______________________________________________________ ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers. The ezine YOU subscribed to. If you want to change your subscription options or unsubscribe, see the bottom of this email for full instructions. Thank you. Linda http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/abc ______________________________________________________ ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers Volume 27; August, 2003 - mailed to 4396 subscribers <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Please rate this Ezine at the Cumuli Ezine Finder http://snurl.com/6si ABC is also listed at FreeTechMail. Please visit their site and rate it there too: http://snurl.com/6sj <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> If you would prefer to read the online Web-azine, which includes pictures and screenshots and is, basically, more user-friendly, follow either of these links: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc (frames) http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/vol27.htm (no frames) or, scroll down to the Contents where you can click on over to any individual article NOTE: Unsighted readers or anyone who uses a screen reader shoud probably go online and read that version if my separator lines are making too much "noise". <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> For definitions of any terms you do not understand, visit the GeekSpeak Translator: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/gs.htm <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> You are receiving this newsletter because you (or someone using your email address) subscribed to it voluntarily. If you would like to remove yourself from ABC, please see SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT at the bottom of this newsletter. Using the "Reply" function will not unsubscribe you! My subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. I value every subscriber and respect your privacy. <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> .,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^IMPORTANT!-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,. <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> WATCH FOR LONG LINKS! Most of these have been replaced with SnipURLs http://www.snipurl.com so you shouldn't have to copy/paste URLs anymore, unless you have a reeeeaaallly tiny monitor ;-) So...if the links are longer than a certain amount, I've "snipped" them. <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> To help prevent broken links, maximize your email window to FULL screen. <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- THIS MONTHS' FEATURED SPONSOR: ********************************************* @@@@@@@@@@ SPAM INSPECTOR @@@@@@@@@@ Here's another product I have added to my computer. Because I own a website and my email address is readily available to every spammer on the net, I get over 200 garbage spam mails a day! The subject lines in my inbox would impress even sailors. I get advertisements, pornography, and "business" proposals from all over the world. I've tried filtering this out with my mail rules, blocked senders lists, and even freeware programs like Mail Washer and found that none of these methods were as effective as I needed. But, this one DEFINITELY works. And, it's so easy to setup and monitor. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE AND DOWNLOAD A DEMO: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/spami.htm ********************************************* ********************************************* <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ADVERTISE in ABC: ABC offers inexpensive advertising in this email version. Full details on how to do this are explained here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/abcad.htm <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Do you love ABC? Click here to donate any amount. http://snurl.com/pks Heck! If half the subscribers donated 25 cents each, I would be in business. LOL All contributions are greatly appreciated! <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> CONTENTS (all links below these items take you to the non-frames online versions) (items with *** behind them include pictures and/or are better if viewed online) 1. Important How-To Message for Reading This Ezine http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/vol27.htm#HowTo 2. GeekSpeak Translation from the Cap'n http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/gs.htm ~ by Patt Meara <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ~ 3. New Worm Which Masquerades As Your "Administrator" ~ by Mike Baynes http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/mike27.htm A New Page at My Website: An Up-to-Date List of Viruses and Hoaxes ~ by Linda F. Johnson http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/mike27.htm#lin <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> 4. Tips for FrontPage Tables ~ by Tina Clarke http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/tina27.htm 5. Bat File To List and Count Files: Explained with the Newbie in Mind ~ by Vic Ferri http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/vic27.htm 6. Four Quick PowerPoint Tips ~ by Kathryn Jacobs http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/kath27.htm 7. Working with Movie Clips in Macromedia Flash MX *** ~ by Charlene Russ http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/char27.htm 8. Two Windows XP/MSN Messenger Tips ~ by Linda F. Johnson *Removing MSN Messenger *Getting Rid of the Advertising PopUps in New Installs of XP http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/linda27.htm 9. Excel Formula Development in the Real World *** ~ by Ray Blake http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/ray27.htm 10. SOFTWARE REVEIWS Canvas 9 ~ by Sara Froehlich http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/sara27.htm Rich Diamond Adventure Game ~ by Linda F. Johnson http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/richd.htm 11. ASK THE FLEET ~ Questions submitted by readers and answered by ABC's Fleet of Writers http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/ask27.htm Miscellaneous: 12. Subscription Management 13. Contact Information 14. Advertise in ABC *** means the article includes pictures in the online version or is better viewed online ********************************************* ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- ********************************************* ECLECTIC ACADEMY ~ A Better Choice in Distance Learning DO YOU WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL WITHOUT LEAVING THE HOUSE? It's the latest rage and it's called Distance Learning. Most colleges now offer Distance Learning classes because they know some people work hard and just can't fit a classroom into their busy lives. But, sometimes you don't want to enroll in a full program; you just want to take one class. ECLECTIC ACADEMY IS YOUR ANSWER! http://eclecticacademy.com Eclectic Academy offers a large range of classes to suit many needs. Go there now and check out their curriculum and roster. Classes are only $20 for 6 weeks. HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT? Here's a sampling of what they offer: *Art Courses, both digital and traditional *Business Courses, including all of the MS Office Programs (many taught by none other than Linda Johnson herself) *Graphics Courses - Flash, PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro & more *Website Development Courses - FrontPage, Dreamweaver, ASP, DHTML, Website Promotion, and on and on and on *Eclectic Classes - Computer Maintenance, Writing Workshops, Feng Shui, Eating Safely - just about anything you can think of Go to Eclectic Academy now and sign up to be notified when classes are added or ENROLL NOW in the class of your choice. Go there now to enroll in the next set of classes. ONLY $20 FOR A SIX-WEEK CLASS! http://eclecticacademy.com ********************************************* FLASH!! NEXT CLASSES START Sept.7, 2003 DON'T DELAY -- SIGN UP NOW!! ********************************************* Also, don't forget that Eclectic Academy offers classes on many different programs and techniques. As a matter of fact, some of the EA staff have put together forums on their areas of expertise that you might want to check out here: http://www.pixelparity.org/ ********************************************* <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (1.) IMPORTANT HOW-TO MESSAGE <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> If you decide to go to the Online "Web-azine" version, go here first for navigation instructions: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/vol27.htm#HowTo If you are reading this plain text issue, maximize your email window for best viewing. <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- Computer Help Central Presents... A BRAND NEW RESOURCE: Does your computer "scare you" at times? Are you tired of not getting answers to your computer questions? Don't worry, Mad Mick can teach you "How to Solve All Your Computer Problems... Fast & Forever...Even if You're Brand New to Computers And Think You'll Never Learn Them" He'll Answer Every Single Computer Question You'll Ever Have - BEFORE You Even Ask! (And if he doesn't, you'll have a chance to personally ASK HIM!) Download Mad Mick's 200 Computer Questions & Answers in pdf format **includes 30 days of FREE email support** http://hop.clickbank.net/?buntah/likeapro **SUPPORT ABC BY ORDERING THIS PRODUCT** <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (2.) Cap'n Patt's GEEKSPEAK TRANSLATOR ~ by Patt Meara <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Visit the Cap'n's Official GeekSpeak Database at http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/gs.htm If the word you need defined is not there, or the definition is not clear, too geeky, or just plain confusing to you, email the