** Issue #24 August 1st, 2007 **
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#1- News, News, News
In This Issue...
#2 - DRM... Again? - Microsoft's DRM cracked!
#3 - Vista Device Driver Updates - Driver updates may require Vista Reactivation.
#4 - Vista's System Restore function - It's different than XP.
#5 - Finding and Replacing Text - Carol tells us how to do it in Word and OpenOffice Writer.
#6 - My Recommended Software - Need software? Check this list first!
#7 - The Lighter Side - Some humor to lighten your load!
#8 - Useful web sites - Websites I've visited lately that you may find useful.
What's New?
Check out the new method to leave comments
I've updated the comments sections. You will notice a new "bar" at the end of each article. Clicking this bar expands the comments are as if by magic! It's actually a technology called AJAX. It presents a nifty way to add dynamic content, such as the comments readers add, to a static page, such as this newsletter. This makes the newsletter a "living document". You can add your comments and they become part of the actual page other readers see, without popups or opening a new page as comments in older newsletters did.
Do you have any experience with commenting systems?
I'm currently using a service called Haloscan for the commenting. Haloscan hosts everything and it was easy to implement and manage. The problem is Haloscan hasn't been very reliable lately. You may notice this when comments didn't display or the link to add comments was missing. I personally would like to more to something more reliable. My preference would be a script based system I could host and control myself. The problem is I haven't been able find a solution that meets my needs. I need something easy to install, easy to manage, and can do multiple commenting sections on the same page. If you know of a service, script, or have script knowledge give me a shout at the address below!
Dell vs HP
I received a few emails and comments about my recommendation of Dell computers. Some even called me a hypocrite, and I agree. Most of my personal experience with Dell customer support is actually with business level support, which is very different and doesn't directly reflect on Dell's consumer support. Many of the large companies outsource support duties to other countries, often countries where English isn't the native language.
The quality and effectiveness of either companies support to the consumer is near equal. I'm not saying they're perfect. If fact both have much room for improvement, but I applaud them for what they are able to do with the many variables possible when troubleshooting a computer that is not under their control.
Another point is that the computer industry is much like a seesaw where one company is up this year and yet another is up next year. Dell also has a very strange corporate pricing policy of issuing coupons at random intervals and for random products. This adds confusion to a consumers purchasing decision, and regrets if they find out they missed a coupon that could have saved them hundreds. HP on the other hand is more straight forward with their pricing. They offer discounts and free shipping from time to time, but it is clear to every customer who visits the HP.com website.
At this moment in time HP has a distinct lead in the value category. I believe you get more for your money from HP. I also like their designs. HP's laptops have a beautiful, almost custom, design. A laptop with design elements like those of the new HP line would have been custom built a year or so ago. Cost would have been $3000 to $4000.
Beginning now I'm repenting my hypocrisy and changing my recommendation to HP. Just like the see-saw I reserve the right to change again as companies policies, practices, and product values change.
Short newsletter?
I had planned a product review for this issue, but due to a family emergency I don't have the time to gather pictures and info and present it in a way that would be of any benefit to you. As a result this issue may be a little shorter than usual, but I've added a couple extras "funny's" which I hope you'll enjoy!
Show your support for Daves Computer Tips
Daves Computer Tips is completely free for you to use, but operating the site isn't. I have monthly fees for hosting, bandwidth, and email service. I'm definitely not making a living from this site. If you would like to help cover these expenses you may do so by donating to Daves Computer Tips. Donation is easy and any amount is appreciated. Click the button on the right and donate using your credit card with PayPal.
Here is where I beg!
Please tell a friend, relative, coworker, or complete stranger about my site and newsletter. Use any means necessary to spread the word about Daves Computer Tips. Remember "word of mouth" is the best advertising!
As always I appreciate your comments and suggestions about the site and newsletter. If you would like to share please contact me at dave @ davescomputertips.com.
Carol is our resident "Office Goddess". If you have Microsoft Office, OpenOffice questions, or suggestions for future Office articles shoot her an email at carol @ carolscorneroffice.com.
#2 - DRM... Again?
By David Hartsock
DRM has and is making life difficult for computer users and music listeners alike. DRM limits how and when you can access media purchased by you, thereby limiting your fair use and making life generally difficult. I've written about this before in the June 15th, 2007 and July 1st, 2007 newsletters.
