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In This Issue...
Newbies Nook - Information, Tips, and Instruction for Computer Users
Forum Favorites - Popular Questions and Threads from the Forum
Security Corner - Computer Security Tips and News
Carol's Corner Office - Microsoft Office and OpenOffice How-To's and Tips
Dave's Recommended Software - Our Picks of the Best Software Available
2 bits, 4 bits, 64 bits, a Dollar - Dave goes 64bit!
Useful Free Software - Free Software Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers
Useful Websites - Useful Websites Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers
The Lighter Side - Funny, Interesting, and Thought Provoking Items Found During Our Travels Across the Internet
Build Your Own Computer! - Part 2
I would like to apologize right off the top. My photographic skills are definitely lacking. As a result several of the pictures I took during the build are unusable. I'll do better next time!
In the October 1st newsletter I discussed the components I bought and why I chose them. A few days, after I placed the order, a box from NewEgg arrived at my door (just like Christmas). The box was full of computer goodies!
Opening the case
So let's get started by opening up the case. This case uses 2 screws on the back to open the side, which is very common, though others may use clips or levers. No matter which method they use opening a case is very easy!
(click the image for a larger view)
As you can see there is plenty of room for hard drives in this case, which is a major factor should more storage for the home server be needed in the future!
The first thing you should do is replace the connector plate. Aftermarket cases are made to accept motherboards from different manufacturers and there is a place on the back of the case that accepts a standard size connector plate. The maker of the motherboard will include a connector plate with the motherboard. The connector plate ensures the connectors on the motherboard have the correct holes in the case. I've installed the plate in the new case. It installs easily by simply snapping it into place.
(click the image for a larger view)
Install the motherboard
Now that the plate is in pull all the wires out of the way and lay the motherboard in the case. If you would like more information about motherboards, or need a refresher, read our What is a Motherboard article from the June newsletter. Be sure to insert the connectors into the plate first! You will notice a brass post in the area where the motherboard goes inside the case. This post fits into a witness hole in the motherboard to ensure the board is located properly with the connector plate and screw locations..
(click the image for a larger view)
Once you have the motherboard connectors inserted into the plate and the post into the witness hole make sure the motherboard is flat and nothing (wires, extra screws, etc) is between the motherboard and case. Use the provided screws to secure the motherboard to the case.
Install the CPU
After I've secured the motherboard I like to secure the CPU and its' cooling fan. In the past this was where you could trash a $300 (or more) chip. CPU's were actually connected to the motherboard with hundreds of pins that fit into a socket. Break a pin - throw the chip away. Presently chips have contacts that are pressed against the socket by a lever system, which is much easier and safer to install
Pressing the lever down will all the lever to slide away from the catch. Once clear of the catch pulling the lever up will remove the top plate, which retains the CPU. Remove the plastic protector and place the CPU in the socket. It will only fit one way. Flip the top plate back to the original position and return the lever to the catch. This may require a little force, as the lever applies pressure to the top plate to keep the CPU in place and in contact with the socket.
(click the image for a larger view)
Once the CPU is installed apply thermal grease to the top of the CPU. Thermal grease fills in the microscopic pits between the CPU and the CPU cooling fan. This ensures maximum heat transfer between the CPU and cooling fan. The amount of thermal grease you should use is very small, about the size of a grain of rice. Using more will actually make heat transfer less effective and might reduce the life of the CPU and/or decrease system stability.
Notice the four holes in the board just outside the CPU socket? This is where the CPU cooler mounts to the board. The CPU cooler will have four posts, one for each hole. Most use a type of push to latch connection. Gently insert the post into the hole and push down on the top of the post to lock it. Do not apply too much force - you don't want to break the motherboard. Plug the fan into the connection on the motherboard.
Mount the hard drives
In the first part of this article I mentioned that I was using existing IDE hard drives. First I connected the drives to the IDE cables. Below is an IDE cable. Notice that each connector has a different color? The blue connector goes to the motherboard. The black, or end, connector goes to the primary, or master, device. The middle, or gray, connector connects to the secondary, or slave, device. The connectors are "keyed" so they can not be inserted incorrectly. Here is another case where color doesn't always indicate what it should. The important thing to remember is two connectors on the IDE cable are closer to each other than the third. These are the connections for the devices. The one on the end is master. The one closer to the middle is the slave. The remaining connector goes to the motherboard. (Newer drives use the SATA interface, which is much simpler. SATA connections are one drive to one motherboard connection. No complicated "this goes there" scheme)
This case uses a "pressure fit" to hold the drives. I added 2 screws to hold them securely. Normally you want to leave some space between drives to allow heat dissipation, but in this instance I've added a fan to directly cool the drives.