Cap'n. He would love to hear from you at CapnPatt@xxxxxxx <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> If you want to see over 100 tips, tricks, methods, shortcuts and more work right on your computer, check out the Video Tutorials at http://showmewindows.com/indexlj.htm Get your free sample video while you're there, and see if this method of discovery doesn't rock your computing world. Tom Glander is the creator of Show Me Windows for Windows 98 computers. He specializes in making information easy to understand, writing and speaking primarily to those with little computing experience. SHOW ME WINDOWS http://showmewindows.com/indexlj.htm Imagine having a trusted friend sit down with you, guide your hand, telling you where to click and showing you each step to get the results you want. There's No Easier Way To Gain Control Over Your PC And Master Every Aspect Of Its Operation. Guaranteed! Want proof that what I'm saying is true and totally honest? Of course you do. The best way is to Download my FREE sample video and See for yourself. Tom Glander Show Me Windows http://showmewindows.com/indexlj.htm <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- *****THIS MONTH'S FEATURE***** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (3.) NEW MAIL WORM WHICH MASQUERADES AS YOUR "ADMINISTRATOR" Zip File Contains Worm W32/Mimail-A ~~Mike Baynes, MikesWhatsNews <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> The latest mass-mailing worm is taking advantage of a known security flaw in Microsoft's IE. Microsoft has issued patches for this venerability previously. W32/Mimail-A arrives in an email claiming to be from your administrator, (If you only have one computer you would probably realize that is it a fake as you would be the administrator.) An attachment, in the email a file 'message.zip', is a copy of the worm, which scours your hard disk looking for email addresses for its next round of victims. If you unzip the file you will find a HTML file inside, named 'message.html'. When the HTML is opened - and unpatched versions of Outlook will launch this extracted program without the user even being aware of its existence - the virus is launched in your system. Only you can protect yourself from such threats. Keep your MS programs up to date and check frequently with your Anti Virus program for updates. And of course 'Do Not Open Attachments'! See; http://snurl.com/20d3 http://snurl.com/20d4 Information about the vulnerabilities used by W32/Mimail and about the updates provided by Microsoft is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-014.asp http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-015.asp ********************************************** Mike Baynes is the editor of MikesWhatsNews. To subscribe, send a blank email to mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" in the subject line (without the quotes) See Mike's Anti-Virus pages ~ http://virusinfo.hackfix.org To subscribe, send a blank email to: virusinfo-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with subscribe in the subject. ********************************************** <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> A NEW PAGE AT MY SITE THAT WILL KEEP YOU UP-TO-DATE ON ALL VIRUSES AND HOAXES ~~Linda F. Johnson, Linda's Computer Stop <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Because there are so many new viruses coming out all the time, and also because I am getting very tired of seeing the same Hoaxes being sent around over and over, I have added a page to my site that links to Sophos and updates regularly to show all of the newest viruses, the top viruses, and the top hoaxes. I highly recommend you bookmark this page and visit it often ... ESPECIALLY before you forward some virus warning you receive from a friend or coworker. Be sure to make sure the warning is legit before you send it on to hundreds of people!! Here's the page...please bookmark it: http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/sophos.htm <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> NEW FROM THE NEWBIE CLUB: For all of you who loved the Newbie Club's Windows for Newbies, here's great news! WINDOWS XP FOR NEWBIES is finally here! http://newbieclub.com/wfncopy/?buntah <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (4.) TIPS FOR FRONTPAGE TABLES ~~Tina Clarke, AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> When you have two tables butted together vertically, it can be hard to insert a line between them. To do so, place the cursor after the content of the top table's last cell and press Ctrl + Enter Similarly, to put the insertion point before a table at the top of your document, place the cursor before the content of the first cell and press Ctrl + Enter. When using Pixels to set a table width, always stay smaller than 800 pixels. The minimum default screen width that most people have is 800 pixels wide. If you use larger tables, some visitors to your Web site might have to scroll off to the right to see the complete table. Also be aware that visitors browsing your web site with Web TV have a screen width of only 540 pixels. If you accidentally make a mistake and delete the wrong row or column, choose Edit, Undo Clear from the FrontPage menu bar, and your mistake is rectified. Want to delete the entire table instead of a single row or column? Click in any cell of the table and choose Table, Select Table from the menu bar, then press the Delete key on your keyboard. Do you want to emulate a newspaper and make your web page have multiple columns of information? Easy, just set up a table with only one row but with two or three columns. Within the table, set Cell Padding to be 5 to 10 and the borders to be 0. Then you can type all the way down each column within the table, but the information stays in the same cell. Would you like to place four separate images within different cells in a table but make it appear as if they are one single image? Easy, first set your Cell Padding and Cell spacing properties to be 0, so there is no extra empty space within the various cells of your table. Then set the Horizontal and Vertical Alignment of your four individual cells to the following: Column 1, Row 1 Right, Bottom Column 2, Row 1 Left, Bottom Column 1, Row 2 Right, Top Column 2, Row 2 Left, Top (EDITOR'S NOTE: If this is unclear to you, see the table in the online version of this article: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/tina27.htm ) TIP: To slice up the graphic and do this, the easy way is to obtain the Free FrontPage add-on called Picture splitter from http://www.xzmedia.com/frontfx/fpapicsplit.asp ******************************************** Tina Clarke is the Webmaster of AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre at http://accessfp.net and an editor of "AnyFrontPage Bytes Ezine". Subscribe to the FrontPage ezine and get FREE FrontPage E-Books upon joining. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnyFrontPageBytes ******************************************** <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> DREAM JOBS TO GO Check out OVER 80 INSTANT GUIDES to your DREAM JOB or LIFESTYLE, by real world been-there, done-that authors. Click here to get YOUR REAL LIFE moving NOW: http://snurl.com/6sd Including Linda Johnson's "How to Get Started as a Software Trainer" AND LOTS MORE! <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (5.) BAT FILE TO LIST AND COUNT FILES: Explained with the Newbie in Mind ~~Vic Ferri, WinTips and Tricks <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> This is an expanded tip from the archives of Vic's WinTips&Tricks Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks/ Original Question: <snip>By trade, I am a DOS programmer. I use C++ and Powerbasic for 99.9% of what I do. Anyway, I have come upon a need to count filenames on a CD or DVD *and* save that number somewhere. Does anyone know how to do that in DOS?... . . oh, it would be nice if the file count program worked in both XP and/or ME; but of the two, I would give XP the first preference. </snip> Reply from Vic: This is something quite simple to do using Ms-Dos. Here is one method that should work on all Windows versions (personally, I tested this in Windows 98 and Windows XP) and which will give you more than just a number. What this bat file will do is produce for you a Word or text document containing a neatly numbered list of all the files and folders in the drive or directory you specify in the command line. So you get the list of files plus the number. The files will be listed in alphabetical order and with paths so you know exactly where each file resides. Note, alphabetical order in MS-DOS means that first the names of the folders will be sorted in alphabetical order and then the names of files in each folder will be sorted in alphabetical order. Ok let us now create the bat file. Right click your desktop, choose New>Text Document to produce a new text document on your desktop. No need to name it now. Just open it up and copy/paste the following commands: @echo off dir /b /o /s /v c:\projects\ | find "" /n /v >count.txt cls The above would produce a numbered list of all the files in c:\projects except for hidden and system files. Substitute "c:\projects" with the path and name of the folder or drive you wish to search. Examples: If you want a content list of a CD and your cd-rom drive letter is g:, you would change the line to: dir /b /o /s /v g:\ | find "" /n /v >count.txt If the folder name contains a space, enclose the path with quotation marks. An example would be My Documents: dir /b /o /s /v "D:\My Documents\" | find "" /n /v >count.txt If you would like to include all files, including the hidden and system ones, then just add the "a" switch. ie: dir /a /b /o /s /v c:\windows\ | find "" /n /v >count.txt You can also change the name of the output file, count.txt, to whatever name you want. You might want to change it to count.doc if all you use is Notepad as your text