Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
January 11, 2009

Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter
http://www.terryscomputertips.com
A computer tips newsletter for users of PC's.

Volume 4, Number 31 — Sunday, January 11, 2009

IN THIS ON-LINE ISSUE:

   1.   Excel Auto-Fill Not Working Properly
   2.   The Lighter Side of Technology
   3.   Google ScreenSaver Loses Image Locations
   4.   Home-made Multi-Monitor Laptop Desk
   5.   A Look at Windows' "Set Program Access and Defaults"
   6.   My Computer Security Software Recommendations
   7.   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.  Excel Auto-Fill Not Working Properly

New subscriber Patrick wrote for help with a Microsoft Excel problem:

Hi Terry:

I'm wondering if you can help me with a mouse problem I have. In Excel, I want to have dates going across horizontally in the mmm-yy format (Jan-08, Feb-08, etc). I have inputted Jan-08 in a cell, and I have tried clicking on the bottom corner of the cell and drag it across (in order to auto-fill and extend the series ie: Feb-08, Mar-08, etc). My problem is that when I move the mouse across with the left mouse button still held down, it doesn't work (ie no auto-fill). Another problem I have in Excel is when I click on a cell, it some times comes up as if I double clicked on it (the cursor appears inside the cell for you to input data). Is there a problem with my mouse or my mouse settings? I have gone into control panel/printers and other hardware/mouse, and have looked at all the menu tabs (mouse properties) but did not see anything that would cause this. I am running on Windows XP, using Logitech wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. Thanks.

Patrick

Patrick didn't quite give me enough information, so I had to gues that his Excel versison was Excel 2003, since he was running Windows XP. Of course, he could have been running Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2007 insead of Excel 2003.

The fix for Patrick's problem is on Excel's AutoFill menu, which is hidden.

With the left mouse button, grab the handle at the bottom right-hand corner of the cell that has the value that you want Excel tto treat as the initial value in the series.and drag it.

Before letting go of the left mouse button, drag it sligtly down towards the bottom of the screen.

Excel will display the AutoFill menu, as shown in the image below:

The key is to make sure that "Fill Series" is picked.

Patrick wrote back to say:

Thanks, that solved the problem.

Patrick

2.  The Lighter Side of Technology

This week's computer/technology cartoon at Terry's Computer Tips!

Computers and email have just kind of moved into our lives, haven't they?

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3.  Google ScreenSaver Loses Image Locations

Subscriber Gordon Clark wrote to ask me about a problem he was having with the Google Screensaver.

Hi Terry, I'm a new subscriber, I have a question about the Google Screensaver. I love it, it's a great product. However I recently updated it and now I can't hover over the bottom of the screen to see the edit buttons - play, back, forward, time delay etc. More importantly I can't hover at all to read the photo info for when I see something come up on the screensaver and go - Hey, I remember that, when was that taken? Just in the last few weeks therefore, my screensaver has gone off as soon as I touch the mouse without waiting for an Escape. Can't hover at all without the images going away. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling but I get two messages saying "can't uninstall/reinstall over a nawer version". For now it's running OK but I don't have the fun of stopping it to check data. Can you help? Regards, Gordon

I wrote back to Gordon to tell him that I use the Google Screensaver, too, but that I'm not having the same problems he is and I haven't heard of them before.

My copy is working correctly with the edit buttons. But, I don't recall ever being able to hover over something and read photo details — I do that in Windows Explorer, but I didn't know that the Google Screensaver has done it in the past.

By the way, it's not just Escape — any key will stop the screensaver.

I have a suspicion that you're you've got a fancy multi-button mouse and are clicking a side mouse button when you reach for the mouse.

Gordon wrote back to say:

Hi Terry,

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate that.

Actually I’m using a laptop with a standard built-in thumb-pad-thingy mouse below my keyboard. Nothing fancy there. Give it a try on your screensaver, if you hover over whatever photo is showing you see the Play, Back, Forward etc buttons, right? Well, when I did that I also was able to see simple details – the photo number and which directory Google was reading it from. Not full MS photo info of course, but I happen to label my directories by month and year so that was useful to me.

The screensaver has stopped doing that at all – it doesn’t show me any info, it just quits. I’ve kept on trying to install & reinstall but so far no luck.

Regards,

Gordon

I sent Gordon another email to tell him that I thought he meant he had been seeing the metadata (date, ISO speed, F-stop, etc.) that was embedded into the photo .jpg file. I see the file path and file name and have ever since I started using Google Screensaver.

That hadn't changed. Just to make sure, I tried to update Google Screensaver, but I already had the latest version according to Google Updater.

My message must have brought that idea to light because Gordon found the problem was apparently caused by a different Google program:

Hi Terry,

Just FYI, and in case any of your other readers encounter the same issue, I think I’ve solved the screensaver problem. It appears to be an issue with the Picasa 3 upgrade. I uninstalled both Picasa and the Google Screensaver then reinstalled from Google Pack, which gives you Picasa 2. The screensaver was working fine as it should. Then as soon as I downloaded the prompted Picasa 3 upgrade the screensaver lost that functionality I told you about. Picasa 3 is a nice upgrade but maybe they haven’t integrated it with the screensaver yet?

Cheers,

Gordon

4.  Home-made Multi-Monitor Laptop Desk

In my December 28th online newsletter, I wrote about using multiple monitors in order to have a larger "desktop." In last week's newsletter, I included some of the feedback and tips from readers about using two monitors.

