SPAUG Newsletter August 2000

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Notes from the Prez  by Jim Dinkey



• All CD-RW disks are not the same!  by John Buck



• Add personal notes to Windows Help topics  by Mildred Kohn



• The World Streaming In  by John Buck



• Handy, Hidden Windows 98 Utilities  by Mildred Kohn



• Universal Serial Bus (USB) Hubs  by Mildred Kohn



• eGems Professional  by Russell J. Jacobsen

Notes from the Prez

by Jim Dinkey

OUR SPEAKER

Google, in the personage of Craig Silverstein, will present how Google operates, their objectives, and how they are different from other companies in similar businesses.

MEMBERSHIP

Over the years I have noticed that women do not enter into the research and development of computers and the software that runs it. About 5 years ago, I attended a Linux workshop where the movers and shakers were in attendance, but of the 72 people there, 70 ½ of them were men and 1 ½ were women (there was one that was indeterminate). Our membership includes several women that add a great deal to the vitality and effectiveness of SPAUG. I am wonder just what we need to do to expand that part of the group. Your suggestions are encouraged. Another part of membership is maintaining our base. We will lose about 10% of our membership each year through no fault of our own. Some are moves, retirements, and circumstances changed. So we need to assure that our advertising under our Publicist - Marvin Kraft is effective. (Note to John Please put him into the list of movers and shakers).

BACKUPS

We are back on that subject. I evidently stirred a bit of a nest with the suggestion that tapes be used. I have heard lots of arguments, but the final view is that the ability to make backups is primarily dependant upon the process being benign else it will not be done at all. This is the crux of why CDs, which take intervention, do not meet that criteria. Tapes, on the other hand, are put in once and it then can receive a full backup, four daily backups, and be replaced once a week in 10 seconds. All of the processing is usually automatic. That is why tapes are your best bet. Now when the CDs get to be over 2 GB each, well, we might have to revisit the subject then.

WEBMASTER SIG

Stan Hutchings has quite a Webmaster class going. About 6 members have been meeting as he has us reviewing the basics that are presented on the SPAUG website. Anyone who wishes to find out what we are doing merely needs to look at our website. The current assignment is to review the portion on TABLES.

FUTURE PROGRAMS

I could use some help. You are requested to see if your favorite organization is interested in presenting its case to SPAUG and to send me the name and phone number of the contact. I will take it from there. If you subscribe to Smart Computing Magazine by phone or mail, use Source Code 8592 and SPAUG will receive a $5 rebate. Jim Dinkey will have forms available at the General Meeting. "

All CD-RW disks are not the same!

by John Buck

Taking to heart Jim Dinkey's admonishment to BACK UP YOUR PC, I checked on devices available locally and settled on an HP 8210e External CD-Writer. At the same time, I bought a box of cheap [pricewise] generic CD-RW disks. That last part may have been a big mistake. Of six disks I tried from this package, only one seemed ultimately usable.

When I started using the CD-Writer, I figured I'd start with one of the cheap disks, instead of unwrapping the HP disk. The cheap disk seemed to format ok, and it seemed to accept data ok. But when I removed it from the drive and then put it back, it didn't read and locked up my PC. As soon as I removed the disk, the PC was ok again. Tried a second cheap disk, same problem. Reinstalled CD-Writer and software. Same problem. Checked documentation in preparation to call HP for help. Figured that HP would ask what disk I was using and it would only be fair to be using the disk they'd provided. THE HP DISK WORKED AS EXPECTED, as expected. OK, there seems to be no problem with the HP disk in the HP drive. There also seems to be no problem with Imation disks.

From all of this, I did seem to find a way to determine if a disk was OK or not.

In Windows Explorer, going to My Computer shows my drives.

When I put a CD-RW in my CD-Writer, one of three things will happen:
• If the disk hasn't been formatted, software to format the disk will be started.
• If the disk has been formatted and is usable, Windows Explorer will show me Total Size and Free Space on that disk.
• If neither of those two things happens, I get an hourglass and the PC hangs as long as that disk is in the drive.

Of six cheap disks, only one seemed usable.

My benefit from this exercise is that I have early-on
1. learned about problems of this sort,
2. learned more about dealing with my CD Writer than I'd expected, and
3. learned that all CD-RW disks are not the same.

All disks used in the above examples were labeled 650MB/74 minute. I'm noticing that there seem to be more 80-minute disks available than the 74-minute variety. If you're thinking of using 80-minute disks, be aware that HP, for one, does not recommend using them for critical information at this time. See http://www.hp.com/cposupport/information_storage/support_doc/lpg40817.html. HP's website also has other information about using, handling, and caring for CDs; try starting at http://www.hp.com/storagemedia/english/prodinfo.html.

Add your own notes to Windows Help topics

article contributed by co-Editor Mildred Kohn

[An excerpt from "Doing Windows"
by Lee Reynolds, Contributing Editor, Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc., July 2000 issue of Newsletter for The Palm Beach PC Users Group.]

ANNOTATE WINDOWS HELP

Did you know that you can add your personal notes to Windows 9x Help topics?

It's kind of like using one of those little yellow sticky notes.

When your Help window is showing a topic that you want to annotate, you do it as follows:
1. right click any empty area of the topic's window
2. select Annotate from the context menu that pops up
3. in the box that appears type your own notes
4. then click Save
5. to remove an annotation, just open it and then click Delete

The next time you navigate to that item where you have an annotation, you will see a little paper clip as an icon in order to open and read your note.