editor in Windows 9x (Windows Notepad has a capacity of only 64 kbs) .doc will open the file, by default, with Wordpad, which has a much greater capacity, or with whatever Word processor you have associated with the extension .doc For many that would be Microsoft Word. Once you finish editing the command line, save the document. Now rename your text document with a .BAT extension. ie: if you saved the file as count.txt, rename it to count.bat. You will be warned about changing extensions, but just ignore and click Yes. NOTE: Make sure you are not hiding extensions because if you are, renaming will not work - instead of being count.bat, your file will become count.bat.txt. To see if you are hiding extensions, open any folder, click View> Folder Options>View (depending on your Windows version, getting there may vary slightly) Look for the option: "Hide extensions for known file types" and make sure it is NOT checked. To use the file, simply double click it. The file will be created in the same directory you run the bat file from. So if you run it from your desktop, look for count.txt on your desktop, after running the bat file. A COUNT ONLY If all you want is a dos method to know the number of files on any of your drives or directories, this command line should do it: dir /a /s "c:\" |find /c /v "" This will give you a count of all the files and directory on your c: drive. To specify a different drive, simply substitute c:\ with the drive you want searched. To use, you can either enter the command at an Ms-Dos prompt or use it in a batch file. This can be useful if you are running Windows 9x, where the Find feature is limited to 10,000 results (these days, it is quite common to have many more than 10,000 files on a hard disk - in my last count, there were almost 30,000 files on my c: drive) But how about enhancing this dos method so that all you have to do is click an icon on your desktop to get a count of all the files on your hard drive? To do that, open up notepad and this time, copy and paste these commands: @echo off dir /a /s "c:\" |find /c /v "" >c:\windows\filecount.txt start /w c:\windows\filecount.txt del c:\windows\filecount.txt cls Again, substitute c:\ with whatever drive you want to get a file count from. Save it with a name something like filecount.bat And that's it - now anytime you want a file count of your hard drive, double click the bat file, and within several seconds, notepad will open up displaying a number representing the number of files found. If you'd rather not have the Dos box visible, you can create a shortcut to the bat file, and then go to the Properties of the Shortcut and choose Run Minimized and Close on Exit. You can also change the icon to something more friendly. If you do this, you might want to create your bat file in your C: drive and then drag it to your desktop to create a shortcut to it (just so you won't have to have 2 files for it on your desktop) Now lets explain the basic command lines briefly: dir is used to get a directory listing. /b is a dir switch that stands for bare and is used to get a neat bare boned line listing - lists each file name, including extension, one per line. There in no heading information and no summary included. /s is a dir switch that stands for sub and is used to include all sub folders and the files they contain, as well. /n is both a dir and find switch, as a dir switch it stands for name and sorts the results in alphabetical order by name. As a find switch it stands for number and in our case here is responsible for numbering each line. /a is a dir switch that stands for attributes and when added without specifying any attributes, shows all files, including system and hidden. /c is a Find switch that displays only a count of the lines that contain the specified string. /v as a Find switch is used to display all lines not containing the specified string. This explains the "'' I used it the command line. It's just a way to find all files by using a string not likely to occur in any file name. It doesn't have to be "", it could be anything that you feel confident wouldn't be in a file name. v is also a dir switch standing for verbose which gets file information - such as displaying long file names - but this switch is relatively recent and does not exist in earlier versions of Dos (prior to 7) It works in all versions of Windows from 95 and up. | is a pipe command - it takes the output of one command and uses it as input for another. In the numbered list case, the dir command acts as output for the find command, and the results are outputted to a file using the greater than symbol ( >) ACCURACY NOTES More than likely there will be discrepancies between the number of files reported by Dos and the number of files reported by Explorer, if you are including all files - hidden and system. Both have their oddities. Command.com in Ms-Dos may not report all hidden and system files with the dir /s switch and Explorer may miscount or stumble with IE's cache directories. So whether your count is from Windows or Dos, both may not be totally accurate. For Dos, you can get a more accurate count of ALL files by using the attribute command. Compare the results of this command to the Dir commands to see if they show differences for you: attrib.exe /s c:\*.* |find /c /v "" (the above is to search your c: drive. Substitute c: with whatever drive letter you wish to search. If you want all the files listed in a file, then use this: attrib.exe /s c:\*.* |find /v /n "" >count.txt According to one of my Dos mentors, Charles Dye: ... there's a long-standing error in COMMAND.COM which prevents DIR /S from recursing into subdirectories which have either the Hidden or the System attributes set. This may not explain all the differences between the DIR /S list and whatever Explorer reports, but it will certainly explain part of it. (Conversely, Explorer has weird quirks of its own, such as making IE's cache directories look like a single directory. You may never be able to completely reconcile the two....) There's a program called DOS-FIX by a John Augustine which patches COMMAND.COM to remove the DIR /S issue. As always, back COMMAND.COM up before modifying it; but I've had good luck with with this utility. You can also use any decent file-finder to count files. My own LOCATE correctly recurses into all subdirectories, as does John Stockton's HUNT. An even better solution, IMHO, is to avoid using COMMAND.COM for anything important. If you spend a significant amount of time at a command prompt, a professional shell like 4DOS can be a very worthwhile investment. ******************************************** Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks email group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks He is also in charge of the Printing Tips page at Linda's Computer Stop. http://personal-computer-tutor.com/printing.htm and also the Registry Tips page. http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc1/v4/vic4.htm Vic has also created a program which allows you to Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME. Read more and get the free demo here. http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/lockhide.htm And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on computers which do not have PowerPoint installed. http://www.angelfire.com/va3/vic3/index.html ******************************************** <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Are you into Video Computing? VIDEOMAKER is the world's most popular monthly consumer video production publication and covers the use of digital video editing, camcorders, cameras, and desktop video and audio production for novice and expert enthusiasts alike. Its articles teach production techniques, survey and review the latest equipment, and explain the newest technological advances. Published monthly, and is available on select newsstands and to subscribers. In addition, you receive a password giving you full access to Club VId, Videomaker's vast online resource of information about making video. And the best part is, it's CHEAP! Only $14.97 for 13 issues! http://snurl.com/6t1 And, our own multimedia expert, Vic Ferri wants to tell you about the great offer being made by VideoMaker Magazine. You can now get a free trial issue and free Ulead CD of video editing software. No obligation, no cost. NOTE - the free CD is for US only. Other countries, free trial issue only. More info and instructions from Vic here: http://www.angelfire.com/va3/expert_guides/videomaker.html <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (6.) FOUR QUICK POWERPOINT TIPS ~~Kathryn Jacobs, PowerPointAnswers <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> This month, I offer four practical tips that should make using PowerPoint much easier. Tip One: Animate your masters For those of you who created presentations with the same animation on each slide (or most slides), try putting your animations on the master slide instead of on each slide. It will save you time and effort, and make changing the presentation later much easier. PowerPoint XP users can take this one step further. If you only need a set of animations on certain slides, create a master with that animation sequence and use it for the slides needing animating. Some users have reported problems with adding the master animations after the slide is completed. If you have this problem, create a new slide based on the master with the animation, then copy your desired content from the existing slide to the newly created slide. Don't forget to delete the old copy, or you will have duplicates. Tip Two: Turn on the outlining toolbar Would you like to see your outline formatted? Turn on the ?Outlining? toolbar by right clicking in any toolbar and clicking on the word ?Outlining?. The toolbar will appear down the left side of your screen and allows you to: * Quickly promote and demote bullets * Create a summary slide * See your outline as formatted text, rather than just as the default Arial text Tip Three: Create a summary slide Once you have turned on the Outlining toolbar, you can create summary slides with the click of a button. This button will only be active when you are viewing the outline. It will run through your presentation and create a single slide containing the title of each slide. However, if it hits a slide without a title, it will stop processing. (If you don?t want the title to show on a specific slide, create a title anyway and drag it off the slide.) For large presentations, you will need to do some formatting to ensure that the slide is readable. If your presentation is really large, you may find that you want to create several summary slides, one for each section. Do this by making copies of the summary slide and adapting each to contain the content you wish. Summary slides can easily be turned into clickable index to your presentation. Select each line of text on the slide and create a hyperlink from that text to the slide with that title. Summary slides are also useful for showing how far you are in the presentation. Tip Four: To make a slide into your desktop wallpaper The content of any slide within a powerPoint presentation can be turned into your desktop wallpaper. It doesn't matter whether the slide content is a picture or text. It is a fairly quick process, involving saving the slide as a jpeg and then selecting the jpeg file as your wallpaper. 