In last week's newsletter, subscriber Ron had written that many of our computers are already capable of handling multiple monitors at the same time:

Multi-monitor is great. I just got a new HP laptop in November. It uses a ATI addon video card and came with a built in VGA plug. So I just plugged in my desktop monitor and bingo, 17" laptop LCD at 1440x900 x 59hz and my desktop CRT at 1280x1024 x 85 hz. It worked immediately. The only quirk is that the video utility assumes that the laptop is on the left of the #2 monitor if I power on the CRT after the laptop is running. So the mouse only wraps from the RIGHT side of the laptop all the way over to the far LEFT side of the CRT until I can reset location of the #2 monitor.

So while tools like the one you mentioned are useful, people should first check that their video driver does not already support multiple monitors. They may be pleasantly surprised, especially with newer video cards that already have the second monitor connector built in. You may not realize that your PC is already setup to handle 2 monitors without additional effort.

I wrote back to Ron to say that it sounds like he's got a great solution. I'd like to do something like that for my laptop, since it's my main personal PC — but I keep it in the den on a roll-around laptop cart, so there's not room for another monitor. On the otherr hand, I can do email, web surfing, write newsletters, and edit my web sites while watching TV or DVD's.

Ron wrote back to tell me his solution to providing enough surface area to support two monnitors:

Hey Terry:

Bet you can make dual monitors work on a table like that.

I just happen to be working on a "crippled cousin" of your type of table. Mine is static, no wheels, and the lift mechanism is broken, so I had to prop it up at the required height with a hacked off hockey stick. But the point is, my table is also designed for a single Desktop & Monitor or a laptop. But that wasn't goo enough for me. So I slapped a piece of plywood on top of the desk, about a foot wider than that desktop. That gives me enough room to put my 17inch CRT on one side and my Cannon 3-1 inkjet printer beside it. Before I got the laptop, the printer was a convienent bookstand. Now that I've got the laptop, I just cleared off the printer and plunked the laptop on the printer (I rarely use the copier/scanner). I've got my full sized MS Wave keyboard plugged in to the laptop along with the CRT monitor.

I realize that the wheeled tables can be rather top heavy and tippy, but I think you can do the same sort of thing as I did. You will want to screw, clamp or bolt the extra board on to the existing tabletop. And if you want to get fancy you could add a small lip to help keep things from sliding off the top if the table starts to tip. If you are using a CRT rather than a LCD monitor, it will be heavier than the laptop so you may want to attach the board a little off center so the whole weight of the monitor is on the table top, which would force your laptop to sit a little off center.

I've attached a couple of (crappy) photo's. The "b" photo has red outlines added. The lower one is the normal size of the desk, and the upper one shows the enhanced width. (yes, the photo's suck, it's the middle of the night and my camera phone is nothing special and the lighting is the worst possible).

Have fun.
R.


PS: Rather than hacking away at a piece of plywood, I actually used a piece of a bookshelf I salvaged from a dumpster. It happened to be roughly the right size, and it was already finished with a nice black plastic coating.

(click on the image for a larger version)

(click on the image for a larger version)

Wow! Thanks to Ron for the description and view of his setup. Looks like he's come up with a very creative, low-cost solution to the space problem.

 

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5.  A Look at Windows' "Set Program Access and Defaults"

It's been a long time since I've looked at the Windows XP feature called "Set Program Access and Defaults." Originally, this feature arrived as a result of the settlement between Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice, which (among other things) required Microsoft to make it easier for users to select alternative programs to those from Microsoft.

Basically, all the initial version did was to allow us to pick an alternative program for web browser, email, and Usenet news reading. Of course, if you used a program that Windows didn't recognize, you could not use the easy interface and had to count on your program to set itself as the default.

Since then, the feature has grown, as I was surprised to see. First, where do you find the "Set Program Access and Defaults" program? It's on the Start menu.

As we can see below, this really opens the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, with the Set Program Access and Defaults option selected.

The configuration choices are simple: Microsoft, Non-Microsoft, or Custom. We can display the details by using the pull-down indicators for each selection.

(click on the image for a larger version)

(click on the image for a larger version)

The Non-Microsoft option (shown below on the left) gets very interesting. Not only do you get to pick which program you want to use as a default, you can disable (remove access to) the corresponding Microsoft program. This certainly was not in the earlier versions I've seen (again, I haven't looked at this in a while, so I don't know when it showed up).

The Custom option (below, right) is the option I use. All the programs are operational — but we get to pick which ones are the defaults.

(click on the image for a larger version)

(click on the image for a larger version)

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6.  My Computer Security Software Recommendations

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.

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

Click here for more information about VIPRE.

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:

• The Internet Versus You
• Do I Need a Firewall Program?
• My Sunbelt Personal Firewall Review

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:

• Fighting Against Spyware & Malware
• My CounterSpy Review
• My VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

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:

• Spam Filtering
• Keeping spam out of your Inbox
• Getting Control of Your Inbox
• How Can I Prevent spam?

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 wireless router. I'm using the relatively new version 6 of this router.

If you don't want wireless, I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41 wired router, which I also use. Either way, based on my experience, I recommend Linksys routers for price, reliability and Linksys' habit of releasing updated firmware for their products..

See these related articles:

• Wireless Security
• Wi-Fi Hotspots and Computer Security
• Wireless Networking Problems & Wireless Networking Security

7.  Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends

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