[abcomputers] ABC~All 'Bout Computers, Vol.10: **Special** BACKUP Issue
- From: Linda Johnson <linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ABCfreelists <abcomputers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 22:05:26 -0400
ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers
Volume 10; March, 2002 - mailed to 1815 subscribers
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CLICK THIS LINK
AND RATE THIS EZINE:
http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/rate/default.ldml?rate=3Dra21981
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.htm
(frames) http://personal-computer-tutor.com/vol10.htm (no frames)
or, scroll down to the Contents where you can click on over to any
individual article
For definitions of any terms you do not understand, visit the GeekSpeak
Translator: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/capn3.htm
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WATCH FOR ANY LINKS THAT WRAP TO MORE THAN ONE LINE!
These will have to be copied and pasted into your web browser's Address
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CONTENTS
(all links below these items take you to the non-frames Online versions)
(items with *** behind them include pictures and are viewed better
online)
1. Important How-To Message From Linda
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/vol10.htm#HowTo
2. Linda's Thought of the Month
(and animated GIF) ***
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/vol10.htm#thought
3. Linda's Soapbox ~ HOW TO BACKUP AND RESTORE
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/linda10.htm
4. What's New at Linda's Computer Stop ~ What ISN'T New?
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/newabc10.htm
5. Subscribers' Exclusive Tip ~ Links for Fdisk, Format, & Partitions
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/newabc10.htm#tip
6. GeekSpeak Translation from the Cap'n
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/capn3.htm
PLUS -- SPECIAL DEFINITIONS OF BACKUP TERMS
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/capn10.htm
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ~
ALL ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE FEATURED BACKUP TIPS
FROM THE FLEET ~ Start with Linda's Article on the basics.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/linda10.htm
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7. Vic's Registry RoundUp & DOS Den ~=A0
~ HOW VIC BACKS UP WINDOWS http://personal-computer-tutor.com/vic10.htm
(also see Vic's article on backing up the registry in Vol. 5)
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/vic5.htm
8. Parker's Mailbox ~=A0HOW PARKER BACKS UP OUTLOOK
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/parker10.htm
9. James's Database=A0~
HOW JAMES MAKES ACCESS BACKUP FRIENDLY=A0
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/james10.htm
10. Chas' Word World ~ HOW CHAS BACKS UP WORD***
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/chas10.htm
11. Tina's FrontPage News ~=A0
HOW TINA BACKS UP FRONTPAGE
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/tina10.htm
12. The Internet Connection ~ by Jack Teems ~
INTERNET BACKUP STORAGE SPACE
=A0(reprinted from ABC, Volume 3)
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/jack3.htm
13. Fred's Safety Belt ~
FIRST THING TO RESTORE FROM YOUR BACKUP
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/fred10.htm
14. Steve's Ravin' Reviews ~
DIRECTORY COMPARE***
POLDER BACKUP***
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/steve10.htm
15. Hal's Hardware Haven ~ BACKING UP DRIVERS***
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/hal10.htm
16. Chad's Macro Mania ~=A0BACKING UP MACROS
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/chad10.htm
17. GuitarMan's Outlook Express Tips ~ BACKING UP OE
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/gman10.htm
18. Kathleen's Spider Web ~
KEEPING YOUR SITE ACCESSIBLE
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/kath10.htm
19. NightSneak's Snoop Scoop ~=A0
LINKS FOR BACKING UP OTHER STUFF
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/ns10.htm
20. Subscription Management
21. Contact Information
*** includes pictures in the online version
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If you find this newsletter and/or my website at all helpful and would
like to give me a hand here, I am now accepting donations through
PayPal. To make a donation, go to the online version of this web-azine
and click on the PayPal button.
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/vol10.htm
Thanks in advance to any who do this!!
(NOTE: no one receiving this should feel obligated in any way to do
this.....this is a FREE newsletter!) Linda, editor
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(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/vol10.htm#HowTo
If you are reading this plain text issue, maximize your email window for
best viewing and WATCH FOR ANY LINKS THAT WRAP TO MORE THAN ONE LINE!
These will have to be copied and pasted into your web browser's Address
Bar as one line in order for you to access them.
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(2.) LINDA'S THOUGHT OF THE MONTH
Ahhhh, who needs to backup, anyway? Duhhhhh.
*Anyone who cares about the data on their machine
*Anyone with a website that they want accessible all the time
*Anyone who wants peace of mind
*AND any geek who likes to tweak!
CLICK HERE FOR THIS MONTH'S ANIMATED GIF,
>From my buddy, Frank G.:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/vol10.htm#thought
(just rightclick on the gif and choose "Save Picture As...")
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(3.) LINDA'S SOAPBOX
~~Linda F. Johnson, Editor
HOW, WHAT, & WHERE TO BACKUP AND RESTORE
Well, this is indeed a controversial and diversified subject. But, a
couple months ago when I requested ideas for future articles, this one
won, hands down. Many people sent questions like "How do I know what I
need to backup?" and "Where do I back it up to?" I decided it was way
too broad a subject to handle in one article, so I lassoed the Fleet
into taking it on as a joint venture. And, boy oh boy, did they come up
with some good stuff.
First of all, let's address the basic questions of what to backup.
Well, if all of your software is legal and you have the original CDs, it
isn't necessary to backup your software because you can simply reinstall
it from the disks (just make sure you don't lose those registration
numbers that are required when you install!). However, what is not
included there are any updates you've made to the software, any special
configurations you've made to the settings, and, most importantly, all
the files you've created while using the software. THIS is what you need
to back up.
Updates to the software:
Let's take Internet Explorer as a great example. Sure, you can always
download it again for free from Microsoft's website, but if you have a
slow connection, you might remember the last time you did this and it
took about two hours and you were booted by your ISP three times and had
to start again. So, wouldn't it make sense to put those setup/install
files in a safe place so next time you do it, you can do it from your
own computer instead of having to deal with the slow connection? And,
some of the other updates you downloaded may not be so easy to find now
because that version of the software is no longer supported by the
manufacture or maybe the company that made the software is no longer
even in business. If so, unless you saved those updates somewhere safe,
you may NEVER be able to get them again.
Special configurations to the software:
A good example of this is Microsoft Office. How many toolbars and
macros have you added or modified in these programs? Do you really want
to do all this work all over again? Well, Microsoft has a handy little
wizard for Office 2000 that you can download for free that lets you save
all your settings to a location on the Internet and then retrieve them
again from any computer with Internet access. It's called the Save My
Settings Wizard and you can download it here. (Office XP users don't
need to bother, as it is included in the software.) Many programs have
a file on your computer that stores settings. I would advise you go to
the website for that software and see if you can find out what its
called and add that file to your backup folder.
Files you've created with the software:
One of the most disturbing things I hear from newbies when
I ask them where that Excel file is located is "It's in Excel, of
course." No. No. No. No files you create are stored WITHIN the
software. Once you save them, they are located somewhere in your
computer, but NOT within the software. And this is a GOOD thing,
because, if the software crashes on you and you need to uninstall it,
you DON'T need to uninstall the files you created with it. But, from
now on, when you hit that Save button, look where the file is being
saved and don't just save your files any old place. Save them all in
one location, then you can simply make a copy of that one folder to
include in your backups. (This is the exact reason Windows includes a
folder called My Documents. It's the place to store YOUR
documents.)
So, what do you need to backup?
Well, just think about it. What is located on your computer that would
cause you major work, heartache, and/or anxiety if you lost it? THAT'S
what you need to backup. Things like your email addresses, your browser
bookmarks/Favorite Places, your financial records, all those great
freeware/ shareware programs you downloaded (and yes, you need to look
at that download box when you download something to see where you are
putting it), etc., etc., etc. Also, if you want to save things like
your Dial Up Networking settings or software registration numbers, just
type all this stuff in a text file and save that with everything else.
And where do you need to put all this stuff?
There are lots of alternatives. If you are fortunate enough
to own a CD burner, zip drive, or tape drive, make copies of all this
stuff and put it on a removable medium. And, don't take chances. Make
more than one copy. If you don't have any of these devices but you do
have multiple partitions or hard drives, store this stuff on a drive or
partition that does NOT include your operating system, since this is the
drive that is most likely going to need to be formatted and emptied some
day. Or, another alternative for those who don't have multiple drives
or partitions is to use free storage space on the internet. I can't
guarantee how secure this is, so I wouldn't put your really private
stuff there, but it's certainly ok to put favorite places there and
maybe some old photos of your cat.
The bottom line is you can't keep telling yourself that data loss is not
something you will ever experience, because I promise you, you will.
So, take the time NOW to prevent heartbreak in the future.
Here's how I do it.
I have my operating system on my C partition, so I have a folder called
"Backup" on my D partition. In here are copies of all my important
stuff. Every time I make a change to anything that is important, I take
a minute to make a second copy of it and put it in there. Then, once a
week, I burn a copy of this onto a CD. Sometimes it's a pain in the
butt, because I'm busy and don't want to take the time, but I DO.
Because this stuff is important to me.
How do you restore it when you need to?
Just reverse the process you used to put it there. So, it's important
to remember where it all goes. Add this information to that text file
you have there with your ISP settings and registration numbers. If you
moved a copy of one of your settings files from C:\Application
Data\Local Settings\Blah Blah Software to this folder, then when you
restore it, you simply need to copy it back to its original location.
