Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
December 21, 2008
Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter
http://www.terryscomputertips.com
A computer tips newsletter for users of PC's.
Volume 4, Number 28 — Sunday, December 21, 2008
IN THIS ON-LINE ISSUE:
1. ScreenSaver Troubles
2. Replacing an IDE Drive with a SATA Drive
3. My Computer Security Software Recommendations
4. Tweaking Windows XP Settings
5. Home Network Security — Link to the Past
6. Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends
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Welcome to the on-line edition of my Terry's Computer Tips newsletter. Its articles are not in the email issue — and the email articles aren't in the online issue — subscribe to my email newsletter so you can read both.
1. ScreenSaver Troubles
Subscriber Jeff wrote me to ask how to solve a problem he was having with is screen saver:
Hi. I'm looking for advice. I've got a screen saver that starts automatically and I can't access the controls. Is there a program I can install that will send some sort of "ping" or something that will simulate activity so the screen saver won't activate? Thanks. Jeff
Unfortunately, I don't know of a program that would let Jeff simulate that a keyboard or mouse movement had taken place, in order to fool the screen saver.
I wrote back to Jeff to get him to clarify his problem. It wasn't clear to me whether he could not access the settings/controls for that particular screen saver, or whether he could not access the Windows Display Properties dialog box.
The Screen Saver tab in Windows XP's Display Properties dialog box is where we can pick which screen saver program we want to use. It's also where the Windows controls are that set the waiting time for the screen saver (before it activates).
There are two ways to get to the Display Properties dialog box:
- You can right-click on a blank part of the Windows Desktop. This will give you a short context menu — the last option is Properties, which is the one we want. When we select Properties at that point, the Display Properties dialog box opens with the Themes tab selected.
- The other way is via the Control Panel. Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Themes > Display. That gives us the same Display Properties dialog box with the same tab displayed.
(click on the image for a larger version)
Once we have the Display Properties tab displayed, we can select the Screen Saver dialog box.
(click on the image for a larger version)
If Jeff can get to this point, he can change the waiting time to something more appropriate for him. Or, as an alternative, one of the screen saver choices is "None."
Screen savers are actually programs that have few restrictions set by Windows — which is a feature that malware writers have enjoyed and of which they have taken advantage. If you like to download screen savers, be sure you're running a good, always-running antispyware program.
Each screen saver program has its own options (well, some don't have any options) in addition to the basic option provided by Windows.
(click on the image for a larger version)
I use the Google Photo Screensaver (part of the Google Pack free software from Google). There are not many options, as you can see above.
You can choose a visual effect for picture changes, how often the picture changes, and where to get the pictures to be used.
2. Replacing an IDE Drive with a SATA Drive
I've decided to add more hard drive space to one of my desktop computers, so I bought a Seagate 1 TB SATA hard drive for it.
At the same time, I need more hard drive space in my Linux computer which I use for file storage, i.e. backup of my other computers.
The complication was that I don't have a SATA adapter in my Linux box, although I could easily order one from NewEgg, where I buy most of my parts.
My solution was a multi-step process:
- I installed the new 1 GB SATA drive temporarily as an external drive using a
Thermaltake N0028USU External Enclosure
. This is a neat piece of equipment for anyone who needs to temporarily connect hard drives — it's a plug-and-play adapter with a slot on the top that can take a full-sized 3.5" SATA drive or a notebook-size SATA drive. Plus, unlike all the adapters of the IDE world, it looks good <grin>
- I inserted the bare drive into the slot in the top of the Thermaltake adapter, plugged it into a power connection, plugged the USB 2.0 cable to the desktop computer and powered on the Thermaltake unit. [It took longer to write that than it did to do it!]
- Windows immediately recognized the drive and configured itself.
- I formatted the new drive as one big NTFS partition.
- I copied the contents of an existing 320 GB SATA drive to the new 1 TB drive.
- Then, I deleted the contents of the 320 GB SATA drive.
- Now, I started thinking about how to use the empty drive in my old Linux system, and I realized that I did not have a SATA adapter in it. The computer has an old Pentium III 933MHz processor, so that's way to old for SATA to have been built into the motherboard. Of course, I could add an adapter, so I didn't worry too much.
- But, I realized that I could use the 320 GB SATA drive to replace an existing 200 GB IDE drive in the desktop. Now, things started to get tricky.
- First, the old SATA drive was one big partition. No problem, but I wanted to configure it similarly to that of the IDE drive, which had my D:, H: and I: drives. So, my first step was to delete the partition.
