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APRIL 2002 - Vol 18 - Issue 04

Newsletter - Internet Edition

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Table of Contents

Keeping Spam Out of Your Inbox President's Podium
March Meeting Review Product Review: Spell Catcher Plus
To XP or Not to XP Amateur Computer Upgrade Adventure

Current Officer's List Current Calendar of Events

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Keeping Spam Out of Your Inbox

By Bruce Von Deylen, EPCUG Staff Writer

Don't you hate spam? That's a silly question isn't it? Of course, everyone hates spam. On a recent Monday morning, I checked my E-mail. I had six messages waiting for me. Every last one of them was from the same sender. The subject line read "Are you single? Meet people now for FREE!"

Well, I am single. But finding a mate on-line is nothing that interests me. So, all six messages were quickly deleted. The purpose of this column is to give you a few tips on how to keep junk like that from cluttering up your Inbox.

Unfortunately, you will have to download spam E-mail messages. There is no way to avoid that annoyance. What you can do is send spam messages directly to your Deleted Items or Trash folder. That should cut down considerably on the number of messages cluttering up your Inbox.

What E-mail program you use will have an effect on how to proceed. I will concentrate here on Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express.

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK

Outlook, the E-mail client that is part of Microsoft Office, has an anti-spam utility built into it. It does not work all the time. But it can do wonders for keeping junk E-mail out of your Inbox.

Here's what to do:

1) Right-click on a message you feel is a junk, or spam message.

2) Select Junk E-mail from the menu that pops up.

3) From the next menu, select Add to Junk Senders list.

That's all there is to it. From now on, any message you receive that comes from the same address as the original spam message will be automatically deleted. Returning to my six E-mail messages about finding love, there were actually seven of these messages.

The first arrived late one evening as I was doing my nightly Web surfing. I added the message to my Junk Senders list. The next morning, when I fired up my computer, the remaining six messages arrived. Because I had added this sender to my Junk Senders list when the first message arrived, the remaining six messages went automatically to my Deleted Items folder and I didn't have to bother with them.

What if you don't want junk E-mail messages to be automatically deleted? Though this is the default behavior in Outlook, you do have other options. To access the junk E-mail options, select your Inbox and click the Organize button in Outlook's toolbar.

In the Organize window that opens, click the item labeled Junk E-mail. The available options include coloring the messages or moving them to a specific folder.

If you choose to move the messages to a folder, you could set up, for example, a Spam folder and tell Outlook to move the messages there, rather than deleting them. This might be useful if you want to occasionally check the spam messages to make sure there isn't something useful in there.

If you mistakenly add someone to your Junk Senders list, you can remove that person from the list by clicking on the "more options" link and then click on the Junk Senders link.

In the Junk Senders dialog select the address of the person you erroneously added to the list and click the Delete button.

In addition to the Junk Senders option, Outlook also has an Adult Content list. If you have kids in the house, this could be useful for those junk E-mails that come from operators of adult Web sites.

Adding an E-mail the Adult Content list is very similar to the Junk Senders list. After right-clicking on a message and selecting Junk E-mail, select Add to Adult Content Senders List.

You can also adjust the actions Outlook takes on these messages just like you did with Junk Senders, via the Organize button.

OUTLOOK EXPRESS

In Outlook Express, the procedure is a little different. However, it can be equally effective.

Here are the steps to follow:

1) Select the spam, or junk, E-mail message in your Inbox.

2) Click Message at the top of the Outlook Express window.

3) Select Block Sender in the Message menu.

Any future messages that come from that sender or domain (the part of the address after the @ symbol), will automatically be sent to the Deleted Items folder. To modify the Blocked Senders list, click Tools, select Message Rules and then select Blocked Senders.

CONCLUSION

We've discussed how to deal with spam mail in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. I suspect Outlook and Outlook Express will include the majority of you.

If your Internet service provider uses a proprietary mail system like America Online, unfortunately, there is little you can do to filter out unwanted E-mail. If you are using Web-based E-mail like Yahoo! or Hotmail, there is a way to filter out some of the junk.

Yahoo! mail and Hotmail do offer E-mail filtering tools. You should check the Help or Tools sections of those E-mail services for instructions on how to proceed.

