Can That Old PC Have A Second Life?

Done. All the client’s files were transferred from the old Windows XP machine to his brand new shiny Windows 7 machine. As we finished up, the question came up as to whether I could remove any pertinent information from the old PC so that he could donate it to a family that didn’t’ have a PC. The best way, I suggested, was to use the recovery disks that came with the machine, and restore the PC to the condition it was in when he bought it six years ago. This process formats the drive, removing anything on it and rewrites the original image back onto the drive. (Yes, if you had a supercomputer, some specialized software, time and money, it might be possible to recover some of the data.) But for our purposes, a format and reinstallation of the original operating system will work just fine.

With the original software restored, the old computer will start up. There is even an old version of Internet Explorer on it and an old version of Outlook Express. The games that ship with Windows XP are there but that is about it. Some websites out there will not even display properly in our old version of IE but for the moment it will do. It is unlikely that the family receiving this PC can afford software that would add utility to this machine. Consequently, the PC will be of limited usefulness. Unless……

What can we do to stretch out the life of this PC just a little bit longer? Loyal reader Melinda asks this very question, “How can we get the most out of our computers before they hit the junkyard.” Keep in mind, that software is expensive. For example, a good Antivirus program will set us back $40 or more depending on bells and whistles and Microsoft’s Office Suite is over $200.

One method of filling our software needs is to find and install pirated software.  There are a few problems with this method, above and beyond the fact it is theft of someone else’s livelihood. Many pirated software programs are “broken” copies of functioning software. Consequently, there will be some feature or parts of the software that will not work. In addition, most software manufacturers today  require “activation” of the software or it stops working after thirty or sixty days. Once software has been activated it can’t be loaded on another machine and activated again. An example is a new sealed box containing Windows XP that I purchased, installed and when I tried to activate it, it said to call Microsoft. I did and they told me that copy of Windows had been activated before. Fortunately, after explaining where I purchased it, and that it was an unopened, sealed container, they gave me the activation code and the program operated properly. There is a way to fulfill our needs without worrying about the FBI.

Let’s determine what software we might need to take this old PC a few more years into the future. Since most of the software we are going to add is not available in stores, but can be downloaded from the internet the first thing we need is an ISP. (Internet Service Provider) Ask a friend to go to www.juno.com and download the software for a free (Martha, did he say FREE?) dial up account. Obviously, free means some limitation, which in this case is a limit of ten hours per month online. But ten is better than none and you get an email account.

Yeah! We are on the Net. We are now a Netizen. (citizen of the net) This requires that we install some types of protection from marauding, dangerous viruses, malware and spyware. Travel to www.avast.com, download Avast! 4 Home Edition FREE, and install it. It works, it is FREE and requires only a modest amount of maintenance to keep it up to date. Or we can surf over to www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/mse.aspx and download Microsoft Security Essentials a FREE antivirus program from our friends at Microsoft. 

Next download and install all the Windows updates available. One of these will be the newer version of Internet Explorer. With an XP machine the latest version of Internet Explorer we can load is Internet Explorer 8. Other browsers are also available for FREE such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari just to list a few. Surf’s up!

Finally, it would be nice to be able to write letters, open documents that are emailed to us, maybe create a spreadsheet or a database of Christmas card recipients. For this we can go to www.openoffice.org and download OpenOffice.org 1.1.5 which is a complete office suite. It has a word processor, a database, a slide presentation and a drawing program. OpenOffice.org may require a friend with a high speed ISP to download and burn to a CDROM for us; remember we only have ten hours a month on the Web. And once again, it is FREE. The other possibility is to use Google Docs which is a FREE online office suite.

If it is pictures we want to manipulate, there are a few different programs we can download and try, again for FREE. Download Windows Photo Gallery from explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials-photo-gallery-get-started. Or we can download Picasa from picasa.google.com. Both of these programs can help us edit pictures, organized them and e-mail them if we wish among other features.