1) From within PowerPoint, save that slide as a jpeg (File --> Save As... select JPEG) 2) PowerPoint will ask you whether you want to save the whole presentation or just the current slide. Select current slide. 3) Notice the name that PowerPoint gives the file. Close PowerPoint. (Optional, leave it open if you have other things to do...) 4) Now, set your background by either: a) Using Windows Explorer, navigate to that file. Right click on the file and select Set as Desktop Background. Or b) Right click on your desktop, select Properties, then click on the Background tab. Click the Browse button, navigate to the file, click on its title (or thumbnail), and click open. Hope you enjoyed this month's quick tips. Remember, if you have PowerPoint questions, send them in using this form! http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/ask.htm ********************************************** Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com Cook anything outdoors with http://www.outdoorcook.com Kathy is a trainer, writer, Girl Scout, parent, and whatever else there is time for. I believe life is meant to be lived. But, if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived. ************************************************ <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> POWERPOINT TO EXE We can convert your Powerpoint presentations into stand alone exe files that will play on all the major Windows platforms without the need for a Powerpoint viewer. More info here: http://www.angelfire.com/va3/vic3/index.html Email: pptexe@xxxxxxxxxx <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (7.) WORKING WITH MOVIE CLIPS IN MACROMEDIA FLASH MX ~~Charlene Russ, The Artist Edge <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ********************************************** EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes pictures and is clearer if read online. You can see the online version here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/char27.htm ********************************************** Using Buttons to Control Movie Clips After creating each individual button and applying the Actionscript function to it, (which can be done in basic mode) you may right-click and add additional keyframes to each button layer. Notice how the button layers are named according to color. The button tells the flash reader to 'goto and stop' on the appropriate frame of the timeline where each animated fill movieclip is located. Editing the Movie Clips To create a movieclip you may draw a symbol on the stage such as a circle, select it and then modify>convert to symbol, selecting the movieclip radio button. The individual movieclips may be edited by clicking the appropriate keyframe, then using the arrow pointer tool, double-click the movieclip object on the stage. A new 'edit in place' screen will appear, allowing you to insert keyframes and add your tweening effects. Paste in Place When working with multiple movie clips, the paste in place function is useful to repeat symbol shapes and have each movie clip located in the same area of your screen in each keyframe or scene. The Paste in place function eliminates a jumpy look in your movies and ensures continuity. This method is normally to select the desired shape or symbol, edit>copy, then click the desired keyframe on the timeline and then edit>paste in place. ********************************************** Charlene Russ is an instructor with Eclectic Academy, http://eclecticacademy.com and is currently teaching Introduction to 3D Studio Max. She teaches novice students the basics of 3D design and modeling techniques. She is also an adjunct instructor with a Florida community college in the Digital Arts dept. Charlene's personal site is The Artist Edge, which features a wide gamut of useful design related information. http://www.theartistedge.com/ ********************************************** <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- **************STATION BREAK***************** ^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^-.,.-^- <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> LOCK&HIDE from Vic Ferri High level desktop folder security for Windows 95/98/Me Keep your personal and most valuable files locked and hidden from prying eyes, viruses, and other users of your computer. Easy to use and extremely secure. Lock&Hide is an extremely easy to use program that allows you to lock and hide any folder on your desktop. Folders secured with Lock&Hide cannot be seen, found, or accessed. Your folders remain totally invisible and highly secured, yet can be accessed quckly and easily at any time! More Info here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/lockhide.htm Screenshots and instructions here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/scrnshots.htm Or download the free demo here (the demo does not include the "Restore All" feature or the password protection utility.) http://personal-computer-tutor.com/lh/demoinf.htm <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (8.) TWO WINDOWS XP/ MSN MESSENGER TIPS ~~Linda F. Johnson, Linda's Computer Stop <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Some people do not want to use MSN Messenger for chatting and would like to remove it from their computers. With Windows XP, this is not always so easy. Also, with MSN installed and enabled, new XP users may find themselves inundated with popups for various advertisements which tell them to "click here to remove these ads". Well, most of us are afraid to "click here" because we fear we will be added to some advertising database and swamped with S-P-A-M (and rightly so). So, here are two tips: One to get rid of Messenger completely and the other to keep Messenger but get rid of those annoying popups (which come from Messenger, believe it or not): Uninstalling MSN Messenger Completely This one comes from About.com: http://windows.about.com/library/tips/bltip550.htm "I know it sounds hard to believe, but some of you out there may wish to remove MSN Messenger from Windows XP. However, it does not appear from the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. In order for it to show up there, you must first edit the file named sysoc.inf. This file can be found in a folder named INF, which is a subfolder of the Windows folder (or in some cases the winnt folder, depending on how your OS was installed). You can open that file in notepad. Look for the following line: msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7 and remove the word "hide" while leaving the commas on place. Close and save the file, and then open the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel, so that you can remove it like any other program." To Get Rid of the Annoying PopUp Ads: 1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings, and then click Control Panel). 2. Double-click Administrative Tools. 3. Double-click Services. 4. Double-click Messenger. 5. In the Startup type list, click Disabled. 6. Click Stop, and then click OK. ********************************************* Linda Johnson is a college instructor of all of the Microsoft Office Programs, as well as Adobe PhotoShop and Windows. She also teaches online distance learning classes in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word at Eclectic Academy. http://www.eclecticacademy.com She has worked helpdesk and teaches and lectures at Many local businesses and tech schools in her area. Support this newsletter by checking out Linda's website http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com and her ebook series, MS Word MAGIC! Part I: Fonts, Fun & Formats http://snurl.com/6sk Part II: Table Wizardry http://snurl.com/6sl AND, How To Get Started As a Software Trainer: http://snurl.com/6sd ********************************************* <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> AND DON'T MISS LINDA'S NEWEST EBOOK SERIES: If you have been interested in taking any of Linda's Online Classes but don't want to wait six weeks to complete all the lessons or don't have the desire to be part of an online classroom, why not SKIP THE CLASS & BUY THE BOOK INSTEAD? Check out the eBook .exe versions of all of Linda's classes here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/library.htm Only $15 each!! Where else can you master a software Program for that price? Separate eBook tutorials on Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word. Terrific value!! OR BUY THEM ALL ON ONE CD Only $45.00!! Order online or by regular mail Details here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/cdtutorial.htm