DRM adds unnecessary complexity to operating systems and electronic devices, but more importantly it's a "guilty without trial" technology. Everyone is presumed guilty and suffers content that is limited to certain players, won't play at all, or plays at a lower quality than what was purchased. Software is designed by humans, and by default is not perfect. This is true of DRM as well. With each new form of DRM implemented we suffer more restrictions and someone (much smarter than myself) finds a way to bypass or undo. Examples include: DVD, BluRay, HDDVD, and Apple FairPlay.
Enter Microsoft's Windows Media DRM, which affects WMA and WMV files. A DRM removal method for WMA and WMV files has been posted on doom9.com, which uses software named FairUse4WM.
Of course there's the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes this and other similar programs illegal, but it just goes to show you DRM is a waste of time for developers and a major headache for you and I! The RIAA and MPAA need to read the writing on the wall. If you want to make money it's a simple two step process:
- Quit spending money to develop software that won't work, and adds complication to your customers lives.
- Quit spending money to develop software that won't work, and adds complication to your customers lives.
Yes, it's the same step twice. Just in case they didn't read the first one!
I'm sure that if purchased content was easier to use, for the consumer, that more people would jump on the bandwagon and purchase their music and video online. Pretty simple if you ask me, but they aren't listening. Sad.
Add your comment about DRM below!
#3 - Vista Device Driver Updates
By David Hartsock
The Windows Vista operating system contains over 1.4 million device drivers, more than any operating system in history. Device drivers are basically instructions that tell Vista, and any other operating system, how to communicate with a specific piece of hardware. That means that Vista is able to work with lots and lots of hardware. The bad news is the people who wrote these device drivers for Windows XP had seven years to learn the tricks that made their hardware work it's best. Since Vista is a new operating system the people developing device drivers are learning new tricks. Combine that with newer directx 10 compatible video cards and SATA hard drive interfaces and it adds up to frequent driver updates.
Driver updates aren't a bad thing. If fact they improve performance and enable new features in your hardware. There is an issue you need to be aware of that has affected quite a few people. It seems some device drivers written by hardware manufacturers report hardware serial numbers differently than Microsoft's own drivers. This may cause Vista to see a driver update as installation of new hardware or replacement of existing hardware. Unfortunately this may trigger Vista's activation requirement.
This is known by many hardware manufacturers and I'm sure many are working on a fix which will resolve the serial reporting difference.
My best advice is always backup before applying updates and don't have a heart attack if you receive a popup informing you to reactivate after you've installed updates. Keep this little tidbit in the back of your mind.
Add your comment about Vista drivers below!
#4 - Vista's System Restore Function
By David Hartsock
I'm sure many of you are familiar with Microsoft's System Restore. Hopefully fewer of you have had to use it. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about I'll explain.
Microsoft added a feature in Windows ME (Millennium Edition) which would save snapshots of your system at points in time and named it System Restore. System Restore's snapshots are not a backup, or complete copy of your hard drive, but a copy of the full registry and important system files. It does not copy or backup your programs, documents, videos, or audio files. That falls squarely on your shoulders, and I recommend Acronis True Image for that reason and many others.
The System Restore functionality in Windows XP improved greatly on ME's base, and the same can be said about Vista. Vista adds Shadow Copy to the System Restore function. Shadow Copy creates copies of various files including documents and drivers. Sounds great doesn't it? System Restore and Shadow copy work in the background of all versions of Vista watching and copying as you write documents and surf the internet. The bad part is if you don't have Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise you have no way of accessing these file copies created by Shadow Copy. System Restore will work flawlessly, but you won't be able to access older versions of individual files. At some point in the future I imagine someone will write a program which will allow Home Basic and Home Premium users this ability, but it doesn't come built into the OS.
In XP the operating system reserved a maximum of 12% of your hard drive capacity for System Restore. Vista uses a default of 15% or total drive size or 30% of free space, which ever is lower. As an example, this is 75GB of a 500GB drive for a new installation. Let's assume you've filled your 500GB drive with 350GB of videos and files. Vista could use up to 45GB of the remaining 150GB. XP also had a very easy way of changing the limit of System Restore or turning it off on a drive by drive basic. Vista, unfortunately, only has an easy way to turn it on or off. Changing this limit in Vista is a bit more complicated.
Open the Start Menu in Vista and type cmd. This will show you cmd.exe at the top of the results. Right click on cmd.exe and choose Run as Administrator. This will open a black window with a flashing cursor.
Type:
vssadmin list shadowstorage and hit enter.
You will now see exactly how much System Restore is using, and what the maximum Vista may use.