If the old Outlook Express e-mail program is not to our liking, don’t be afraid to use webmail. This avoids having to load any software on to our second life computer in order to send or receive e-mail. But we can also download e-mail clients such as Thunderbird or Windows Live Mail if we like the idea of our e-mail actually residing on our PC.

There it is, a functional PC with no outlay of hard earned cash. Yes, some of this may be less than ideal, but it works and can tide us over until we can move up to something a bit newer and pricier.

Finally, since we are donating this PC to someone that may not be able to afford one otherwize, it might also be a generous act to include a copy of Grumbles From The Keyboard or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer. This will give them hundreds of how to tips, tricks and just good computer user advice on staying safe and having fun with their new computer. While your at it maybe another copy for you as well. It is available by clicking on the Buy Now button to the right or from www.grumblesfromthekeyboard.com or amazon.com or barnes and noble.

I still hear coins jingling in my pocket.

Grumbles From The Keyboard: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer

FIXING A RECALCITRANT WORD TEMPLATE

This week I will pick a question from a dedicated reader, try to explain it and provide a resolution to the problem. Loyal reader Shirley writes: When I open my computer, Word has taken it into its head, so to speak, to open and show a long-deleted document.  I've gone to settings but haven't been successful in finding how to stop this aberration. 
I am not sure this is a computer related question. It seems to be more of a religious, philosophical or metaphysical question. Is there life after deletion? Does a good file influence the present long after it is gone? Or perhaps a file, after meeting its demise in a horrible manner such as being cut down in its prime with a delete button, haunts the very physical place it previously existed in. (Martha, call an exorcist)
It could be something much simpler. Sometimes a person, who writes with great passion, such as myself, can be so enamored with their work that in their mind they see a favorite and beloved document even though it isn’t really there. (This is called phantom reading.)Moving from the existential to the mundane, there is the possibility that the secret document forwarder, (this is for all you conspiracy theorist out there) that sends all deleted documents to the Department of Homeland Security for analysis under the Patriot Act, has developed a minor malfunction and your deleted document simply got stuck in your computer. If this is the case, consider yourself very fortunate. 
Now that we have covered the most likely causes for your problem there are a few far more boring possibilities. As you remember, there was a time when MS Word would open automatically to a new and empty document. This empty document is actually a template of a blank page. In the hidden recesses of the program, this magical empty template is named Normal.dot for Word 2003 and Normal.dotm in 2007. This template is marked as a READ only file. READ only simply prevents the file from being modified. Yes, I know that all of you out there, type into this template and modify it. But what actually happens is that Normal.dotm opens, renames itself Document1.docx. That way when the document is saved, either by you or autosave, it is saved as Document1.docx instead of changing the template Normal.dotm. The next time that MS Word is opened Normal.dotm pops up again as a new blank sheet, renames itself and is ready to receive your literary outpouring. What I believe happened in this case, is that Normal.dotm forgot to rename itself Document1.doc. So your document became a Normal.dotm clone with bad genes. Now every time MS Word opens, it pulls up and displays this misbegotten aberration as you so aptly put it. Fortunately there is a way to correct this problem.  If using XP, Vista or Win 7 click on Start and then search. Type in Normal.dot (Word 2003) or Normal.dotm (Word 2007) in the look for files. Click search. Once the file is found, right click on the file, a menu will appear, and at the bottom of the menu, click on Properties. About half way down the Properties window there is a section labeled Location: it will have the path to the Normal.dot template displayed. It will look something like C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates if using WIN XP or C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates, Vista / Win 7. Record this location for later reference. At the bottom of the properties page, make sure that the Read Only box is not checked. Close the Properties window.
Open MS Word. Once the devilish document is open, delete all the text so that you have a blank document. Now click on File, Save As and give the document the File name, Normal. Save it as file type Document Template (*.dotm) Make sure to navigate the Save In so that you are saving the new Normal.dotm in the same place as the old Normal.dotm. In the example above that would be C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates, yours may be something different. A message will appear warning you that a file with that name already exists, do you really, really, really want to overwrite it? Click yes.
Another way to achieve the same end is to search the computer for Normal.dotm and delete it. Now open MS Word and the program upon not finding normal.dotm will proceed to create a fresh new normal.dotm and Word will open with our familiar blank page just waiting for us to pour out the prose we wish to express. 
When posting questions, please provide as much information as possible. Operating System, Program version, hardware installed and a step-by-step description of the problem. Questions of general interest will become blog topics from time to time.
Don’t forget to forward this blog to all your less than computer savvy friends and neighbors. And if you or any of your friends want a how to computer reference book that can proudly sit in the Throne Room as enjoyable reading material, purchase a copy of Grumbles From The Keyboard. Click on the Buy Now button to the right or go to www.grumblesfromthekeyboard.com or amazon.com or www.bn.com