Lastly, these tips will not spell an end for spam E-mailers. One thing I have noticed, with the exception of the example cited at the beginning of this article, many mass E-mailers set up an E-mail address for a single mass mailing. When that mailing has been sent, the address is closed down. The next time that company does a mass mailing, they do it from a new address. The aim of this, obviously, is to keep one step ahead of E-mail filters.

However, by taking advantage of these E-mail tricks, you should be able to cut down considerably on the amount of junk E-mail you have to wade through. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bruce Von Deylen is a self-employed personal computer repair technician. Working under the name of The PC Guy, Bruce holds an A+ certification and has been helping computer users professionally since 1996. Before striking out on his own, Bruce spent nearly 20 years in journalism, working most recently for the South Bend Tribune. He joined the Elkhart PC Users Group in January 2001 and was appointed as public relations director in October. His E-mail address is pcguy@attbi.com.

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March Meeting Review

by Young Snograss, EPCUG Member

Using Microsoft Office as an Integrated System!

Many of us use Microsoft Office. (Or at least portions of it.) Few of us use Microsoft Office as an Integrated System. Sure, most of us have moved data from an Excel spreadsheet to a Word document. But Jon Slough showed us how to take a jumble of information from a corrupted source, and end up with the same information in a clear, well-organized database.

Jon used Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Photo Editor for this presentation. Here's what he did:

Someone had collected attendance information from a meeting, and needed a mailing list. They collected the information using Corel Word Perfect. So the data needed to be converted from Word Perfect to Microsoft Word. (Word has filters to do this conversion, but many of us don't load them when we install Microsoft Office.)

Following the conversion, there were "illegal" characters scattered through the resulting document. Jon showed us how to "Find" and "Replace" these characters with "Tabs". The Tabs then became the "Field separators" for the data.

Jon saved the document as a text file, and then read it into Excel. The Tabs became the spreadsheet "columns". Then he could see the data organization, make corrections, add headings, and save the data as an Excel spreadsheet.

Jon opened Access, read in the Excel spreadsheet, made the column headers his field titles, and had his data ready to be sorted as a mailing list.

Earlier in the evening Jon had taken photos of some of the folks with a digital camera. He saved the photos to the computer, opened a "photo field" in his Access database, and combined the photo with the person's mailing list information. He then showed us how more fields could be added to the existing database to keep track of new events or interests.

We all had fun trying to keep up with Jon's inimitable style. It was a fine presentation of very useful and practical computing! 

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To XP or Not to XP, that is the Question?

By Jon Slough, Staff Writer

At the last Elkhart PC Users Group meeting, there were a lot of questions about XP, both in the question and answer session, and during the break before the presentation. Most of the questions were about upgrading, drivers, and other troubles in upgrading to Windows XP. This article is designed to go over the basics on your decision on upgrading to Windows XP Professional, XP Home, or going to Windows 2000 Professional as your operating system.

One of the major problems people find when they try to upgrade to XP is that their system does not meet the minimum requirements. The second is that after XP is installed, many of their devices do not work. The third is that XP does not seem to be everything it was cracked up to be because X-Y-Z feature does not work like they expected.

Before you purchase your upgrade copy of Windows XP, you need to make sure that your hardware is XP compatible. Microsoft recommends that you have a 300Mhz processor. It does not say you need a Pentium II, Pentium III, or Pentium IV processor, only that they recommend a 300Mhz processor. The minimum processor is a 233Mhz processor and can be a Celeron, Pentium II, or AMD K6. They also recommend that you have 128MB of RAM but it can work LIMITEDLY with only 64MB.

I have found that the slower the processor, the more RAM that you need. A good rule of thumb is a 450Mhz system like 256MB of RAM. A 300Mhz processor needs about 384MB of RAM, and below 300Mhz, use 512MB of RAM for good performance.

I know two people who are running Windows XP on an Intel Pentium II-233 system and a AMD-K6-266 and both are blazing fast; in fact they are faster than some Pentium IV-1.4GB systems. How? Each machine has 1.5GB of RAM! The owners have three 512MB DIMMs for RAM in their computers. They also have several (3 or 6) Ultra 2 SCSI drives that are set up as a RAID 5 using drive striping system like servers use. The systems were very high-end machines, before Windows XP was installed. Yours probably is not like these computers, but they are examples of what you can do with XP to improve performance.

