Village at Apache Wells Computer Club Meeting 11 Dec 2008
Village at Apache Wells Computer Club Meeting 11 Dec 2008
For last season’s minutes go to: www.geocities.com/vccvcc2000/minutes.html
Note the LINKS list at the far right -->> . . . . . . . . . ..
Minutes of 11 Dec 2008 follow:
Convened by Stanton Rickey
Village members present were: Jim Albach, Sharon Conroy, Nancy Curtis, Jim Erickson, Arlene Frolick, Marian Grider, Dorothy Pickering, Peter, Jack Prasloski, Pat Prasloski, Stanton Rickey, and Rex Weinreich
Marian Grider reported that the Club Treasury amounted to over $1500.00. So far 19 members have paid $10 dues for this season.
Peter reiterated BEWARE OF E-Mail ATTACHMENTS . Your best procedure is SAVE ATTACHMENTS to DESKTOP, then right click and Scan with AVG or AVAST before opening. Viruses and spyware multiply at Xmas.
Peter recommends installation of both AVG Free (or AVAST), and SPYBOT to achieve maximum effectiveness. The older 1.4 version of SPYBOT works best because the new version contains an extra firewall that slows down your computer. AD-AWARE is superfluous and should be uninstalled. AVAST and AVG are set to automatically update daily.
SPYBOT should be run at least weekly.
When installing AVAST it is imperative that AVG first be uninstalled. To perform this action go to: CONTROL PANEL, then click on ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and highlight AVG, then click OK.
SOS (Serving On-Line Seniors ), 7435 E Main St, Mesa; Tel: 480-218-4960 provides high quality, reasonably priced computer maintenance. They also make house calls and offer training classes or individual tutoring.
Go to their website at: www.mesasos.com for helpful links, downloading programs, and FAQ (Answers to Frequently Asked Questions).
Stanton Rickey stated that SOS transferred all data from his old XP desktop to his new VISTA laptop for $45. This after he spent several tortuous hours installing SETUP on his new machine. SOS suggests that when purchasing a new machine, bring it to them without opening the box. They will do both setup and data transfer for about $85. Your programs must be reinstalled from the original disks, so keep them on file.
Multi-language translators can be found at http://www.mezzofanti.org/translation/ but computers produce pretty crude results.
The Mesa Tribune features weekly columns by both Kim Komando and Data Doctors. They offer worthwhile advice, and can also be reached at their websites. Data Doctors storefront services are pricey but they offer excellent free advice here http://www.datadoctors.com/media/radio/
Best results can be obtained by always using the same USB port for Printer connections. Changing USB ports causes confusion.
During Thunderstorms, disconnect at the wall BOTH the computer and the cable connections to avoid frying your machine.
If a suspicious popup or Internet page appears, paranoia is justified. You can mouse down to your taskbar. Give one right-click on the culprits and select to CLOSE it from there. This eliminates the danger of using the culprits own doubtful buttons to cancel.
BEWARE of WI-FI at airports. Malicious hackers may be loitering nearby. This is only a concern if you have BlueTooth on your portable. Look in Control Panel and be sure it is disabled. For plain wi-fi your Windows firewall keeps hackers out.
Arlene Frolick cautioned that laptop locking devices should be checked for compatibility with your machine before purchase. One type does not fit all.
For an eye-opening look at declared political financing, go to www.opensecrets.org Click on your state to see who paid whom.
For some fast online photo fixing, go to www.piknik.com It offers quick photo editing faster than any other installed program.
Various long-distance phone plans were discussed. Worth checking are www.onesuite.com and http://1010969.ca/ but there are more as well.
Our next meeting will be at our Village Clubhouse on Thursday, 18 Dec 2008 at 1:15 PM.
See you there,
STANTON RICKEY, Club President
Stanton’s Xmas letter http://smithsonroundtable.blogspot.com/
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