SPAUG Newsletter February 2008

SPAUG Editor: John Buck
SPAUG Publisher/Business Manager: Susan Mueller
SPAUG Co-Webmasters: Stan Hutchings & John Sleeman

This month the newsletter is on line, as a PDF corresponding to the printed version.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Notes from the Prez by Jim Dinkey
  
  
• General Meeting Notes by Stan Hutchings
  
  
• Planning Meeting Notes by Stan Hutchings
  
  
• Some info from CNet  by Stan Hutchings
  
  
• Thinking about a new mouse?  by Stan Hutchings
  
  

Notes from the Prez

by Jim Dinkey

Keywords: antivirus

If you were to put [ FREE ANTIVIRUS SCANS ] into Google, you would be led to a wondrous world of sites that will purport to scan and remove viruses from your computer.

To some extent that is all true, except not all software is perfect.

If you pick up a virus, it is quite possible that the antivirus program that you have on your computer will not find and eradicate the virus it allowed it onto the computer in the first place, didn't it?

So now what do you do?

Below are a series of URLs and Google parameters that will get to additional standalone scanners that are: free, not guaranteed, slow, and good only for the time that it is running. They all run from memory only, so they are not affected by viruses already on your computer.

It is important to realize that malware is coming out at such a rate that the antivirus companies cannot keep up with the flood. What also has changed is that the Zero Day problem is getting worse, e.g., that the malware must be caught within the first few hours and the download of the current status of the anti virus patterns are to be completed within a few hours. Quite a task.

No wonder none of the antivirus programs catches the whole onslaught.

So what do you do when you suspect (or know) there is a virus? Where do you turn?

The series of locations following is just a smattering of the total capabilities out on the net.

It is not unusual to know that you have a problem and to just run scanner after scanner until the message comes back to you that the scanner has removed some malware. That it is THE ONE that you are attempting to eradicate can only be determined by testing.

If I can, I don't even try to test for a virus if I have any concept when I picked up the virus. In that case I use ERUNT/ERDNT to wipe the virus out of the registry or do an Acronis restore to a known good time. That is why I have about 20 backups over a year to choose from all lined up on an extra 160 GB drive mounted right in the computer case. Every Friday I take a full backup. This is not bragging, it is reality and laziness because I don't want to spend the time reinstall everything.

So here are some scanners to try. Try them now so you can learn the programs when you are not under pressure to fix something. Chances are at least one of them will find some problems. Most of them require INTERNET EXPLORER.

• Symantec anti-Malware and Antivirus requires IE (not Firefox). http://tinyurl.com/do09 Google-search: Symantec Security Check
• The following (Kaspersky) can be installed IN ADDITION TO any present, resident competitor's anti-virus. Go ahead and install the download and test to see if the original antivirus has been effective.

Kaspersky Antivirus Scanner: http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html Google-search: kaspersky free virus scan

Panda Active Scan: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/ Google-search: Panda Active Scan

Windows Security: http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/ Google-search: WindowSecurity.com

Eset NOD32 AntiVirus: http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/ Google-search: NOD32 antivirus scanner

And don't forget my favorite, which isn't really in the same league as the above, but it does seem to fix more problems in the registry than any of the others. Google-search: Windows Live Safety Scanner

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General Meeting Notes

by Stan Hutchings

Administrivia & CrossTalk/Random Access

• The meeting was recorded, and a "podcast" has been posted to the website. You can download the MP3 file and listen from your computer, or transfer it to an iPod or other audio player. Click this link to download the file (it is about 22 MB)

Presentation

The presentation was recorded, and a "podcast" has been posted to the website. You can download the MP3 file and listen from your computer, or transfer it to an iPod or other audio player. Click this link to download the file (it is about 62 MB)

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Planning Meeting Notes

by Stan Hutchings

• The meeting was held at Bev Altman's house; attendees: Jim Dinkey, John Sleeman, Bev Altman, John Buck, Stan Hutchings, Nat Landes, Maury Green. We thank Beverley for the use of her lovely home.
• New CD - Bill Worthington - it's time to start thinking about a new CD, Jim will check if Bill will continue as SIG leader?
• Review of finances - Nat - Do we need to file with the state regarding our non-profit status? Arlan did some extra work last year, after some material was returned for more information, and may have paid $20 out of his own pocket. Nat will reimburse Arlan the $20 he spent, and will check with Arlan to find out what money is due this year.
• Membership - Bev - we have 128 current members.
• Review meeting speakers and topic vs. attendance - it was good to have a better sound system. There was some reverb, and the treble seemed weak, hard to hear the sibilants. Now we have a head-mounted microphone, so our next meeting should have even better sound.
  Could we acquire 2 small speakers for the rear of the room? Yes, if we can eliminate feedback, that's certainly possible. We'll need an IR link, or a wire up above the room to connect the speakers with the main amplifier; we can't have loose wires on the floor. John B. observed it was difficult to read the presentation material from the back of the room. Perhaps a different browser that has a good zoom feature would be good, or request the presenter to use as large a font as possible.
  
