want, hold down the shift key and click on the last file. All the files between the first and last will be highlighted.

4. Press the Delete key on your keyboard, or click on "Edit" and "Delete" in the menu bar.

Dave,
I really enjoy your new letter and it has helped me to learn so much. I need to know how to delete recently opened documents in XP. It is done differently in ME. I cannot find directions to do it.
Thank you
Barbara

Dear Barbara,

This option is a little bit harder to find in XP than it was in earlier versions of Windows, but I did find it. Here is how:

1. Right click on a blank spot on your taskbar, and click "Properties".

2. The "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" window will appear. Click on the "Start Menu" tab and click on the "Customize..." button in the "Start Menu" section.

3. The "Customize Start Menu" window will appear. Click on the "Advanced" tab and near the bottom of the page, you will see a "Recent Documents" section. Click the button in that section that says "Clear List".

4. Click "OK" twice and you will be done.

Got a question?

Why not "Byte" me?

Here's A Web Surfing Tip

When you visit a web page, you may not have any way of knowing how old the information really is. If this is important to the information's validity, you can at least find out when the page was last updated. Just click in the Address Bar and type

javascript:alert(document.lastModified)

and press Enter. A dialog box displays the last date and time that the page was modified.

Here's An Internet Explorer Tip

Changing Your Explorer Home Page

Every time you load Explorer the page displayed is called your Home page. Usually it's the Home page of your ISP.
You can display whatever you wish on your Home page, or, like me, you can choose to display a white blank page instead.

Here's how.
Open Explorer
In top tool bar click on
Tools + Options
Select 'General' tab

You'll see a title 'Home Page'

If you click on the 'Use Current' button the Web page you are visiting will be saved as your home page.
Every time you open Explorer that same page will be displayed.

To select a blank page click on - yep - 'Use Blank'.

When you click on 'Use Default' you'll normally be saving a Microsoft page.

Then click on 'Apply' and 'OK' buttons.

Try it. Mess about. Experiment. It's OK you can't break anything

The "Bytes" Beg, Bargain & Barter Basement

Got something "computer related" to sell? Looking for that rare peripheral? If it's computer related you can submit a short classified ad for exposure in Dave "Bytes". Be sure to include your name and e-mail address in the ad. You can also include a picture of the item. Now some would suggest that there be a charge for this feature but alas, since my bookkeeping skills leave much to be desired I've determined that this will be a free service to all SPCUG members in good standing. "Bytes" is currently sent to almost 1000 homes in the area. Ad requests will be included as soon as possible. I assume absolutely no responsibility as to the accuracy or completeness of supplied info. All transactions are between consulting adults which leaves me entirely off the hook. Please let me know by clicking HERE when your merchandise is sold so that I can remove it from the listing. I will try to run each ad for a month.

Gateway flat screen 17" CRT. Monitor is approximately 2 years old and in perfect working condition. Only $60. and I will even deliver to the next SPCUG meeting free!

Ken Spence
922-4123
scuba2@comcast.net

Compaq Presario 4860
333 MHz Intel Pentium II
128 MB Ram
8 GB hard drive
DVD-ROM drive
56K modem
17" Monitor

$200 or Best Offer

Contact: Bill Merkent
Email: wmerkent@comcast.net
Phone: 351-1294

Click here to send your ad

Know What a LART is ?

If you heard serious anti-spammers talk, you may have heard them demand: "Lart that spammer!" Sounds pretty terrifying, and in a way it is.

LART stands for Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool, with a luser of course being somebody who is at the same time a user and a loser.

In the context of spam, applying LART on a user (a spammer in this case) usually means exercising the ISP's acceptable usage agreement.

Most ISPs do not allow their users to send unsolicited bulk email.

Violating that policy usually means discontinuation of service, and that's what larting a user means

Dave's Cool Downloads

The Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/2002 Viewer
The Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/2002 Viewer enables you to share PowerPoint 97, PowerPoint 2000, or PowerPoint 2002 presentations with users who do not have PowerPoint installed on their systems. The PowerPoint Viewer allows users to view and print PowerPoint presentations, but it does not allow them to edit the presentations.

Make every Web search a super-search with this intelligent tool, trusted by millions of users worldwide.
Copernic Agent Basic queries leading search engines to bring you back relevant, high quality results. Its intuitive user interface quickly allows you to make the most of the numerous search enhancement features included, making your Internet searches faster and easier than ever.

