SPAUG Newsletter August 2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Notes from the Prez
by Jim Dinkey
This month's letter is a hodge-podge of items of interest to you.
- One of the most effective ways of making CDs was the Roxio Easy CD Creator. It still is effective at making DATA CDs but the capability of making BACKUP CDs (the employment of TAKE TWO) is removed in their current update to the base package - citing problems with that part of the product. Roxio's Easy CD Creator is still a good product, but no longer can be used for backing up your Hard Disk Drive (HDD) as before.
- Backing up your HDD is the most effective way of protecting yourself from the ravages of drive failure (or much more often, a modification that goes wrong), and so I suggest using Ghost to a second HDD.
- The utilization of a second HDD is a change in policy for me because I am merely bowing to the reality that about half of our membership has effectively NO backup at all, much less a tape drive to make a backup of the professional level I would like. So if I'm not going to get a tape unit backup, I'll settle for a squeezed image on another HDD as a result of running Ghost (Symantec) because it is simple and it works. The method is to boot to Ghost and ask Ghost to make a copy of your data disk onto your backup disk. The time to do the whole procedure is about 10 minutes. If things turn to mud after some software install, you can merely bring back the disk image from the backup image and be back in business in about 10 minutes.
- Another technique is to use Partition Magic to make a pseudo "D" drive on your HDD, but that still means that if you lose your HDD, you have lost it all. Presumably, both HDDs would not crash at the same time. With HDDs costing under $100 these days, pick one up at the local store and bring it to the Saturday Clinic and we'll put it in for you, format it, and do the first backup if you have your Ghost software with you.
- One of the things that made me back off from the use of Partition Magic was the fact that when I wanted to create some space on a brand new Win2K NTFS system, Partition Magic looped in the middle of the process of dealing with the creation of a pseudo "D" drive on the NTFS system and the job had to be terminated. The result was loss of the Win2K load. Reloads failed, Win98 failed, and nothing was working. Hank listened to the story and immediately used a Western Digital HDD diagnostic to do a low-level format of the HDD as nothing was going to work until the partition table was straightened out. I have used Partition Magic for years in the FAT32 environment without incident, but it clearly needs some additional work when dealing with NTFS. The way to avoid the problem is to leave some room unformatted when installing Win2K or anything that uses NTFS and then use the Disk Administrator within Win2K or XP to complete the creation of the "D" drive if you insist on putting your backup on the only drive you have. My pitch is clearly to add a second drive.
- The preferred migration for Win98 users, in my opinion, is to Win2K, NOT XP. XP does work if what you get from some factory does everything you want; but it seems to have difficulties with adding software that was not anticipated by the factory. This is the biggest reason why the professional IT managers have not installed XP in their shops. If one is responsible for 1000 computers and the operating system can't take care of all sorts of additional non-factory programs, and you have half of them screaming for customer support, you will not go to XP. Even the SP1 of XP seems to introduce problems. It is for this reason that Hank has sold to industry exactly 6 systems with XP on it even though Microsoft is trying to force everybody to XP (read $$$$).
- Mail Washer has been on my machine for about three weeks and it has just about wiped out SPAM. I never had a really bad case of SPAM but I also didn't need some of the stuff that was shoved at me. So I can recommend it wholeheartedly. It is on the SPAUG CD, but a current copy can be had from the Internet. I even use Mail Washer in preference to Spam Cop.
- If you are in Windows Explorer or equivalent, you can hold CTRL while pressing the numeric key +, and the contents will be rearranged for you based upon length of the filenames. Great aid.
- Currently under investigation are two programs designed to aid in the transition from an old machine to a new machine. All of us have the built-in abhorrence of having to locate the mail file and move it over, followed by the address book file, followed by the data files of each programs, etc. The transition of your old computer to the new computer with all of its data and personalizations is a daunting task which possibly can be made easier by using automation. I'll fill you in next time about how the experiment went.
- Zone alarm is still a very good product, but you need to be aware that it tends to get in the way at the wrong time. For instance, when you are installing new software, you want to assure that Zone Alarm is disabled, best by MSCONFIG, so the install can be accomplished without interference from Zone Alarm. It does do its job, but the product needs to be the last thing enabled when the machine is being updated.