One more thing. You may hear people talking about imaging or ghosting
their drives and wonder what this is all about. This is not necessary
if you just want to backup the stuff mentioned above. This is only
needed when you want to create an exact duplicate of a drive or
partition. This requires third party software like Norton's Ghost or
PowerQuest's Drive Image.
I hope you will take the time to read all the articles in this
newsletter, since many of the Fleet members add their own two cents
about how THEY choose to backup. This is a newsletter that indeed can
save you HOURS of aggravation in the future if you read it NOW.
I hope you enjoy it and take some time to drop us a line letting us know
if it was helpful to you.
Happy Computing!
Linda
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Linda Johnson is a college instructor of all of the Microsoft
Office=A0Programs, 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/index.htm
She has=A0worked 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://newbieclub.com/wordmagic/?buntah
Part II: Table Wizardry http://newbieclub.com/wordmagic2/?buntah
AND, HER NEWEST EBOOK:
How To Get Started As a Software Trainer
http://dreamjobstogo.com/titles/djtg0036.html?10456
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LINDA JOHNSON has published another eBook and
this one is called HOW TO GET STARTED AS A
SOFTWARE TRAINER http://dreamjobstogo.com/titles/djtg0036.html?10456
DO YOU LOVE PLAYING WITH SOFTWARE AND WANT
TO TRY MAKING A CAREER OF IT?
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No need for professional certifications!
No need for expensive classes!
READ THIS BOOK TO LEARN HOW TO TRAIN AND
PROMOTE YOURSELF. http://dreamjobstogo.com/titles/djtg0036.html?10456
Or, MAYBE HARDWARE IS MORE YOUR BAG?
Check out HOW TO BREAK INTO COMPUTER REPAIR
By Richard S. Harris http://dreamjobstogo.com/titles/djtg0019.html?10456
Or if you have ANY DREAM JOB in mind, check out
DREAMS JOB TO GO
http://dreamjobstogo.com?10456
All eBooks are written by been-there/done-that authors
and sell for only $12.95, with a full money back guarantee.
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Free Tutorials, Free eBooks, Free Courses, Free Guestbooks, Free
Autoresponders, Free Newsletter, Free Affiliate program and FREE
MEMBERSHIP. Wow! Did I mention it was Free? Newbies and Oldbies alike
are buzzing about the NEW Newbie Club. It's the most exciting Newbie
Site ever to hit the Web.
Join now - it's FREE!
http://newbieclub.com/?buntah
editor's recommendation:
They also have an online PC Clinic now where you can receive Computer
and Internet Technical problem solving advice 24/7 for only $29.80 a
year! I tested the service for them with some pretty tough questions
and they found the answers every time.....some took 3 or 4 emails back
and forth, but they DID solve it and they DID respond to each of my
mails within 6 hours.
I recommend this one!
http://newbieclub.com/clinic/?buntah
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(4.) WHAT'S NEW at Linda's Computer Stop
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com
Well, the question this month is what ISN'T new at Linda's Computer
Stop? If you haven't been there recently, I guarantee you won't even
recognize the joint. I completely tore it down and rebuilt it. So,
those of you who were used to my garish colors and fonts might think you
landed at the wrong place. LOL
I also had to replace all those big buttons on the left since they made
the pages unprintable and more and more people were complaining that
they couldn't print my tutorials without half the information running
off the right side of the page. So, without all the buttons, I had to
rebuild the navigation, so it's in sections now. Let me try to explain
how its laid out for those who might be confused. (Though most people
tell me, when they get used to it, that it's actually EASIER to
navigate.) Though it seems to work fine in most versions of IE,
Netscape and Opera, it's still pretty slow in Netscape 4X because I use
nested tables and that version doesn't like them. But, I'm working on it
and it's getting better. But, for now, I would recommend using a
different browser.
First of all I added a splash page where you can click on the word Enter
to get to my home page, or click on one of the links that will take you
directly to one of the sections. The splash page is here:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/main.htm
But for those who don't like splash pages, don't worry. I only did it
for a hoot. The actual link to personal-computer-tutor takes you right
to my home page, so if that's the one you already use, you will just
bypass the splash page altogether. The home page is still here:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com
Once inside, you will see three buttons at the top and they take you to
the three main sections:
TIPS/TUTORIALS is where all my pages on Windows and the
Office programs are located, as well as the hardware and printing
troubleshooters: http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/tutorials.htm
SERVICES takes you to the pages about my online classes,
my downloads page, my favorite links page, and this ABC ezine:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/services.htm
SUPPORT takes you to the pages where you can learn ways to
find answers through tech groups, contact me, learn more about me, and
sign up to write for this ezine or my website:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/support.htm
I've also compiled a page of articles I've written that you can access
through My R=E9sum=E9 page or go there right from here:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/articles.htm
And, I've added a few new tips and links to the actual Windows and
Office pages, so you should check them out too:
Windows:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/windows.htm
Office:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/office.htm
Lastly, on the home page there's a dropdown menu which leads you to some
of the pages that are more difficult to find, like my What's New page:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/new.htm
Hope you like it, find it loads faster, and is better organized. And
don't forget to sign my guestbook at my homepage. I'd love to hear from
you!
Linda
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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://www.eclecticacademy.com/index.htm
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. January Enrollment is
closed, but go there now to enroll in the next set of classes beginning
in May. ONLY $20 FOR A SIX-WEEK CLASS!
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/index.htm
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(5.) Subscribers' Exclusive Tip of the Month:
Since this issue is all about backups, instead of a tip I'm going to
give you a list of links that teach more about formatting and
partitioning your hard drive, since that is mentioned in here quite a
bit and is usually the thing you need to do before you restore all these
backups:
Hal's article on partitioning and installing multiple operating systems
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/hal4.htm
Radified FDISK Guide to Partitioning a Hard Drive
http://fdisk.radified.com/
FDisk Tutorial
http://www.pcabusers.com/fdisk.html
BootDisk
http://www.bootdisk.com/
PCGuide for Creating Boot Disks http://www.pcguide.com/care/bu/boot.htm
Hope this additional info is useful!
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(6.) THE GEEKSPEAK TRANSLATOR
~~Cap'n Patt Meara
BACKUP THERE - - - -
And then the boss lady stuck her head through the E-Mail
door and said, "Hey gang, we're going to do a special issue
on backing up your computers. Anybody have a problem with that?"
Heck no, I thought, couldn't be any worse than trying to get peanut
butter off the roof of your mouth with your thumb. So what's the big
deal?
To back up a computer all you have to do is pry it up around the edges
to break the surface tension caused by having it sitting in one place
stuck to the top of your desk by all that spilled soda and stuff, then
place a hand firmly on each side and push away from you. Simple. Nothing
to it. It's a snap. Anyone can do it =85=85=85=85=85 Say What Linda? Yes =
Ma'am,
right away.
Truth be known, for some people backing up the contents of their hard
drive, or just the accumulation of the day's important data, is like
falling off a log. No Problem.
'Cept for me the logs I fall off of always tend to be just a little
taller than average.
Nice guy that I am, I will now attempt to assist you in avoiding some of
the standard Log-falling-off pitfalls. Here are a few definitions of
terms normally associated with the @#%"=A7*&ing process.
BACKUP - Just that, you find all that precious stuff you've been working
on all day, plus a couple of those naughty JPGs you received, and
transfer a copy of them to a different partition, or a different medium
like a floppy disk (do they still use those things?) or a CD-ROM while
being very careful to remember where you put them.
All you doubting Thomases keep this in your dubious little minds, if you
don't make a practice of backing up your important data on a regular
basis, the time will come when you will wish to heck you had.
COPY - Straight definition? It's a duplicate of the original. How do you
make a copy? When I was a kid we used tracing paper but those days are
down the tubes. Now you have to find all that important info, highlight
it (you know how to do that don't you) then you can hit "Ctrl C" to copy
it to the clipboard while you look for a place to put it, and when you
find that place click on "Ctrl V" to paste it in your new location and
"Voila!" you have made a copy.
Or, if it's in a folder or highlighted, right click on it, and when the
dropdown menu appears, click on "Copy." Then open the new location,
right click in it and on the drop-down menu, click "Paste." However, if
you are fortunate enough to have a secretary or an assistant let them do
it. What the heck, you're too darned important to have to fool with such
trivial stuff anyway.
FDISK - I have known people who, lacking a formal definition
of "Fdisk" have displayed a propensity for providing the term with a
somewhat obscene connotation. Having been forced to use it on numerous
occasions, I find that perfectly acceptable.
Fdisk is the name given to a utility integral to both DOS and Windows
which may be used to create one primary partition on a hard drive in
order to prepare the drive for formatting. Once the disk is formatted,
all of its available space may be used for backing up all that data.
FORMAT - Most of us, when first getting involved with these machines
learn how to "format" a floppy, and with natural progression of time,
once we have managed to really foul up a hard disk, The intrepid newbie
in us all says, "What the hey?" It's just a big sealed-up floppy, so we
format the darned thing.
In so doing we truly believe that we have erased all the previous
information and now have a blank disk to play with. NOT! All you have
erased is the FAT (File Allocation Table). It tells the computer where
to look for a given file. That is the result of the physical act of
re-formatting a hard disk and I only mention it because, if you ever
mess up, as I once did, you can get hold of a really good tech and he'll
be able to reclaim most if not all of your lost data for you. Contrary
to many popular opinions, techs really are good for some things. (Ouch)
GHOST=AE - BOOOO! Nope, nothing to do with Halloween, Ghost=AE
is the name of a Symantec software utility with the capability of
converting all of the infoon a hard drive into an image and saving it to
a different partition, a different drive, or even burn it to a CD. I'm
not touting Ghost=AE, there are others out there just as good, but it
doesn't take a "geek" to see the advantages in using a ghosting utility
for backing up a file, a folder, a partition, or your whole darned
drive.
