keyliner.blogspot.com

Add Bit Rate to Windows Explorer View

2012-01-28T04:26:00.002Z

How to add the Bit Rate column to Windows Explorer Detail View (for music files) and making it "stick". This article was tested with Windows 7.

Issue:
Opening an MP3 music folder with Windows Explorer shows the Name, Track, Title, Contributing Artist and Album name, but not the Bit Rate. Manually adding the bit rate for one folder may work for one folder but not for others.

Solution:

1. Launch Windows Explorer.

2. Expose the File Menu:

On the top menu bar, click "Organize," Layout, and check "Menu Bar".
This exposes the File, Edit, View menus.

3. On the newly-exposed menu, choose "View, Details"

4. Open any music album folder (mp3 folder).

On the column-heading (the line with "contributing artists, album, etc.), find a blank space and "other-mouse-click" (right-mouse); choose "Bit Rate." The bit-rate is displayed. However, this setting only takes effect for the current folder. Additional steps are needed for other folders....

5. Return to Windows Explorer's top menu, choose Tools, "Folder Options."

(in Tools, "Folder Options")
Click the View tab
Click "Apply to Folders", then OK, closing the dialog.

Results:
The Bit-Rate should appear on all music folders.

Skype Impressions

2012-01-15T06:04:00.002Z

Quick review of recent Skype Video Conference Call. Overall, I liked the service and found it useful. This is not a technical article and does not contain troubleshooting information. Skype version 5.5.0.124

Last week I had the opportunity to have a Facetime session (video conferencing) with a friend's Apple Mac and an iPad on the other side of the country. This was my first video conference. Both ends of the connection were high-speed DSL and we were online for better than two hours. It was impressive.

Since I don't own a Mac, I decided to try a PC-to-PC Skype session with a friend in the Southern part of the state. The results were good, but not spectacular. We thought the Apple session was better.

Minor Audio Problems

During our one hour call, the Skype audio would periodically lag and occasionally the audio or video would cut for a few seconds. Reasons for the failures were unknown. These were noticeable, but not catastrophic, and we were watching with a critical eye.

Other articles on the web show this to be a common problem in the United States, but reportedly less of an issue with overseas connections. Perhaps the reason was due to capacity limitations. Skype relies on central servers scattered around the world to help process the calls. There were 26-million other Skype users online at the same time, and it fluxuated up and down 2 million people as our call progressed, but this seems to be a normal load. We also suspected problems with all Internet connections to Southern Idaho and this may also help explain some of the problems.

3-Way Conference

We then launched a call with a third friend, running three simultaneous video sessions. The three-way Skype call is normally a chargeable event ($8 month), but we took advantage of a 7-day trial.

Results were poor until the newly-added person stopped their Macintosh Skype client and launched the program on a Windows PC. However, we continued to have minor problems with second person's connection, leading us to believe that DSL circuit was likely the culprit.

Audio Only Calls

Skype supports both Audio-only and Video-conferencing calls. Making an Audio-only call, either to another Skype user or to a regular phone, has been flawless and easy.

Skype-to-Skype is always free, regardless of the destination, but Skype-to-phone is 1.2 cents per minute (including international), or with other flat monthly rates, payable by credit-card or Pay-Pal. The subscription plans are well-stratified, with domestic and international plans, in daily, monthly, and yearly plans. You only need those plans if you want to call regular phone lines or multiple-line video conferencing.

As an alternative, you can dial regular phones for free using GMail's free calling service, which is part of the GMail account. However, several of my friends had troubles getting the Gmail plug-in installed (although I had no issues). Once installed, the Gmail client works, but I found the Skype client easier to install and it seems more reliable.

In the end, it comes down to this: Gmail phone-service is free, but not as reliable, while Skype is easy but can have some costs.

Recommendations:

Install the Skype client at www.skype.com. Click "Get Skype" on the top menu bar. Once installed, run the diagnostic/testing routines to confirm the mic and video camera. It assumes the audio and video drivers are already installed. With my laptop, Skype saw the standard Dell drivers and there were no issues.

Ideally, all Skype clients should be at the same version and Skype notes sound-quality (cut-offs, echos, garbled, etc.) improves with each new version. In particular, echos (where a laptop's mic picks up the local speakers) are interestingly fixed on-the-fly by the servers. It also appears the Skype servers strip-out the laptop's hard-disk and fan background noises (a hum the laptop's internal mic always seems to pick up with other software).

The closer we sat to our laptops (the mic), the better the sound quality and we believe there was less audio-skipping. A boom-mic and headphones would probably solve a lot of audio-problems and make for a faster audio-session. Your recommendations are welcome.

Other background sounds, such as stereos, TV's, etc., need to be turned off. These caused some confusion with the software as it tried to figure out who was talking.

We had troubles with mixed Mac and PC clients. This was not explored very carefully.

Other Features

For inbound calls, you can assign a normal phone number to your Skype account for a small monthly fee. Of course, this means the PC needs to be turned on. With this, regular phones can call your number, as-if it were a standard phone. The number can be assigned to any local city, regardless of your client's location. You could, for example, setup an online phone number in Houston while you live in Boston. This way, your family and co-workers in Houston can dial a local number.

Although I did not try these features, you can send files, screen-share, IM chat, call forwarding and Voice Mail with the Premium Skype client ($8 monthly fee). See the website for details.

Closing Thoughts

We found this was a neat way to talk with our friends and even with the minor audio problems, we found the session worthwhile and will do it again. I noticed the call was more comfortable and relaxed than holding a cell phone to my ear.

The only problem was we need to plan ahead of time so everyone's PC is online. If we would agree to leave our Skype clients running, it would be even neater. When someone calls, the PC rings like a telephone, Skype jumps to the front and you click "Answer." If only I had combed my hair and wasn't wearing my PJ's....

Related Information:
www.skype.com

Download the client: Official Link

Skype Audio Problems: Official Documentation
Place a test call to this Skype number: echo123

Skype is now a Microsoft product.

ImageLiner.blogspot.com Announcement

2012-01-04T03:43:00.002Z

I am now writing in two blogs. If you are interested in photography, visit imageLiner.blogspot.com. Both blogs will remain active.

Review - Dell Inspiron 14z

2011-10-31T00:25:00.002Z

Quick review: Dell Inspirion N411z "14z" laptop

The family needed a new laptop and after some pondering, we decided on the Dell Inspiron N411z, which is a fairly traditional laptop that is a little thinner and lighter than most. We were after a laptop larger than our Netbook and smaller than a 17" machine.

Initial reactions:

Opening the box, we both said "wow, look at that." This is an attractive machine that feels well-built and solid. The top-surfaces are brushed aluminum and unlike other recent Dell laptops, this does not feel plastic-y. The outside edges are sculpted and the screen is thin.

We like the computer and have found no significant problems.

We ordered a standard, low-end model, with an i3 CPU, 500GB Disk and 4G RAM, all fairly pedestrian. Do not confuse this computer with the high-end Dell XPS 14z.

It performs as expected and intended. Windows Experience Index shows the following. These are good performance specs, but all i3 machines should behave similarly. In today's market, there is little performance variation from one brand to the next:

Detailed Reactions:

Your first reaction is the metal finish. Compared to other less-expensive Dell computers, this machine feels like a real computer and not a disposable plastic toy. Case-in-point: Earlier this month, we bought a 17" Dell Inspiron and hated the shiny-plastic lid and palm area -- every fingerprint showed as a greasy smudge. This computer is different. The metal feels cool to the touch and fingerprints won't be as much of a problem.

The 14z comes in two colors -- A dark, Espresso Brown (standard) and a deep burgundy Red ($20), both illustrated below. Colors are deep and rich, along with a slight metal texture. It would have been nice to see a brushed aluminum and white, harkening back to their popular M1530 laptops from 3 years ago.

The second thing you notice is the screen. The LED (not LCD) is remarkably thin and the hinge is offset about 20mm from the back edge, probably to help protect it. We liked the design. Colors are vibrant, with good viewing angles.

With the lid closed, the computer is about 10mm (3/8") thinner than most other laptops. However, the 'thin-ness' is no where near as surprising as a Mac Air-Book or a Samsung Series 9. But unlike an ultra-thin, this has all the speed, memory, external connections and a DVD that you would want. But still, it never hurts to be thin.

Sitting on a desk, the total thickness is taller than advertized (with the 6-Cell battery) because the curve of the battery-pack extends downward, acting as footpad and providing air circulation for the bottom panel. In practice, you can ignore this, appreciating the thinness of the machine in other places.

Keyboard and TrackPad

The keyboard is the new style (chicklet) keyboard that all new laptops seem to have. The keys have a good, solid feel, with good vertical travel but I wish they had more of a sculpted, bowl-curve on the top surface. There is a top row of Fkeys, which have been missing on other laptops I have seen.

Click for a larger view; click "X" to return.
The color is more of a burgandy than red. I need to learn how to white-balance my camera...

We paid an extra $30 for the backlit keyboard. The outside edge of each key, as well as the printed letters, are illuminated. In a darkened room, this is a nice feature. It turns off after a few minutes of inactivity and I doubt it draws very much power. The backlighting is more subtle than the photo indicates.

The trackpad is molded into the palm rest and is large, but not too large, and the Dell-supplied drivers are simple and functional. Although I've not used it yet, the trackpad supports multiple-finger gestures. For example, dragging two fingers down acts as a scroll. You can also scroll using the Right and Bottom edges of the pad.

The trackpad has one problem that other reviewers have written about: The buttons are stiff. I agree. It will not improve with age. However, for normal clicking, you don't need the buttons; just tap on the pad.

Side Ports

The left and right sides have various USB, and mini-display ports. The back has an RJ45 and the power-jack. Except for the power-jack, all ports are covered with a pliable molded plastic door that even if twisted, will not break. Because of the inward curve of the case, Dell had to do something to cover the ports (the curve makes them indented by several millimeters). The doors were a solution that gives the machine a smoother, more polished look. But they have a problem in the 'Form follows function' arena.

The doors are inconvenient to open and you will need fingernails or a small blade. Small plastic tabs latch the doors shut and will undoubtedly wear after repeated use. Unfortunately, the headphone jack is also behind one a door and you will have to open it each time headphones are used.

Other side, showing door closed. This is the Espresso Brown color. Better than boring black.

External mice with Nano receivers will not be happy because the doors will not close. I would suppose if you were industrious, you could cut a hole in the door. Don't you wish all laptops had built-in nano receivers?

In any case, if you are always using external ports, the doors may be more trouble than they are worth. When that day comes, I will be tempted to cut them off. In Dell's defense, the doors look nice.

Other Hardware Notes:

Unlike the higher-end laptops, this machine features a standard laptop DVD drive with a tray (not a slot-load). I had minor difficulties closing the door, where the trim appeared to catch on the side of the case. This is not a major concern, but I would use care when closing the tray. The CD/DVD drive is user-replaceable via a screw under the bottom panel.

The hard drive is not user-replaceable and requires an entire laptop dis-assembly to get to the component.

The PowerBrick is the same used by other Dell laptops and appears to be interchangeable. All of my recent Dell powerbricks work on this laptop.

The power-plug sticks directly out the back of the machine and because of this, it is susceptible to damage if the laptop is tipped backwards or if someone trips over the cable. This is a design weakness in most laptops, including this machine. The motherboard's power-jack is easily damaged and I can prove this with an older Dell laptop -- and yet, they continue to design them this way. However, there is one bright spot: The mother-board AC adapter plug is replaceable, without soldering -- but this is not a user-replaceable part. See the Technical manual at the end of this article for details.