I assume you have the required CD-ROM drive, 1.5GB of free hard drive space, a 800x600 resolution video card, keyboard and mouse so you can load the operating system, but is this enough? Microsoft has a site at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/sysreqs.asp that gives very specific minimum requirements for many of the advanced features of Windows XP. Moviemaker, for example, requires a 400Mhz or higher processor, so your Pentium III-350 will not do Moviemaker as well as your friend Joe's Pentium II-450.

Many problems start with the video card, so before you load Windows XP, let's find out if there is a problem brewing. By going to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/compat.asp you can enter the manufacturer and your video card information. In my case, the old S3 ViRGE Gx2 is not a supported video card. Before I upgrade to Windows XP, I should disable the on-board video on my motherboard, and install an AGP video card that is compatible. I have checked all of the other devices in my system, and they are Windows XP compliant, but I need new drivers for my CD-RW drive, sound card, the external modem, and my network card.

If you are not sure of what is in your system, Microsoft has a program that will do a system evaluation for you. By going to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp you can run it from the web or download the file to run from your local hard drive. I do have a caution at this point. There have been several people, who when they ran this program, have found that with Windows 98 as their operating system, after running the file they are not able to restart their computer. If your system came with Windows 98 first edition, and you have not kept your system patched, you should not use this option unless you have a current full system backup.

The compatibility check from Microsoft found that three of my programs are not Windows XP compatible. There are two patches for my CD-RW software package from Adaptec that needs to be installed. My printer has some advanced software for scanning and faxing that needs to be upgraded as well.

Using my system as an example, I would need to add a minimum of 64 MB of RAM and because I only have a P II-233 system I should add 512MB of RAM. I also would need a new AGP video card and a new hard drive. I have enough hard drive space, but just enough. The cost to upgrade my system is $685 for the hardware and Windows XP Professional Upgrade. Even though Windows XP would be my first choice, the cost to upgrade my five-year-old system is more than I should spend. The cost is more than 50% of the cost of a new system with Windows XP included. I can upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional, and lose several of the advanced features of Windows XP, but I do not need to upgrade my hardware.

Assuming that your system is economically viable to upgrade, you need to get any and all new drivers for your devices and software patches downloaded FIRST, before you install your new version of Windows XP. It is suggested that you make a folder called Drivers, and then make subfolders for each device. Make another folder with subfolders for the software patches and upgrades. This way you know exactly where to look when you need them when Windows XP starts the first time and requests the new drivers.

Make sure that if any of the driver files are compressed, that you uncompress them before you install the Windows XP upgrade. More than one person has downloaded a new driver that requires a program like Unzip or WinZIP to uncompress, and they do not yet have those programs working in Windows XP. They are now in Catch 22 and have to get the driver from another source, uncompress it, and get it into the system being upgraded, before they can make everything work properly.

Make sure that you have a current and complete backup of your system. A second backup on a separate type of media would be a good choice. When you take your system to a computer service company like the one I work for, usually they will make a copy of your hard drive before they begin. That way, if the upgrade fails, they can copy your old system back to your hard drive and you are back in business like before.

When you begin the install of Windows XP, read the directions carefully. Many people have failures because they fail to read the instructions presented on the screen. There are several options that must be considered, and you need to read the screen carefully. One question deals with doing a clean install versus an upgrade. If you select the clean install, your system automatically changes the drive partitions and formats the hard drive to NTFS, and you have lost all your data.

Once you are past the questions, the Windows XP Professional or Home installation goes quickly and easily. You should figure it takes about 45 minutes to complete the upgrade process. This does not mean everything is working; it means Windows XP has started. The first time Windows XP starts, you will be asked for all the drivers you saved earlier. You can point right to them since they were all ready to use in a place you can locate. Figure that another 2 hours of setup, configuration, and testing will be needed before you are ready to use the system. You will then be ready to experience Windows XP on your computer.