PARTITION - A segment of hard drive designated as a
virtual drive and bearing it's own little drive letter. Like if your
primary active partition is named "C" then the first partition in your
extended partition is going to be called "D" and the next one will be
"E", unless you are one of those people who have two or more hard rives
in their computer and ain't no way I'm going to mess with that one right
now.
RESTORE - There's a brain-buster for ya. It means to put
back what you took out of where-ever you took it out of. The trick is to
get it back in there in working condition. No big deal if you put that
ghost image on a floppy, a partition, another hard drive, or a CD. Copy
it back where it came from or to wherever you want it to go and
--------------------- Son of a gun, you've just done a
backup and restore.
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Visit the Cap'n's Official GeekSpeak Database at
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/capn3.htm
If the word you need defined is not there, just write to me at
ABComputers-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I will pass it on to the Cap'n.
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ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A RELIABLE DOMAIN HOST
FOR YOUR WEBSITE?
Hands down, I think the one I use is the very best (Hal Cardona's been
using them for over 3 years and he turned me onto them over a year ago).
*My site has NEVER been down for more than 3 minutes!
(except once late on a Saturday nite when it was being
worked on and they warned we well in advance).
*Their tech support are the greatest and I have never had
to wait more than an hour for a good answer to any question
or problem I had!
*If you use FrontPage for your webcrafting, they are excellent with
those pesky FP extensions!
*And, the email server is non-failing!
Obviously, I am a big fan of theirs.
Their name is HOSTWAY and I believe if you try them, you will never
regret it. http://hostway.onweb.cx/
And, if you sign up, tell them you were referred by
linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That will help fund this newsletter because they give me a free month of
service for everyone I send to them :-)
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(7.) VIC'S REGISTRY ROUNDUP & DOS DEN
~~ Vic Ferri, Windows Tips & Tricks
HOW VIC BACKS UP WINDOWS
Personally, I don't use any programs to do my backups.
Window's own copy and paste is good enough for me. I used to
be selective in what I backed up but I always found later, that there
would be one thing or another that I forgot to backup. So now, what I do
is back up my entire C: drive to a folder on my secondary D: drive.
First I back up my Windows folder - to do so, I open the Windows folder,
click Ctrl-A to select all and then hold down the Ctrl key and click on
WIN386.SWP (your swap file) to de-select it. This is important to do
with copying in Windows. If you don't de-select it, Windows will abort
copying when it reaches it. Then I right click on the selected area and
choose Send To >D:\Windoze (you need the SendTo power toy for this
convenience) or just Copy and then go to your backup drive, create a new
folder, open it and right click and choose Paste. Once the Windows
folder is backed up, I select my entire C: drive and deselect the
Windows folder, and copy it all into a subfolder I name Cback in the
same backup folder used for Windows. And that's it. This way when I do a
format, reinstall, I can go into my backup folder and find whatever I
need from the previous install. I should add that I already have all my
updated drivers backed up in their own folders, i.e.: Stealth Video,
3comNic, SoundBlaster, etc. (for more on the drivers see Hal's article)
Of course, this is not the type of backup that Ghost or Drive Image does
and is not intended to be. This is only a backup to ensure you can
recover needed or personal files. It doesn't reinstall your programs or
your updated IE, etc.
Specifically, the main items I recover from the backup are:
EMAIL (entire Outlook Express folder). Restoring your old
email is a snap - there is no easier way. Just select all the dbx files
and copy (or cut) and paste them into your new Outlook Express folder.
This can be done right in Windows. Choose yes when asked if you want to
overwrite the existing files.
DRIVERS: I have all my updated drivers backed up into their
own folders, as I already stated.
IE FAVORITES (again, just copy and paste the entire contents into the
new Favorites folder and choose Yes when asked if you want to overwrite)
PERSONAL FOLDERS & FILES (images, sounds, project folders, etc.)
Once I'm sure I have everything I wanted restored, I delete most of what
I backed up but I keep the Windows\System folder backed up. This comes
in handy if you ever need to replace certain corrupt or missing updated
dll's that you won't find in your Windows cab files. Many dlls are
updated and added when you install a later version of Internet Explorer.
Of course, this assumes you installed the same IE after your format and
reinstall.
Anyway, that's what I do, maybe not the best or most
efficient way, but it works for me.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks email group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks
and his website which accompanies it.
http://www.angelfire.com/on3/vxdoin2/windows.html
He is also in charge of the Printing Tips page at
Linda's Computer Stop.
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/printing.htm
ans also the Registry Tips page.
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/vic4.htm
**********************************************************
******************STATION BREAK********************
**********************************************************
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**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(8.)PARKER'S MAILBOX
~~Parker Renaud, IT Manager, Colliers Keenan, Inc.
BACKING UP AND RESTORING OUTLOOK
One of the most disheartening things that can happen to any computer
user is the loss of data, either through a computer crash, a corrupt
hard drive, a fire, or any other cause.
It's said that there are three kinds of people who use
computers: 1. Those that have lost data. 2. Those who will
lose data. 3. Those who have lost data and will lose data again, and
again, and again ... I hope none of you are in the third category.
Usually once is enough.
As the IT Manager (and the entire IT department) of a
company, I am especially concerned about this, since I am responsible
for the safety of the data created by over 90 people. My specialty for
this newsletter is using Outlook on a network. In a network, generally
the IT department has responsibility for backup. But do you really want
to trust someone else, who you may not even know, to backup your Outlook
data? I am the IT department at my company but I still backup my Outlook
information independently!
Where is your Outlook data stored if you are on a network?
It is stored in the Exchange Store on the network server, not on your
PC, unless you are using "personal folders" instead of the Outlook
mailbox. The network backup is probably NOT backing up your "personal
folders" since they are stored on your PC. You must back them up
yourself.
What do you need to backup in Outlook?
At the very least, you need to back up your Contacts, Calendar, Inbox,
Sent Items, and any sub-folders of these folders you may have created.
What is the best way to back up these folders?
Read my previous article: Keeping Your Outlook Data Safe
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/parker6.htm
Another issue for network users is having the network down temporarily
for: *Routine maintenance *Installation of new equipment *Server
lock-ups *Server crash
What do you do then? Your server is unavailable, but the
data is still there, so the IT department is not particularly concerned.
Just be patient, they say. But you have an appointment and need to check
your calendar because you can't remember where and with whom! That's
when you better be prepared to work off-line. If you have set this up
ahead of time, and configured Outlook to synchronize whenever it shuts
down, you still have access to everything in Outlook, even though your
co-workers are in a panic!
How do you configure Outlook to work off-line?
Read my previous article: Working Offline in Outlook
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/parker8.htm
To paraphrase the great Rudyard Kipling (with apologies):
If you can keep your head when all about you,
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
You have restored your data from your backup,
or are working well off-line again, my friend!
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Parker Renaud is the one-man IT department at Colliers Keenan where he
manages 90 PCs on 5 servers.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(9.) JAMES' DATABASE
~~James La Borde
MAKING ACCESS BACKUP FRIENDLY
This month's theme is Backups, but Access does not have its
own true back up functionality so I will focus on making your Access
database backup friendly. This article will probably be somewhat shorter
than you may be used to here, but I hope you will get something out of
it.
The nicest thing about Access is that everything is stored in one file
for one database. As far as making your database backup friendly this is
a huge time saving feature. Most older database programs stored every
object as its own file. Since Access does half the work for you in
keeping all the files together, you can make it even easier for the
Backup operator.
Divide and Conquer!
One of the best changes you can make in your database is to split the
database into front- and back-end databases. You will have two databases
to deal with but this has several advantages. First, the front end will
remain static, unless you make changes to the structure itself that is.
This means that backups of this portion of the database need to take
place much less frequently. All you really need to back up the front end
is a simple copy after each update to the structure of the database. The
back end is where all of your data is stored and this will obviously
change much more frequently but since it does not have all of the
front-end material it is much smaller and faster to back up.
There are additional perks to dividing your database. You decrease
network traffic if the database is on the network. Only the raw data
must go across the network rather than all of the support files. You can
place a copy on the front end on the users computer and link them to the
network-stored back end. In addition to the reduced network traffic, you
also gain the ability to have multiple users access the database at the
same time. Still another advantage gained by using this method is that
you can allow users with varying levels of file permissions to access
the database at the same time. Basically, you can set the file
permissions on the back end through NTFS security to bolster any
security you set up within Access.
Compact? What the heck do I need to powder my Nose for?
If your data changes frequently in the back-end database, it
is an excellent idea to compact and repair your database on a regular
basis. Clicking on Tools, Database Utilities, Compact and Repair
Database does this. A little lesson in the way Access handles changes in
the database is probably helpful here to show you why this is important.
When you make a change in anything in your Access database, Access keeps
track of it. You may not have access to that information but it is
there. Therefore, even when you delete data or make minute changes to a
form, these add up fairly quickly. When you compact and repair and
database, it cleans out this cache of changes. Be careful with this
though, it also resets Auto number fields. It does not reset it to zero
unless you have no records. What it does is reset it so that the last
number actually used is the last number it recognizes. Therefore if you
added fifty records, deleted them, then ran compact and repair, it would
reset the auto number field to where it was before you added the
records. If you have been working on your database making frequent
changes. Note the file size of your database and then run compact and
repair and check it again. You should see a fairly drastic reduction.