Technical Details, from Dell's site:

i3 or optional i5 Processor
4GB memory, standard, upgradeable to 8
14" High Definition LED 1366x768 with "True Life"; no other screen options
SATA harddrives, starting at 500GB

10/100 RJ45 Wired Network Connection
Wireless: Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N + WiMAX 6150 (1x2 bgn + WiMAX)
(Supports Wireless Mini Cards, should a replacement be needed)
Bluetooth: Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1030 (1x2 bgn + Bluetooth)

SD, MS, MMC CardSlot
2 USB 3.0 slots
1 USB 2.0 Powered slot
Combination Headphone/Microphone Jack (unsure how the combo works)
SRS Sound, 2 speakers, underneath the chassis, well placed
HDMI v1.4
Mini Display Port (no VGA or Digital); adapter cable not included
1Mpx WebCam

The battery is a user-replaceable 6-cell Li-Ion 65WHr (std). You can also buy an optional 4-cell battery -- which is what allows them to advertise the machine is one inch thick.

Pre-Installed Software - Crapware

Over the years, Dell has ebbed and flowed with pre-installed software, affectionately called "crapware" (trial software, limited use software). This machine leans a little more on the crapware side of the fence but admittedly, there is a fine-line between one person's crap and another's handy feature.

I spent about 2 hours removing software and cleaning up the machine to my preferences. Here is a summary of what I removed, with more details below. Granted, some were nothing more than a PDF-documentation file and others could be construed as useful. Since I have high standards and low tolerance for advertisements, I found most of the installed software expendable.

For example, an icon-link to ebay was provided. This clearly has nothing to do with a laptop and Dell must have gotten a kickback for installing it so prominently on the desktop. Although this was not an egregious sin, it was a disservice to their customers.

Removed Software:

Software that was clearly crapware is marked in my list with an an asterisk (*).
If it were more benign or had some usefulness, along with advertising, I marked as ( ).
Unmarked software could be taken one way or another.

Mcafee Security Center (*)
Accidental Service Agreement (*)
Banctec service Agreement (*)
BLIO - K-NFB eReader (*)
Complete Care Business Service Agreement (*)
Consumer In-Home Service Agreement (*)
Dell Home Systems Service Agreement (*)

Ebay (*)Microsoft Office 2010, Office Starter with advertising (*)

Microsoft PlayReady PC Runtime x86 (DRM licensing - no benefit to you) (*)
Premium Service Agreement (*)
QualxServ Service Agreement (*)
Sync-up by Nero $25.00 (*)
Skype and Skype Toolbar (*)
TrustedID (ID Protection - $40 per year) (*)
WildTangent Games (*)
Zinio eReader (*)

Acrobat Air ( )
Bing bar ( )

Cozi Family Calendar, free ( )
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition ( )
Windows Live Essentials ( )
Microsoft Silverlight ( )
Dell Stage - Buttonbar ( )
Dell Music Stage ( )
Dell Video Stage ( )

Dell Digital Delivery (optional)

Dell DataSafe Local Backup (perhaps. 2G free for 1 year)
Dell DataSafe Online (optional)
Dell 'Stage' (includes AccuWether desktop widget)

Service Agreement Clutter
Several of the install programs were nothing more than a license/pdf for various service contracts, which you likely don't have. These were all documented if you bought the service and they certainly these do not need to occupy space in the control panel.

McAfee
Most longtime Keyliner readers know that I dislike McAfee and Symantec's virus suites, thinking they are almost a virus themselves. I always de-install, and install Microsoft's MSE. See this Keyliner article. If you wanted, you could keep the McAfee product for a year, but even at that price, I'm not sure it is worth it. Some day I'll give them a chance again.

Microsoft Office 2010 Advertising
Microsoft Office 2010 is the free, advertising-supported version. If you need Office, buy it, or install a competing product, such as Corel's Office Suite. I would never use the version installed on the disk. If you are going to spend this much money on an office-suite, get the installation media.

Microsoft Live
If you are not using Microsoft Live, uninstall it and save CPU cycles and disk space.

Microsoft PlayReady DRM
Microsoft PlayReady is a Digital Rights Management program, which I recommend un-installing. This software does nothing to benefit you.

DataSafe
Dell's DataSafe is needed one-time to spin an emergency recovery disk, but then it could be un-installed. The remaining features, such as 1 year of free online backup (2G) is really an advertisement for the service. Some day, perhaps, Dell will offer the backup service for free, as a benefit to owning their machines.

Dell Digital Delivery
Dell Digital Delivery is needed if you bought downloadable software from Dell. If you did not buy software, un-install. If you later decide you needed it, you can re-download from Dell's site.

Zenio and Blio eReaders
Of interest, the computer came with two different (competing!) eReaders, neither of which I have heard of. Both have links to their sites where books and magazines are for sale. The readers are different than the Nook or Kindle and they are supposed to give a magazine's glossy-look and feel, with all the layout. But, in the end, these are really advertisements and again, Dell must have gotten a kickback. Remove them.

WildTangent Games
Similarly, WildTangent Games, and Sync-Up are advertisements and should be deleted. I keep wishing the WildTangent games were just the installed games; some of them looked fun to play, but it is not worth the hassle of trying to figure out when money was involved. There is also ebay and Skype. If you need these services, visit those sites and install what you need at that time.

Dell Stage
Finally, there is a slick-looking toolbar called Dell Stage. I am mixed about this. On one hand, it added flair to the desktop. But I had troubles configuring and extending it to other things. Other users on the web have similarly mixed views, with many really liking the program and others not. In the end, I thought it pointed to commercial sites and wasn't as refined as it could have been. Perhaps this warrants a closer look. I hope the software is in the customer's interest and not another commercial venture, but I couldn't tell. Since I had doubts, I uninstalled it.

Once the software was removed, I streamlined the start menu, which makes the machine a joy to use. See this Keyliner article: Streamlining Start Menus. And this article on Cleaning Startup Programs. These steps should be done on all computers.

Final Conclusions:

This is a full-featured laptop that is a pleasure to hold and use with no significant problems. As configured above, we spent $650 (2011.10.27) and the machine was delivered in 5 days, standard freight.

Compared to other brands, it might be about $50 more than it should have been (given the RAM and hard drive), but we liked the style, with the Red and backlit keyboard. Because of previous Dell purchases and service, we stayed with the brand.

Related Articles:
Windows 7 Streamline Start Menus (Organizing the Start Menu)
Windows XP/Vista Streamline Start Menus
WordPerfect, a Quick Review
Dell XPS Slim Power
Review: Dell Mini 10
N144z Technical and Service Manual It is nice Dell publishes this.

Excel Parse First Name, Last Name

2011-10-22T04:38:00.003+01:00

How To: Reliably Parse FirstName, LastNames in Excel using a User Defined Function (UDF Macro). A single cell may contain a person's full name, as in "John Q. Smith". Use Excel to parse out the constituent parts: FirstName, LastName, MidName, and Suffix. These are really smart parsing routines.

Parsing a person's name into sub-parts is difficult to do. There are issues when the person's first-name is an initial plus their second name, as in "J. Alan Smith" (they probably go by "J. Alan". Other names, such as Last Names, may be composed of two words, as in "Alan Van Doran", "Bobby Mc Farland" or "Jill Saint John". A standard parsing routine may confuse "Van", "Mc" and "St." as middle-names.

The macros referenced in this article see through these types of issues and can parse most (English) names into their constituent parts:

FirstName
LastName
MidName
Suffix (Jr., Sr., PH.D, III, MD, etc.)

Overview:

With the code referenced in this article, you can have your own Excel functions. For example, you may be familiar with Excel's =Sum(). With Excel's macro language, you can write your own function, such as "=ReturnLastName()", essentially inventing your own keywords.

Even with no macro experience, you can take the code from this article, add it to your spreadsheet, and use these functions, without having to write a single line of code or debug any routines. You should be able to download, apply and use these routines in about 5 minutes.

The Macros were written as Excel User Defined Functions (UDF), where you can create your own Excel keywords. Once installed, the macros can be applied and used like any other Excel function. Today, I used these very routines to parse a 200,000 row spreadsheet.

See this article for a tutorial on how to build and use User-Defined Excel Functions or you can follow these step-by-step instructions and use the code as-is.

What it Handles:

These routines correctly interpret all manner of English (and likely other language) names, including those with:

First-letter initials, punctuated or not (J. Smith, J Smith)
First-letter initials, with a second name assumed as first= ("J. Alan")
Two-letter firstnames (JP Morgan)
Two-letter first names plus mid-names (JP Alan Morgan)
Hyphenated first and last-names
Common English names, such as Van, Vander, Mc, Mac, Saint, Le, Le', De, etc.
Common Suffixes (Jr., Sr., "J. Smith III", PH.D, PHD, MD, M.D., DDS, etc)
Common Suffixes, punctuated with/without commas (J. Smith, Jr. returns "Smith")
Names with extra embedded / internal spaces
Three, four and five-word names (Mary-Anne Lynn Miller, etc.)
Single-word names ("Smith", "Cher", assumes LastName)
All names are returned in the upper/lower case, as typed. A separate "Proper" routine may be written in the future.

Where this routine struggles:

There are some areas where even humans have a hard time interpreting.

Names such as "Mary Anne Smith", where "Mary Anne" is the first name. Anne will be tracked as a middle-name. Note that "Mary-Anne Smith" will parse correctly.
Similarly, "Kathy Smith Jones" will parse as a mid-name "Smith" and a last-name "Jones". "Kathy Smith-Jones" will parse a last name as "Smith-Jones", as does "Kathy Q. Smith Jones".
If the source name has a special character (~ tilde), "Kathy Smith~Jones", the name will be correctly stored as last-name "Smith Jones" (with the tilde removed).
Uncommon Suffixes, such as educational-degrees, are not detected and will be incorrectly treated as last-names. However, the code is easy to modify with additional suffixes.
These routines do not deal with prefixes, such as Dr., Rev., etc. Advise if needed.

Functions:

=ReturnSuffixName()

=ReturnFirstName()

=ReturnLastName()

=ReturnMidName()

Also referenced are utility functions, such as "=SuperTrim" and "=ReturnLastWord", which are found in the A800_UtilStrings.bas module, downloaded below.

Installation and Use

Source-code can be downloaded from the Keyliner FTP site (the code is too ungainly to post in a blog). You are welcome to use these routines in your personal or commercial projects.

1. Download two files from this link:
(You do not need to register as a user or login in order to download. Highlight the files, then click the 'Download' button on the top ribbon-bar)

Link: Keyliner' FTP Site

Download two files; both are required:
A240_ParseNames.bas
A800_UtilStrings.bas

2. Save the downloaded files to any directory, such as

C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A240_ParseNames.bas
C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A800_UtilStrings.bas

(or any other directory of your choosing)

3. Launch Excel and Enable Excel Macros.

Microsoft considers all macros a security risk and this can be a nuisance.
Do the following to enable the macros. This is a one-time step for all macros.

Launch Excel; click the Orb (formerly the File Menu); choose Excel Options
Click Trust Center, Trust Center Settings
Macro Settings
Enable All Macros
Older versions of Office have similar settings.

4. Open the sheet where you need to parse Names or open a blank worksheet to test the routines. In the Excel sheet, import the VB code using these standard Excel steps:

a. Click the "orb", Excel Options
b. On the left, choose "Popular"
c. Click [x] Show Developer tab in the ribbon and return to the sheet

5. Start the VBA Macro Editor by pressing Alt-F11.
The VBA Macro Editor will open in a new window.

6. On the tree-diagram, illustrated below, select your sheet ("Book1"), then:

Other-Mouse-Click (Book1),
Choose "Import File"
Browse and select the previously-saved ".bas" module,
e.g. C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A240_ParseNames.bas
You will see the code appear under the "Modules" folder (not illustrated)
Repeat this step and import
C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A800_UtilString.bas (the second macro file)

Click illustration for a larger view; click right-X to return

Once the formulas are built, you can "fill-down" columns C, D, E, and F, to calculate other names in the list. Commonly, once parsed, you would copy all of the names and Paste them using "Paste Special, Values only" -- converting them from formulas to fixed text.

