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Welcome to Idaho PC Users Group Online Newsletter.

Here you find news of interest of to the PC User Group Community as well as reviews and "how-to" notes which couldn't make it into the IPCUG Bits & Pieces Newsletter or just to exciting to wait for the next monthly issue. Bookmark this page or make it one of your Favorites. Be sure to visit often!

Contents:

General Meeting Notes - March 13th 2008!  At our March meeting, Brian did a presenation where he loaded Ubuntu 7.10 on to a USB drive using the instructions located at http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/09/28/usb-ubuntu-710-gutsy-gibbon-install/. Clint had some concerns about what he was seeing and in following up, found that this is not a stable environment and while useful for running the LiveCD environement from USB mode where it saves your stuff to the USB drive, it is not maintainable, and do not attempt an upgrade of any kind. I have tried 3 different approaches to upgrades, two full upgrades and one Firefox specific upgrade to get to 2.0.12, all three upgrades attempts have pretty much trashed the USB pendrive installation beyond repair. The first attempt was on a 1 GB and it crashed miserably, the 2nd and 3rd attempts were on a 2 GB USB drive. The upgrade failure destroys cups, among other things, so printing is not possible. Also, the ubuntu710 installation does not shut down cleanly after the upgrade attempt, lots of errors. Also, while the pendrive web site says it will work on 1 GB, it really needs 2 GB as I found that even after a first run and using Firefox, there is over 1.2 GB of data on the drive, split almost equally between the primary ubuntu710 partition and the linux casper-rw partition.

The subject of having Portable Applications on a USB stick and Clint demonstrated Firefox and OpenOffice which he had loaded on his USB stick. These are a nice solution for taking your email and other applications with you so that you can use them on Windows computers where they are not installed. You can download sever portable applications including the Portable Apps Suite at http://portableapps.com/.

Finally, PowerToGo was also mentioned. This is a proprietary solution offered by Lexar and Ceedo as way of providing a Windows execution environment and unless you buy one of their qualifying USB drives which does not include the current JumpDrives with Secure-II , the package costs 29.95, the download from Lexar site is only a 30 day trial. I tried out PowerToGo and Lexar maybe shooting themselves in the foot, er flashdrive with this one as I could not even download the applications listed and Ceedo website and several of the application are offered for free by Portable Apps.  The PowerToGo webite is at http://www.lexar.com/powertogo/programs/programs_index.htm.

IPCUG Windows Home Server Presentation Web Links - On February 14, 2008, Clint Tinsley did a presentation to the General Meeting of the Idaho PC Users Group on Windows Home Server.  There will be a complete article on this in an upcoming newsletter article that will be posted here.  These links and resources are those given at the meeting.

Corel® WordPerfect® Office 12 Home Edition! - WordPerfect® Office 12 Home Edition from Corel® is a feature rich package designed with the home user in mind.  A suite of 8 applications consisting of WordPerfect® Office 12 – Home Edition, Quattro Pro 12 – Home Edition, Task Manager Organizer, OfficeReady – Personal Finance Essentials, Corel Photobook Photo editor and Photo Alum Photo organizer, Encyclopedia Britannica Ready Reference 2005 with a free one year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, and lastly, Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD v8LE Music and data disk creator.  Oh, included in the box is a copy of Norton Internet Security™ 2005 suite that bundles in Norton AntiVirus™ and Norton™ Personal Firewall with a complimentary 90-day subscription to Symantec update service.  Full Review.

Prentice Hall Garage Series Books - Prentice Hall PTR features what they have called their Garage Series which are based on the premise that one does their best work in the garage.  We have reviewed The Linux Desktop Garage by Susan Matteson, one of the books in the series, that was published in our April Newsletter and posted here.  Other books in the series include Web Design Garage and PHP-Nuke Garage among others plus a soon to be released book on Firefox and Thunderbird.  As a benefit of membership of the IPCUG in the APCUG, Prentice Hall has a special offer where you can get 30% off any of the Garageseries books and you can take advantage of that offer by clicking here.

Spyware Advisorary - Some of you may find that spyware is becoming overwhelming and you want to buy a product to combat the spyware intrusions that are so prevalent these days.

I want to warn you against a product being sold locally as one of the “best” Anti-Spyware programs available and that is Tenebril’s SpyCatcher 3.5.  An associate of mine was advised to buy two copies of this product for his two computers (the product does require Internet Activation based on a CD order number printed on the envelope).  What my associate got for his trouble was two trashed computers which he had to take in for repair after installing this software; one computer had to be wiped clean and Windows reinstalled and the other required a removal of the software, cleanup and several business software applications have to be reinstalled.  I borrowed one of his copies to see if I could install it and determine what might have gone wrong. It seemed to install but I could not activate it for whatever reason because my order was not “in the database” which might have been a result of it already being installed once and once only.  Further, when my associate tried to get help from the Tenebril, he was sent off to one of those infamous offshore support groups that can hardly speak English and sound to be reading from a checklist.  The three reasons not to buy this product: 1)  Internet Activation required and apparently can only be installed once.  2)  Installation can possibly corrupt your hard drive.  3)  Offshore support of questionable value.

If you want some good information on Anti-Spyware tools, I would recommend you read the article from PC Magazine. The article puts a number of the tools through their test suite and most come up short (SpyCatcher 3.5 wasn’t even considered) however they did identify one that was the best of show.  Webroot's Spy Sweeper 3.5  Most commercial spyware tools are subscription based and Spy Sweeper is no exception as it comes with a one-year subscription for maintenance of spyware database.  Just like virus's, there are daily new spyware assaults being created which may attack your computer.  In order for the AntiSpyware tools to work, they have to know how identify and remove these new assaults and that is where the database comes in.  Spy Sweeper 3.5 comes with a one- year subscription but if you are a follower of the Kim Komando show, she has a special offer arranged with Webroot that gets you two years for the price of one on the Webroot site.