A New Database? What is Wrong with the Old One?
This may sound like strange advice, but it does work. When you have
completed work on your database and you are about to deploy it, create a
new blank database and import all the objects from your newly finished
database. As mentioned above Access tends to hang on to information even
if it is no longer needed. While compact and repair do a lot to
alleviate this, there is still some information it doesn't get rid of.
A Bonus Tip -
This also tends to work when a database stops functioning
as expected. Sometimes it just starts to get a little corruption and
this process eliminates that!
Start Smart
Of all the tricks and tips to improve your database to make
it more backup friendly, this one will prove most valuable. Plan your
database before you even touch the keyboard. By creating relationships
to move redundant data out of your tables and creating lookup tables so
that smaller units of data are stored to provide you with full data, you
will keep the size of the database down. This will thrill the person
backing up your data. When data does change it will require that much
fewer changes be required to bring your data current. As has been stated
in this column on several occasions, the key to a good database is
proper planning. This is another case where this advice comes into play.
Final Thoughts
While directly backing up your database from within Access
is a bit overkill, making it backup friendly is not a difficult task.
All the advice here also makes your database much faster and easier for
the end user as well as making it easier on the backup person. I hope
you have enjoyed this brief trek into making your database backup
friendly.
As always, I am open to ideas for future articles. I am still planning
on an article on Union Queries in the near future and I would love to do
an article on something suggested by one of the readers. Thanks for
reading and enjoy the rest of the issue!
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
James La Borde works in the computer department at a Credit Union, where
he uses Access, SQL Server, VBA, and ODBC daily.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: It is recommended that you read the online version of
the following article which includes pictures which might make this
clearer for you. http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/chas10.htm
*********************************************************
**********************************************************
(10.) Chas' Word World
~~Charles Kyle Kenyon, J.D.
BACKING UP MICROSOFT WORD
Overview
Each version of Word has its own peculiarities / quirks. This article
will ignore those differences and discuss common features of Word for
versions Word 97 and later. Much of it will apply to earlier versions as
well. We=92ll first take a look at the backup features built into Word =
and
then at backing up to another disk, etc.
Built-In Backup Features =96 the good, the bad and the ugly
Bad and Ugly
ALLOW FAST SAVES =96 Turn this feature OFF =96 now! It is a holdover =
from
earlier versions of Word where it actually sometimes made things better.
In versions Word 97 and beyond it will always make things worse,
sometimes much worse!
Merely Ugly
VERSIONS =96 Treat this with care. It is set under the File menu and
generally should be OFF. It will bloat files beyond recognition. A
better practice is to actually save separate versions as separate
documents.
TRACK CHANGES =96 much the same advice as Versions. Use with care. I =
would
recommend every once in a while making a copy and in that copy accepting
all changes. Save that copy as one of your versions.
ALWAYS CREATE BACKUP COPY =96 we=92re back to the save options dialog. =
Every
time you open a Word document when you have this option set, it will
make a backup of that document, in the same directory. Next time you
open the document, it will overwrite the backup with a new backup. If
you have utterly demolished your document and you realize that fact
before you have overwritten the backup, the backup will help. In six
years of using Word, I can=92t think of a time it would have helped me.
However, if I am working on a major document I make my own backup first.
Generally, the undo feature will fix most goofs that I make.
Good =96 on the Save Options dialog box
ALLOW BACKGROUND SAVES =96 This lets you press Ctrl-S
to save your document and continue working while Word
is saving the document. Uncheck this if your system is
low on memory.
SAVE AUTORECOVER INFO EVERY XX MINUTES. Pick
your amount of time. This does not overwrite your document (save the
document) but does save, in a separate file, changes you have made since
the last save. This is what gives you your work back if your computer
crashes or freezes while you are working on your document. The amount of
time involved is up to you and involves a minor trade-off, depending on
your system speed. The keyboard will slow down while Word is performing
one of these saves. How much it slows down will depend on your system
speed and resources. You can set where these backup files will be saved
using Tools =3D> Options =3D> File Locations.
PROMPT TO SAVE NORMAL TEMPLATE. This should always
be checked. Yes, it is annoying. Smoke alarms are also annoying,
especially if you are a smoker or have a fireplace. If nothing else, it
is good in that it helps you know when you have made a change that would
be saved in the normal.dot template. It can warn you of a virus attack
and can let you know when a poorly-written Add-In is messing about. The
reason that this template is singled out for such a warning is that it
will hold many of your Word customizations.
Backing Up outside of Word =96 Which files to grab in case of fire:
(Seriously, if there=92s a fire and you haven=92t already backed these =
up,
don=92t sit at your computer trying to do so, it=92s too late! Go and =
worry
about it later.)
You=92ll want off-site backups of your normal.dot file, your other =
custom
templates, your dictionaries, your AutoCorrect files as well as your
documents. I also keep backups of key files on my hard drive.
Normal.dot =96 Unless you have multiple versions of Word on your =
computer
or have multiple users with different user profiles, there should be
only one file named =93normal.dot=94 on your computer. It will be stored =
in
your User Templates Folder. Unless you have stored them elsewhere,
normal.dot will contain your macros, your AutoText entries, your
formatted AutoCorrect entries, your keyboard customizations, your custom
styles, any custom toolbars or menu customizations, and your standard
page setup. I make a backup of normal.dot at least once a month in a
folder outside my Templates folder. I try to keep most of my
customizations in other global templates and in document templates. See
Template Basics for more information on what these are and where they
are stored. http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm
Other Templates =96 Your document templates =96 the ones that you built
yourself =96 are a key resource and can represent thousands of hours of
work. They should be stored in your User Templates folder and in your
Workgroup Templates folder. With Word 97/98 they will be mixed with the
templates supplied with Word. In later versions they are separate.
AutoCorrect Entries =96 Unformatted AutoCorrect entries
(most AC entries) are stored in files that have an .acl extension.
Backing up AC entries is best done with a macro that you can download
from the MVP website.
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/ExportAutocorrect.htm
There can be multiple .acl files if multiple language settings have been
used and may be separate files for different users.
Spelling Customizations =96 If you have stored words in one or more =
custom
dictionaries, you=92ll want to back those up. You can find out their
location by looking in Tools =3D> Options =3D> Spelling & Grammar =3D>
Dictionaries (button) =3D> New (button). The default name for your =
custom
dictionary is Custom.dic. You can also have an Exclude list that tells
Word to display a word it has in its main dictionary as being
misspelled. This is a special text file that you would have to set up
and it will be located in the same directory as your main dictionary
file. You can find directions for setting up such a file on the MVP
website. http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/ExcludeWordFromDic.htm
Your documents =96 Where these are stored is up to you. Word
will store them in =93My Documents=94 by default unless you have set a
different location. You will want to use subfolders to keep these
organized, possibly in a way that parallels a paper file, possibly in a
very different logical arrangement.
How to Implement
The simplest way is to have a thorough overall backup system for your
computer system. Assuming for the moment that you don=92t have such a
system or want to supplement it, you can do what I do which is to set up
a copying file. This can be a DOS batch file that uses the Xcopy command
to copy given files and/or folders to one or more floppy drives or to a
network drive. In my case, it is a file for my Nero CD writing software
that specifies which files get copied to a CD-ROM. These include not
only my Word files, but Excel and accounting files. Whenever I=92m =
feeling
a bit vulnerable, I burn a new backup of my crucial files to a CD-ROM.
Client and confidential data files are encrypted before or during this
backup.
Conclusion
This article has given you an overview of what is involved in backing up
Word. For more details and settings that haven=92t been covered here, =
you
should look at the MVP website.
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/FilesToBackup.htm
There are competing interests in backing up files. If it takes too much
time or is too difficult to do, it won=92t be done. If you don=92t do =
it,
you will be sorry. Back when hard drives were first coming on the
consumer market (as in a 5 Mb drive for only $2000) the saying was: It
isn=92t a matter of whether your drive will fail, it is only a question =
of
when. Although drives have improved, the saying is still valid. If you
haven=92t experienced a catastrophic disk failure yet, you have been
lucky. As disks hold more and more information timely and automatic
backup becomes more and more important.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Chas Kenyon is a trial lawyer concentrating in criminal defense with a
long interest (obsession?) with making word processing work well in the
law office. His websites are: http://www.addbalance.com/index.htm
http://members.aol.com/~marspd/index.html
**********************************************************
******************STATION BREAK***********************
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**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(11.) TINA'S FRONTPAGE NEWS
~~Tina Clarke, AccessFP Resource Centre
FRONTPAGE BACKUPS
There is no Recycle Bin in FrontPage so if you delete a file or even
completely lose a web through dire circumstances you're going to be in
a Restore situation. Backing up your web should be part of your
maintenance schedule, especially if you tend to work only on the server.
TO BACK UP YOUR WEB FROM YOUR HOST=92S WEB SERVER
Make sure you have FrontPage extensions enabled on your host.
*File | Open | on the pop up box. Click 'Web Folders' on the left hand
menu. *Insert the URL of the site you wish to open:
e.g.: http://www.accessfp.net/.
*Click ok.