- I started the Windows XP Disk Management console by Start > Run > diskmgmt.msc<enter>
- That showed me all the drives that were connected and allowed me to select the drive and gave me the option to delete the partition.
- That's where I hit a problem — although the drive was empty, Windows would not let me delete the partition. The option was not greyed-out, but when I tried it, Windows told me the partition was in use. It gave me the option to force the deletion, though.
- I rebooted and immediately retried tot delete the partition, to see if that would solve it. It didn't, so I selected the option to force the deletion, which did ok.
- I also wanted to make the new drive use the same drive letters that were current in use on the IDE drive (D:, H: and I:), so I used another feature of the Disk Management console to change the drive letters on the IDE drive to S:, T: and U:. Windows told me that it could make the change, but that it wouldn't really occur until I rebooted, so I proceeded and then rebooted.
- Now, I created the FAT32 D: partition on the SATA drive to replace the FAT32 partition on the old IDE drive. As part of creating the partition, I had to select the drive letter that I wanted the Disk Management console to assign, so I picked D:. Windows created the partition and immediately began formatting it.
- Then, based on the content of H: and I: (now T: and U:), I decided to combine their data into one partition. I created a single NTFS partition out of the rest of the drive and assigned it drive letter H:. Windows formatted it automatically as part of the creation step.
- Finally, I used one of my daily tools Karen's Replicator to copy the files from the old D: (now S:) to the new D: and the old H: and I: (now T: and U:) to the new H:. Karen's Replicator has a huge advantage over using Windows Explorer to copy files. If there is any problem, Windows Explorer just stops without warning and often without any message. Karen's Replicator keeps a log of its activities and will log what went wrong, and then continue with the next file.
3. My Computer Security Software Recommendations
I review my security software recommendations and update them, for each weekly newsletter issue, if I think they need to change.
My Philosophy: Many people want to pick their most economical solution and prefer an all-in-one anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall solution. In concept, that's a great idea. In actual practice, this type of package is not likely to be the best in all the protection categories you need. Other people want to pick the best of each type program. I'm one of the these folks.
My choice of software that I am willing to recommend is driven by my search for software for me to use. I only recommend programs that I like and that I use. I will sometimes suggest alternatives to my recommendations, but I clearly note if I no longer use them.
Anti-Virus
I'm often asked about several other popular anti-virus or anti-virus combination packages. Yes, I realize that they are not in my recommendation list. "Enough said..."
For the last five years, until very recently, my personal choice has been ESET's small, fast NOD32 anti-virus program, which offers a FREE 30-day evaluation license. I consider NOD32 one of the best in anti-virus protection. Unlike some of its competitors, ESET offers multiple-year licenses also, and includes program updates in the multiple-year license.
Tech Tip
Many antivirus programs will offer you an anti-virus signature subscription renewal when your subscription renews. I strongly recommend against this option — buy the full program or make sure you get program updates with the subscription renewal.
Vendors routinely improve the capabilities and speed of the programs, too. If you update only the signatures, you miss any program improvements.
Now, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.
I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.
Read more about anti-virus programs on my web site.
Related articles:
- Anti-Virus Programs and Online Scanners
- Free Online Antivirus Scan
- NOD32 Anti-Virus Review - A Look at NOD32
- VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review
Firewall Software
While the Windows XP firewall is much better than no firewall at all, don't count on the Windows XP firewall to meet your needs. You need a two-way firewall, which the Windows XP firewall is not!. Microsoft woke up and supplied a two-way firewall with Windows Vista.
The Windows XP firewall does not control outbound communications originating from your computer — and you should want to have control if adware/trojans/spyware or even commercial products want to talk to the Internet. Whether they are calling home or spewing spam, you want to be able to control your computer.
Do you want Windows Media Player to call home every time you play something? It does! Do you use the Search function in Windows Explorer to find things on your hard drive? Did you know that every time you search, Windows Explorer talks to Microsoft?
I didn't know that when I ran ZoneAlarm, but the Sunbelt Personal Firewall flags that to me, and I can stop it or allow it to happen. Many other programs try to call home when you run them, too.
I recommend my choice for a firewall program, which is Sunbelt Personal Firewall.
You can try the full-featured "paid version" of Sunbelt Personal Firewall free for 30 days — after that, you can register it or, if you're using it on a home non-business computer, you can let it revert to the free, lesser-function license.
Sunbelt Personal Firewall is regularly $19.95 (with discounts for multiple computers and/or multiple years!) for a non-expiring license for the program and includes one year of their updates subscription.