Expanding on the last item, recently I had severe problems with a machine that was just not working right. The solution was most instructive.
The user had been following my instructions in the last PrintScreen on how to set up a machine so that SPAM could be controlled and so the machine could not be used to be a host for worms and Trojan horses.
This is the setup that I am using on my own machines and I have found that it is hugely successful. SPAM has been virtually eliminated - and I don't miss it. Took about two weeks to accomplish.
But there is a problem, sometimes, with ZoneAlarm: It sometimes integrates itself so deeply into the Win98 operating system in such a manner that it impairs the machine. I found this out from the Earthlink representative when, in desperation, I called Earthlink Customer Support when I could not get a simple dialup account to work. Turns out that it was ZoneAlarm, on this particular machine, that was causing the problem.
The solution was to:
- Clean out the Networking attachments in Control Panel/Networking,
- Delete ZoneAlarm from any Program Files directories,
- Delete registry entries of ZoneAlarm.
Then Networking was able to be set up without incident.
Should you not install ZoneAlarm as a result of this? Yes, I would still install ZoneAlarm, but I would assure that I had a good TOTAL backup (Drive Image/Ghost) of the computer in question, should you be in the small percentage that is going to have ZoneAlarm problems. This particular machine was not backed up, and to do so was problematical and time consuming. So reloading Win98 was about all that could be accomplished and the machine was clearly not right even before ZoneAlarm was installed.
The Earthlink representative said that he had to delete ZoneAlarm from about a dozen machines a day - there does seem to be a problem. Of course, it is important that you realize that ZoneAlarm is designed to stop Trojan horses and worms, and in no way is connected with viruses and Mail Washer.
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31 July General Meeting Notes
by Stan Hutchings
CrossTalk
- Peterson Video Transfer (408-255-4925) in Cupertino was recommended as a good place to get your old 16mm movies transferred to digital/DVD media.
- EarthLink is a good, reliable ISP for modem and DSL. They are not the cheapest, but they are probably the best in our area.
- WinXP does not seem to have the Scandisk application; does anyone know what to use instead? According to www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/scandisk.htm it's called "Check Now...", and the easiest way to access it is: My Computer, right-click the drive to be checked, click Properties, click Tools,click Check Now..., select the desired Options, click Start.".
Another answer (along with many other WinXP FAQs) is at Windows XP Guides at www.bootstrike.com/Home/winxpfaq.html, which reports CHKDSK is back. Anyone who uses XP might want to bookmark this site.
- It was recommended to partition your hard drive into several drives, and dedicate at least one to data. You may have to set the preferences or the "Start In..." choices for most applications, because by default they will usually use the drive the application is on. It would also be good to have a separate Programs drive. Don't expect all of an application to be in that drive, because most applications add files to the Windows\System folder.
AMD Presentation
Tanya Miller and Jason Stephens of AMD gave a technical presentation on the Athlon and Duron line of CPUs, and an outline of future plans. The Athlon line is equivalent to the Intel P-4, and the Duron is the economy size with a smaller cache. Of interest to computer users is the Double Data Rate (DDR) memory, the HyperTransport system bus, and the Hammer line of CPUs now in the pipeline. Hammer is an 8th generation microprocessor, which will have 32-bit performance originally, but will be 64-bit compatible with Opteron. It will be able to process both 32-bit and 64-bit software, unlike any other competing processors.
When asked about the future, they predicted continuing smaller, faster, cheaper. Currently they are at 0.18 micron (180 nanometer, nm), but expect to be at 0.13 micron by next year, and 0.090 micron in 2003-2004. They expect DDR memory to evolve to QDR (Quad Data Rate). The HyperTransport system will greatly increase bus speed.
Dick Delp Presentation
Dick demonstrated V-Com's System Commander ability to partition and boot WindowsXP and Linux KDE 3.0 Suse 8. The system was an ASUS motherboard, AMD Duron 1.6 MHz CPU, 80 GB hard drive that he assembled for about $400. He used the ASUS PCProbe utility to show the partition structure.
When it's time to upgrade to a new computer or laptop, you could spend long days getting all of your data, applications and settings transferred over to your new machine. And, if you have specific wallpaper, sounds, themes, bookmarks and more, it could take much longer! Or, simply install V-Com's PC Upgrade Commander onto both systems and let it do all the work for you!