In this example I've already made a change limiting System Restore to 5GB. To change your maximum we need to use a slightly different form of the same command.
vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=X: /On=Y: /Maxsize=ZGB
- X = the drive you wish to change
- Y = the drive you wish to have it stored on
- Z = the maximum size you wish Vista to use
- Z can be MB or GB with a minimum of 300MB. I suggest you stay with GB(gigabytes) for ease of use.
If we wanted to reduce the space allotted to System Restore to 10GB on drive c: we would use the following command:
vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /Maxsize=10GB
If we had two drives and wished to put System Restore on the second drive (drive D:) we would use the following:
vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=D: /Maxsize=10GB
After further investigation I've learned that Vista WILL NOT allow storage on another partition. Vista will only store shadow copies on the same volume! This means that both the For and On switch must point to the same volume!
So let's give it a try. I'm going to increase the space allotted System Restore from 5GB to 10GB on my C: drive:
After pressing Enter Vista performs the command and let's me know it was successful.
Now using the vssadmin list shadowstorage command we originally used we can see the change.
Let's have a look at some of the Pros and Cons of using this command:
PRO
- Increased free space on drive
- Less drive fragmentation due to System Restore resizing
CON
- Less System Restore points
- Fewer previous versions of files
So what do you do? I suggest you set a size to prevent Vista from dynamically resizing on it's own. I think a rule of thumb is 10% rounded to the nearest 5GB.
Drive Size - Shadow Copy Size
80GB - 10GB
100GB - 10GB
120GB - 15GB
160GB - 15GB
200GB - 20GB
250GB - 25GB
etc.
So there you have it, System Restore and Shadow Copy in a nutshell.
Add your comment about Vista System Restore below!
#5 - Modify, Move, and Copy Text
by Carol A. Bratt
Finding and Replacing Text in MS Word
When you edit text in your document, you will sometimes find that a repeated word or phrase needs to be changed every time it's mentioned. For example, if you need to prepare a report that is very similar to the one that you created last month. Wherever the previous month is mentioned, you must replace it with the current month. MS Word's Find and Replace feature helps you quickly find every occurrence of the previous month and replace it with the current month.
Making these sorts of changes one-by-one may lead to errors in your document. It would be very easy to miss one mention of the month, especially when you are rushed. I find that when I type the same thing over and over, I tend to make mistakes, such as transposing letters or numbers (and she's not lying! ~ Dave).That is why automating the process if a good idea. It keeps you from repetitive tasks and ensures that you complete the task without errors.
Follow the steps below to use the Find command to locate a certain word or phrase and the Replace command to both find it and replace it with alternative text.
- Choose Edit | Find (or press CTRL + F).
This opens the dialog box shown below.
- Type the word or phrase you are searching for and click Find Next.
Two things happen when you use the Find command.
Word reads forward, jumps to the next instance of the word or phrase you are seeking and selects it. Clicking the Find Next button again repeats the command. If you want to change the text, click in the document (while leaving the dialog box open) or click Cancel to remove the dialog box and edit the document.
The double arrows on the Navigator button (just below the vertical scroll bar) change from black to blue. Now when you click them, instead of going to the previous page or the next page, you'll go to the previous or next instance of the text you are seeking with the Find command. This is the quickest way to repeat a Find command.
To replace text follow the steps below:
- Choose Edit | Replace or press CTRL + H. This reveals the same dialog box.
- The trouble with this process is that it may replace items that you do not want to change. To have more control over the process, click the More button to see additional choices in the dialog box.
- Check one or more of the boxes for more specific control over the text that is replaced.
What happens depends on which button you click:
To step through the entire document, deciding each time whether to make the replacement, use Find | Next and Replace.
You can also save time and click Replace All to do the job without having to confirm each one. But if you use this feature, make sure you re-read the entire document to make sure that you do not replace something that should not have been changed.
Now the Same Operation in OpenOffice
The operation is very, very similar to what you just learned about in MS Word. You will use the Find and Replace feature in OpenOffice Writer to achieve the same result. It's even named the same!
Follow the steps below:
Choose Edit | Find & Replace (CTRL + F - even the same shortcut!) to open the Find & Replace dialog box shown below.
Enter the text that you want to find in the Search for box. To just find the next instance of the text, click the Find button. To select all the instances of the text, click the Find all button. You can then click the scroll bar and scroll through the entire document and each instance of the text is highlighted.
To replace text, enter the new text that you want in the Replace with box. The cautious method is to move to the next instance using the Find button and then click the Replace button to replace just that instance, the same as in MS Word. If you are sure of what you are trying to accomplish though, you can just click the Replace All button to replace all instances of the text.