If you were inclined to look under the hood, you would see the ReturnMidName macro's signature line in this VBA code. Note the three fields passed into the routine:

Click illustration for a larger view; click right-X return

This concludes the tutorial on how to use these parsing routines.

Possible Macro Errors:
If you get a "#NAME?" when typing =ReturnLastName, the library was not linked in properly or was not linked to this particular sheet (the macros are only available to the sheets where they were copied). Review the steps above. If a routine, such as "SuperTrim" or "FindLastWordPos" fails, confirm you linked in the A800_UtilStrings library.

Excel 2007/2010 Save Warning:

When Excel 2007/2010 saves the sheet, it will save it as an ".XLSX" and will strip the macros out as it saves (Microsoft is doing this as a security precaution.)

When prompted: 'Do you want to save as a macro-safe) workbook', click "Yes" or optionally, do a File-Save-As, and choose "Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (*.xlsm).

Be aware, if you modify the Macros and save the sheet, only this sheet will see the changes. From the macro editor, re-highlight the A240 and A800 routines and "Export" them back to the 'C:\data\Source\CommonVB' routines where they were originally stored. This way, the changes can be used in other spreadsheets.

Here are some normal and unusual names this routine can handle:

John Smith
John Q. Smith
John Q Smith, Jr.
John Q Smith,Jr  (No space after comma)
John Q. Martin Smith, III
Smith 

J Smith
J. Smith
J. Alan Smith
J Alan Smith
J.P. Smith
JP Albion Smith
JP Albion Smith PHD
John Mac Neal (LastName = Mac Neal)
John Mc Neal (LastName = Mc Neal)
John O' Brian (LastName = O' Brian, O' Leary, etc.)
John Mc Neal MD (extra embedded spaces)
(various Le', De' and other such names, with/without punctuation)
John Van Nuys (LastName = Van Nuys, also Vander, Von, etc.)
Mac Hetherington
Mary-Anne Jacob Smith MD
Tom Smith, M.D.
Mary Ann Nichole Smith
Mary Q Anne Nichole Smith Barney
Mac Von Nuys, Jr (lastName = Von Nuys)
Lori Vander Hoff (LastName = Vander Hoff)

Related articles:
Excel Macros to Parse City State ZipCodes
Excel Macros to return First Word, Last Word, Supertrim, Count Words
Writing Excel UDF functions
Excel VLookup - A complete Tutorial
Excel Coloring Alternate Rows

Excel Parse CityStateZip Functions

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000+01:00

Excel How to: Parse City-State-Zip fields with an Excel User-Defined functions (UDF). A single cell, such as "Boise, ID 83703" can be parsed into individual fields. A variety of city-state-zip formats, including Canadian, are supported. These are really smart parsing routines. This article has been streamlined and re-published on this date, with newer versions of the Macro code.

Parsing city-state-zip fields is complicated because the data can be in a variety of different styles and formats. Consider these examples:

Boise ID 83703

Boise, ID 83703-1111

Boise, ID 83703 1111

Boise,ID 83703

Boise ID 837031111

Post Falls, ID 83703 (multiple-word city)

Post _ _ _Falls, ID _ _ _83703 (embedded, redundant spaces, punctuation)

Salt Lake City UT 12345

Vancouver BC V1B-101 (Canadian)

Vancouver Park BC V1B 101

The Method:
With the code referenced in this article, you can build your own Excel functions. For example, you are probably familiar with the =Sum() function. With Excel's macro language, you can write your own function, such as "=ReturnCityName()".

Even with no macro experience, can take the code from this article, add it to your spreadsheet, and use the functions, without having to write or debug the routines. You should be able to download, apply, and use these routines in about 5 minutes.

Overview:

The macros were written as Excel UDF's (Excel User-defined functions), where you can create your own Excel keywords. Once installed, the macros can be applied and used like any other function in Excel. Today, I used these very routines to parse a 200,000 row spreadsheet. All of this logic happens in under 500 lines of code.

Main Function Names
=ReturnCityName()
=ReturnState()
=ReturnZipCode() Returns entire zipcode, punctuated
=ReturnZipCode5()
=ReturnZipCode4()
=SuperTrim() (Trims extra leading, trailing and internal spaces)
=ReturnLastWord()

In this illustration, note the single cell with a city-state-zip in cell A5.
The formula in cell B5 demonstrates the "ReturnCityName". Other cells show a parsed State and Zipcode.

The routines work by first identifying the zipcode, then backing up, looking for the StateCode. Anything before the State/Province Code is considered a City name. If a postalcode is not found, it looks for a state/province code. The code can return either the string-values or the numeric positions.

See this article for a tutorial on how to build and use User-Defined Excel Functions or you can follow these step-by-step instructions and use the code as-is.

What it handles
These routines correctly process City-State-Zip (CSZ) strings with these general characteristics:

Any type of US or Canadian Postal Code
Including ZipCode-5 digits and Zip4
Zipcodes can be with or without punctuation
City-names can be one or more words
State-codes (ID, NY, BC, B.C., ONT), etc.
State Names (New York, North Dakota) are supported, if comma-delimited

What it does not handle
With multiple-word state names ('North Dakota', 'British Columbia'), you must have a comma after the city name.

Lincoln City, North Dakota 83700-1234

Single-word state-codes ('ND', 'BC', 'D.C.', 'Idaho', 'Missouri') are handled properly with or without a comma.

Canadian Postal Codes are a mystery to me and forgive me for not knowing them but I believe they are properly accounted for. The code can be punctuated with a hyphen or a space (K1A-1B2 or K01 1B2). The Province Name must follow the state-name rules described above (As an aside, the postal-code is identified by a numeric digit in the 2nd and 7th position, with a space or a hyphen in the middle. The last digit must be numeric in order to detect a US or Canadian postal code.

Installation and Use
Source-code can be downloaded from the Keyliner FTP site (formerly, this article listed the code, but the code became too ungainly to post in a blog). You are welcome to use this code in your personal or commercial projects.

1. Download two files from this link:
(You do not need to register as a user to download. Highlight the files, then click the 'Download' button on the top ribbon-bar)

Keyliner' FTP Site

Download two files; both are required:
A210_ParseCityStateZip.bas
A800_UtilStrings.bas

2. Save the downloaded files to any directory, such as

C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A210_ParseCityStateZip.bas
C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A800_UtilStrings.bas

3. Launch Excel and Enable Excel Macros:

Microsoft considers all macros a security risk and this can be a nuisance.
Do the following to enable the macros. This is a one-time step for all macros.

Launch Excel; click the Orb (formerly the File Menu); choose Excel Options
Click Trust Center, Trust Center Settings
Macro Settings
Enable All Macros
Older versions of Office have similar settings.

4. Open the sheet where you need to parse city-state-zip
or open a blank worksheet to test the routines. In the Excel sheet, import the VB code using these standard Excel steps:

a. Click the "orb", Excel Options
b. On the left, choose "Popular"
c. Click [x] Show Developer tab in the ribbon and return to the sheet

5. Start the VBA Macro Editor by pressing Alt-F11.
The VBA Macro Editor will open in a new window.

6. On the tree-diagram, illustrated below, select your sheet ("Book1"), then:

Other-Mouse-Click (Book1),
Choose "Import File"
Browse and select the previously-saved ".bas" module,
e.g. C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A210_ParseCityStateZip.bas
You will see the code appear under the "Modules" folder (not illustrated)
Repeat this step and import
C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A800_UtilString.bas (the second macro file)

7. Close or minimize the Visual Basic editor by clicking the editor's "X". This returns you to the sheet and the macros are ready to use.

Note: All the macro editor did was "attach" the code. You can optionally choose to view the programming code by using the editor.

Also, the macros will save with the sheet, but only if you follow the Office 2007/2010 Save warning, documented near the end of this article.

Testing:

A. In Cell A1, type an example City-State-Zipcode for testing. Press Enter when done:

example: Boise, ID 83703-1234

B. In cell B1, type this formula:

=ReturnZipCode(A1)

Results: The Zipcode should return.

Try these other functions:
"=ReturnState()"
"=ReturnCityName()"
"=ReturnZipCode5()"

Possible Errors:
If you get a "#NAME?" when typing =ReturnZipCode, the library was not linked in properly or was not linked to this particular sheet (the macros are only available to the sheets where they were copied). Review the steps above. If a routine, such as "SuperTrim" or "FindLastWordPos" fails, confirm you linked in the A800_UtilStrings library.

Excel 2007/2010 Save Warning:

When Excel 2007/2010 saves the sheet, it will save it as an ".XLSX" and will strip the macros out as it saves! (Microsoft is doing this as a security precaution.)

When prompted: 'Do you want to save as a macro-safe) workbook', click "Yes" or optionally, do a File-Save-As, and choose "Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (*.xlsm).

Descriptions
This article does not explain how this code was developed; that has been left for your study. But the provided code should work well with any version of Microsoft Excel, from version 97 onward. This code has been tested with Office 2007. Converting the code to VB6 or VB.Net should be nearly transparent. All numeric position/counters are base-1, per VisualBasic's norm.

Functions within the A800_UtilStrings routine are of particular interest:
=SuperTrim()
Trims all duplicate interior, leading and trailing spaces. This function is potentially helpful in a wide variety of situations, above and beyond CSZ parsing.

=FindLastSpacePos()
Returns the position of the last space, base-1; returns a numeric value

=ReturnFirstWord()
=ReturnLastWord()Returns the first and last word in a string; properly trimmed.

=FindStatePos()
Returns the State-code/State-name's numeric position in the string; base-1. Other functions return similar values:

=ReturnCityName()
=ReturnState()
=ReturnZipCode()
=ReturnZipCode4 ()

=GetCSZPositions
Returns 4 numeric values, showing the position of each of the CSZ's subparts. See the comments near the top of the code for a complete description.

Other functions, such as =FindState, return the numeric positions and are provided as a convenience.

Comments welcome.

Related articles:
Excel Macros to Parse City State ZipCodes
Excel Macros to return First Word, Last Word, Supertrim, Count Words
Writing Excel UDF functions
Excel VLookup - A complete Tutorial
Excel Coloring Alternate Rows
Excel Importing Leading Zeroes

Excel Code: VB ReturnFirst/Last and SuperTrim

2011-10-20T06:01:00.000+01:00

Reference: These Excel/VB macros for ReturnFirstWord, ReturnLastWord and SuperTrim are very handy. Download these routines, free of charge, without registration, from Keyliner's FTP site. Details on how to use these functions can be found in other Keyliner articles. This article was streamlined and re-published.

Contents:
=ReturnFirstWord
=ReturnLastWord
=FindLastSpacePosition (numeric result)
=SuperTrim; Trims multiple redundant leading, trailing *and* interior spaces
=CountWords

These Excel UDF Macros can be downloaded and attached to a speadsheet in a matter of minutes. Once in place, they can be used in any Excel formula. Other Keyliner routines, such as Excel CityStateZip Parse Functions use these modules.

Installation and Use

Source-code can be downloaded from the Keyliner FTP site (formerly, this article listed the code, but the code became too ungainly to post in a blog). You are welcome to use this code in your personal or commercial projects. If you become fabulously wealthy, remember me or at least give me credit for the routine.

1. Download from link: Keyliner' FTP Site

(You do not need to register as a user to download. Highlight the files, then click the 'Download' button on the top ribbon-bar)

Download:
A800_UtilStrings.bas

2. Save the downloaded files to any directory, such as:
C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A800_UtilStrings.bas

3. Launch Excel and Enable Excel Macros.

Microsoft considers all macros a security risk and this can be a nuisance.
Do the following to enable the macros.