• Future speakers & potential pre-meeting dinner locations: Link to Up-coming General meetings (NOTE: subject to change)
• PrintScreen - John Buck - publication is waiting for the information on the speakers, especially the February meeting.
  Susan may need help with a backup for the addresses, an external disk and Acronis backup software, or else have the address list on a server (e.g. the SPAUG website or a google document) that Susan can download, which would be the most up-to-update version that Bev maintains, every month before she prints the labels.
• Mail - John Sleeman - there was one returned letter in the box.
• WebSIG activities and schedules - next Tuesday 7:30 at Stan's. The future SIG meeting will be taken over by some volunteers from SVCS who Maury knows, and he will invite them to participate. Maury will also talk to Red Calub to coordinate a date and time for the Multimedia SIG to meet at Micro Center starting in February if possible. The meeting can change from Tuesday, if scheduling so requires, perhaps the first or fourth Wednesday if that does not conflict with SVCS meetings. He will try to put announcements in the SVCS newsletter asking for a replacement(s) moderator/leader for when Stan is gone.
• DISIG & WebSIG- Maury - will work with John S. to design a new updated SPAUG site. Maury has posted the information for the DISIG and WebSIG meetings at Micro Center; there are links from the SPAUG main page.
• Publicity - Walter Heyman - Jim Dinkey talked to Jay Thorwaldson to try to get our meeting information published in the PA Weekly. A discussion is ongoing. Our November program is still in the January and February Palo Alto Online website. Any suggestions for new announcement possibilities should be sent to Walter, copy to Jim.
• Clinic activities and changes - the Saturday Clinic will be offered by pre-arranged appointment only. There will be three people attending this coming Saturday. There will be no Clinic on February 9.
• Other individual reports and suggestions - John Sleeman will take over the club laptop to take notes and recordings of the General Meeting and planning meeting. He was asked to be sure to bring the laptop to every General Meeting, since it is a critical backup, and can be used to record the meeting for the podcast.
  
• Other items that came before the Committee -
   • many of the PrintScreen newsletters from previous years were scanned by John Sleeman, who will eventually make them available online. There is now a separate JPEG file for each page of the Newsletter; John would like to compile them into a single PDF file.
   • The new website will support a blog function for Hank Skawinski, and other officers of SPAUG and SVCS. John S. and Maury G. would implement and support the operation.
  DISIG will feature a talk by Kevin Lynn on the CES; maybe we could get him to speak at a SPAUG meeting.
  John B. will try to get Gary Sasaki as speaker on CES for our July 2008 General Meeting. He'll try to get a committment for the noon CompuSIR meeting, too, if possible.
   • Jim has a printed archive of the Prez letters he's written over the years. He's using it to answer questions by referring the questioner to the appropriate Prez letter.
   • Jim will change the outlets at the American Legion Hall to 3-prong, and add perhaps add a 6-outlet.

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Some useful info from CNet

by Stan Hutchings

My TiVo offered to show some CNet videos as part of my subscription. If you have TiVo, visit the TiVoCast web page. I recently saw a few episodes of CNet's Insider Secrets, and heard about a few interesting products:
 • If you're getting rid of an old PC and are not planning to keep the old drive as an external drive, you should use Darik's Boot and Nuke total hard drive eraser (non-recoverable!) to delete all the data on it first. Read the instructions carefully, and even print them out before starting. You'll have to run the program from an external drive: thumb, CD or other, and there are many options to choose among.
 • Convert some of your DVDs to web videos (don't do commercial DVDs, this is for your own personal recordings from your videocam, which you transferred to CD or DVD in the VOB file format). You can use the [free] Auto Gordian Knot if you don't want to pay. Read the instructions, and experiment a lot; 320 pixel width size is recommended, DivX codec (other programs like Handbrake may use H.264, MPEG, or Quicktime codecs) or and MP3 for audio. Your final product can be uploaded to YouTube, SmugMug, or other video site (even your own, if you have enough space.
 • They also said that CNet's report on CES 2008 is online here

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Thinking about a new mouse?

by Stan Hutchings

I have a cordless mouse on my laptop for the same reason you might want one - I got tired of fighting the cord, and didn't like the touchpad for mouse-intensive work. I got a good deal on a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse Blue, so that's what I have. The main gripe I have with it is the batteries are very difficult to change, but otherwise I'm happy with it. The optical mouse works on virtually any surface (even my pants, if I don't have anything else), and doesn't get dirty like the ball mouse. Its transmitter plugs into a USB port; so you may need a USB hub if all your ports are full. If you don't have a USB port, be sure to get a model that will use your current mouse port. Many come with a different connector for the PS2 style mouse output.

I recommend you go to Micro Center and look for a sale; then try the various mice for how they fit you hand. Everyone has different expectations, and different ideas about comfort. You could google some terms to read reviews about mice, such as wireless mouse review. CNet can give you a lot of information and specs, and if you see one you like, there is a link to buy it. Logitech and Microsoft are usually well-regarded.

I use rechargeable batteries; you can get a set and recharger at Micro Center while you're there, if you don't have any now. Or get a few extra batteries if you already have a recharger. Some mice come with CDs, some you just plug-and-play. Be sure to follow any setup instructions for best results.

After you install it, you'll want to go to the Settings - Control Panel - Mouse and adjust it to your liking.

Good luck!

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