Connect the IDE cables from the drives to the motherboard, and power connections to the drives.
(click the image for a larger view)
Having four drives creates quite a bit of heat. I will change the IDE cables to the newer round ones in the future. That should improve air flow around the drives by not blocking as much air as the large flat cable.
Cards and memory
If you would like more information about RAM, or need a refresher, read our What is RAM article from the July newsletter.
This motherboard supports both DDR RAM in the blue sockets, and DDR2 RAM in the yellow sockets. Remember that the RAM is "keyed" and will only fit in the correct socket. Install the memory modules by pulling the white locking tabs away from the slot. Align the memory module correctly with the slot and press down. Do not force the memory into the socket, but do insert it firmly.
This motherboard does not have video support built onto the board, so I chose an inexpensive AGP video card, which will go into the AGP slot. The mother board does have onboard 100Mb Ethernet, but I will install my gigabit ethernet card and disable the onboard ethernet.
The back of the case has removable "knockouts" that need to be removed before cards can be installed. A simple wiggle is usually enough to remove these. As with memory, align the card with the correct slot and press. Do not force a card into a slot, but do insert it firmly.
(click the image for a larger view)
We've got the power!
One of the important steps is connecting all of the power leads. The computer won't run without electricity. Fortunately the power connections are standard and "Keyed" so only the correct connector will fit the right connection. Pretty easy. You will have some connectors from the power supply that are not used. Don't worry. These are for future expansion!
The next step is connecting the front panel connections to the motherboard. If you haven't looked at your motherboard manual yet, now is the time! The functions are standard (power, reset, HD LED, USB, audio, etc), however the actual connection to the motherboard is up to the manufacturer.
(click the image for a larger view)
The finishing touches
The final thing you want to do before closing the case is route all the wiring so it is clear of all fans, neat, and out of the way. The last thing you want is a fan that doesn't work because a wire prevented it from turning and it burnt out, or a fan blade that wore through the insulation on a wire that shorted out your power supply!
(click the image for a larger view)
Important reminders!
- Don't handle the components more than you have to.
- Wear a grounding strap to prevent static discharge, which could damage sensitive electronics.
- Do not force anything!
- Fans should blow the same direction. You want air to travel through the case in one direction. Cold air in - warm air out!
- Plan ahead. Selecting the right components now can save you money and headaches down the road.
- Take your time.
- Read the manuals!
Hopefully this will be a good "pointer" for those who wish to build their own computer. For others, who may be scared off by the insides of a computer, hopefully this article will take away a little of that fear. Go ahead - open that computer and take a look. Nothing to be scared of.
ActiveX error message - Help Ozbloke figure out why he is receiving error messages from emails.
Login screen freezes after restart - Soldat is having trouble logging in after a restart. Can you help?
Have you ever wanted to remove some of the items in the Right Click menu? - TheMan asks.
Can't get your computer to shut down properly? - neither can Ozbloke.
Windows Media Center and SP3 don't play well together - Nightowl gets to the bottom of the problem.
Sunrisen's desktop wallpaper loads twice - have you seen this happen?
How do you connect to the internet? - Ozbloke starts a lively discussion that covers internet speeds, IPTV, and cable!
What do you think about the new look of Daves Computer Tips - Please visit the forum and share your thoughts!
How to Protect Yourself from Clickjacking
It isn't getting any better out there on the Wild, Wild, Web and now there's an even more sinister criminal tactic that affects every graphical browser in use today; it's called “clickjacking” and it's a nasty one. In fact, unless you're using a text-based browser such as Lynx (it's pretty interesting—check it out), which doesn't rely on the mouse, you're vulnerable.
In Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, or Opera, for instance, any click of the mouse could result in your being infected with malware, your bank account being robbed, or other nefarious things; the attacker could even turn on your laptop's built-in microphone and web cam to spy on you. Moreover, the red “X” we're all used to clicking to close a window is now vulnerable to this attack and it probably won't be long before it's exploited (You can close any active window without clicking by using the key combination of Alt-F4. Get into the habit of using it). The good news is, it's relatively easy to protect yourself.
If you're running Firefox—and I certainly hope you are—you need to install No Script. This free, open source add-on will only allow JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed by sites you trust; all scripting is blocked by default. For example, Dave's Computer Tips (DCT) uses JavaScript, so No Script will block (and break) certain things on the site; but you trust DCT, so you can allow scripting for it and No Script will let the features work. The latest version of NoScript has a feature called ClearClick that you can read about here. I don't surf without it, and you shouldn't either.