Launch Excel; click the Orb (formerly the File Menu); choose Excel Options
Click Trust Center, Trust Center Settings
Macro Settings
Enable All Macros
Older versions of Office have similar settings.

4. Launch Excel to a blank sheet and import the VB code using these standard Excel steps:

Click the "orb", Excel Options.

On the left, choose "Popular"
Click [x] Show Developer tab in the ribbon

5. Press Alt-F11 (Starts the VBA / Macro Editor)

6. On the tree-diagram, illustrated below, select your sheet ("Book1"), then:

Other-Mouse-Click (Book1),
Choose "Import File"
Browse and select the previously-saved module, e.g. C:\Data\Source\CommonVB\A800_UtilStrings.bas
You will see the code appear under the "Modules" folder (not yet in the illustration below but will be when you complete these steps)

7. Close the Visual Basic editor and return the original sheet; clicking the big "X".

Testing:

A. In Cell A1, type an example string, with leading, trailing and extra internal spaces. Press Enter when done:

example: " Now is the time "

B. In cell B1, type this formula:

=SuperTrim(A1)

C. In cell B2, type this formula:

=ReturnLastWord(A1)
Related Keyliner Articles:
Excel UDF (User Defined Functions)

Excel VLookup - a complete tutorial
Excel Coloring Alternate Rows
Excel Parsing City-State-Zip
Excel Importing Text with Leading Zeroes
Using VBA to Send Email

Excel - Macro Editor Removes Spaces

2011-10-16T07:16:00.000+01:00

How To: The Excel 2007 Macro Editor is automatically removing spaces between words while typing code.

Problem:
While typing a new function name or other text in the Excel Visual Basic Macro, the editor is removing the spaces between words as you type (automatically, unexpectedly, auto removing, auto-correcting). For example, you may be attempting to type a new function name:

Public Function MyFunction()
but the editor will correct the text as "PublicFunctionMyFunction()"

Note: You have also likely installed Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 sometime previously. This product introduced a Load Test Report Add-in that is apparently causing this bug. This article is current as-of Office 2007, SP2. I suspect Office 2010 exhibits the same issue.

Solution:

1. De-activate the Excel "Load Test Report Addin" (add-in) using these steps:

a. Click the Excel "orb" (File menu)
b. Click the bottom-right button, "Excel Options"
c. Click left-side "Add-Ins" menu
d. In bottom, center pull-down, Choose "Manage" "COM Add-ins". Click Go

2. Uncheck [ ] "Load Test Report Addin"

3. Press Alt-F11 to return to the Macro editor. The problem should be resolved.

Making this change is permanent (for this workstation) and the change sticks for the current worksheet and all new and existing sheets.

Keywords:
VB VBA Editor auto-delete auto-deletes auto delete spaces at the end of the line, spaces as typing, spaces while typing, removes spaces, collapses spaces

Cellphone Thoughts

2011-10-08T07:19:00.000+01:00

Attempt at humor: Buying a new Cell Phone.

I lost my cell phone yesterday. As you will see, I'm not particularly concerned because the phone was old, the battery tired, and the screen flaky.

The missing phone is a low-tech Pantech Breeze II -- a standard flip phone; no data plan. Since this phone was made, they came out with a new version, the Pantech Breeze III. From the reviews I've read, there are no real differences between the two models except to say it feels more plastic-y.

Related article: Keyliner Review Pantech Breeze II

Friends and co-workers laugh when they see my phone. Apple-iphone-ers will cross the street to make fun of me. Considering how involved I am with technology, most are surprised I don't use something more modern.

The abuse continued. On a Google search:

To quote: ...for senior citizens, kids and cell phone novices...

No kid would want a phone like this and I am no novice -- but I don't have need for much else. Besides, the extra $20 per month data-plan is hard to swallow, considering I am seldom far from a computer. I admit Texting a fair amount (on a T9 keyboard, no-less) and there has been some pain in this area.

In my defense, my phone goes about 4 to 5 days between charges, running 24-hours per day -- I never turn it off. I've not met a smart phone that can do this. And my phone weighs a lot less. When it rings, I open it Star-Trek style and say hello -- no buttons to push.

A good friend of mine has a $500 Blackberry. He makes phone calls and reads email but even with the nifty-keyboard, he seldom replies by text. Actually, he despises texting. Occasionally, he surfs the web, but only to show he can do it and to poke fun at my phone. Other friends, with their fancy smart-phones, show games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja (yes, they are fun), but once the novelty wears, I am unsure how well the phones are being used.

No doubt a new smart phone would be neat, but I hesitate. How many high-tech devices do I need? I expect to buy an Asus Tablet this fall and there is no sense having two similar devices.

Then again, later next year, I might replace my 32" CRT TV with a flat-panel. This will force me to replace the 23-year-old stereo and Kef speakers and I'll have to buy a new cabinet to hold all this. The VCR might be permanently retired.

Update: The replacement phone ended up being one of these:

Based mostly on price ($60), I bought an ATT "Go Phone" - a Pantech P7040P, avoiding a 2 year contract. It certainly looks more trendy than a flip-phone and I bought it obviously for texting. The phone is remarkably thin but the battery only lasts about 3 days. I like the new phone. Read a little more about it in the Pantech Breeze II review, linked below.

Related article:
Keyliner Review Pantech Breeze II

Smart Phone Sales:
Putting smart-phone sales into perspective -- despite all the press and hoopla, take a look at all Smart-phone sales during the last several years. My low-tech flip-phone is still doing pretty well:
See this article:
Keyliner Smart Phone Sales

Review - Pantech Breeze II Cell Phone

2011-10-07T17:00:00.000+01:00

Review: Pantech Breeze II - A basic Flip Phone that worked well, but has design flaws, mostly centering around the proprietary charging and USB port. The new version of this phone (not reviewed here) addresses some of these concerns. In the end, I bought a different phone, a Pantech P7040P.

Reviews of new phones are nearly pointless. What you really want is a review of the phone after it has been used for months or years. Here are comments after using the Pantech Breeze II for nearly two years. The new version, the Pantech III is nearly identical. I was in the market for a new phone after the original Pantech was lost.

You can read about my reasons for buying a new phone in this article:
Keyliner Cellphone Thoughts

A quick Review of the now-lost Pantech Breeze II:

Overall look and feel:

The phone has a nice feel and is comfortable to hold with sculpted corners and a sleek design. It feels solid and well-built. Buttons are well-built and well designed -- it is not a chicklett keyboard. Voice-dialing has a dedicated button, which is nice, and the three speed-dial buttons, found on the flip, are actually useful.

When unfolded, the phone is thin with a wonderfully thin screen. However, when folded, it is about the same thickness as most other phones. I could imagine it being thinner (I always think of the Razor).

The screen quality is nice; good colors, good separation but the hinge is a little weak and after two years, this is the component that started to fail.

Even though this is a simple flip-phone, I have liked it enough to consider purchasing it again and that decision will be made later today.

Problems:

A recent problem, after a year and a half, the phone's screen does not turn on when flipped. If I jiggle the screen or wait about 5 seconds, it would slowly appear. I suspect the ribbon cable underneath has worn and this is a relatively new problem. If I find the lost phone, I'll take it apart and look at this. This may indicate a design flaw and the Breeze III should have similar problems as the phone ages.

The T9 texting keyboard, with the dictionary turned on, worked well, but you can't add your own words and you can't change the order of some commonly-used pop-up words. Overall, I liked the feature. There was one bug in some typed-messages (but not others), where you could not select a lower-case-"i" -- only a lower-cased "el" was offered. Most of the time, the "i" worked properly.

Voice Recognition:

Voice Recognition (dialing) was surprisingly useful and I liked having it, however, it only works for dialing, not for texting. The voice recognition was fairly good - as long as there was no background talking-noises, such as a radio. Sometimes the voice recognition would use the speaker-phone and other times it would use the internal speaker/mic. I could never predict when it would choose one style over the other. In practice, this was not a big deal.

Voice-dialing has a dedicated button on the keypad. Many reviews have faulted this as wasted space, but I like the button.

Phone Menus:

The phone's internal menus have some features hidden in menus 3 or 4 layers deep and I often got lost, with some menu choices in seemingly-bizarre places. Admittedly, you only need these occasionally -- but it appears to have been organized somewhat randomly.

The phone has a "Breeze" menu and an "Advanced" menu. The Breeze menu hides all of the complicated functions and presents a simplified menu. Although the Breeze menu was adjustable (you can control which features appear), not all advanced features could be put on the Breeze. For example, I would like to be able to turn on and off the BlueTooth using Breeze Menu, but I could not attach it. For this reason, I always had to use the advanced menu.

BlueTooth could not be turned on in mid-call. I wished it could. If I needed to use the remote mic, I had to hang up on the call, engage the feature, then re-dial the phone. This may be normal with all phones.

Features, such as Ring-tones, wallpaper settings, etc., were relatively easy to select. But the Wallpaper was troublesome -- there was no way to disable the feature (say you wanted a simple blank screen).

Phone Charger / USB Cable

The Pantech II used a proprietary charging plug and a proprietary USB cable. I understand the new model uses the new industry standard charger and you can, for example, use your Nook or Kindle charger to power the phone. Finally.

Related to this, the old version had a proprietary USB cable, which did not come with the phone and was devilishly-hard to find at a reasonable price. With the USB cable, and Pantech's downloadable Windows software (free), you could type entries directly into the phone book from the computer and you could download your recorded photos and videos. But the software's address-book was horribly flawed -- it would not allow you to select whether a phone number was "work", "home", "mobile-1", etc. and by the time it arrived on the phone, you could not tell one number from the next.

Also, with the USB cable, the Pantech II did not appear as a standard USB drive on the computer. This is a sad oversight and would make using the phone much nicer. (Update: a MicrosSD card would change this behavior, but I was expecting the internal memory to be visible to the computer, but it was not.)

Camera and Video:

The phone's camera is 1.5mpx and the quality is poor. In practice, I never used either the camera or the video. Reasoning: It's a flip-phone and people who use flip-phones can't possibly care.

The micro-SD card is hidden underneath the battery, making it unusable. This is why you want the USB cable.

There is no MP3 music feature.

External:

If you want ear-buds or a wired mic, there will be no such luck. There is no standard jack for these features and a wired mic was not made for the proprietary port. The phone was expecting you to use only Blue Tooth. In retrospect, this has been a big shortcoming with this phone. A wired boom mic is so much nicer than Bluetooth and I would really like one on this phone. It makes desk-work (working on a computer while talking on the phone) so much nicer. BlueTooth has too many faults.

Final Thoughts:

This is a flip-phone with no expectations of greatness. But the phone, as designed, is a good, quality device that feels solid and professional. Definitely not a cheap, disposable phone. Despite the complaints above, I had every intention of buying the new version.

Pantech P7040P Replacement

But, after pondering at the store, I decided to replace the phone with a keyboard so texting is easier. My daughter said she was tired of getting one-word texts from me and it was time to move up in the world. If it were not for the texting, I would have definitely bought a the original Panetech again.

Based mostly on price ($60), and partly on the keyboard, I bought a Pantech P7040P. This is an ATT "Go" phone, avoiding a 2-year contract.

Cons:

No voice recognition
Does not connect to ATT's Online Address Book (despite what the manual said). This meant I had to re-type all of my addresses manually.
Same proprietary power-jack as the flip-phone
No external headphone or microphone jack; an adapter is available via 3rd party.
Optional (free) PC-based software (for data-entry) is still flawed and useless.
Battery-life is not nearly as good as the flip phone, normally about 3 days use on a charge.
Not as comfortable to hold as the flip-phone. It is like talking on a Hershey bar.
Surfing the net with the built-in browser, on the larger screen, using the 3G network was an exercise in frustration and patience. This is not the phone to use for these tasks, nor is it sold as such a device. But it is "capable" (in quotes), not recommended.