*A box will appear asking for your username and password. Insert this
and press ok. *In FrontPage, click on the navigation view so you know
when the site will come in. *The site will show once it is fully
loaded. You may publish to your hard drive. *File | Publish | insert
the location on your hard drive you wish to publish to or make an empty
web beforehand in preparation. *When the site has finished publishing
close the live site.
TO BACK UP YOUR WEB ON YOUR HARD DRIVE
Open up the site on your hard drive that you wish to back up.
Recalculate Hyperlinks under the Tools menu.
*File | Publish | insert the location on your hard drive you wish to
publish to or make an empty web beforehand in preparation.
It=92s that simple, and once you have done this you only need to tick
Changed Pages Only in the Publishing Dialog Box to update your web.
BACKING UP YOUR NAVIGATION DATA
This situation is for dire emergencies and to be used as a last resort.
*To see these files you may need to show hidden documents. Tools | Web
settings | Advanced Tab | Make sure the 'Show documents in hidden
directories' box is ticked. Press ok. You will be asked to refresh the
web.
So, if you need to restore your navigation data you can copy your back
up structure.cnf file and recalculate hyperlinks to restore the data.
For more information on this subject see:
http://www.at-frontpage.com/2002/iis_include.htm#nav
HOW TO MAKE BACKUPS OF INDIVIDUAL FILES IN A
WEB SITE
*Open FrontPage with the web you wish to use
*Double click on the file to be backed up to open it up.
*Go to File | Save As. In the =91Save As=92 Box, rename the file, change =
the
directory if desired, and press the "Ok" button.
(Note: do NOT use drag and drop!)
*Close the file.
A copy of the file is created with a new name and the old file stays
exactly the same, complete with hyperlinks connections. Though in the
new file you may see some differences if there are navigation bars or
page banners in the file (they won=92t appear).
You can use this method to store a copy in the SAME web, but you can
also use it to store individual files in other webs or a storage web set
up for that purpose. Again navigation bars and page banners won=92t show
up, also internal links will be incorrect.
Why not use drag and drop?
Using File | Save As will leave you with a copy of the backup file
intact. In FP2000 dragging and dropping a file from one location to
another is a different type of action. File | Save As prevents FrontPage
from trying to adjust hyperlinks and image references, whereas drag and
drop causes FrontPage to automatically change references to images and
hyperlinks. While restoring a file you do not want FrontPage to make any
reference changes.
HOW TO RESTORE A FILE FROM A BACKUP IN THE SAME WEB
*Open FrontPage with web site you wish to use.
*Locate the file that is the backup and open it.
*Go to File | Save As. In the save as box, type in the name of the
(damaged) original file.
NOTE: Do NOT use drag and drop!
*Change the directory if needed. (A simple way to do this is to use the
=91Save As=92 box to browse to the location and click once on the file =
to be
overwritten.) *Press the OK button when finished. *Go to Tools |
Recalculate Hyperlinks say, "Yes" when asked to Refresh.
This action will over-write the damaged file. Hyperlinks that were
accessing the file will be unchanged. Recalculating hyperlinks insures
that navigation bars and page banners are updated.
BACKING UP TO A CD
This add-on simplifies the process of publishing a web to blank CD media
(CDR or CDRW). It is a five-step wizard with built in verification
features, which prevent the occurrence of known problems.
Strictly CD-it 1.01 FREE FrontPage ADD-ON
http://listserv.shu.edu/~franciru/msfrontpage/frontpage.htm
Available for download from this site but there is no support. Note
copyright remains with Strictly British.
CD-it is also intelligent enough not to publish those folders which are
used only by Microsoft FrontPage 2000 for configuration purposes. This
can save valuable data space on your CD. It also includes an autorun
feature, so it automatically loads on a 32bit Windows PC. You can even
add an icon to represent the drive in which your CD is inserted.
SHAREPOINT USERS BACKUP FEATURES
Customize the Document Library with Auto Backup Template
in FrontPage 2002
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/2002/articles/fpDocumentLibraryWi
thAu
to.aspx
The Document Library with Auto Backup template creates a document
library that automatically makes a backup copy of a file once the file
is approved.
FLASH!
While I was writing this article a new FrontPage Add-on came
on the market:
ThemePak Site Backup
http://www.themepak.com/frameset.asp?ReDir=3D/TP-SiteBackup_Info.asp&;
It works with Microsoft FrontPage 2000 and 2002/XP. Backup
and restore a complete FrontPage Web including Content, FrontPage
Navigation Structure and Themes. $29. 95.Not a bad price for peace of
mind.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
*Make sure you Recalculate Hyperlinks before every publish. *Always use
File | Publish, not the publish button.
Hopefully you won=92t need to use your backups but if you do
you will glad you read this article. (Smile)
**********************************************************
Tina Clarke is the Webmaster of AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre
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***********************
**********************************************************
Do you want to know the latest on FrontPage? Do you want Tips, news,
articles, links and ebooks on FrontPage? Well the AnyFrontPage Bytes
Ezine is the best place for your FrontPage and web crafting needs, join
up at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnyFrontPageBytes
Are you looking for resources for FrontPage? Want to know where all
the best FP links are? The hosts, the lists, the forums? Use AccessFP -
FrontPage Resources Centre as the start site for your FrontPage
Information facts. http://accessfp.net/
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(12.) THE INTERNET CONNECTION
~~by Jack Teems, Neat Net Tricks
(reprinted from Volume 3)
WHEN YOU SIMPLY LACK THE DRIVE
Hey, pal, could I interest you in some extra drive?
Hard drive space we=92re talking about here, and there=92s some services =
on
the Internet that will provide extra storage. If you have a dinosaur
computer and are continually having to delete files to make room for a
new program, I=92m sure I got your attention. If you have one of those
newer monsters with a 4 zillion quintillion gigabyte hard drive, a few
additional megabytes probably does not pique your interest in the least.
=A0
But it should.=A0
Storing data off your hard drive and on someone else=92s real estate has
some distinct advantages. =A0
If you=92ve ever had a crash and lost valuable data, programs, and files
that you forgot to backup, you know the value of having a contingency
plan. You could save all this on a removable media such as a thousand
or so floppy disks or somewhat fewer zip disks or CDs (if you have a
writable CD ROM.) Or, you could just set up a free storage locker on
someone else=92s site and send the stuff over there for safekeeping. =
=A0
If you travel, you probably don=92t want to carry along all the files =
from
your home or office desktop on your laptop. No problem. Store them
elsewhere and retrieve as you wish, when you wish, by accessing the
files on the Internet. =A0
Or perhaps you=92d like to share some files with others, maybe a digital
photo of the family or a piece of favorite music? Send the link for
your storage locker to your friends, along with the password, and they
can retrieve it from their computer. =A0
The procedure is simple. First, open an account with services such as
Xdrive Express http://www.xdrive.com
or Free Drive.
http://www.freedrive.com
If you want to store your digital music collection, then Myplay will
provide storage to do just that. http://www.myplay.com
All storage sites provide security so you can rest easy about someone
having access to your files.
=A0
Some services are free and you may understandably have become skeptical
about "free" on the Internet. But even if you have to pay a modest
subscription charge, that=92s not the greatest concern you may have in
storing files remotely.
The Internet has become rather, shall we say, "unsettled" and many sites
vanish overnight. Take for example, the Internet FileZone, which faded
away late last year. The service was continued with Driveway, but guess
what? Driveway closed its doors early in March this year. One service,
iDrive, in June this year dropped its individual storage accounts in
favor of a different market, that of providing software to internet
service providers so they could provide remote storage to their own
subscribers. Others have followed suit, so you might guard against
heavy reliance on these sites.
As with any site on the Web, downtime may also be a problem at times,
so that you cannot depend on accessing your files 100% of the time. =
=A0
Perhaps, though, you=92ll agree that the advantages of these services
still outweigh the disadvantages, at least for now. =A0
**********************************************************
Jack Teems' Neat Net Tricks is available in three flavors:
You can subscribe to the free twice-monthly ezine by sending a blank
email or click the subscribe button on the NNT Web site. If that=92s =
not
enough, you can subscribe to a special edition, Neat Net Tricks PLUS,
for just $10 a year at the NNT Web site. And, if you want every Neat
Net Trick ever published on diskette 4 times a year, the ArchivesExpress
is as little as $20 (details are also at the NNT Web site.)
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com .
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(13.) FRED'S SAFETY BELT
~~ Fred Arshoff
WHY YOU HAVE TO INSTALL YOUR ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
AND FIREWALL 1ST AFTER RESTORING YOUR HARD DRIVE
First of all, each and every time you download a new data file for your
AV program you should save it on a floppy disk or a CD (preferably a
rewrite one) and delete the old one so if you have to reinstall your AV
for any reason you have the latest data file on hand to verify you have
no viruses on your computer.
When you have reinstalled all of your material through a backup or a
complete reinstall, there is a strong possibility that the reason you
had to do this in the first place was caused by a virus, thus the AV
software should be installed right after the OPERATING SYSTEM to scan
each and every thing you put back on your hard drive before you put it
back on. Of course, be sure to add the latest data file you saved before
scanning or you are defeating the reason for scanning, as each new data
file protects against many new viruses. In the average week there are 10
new viruses, thus if you have the data file from two weeks ago there are
probably 20 viruses you aren=92t protected against.
Before going on the Internet you have to install your FIREWALL to
protect yourself from having unwanted people accessing your computer.