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7 August Planning Meeting Notes
by Stan Hutchings
The meeting was held at Bev Altman's home with the following in attendance: Jim Dinkey, John Sleeman, John Buck, Stan Hutchings, Robert Mitchell, Maury Green, Dick Delp, Susan Mueller.
- Publicity is a high-priority concern. The club needs consistent publicity, especially in the Mercury News and local papers. Jim Dinkey will try again to get the list Marvin Kraft used with such great success. Milt Kostner had volunteered to do some publicity. It would be good if he advised Jim Dinkey of his efforts so we don't duplicate them. The job requires persistence, knowledge of requirements, and meeting the various deadlines. Dick Delp volunteered to give it a try, and requested everyone else to help him whenever they could. Susan Mueller volunteered to receive FAXs and email them to Dick, since he does not have a FAX. One other suggestion was to send news items to local papers, that perhaps they could use in their editions. This would give the club exposure, and perhaps generate interest.
- Jim Dinkey created a donation form to be used by people donating or selling items at the General Meeting. We will put it on the back of an issue of the Newsletter, and make it available online for download. In addition, there will be several blanks to fill out at the General Meeting. It would also be good if items to be available are pre-announced on the spaug-list. That way, people will come with cash/checks.
- Jim Dinkey has obtained and bought some door prizes, chiefly software from PowerQuest. The door prizes seem to be a strong draw in getting people to show up at the meeting, since you must be present to win.
- Future speakers; January may be a representative from SBC describing their DSL offering.
- We'd like to start working on the next revision of the club CD soon so it will be ready for the November meeting (4 December). PestPatrol (shareware) has replaced AdAware (free) as our favorite "bot stopper" and will be on the next CD. Also, Win2000 Service Pack 3 will be included if there is sufficient interest.
- Finance: we have about $8,000 in the bank.
- Bev reported 3 new members signed up.
- Yuko Maye, our co-publisher, has moved to Redwood City. She may have trouble filling in for Susan Mueller. Perhaps we need another backup? Yuko got the last issue out successfully with Mildred Kohn's assistance.
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Advice on a computer upgrade and OS upgrade
by Bruce Benz
Building a new computer isn't hard. The only caveat is: "what do you do when you run into a problem?" Problems generally are easy to get around, but never easy to predict.
If you do want to transfer information from one computer to a new one, I would prefer to transfer only data, not the entire OS. Mainly because the new computer will be different and require different drivers. Second, it gives you a chance to walk away from problems that may be lurking in the older system and yet keep it around to recover bits of data that might have been forgotten during the initial transfer over to the new system.
I've noticed that most of you guys have some flavor of Windows 98. I would recommend you move away from it and go to either Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Home or Windows XP Pro.
Reason: W2K/XP is easier to set up, understands everything that Win98 knows, is worlds more stable, and their Driver databases are vastly superior. XP is best at discovering hardware simply because it is the newest available. W2K is best because almost everything runs on it, while XP is rapidly catching up to it. In fact, everything has either a newer version that will work with XP or a free patch that will enable it to work on XP, so that problem has pretty much been eliminated.
Important point: Windows 9X/ME/NT 4.0 are no longer actively supported by Microsoft. Microsoft will drop support for W2K in a few months, so I would tend to steer clear of it as well. What that means is that Microsoft will no longer create patches to plug up vulnerabilities that may still be exploited by viruses/Trojans/etc.
My experiments with Windows XP, both Home and Pro, reveals that simple patches available from a couple of sites close down the biggest security holes that have been discovered. It has more/better support for audio-visual toys/tools and readily recognizes DSL modems without helper programs. It is available as "OEM" which means a significant savings buying it if you are a crafty Net-surfer. For example: Microsoft Windows XP Home - Full version OEM -- $80.00; Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional - Full OEM Version -- $131.00; Microsoft Windows XP Professional - Full version OEM -- $131.00; all are available at: www.powerstartpc.com. All they require is that you buy some piece of hardware with the software purchase. You might want to check out their hard drives, keyboards, just about anything that will satisfy this requirement.
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