Pros:

Remarkably thin, 9mm.
Larger, brighter screen
The keyboard is obviously better than a T9 keyboard.
It comes with a built-in music player (not tested, pointless without ear-buds).
The micro-sd card slot is more accessible.
When connected to a computer with the optional (proprietary) USB cable, the phone appears as a disk-drive (needs MicroSD card).

I've now used this phone long enough to know I like it. It certainly looks more trendy than a flip-phone. I'm pleased with the change. However, I still like the flip-phone

Related Articles:
Keyliner Cellphone Thoughts

USB Drive Backup Speed Slow

2011-10-03T05:06:00.000+01:00

Howto: Speed-up all USB drives in Windows 7. USB speeds for all Thumb drives, cameras, and other external USB disks will be much faster with a minor tweak. This change is recommended. Originally published 2010.07. Repeated here because it is topical.

When I converted my Dell XPS M1530 laptop to Windows 7 64 and ran an Acronis 2010 full system USB backup, the backup speeds were horribly slow -- slow enough to where 50G was going to take 8 hours. The backup should only take about 20 minutes.

At first I thought it was a problem with the 64-bit drivers and then I suspected a problem with the backup program but the real issue turned out to be Windows 7.

The solution is interesting and is applicable to all users with all Software.

Solution:

In Device Manager, change the drive's USB Policy to "Better Performance".
Follow these steps - which must be done for each plugged-in USB Device where you want the improved speed.

1. Plug-in the USB drive and allow it to mount normally.

2. Start, Control Panel, "Device Manager"

3. Open the "Disk Drive" section, locate the USB drive section (illustrated in red box). In the details, locate the USB drive. Make these changes:

a. Other-mouse-click (right mouse) the drive, Properties
b. Click the [Policies] tab
c. Choose "Better Performance"; Click OK and close the control panel

4. In the System Tray, click the arrow to expand hidden icons; choose the USB icon ("Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media); eject the disk and unplug the USB cable. Re-plug-in the disk for the changes to take effect.

Results:

Disk operations on this drive will be a zillion times faster. The new backup took exactly 23 minutes, which was a slight improvement over the original 8 hours. Even standard file-copies to this drive were improved.

If you purchase a new USB drive, you will need to do this same setting. Set one time per device, regardless of which USB port it is plugged into.

This holds true with thumb drives, cameras and all other external writable drives. I have not researched, but there is probably a global policy which can set this for all devices.

Drawbacks:

If you like to jerk the USB drive when you are done, you may be in trouble. With this change, you must click the system-tray icon and eject the disk in a controlled manner. Out of habit, you should be doing this anyway -- just to keep drives from corrupting.

Microsoft made a conservative default setting, which allows you to pull drives without fiddling around with software. But if you make these changes, you will have to exercise restraint when pulling a drive; you will have to use the System Tray.

Hard Disk Cache:

As an aside, the local Hard Disk has a similar setting, which I also enable on my own computers. In Control Panel, Disk Drives, locate the hard disk, select Properties, "[x] Enable Write Caching on the Device." I only recommend doing this on battery-powered laptops and on desktops with UPS protection.

Related Articles:
Disk Imaging Cleanup Steps - Make your backups faster
Acronis 2010 Step-by-Step
Recovering a single file with Acronis

Windows 7 Explorer Changes
Vista Spiffs -- making lots of things faster
Streamline Windows Start Menus

Adobe SendNow File Transfer

2011-10-01T05:01:00.003+01:00

Review: Adobe "SendNow" File Transfer - for those files too big to email. This is a recommended product for small, one-time targeted file transfers.

Emailing Big Files is a Pain
Have you ever wanted to email a large file, only to find your victim's email servers reject the delivery because the attachment was too large? -- most limit you to 5 to 15MB. Have you had problems where the receiving email does not allow executables or other types of programs, fearing a virus, and you have to spend a lot of time hiding your uploads in a renamed-zip-file? Has your outbound email attachment been quarantined, never to be found?

Adobe's SendNow Service:

All of these email problems are avoided with Adobe's File Transfer service called "Adobe SendNow." Link at bottom of article. You can send up to 100MB free (up to 2GB if paid service) to multiple recipients. Recipients are notified by email when the file is ready and they click a download link, bypassing their email server.

Adobe has both a free and paid service. The paid service has additional features, which a business might find useful. Here is the pricing information as of 2011.10:

I've found the free service adequate for most of my needs, especially for those one-time file transfers. I often use this service to send files to myself, say from home back to the office.

Using the Service:

The Sender (you) creates an Adobe account. Registration is simple: Give an email-address, a birthdate (in case you loose your password), which country you live in, and agree to the license agreement. Registration and confirmation takes about a minute.

It works like this: Login, upload a big file, click Send, type a destination email address. Super-easy, very handy. Compliments to Adobe for designing such a simple interface. Online help and videos are available, but you won't need them.

Recipients get a simple, uncluttered email with a nice download button and they do not have to register in order to use the service. You can send a file to yourself to test.

Upload speeds:
I have not timed the upload speeds, but on the surface, they are nothing to brag about. As with most port-80 uploads, this is not a speed-demon. If you are uploading 100mb files, expect a leisurely file transfer. I invite your comments on this topic.

Why not a Traditional FTP Service?

Keyliner also uses a standard FTP service for reader-downloads (See Drive H-Q, Keyliner reviewed here). With this, downloads are initiated by the recipient (not by you) and they can download at any time, essentially without your direct knowledge or permission on Public files. Contrast this with Adobe's product, where the sender (you), initiates the file-transfer and the sender controls who gets the file.

If you need to send a single file, to a small, selected group of individuals -- sending as a one-time event -- use Adobe's SendNow. For both the sender and the receiver, SendNow is faster and easier to use than a standard FTP server, but there are limitations. The free-account's files only stay around for 7 days and the file can only be downloaded up to 100 times. Contrast this with some of Keyliner's FTP files which are downloaded 100 times per day by people I've never met. If you have numerous people who need to retrieve the same file, an FTP service is probably the better option.

Keyliner has needs for both types of services. I recommend this product.

Related links:
Adobe SendNow
Drive H-Q Keyliner Reviewed

Smart Phone Sales

2011-09-12T01:30:00.001+01:00

Of interest: Smart Phone Sales Q2 2011

Source:
Article: Monday Note "Crazy Patent Wars"
Author - Frédéric Filloux

Original Source: asymco.com

GRC's Password Haystack

2011-08-31T05:21:00.016+01:00

Of interest

Gibson Research Company (GRC) wrote a fun password program, the "Password Haystack."

Link: https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm

In this program, type a password and it reports roughly how secure it is.

Try a variation of your own passwords. (GRC is a trustworthy site and I have full-faith in his honesty and security. I used my own password*, as illustrated below.) The results will be interesting. Note my password has a mixture of upper and lower-cased values, digits, but no special characters.

click illustration to see a larger view; click right-x to return

In my case, at 1,000 attempts per second, my password would take about 27 million years to hack. That is for all password combinations, but technically, you should divide the result by half to get an average attack. This means my password could be discovered in a mere 13 million years. Of course, the hackers might get it on the first try, especially if they use the password illustrated above*.

Notice how the second type of attack, which uses a computer clusters, needs about 3 months to hack, at 100 billion guesses per second -- a preposterous number. I have no earthly-idea if any computer can generate *and apply* passwords a billion times per second.

The "Massive" cluster array only needs 2 hours to hack my password. That is, *if* it could test at an unbelievable 100 Trillion attempts per second (I think the fiber-optic cables would melt before then and no system would allow that many attempts). It is probably safe to ignore this statistic.

In other words, I believe my password is "secure enough."

*No, not my real password, but it might be close.

But Wait, there is more!

Look what happens when you add a 'special character' to the password - I used a predictable [space]. This added one more digit to the length and theoretically changed the character set from 62 possible values to 95. According to GRC, the ubber-cluster now needs about 2 years to hack. An eternity!

These obscenely large calculations are flawed. If I were hacking, I'd add a space (a common character) to the first Search Space Depth, bringing the number of testable characters from 62 to 63 (not 95). I would also test for a first-letter-capitalized, with the remaining as lower-case (because I know that is what most of you are doing). And I would search dictionary-words first. These would vastly simplify the search combinations and these changes alone would probably cut the search times by a factor of 10,000. If I still didn't find a match, then I'd have to do the brute-force calculations recommended by the charts above.

But even with these faults, these numbers are still fun to look at and still give a general behavior to the passwords.

"Through 20 years of effort,
we have successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember,
but easy for computers to guess." -xkcd.com

So What

And consider this: A friend of mine hacked a co-worker's password in 5 attempts, without resorting to any gimmickry. The password he found was predictable (at least for them): "Harley Davidson". Guess who owned a new bike. When I worked at corporate IT helpdesk, I could find a user's current password about 10% of the time by just looking at the yellow-sticky under the keyboard.

All of this is well-and-good. But there is still a problem with any password. If you write it down or unwittingly type it in a nefarious site, any password can be compromised. Imagine in a phishing scam, you log into your bank's website, not realizing the fake. You type your super-complex, 87-character password.

No matter how long, no matter how complex, no password is safe if you give it away. Of course, passwords are hackable with this xkcd.com method:

Google 2-Step Authentication

For my Gmail and Blogspot account, I have been using Google's 2-step authentication.

In this, I type the normal password, then Google sends a text to my Cell phone with a secondary code. I enter this one-time code, and only then am I granted access. This works similarly to the RSA random-number dongles you sometimes see.

With this two-stage (2-step) authentication, my login has become nearly impossible to hack from a remote location. Even if you have my password, you can't login without my phone.

In practice, using the two-stage authentication is a nuisance -- I now always need my cellphone to log in -- but I have become accustomed to it. After 3 months, I accept this as the norm and I wish I could use this method for all of my accounts.

What if I loose my cell phone? Without going into details, Google has a moderately secure, alternate method for logging in. See this article for full details on the 2-step authentication. Unfortunately, this only works on Google products.

20 Years of Password Nonsense

And this now famous xkcd comic, although only a month old, has circled the Earth about a million times. This explains GRC's idea a little more succinctly:

Click for a larger view, click right-x to return.

Password Recommendations:

Short of using a 2-step authentication, what are two simple things you can do for better password security:

1. Use a password phrase (two or more words).

2. Use a different password for each site. If one password is compromised, you won't loose everything. But this admittedly makes passwords nearly impossible to remember. Consider this trick, which uses the same password on each site/program, but adds a suffix, making it unique.

For example:
If your normal password were "ab doggie barks"

use "ab doggie barks hotm" for your hotmail account.
use "ab doggie barks goog" for your google account
use "ab doggie barks bank" for your banking account

If the password were compromised, it would at least slow down automated programs from guessing the other accounts. Naturally, a human would see through this in a heart beat.

PaintShop Pro Fuzzy Illustration Text

2011-08-23T22:48:00.009+01:00

How: Using PaintShop Pro to write crisp text. Default PSP text is fuzzy, indistinct. This article describes how to fix this problem.

When using PaintShop Pro (X3 and older versions) for illustrative text, you will be disappointed in the quality. Small text will be especially indistinct and fuzzy. Larger font sizes do not exhibit these problems.

For example, here is a screen shot that needed additional text to help with the illustration. The upper-right shows the default PSP text. The paragraph below shows the improved text recommended by this article.

Reason:

By design, the program composes fonts in two parts, using an outline and a fill. While this works great with larger sized fonts, it falls apart when the font is 14 points or smaller. PSP likes to take a font and color the 'stroke-width' differently than the 'fill.' As the font gets smaller, the outline competes with the fill and everything becomes indistinct. Anti-aliasing also introduces problems at these finer point sizes.