Perhaps you had to reinstall everything from the backup due to someone
tampering with your computer from the outside. Your best friend today
can be your enemy tomorrow. Of course, if you feel there are some people
you fully trust and must have access to your computer you can set the
firewall to let them in. If you can=92t recall the settings you had, =
most
firewall manufacturers have information on their website which tells how
to configure it. If you can=92t recall what you did, I recommend you go
now to the web site and download that documentation so you won=92t be
going on the Internet without protection.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Fred Arshoff is self employed in the computer industry where his
favorite thing is troubleshooting security and virus issues. He runs two
Yahoo groups: Fred's Findings
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HnF_ctipsNnews/
and Fred's Virus Info. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freds_virusinfo/
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: It is recommended that you read the online version of
the following article which includes pictures and might make this
clearer for you. http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/steve10.htm
*********************************************************
**********************************************************
(14.) STEVE'S RAVIN' REVIEWS
~~Steve Mills
BACKUP SOFTWARE (and suggestions)
This Month's Coverage:
Directory Compare ... 5 geezers
PolderBackup ... 5 geezers
If there=92s one thing to say about this month=92s column,
it=92s BORING!
That is =96 until you need it!!
Since I used to work for an ISP, I developed a healthy appreciation for
multiple backups and multiple methods. There=92s no worse feeling about
3:00 am than an Error Reading Tape message and you have one set of
tapes.
Backup quality and redundancy is expensive and most of us just don=92t
have the resources to devote to absolute reliability. Money aside, here
are things I would consider:
*A work and a play machine =96 I no longer have this and really miss it.
It was great to have a test machine where I could blow away everything,
reformat and start over. The work machine only had safe stuff.
*Drives in a RAID 5 system =96 without being too technical, this gave
protection against a drive failing and maintained uptime with no
restore. Actually, with today=92s cheap hard drives this becomes closer =
to
viable for the home/casual user.
*A good, high capacity tape drive, with good software and a daily,
complete backup. One tape should be large enough to hold a complete
backup. Additionally, there should be a regular rotation to maintain a
complete set of tapes in another location.
*A good UPS.
OK OK!! Now we know how Billy Gates backs up, but how do we maintain
some degree of data integrity with the little bit of money we have left
after buying his software? Some thoughts:
*A simple set of mirrored drives. Today=92s cheap hardware makes this =
very
doable. Basically you have two drives performing exactly the same
function. When (not if) one disk dies, the other disk continues until
the bad one is replaced. A real drawback here is any corruption is
replicated on the other drive. This is why I tend to mirror a drive and
then break the mirror (i.e. just duplicate the drive and tell the
mirroring hardware to treat it as a separate drive). If you do this
weekly, you=92ll always have a complete set up no older than 7 days.
*Decent software and a tape drive. I=92m lucky enough to have an 8 gig =
DAT
tape drive, but today=92s huge software make it woefully inefficient. I
use BackUpMyPC software by Stomp =96 formerly owned by Veritas =96 =
bought
from Seagate etc. etc. It is a capable solution if you have time to pump
4 or 5 tapes through. Unfortunately, the very nice Disaster Recovery
feature doesn=92t work in XP.
*Keep your most important poop in a separate directory and use one of
the following tools to synchronize that directory and duplicate your
data on a CDRW, other hard drive, Zip etc. This month=92s programs offer =
a
wide range of features, Directory Compare is the best for synchronizing
and PolderBackup excels in directory backup. I use em both.
*Keep copies of all upgrade patches for your software on a separate CD.
It=92s a real pain to to update all of your software from the web. I =
also
keep a directory of XP drivers which I also synchronize regularly.
Next month has some neat graphics stuff =96 come back!
Your suggestions are welcome and encouraged. (steve@xxxxxxxx) Take
Care=85.. Steve
**********************************************************
Program: Directory Compare
Version and Date: 2.53 11/18/01
Author: Juan M. Aguirregabiria
Web Site
http://tp.lc.ehu.es/jma/win95.html
License: Freeware
Rating: 5 Geezers
In the author=92s words:
Directory Compare is a utility to help you keeping copies of your
important directories (documents, programs under development and so on)
in a backup hard disk or any other storage system (like 100Mb
diskettes), as well as in a compressed .zip file. The backup may be made
automatically (in unattended mode) or by using a friendly user
interface. I always have two or more copies of my important documents
and I refresh them very often. I prefer to save exact copies of my
working directories (rather than using some backup program, because it
is faster and makes easier to open the old copy to recover some element
or part that was better in the previous version. To make this process
easier I wrote many years ago the first version of the program cpy which
is included with my Console Utilities. It is a command line program,
which makes it very convenient to use from a desktop shortcut that after
a single click copies to my backup hard disk all modified elements in my
working directories. Users that do not want to remember command lines
options may use Cmd Line Shell to have a more user-friendly interface.
Directory Compare is a kind or GUI version of cpy: it has far less
options but its visual interface makes easier selective copies. For
instance, modern compilers generate an incredible amount of auxiliary
data, which speeds up compilation, but takes a lot of storage space.
(For instance, the source files of Directory Compare are less than 100
Kb, but the auxiliary files generated by the compiler occupy 7,500
Kb!) Usually you do not want this kind of auxiliary files in your backup
disk: they are very large and can be easily recreated by running the
compiler. cpy may be instructed to ask you for confirmation before
copying each file, but this is a boring and error prone process. My
strategy is to have cpy copy everything during program development and
when a version is released, I delete from my main and backup disks
auxiliary files. To improve this approach I have written Directory
Compare: it will show you side by side the source and backup directories
so that you can easily select the files to by copied (from the source to
the target or in both directories) and even delete from both directories
auxiliary files.
**********************************************************
Program: PolderBackup
Version and Date: 2.03 01/29/02
Author: Gerwin
Web Site
http://www.xs4all.nl/~philippo/PolderBackup.htm
License: Freeware
Rating: 5 Geezers
In the author=92s words:
PolderBackup is getting serious! Because of overwhelming response to my
call for support of the Polderweg Animal Wellfare organization, I
decided to develop this version to celebrate their 100th anniversary. It
can zip and unzip now, comes with a restore function. PolderBackup is an
easy to use backup tool with a good array of features that will meet
most basic backup needs. You can select directories and files to be
backed up and save them as templates, so you can keep multiple backup
sets and only start the one you need. The program supports recursive
directories, file filters and moving redundant files to the recycle bin.
Your backup process is clearly documented, all steps of the way are
logged and accessible from the interface. That way you can be certain
that the backup was successful. Very easy to use. Supports command line
options, and is very pro-cats!.
**********************************************************
I=92ll admit to taking the easy way in describing these programs, but =
the
authors' descriptions were so well done, I said why not? As much as I
loathe Roxio, I do find their DirectCD software very nice. I synchronize
regularly between my ImportantStuff Directory and the CDRW drive. =
And=85.
having graduated Magna Cum Laude from Anal U., I regularly rotate the
CDRW disks.
To repeat myself =96 BE REDUNDANT!
Final Thought:
If a man says something and a woman doesn=92t hear him,
is he still wrong?
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Steve Mills currently does clerical work with a search engine consulting
firm and has been reviewing software in different capacities for many
years.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: It is recommended that you read the online version of
the following article which includes pictures and might make this
clearer for you. http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/hal10.htm
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(15.) HAL'S HARDWARE HAVEN
~~Hal Cardon, PC Sleuth
BACKING UP AND RESTORING DRIVERS
This month Linda has asked all of us to do short articles on backing up
your system. Since I write about hardware, we felt it was appropriate
for me to write about hardware drivers. I=92ll be talking about what
drivers are, how to identify those you need and what order you should
install them.
What are drivers?
Drivers are software and settings that allow your operating system to
interact with your hardware. When restoring your system, you may need to
restore some hardware drivers for your PC. Some drivers are built into
your operating system. For example most modern operating systems can use
any video card without additional drivers, albeit usually with only 16
colors at 640x480 resolution.
I normally make sure that I have back-ups for all third party drivers
(those that aren=92t included in the operating system) needed for my
system. Probably the most important drivers, though, are those that you
can't get on the Internet. Once you have Internet access, you can
download any other necessary drivers. In my case that means I need
drivers for my Network Card. For some that may mean modem drivers. Of
course in either case you will need any settings necessary to access the
Internet through your ISP.
How to find out which drivers you need.
The most reliable way to keep track of the drivers your system requires
is to keep all of the CDs and diskettes that come with your hardware. If
you download a new driver from a manufacturer, you should keep it in
special folder with other downloaded drivers. One thing to keep in mind
is that if the driver comes in a compressed format, you should
decompress it prior to putting it in your drivers folder; you may not be
able to decompress a zip file when you are restoring your system.
If you aren=92t sure which devices in your system require third party
drivers, you can find out by examining the device manager. You can get
to Device Manager in Windows 9X and ME by right clicking on My Computer
and selecting Properties then the Device Manager tab.
To get there in Windows 2000 or XP, right click on My Computer and
choose Manage then click on Device Manager in the left side pane.
Once you are there, the method of identifying which
components use third party drivers is the same:
Click on the plus sign next to each category to expand to show the
devices installed. Double click on a device and then select the Drivers
tab. If the Driver Provider is anyone other than Microsoft, then the
device is using a third party driver and you should have a backup of the
driver.