Use the Options panel of the dialog box to specify whole words so that you don't get candor when you only want can, to match the case (to find only Candor and not candor), or to search backwards. You can also select the Search for Styles check box to search for text in a specific text style. We will cover styles another time. Click the Format button to search for text using specified formatting, such as searching for text with a particular font.
The Regular Expressions option enables you to fine-tune your search. You can use wildcard characters, find only text at the beginning or end of a paragraph, etc. Click on the Help button in the Find & Replace dialog box and look for the List of Regular Expressions link under the Regular Expressions heading.
When you have finished finding and replacing, simply click the Close button to return to your document.
Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.
Add your comment about Carol's article below!
#6- My Recommended Software
Anti-spyware and Anti-malware Software
Webroot SpySweeper - Daves Computer Tips Seal of Approval Winner! See the test results HERE. Spysweeper provides the best protection of the seven anti-spyware programs tested! Great detection and removal rates with a small real-time protection memory footprint. This is the one you want! SpySweeper includes the ASK toolbar. Be sure to uncheck this option during installation. Free 14 day trial.
CounterSpy - Runner-up in my Anti-Spyware test. Not only does CounterSpy scan and remove spyware, it also uses real time protection. Real-time protection prevents spyware infection. Free 15 day trial. Winner of Computer Shopper Magazine's Best Buy Award!
Antivirus and Firewall Software
ESET Smart Security - New from the maker's of NOD32. Antivirus, Antispyware, Antispam, and Firewall all wrapped into one effective, swift, and low resource package. It is what I use to protect each of my computers!
Kaspersky Antivirus - Kaspersky is my second choice for antivirus software. A good program that is very close in performance to NOD32. Free trial.
Online Armor Firewall - You shouldn't be on the internet without a software firewall that offers inbound and outbound protection. Online Armor is the Best of the Best. Online Armor uses an interface that is easier to navigate than most other firewalls and the protection level can't be beat! Online Armor is available in both a free and reasonably priced paid version, which offers even more protection!
Audio and Video Software
Acoustica Audio Converter Pro - This program converts audio formats and bitrates. Perfect for those with portable audio players or large music collections. 30 day trial.
Adobe Premier Elements 7 - Elements is the home version of Adobe Premiere, the best professional video editing suite today. Premier Elements costs 1/6th the price of the professional version, but is very capable of making videos that will impress everyone.
DVDFab is my favorite DVD software. I tried over 30 different programs before settling on DVDFab. It offers every function of the other programs and more! Copy, burn, shrink, convert for mobile devices, or convert for streaming. Almost all of the other programs I've tried did not function as advertised, were extremely slow, or did not have features that worked as advertised. DVDFab works, and works as advertised! It's easy to use, has a pleasant user interface, and it updated often.
Computer Hardware
Crucial Memory - Memory (RAM) is the upgrade that gives any computer the best bang for the buck. If you want to speed things up with more memory, why not purchase it from the leading source of quality RAM memory. Great selection, good prices, excellent support, and a lifetime warranty! A real winner!
CyberGuys - The place to get those hard to find cables and accessories for your computer!
HP Computers
- My current pick for new laptops and desktops. In the current market I don't think you can beat HP's combination of price and performance. Their laptop line is very cost effective and the design is absolutely beautiful!
Newegg - Newegg.com is known for great service and awesome pricing on computers, upgrades, and electronics. If you're looking for computers, computer parts, or electronics you owe it to yourself to start here! Great Products. Great Prices. Great Customer Service!
Computer Maintenance Software
Diskeeper 2008 - My current favorite defrag program. As files are written and erased from the hard drive they begin to leave "spaces" behind. When the drive is written to again files are broken up to fill in these spaces. This causes the drive to go to several different locations to read an entire file, which slows performance greatly. Diskeeper has several advanced features such as; automatic defrag, scheduled defrag, and the ability to defrag the MFT (Master File Table) and paging file. 30 day trial.
Registry Mechanic - A very thorough and efficient registry cleaner and defragmenter. A definite must to maintain peak performance and stabile operation. 30 day trial.
Computer Utility Software
Acronis True Image 2010 - Do you value the data on your computer? Do you value your time? How much time will you spend recovering data and returning your computer to its original state after a hardware failure or software glitch? True Image is my #1 choice in backup tools. Whether you choose file or image based backups (you should use both!) True Image will perform better than any other application I've used. Disk images created with True Image are generally 10-20% smaller than those from comparable programs. If your time and files are as important to you as mine are to me this is a must have.
Acronis Disk Director - My favorite tool to partition, format, and resize hard drives.