Setting the Font:

For best results, I recommend these settings, for all point sizes. In summary, don't use the outlined "stroke width" and flip the foreground colors:

1. Select the Text tool "A" from the toolbar menu.

2. On the top toolbar, set the "Stroke Width" to 0.0 (you can leave this setting permanently - the measurement sticks with the font tool).

3. On the top-menu, turn Anti-aliasing off for fonts 14 points or smaller.

4. Most importantly, switch the foreground and background colors.

Set the background color to the color you want the text to be. Illustrated below, the text color is set to red.

Flipping the foreground/background colors is best done by clicking the upper-"flip" arrow on the Materials Pallet. If the Material Pallet is not visible, click View, Pallets, Materials.

In practice, flipping the colors is a nuisance. You'll flip the colors, type your text, then return to other drawing tools -- where you will find the colors are wrong and you will have to flip them again.

Related Articles:
Windows 7 and Paint Shop Pro Not Working
Using PSP to Crop Images respecting Aspect Ratios

Booting from a CD or DVD

2011-08-21T20:46:00.005+01:00

Howto: Configure a PC to boot from an external CD or DVD

The question arose: Can a Netbook PC boot from an external USB CD/DVD drive, even if the device does not have a built-in drive? Yes. This article describes the how to boot any PC from a DVD and the why of doing this.

Why do this? In a previous Keyliner article, "Microsoft System Sweeper - Bootable from a CD", I described a new Microsoft product that allows you to boot an infected PC from a CD and run a reasonably good virus scanner. Other situations might include booting a PC from a Windows PE Boot disk or a Linux boot disk in order to retrieve data from a corrupted hard drive. Finally, you might have a backup program, such as Acronis, which can boot from a CD in order to recover a system backup. In each of these instances, the CD/DVD must be a bootable CD and typically, the CD is produced by the vendor.

Booting from CD on a Normal PC

When a PC boots, it typically looks to the Hard Disk as the first boot device but you may get lucky and it might be configured to look at the CD first.

Confirm this by inserting the Bootable CD/DVD. Shutdown the computer normally and cold boot. If you see a DOS-like prompt, "Press any key to boot from the CD", then you are all set and this article will not be of interest. But a lot of machines ignore the CD and boot directly from the hard disk.

But wait! On some machines, as they boot, you may see a "F10=Boot Menu" (usually, this prompt is right below the F2=Setup). If you see this prompt, quickly press F10 a couple of times. A short menu will display. Arrow-key away from the "Hard Disk" choice and choose the CD/DVD drive and press Enter. The CD will boot and once again, you are lucky and you can ignore the rest of this article.

If the CD is still ignored (or you do not have a F10-BootMenu), and the regular operating system loads, then follow these basic steps to re-configure your BIOS. This is a low-risk, one-time setup and once set, you can leave the changes in place.

Configure the BIOS to Boot from CD

Follow these steps if your PC does not boot from a CD (tested, above).

Computer manufacturers vary with different BIOSes and, unfortunately, they have slightly different steps for entering the BIOS configuration screens. However, these basic steps will work for most desktop and laptop computers with built-in CD/DVD drives. See below for Netbook-specific instructions when there is not a built-in CD/DVD drive.

1. From the operating system (Windows) desktop, shut-down the computer normally.

2. From a powered-off state, power up the computer and watch the screen for the hardware's BIOS splash screen. You may see the computer's brand name (Dell, HP) or a generic BIOS name, such as Phoenix or AMD. The splash displays just before the operating system boots and the screen only displays for two or three seconds.

3. Reading the BIOS splash-screen, look for "SETUP" mode.

On most machines, it will show "F2=Setup" (sometimes, on older computers, F10 or Esc.).

Tap the F2 key a couple of times. Press the key while the BIOS splash-screen is displayed -- you have to be quick. Press the key two or three times*.
If you miss, the operating system will boot normally; return to step 1 and try again.

4. The BIOS Setup screen is a DOS-like character screen and the mouse will not work.

Usually, along the top is a menu. Arrow-key across, looking for a BOOT menu. On some BIOS, look for the SYSTEM menu and you will find a BOOT ORDER menu within.

5. In the Boot Menu will be a list of devices. For example:

+Hard Disk
Removable Devices
USB Storage Devices
CD/DVD/CDR-DVDR

Arrow-key down, highlighting the CD drive.

The goal is to move the CD-choice to the top of the list. Naturally, BIOS manufacturers vary on how to do this. Phoenix BIOS, for example, uses F6 to Move/Shift the value up in the list. Other BIOSes use Page-Up/Down or +/-. Look at the bottom or right side of the screen for instructions.

Using the correct keystroke, move the CD/DVD drive to the top of the list, above the hard disk.

6. Referring again to the keyboard guide, press the appropriate key to Save the changes. On most BIOSes, this is F10=Save.

7. Allow the PC to reboot, with a Bootable CD in the drive.

Watch the screen carefully and act quickly.

On some BIOSes, if you see a "F10=Boot Menu", press F10 a couple of times and choose the CD/DVD drive. The PC should boot from the CD.

On other BIOSes, a menu is not prompted or displayed. Instead, the PC will ask "Press any key to boot from CD". Press the Space-bar or "Y" to be safe (the Shift, control or Alt keys will not work). The PC should boot from the CD.

Booting from a CD using a Netbook Computer

Netbook computers do not have CD/DVD's to boot from. You will have to buy an external USB CDR/DVD drive. These typically cost around $50 and can be used on any computer as a CD/DVD drive. Any brand will do.

Because Netbooks never come with a CD/DVD, you will have to go into the BIOS to configure them. Following the steps above, cold-boot the computer and look for the BIOS setup screen.

1. Plug in the External CD/DVD into any available USB port.

No software drivers or other setup is required.

2. In the BIOS setup screens, locate the BOOT menu.

3. In the menu, shift the devices to be in this order (see above, for exact steps)

USB Storage Device
Removable Device
+Hard Disk
(other devices)

where USB Storage and Removable are at the top of the list.

4. Press (F10=Save) to save the BIOS changes.

5. Allow the PC to reboot.

6. With the DELL MINI Netbook, the splash-screen displays "F10=Boot Menu". Press F10.

7. Oddly, from the displayed menu, choose "CD/DVD" (not USB or Removable Devices, even though you configured the BIOS to be this way). The CD should boot. When prompted, type "Y" to confirm.

*On older computers, the F2=Setup key may not work if you have a USB keyboard plugged in. The BIOS does not load the keyboard driver in time for the splash screen. In these cases, you will have to plug in an old-style PS/2 DIN keyboard into the "purple" keyboard plug.

Your unregistered comments on this article are welcome.

Software Truisms

2011-08-20T23:31:00.004+01:00

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.
-- Einstein

André Bensoussan once explained to me the difference between a programmer and a designer:
"If you make a general statement, a programmer says, 'Yes, but...'
while a designer says, 'Yes, and...'"

No matter what the problem is, it is always a people problem.
-- Jerry Weinberg

Wexelblat's Scheduling Algorithm. With any project, choose two:
Good, Fast, Cheap

"There's no time to stop for gas, we're already late"
-- Karin Donker

Deming's 14 points:

Create constancy of purpose.
Adopt the new philosophy.
Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve quality.
Minimize total cost, not initial price of supplies.
Improve constantly the system of production and service.
Institute training on the job.
Institute leadership.
Drive out fear.
Break down barriers between departments.
Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and numerical targets.
Eliminate work standards (quotas) and management by objective.
Remove barriers that rob workers, engineers, and managers of their pride of workmanship.
Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
Put everyone in the company to work to accomplish the transformation.

We know about as much about software quality problems as they knew about the Black Plague in the 1600s. We've seen the victims' agonies and helped burn the corpses. We don't know what causes it; we don't really know if there is only one disease. We just suffer -- and keep pouring our sewage into our water supply.
-- Tom Van Vleck

When somebody begins a sentence with "It would be nice if..." the right thing to do is to wait politely for the speaker to finish. No project ever gets around to the it-would-be-nice features: or if they do, they regret it.

Wait for sentences that begin "We have to..." and pay close attention, and see if you agree.
-- Tom Van Vleck

The schedule doesn't have enough time for maintenance.
A lot of bugs get past the tests.
Most old code can't be maintained.

Anybody who knows about orbital mechanics knows in order to go faster, slow down.
-- Scott Cherf

Discipline is the best tool.
Design first, then code.
Don't patch bugs out, rewrite them out.
Don't test bugs out, design them out.

If you don't understand it, you can't program it.
If you didn't measure it, you didn't do it.

If something is worth doing once, it's worth building a tool to do it.

If you've found 3 bugs in a program, best estimate is that there are 3 more.
60% of product cost comes after initial shipment.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.
-- Albert Einstein

On the radio the other night, Jimmy Connors said the best advice he ever got was from Bobby Riggs:
do it
do it right
do it right now

A leader is best when people barely know that he exists.
Less good when they obey and acclaim him.
Worse when they fear and despise him.
Fail to honor people, and they fail to honor you.
But of a good leader, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say, "We did this ourselves."
-- Lao-Tzu

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
-- Gandhi

One test is worth a thousand opinions.

This saying is popular among scientists (doing experiments), but I believe it applies to software testing, particularly for real-time systems.
"If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen."
--Larry Zana

I am a design chauvinist. I believe that good design is magical and not to be lightly tinkered with. The difference between a great design and a lousy one is in the meshing of the thousand details that either fit or don't, and the spirit of the passionate intellect that has tied them together, or tried.

That's why programming---or buying software---on the basis of "lists of features" is a doomed and misguided effort. The features can be thrown together, as in a garbage can, or carefully laid together and interwoven in elegant unification, as in APL, or the Forth language, or the game of chess.
-- Ted Nelson

If you think good architecture is expensive, try bad architecture.
-- Brian Foote and Joseph Yoder

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
-- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Document everything and document consistently.
- Tim Wolf

Conflicting Goals when Digitizing MP3 files

2011-08-07T18:53:00.015+01:00

Commentary on MP3 Files and Compression

I am old fashioned when it comes to music. I often buy the CD / album, then digitize the files on a laptop so the library is available when I travel. This makes the laptop a large and heavy MP3 player. With the digitized library, I have a backup of the music and I have the obvious flexibility to move the files to other devices. Ultimately, I suppose I treat the MP3 copy as the master and the original CD becomes the backup.

When digitizing the music, I Rip the music at the highest bit-rate (highest audio quality, uncompressed - 192kbs - the largest allowed by Windows Media Player WMP).

The reason is simple: Hard Disk space is cheap and I want these files to retain as much fidelity as possible. With this, an average MP3 track is 6 to 8 MB and an album checks in around 100MB - making these sizable files.

Problems in MP3 Land

Storing all original MP3's at their highest quality has its problems. Backups on the entire library is now approaching 30GB.

But more importantly, moving an album to our portable 4GB MP3 player means the player can only hold about 25 albums. If the files were stored at a moderate 96kbs (plenty of quality for a portable player), then I could store twice as many on the same MP3 player. While jogging or driving, most could not tell (nor should they care) about the lower-quality difference under those conditions.

In other words, I have two conflicting goals. One is to have a long-term, high-fidelity copy of the original music and a second is to have smaller versions of the same music stored on the portable music players, where smaller files means more music.

Of humor, years ago, people were concerned when a track occupied 30K. 10 years from now, a terabyte will be inconsequential. (More than likely, 10 years from now, nobody will own their own music - they will just rent it -- but that is another issue with its own problems.)

What I really Want: Record every track twice

Imagine if your media player (iTunes, WMP, etc.) recorded all tracks twice: Once at full-fidelity and a second compressed copy, suitable for less-capable devices.

If the Computer's media player were playing, it would use the uncompressed copy. If it copied the files to a portable player or downloaded them to the network-aware car-stereo, then it would download the compressed versions. We could have our proverbial cake and eat it too. But the software does not do this.

