We will NOT be meeting next Thursday. Our next meeting will be another Joint Meeting across the street with the Apache Wells Resort Computer Club on Monday, 19 Jan 2009 at 7 PM.
Members present were:
Bob Bolter, Sue Boyle, Nancy Curtis, Myrna Dirk, Jim Erickson, Darlene Femrite, Arlene Frolick, Maggie Green, Marian Grider, Ed Heimiller, Bill Kautt, Clare Manz, Peter, Claire Morris, Jan Patton, Dorothy Pickering, Jack Prasloski, Pat Prasloski, Stanton Rickey, Rich Russo, Joyce Wahlquist, Rex Weinreich, Chic Wray and Trix Wray.
Stanton Rickey reminded that 1 FREE subscription to Smart Computing magazine will be awarded to the Club for every 5 paid subscriptions or renewals. Please include Village Code 12113 with your order to receive this credit.
Peter warned against VIRUS SCAMS offering FREE downloads to protect against viruses. If you click either the YES or NO button, they INSTALL A VIRUS and you have to pay them to get rid of it. In some cases, even clicking on the X to close installs the virus. To be positively safe, disconnect your telephone or cable connection by pulling the appropriate connecting wire quickly. These pests usually pop up despite popup blockers.
Beware of official looking E-mails from the IRS. They usually offer a rebate and contain a form to fill out. Despite realistic logos, these are always bogus and are classic identity theft scams. The IRS warns that they will never contact you in this manner by E-mail. Be wary of similar scams that pretend to come from banks.
If you experience sporadic outages in your Cox Cable internet connection, register a complaint. They are usually caused by local sub-loop cable connections which can be remedied by a technician.
Participation in FACEBOOK or MYSPACE is unwise. Young people may regret revealing info posted for the world to see. Employers now check these websites as part of their vetting new applicants. Warn your grandchildren.
Installing cordless phones adjacent to your computer oftentimes provides interference with internet reception and/or Wi-Fi.
Data Doctor article advises against upgrading to the 64 bit Windows operating system. When purchasing a new high end computer it may be included. 64 bit processors are meant for sophisticated business computers, not for home users. They will not run software designed for the normal 32 bit standard due to compatibility issues. Save money and stick with the 32 bit version.
When purchasing a computer, a SYSTEM RESTORE DISK is included or can be created on the computer itself. If you have bothersome operating problems, it is possible to wipe your hard drive clean and use such a disk to restore the computer to the same status as the date of purchase. This means you now have the laborious task of resurrecting data and programs installed over the years, assuming you have saved desired data to another source. The best solution is to take the computer and restoration disk to MesaSOS professionals, who will backup and save prior to doing a clean wipe and restore your data. However, SOS will not reinstall programs due to copyright restrictions.
Automatic Microsoft Updates provide usually weekly fixes (mostly security). If you notice considerable slowness in your computer, go back and remove the latest MS update for possible relief.
Go to CONTROL PANEL then ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS. Put a tick mark in box marked SHOW UPDATES and locate one with latest date and remove it.
It is possible to TURN OFF these MS automatic updates, but NOT RECOMMENDED.
AVG version 8.0 will not allow installation of another anti-virus program like NORTON or AVAST. AVG does a good job by itself. Unless changed the latest 8.0 will automatically do a FULL SYSTEM SCAN daily and tie up your machine for over an hour.
Go to AVG in the PROGRAMS listing. Open the AV control window.Click on EDIT SCAN SCHEDULE. A pull down menu allows you to select one specific day for a weekly full scan.
Jan Patton asked about eliminating spam in everyday E-mail. Peter said that each service was slightly different, but Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc all had methods of filtering incoming messages and relegating them to a JUNK or SPAM folder.
Such mail is usually kept on host sites. You must go to the specific website to restrict access. Stanton opined that he quickly scans the SPAM messages to ascertain validity. He has a large correspondence and finds an average of one bona fide E-mail for every 40 or 50 SPAMS. This usually occurs when an individual changes their E-mail address and fails to advise him.
We will NOT be meeting next Thursday. Our next meeting will be another Joint Meeting across the street with the Apache Wells Resort Computer Club on Monday, 19 Jan 2009 at 7 PM. Please wear your nametags and plan to arrive about 6:45 so we can be seated together. The guest speaker that night will be from SOS (Serving On-line Seniors). Their subject will be "Overcoming annoying difficulties of WI-FI connections especially while traveling".
See you there,
STANTON RICKEY, Club President
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