One other note, Microsoft has been doing a  lot to fix security issues with Windows, Internet Explorer, and Outlook that can close the door to many of the exploits that used by spyware, trojans, and virus's.  It is very important that you keep your Windows computer up-to-date with all these updates which are available from the Microsoft Windows update site.

Linux Desktop- The IPCUG Linux SIG has been exploring the use of Linux in replacing Windows with a focus on Linux and is it ready for primetime. This article examines the State for the State of the Linux Desktop.

Buying a new PC? - PC's are available at Bargain Basement prices but licensing and support policies have changed as well as many of these new computers come without any software manuals or installation media. Is buying a pre-built or custom-built system better? Be sure to read this article before venturing out to buy a new PC. Buying a new PC?

Adobe Photoshop Elements - Adobe Photoshop 6 Power in a user friendly package at a sixth the price! Palettes, Red Eye Corrections, Filters, Effects, supports digital cameras and web file formats. Adobe Photoshop Elements

The Idaho PC User Group Board Meeting meeting is on the forth Thursday of each month at 7 PM. - Burger N Brew, 6125 Fairview Avenue. The informal dinner session starts between 6 and 6:30 so if you're hungry...

E-Zine Table of Contents

Linux Desktop Garage -  Susan Matteson.  Review by Clint Tinsley.  A very easy read on installing and using Linux.  Includes a copy of Gnoppix/Ubunto Linux on Live CD.  From Prentice Hall PTR.

Xandros 2.5 Business Edition -  Xandros 3.01 Community Open CD is available from the Xandros website for free downloading.  Be sure to check out the review of the 2.5 Business Edition published here from the September issue of Bits & Pieces.  The Community Open version contains much of what is discussed in the article and includes a 30 day trial version of CrossOver Office 4.1.  Missing are things like StarOffice which is only found in the Business Edition and advanced features like VPN and Windows Domain Authentication.  The Xandros File Manager (XFM) now burns DVD's as well as CD's without requiring a separate program.  For a current review of Xandros 3.01, check out PC Magazine's.

Paint Shop Pro 9 - Advanced tools for advanced imaginations - Paint Shop Pro 9 is out and building on version 8, this new version of the software brings new tools to both the the advanced graphics artist as well as the Photo & Digital Imaging world.  On par with Photoshop and other products, Paint Shop Pro 9 provides the features and benefits at a consumer price and provides easy to use One Step Fix, Red Eye fix and other photo correction tools that even the beginner user can be at home with.

LinuxWorld 2004 Conference Report - IPCUG Editor and Linux Group Leader traveled to San Francisco in early August to attend LinuxWorld at the Moscone center.  Linux is alive and well as this report shows.

Newsletter Index Faith Jensen has assembled an Excel spreadsheet index of all the past issues of the IPCUG Bits and Pieces.  You can download it by clicking on the Newsletter Index link.

IPCUG CDOM - CD of the Month - We don't put out one every month but here you will find a listings from the last few months as well as how we build the CD of the month so that it "auto-plays" when you put the CD in your computers CD-Rom drive.. IPCUG CDOM

The 50 Biggest Computer Mistakes and how YOU can avoid them! A Book on CD By Kim Komando. Reviewed by Clint Tinsley.  

Linux Desktop- The IPCUG Linux SIG has been exploring the use of Linux in replacing Windows with a focus on Linux and is it ready for primetime. This article examines the State for the State of the Linux Desktop.

W32Klez Removal Procedures - W32.Klez is the latest wild virus to infect computers and it is a nasty one, kills your AntiVirus protection if it is not upto date and detects it first, turns your computer plain doggy in performance, and infects many, many files.  Microsoft's Outlook is the predominant mail program and most susceptible to virus infections of the self executing variety and is the prime target of Klez. This new virus attack was discussed at the IPCUG May meeting and the details of detection & removal are provided here.

Microsoft WindowsXP - On October 25th, Microsoft unleashed it latest incantation of the Windows operating system. Clint Tinsley demonstrated this new version of WindowsXP at the December 13th Meeting of the IPCUG. Here now is his article, observations, and incantations regarding the latest and greatest from Microsoft. WindowsXP Update.

Buying a new PC? - PC's are available at Bargain Basement Prices but licensing and support policies have changed as well as many of these new computers come without any software manuals or installation media. Is buying a pre-built or custom-built system better? Be sure to read this article before venturing out to buy a new PC. Buying a new PC?

Adobe Photoshop Elements - Adobe Photoshop 6 Power in a user friendly package at a sixth the price! Palettes, Red Eye Corrections, Filters, Effects, supports digital cameras and web file formats. Adobe Photoshop Elements

Windows Security Risks and Cookies While you are connected to the internet, your computer is exposed to a number of attacks and intrusions that may be made on your computer. Tim Wolf's article examines some of these risks and possible solutions plus taking a look at cookies as a privacy concern.

Internet Security Clint Tinsley provides some insights on what can be done from "inside" your computer with applications that have come to you via websites or email. Not only can your files be read or sent over the Internet along with Passwords and other critical data, but files can be renamed as the Love Bug did and your operating system corrupted. If you aren't scared about this, you should be as Clint's article shows. There is also a side trip down the road called "How Secure in your E•Mail? - A privacy and workplace issue."

Networking Your Home Computers - Clint Tinsley, Sr. Network Engineer for the Meridian School District, provides instructions on how to network your home computers including Cabling 101, installing the Network Card and Configuring your Network, and concluding with some information on resource sharing, you know - those printers and hard drives...

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