Yes, this would take more hard disk space, but on some devices, disk is cheap. I wish there were a way to manage this.

Audacity Sound Editor

2011-07-31T19:55:00.017+01:00

Review: Audacity Sound Editing - a free, open-source program that can help record and edit audio files.

Twenty years ago I bought the soundtrack to the "Music of Cosmos" (a 1980 science and philosophical show, first broadcast on PBS, narrated by the late Dr. Carl Sagan). The two-disc set is still available and there are other versions of the soundtrack.

The soundtrack is flawed. Most of the tracks had sound-effects from the television series mixed at the leading and trailing end of each of the orchestral pieces. Sounds of rockets, chain saws, birds, frogs and people would fade into the music and then fade away as the real music started. While this all made sense in the TV series, it made no sense on the album.

For the past two decades, I bristled at this. It would take an audio-editor to clean this up and what do I know about audio files - nothing.

Audacity

On a lark, I saw a free audio-editing program called Audacity.

No exaggeration, I downloaded the program, opened the first MP3 track and fixed the problems, all in about two minutes. This without having opened the help files or reading a single thing about the program.

Saving the results back as an MP3 took a few more minutes, requiring a plugin, and I was done. An hour later, 20 tracks were edited and the album is now what it should have been.

Basically, with most of the tracks, I cut off the first 5 to 10 seconds, then faded the music. A click here, a drag there, and I was done. Other tracks did not require this type of work, but the mixing on the original was done somewhat unprofessionally with some of the tracks starting too abruptly. It was easy to insert blank air and then fade in.

The Effects menu is displayed to the left. Click for a larger view, then click the right-x to return. You can blend tracks, shift, and all the editing you'd expect from any good photo-editor -- I mean, sound-editor.

Recommended Installation Steps:

I installed with these recommended steps. You'll note I did not use the official installer, instead choosing to download the ZIP. What is nice about this software is it does not have to be installed because you can simply expand the zip into a folder and run directly from there.

1. With Windows Explorer, create a new Program directory, such as

C:\Program Files (x86)\Util\Audacity

2. Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Click the "Main Release" (currently version 1.26; I did not use the Beta versions).
Click the correct operating system (e.g. Windows)
On the Download page, scroll down and locate the Audacity Zip File

3. Open the downloaded Zip file and copy all contents to the directory built in step-1. This is all you need to do to install the program.

4. Optionally, other-mouse-click "Audacity.exe" and create a shortcut on your desktop.

5. Audacity can natively read MP3 files, but it cannot write them without a plug-in. Assuming you want to write MP3 files, do this step:

Open this link: http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/

Download either the Zip version or the installable version. If installing, let it install into the Audacity main program directory. If you download the zip, copy "lame_enc.dll" to the Audacity program directory, in step-1.

When Audacity first tries to write an MP3 (File, "Export as MP3"), it will prompt, asking for the location of the LAME DLL. Browse to this folder. This is a one-time setup.

This completes the installation steps.

Audacity General Hints:
(version 1.26)

It is not obvious how to advance into a song. Click Stop, then click the position in the song. If the software is playing or paused, it will not allow you to move the play-position.

The Effects menu is only active when Stopped. At all other times, the options are grey.

When you save the song, Audacity wants to save the Project as an AUP file. Unless you want to keep the editing session (saving Undo's and other settings), you can ignore saving the "project." Instead, choosing menu "Export as MP3" or as a "WAV". See installation notes, above.

Once exported, there is no obvious way to close the AUP session -- there is no File Close menu. Selecting File, Open, opens another track and what you will find is it opens a second copy of Audacity. This surprised me.

By the time I was done editing 20 tracks, I found 20 copies of Audacity opened and each wanted to save an AUP project file. I abandoned/cancelled each Save (the files were already exported as MP3). Not being able to close an edited track may be due to my obvious lack of skills with this software, but Audacity does not behave as a normal program does in this area and I found it confusing. Why not have a "File, Close" menu?

The Audacity website has numerous links to online books, wikis, and a host of other resources, with many tutorials that discuss all kinds of editing effects. This is a recommended program and it deserves your support.

PrizeSelect Raffle Program - downloadable

2011-07-30T05:35:00.014+01:00

Download: Free raffle ticket, prize drawing program with no registration or trials; a simple .exe. NewVersion 1.05, updated 2011.07.30 with slot-machine effects and an improved options screen. This replaces and dramatically improves on an earlier program written in Excel (PrizeOrama).

PrizeSelect is a Windows raffle-drawing program that randomly selects winners from a pool of eligible contestants and displays the results in real-time on the screen. It is designed to be used in front of a live audience and can handle either Raffle-tickets (numbers) or people names.

The program is free to download.
No registration, no nagware, no advertisements, no installation.

Example run showing a pre-configured prize package that Joyce is about to win

PrizeSelect understands how a raffle operates - especially in front of a live audience. It gives the presenter flexibility to change which prizes are being awarded, in what order, and it can control repeat-winners and other aspects of a raffle.

Small Program, Many Features:

Free to use for all personal and commercial use. No registration or licensing required.
No hassle installation: Simply copy the EXE.
Fully documented with a 39-page PDF
Supports "Numbered Raffle-tickets" or "Raffle-by-Name".
Supports pre-configured raffles (for company parties, etc) or ad-hoc (on-the-fly) raffles in either a "Numbered-ticket" or "Name" mode.

Contestants or ticket numbers can be added on the fly in an ad-hoc mode as the raffle starts or Contestant-names can be pre-loaded via an INI file. Multiple configuration files can be used, each with separate prize-lists and other criteria. Once the raffle starts, contestants can be added on-the-fly

Winners can optionally be restricted to one (1) win per contest and this is changeable on a prize-by-prize basis.
For example, when giving away minor prizes, only allow one win per person, but for the Grand Prize, let all contestants be eligible. One mouse-click changes this mode.
As names/tickets are drawn, you choose whether to "accept" them as a winner (for a 'Must be present to win' raffle) or if the winner declines the prize, simply draw a new name. The declined name is eligible to win the next prize.
Contestants can be unobtrusively removed during an in-progress raffle.

Ticket Sale Features:

Contestants can be entered into the raffle either by selling "raffle-tickets," typically from a roll of numbered tickets, or by "Name," as in "John Smith."
Numbered Raffle tickets can be entered en-mass, as one transaction, moments before the raffle starts. For example, you could enter tickets "1000-1546" and the raffle would choose between these numbers.

If needed, New ticket sales can be added after the raffle begins. Tickets can be entered from multiple rolls – as long as the numbers do not intersect.
Numbered tickets can also be sold by "Name."

For example, John Smith may have purchased 10 tickets.

When entering his purchase, you could type "John Smith x15" -- giving Mr. Smith 15 chances (15 copies of his name in the contestant list). Even if you are using numbered tickets, notice how there is no need to track the ticket numbers. This is a popular way to use the program with medium to small groups.
If Mr. Smith later returns and buys 5 more tickets, you can enter this as a second transaction ("John Smith x5") – without having to look up his previous purchase. Mr. Smith would now have 20 chances to win.
Contestants can also be entered via a previously built configuration file. For example, for a company party, you could import all employee names and other names can be added ad-hoc during the raffle. The program automatically warns if duplicate names are found.
All contestants (or tickets) can be edited/viewed during the raffle. Tickets or Names can be added while the raffle is in progress.

Prize-List Features:

Optional Prize lists can be built ahead of time, with optional pictures acting as advertisements, independently of the contestant lists.
Prizes can be awarded in a pre-set order or prizes can be selected at-will from the list.
Un-announced, un-planned, ad-hoc prizes can be awarded via an "unspecified prize." The Prize-master can switch between the original prize-list and ad-hoc prizes with a mouse-click.
Prizes can optionally and automatically move to the next "available prize" as winners are chosen or the next prize can remain hidden until the Prize-master chooses to expose it.
Awarded prizes are automatically removed from the Prize List so there is no risk of accidentally awarding it twice.
Accepted winners are recorded to an external transaction file for later reporting. In the event of a power failure, results are safely recorded. The original and modified contestant list is backed up with each new transaction and can be recovered up to the point of failure within moments.
If a pre-determined prize-list is not available, or if all "known" prizes are exhausted, the program switches to an "unspecified prize mode," without interruption. This allows the Prize Master to give away ad-hoc prizes, as Prize-masters and MC's often like to do.

Downloading:

Download PrizeSelect.exe from keyliner FTP.
No registration is required.

Click this link: Keyliner FTP Link

Downloading Instructions:
Keyliner's FTP service is a little confusing when you first see it.

On the FTP screen, click on filename(s) checkbox, then use the top-toolbar's "Download" to begin the transfer.

I also recommend downloading the Installation/User-guide (PDF). Be aware most of the features in this program are somewhat hidden in order to give the program good "curb-appeal." The PDF demonstrates various scenarios on how you can use this program.

The remainder of this post highlights some of the most commonly-used features, but the Installation PDF has full details, including some great examples and best practices. You are encouraged to review the PDF.

More on the Features:

Contestant names can be copied and pasted into configuration files, typically from Excel. Names can also be imported from one or more external ASCII files, allowing automated population. Typically, links are made to external lists, such as club-memberships, school rosters, etc.

Individual names can also be added on-the-fly, as in this screen shot:

Click image for larger view, "Back" to return

Once names / raffle-numbers are added, the contestant list can be modified with rename, delete and find-duplicates. This is a screen shot showing a contestant list:

Standard Raffle Ticket Drawings:

PrizeSelections can be started in an ad-hoc mode (on the fly, without any pre-configuration). This is particularly useful for traditional raffle-ticket drawings where you are using rolled-tickets. Data-entry for the tickets is easy, where you enter all the tickets in one transaction.

Illustrated, tickets #32000-32456 are being added in one step:
Multiple ticket ranges are supported as are multiple rolls. Sold tickets can be managed from this inventory screen, in this case, showing numbered tickets instead of Names:

In the event of a power failure or other calamity, you can recover both planned and ad-hoc sessions with a few clicks of the mouse. The program is driven by simple ASCII files; no complicated databases or other proprietary structures are needed to use the program.

Why this program instead of the Excel version?

The previously written Excel sheet, PrizeOrama, is primitive compared to this program. The Excel sheet lacks the ability to change contestants on-the-fly and it cannot detect and disqualify previous winners. Also, this program has a more sophisticated and robust random-selection algorithm that works better with smaller contestant pools.

Version History:
Full details in the Installation PDF guide.
Program written by Traywolf @ Keyliner.

1.02 Initial Release

1.03 Added support for "Discard All". Added support for non-ranged, single-raffle-ticket data entry. Fixed bug when loading backup.ini files which contained non-ranged numbers.

1.04 Added support for copying Winner list to clipboard. Modified "Autoadvance to next Prize" to behave more smoothly when on an "unspecified prize"; it automatically advances to a new Unspecified prize even if auto-advance is disabled. In practice, this feels more natural during an impromptu prize-give-away.

1.05 Added Slot-machine effect while names are being drawn. Changed the "List All" page, adding more options. Improvements in documentation.

2010.12 Update: RaffleSelect went out to play at a company holiday party with 700 people. Prior to the show, contestants and prizes were pre-loaded. Along with a few last-minute name-changes, the program performed marvelously. Illustrations were used for all the prizes, giving a very professional look. The program received lots of compliments.

If you use this program, drop me a note here and tell me how it went.

Related articles and links:
PrizeSelect from Keyliner FTP
PrizeOrama - Raffle-ticket selection in Excel

PSP X3 Bug - Bottom Pixels being Cut off

2011-07-22T05:50:00.009+01:00

How To: Corel PaintShop Pro X3 (PSP X3) truncates bottom pixels from a selection when pasted.