It’s All About The Numbers!

Numbers. Everything we do boils down to numbers. How much we make, how many of something we need or want, statistics, records, quantities etc. We wake up in the morning and check the time. We calculate how many cups of coffee we can have and whether or not we have time to read that great computer column blog, courtnederveld.blogspot.com.
Numbers. They are so important. We check the lotto numbers to see if we have to go to work tomorrow. Goals are set around specific numbers. I will mow the lawn by noon. I need four new tires on the car. Dinner tonight will cost approximately some number so I should go to the bank. The electric bill arrived today and there are way too many numbers on the amount due line.
Numbers. Even a columnist pays attention to numbers. There has to be a column every week. How many columns ahead should I be? Two, three, four? How many words in a column? How many people emailed me and said they enjoy or hate my column. (Martha, how do I open this email program?) How many readers or followers do I really have?
Remember the story about taking a penny, double it the next day, then double that again the next day for a month? At the end of thirty days you have a million dollars. (of course the downside is the weight of a million pennies would probably kill you) Email chain letters are the same thing. One person emails something to every address in their contacts list, they send it to everyone in their email address book and then everyone they sent it to sends it to everyone in their address book and so on. The numbers of recipients expands exponentially.
So how can this power of exponentialism (I made that up, but it could be the basis of a new doctrine. Remember you saw it here first.) be put to use?
This weeks blog is the twenty-fourth posts and in the newspaper this week is the 356^th weekly column of Bits and Bytes published in the Charlotte Sun Newspaper in Southwest Florida. Consider it my six year anniversary. My editor tells me that the subscribers receiving my columns total 40,000 readers. Here is what I would like to do to test my new theory of exponentialism. On the right side of the blog are some buttons that say Share on Facebook or Tweet this blog. Click on one and share it with friends that may find it useful. If they don’t use Facebook or Twitter then click on File in the toolbar at the top of the browser and click on Send link by email and send friends a link to the blog so they can read it themselves. Let me know if you like the column, hate the column, (be gentle) or just don’t care. But let me know by posting a reply to my post. Let me know if a particular topic might be of interest, or perhaps a prior topic should be expanded. Some of the topics I am toying with are Firefox, performance issues, (the computers, not yours) and some “how things work” columns.
I will compile all the responses I get, and make sure future blog posts are about items that interest my readers. Now, to prove my new theory, send an email to everyone in your email book, and ask him or her to visit courtnederveld.blogspot.com and ask them to send me a note as well. I want to see email from every corner of the globe.
One last thing. Loyal reader Shirley notes, I read your interesting column today and am reminded that when I leave for Holland Sunday. I shall miss the Q&A column you are working on for the Sun Herald in a few weeks. Another fan of Bits and Bytes, Eli writes, I read your articles in the Charlotte Sun but have been away for the past month so today's was the first article I've read recently. What can you do to make sure that you don’t fail to see a single column?
Remember, if traveling away from Charlotte County this summer, Bits and Bytes columns can be read at http://ee.yoursun.net/login.aspx?. There is a free trial subscription or for a nominal fee access to the Sun Newspaper can be had year round. This is an electronic version of the newspaper. It is laid out exactly as you would see it if you were holding the paper in your hands. Actually even easier, since the only thing in your hands is a cup of coffee and your computer mouse. Don’t miss a single exciting issue.
Don’t forget, if you don’t get the paper or are planning to stop, many of the best columns are available in Grumbles From The Keyboard or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer. This is my latest book and takes over eighty-nine columns, updates them, expands them and categorizes them by topic. A bonus vocabulary builder is written right in so the pesky grandkids will be amazed when you start rattling on about motherboards, search engines and other mysterious topics.  The book is available by clicking on the link to the right, amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, special order from your favorite bookstore or even from the Bean on 41 where some of the best coffees and sandwiches are served.
I’m counting on you and you and you!