The World Streaming In

contributed by John Buck

by Bill McKibben, in The Atlantic Monthly, July 2000, pp 76-78

Free, easy-to-use software turns any PC into the greatest [radio] set there ever was. You listen through the speakers on your desktop computer. By year's end, car radios will be available to "stream" channels playing your favorite formats (for a fee). Internet radio can be inexpensive; one service will webcast a station's signal for only two minutes of advertising a day. The digital revolution is also changing the way radio programs are created, in addition to how they are delivered.

Handy, Hidden Windows 98 Utilities

by Mildred Kohn

Compiled by Greg Lenihan, newsletter editor for the Pikes Peak Computer Application Society in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Although Win95 did everything I needed, I switched to Win98 (2nd edition) because I kept reading and hearing about new utilities that were built into the new operating system that looked like good troubleshooting aids. Each of these utilities can be accessed by typing the commands below into the Start—> >Run box.

System Information Command: msinfo32.exe

You can get there the long way by going to Start—>Programs—>Accessories—>System Tools—>System Information. What you get is information about the hardware and resources used, software components installed as part of Windows, and software currently loaded and running (called the Software Environment). To view any of these areas, click on a plus sign next to the heading shown in outline form. If you look under the Tools menu, you can launch other Win98 utilities such as the System Configuration Utility, System File Checker, Registry Checker, and Dr. Watson.

Want to know how long your system has been running since turned on? Look for the Uptime value in the right panel.

System Configuration Utility Command: msconfig.exe

This is a handy utility used to modify many of the settings for Win98. Individual lines can be turned on or off in your config.sys, autoexec.bat, system.ini, or win.ini files. You can use it to turn off the annoying Scandisk function if you are forced to shut off your system, and can turn off any program starting at boot up. The command msconfig.exe is found in the c:\Windows\system directory where you can create an icon for it on your desktop. It’s a very handy tool for troubleshooting startup problems.

System File Checker Command: sfc.exe

The System File Checker verifies the integrity of your system files in Win98. Running this file will determine if any of your system files have been replaced or corrupted. It will then prompt you to replace them from your install CD. A nice feature of the utility is that by running it after installing new applications, you can find out what system files that application has installed or changed.

Dr. Watson Command: drwatson.exe

This tool can provide clues to software-related problems. Typing drwatson into the Run command box won't launch to a main screen or dialog box like the other utilities. Instead, an icon will appear in your system tray. Right-clicking on it will display the user interface. To be effective in troubleshooting, Dr. Watson should be running in the background when you are testing problems. That way you can look at log files generated and maybe get some meaningful error messages about what occurred to your system. This may mean loading it at startup so it can try to interpret why a problem or crash occurred.

Hardware Diagnostics Tool Command: hwinfo.exe

The Hardware Diagnostic Tool provides the same information as the Microsoft System Information Tool, except it is color coded to display problem areas and potential problems. Open the Run box in the start menu and type it in with the hwinfo.exe /ui switch. It will not run without the switch.

Automatic Skip Driver Agent Command: asd.exe

When a software driver prevents the system from booting properly, this tool can help determine which driver is having problems and how to fix it. Make sure two consecutive restarts were attempted whereby the same driver doesn't load. After typing in the command, a listing of all drivers not loaded should appear along with advice on what to do.

Link Check Wizard Command: chklnks.exe

This wizard is found on the Windows98 Install CD in the directory \Tools\Reskit\Desktop. It scans all of the shortcut files on your system, and checks to see if the link points to an existing application or document. If the associated application or document is not found, it lists that file as a dead link, giving you the option to remove it. Copy Chklinks.exe to your Windows directory and create an icon on your desktop to use it.

IP Configuration Tool Command: winipcfg.exe

This tool provides the current information about your IP address assigned when you connect to your Internet Service Provider. It includes your subnet mask and the gateway your ISP is using. This information can be helpful in connecting your system to other computers on the Internet. IP Config is found in your c:\Windows directory

Universal Serial Bus (USB) Hubs

by Mildred Kohn

From the Newsletter of the Connecticut PC User Group

Issue: The world is moving to the Universal Serial Bus (USB). New computers have a couple of USB ports. Most peripherals don't yet allow you to daisy-chain hardware together. What do you do when you run out of ports?

Response: Buy a USB hub and plug it into one of your ports. (You can chain hubs.) The main caveat is to buy a powered hub since some USB devices draw power from the bus. Another option is to buy a new monitor since many of them have USB ports on them. Either way, an unintended benefit is that your connections will no longer be hidden in the back of your computer. They can be on your desktop if you wish.

eGems Professional

by Russell J. Jacobsen

eGems Professional is a powerful new technology that works alongside other applications including your word processor, spreadsheet, web browser or any other Windows application. Whether you want a particular quote, table, statistic or picture, you need only drag the selected item to the always-available eGems Logo and a gem will be created for you, complete with 13 available bibliographical formats. The data is stored in your own personal gem database for later use in your work. It is more robust than other software applications because it does not integrate itself into your browser. eGems works smoothly alongside multiple browsers with no need to switch back and forth between applications.

eGems helps the user organize and maintain facts, quotes, graphics, or any type of electronic information into a simple, graphical application. It even tracks the reference source where the information came from so the user can go back to the source if need be.