Some Common Third Party Drivers:
Some devices in your computer almost always require third
party drivers. They are:
*Motherboard and chipset
*Video Card
*Sound Card
*Multimedia Keyboards
*RAID Controllers
*DVD Decoders
*Printers
*Network Cards
*Modems
*USB Devices
Where to get drivers.
The best place to get drivers for your hardware is from the manufacturer
of the hardware. You can usually use the Device Manager or your systems
documentation to find out who manufactured your hardware.
In some cases, you may be better off getting your drivers from the other
sources. If your hardware manufacturer has gone out of business a couple
of good driver sources are www.windrivers.com and www.driverguide.com.
In some cases, you may not be able to identify the actual manufacturer
of the hardware, but you may know the manufacturer of the chip used on
the card. In those cases, get a driver from the chip manufacturer, i.e.:
you are running an NVIDIA GeForce based video card, but don=92t know who
manufactured it, so in that case you can go to NVIDIA=92s site and
download the reference drivers for your OS.
How to install drivers after restoring your OS.
If you do a clean installation of your operating system, you will need
to install all the third party drivers for your system. If you purchased
a pre-configured computer, use the instructions that came with it. In
general, I use the following order to reinstall drivers:
*Motherboard or chipset
*RAID Controller (if applicable)
*Video Card
*Network Card or Modem
*Sound Card
*Keyboard
*Mouse
*All other devices
Congratulations, you=92re done!
If you backed up the all the third party drivers for your system, all of
hardware should now be working properly. Now you can start installing
your applications.
I hope you enjoyed this month=92s article. As always if you have any
comments or ideas for new articles, please let me know via e-mail at
abcomputer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx I need to say that this is not an offer to
provide free technical support, if you need help with your computer I
recommend trying Yahoo Groups at http://www.yahoogroups.com. There are
groups covering just about every topic. Some good groups are:
Vic=92s WinTips at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks/
Linda=92s MS Office Group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MicrosoftOffice/
My WinXPHelp group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinXPHelp/
Computer Help and Discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Computer_Help_and_Discussion/
Have fun and I=92ll see you next month!
***********************************************************
***********************************************************
Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth, 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.
http://www.pcsleuth.com
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(16.) CHAD'S MACRO MANIA
~~Chad K. Welch
BACKING UP MACROS
Why I Write Ezine Articles and Not Novels=85
____________________
It was a dark, cold night. He sat by the window watching the old birch
tree bend and sway in the wind. The rain was coming in sheets now and
lightning was bursting all over the valley. He was chilled to the bone.
The blanket wrapped around him was the warmest in the house and the
fireplace across the room was emanating plenty of heat. He hadn't been
outside all day, and until an hour a forehand, he had been warm. Even
now however, whenever he thought of "it," shivers shot up his spine and
his fingertips seemed to get colder. "It" wasn't even mentionable; he
couldn't dwell on "it," and he nearly burst into tears when his wife
brought him a mug of hot cider and asked if he'd been able to finish his
work before the electricity went out.
Nevertheless, he knew he had to face reality. His savings account, not
to mention his wife and 3 kids, depended on it. When was the last time
he had hit save? Did that bright flash from the monitor only affect the
monitor, or was more damage done? Only time would reveal the answers;
time that seemed to drag on and on; turning seconds into minutes and
minutes into hours. He'd promised the client he'd have the whole kit and
caboodle sitting in their email by 8:00 the next morning. Weeks had gone
into this project. Weeks that were probably down the drain, he resolved.
Then came the regrets. Why did he have to buy the cheap
surge protector? Why didn't he make more regular backups?
Why didn't he ghost his hard drive? "Guaranteed," he said aloud "if
anything is left, I'll buy a new surge protector tomorrow. No, I'll go
farther, I'll even buy a UPS. My CD burner is going to get a workout
because I'll be backing up on a regular basis!" ____________________ And
that, my friends, is why I haven't written any novels. I guess I'm just
not as tantalizing as Robin Cook or Michael Crichton. I am creating a
new "survivor" fund. If you've survived my attempt at suspense and want
to keep me out of the business permanently, email me for more
information.
On a more serious note, isn't this everyone's worst nightmare? Whether
it's a storm, a virus, corrupt disks or files, or a slew of other
possibilities, losing work or memories is an awful feeling. Luckily,
there are ways to combat data loss. It just takes a bit of effort on our
part.
Since my contribution to ABC deals with macros, I'll show
you how to back up your macros. The process is the same
in most applications that use VBA.
First of all, you should understand that macros are not typically
separated from the files from which they are run. So, for example, if
you have a macro in a workbook in Excel, when you back up the workbook,
the macros are automatically saved with the new workbook. Same thing
applies with macros in Word documents, Access databases, PowerPoint
presentations, etc.
If you use a macro with more than one file, it may be stored with
Personal.xls in Excel or Normal.dot in Word. By backing up these files
the macros are also backed up (surprise, surprise!).
There may be an occasion when you want to export a macro and back it up
without having to backup the entire file. To do this, open the Visual
Basic Editor (usually by pressing Alt+F11). In the project explorer,
right-click on the module, form or class that you wish to save, select
export and save it. Now you'll have your macro backed up.
____________________ Congratulations go to Julie of Bozeman, Montana!
She wins the Olympic pin from last month for her question about dates.
She has a hard time getting them, and even when she does, she's not sure
she understands them. She assures me that her location in rural Montana
has nothing to do with it. Anyway, stay tuned next month to see another
side of me as I try to help Julie with her, uh=85 problem. How's that =
for
suspense?
The offer still stands this month: $5.00 to anyone who sends
me an idea or question that I can address in this column.
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Chad K. Welch works as a technician/enabler in Utah. He is available
for consulting or application programming with Microsoft Office and VBA.
Contact him directly for more information at chad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(17.) OUTLOOK EXPRESS TIP
~~PCTechTalk's Guitar Man
How To Completely Back Up OE:
*****************************
Important Notes:
1) This tutorial has been written for users of Windows 95, 95B, 98,
98SE and ME since they are on more computers than other OS's. Users of
NT based operating systems (WinNT, Win2000 & WinXP) will find things
slightly different on their computers. If you fall into the NT based
crowd and need help with these differences, get in touch with me over my
tech list and I'll clear up the differences for ya. This same offer
applies to folks who are running Win9x/ME but would like to clear up any
questions they may have about the directions given here. To join, send
a blank email message to PCTechTalk-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx You'll
also need to reply to a confirmation reply that the server automatically
sends to every new membership request.
2) Once you start this process, you'll want to make sure that OE is set
to Offline so that no new messages try to download. To do that, open up
OE and go to File/Work Offline. This will allow OE to continue running
without trying to access the internet.
3) A true backup means that you're copying these things onto some long
term storage medium away from your hard drive. This includes, but is
not limited to, floppy or Zip disks, Tape and/or CD-R/RW blanks. Making
a copy of these things somewhere else on your hard drive will not help
you one bit if your hard drive should fail.
*****************************
What files/Folders Should Be Backed Up:
OE uses a number of files from different locations on a hard drive.
Fortunately, we can find everything that actually needs to be saved in
just two locations. Open up Windows Explorer and make your way to the
"C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book" folder. This is
the folder that contains your Address Book for OE. This Address Book
folder is the first one that should be backed up.
Next, locate the "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Identities\{there's a
long string of numbers & letters here}\Microsoft\Outlook Express"
subfolder. This one should contain all of your email files (each folder
inside OE is represented by a .dbx file with the same name). It should
also be backed up. You'll want to take into consideration the total
size of the files in here when deciding the best method for backing it
up. If you tend to save nearly every message that's sent to you, you
might be surprised at how large this folder can be. Mine total over
7GB.
On the other hand, it's possible that the above folders do not
contain the files we need. This could occur if your system is set up
for multiple users. If that's the case, you'll need to look elsewhere
to find the files we're after. The most probable location is in Windows
"Local Settings" or "Profiles" subfolders. If they both exist, look
through each of them until you find a storage of .dbx files whose names
correspond to your own folder names inside OE. If you find this is the
case, you should back up the entire folder (either Local Settings or
Profiles) so that everyone's email (among other things) gets backed up.
Once you follow the instructions to this point, you've already saved
all of the files you need to save for OE. The next section will deal
with saving and backing up your OE settings. These include all of your
Message Rules (I have hundreds of these), any signatures you've created
and even the way OE is displayed when you open it.
*****************************
Before getting into this next part, you should first make a backup
of the registry, just in case anything should go wrong (which is
extremely unlikely since all we're doing is exporting some keys). In
fact, it's always a good idea to make a backup of the registry whenever
you're about to edit it or make any hardware/software changes to your
system. To do this, go to Start/Run and type in REGEDIT and press
Enter. Go to Registry/Export Registry File. When the window opens,
direct it to the Desktop (if it's available, just click on the small
View Desktop icon at the top to do this). Give this file you're about to
make a name like RegBakUp. The window will automatically give it a .reg
extension. Click on the Save button at the bottom to create the backup
file. Note that this file will be rather large, depending on the size
of your registry. After you've finished following these instructions
without any problems, you can to delete it to free up that hard drive
space if you wish.
Once the backup has been made, you're ready to go digging into this
veritable warehouse of system data. You'll most likely discover that if
you're comfortable working with Windows Explorer, you'll feel nearly
right at home in the registry. The various keys and string values are
laid out just like the folders and files in Explorer.
*****************************
Backing Up Your OE Settings.