Who’s Smarter Than A Computer User?

Walk into any bookstore today and there will be row after row of self-improvement books. Improve your self-esteem, improve your vocabulary, improve your spelling etc, etc, etc. Just plop down a measly $29.95 and tomorrow will find a better you. Of course for just $19.95 you can get your hands on Grumbles From The Keyboard, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Computer which is written for normal people and not the technogeeks with their separate language and magic fingers.  If you are in need of serious improvement this can get to be pretty expensive. (Martha, where’s the credit card?) But like any project, large or small, it must be tackled in small pieces. Let’s take a look at some little pieces that your computer can help you with.

One skill that is invaluable today is the ability to type. Yes, I know the present term is “keyboarding” but in my school years it was called typing. And like anything we do, the secret to doing it well is testing ourselves and measuring our improvement. Fortunately, today there are myriad programs available to improve our typing, I mean keyboarding skills. If you would like to brush up on your keyboarding, go to http://www.askmesoft.com and download MaxType Pro Typing Tutor 3.0. This program installs easily and offers both Typing Test and Extreme modes. You can practice your keyboard skills with a variety of basic exercises, including typing out song lyrics and articles. The testing window displays a virtual keyboard and highlights all keystrokes as you go, then displays statistics such as speed and accuracy. Once you feel confident, you can either take an exam or type against a computerized opponent in Extreme mode. Better yet, it’s FREE!

Typing can help us communicate by carrying our words. From our words, the reader draws a perception as to our intelligence. A sentence such as “Hey, Dude, you’re getting a Dell,” might be humorous but our mental picture of the speaker doesn’t lean towards brilliance. There are, by some estimates, close to seven million words in the English language. The average American is considered well versed when their vocabulary approaches 5000 words. Years ago, I used to carry a Readers Digest magazine around because they had a section called Word Power. I would read and memorize the words and definitions. Each day I would try to use those words where and when appropriate. Today thanks to the marvels of computers, it isn’t necessary to wait for the Readers Digest to arrive each month. Just log in to http://www.readersdigest.ca/wordpower.html and play their Word Power Challenge each day. If you register (FREE) they keep a running score that allows you to check your progress.

Now that we have the means to communicate we need to make sure we are accurate. For example, if we needed to tell a storm shutter company how many windows we had in the house we would want to add up all the windows correctly. Or if we paid for something at the store with cash and expected change back, we would want to know how much we should receive. I realize we could rely on the clerk but who knows what level of math skill they have? So how do we improve our math skills? For this we can go to http://www.scolasoft.com/mathflight/?go=tutor and download a fifteen day trial of Math Flight 2.2. This program uses airplanes, and dirigibles and other cool things that you control by answering math questions. This one is great for kids, but I had fun playing it too. (I’ll never grow up) If it meets all your needs then after fifteen days it will cost you a whole $10.

Finally, here is a neat little bonus. Loyal reader Bill sent me a link that had me in a state of shock. This site tracks in real time, all the lightning strikes in Florida. I know that Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S. but I had no idea what that meant. During a recent storm, over five hundred lightning strikes were being recorded PER MINUTE. As I write this there are ten strokes per minute being recorded. If you are as charged up as I am with these numbers, bolt to http://www.flamedia.com/lightning/light.htm.

So, until next time, consider, if a train journeys east with two citizens at five o’clock and an automobile departs Sarasota at four o’clock in a thunderstorm ……