Download the free Sample Version at CNET: http://snurl.com/6sc And PLEASE rate it there for me? Thanks!! <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (9.) EXCEL FORMULA DEVELOPMENT IN THE REAL WORLD ~~by Ray Blake, GR Business Process Solutions <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> ********************************************** EDITOR'S NOTE: This article includes tables and is clearer if read online. Also, if any of the long formulas break into two lines in this plain text email, spaces may be inserted if you copy/paste the formula into Excel, so you must remove the spaces. You can see the online version here: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/ray27.htm ********************************************** Name field reconcatenation in Excel explained through building worksheet formulae and custom VBA functions. There must have been times for all of us when we?ve been presented with a large database containing people?s names and other data which needs to be manipulated or reported on in some way, probably in alphabetical order. As the records appear in Excel for the first time, the heart sinks as the first column contains the names: John Smith Kevin Adams etc. I think that 9 out of 10 such lists I am given contain a name field formatted in this way, first name first. On the other hand, 9 out of 10 clients want their analyses presented in alphabetical order by surname. If you often find yourself in the same boat, this article will help you. We shall start by constructing an Excel worksheet formula to reverse the first name and surname positions in the field. Then we?ll work to expand the function so that it can deal easily with initials, multiple forenames or any combination of these features. Finally, we?ll consider the potential disadvantages of such a function, and look at an alternative approach, using VBA to construct a custom worksheet formula and overcome those disadvantages. The basic task is to take the existing entry and re-engineer it, thus: ?John Smith? becomes ?Smith, John? At first glance, this is an easy problem. All we need to do is look for a space in the text, carve up the string and then recombine it appropriately. If A1 contains the original string, then A2 can contain the formula: =SEARCH(" ",A1) This will return a number representing the first space character within the string in cell A1. In our example, it will give ?5? because the fifth character in the string is the first space. Using this, we can chop up the string into its two parts. In A3, enter: =LEFT(A1,A2-1) This formula tells Excel to return the leftmost 4 characters from the string in A1. It?s 4 because that is the result of 5 minus 1, so the formula returns all characters to the left of the space, but not the space itself. In A4, we need: =RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-A2) There are two functions here. Firstly, LEN simply returns the length of a string. RIGHT works the same way as LEFT, only? well, you know. So this formula returns just the characters to the right of the space in the string in A1. To summarise what we have so far, see the table in the online version of this article. Now, we can put our final version in A5 as follows: =A4 & ", " & A3 This will return in our example: Smith, John. Our work is done. One word of caution here. If the person entering the data has put extra spaces in at the start or end of the name string, your functions will have a hard time. If you suspect this may be the case, you can replace every reference to A1 with: TRIM(A1). This will have the effect of removing all leading and trailing spaces from the string. Back to our function. Type into cell A1 the name John James Smith and see what happens. See the table in the online version of this article and you will see that things start going wrong in A3, where only the first forename appears, and we end up with ?James Smith, John?. Oops. As it stands, our formula will not cope properly with more than one space in the string. Here are some more entries which would cause issues: J J Smith J. J. Smith John J Smith John J. Smith John James William Albatross Smith Remember the SEARCH function in A2? That looks for the first space character in the string. We can get it to look not for the first instance of a space, but for the second, by simply adding a third argument to a new formula in A6, thus: =SEARCH(" ",A1,A2+1) The effect of this third argument is to search again for a space, but starting to search one character to the right of the first space we found. If there isn?t a second space, the formula will return an error, but we can allow for that like this: =IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ",A1,A2+1)),A2,SEARCH(" ",A1,A2+1)) This looks for the second space. If this would cause an error, then it just returns the position of the first, as found by the formula in A2, but if looking for the second doesn?t generate an error, then that?s what the formula does. This approach won?t always work, though, because there may be more even than two spaces, as in the last example above. Ideally, we could get the SEARCH command to start at the end of the string and work backwards, but it doesn?t work that way and there is no worksheet formula which does. Instead, we have to find an approach which will find out how many spaces there are in the string and then give the position of the last one. Actually, we can achieve this quite easily using just the formulas we?ve already met here, plus one other. In cell C1, enter: John James William Smith In C2 enter the new formula: =SUBSTITUTE(C1," ","") The first set of quotes in this formula contains a space, the second nothing. The effect of this formula is to return a version of the string without any spaces, thus: JohnJamesWilliamSmith In C3, you can enter this formula: =LEN(C1)-LEN(C2) This tells you the difference between the number of characters in John James William Smith and the number of characters in JohnJamesWilliamSmith. The result is 3, which is, of course, the number of spaces in the original string. But the SUBSTITUTE has an optional fourth argument as well, and it is this one which we will now put into use. In C4, enter: =SUBSTITUTE(C1," ","^",C3) That fourth argument is the instance number you want to substitute. If you omit it, this formula will replace every space with a caret (^). But by giving the instance number as the number of spaces we calculated in C3, it will only change the last space to a caret, returning this string: John James William^Smith Now, unless your data has a lot of caret characters in it (and if it does, use a different symbol) you can be pretty sure that there will only be one in the string, so it is this character which now becomes the object of your new SEARCH command in cell C5, thus: =SEARCH("^",C4) In this case, the formula produces 19, because the caret is the 19th character in the string. From there, it is an easy job to play with the string using the LEFT and RIGHT formulae as we did before. See the online version of this article for a summary of the full process thus generated. Now, this is a lengthy process, but once you?ve been through it, you can turn this chain of formulae into one big, Swiss Army Knife of a formula which looks like this: =RIGHT(C1,LEN(C1)-SEARCH("^",SUBSTITUTE(C1," ","^",LEN(C1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(C1," ",""))))) & ", " & LEFT(C1,SEARCH("^", SUBSTITUTE(C1," ","^",LEN(C1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(C1," ",""))))-1) If you?ve been using the TRIM function as suggested above, you have an even longer formula: =RIGHT(TRIM(C1),LEN(TRIM(C1))-SEARCH("^",SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(C1)," ","^",LEN(TRIM(C1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(C1)," ",""))))) & ", " & LEFT(TRIM(C1),SEARCH("^", SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(C1)," ","^",LEN(TRIM(C1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(C1)," ",""))))-1) Scary, huh? Not really. I didn?t type that all in by hand, I simply cut and pasted it together. For instance, C8 started off saying: =C7 & ", " & C6 What I did was copy the formula in C7 and replace the reference to C7 with the actual C7 formula (discarding the superfluous extra = sign) to get this: =RIGHT(C1,LEN(C1)-C5) & ", " & C6 Then I replaced the C6 reference with the formula in C6 and the C4 reference with the formula in C4, and so on until the only cell referenced was cell C1. It?s simple, but the resulting formula never fails to impress those not party to this technique! Still, be that as it may, the formula is still big and unwieldy. If we want to use it again later on another sheet, we?d better pray we have a copy of the formula somewhere to paste in, because it will take a while if we have to start again from scratch. Also, it?s a lovely piece of technical writing, but visible to all users of our spreadsheet and thus copiable by others. This may not be a problem if you don?t rely on this sort of work for your living, but that?s precisely what some of us do! And so it makes sense to overcome these disadvantages by creating a custom worksheet formula. If you haven?t used one of these before, don?t worry. It?s quite straightforward, requiring only a little knowledge of VBA to convert the enormous worksheet formula above to the far more manageable: =NAMEREVERSE(C1) This formula behaves just like a regular, built-in Excel worksheet function. If you package your code as an add-in (beyond the scope of this article), you can keep the underlying VBA which makes it work firmly under the bonnet. With the power of Excel?s built in functions, you might imagine that the worksheet version might be far simpler than the VBA routine needed to do the same thing, but you?d be wrong. Remember how we mourned the lack early on in this article of a worksheet formula which would search for a character within a string, working backwards from the end of that string? Well, guess what? VBA has such