File size: 3.35 MB (approximately 10 minutes to download) Version 6.11,
released on September 26, 2003 Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP

Starter lets you view and manage all the programs that start automatically whenever your operating system is loading. You can disable or permanently delete selected registry entries, edit existing ones, and create new ones. The software also lets you monitor and terminate running processes

YOU CAN NOW EASILY LOCATE THE DOWNLOADS MENTIONED IN DAVE "BYTES" BY CLICKING ON THE BUTTONS ON

WWW.DAVEBYTES.COM

Check regularly since I'm always adding new content

Click HERE to submit your favorite Freeware or Shareware program

Want to Join SPCUG or Renew Your Membership?

Click the SPCUG Logo for an online
Membership Application that you can
type into and print

Here's The Latest Virus Information & Alert

I received the following message the other day. There was an attachment with it.
If you get the same or similar message, do **** not **** run the attachment. I am quite confident that it contains a virus, worm, or spyware.

There are several indicators:
1. Microsoft does not send this type of message to it's users
2. Microsoft will never send attachments
3. Microsoft always has links to pages with explanations
4. Microsoft would not send a message with the grammatical errors contained in this message

The message: ------------ From: windowsupdate@microsoft.com To: davegerber
Subject: Windows XP Service Pack 1 (Express) - Critical Update.
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 2004 04:38:55 -0500

Window Update has determined that you are running a beta version of Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1). To help improve the stability of your computer, Microsoft recommends that you remove the beta version of Windows XP SP1 and re-install Windows XP SP1. If you cannot remove the beta version, you should still reinstall Windows XP SP1.

Windows XP SP1 provides the latest security, reliability, and performance updates to the Windows XP family of operating systems. Windows XP SP1 is designed to ensure Windows XP platform compatibility with newly released software and hardware, and includes updates to resolve issues discovered by customers or by Microsoft's internal testing team.

The maximum download size is approximately 3 MB, however the size of the download and time required may be less for computers that have had updates previously installed.

To minimize the download time needed for installation, setup will only download those files which are required to bring your computer up to date. Windows XP SP1 includes Internet Explorer 6 SP1. Anti-virus software programs may interfere with the installation of Windows XP SP1.
Please disable anti-virus software while installing the service pack.

Just run the file winxp_sp1.exe in attach and make sure to restart your PC after installation will be completed.

¿2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Registry: Getting Acquainted

Introduction

The Windows Registry is a database where all the information about your computer is stored. Everything from colors, installed applications, or changes you make in Control Panel, are included in the Registry database.

If you want to extend the customization of Windows, you'll need to understand the Registry, and how it works.
It is possible to break Windows by changing the Registry. Any changes you make should be done with caution.
If you take the simple step of making a backup copy of the Registry, you virtually eliminate the possibility of disaster.

Getting to Know You

The Registry is edited with a tool found in your Windows folder. That tool is the Registry Editor. It's called Regedit.exe and is included with Windows for the purpose of viewing and editing the Registry.

To start the Registry Editor, all you do is type "regedit" into the Run line of the Start Menu. You'll see the following window displayed below:

This is where you'll do your editing. The left pane is the tree view with folders called keys. The right pane shows the contents of the currently selected folder. The contents are called values. The items in the left pane aren't really folders, they're just called folders in order to give them a convenient method of naming and displaying the
information.

Here's the Registry Editor with a key selected, displaying its values in the right pane, shown below:

Each key can contain other keys, as well as values. Each value contains the actual information stored in the Registry itself. Keys are shown in the left pane, and values are shown in the right pane.

There are three types of values: String, Binary, and DWORD. Their use is determined by the program that created them. To display a value, click on the key (folder) of choice and look at its value in the right pane. To expand a key, click the plus sign next to it, or double click on the folder.

Doctor, It's Time To Operate

The Registry Editor allows you to perform the following operations:

New keys or values can be added by choosing the location for the new object, and selecting New from the Edit menu.
Rename any existing value and almost any key with the same method used to rename files: right-click and select Rename, click twice on the name slowly and type the new name, or select the name press F2.
Delete a key or value by clicking on it and pressing the Del key, or right-click and select Delete.
Search for text in a key or value by selecting Find from the Edit menu.
Refresh the displayed portion of the Registry by selecting Refresh from the View menu.

Pause For Thought

"When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps
almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day
a little, suddenly the work will finish itself."

......Isak Dinesen, Danish Writer

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Looking for a SIG or Forum?

The best place to go is the SPCUG Event Calendar.
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Want to register for a SIG? There is no better place to do that then at http://www.calsplus.com/spcug
This calendar is updated on a daily basis making it the most accurate way to see what's happening in the world of SPCUG.

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Sarasota Personal Computer User Group, Inc

Phone: 877-SPCUG-HI

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