There are various options available to you when you visit a site. Click the Options button:
(NoScript will not allow taking a screen shot of the menu itself for security reasons; any key press closes the menu, so I'll have to explain.) What you want to do for any trusted site, like Dave's Computer Tips, is click the Options button and select “Allow all this page.” You'll see a bunch of other options, too; there will be entries for ad hosts, tracking sites and the like. You can enable or disable them at will. With a little practice, you'll get a feel for it—it's not complicated. I usually allow everything on sites I trust, but only allow the main site if I've arrived there by clicking a link.
After you install NoScript, you have to disable iFrames. Go into the plugin options and check this box:
In Internet Explorer, you have to go through a bit more to protect yourself. Open IE and go to Tools-->Internet Options and click on the Security tab:
Then, select Internet and Custom level for the security settings:
Set the security level for the Internet Zone to High. This will disable all active scripts, including ActiveX. You'll have to add any sites you trust, such as Dave's Computer Tips to the Trusted Sites zone:
Click on Trusted Sites and Custom level:
Set the security level to “Low:”
This should allow most active content to display properly. To add a site to the Trusted Sites zone, select Trusted Sites and click Sites:
Add Dave's Computer Tips to the Trusted Sites using the wildcard * symbol as shown. Uncheck the “Require server verification...” box:
In the future, any sites you trust can be added in this manner. This should protect you from most clickjacking attacks and it'll make you more secure in general.
Ken Harthun is the Security Editor for Daves Computer Tips. He also writes about security issues for IT Knowledge Exchange and blogs on general Geek things at Ask The Geek. You can read more about Ken here.
Hi everyone,
The driveway now has a lovely carpet of leaves just waiting to be raked according to my husband. My feeling is that we live in the country and they are very picturesque! Besides that, we are having some major construction done on our dwelling and so once all the dump trucks, etc. go up and down the driveway you won't notice the leaves all that much anyway right?
It is almost cool enough that I will have to start wearing socks or stockings with my shoes again. I'm not too thrilled at that prospect but I'm even less thrilled at the prospect of frozen tootsies! I hope wherever you live and whatever weather pattern you are experiencing that you are enjoying it!
Ok, on with the article now.
Using Multilevel List Numbering in MS Word 2007
Several folks have written to me inquiring about this topic. I have to preface my article by saying that this latest version of MS Word is only slightly less confusing than it was in 2003. Having said that, it is possible to create multilevel lists painlessly in this version if you do it properly.
Word's multilevel feature takes bulleted and numbered lists to the next level. Creating sublists or subpoints in a list is fairly easy in this version, which will make a lot of legal secretaries very happy I'm sure because that was always a huge gripe of theirs. One example of a multilevel list which most of you have seen is an outline where the first level uses Roman numerals and the next level uses capital letters. There are other uses as well, such as a multiple choice test that a teacher creates for her students.
You can apply multilevel bullets or numbering to your list at any time.
To Apply Multilevel List Numbering to Existing Text, follow the steps below:
Select the text where you would like to apply multilevel outline numbering.
Click on the Home tab.
In the Paragraph group, click Multilevel List.
The Multilevel dialog box will appear.
Select the Outline option of your choice. One choice would be the one that starts with arabic numbers and uses lower case letters for the subsequent level.
The bullets or numbers are now applied to your selected text.
You can promote and demote lines of text to adjust your list to your liking. Promoting text will indent it to the left (up a level) and demoting will indent the text to the right (down a level).
Of course, there are keyboard shortcuts that can be used to promote and demote to different levels and paragraphs within your outline.
| Action | Keyboard Combination |
|---|---|
| Advance to next list item | Enter |
| Promote a list item | Shift + Tab OR or Alt + Shift + Left Arrow |
| Demote a list item | Tab OR Alt + Shift + Right Arrow |
| Demote to body text | CTRL + Shift + N |
| Select list item above | Alt + Shift + Up Arrow |
| Select list item below | Alt + Shift + Down Arrow |
To promote and demote list items, you can also click on the Increase Indent and Decrease Indent Decrease icons on your toolbar.
Next time I will try to cover using List Styles in Word 2007.
Until then, take care of YOU!
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.
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 2009 - 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
LogonStudio - Change the screen that appears when you boot Windows (the one with the moving bar graph). Hundreds of free skins available online. It's free.
Cursor XP Plus - Change the cursors on your computer. Hundreds of cursor packs are available online for free.
Icon Packager - Change the icons on your computer. 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 - This is the icing on the proverbial cake. 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.