Roboform - This program is the next best thing since sliced bread in my book! This program integrates into Internet Explorer and firefox. It generates very secure passwords at the click of a button. How do I remember these complex passwords? Roboform allows you to save passwords and personal data in an encrypted format. A master password (yes only one password to remember!) allows access. Roboform in IE and FireFox works like a super powered bookmark. You click the site you want to go to and Roboform opens the site, enters your username and password for the site (if required) and as if by magic clicks the submit button. If you shop online Roboform can enter your personal information and credit card information, which is also stored in a secure encrypted file, in one click. A real time saver with great security thrown in to boot! 30 day trial.
WinRar - What is commonly called a zip utility, similar to the more widely known WinZip. WinRar is faster and works with more formats for about 1/2 the price of WinZip. 30 day trial.
Desktop Utility Software
Bootskin Vista - Change the boot screen (the one with the moving bar) in Vista. It's free!
LogonStudio - Change the screen that appears when you log into Windows (where you enter your password). Hundreds of skins available online. It's free.
CursorFX Plus - Change the cursors on your computer, add interesting effects. Hundreds of cursor packs are available online for free.
IconPackager 4 - Icon Packager puts you in control to change every icon with the click of a button. Tired of the plain icons built into Windows? There are hundreds of Icon Packs available online for free, which will add a truly personal feel to your computer.
WindowBlinds 6 - WindowBlinds changes the look and feel of Windows. By changing the appearance of the task bar, start menu, and any other window or program you open. It adds transparency, shadows, alpha blending, and animations. Hundreds of themes are available online for free.
Internet and Email
1&1 hosting - If you want to start your own website, blog, photo gallery, or have a personalized email address then 1&1 is for you. 1&1 can not be beat for reliability, features, support, and price. 90 day guarantee.
Google Gmail - The best internet based email (webmail) available. Each mailbox has a 6.5GB limit. The interface is superb, and the spam filter is top notch. You will never need to delete an email again! It has a great search function and a feature called thread view, which makes finding emails easy. A webmail account offers several advantages including not being required to change your email address if you change service providers. Gmail requires an invitation from a current member. If you are interested shoot me an email and I'll send you an invite.
Microsoft Outlook 2007 - Outlook is the current email client of choice for corporate America. I get well over 200 emails a day. Outlook has a few features I really need such as a plug in for automatic backups, office sounds which offers me some audible feedback, and the ability to change headers. I've used Mozilla Thunderbird and liked it a lot. With the amount of mail I go through I really need the features of Outlook. If you aren't a heavy user, or don't need the features I do then Thunderbird is a great alternative.
Firefox 3 - An amazing, free, web browser. If you aren't using it you should be! Highly customizable through addins called extensions. There are thousands of extensions which can allow FireFox to do just about anything you can imagine. More importantly, Firefox is not subject to ActiveX, which is a large part of Internet Explorer, AOL, and MSN. No ActiveX means much less chance of getting spyware! Firefox also conforms to web standards more closely than Internet Explorer, which means you will see what the authors intended, not Microsoft.
Mozilla Thunderbird - A great free email client, from the same folks that brought us FireFox. Easy to use and highly customizable through extensions.
Photo and Picture Software
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 - Photoshop Elements is the home version of Adobe Photoshop. If you are serious about digital photos you will find Photoshop Elements a great program to have at your disposal. Elements provides all the functionality most will need at 1/6th the price of the full Photoshop version.
Picasa - A great (FREE) way to organize, edit, and share your digital photos.
Add your comment about Dave's Recommended Software below!
#7 - The lighter side
After spending countless hours surfing the web in search of various funny or interesting things to share with you here are a few of my finds to lighten your day! I go through a lot to please my readers!
The Internet is down! - Very funny. Listen carefully, there are a lot of sly funny comments.
You buy an abandoned farm. While exploring your new property you find a barn. The doors are welded shut. You cut through the welds with an angle grinder (hey, it's yours) and what do you find? - click here to find out! Thanks to Larry.
Car problem? - Hmmmm. Never believe everything you see.
The truth about bottled water - A funny look at bottled H2O by Penn & Teller. May have a few "bad" words. Thanks Ray.
The Greatest Play in Baseball - There is a :30 commercial before the video, but it's worth the wait. Thanks Jim.
World Yo-Yo Champion - Amazing. Watch his hands!
If you found these funny tell others by commenting below!
#8 - A few websites you may find useful
The Great Software List - A nice list of software, broken down by task. Most is free!
Windows Vista for Beginners - A nice site with easy to understand information about Vista!
Were these useful? Do you have a site to share? Tell others below!
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