Taking the time to back up your computer before you start insures that you will not lose any of your critical data in the upgrade process. Doing a complete evaluation of your current system and checking that your current hardware will support Windows XP takes much of the problems out of the upgrade. The time it takes to download the Windows XP drivers before installing the upgrade greatly decreases the frustration of the overall install process. 

About the author: Mr. Slough (jonslough@tln.net) has been a computer user and programmer since 1975. He has used on-line data transmission since 1976 starting with early computer on-line time-sharing. Since building his first computer in 1981 he has provided technical service, hardware support, and programming services on a personal and professional basis in the northern Indiana area. He is a past president of the Elkhart PC Users Group where he has been a regular contributor to the monthly newsletter since 1996.

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President's Podium

by Bob Brown

The primary objective of the Elkhart PC Users group is to provide help to it's members and anyone else that requests it. There are no restrictions as to the type of help; it can be with hardware, programs, internet, etc. One caveat; There is no guarantee that a member has the answer to you particular problem. It doesn't happen very often, but it can happen.

There are several ways that EPCUG provides help.

1. There is a Question & Answer session at every meeting which is conducted by Jon Slough. There's fast and accurate solutions to your problems here.

2. Post your problem on the List. If you are not on the List, contact Sherry Nisly for instructions. The help provided here will be more varied because it will come from more sources, but it might not be entirely reliable (we can only try).

3. EPCUG also responds to outside groups that request our help with various computer related matters. For example, we recently rebuilt four computers owned by Hope Rescue Mission with parts that they provided. We provided labor and knowledge.

4. Some members extend personal help programs that do not involve EPCUG at all or very indirectly.

So don't be bashful about asking for help when you need it - and help others when you can. 

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Product Review: Spell Catcher Plus

by Marty Mielke, EPCUG Member

When I first attempted to install this program I received a message "extracting file failed. It is most likely caused by low memory (low disk space for swapping files) or corrupted cabinet file". My choice was O.K. so I check it and received another message "2147023829: Internal error in windows installer". Now it was time to stop. However, being a true PC user and a master of fixes, I knew how to fix this problem. I shut my computer off. The universal repair tool.

Now I was going to check my system to see what the problem could be. I looked for the low memory swap file but could not find them. I then somehow got to an area that had a defragment button which I check. It told me that the last time I defragged my machine was 380 days ago, so I said what the heck, lets degrag this PC. It started at 11:00 AM and stopped at 10:00 PM with a six hour pause for a wedding and reception. Now it is too late to do any more installing so I turned my PC off and went to bed.

It is now Sunday morning after church. I prayed for a good install. This time things seemed to go better. I got to the registration page and attempted to send it in via the Internet. During this process, guess who comes up but Microsoft critical updates message. So like any good user, I go to get the updates, but it fails the first time. After a second attempt I am now updated and the registration is confirmed.

The learning curve on this program is difficult at first, as much of the program is not intuitive (easy to figure out). But, once you have a handle on the way the Spell Catcher Plus works, it's a very handy tool to have. Below is information on this product:

Universal, works with all applications, this is a stand alone spell checker which places an icon in the system tray for you to activate it.

Versatile, when adding a word to the database, all probably suffexes and prefixes are available to check and select.

You get a list of suggested suffixes which might go with this word, and you check those that apply, and they are added with the original word. Examples: email, emailer, emails, emailed, emailing, etc. The complete list of suffixes includes:

s, es, ed, er, ing, ian, ly, less, ness, ment, able, ible, ation, ic, ist, ish, age. And the words are presented with the suffixes attached.

An example, of how Spell Catcher Plus works: above, I first mispelled Versatile as Versatal. Now, mind you I'm working in notepad, so, SC flashes a red exclamation point on the icon (oh, and I've already associated SC with Notepad after a couple actual uses), I highlight the word versital, click the icon, click CHECK SELECTION... and find versatile in the list of suggestions.

In addition to a spell catcher, Spell Catcher Plus is a thesaurus and dictionary!

Customize Spell Catcher Plus once to complement your writing style, and you're ready to use it with your other applications.