A little memory background
Vista has been out for quite some time now, and has passed several notable milestones. The most important milestone, Service Pack 1, has been a resounding success. In February 2007 I recommended users shy away from 64bit versions of Vista. The reasons were many, but my primary concerns were kernel security features and program compatibility.
I've said in past issues that memory is the single biggest improvement you can make to a computer, and often the cheapest. As memory gets cheaper more people are approaching the limits of 32bit operating systems. The architecture behind a 32bit OS will only address 4GB of memory. That seems like a lot, but computers must also reserve memory space for hardware. Basically, if you have 4GB of RAM, a 512MB video card, and are running a 32bit OS windows will only be able to use less than 3.5GB of your RAM. 512MB of the addressable space is reserved for the video card and a little more for the other hardware attached to your computer. This is by far the biggest drawback of the 32bit OS. As hardware becomes more complex and applications require more memory this will become a bigger problem.
64bit operating systems can address 16GB of memory space. This allows the operating system to access all of the RAM you have installed, and still have addressable space for hardware. A user running a 64bit OS with 4GB of RAM and a 512MB video card will still be able to access the full 4GB of RAM.
Over the past 6 months discussion on the internet about 64bit Vista has been growing at a fever pitch. Users using 64bit Vista instead of 32bit Vista has been growing at a surprising rate, especially when compared to 64bit XP adoption rates. User experiences have been high, and problems almost nonexistent.
Dave goes 64bit!
After the September 1st newsletter was released I created a disk image using True Image so I could restore my system if I experienced problems. I then set about downloading the 64bit drivers for my computer from HP. HP had up to date drivers for all my hardware, so this was a breeze. With drivers downloaded and backups created I took a big step...
Using the method in the Perform a Clean Vista Installation with No Activation article I inserted my Vista 64bit disk, closed my eyes, held my breath, and hit the button.
Piece of cake! Installation went without a hitch. No driver issues. No installation issues. No hiccups. I immediately noticed Windows recognized the entire 4GB of memory installed on the laptop. When running 32bit Vista the OS only recognized about 3.25GB.
I downloaded the most up to date versions of my programs to ensure 64bit support. Every program I've installed (and that is quite a few) has worked flawlessly except for one, Unlocker. The author has promised an update to support 64bit soon. It's a great program and I can't wait for the update. ESET, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Office, old games, Nero, my maintenance programs, True Image, DVDFab, etc. They all worked without a single hitch!
The only real differences the user will notice is the addition of a SysWOW64 folder in c:\windows (storing 64bit system files) and the addition of Program Files (x86) in c:\ (where 32bit programs are installed). Everything else is how you would expect it. No changes, just more memory, and slightly faster performance.
I also chose to leave UAC (User Account Control) enabled. I'm pleasantly surprised. Alerts are very rare once the initial installation of programs is finished. Not obtrusive at all. I'm going to leave it activated! Reliability has been as expected. All in all a painless and worthwhile upgrade, that I would recommend!
RK Launcher - A very neat tool that allows you to create a launch bar for programs and folders. You can even replace the Windows taskbar. Check it out.
NetWorx - Monitor your bandwidth and network connections. This could be used to track bandwidth usage for those whose internet provider places caps on the amount of data you can consume.
Cropper - a free screen capture utility.
Paint.Net - A free photo/picture/graphic editing and creation program. Very capable.
Pandora Radio - Internet radio at its finest. Type an artist name, or genre of music. Pandora will play music that is similar, or has a connection to your entry. It's like having a magic disk jockey in your computer!
kbAlertz.com - This site allows you to pick Microsoft product lines and technologies from a list. When Microsoft issues KB (knowledge base) articles pertaining to those products kbAlertz.com will email you a notification with the information from the KB article along with a direct link. This is a good way to keep abreast of important information.
Ben's Bargains - A great site to find deals on tech products and consumer electronics!
CDFreaks.com - If you want to know anything about CD/DVD formats, burners, media, or copying this is the place to go.
Build a Lamborghini in your basement - So - let's say you see a car in a movie. Let's say you really like the car. Let's say you want one, but can't afford it. What do you do? You build a real one - by hand - in your basement! Click the link to see what happens next! ~ thanks to Ray
Behold the power of Apple - Even Apple has computer problems! ~thanks to Ray
Flight 405 - No matter how many times I've watched this I am always in awe the the kids that made this. I get a laugh out of it every time! Click here for the behind the scenes story. ~ thanks to Larry
Cat Cam - strap a camera or GPS to your cat. To see some of the interesting pictures click here.