By clicking on the + signs next to them, make your way through the
following keys. They are separated by a backslash (\) just like any
other path statement.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{there's a string of characters here and
there should only be one set of them} \Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express
Once you have reached the end of the key path above, click directly
on the key (folder) called Outlook Express. At the top of RegEdit,
click on Registry/Export Registry File again and follow the same
directions that I gave above to export the entire registry. The only
two differences are that you only want the Selected Branch at the bottom
and you'll want to give it a different name. I prefer OEBackup.reg for
this one. The proper key path should already be selected. You might
also want to choose a better storage area (the folder you decide to use
to save these backups) for this one than simply using the Desktop. When
you click on the Save button, you'll have your email rules saved onto
your hard drive somewhere. You'll most likely want to copy this file to
a floppy or back it up with other important stuff you don't want to
lose.
If you have any questions about the stuff above, you know where to
find
me. 8^)
*****************************
Peace,
G Man
"The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked!"
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
G Man runs a free, 24-hour-a-day email tech list where you
can submit any questions you have about computer hardware
& software. You can request fixes for specific problems
you're having with your computer or just sit back and learn from the
conversations of the other members. This list truly caters to newbies
and nerds alike, so you can be assured that your questions will be taken
seriously. To join, either click on this
link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk
or send a blank email to PCTechTalk-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The group's motto of "The only dumb questions are the ones that are
never asked" reflects GMan's philosophy that ALL questions are important
and they sure do treat them that way. Also, if you've ever been a
member of an email list, you'll appreciate that this list's moderators
do not allow Spamming, flaming, cursing, etc. To sign up, just send a
blank email message to PCTechTalk-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(18.) KATHLEEN'S SPIDER WEB
~~Kathleen Anderson, Spider Web Woman Designs
HOW TO AVOID THE INFAMOUS
"THE PAGE COULD NOT BE FOUND"
The last thing you want your visitors and customers to see is =93The =
page
you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is
temporarily unavailable.=94 At best, you=92ve lost their business for =
the
moment, at worst; you=92ve lost their business forever. Here are a few
tips on how to make sure that doesn=92t happen.
First, choose a good web host.
I=92m not kidding. Ask around, check with your peers, find out what =
hosts
other people are using and ask questions. Do they have 24/7 tech support
by phone and by email? How responsive are they? If your site goes down
at 10 o=92clock on a Saturday night, will there be someone there =
that=92s
knows how to bring your site back up?
Do a Google Search ( http://www.google.com ) with the
keywords =93web host reviews=94 and you will find plenty of sites where =
web
hosting companies are reviewed by their customers.
Once you=92ve narrowed your choices down to a few companies,
send email to their tech support staff =96 you should be able to find a
tech support email address on their site =96 if not, that=92s not a good
sign - move on to your next choice. How responsive are they to your
email? Do they answer pretty quickly? Do they answer your questions
completely and in a respectful tone? That=92s a real good sign. It means
they want your business and will value you as a customer.
Second, make your web site your browser=92s Home page.
This way, every time you launch your browser, it will connect to your
site. You=92ll know immediately if your site is up or not. The down side
to this is that your hits will be included in your server stats, but you
can just ignore the hits that come from your domain.
Here=92s how make your Home Page your Home Page:
Internet Explorer: Start IE, go to your web site, and then click Tools
| Internet Options | Home Page and click on =93 Use Current=94 and Apply =
|
OK.
Netscape Communicator 4.X: Start Netscape, go to your web site, and
then click Edit | Preferences | Home Page and click =93Use Current =
Page=94
and click OK.
Third, make sure that even when your site is up, that your content can
be found, even if visitors are using old links that they=92ve bookmarked
or copied wrong from someone else=92s site.
Create your own customized =93Not Found=94 page.
Make sure that you include your site navigation and a search feature on
the page, so your visitors will have a way to find what they=92re =
looking
for. Click on this link to see an example.
http://www.cmac.state.ct.us/access/policies/accesspolicy40.asp
Once you=92ve created this page, contact your web host, give them the
location of the page in your web, and ask them to make it your site=92s
=93Not Found=94 page.
Author=92s note: this is the procedure I have always followed on my =
sites,
which are all hosted on Windows NT/2000 servers. I understand the
process may be different on Unix =96 you should contact your host and =
ask
them.
Most webmasters reorganize and redesign their sites from
time to time =96 you want to make sure that your old links will still =
work
for a while. Don=92t delete your old pages; just make a couple minor
changes to them.
*First, delete most of the content and remove the =93description=94 and
=93keywords=94 Meta tags =96 you don=92t want the old page to continue =
to be
indexed by search engines.
*Then, add a note to the page to let your visitors know the page has
been moved, and give them the new link (or a link back to your home
page).
*Lastly, add the =93Refresh=94 Meta tag to the Head of the page, like =
this:
<meta http-equiv=3D"refresh" content=3D"6;
URL=3Dhttp://www.yourwebsite.com/newpage.htm";>
The value given to 'content' is the number of seconds before the refresh
will take place; the value given to 'URL' is the page you want your
visitor sent to. Most (but not all) browsers will honor the refresh tag
and take your visitors to the new page in 6 seconds.
By using these tips, your visitors will get a much friendlier message
when they click an invalid link. In fact, there are even web sites where
you can get some examples of some very friendly (and also some very
funny) =93Not Found=94 pages:
Great 404=92s of the Web:
http://www.plinko.net/404/area404.asp
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
Kathleen Anderson is a webmaster at the State of Connecticut and chairs
their committee on web site accessibility for persons
with disabilities. She also has her own web design company,
Spider Web Woman Designs.
http://www.spiderwebwoman.com/
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
(19.) NIGHTSNEAK'S SNOOP SCOOP
While all the Fleet members are discussing the things that
most people use that should get backed up, I thought I would provide
some links to how to back up other things that a lot of people use, but
aren=92t as well-known. Things like other e-mail clients than Outlook or
Outlook Express, your favorite IM programs, even Linux.
Here are instructions to backup several other e-mail clients.
Backing Up Netscape Mail or Restoring Backed Up Mail
http://www.ufaq.org/navcom/backupmail.html
Backing up Netscape data--your email, your bookmarks, and
your address
http://help.sasknet.com/browser/backupns1.html
Moving/Backing up Eudora Files (Windows)
http://www.eudora.com/techsupport/kb/1602hq.html
Backing up TheBat E-mail
http://www.mailmejobs.com/tbmaq.htm
Backup TheBat Software
http://shop.mensys.nl/catalogue/mns_backupthebat.html
Poco General FAQ - Backing up your Poco settings
http://www.jdfsoftware.com/pocofaq/pocobackup.html
AIM, the newest versions of ICQ, MSN and Yahoo all store
your contacts on its servers, not just on the local machine. This means
that when you reinstall the IM program, you sign up again with your old
ID, and your contacts are pulled from the client=92s server. Here is the
manual way of backing up your ICQ contacts and history.
Backing up your ICQ list http://members.tripod.com/jlasrv/backupicq.htm
And here is a software program that allows you to save many other IM
programs=92 logs.
Messenger Backup=97Backup ICQ, AIM, Yahoo! and MSN data =97Shareware =
Program
http://www.webattack.com/get/messengerbackup.shtml
Photoshop allows for many user-set preferences. Here=92s some easy ways =
to
save all those settings.
Backing up Photoshop
http://www.planetphotoshop.com/smith2.html
While PC=92s and Windows are the most widely used computer
and operating system, Macs and Linux are used by a very large percent of
the computer population. Here is a little help for both of them.
How to Create a Bootable Backup of Mac OS X
(Cloning Mac OS X disks) http://www.bombich.com/mactips/image.html
Backing up your Macintosh for a move to a Windows 95 / 98 PC
http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/Backup/mac-to-pc.html
Backing Up Your Linux Computer
http://lug.peak.org/meetinghandouts/010407/back.html
That=92s it for this month. I am still working on my new project, and I
hope to be able to announce it real soon.
nightsneak
**********************************************************
**********************************************************
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 at ABComputers-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 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://www.personal-computer-tutor.com
ABComputers-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
**********************************************************
READ THIS CAREFULLY!
**********************************************************
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Unsubscribe: ABComputers-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Or, you can go to the homepage for this newsletter and change any of
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This FREE publication is sent ONLY to people who have requested it.
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(21.) CONTACT INFORMATION
-------------------------------------
Routine Disclaimer: Although I make an effort to check out every
advertisement and link, I cannot assume responsibility for the actions
of my advertisers, or the availability of links. You use the information
provided at your own risk, it is always wise to back up your data before
editing.All advice given in this newsletter/ezine or at Linda's Computer
Stop is given with the best of intentions and should only be taken as a
suggestion and not a definite fix to a problem. ABC ~ All 'Bout
Computers and Linda's Computer Stop are the property of Linda F.
Johnson. The views expressed by readers or contributors are not
necessarily those of Linda F. Johnson and, as editor, she reserves the
right to deny inclusion of any contributions if she feels they could be
harmful to someone's computer. However, just because she allows it to be
included, does not mean she is responsible if it causes problems. ALL
READERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN COMPUTERS! Please help promote
ABComputers by linking to my sites.
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Thank you for reading "ABC ~ All 'Bout Computers".
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Thank you and I hope to continue to bring you a newsletter that you will
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Linda Johnson
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com
ABComputers-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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- » [abcomputers] ABC~All 'Bout Computers, Vol.10: **Special** BACKUP Issue