Related articles:
Anti-Spyware / Anti-Adware Software
CounterSpy, from Sunbelt Software, has received many kudos from the computer press for its always-running and periodic full system scans. It has been my personal choice for my PC's and my family's PC's.
Sunbelt's CounterSpy v2.5, both improved CounterSpy's performance against malware and reduced its impact on system resources and responsiveness when its scanning.
Sunbelt continues to release updated program versions — the current version is v3.1. Nicely, they do NOT install the updated programs automatically. You have to use the Update process in the program, which means that you'll know that something significant has changed.
Now, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.
I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. My computer seems to have much more pep and power than it had previously. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.
Related articles:
Anti-spam Software
In today's Internet world, the question is not "if" you will get spam, but "how much will you get?"
I use and now I recommend POPFile as my first choice for handling spam. POPFile sits on your computer, between your email program and your ISP mailbox, and handles emial as it downloads.
POPFile uses a different approach to handle spam than some other programs do — it does nothing to reduce spam. It is designed as an email classification tool — you train it to recognize spam and any other type of email that you want to classify. These classifications can help you sort your emails into appropriate folders in your email program.
Sunbelt Software, who makes the anti-spyware program CounterSpy (which I use and recommend) and the firewall that I use and recommend (Sunbelt Personal Firewall) also has a well-regarded, award-winning anti-spam program called iHateSpam for Outlook and Outlook Express. Since I don't use Outlook or Outlook Express for email, I haven't tried iHateSpam.
Mailwasher Pro would be my first choice to handle spam before it ever gets into your computer's Inbox. Mailwasher Pro uses on-line Realtime Black Lists mail servers sending spam recently, "training" by you of what you think is spam, and your own "friends" and "blacklist" lists. Note: I found that PopFile generally meets my needs and stopped using Mailwasher Pro, even though PopFile works AFTER the emails have been downloaded. If I used a dialup connection, I would be more interested in Mailwasher Pro.
Mailwasher Pro can even bounce spam messages, as if your email address was not valid, although the usefulness and appropriateness of this is questionable. There is a free version called "Mailwasher," but it omits the functions that I consider critical for this purpose -- such as safely previewing the emails safely before they ever get to your email inbox.
Related articles:
Cable/DSL Router
If you have a cable modem or a DSL modem, you need to have another layer of inexpensive protection between you and the Internet. A cable/DSL router isolates your computer from direct connection to the Internet. Your computer can easily request your email, web pages, etc. through the router. The responses come back to the router and are smoothly routed to your computer. But, someone on the Internet side of the router can not initiate a connection to your computer — they can only respond to your request.
Even if you only have one computer to connect to your cable or DSL modem, I recommend that you purchase and use a cable/DSL router because of the protection it can give you against attempts to attack through some flaws in Windows itself.
A router isolates your local network, whether it is only one computer or several, from the Internet by actually making it a separate network. The router gets the "public" IP address and handles all your outbound communications and the responses to them. But, it blocks computers on the Internet side from being able to initiate communications with your computer! This will prevent you from falling prey to many worms that try to attack security holes in Windows itself.
For a wireless router, I recommend the Linksys WRT54G
If you don't want wireless, I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41
Tech Tip
By the way, if you get tempted by the new "802.11n" routers, please pay close attention. So far, the 802.11n specification has not been approved and finalized.
If you buy one, you may be locked into a specific vendor's implementation of a draft of a standard that never got approved. I recommend choosing 802.11g for now.
See these related articles:
4. Tweaking Windows XP Settings
Microsoft offers a simple, yet powerful, little program for users to tweak the Windows XP user interface — the way Windows XP responds to our clicks, mouse movemnets and and lots of customizations to standard windows functions.
Strangely, this little program has a simple name that actually describes its function — TweakUI — and it can be downloaded for free at www.microsoft.com.
Do you like the little arrow in the bottom left corner of a Shortcut? Would you rather get rid of it, so a Shortcut looks like the icon of the actual file? (A Shortcut is actually a type of file that is nothing more than a pointer to the real file.) Or, would you rather use some other icon in the place of the little arrow?
It's easy with TweakUI.
(click on the image for a larger version)
5. Home Network Security — Link to the Past
There are a number of different configurations for home networks, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Get started reading about them (or refresh your memory) and the issues on my Home Net Security page.
6. Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends
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Volume 4, Number 28 — Sunday, December 21, 2008
Copyright © 2008 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.
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