Maintain one set of References/Dictionaries for all your writing needs.
Share your dictionaries safely over a network.
Import your custom dictionaries from other spell checkers.
Lookup definitions in English.
Speed up your typing with the Glossary Expansion module.
Correct your spelling in 9 languages including Spanish, French, Canadian-French, German, Swiss-German, Swedish, and Italian. Includes both US English and UK English.
Find a synonym, an antonym and a definition of a word
Speed up your typing
Cleanup your email
Check Spelling Check legal, medical, HTML and other reference sources
Use Spell Catcher Plus for Windows as an educational tool

System Requirements:
Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, NT

Download a demo copy of Spell Catcher Plus at Casady & Greene, Inc (http://www.casadyg.com) website for the program: http://www.spellcatcher.com 

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Amateur Computer Upgrade Adventure
Here's a cheap, easy way to speed up your PC

By Harry Kelsey, Pasadena IBM Users Group

In this uncertain world, it's comforting to have a bulwark that never fails. PC World's "Home Office" column by my neighbor Steve Bass always has an idea or two that I can easily misunderstand and thus waste an hour when I should be working.

Once or twice, thinking I was following his suggestions, I've corrupted the hard drive and had to reinstall everything. This was not the case with Steve's recent advice to try the PC Pitstop for a computer tuneup.

Pull Into the Pit Stop

The PC World web page is simplicity in its most basic form. There is nothing to type. Just push a few buttons and sit back while PC Pitstop checks your computer.

For a few minutes, the familiar blue line will creep across the screen, followed by a message recommending steps to turn your computer into a 21st century dynamo. At this point I confess I was a little miffed with the advice: "Buy a new computer." However, the program also suggested changes I could make: (1) install more memory, and (2) install a better CPU.

Suggestion number one seemed possible and cheap. Fry's ad that morning listed 128-megabyte PC 133 SDRAM memory chips for less than $20 apiece, but the store is 20 miles away. Fortunately, the same chips were available at the same price in the local Office Depot.

On the other hand, suggestion number two sounded expensive and difficult, but it was not. PC World Product Finder suggested several places to purchase the CPU on the Internet, with price comparisons. After a few minutes spent reading the specifications (some of which I actually understood), I ordered a 400 MHz AMD-K6-2 processor with built-in fan from Computers4sure for under $70.

Here's the shocker. I placed my order at 4 pm on Thursday. Friday morning I received an email from Computers4sure saying the order was on its way. Friday afternoon at 3 pm the part was at my front door, courtesy UPS.

Hey, Memory is a Snap!

Installation was almost too easy. Four steps cover the memory chips:

1. Remove the cover from the case (a step that usually puts my computer out of commission for two days, minimum).

2. Release the clips on the memory chips.

3. Pull the chips up and out.

4. Push the new ones into the same slots.

The CPU? Easy, too

The other surprise was changing the CPU. It was also simple to do.

1. Remove the clip from the CPU fan, unplug the fan wire, and take the fan out.

2. Lift the lever on the right hand side of the CPU and rotate it upward about 90 degrees.

3. Grasp the sides of the CPU and pull it out.

4. Note that several dozen pins stick out of the bottom of this chip. They form a perfect square, except that a pin is missing from one corner. This is the Coffin Corner, and it mates with a matching receptacle.

5. Install the new CPU in the same orientation You don't have to push hard. If the CPU resists, check to see that the Coffin Corner is aligned properly.

6. Flip the lever down, and check to be sure the CPU cannot be pulled out.

7. Replace the computer's cover.

You might want to try booting the computer before you put the cover back. That's what I did, and naturally, the machine did not boot the first time. The "Troubleshooting" section of the CPU booklet said, "Check the cable on your hard drive." I did, and it was loose. I pushed it in firmly, and this time the computer worked. Total upgrade time, 20 minutes.

Three days ago I had a computer with 64 megabytes of memory and a 200 MHz CPU. Now I have a computer with 256 megabytes of memory and a 400 MHz CPU, and the total cost (including tax and shipping) was less than $125. Thank you Steve.

About the Author: Harry Kelsey lives in Altadena, California, is the author of Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate, and a former WordStar aficionado. He can be reached at hekelsey@att.net

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