a method. The VBA method InStr does much the same as Excel?s SEARCH function, but there is a companion method in VBA called InStrRev, which starts from the other end. As a result, our VBA code looks like this: Function NAMEREVERSE(strValue As String) strLen = Len(strValue) strNumSpace = InStrRev(strValue, " ") strSurname = Right(strValue, strLen - strNumSpace) strRest = Left(strValue, strNumSpace - 1) NAMEREVERSE = strSurname & ", " & strRest End Function Notice how we have used a very similar approach as in our first attempt at a worksheet formula. Instead of SEARCH, we use IsStrRev, allowing us, of course, to start at the end and work backwards. The worksheet formulas LEN, RIGHT and LEFT have direct equivalents in VBA, which are used here to achieve the same effects. If placed in any module, this will enable NAMEREVERSE to be used in the workbook containing the code just like any regular worksheet function. If you want this new command to be available in all workbooks, you have two choices. You can either package the workbook with the code module as an add-in, or you can paste the code into the PERSONAL.XLS workbook. So there we have it, a common, real-world problem solved first on a worksheet, then extended to deal with awkward cases. We saw how it easily became a big and frightening single formula, and then saw how to make it more portable and less accessible to the curious by coding a custom function in VBA. Paradoxically, in this case it also became a lot simpler in the transition. ********************************************** Ray Blake lives in England and spent 15 years training people in the financial services industry there. He had always used PCs in his work, and gradually realised he might make a career out of them. He and his business partner set up GR Business Process Solutions ( http://www.grbps.com ) which specializes in innovative IT to support knowledge testing and skills assessment. Although he spends a lot of time these days developing in VB and Access, Excel remains his favourite development tool, because, as he says, 'It can do everything; there's no computer application you can think of that you couldn't develop in Excel.' ******************************************** <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (10.) SOFTWARE REVIEWS: <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Review of CANVAS 9 ~~ Sara Froehlich, Northlite Designs <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Canvas 9 from ACD Systems http://www.canvas9.com Canvas 9 is the upgrade Canvas users have been waiting for! As an integrated program, Canvas has always been a pioneer, providing vector, bitmap and page layout capabilities, with complete typography tools, in one neat package. Now it's better than ever! I've always loved Canvas' tabbed interface. Now it runs faster and it is smarter. With the new Smart toolbox and properties bar, finding what you need has never been easier. New features include an attributes palette and new Crop and Scale options to adjust image resolution and proportion in a single operation. I used the new version 9 Professional about 10 minutes before I decided I no longer need version 8! When I upgraded to Canvas 8 from 7, I found myself returning to 7 again and again. It ran faster for me. Not this time...version 8, move over! There's a new Canvas in town. Canvas also is now geared for three distinct user groups: Canvas 9 Professional, Canvas 9 Scientific Imaging (SI) Edition, and Canvas 9 GIS Mapping Edition. To compare the products and see all the new features, read this press release. It's a long one, because there is a lot to cover. http://www.deneba.com/company/press_releases/canvas9.html Canvas has one of the best web pages of any company I have seen, full of tips, tutorials, a knowledge base, and user forums. Canvas customer support is unsurpassed, making the complete package even better. I will be offering classes in Canvas Professional at Eclectic Academy in November 2003. Stay tuned to my classes page for information on enrollment. http://northlite.net/classes.htm ********************************************* Sara Froehlich of Northlite Designs http://www.northlite,net is an instructor with Eclectic Academy, where her online courses include Macromedia Fireworks 4, Macromedia FreeHand 10, DreamSuite Gel, Alien Skin Xenofex and Eye Candy 4000 and BladePro filters, and Expression Level 2, which she teaches with Annie Ford. In January she will be adding a Corel Photo-Paint 11 intro class. Go to http://www.eclecticacademy.com and click on Enter to enroll in one of her classes. She also is an instructor at LVS Online, where she teaches intermediate Adobe Illustrator classes. Go to http://www.lvsonline.com to enroll in one of her classes there. For more information on all of the classes Sara teaches, go to http://www.northlite.net/classes.htm Expression Tips and Tutorials: http://northlite.50megs.com/expr Illustrator Tips and Tutorials: http://northlite.50megs,com/illus ********************************************* <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Review of RICH DIAMOND ~~Linda F. Johnson, Linda's Computer Stop <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Lynn Lopez from Core Games ( http://www.coregames.com/ ) contacted me about advertising their game, Rich Diamond, in ABC. I replied to her and sent her the advertising policies for ABC, but also told her I'm a major gamer and this game looked like one that was right up my alley and I would be interested in reviewing it for them, if they wanted that. She replied back to me that yes, she would like that and she sent me a review copy. Well, I proceeded to become hopelessly addicted to this fun adventure game. It's full of all kinds of scenarios where you have to dodge flying arrows, avoid bombs, move objects to fill holes or waterways; all in a quest to gather gems to reach the next level. The free demo includes a few scenarios and is fun to play so I recommend you download it and try it out. However, the full version which Lynn sent me has LOTS more stuff: all kinds of custom themes so you can change the scenery, etc. and lots more game scenarios which are known as "level sets". At first, I was a bit disappointed because I moved through most of the level sets in the first day I played the game. But then I discovered, on the Core Games homepage, a link to the Rich Diamond Adventurers Guild http://www.richdiamond.com/ where I could download LOTS of level sets to add to the game and they are free for you to add to the full version and updated weekly, so I quickly filled my game with MANY different scenarios, and some of them are really tough and I've yet to complete them. The full version also allows you to create your own levels and this is a lot of fun too. All in all, I would say this is a great little game and I recommend you try the free demo download and see if you get as addicted as I did. <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> (11.) ASK THE FLEET ~ Questions submitted by readers and answered by ABC's Fleet of Writers <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> QUESTION submitted by Henry: My home built computer just started not doing the POST every once in awhile. When I turn it on, it just sits and looks at me. I have to hit the reset button and then everything works OK. Running Win98SE but that shouldn't matter -- it never gets past the POST. Anyone have any idea what is happening? Thanks. ANSWER from Hal Cardona (Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth http://pcsleuth.com serves as tech support and/or offsite Sys Admin for over 200 clients around the US. He designs, builds, and troubleshoots networks and builds custom computer systems.): It sounds like something in your computer needs a little time to warm-up. Since you didn't provide any details about your system, I can't guarantee that my suggestions will help. Try adding a setting for a delay in Detect IDE Devices or Hard drives in the BIOS. Also in the BIOS you could try setting the PC to do a floppy seek. You could also try turning off the Quick or Fast boot option in the BIOS (this may also be done enabling a complete memory test). ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Bill in DC: 1. How do you control the order of items in the context menu in explorer? 2. How do you create a context submenu and move items from the current context menu to the submenu? 3. Why do some program command lines in context menus require "%1" and others %1 (no quotes) to work? (This could be considered a separate topic.) For example, I have Norton and McAfee antivirus applications installed. They appear as items 14 and 15 surrounded by dividers. I also have Avast and AVG installed. They appear as items 2 and 3 immediately after OPEN. I would like all four items to be contiguous. (Note, for a different file type, the placement may change somewhat, e.g., 9,10,18,19.) Even better, I would like to add a submenu to the context menu that contains the four antivirus options. The avast antivirus entry appears as "Scan <filename>" (Scan abc.exe). I would like to change this text to identify avast as the virus scanner. Finally, I would like the last entry in the antivirus submenu to identify the folder or file to be checked as visual confirmation of the selection. Although I have used antivirus programs as examples, there are other items that I would like to be able to rearrange. These may be any combination of DLL, registry entries, etc. Thanks. ANSWER from Linda Johnson: Hi Bill. I put this question out to the Fleet and the consensus is that doing what you want to do requires programming knowledge and dll hacking, so you might have to hire a programmer if you really want this done. However, Vic Ferri wrote an article on how to add and remove items from the right click menus if you want to do that...but rearranging them and creating subfolders for them is out of the context of what the Fleet will do for free...sorry. Here's a link to Vic's article and good luck:: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v11/vic11.htm ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by G.L.: I have 2 questions that I hope you will answer for me. I read your article on identity theft and it got me to thinking. I delete my banking information as soon as I get through banking, is that information still on my hard drive, and if so how is the best way to get rid of it? I have got to take my computer in to the repair shop to have the hard drive replaced, and I don't want the wrong hands getting hold of my information. THANK YOU ANSWER from Mike Baynes (Mike Baynes is the editor of MikesWhatsNews . To subscribe, send a blank email to mailto:mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe. See Mike's Anti-Virus pages ~ http://virusinfo.hackfix.org. To subscribe, send a blank email to: mailto:virusinfo-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe ): I think the only 100% effective method involves physical destruction of the hard drive. The article I wrote in ABC#15 http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v15/mike15.htm lists a lot of other links and list of other methods. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by imagegreen: Recently reloaded MS Office 2000 Pro - When I start or end Word, I receive the following message: Microsoft Visual Basic Compile error in hidden module: AutoExec. Problem only occurs with Word, not Excel, Access or PowerPoint. Did uninstall and reinstall - same problem. ANSWER from Linda Johnson: Hi imagegreen. This is usually a problem with one or more add-ins in Word (possible Adobe Acrobat?). Read this Micorosoft Article for the fix: http://snurl.com/1tul Good luck REPLY from imagegreen: Thanks, Fixed the problem ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by n/a: WORD XP: I have generated a table of contents using styles. Is there a way to automatically add the word "page" before the page number? In other words, when I go to the insert menu, reference, tables and index, table of contents tab, select styles, OK it generates a table of contents built on the styles I select, I want the word "page" to appear before the actual page number. How can I do that? MUCH THANKS! ANSWER from Kathy Jacobs (Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP. Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com Cook anything outdoors with http://www.outdoorcook.com Kathy is a trainer, writer, Girl Scout, parent, and whatever else there is time for.): I have played around with this quite a bit and never found a way to do it, other than by straight typing into the TOC itself (yes, you could record a macro to do this, but...). The problem with doing it by hand (or with a macro) is that you have to reapply the changes every time your TOC changes. I know that the page number in the TOC is picked up directly from the page number on the document pages, but I have never figured out a way to make it pick up anything but the number from the pages. I do know that you can have your page numbers be done by sections and have the section number picked up with the page number. I still believe there would be a way to make this do what is wanted, by making the section "Page" and making the whole thing one section, but I can't get it to work. Maybe someone else can... ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by C.: I am looking for info regarding the similar setup you were working through with beautiful screen shots and nice explanation. I have an ABIT Kg7-Raid board with 256 MB ECC DDR RAM with WDD 100GB hdd with AMD Athlon XP 1900 with Audigy Plat EX and ATI AIW radeon (32 MB) I was trying to install WIN XP and ran into errors. I wonder if you have done the rest of install from this web site? http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc1/v7/hal7.html I.E. install WIN XP , SP1, drivers (via, amd, agp, miniport, SB audigy, ATI AIW, NIC....etc.) If so, please send the link of info on this as I am having trouble finding info together like what you have and I too as well. ANSWER from Hal Cardona (see Hal's credentials above): I did finish the install quite a few times. I didn't write an article about that portion though. Here are some clues that I learned about the motherboard. 1. It needs high quality RAM and some boards have a problem with Crucial RAM (Kingston and Corsair are fine). 2. To run XP you need the latest BIOS 3. You will need install additional SCSI device (press F6), use the high point drivers from their site. 4. Some CPUs need to have the CPU drive strength set to 6 or 7 5. You will need to rename htpro.sys to be able to use System Restore. 6. Watch where you install your add-in cards to avoid IRQ conflicts. Avoid the PCI slot next to the AGP slot 7. This board needs a HIGH QUALITY Power Supply That's what I remember off the top of my head. If these don't help, let me know what problems you are having. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Bill: I loaded Partition Magic 8 and Boot Magic 8 last night. After I installed Boot Magic on a new FAT 32 partition in a second hard drive, I resized a nearby partition and did something else that I can not remember. The end result is that the partition that Boot Magic was on either changed names or for some other reason became unrecognizable. So, now I can not use, find, delete or reload Boot Magic. I have deleted it from the registry. I can not delete it from control panel as I am told that Windows can not find the location that Boot Magic was originally loaded to and installation will end. Possibly, the FAT32 partition created for Boot Magic was hidden or .? I actually went as far as reformatting the entire disk that Boot Magic was loaded onto. It was put on a second Hard drive. Partition Magic was loaded onto my primary hard drive in my XP NTFS partition. So, it seems that the fact that Boot Magic was loaded at all is resident in an area that I can not get to in either my primary NTFS disk where the OS and Partition Magic live or in the other disk where XP swap file and the FAT 32 partition and Boot Magic WERE. I do not know about MBR's other than that they exist. Anyway. How do I get out of this predicament ? Thx. ANSWER from Hal Cardona (see Hal's credentials above): Boot Magic is still loading in the master boot record of the drive and you need to remove it. I would boot to the XP Recovery Console and run the command fixmbr. OR if you are running 98, boot from a 98 start-up disk and use the command fdisk /mbr. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by morrow_jw@xxxxxxxxx: Outlook XP will not close on first attempt. Reopens with an error message. Outlook XP second opening offers an error report for dispatch to MicroSoft. How to repair Outlook XP to close on first attempt. ANSWER from Linda Johnson: Before I submit this question to the Fleet, I need more information. What is the exact error message you are getting? What does Windows XP's error report show? (If you don't know how to check that, go to Start> Administrative Tools>Event Viewer and click thru the categories on the left and view the errors on the right) and tell us what they say. Have you tried running Detect and Repair from Outlook's Help Menu? Reinstalling Outlook? If Detect and Repair or reinstalling doesn't fix it, give me all the details I requested above and I will submit your question to the Fleet. However, without those details, we can't help you. REPLY from morrow_jw@xxxxxxxxx: Thank you for your immediate response. I will try the Detect and Repair because the reinstall didn't help. The error message says to the effect "Outlook has detected an error and needs to close". This comes when the Close command is issued. The program then puts up the dialogue box offering to report the error to Microsoft. Then the program reopens. The program runs as it should under all circumstances. Screenshot of error report log attached. (editor's note: attached error log showed the error involved sbcmsync.dll) ANSWER from Hal Cardona (see Hal's credentials above): Are you running any 3rd party add-ins or the MS small business tools add-in? Here is some info from MS that may help: OL2000: Error Message: The Add-in Sbcmsync.dll Could Not Be Installed or Loaded The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Outlook 2000, when used with Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business Tools This article was previously published under Q257882 SYMPTOMS When you start Microsoft Outlook 2000, you may receive the following error message: The add-in <Drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\ Sbcmsync.dll could not be installed or loaded. This problem may be resolved by using Detect & Repair. You may be out of memory, out of system resources, or missing a .dll file. CAUSE This behavior occurs if: You installed Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business Tools on a drive partition of the hard disk, such as drive D. You registered Outlook 2000 as your default e-mail manager. You enabled the macros used by Small Business Contact Manager (SBCM). You removed Office 2000 and Office 2000 Small Business Tools. You reinstalled Office 2000 and Office 2000 Small Business Tools on another drive partition of the hard disk, such as drive C. WORKAROUND To work around this behavior, delete the following file: C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Extend.dat If that is not successful, from Add-in Manager, disable the Outlook Sync add-in by using the following steps: On the Tools menu, click Options. On the Other tab, click Advanced Options. Click Add-in Manager. Select and clear the Outlook Sync add-in. Click OK , and then OK to close all the dialog boxes. MORE INFORMATION When you remove Office 2000 and Small Business Tools 2000, .dat files are not removed from your operating system. REPLY from morrow_jw@xxxxxxxxx: Thank you for your immediate and concerned response. An interesting/not predictable result happened after installing MS Windows Updates. The problem has not occurred since 7/31/03. I'm not sure which update (maybe) cured the problem. I'll pursue, and update you if positive cause / effect can be determined. Thanks for your support and your contribution to the newbie world. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Rmgipson@xxxxxxxxxxxx: I have created a very simple database in Access 2000. In my main form where users enter records I want the cursor to automatically be active in a certain field after clicking a command button. How do I do this? ANSWER from Chad Welch (Chad Welch works as a technician/enabler in Utah and is pursuing a degree in Biology. He is looking for a competitive and challenging position as a crime scene technician or forensic scientist. He is willing to relocate anywhere in the US as long as it is close enough to a good university so he can finish a bachelors and masters degree in biology or forensic science. He will also become POST certified if needed. Contact him at chad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx for more information.): Find "On Click" in the properties box of your command button. Select it then click on the ellipses to the right of the property to edit the code. At the end of the "On Click" procedure add the following line: PickMe.SetFocus Where PickMe is the name of the control (field) that you want to select. HTH ANSWER from James La Borde (James La Borde works in the computer department at a Credit Union, where he uses Access, SQL Server, VBA, and ODBC daily. He also teaches online Access classes at Eclectic Academy. http://eclecticacademy.com): This is fairly simple. In the on click event of the command button in question enter a go to control command. The wizard can walk you through it. If you want the cursor to go to a specific field when you open the form, you will want to set your tab order in the properties of each field. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Anita Short: How do you put your own picture as a screen saver in Windows 2000? ANSWER from Linda Johnson: In Windows XP, there is a picture show screen saver that allows you to choose the pictures you want and you can use your own, but in Windows 2000, this is not a feature. You would have to go search the net for a third party program that would allow you to make a screensaver using your own picture. Here's one I found, that is free for 15 days, then $15 if you want to buy it...and I'm sure you can find lots more: http://www.zbsoft.net/slideshow/ Screensavers aren't like wallpaper...they need to be configured specially to work. Good luck. ********************************************** TWO QUESTIONS submitted by Adrian: #1 Every time i change the language to English UK in Word, for spell checking purposes, the next time I use it it has reverted back to English US. Whats going wrong? I click English UK and then change to default and it then confirms that English UK is the default langauge. Please help as i am spelling everything wrong. Many thanks. #2 My keyboard has developed some problems. To type the @ sign, I now have press the " key to get it. If I try and type a pound sign, I get # and if I press hash I get \. My pound sign has vanished completely as has the Euro sign. This is driving me mad. What has happened? Please help Kind regards ANSWER from Linda Johnson: Default language is set in the default paragraph in your Normal template. Word has a bug where if you set a Default Language different from the System Installed Language, it applies the default language as a hard property (direct formatting) on the default paragraph of Normal. After that, it becomes really difficult to change it. 1) Set English UK in your System (Control Panel>Regional Settings) 2) Set English UK in Word 3) Close Word and re-name your Normal template. (search your hard drive for normal.dot and rename it) Open Word again and Word will create a new normal.dot in which the default language should now be correct. Good luck...it's a known bug...and it may come back, so save these instructions. I have sent your other question about the keyboard to the Fleet cuz I have no clue what is causing that, tho I suspect it may also have something to do with the regional settings in your control panel. If they send me any suggestions, I will forward them on to you. ANSWER from Hal Cardona (see Hal's credentials above): Make sure that you are using the correct keyboard driver and that your computer is set-up for the correct country. To check your regional or country setting look in the Control Panel --> Regional settings. REPLY from Adrian: Listen you lot. You are fantastic. You have solved both my problems that have been bothering me for months. Your service is fantastic. Most kind regards. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Don: Getting old softway to run under XP. While I have seen lots of ideas and opinions about XP and how well it works or doesn't work, I have seen little about backward compatibility with older software, especially games. Yes, XP attempts to let older software work with the capability modes for 95-98-2000 and NT, but for me this only works in about 30% of the older software I try to run. I'm dual booting XP with Win98 SE and frankly I'm tired of catching H*ll from my wife when ever she wants to play a game or use older software. It's the "Why did we get XP if it won't run any of the programs I want?" syndrome I have to deal with LOL! I've looked at MS Compatibility Administrator Tool 3.0, but have cannot seem to make it work. I'm not especially stupid but I'm have difficulty in understanding just how to apply the "fixes" and tweaks provided in the tool. you point a way or explain in non-tech jargon how to use this tool? I've down-loaded the 7 web pages of MS instructions on how to use this program, but it is orientated to more technical folks I think. Just frustrated. ANSWER from Hal Cardona (see Hal's credentials above): The best resource I've found on the Internet for running older software under NT based OSes (XP is technically NT 5.1) is http://www.ntcompatible.com . Look up the software you are interested in on their list and see if someone has already solved the problem. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Arthur: I came across your page RAM, RAM, I need more RAM!, when searching for an explanation about how to visually identify the speeds of DDR Ram while looking at the modules. I cannot purchase memory from the web, and have to depend on local suppliers in India. I want to be able to distinguish between DDR 266, 333, and 400 (PC 2100, 2700 and 3200. Are the modules marked and if so where? You were kind enough to offer your help in the article and I would be grateful if you could clarify this for me. Thank you very much! ANSWER from Hal Cardona (see Hal's credentials above): Most high quality RAM that I see has a sticker on it that identifies the speed of the RAM. IF the RAM you find doesn't have an identifying sticker you can also use the numbers on the chip to identify it. What I usually try is typing the info from one of the chips into Google. The easiest way though is to put it into a motherboard that can handle various speeds of RAM (set the BIOS to auto identify the RAM first), and boot it and then look in the BIOS to see what it is. ********************************************** QUESTION submitted by Ken: I was hoping you might know how to disable the password prompt when windows 98 is opening. I recently added a new hard drive and would love to not have to click on the password screen since we do not use one . thank-you ANSWER from Linda Johnson: Sure...I have a whole webpage devoted to that ....here it is: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/windows_password_problems.htm <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Thanks to all who submitted questions this month. If you submitted a question and did not get an answer, and the problem still persists, try going here and submitting it again. http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc/ask.htm Just remember that we cannot guarantee that we will answer every question, though I think the Fleet did a bang-up job this month! Thanks to all of the Fleet for your expert advice and your valuable time :-) <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> <>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<>=====<> Well, gang.....that's about it for this edition of ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers. I sure hope you enjoyed it! If any of it was over your head and you need some clarification from one of the Fleet, just send me an email to linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I will pass it on to them. Remember that they do this in their spare time on a voluntary basis, so you might have to wait for an answer. To make all things work more quickly, include as many details as you can in your email and make your questions as specific as possible. Also, feel free to write to me and let us know what you want the Fleet to teach you. This is YOUR newsletter! Happy computing, my friends! Linda Johnson http://personal-computer-tutor.com ********************************************* READ THIS CAREFULLY! ********************************************* ------------------------------------- (12.) SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT ------------------------------------- If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, send an email to abcomputers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe To unsubscribe, send an email to abcomputers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=unsubscribe Or, you can go to the homepage for this text newsletter and subscribe, unsubscribe, or change any of your subscription preferences: //www.freelists.org/webpage/abcomputers This FREE publication is sent ONLY to people who have requested it. Note: My subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies. I value every subscriber and respect your privacy. 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