Some installations of PaintShop Pro PSP X3 are truncating the bottom row of pixels when pasting the selection onto another graphic or other layer.

Vendor Solution:

As of 2011.07.22, This solution is not part of Service Pack 4 and the patch must be applied separately. This patch will not arrive via automatic updates. If Service Pack 5 (5+) is released, this patch may be obsolete and should not be used.

Important note: PSP Service Pack 4 (or later) must be applied prior to this patch.

1. Confirm Service Pack version:

Launch PSP X3, Help, About.
Look for this version: 13.2.1.20
Close PSP prior to applying the patch.

Note: PSP X3 SP4 can be found here.

2. From Corel's site,

Link: 000005465 - pixels along the bottom edge of a selection dropped

Download the FTP file displayed in the article to a known location.

3. Launch and install the downloaded file:

File Details: ftp://PSPX3:Lut20dT4@cfs2.corel.com/PSPPX3_P5B1.exe

This patch does not change the version-number.

Related articles:
PSP X3 hangs
Using PSP to Crop Wallpaper Images (Aspect Ratio)
PSP Fuzzy Text Fix

Article Keywords:
drops / truncates / cuts off / cuts / chops paintshoppro / paintshop pro paint shop pro

Cleaning Startup Programs

2011-07-16T07:07:00.002+01:00

Howto: This article discusses how to use MSConfig to cleanup a computer's startup programs, providing faster boot times, less memory, faster computers, with less junk. This article was written for Windows 7, Vista and XP and was updated on 2011.07.

See also:
Windows 7 Streamline Start Menus (Organizing the Start Menu)
Windows XP/Vista Streamline Start Menus
Cleaning Scareware and other Viruses

Cleaning up Startup Programs

The other day my laptop booted and bugged me about a printer update. During this past two years I have never once wished for a printer update -- how did it know? There is only one explanation: For the past two years, a program that does nothing but look for updates has been running.

Programs like this hog bandwidth and kill boot times.

How is Your PC?

In the lower-right corner, look at the System Tray (you may need to click the arrow to expand it). If you have more than a half-dozen icons, I'd bet most are pointless and seldom, if ever, used. Every icon in the system tray represents a program that takes CPU-time and for every one exposed in the tray, there are probably a half-dozen hidden ones.

* Are you being bugged about an auto update?
* Does your PC take more than 70 seconds to boot?
* Does your System Tray have 8, 10 or more icons?

Here are all the icons on my desktop computer. I consider this a healthy system.

Ask these questions:

Does the icon show useful information?
Does the icon help in your day-to-day work?
Do the icons benefit you?

Sadly, the System Tray represents a fraction of the startup programs a computer must endure. Although some should not or cannot be disabled, most are expendable. This article will help to identify them.

Cleaning Up with MSCONFIG

To clean up the startup programs, do the following.

1. Click Start, Run, and type "MSConfig"
If the RUN command is not visible, see this article.
(See also the recent article on another Microsoft utility: AutoRuns)

2. Select the "Startup" tab at the top of the screen.

3. Uncheck items that you think are safe to disable, after reading the comments below.

(Click image for larger view; click right-x to return)

Items marked with a 'check' run when the computer boots and generally stay running even though you may not see them. Unchecked items are disabled (but remain installed). Most of the computers I've met have 20 to 30 items in the list with most enabled. Oink.

MSConfig does not offer help on what is safe to disable but you can get a better idea by widening the Command column (drag the column-width header). Often, just by the file-path, you can tell what the program is.

For instance, my computer had two programs running in an HP directory: "HPWuschd." and "HPcmpmgr". The first fetched updates (schd = scheduled) but what about the second? Google to the rescue.

After searching "hpcmpmgr", I found what the program does. "hpcmpmgr.exe is the main process belonging to the HP Component Manager, and is important for their multimedia products." This sounds important. It continued with, "This program is a non-essential process but should not be terminated unless suspected of causing problems." Reading further, the program also checks for Printer-driver updates. Ah-ha! There are two programs doing the same thing!

Ignore Lawyer-induced Language:

When you look up any process in Google, they will always waffle and say, "leave it running unless it is causing problems." Pay no attention to wishy-washy, lawyer-induced language.

Instead, latch onto the 'non-essential' phrase. If you see that kind of terminology you can almost guarantee the program is optional and you can use MSConfig to uncheck it. (for that matter, 'essential' programs can often be taken with a grain of salt.)

After unchecking a program, consider rebooting the computer. Test the device or associated program in question. In my case, I have two HP Printers and an HP Digital Camera; all worked even though these programs were disabled. I now have two less programs in my startup files.
Safety Check:

After unchecking and rebooting, MSCONFIG displays a warning screen - offering the chance to re-enable these programs. Give the PC a few days and a few reboots before permanently dismissing the warning. Once you click "Don't bug me again," MSConfig won't say a word until you make another change. This is a nice safety feature and it allows you to easily un-do what you did.

Important Sounding, but not really

Of the 21 programs in my startup list, I disabled 14 of them. Here is a taste on what I found; each of these were disabled:

- Acrobat Reader Updater
- Acrobat PreLoader
- Adobe ARM
- Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager (ARM - Auto-update)
- Adobe Reader Speed Launcher
- Corel Photo-Downloader
- Standby Service (Standby.exe Corel)
- DellSupportCenter
- Java(TM) Platform SE Auto Updater
- Sun Java Update Scheduler
- NVidia Media Center Library
- Dell QuickSet
- (Quicken) QTask
- Quicken Startup
- RealSched

Cleaning crap like this can easily take 60 seconds or more off boot times and I have worked on dirty machines where I took 5 minutes off boot times.
Here are more comments and examples of things to delete:

- Dell QuickSet (power management software)
Reachable via a Windows control panel

- Tfswctrl (something to do with HP's CDRom burner)
I noted that I can still burn CD's. Nobody seemed to know exactly what this program did. But more interestingly, I retired that old HP CDR last year. It pays to search your startup folders every now and then.

- ISUSPM (Dreamweaver auto-update program) The odds are next-to-nil that my two-versions-behind copy of Dreamweaver will have an update. Yet every day my computer searched for an update. What a waste.

- Qttask (Quicken Checkbook bill minder - Pop-up reminders about past-due bills). I don't use this feature but Quicken installed it on the off-chance I might.

- RealSche (RealPlayer Update) We already know they have an update. They have one every week. I certainly don't need a reminder.

- My DVD movie player had an important-sounding driver in the Startup, "InterVideo WinCinema". This was one of those rare drivers where I couldn't find any information telling me what this program did. Finally, one minor site had enough guts to say "This program is not required." I disabled it a year ago and get this, I can still watch movies on my laptop.

AutoUpdaters - A dime-a-dozen:

Most applications include an update-menu within the program and some of these programs may be several years old and will probably never have an update (think about your DVD Movie player, photo-editors, printers, etc.). Why launch a program each time you boot? For most of these programs, open the application, click Help, "Check for Updates" while others are visible in the control panel. For example, Corel Update, Microsoft Office Update, Acrobat Updater, all can be updated manually.
Opinion: If you disable some auto-updaters, such as Adobe's Acrobat ARM, you will have to manage updates yourself. Periodically, launch Acrobat and select, Help, Update -- saving your computer the startup headaches. For any other auto-updaters, look inside of the program for an "update" menu -- most have them.

Video Drivers:
As an aside, when installing new video drivers, from NVidia or ATI, only install the "base" drivers. For example, here are my recommendations:

When installing, always choose "Custom (Advanced)"

In Components:
[ ] Nvidia Update (recommend checking manually)
[ ] Physx System Software (Check [X] if you are a gamer)
[ ] 3D Vision Controller Driver
[X] Graphics Driver
[ ] 3D Vision Driver
... catching this stuff during a custom install saves you from having to remove them in MSConfig.

What Not to Delete

The laptop's wireless ethernet card probably has a few goodies that you shouldn't mess with. On my computer you can recognize the directory "Intel\Wireless\Bin". You'll also want to leave your virus and spyware scanners as well as your firewall software. Hardware drivers, such as your Touchpad (APOINT.exe), Video drivers (Nvidia, ATI), and Sound drivers should be left alone.

Usually both Video and Sound Drivers put icons in the system tray that are not removable. Some vendors give the option to hide the icon. Other-mouse-click the icon and look for a "don't display in System Tray." You may ask, What if I need to get to the icon?" Visit the control panel; all of your options are there.

If in doubt about what an item is, search the web, using the "startup item's" name to see what other people have discovered. Remember, words like "optional" or "non-essential" are clues.
Here are some of the tasks that I left running:
+ APoint
+ Realtek HD Audio Manager
+ Intel(R) CommonUserInterface (multiple)
+ Acronis Scheduler Helper (Acronis backup requires this)
+ Acronis True Image
+ Corel File Shell Monitor (PSP licensing?)
+ Microsoft Security Client (MSE)
+ Microsoft Intellipoint (Mouse)
+ Microsoft Windows(R) Operating System (Sidebar)
+ Microsoft Windows Operating System (ctfmon.exe)
+ NVidia / ATI drivers
+ IconUtility (Alcor Card Reader)
+ Unknown (Roxio CD Bruner

Your system, and its particular hardware, may have different needs.

STARTUP Groups

Some programs, such as older versions of Microsoft Office, put programs in the Windows "Startup Group" (folder). See Start, Programs, STARTUP to see what is lurking there. Usually they can be deleted. This includes Adobe Acrobat's pre-load, Microsoft's Office Startup, MOM, DAD, Typing Tutor Pre-loaders, etc. I've never found an icon that was required to live in this group. Consider moving the icons to another folder before deleting them, this way you can return them if needed.

Check Occasionally

At least once every few months, especially if you have been installing new software or hardware, look through the list and do some weeding. Somebody is always sneaking something in there. As always, reboot and test. If find something quit working (such as your scanner or camera), launch MSConfig and recheck the box and reboot.

RegEdit:

If you are familiar with Regedit, all MSConfig changes live in this structure:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and \RunOnce.

Windows XP places a subfolder below, where msconfig hides the items you unchecked. Vista tucks them in a different location:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupREG

If you are skilled with Regedit, you can remove items from here, but MSConfig/Autoruns is easier to use and less dangerous.

Other Steps

Vaguely related to this is your Start Menu. Although cleaning this up does not improve your computer's boot times, it can certainly improve how much you like using the computer. Read the following articles on how to streamline your Start Menu.

Related Articles:
Windows 7 Streamline Start Menus (organizing the Start Menu)
Windows XP/Vista Streamline Start Menus
Disk Cleanup Steps
Optimizing the Swap File
CPU Utilization (AVG)

WordPerfect - Hanging Indents - Paragraph Headers

2011-07-09T20:36:00.008+01:00

Reports and other papers often need Hanging Indented paragraphs or Margin-released headers.

Hanging Indents:

A Hanging Indent takes the first line of the paragraph, leaving it against the margin, while all remaining lines in the paragraph are indented one tab-stop. At the next paragraph break (hard-return), the new paragraph returns to the normal margins.

To build a hanging indented paragraph:
1. Place the cursor in front of the first character in the paragraph.front of the first line.
2. Select menu: Format, Paragraph, Hanging Paragraph (most people use a shortcut: Ctrl-F7). You could also fiddle with the ruler-bar aka the Microsoft Word way, but that takes too much time and effort.

Hanging Indents usually are used to offset "quoted" material, although a double-indented paragraph is a better formatting decision in those cases. In either case, the paragraph, and all of its text, 'wrap as paragraphs should,' staying as one continuous block of text.

Reveal codes will show two codes at the front of the paragraph: an [Hd Left Ind] and [Hd Back Tab].

Some people mistakenly try to use Hanging Indents for section-headers, illustrated above as a Margin-Release Hanging Indent. The trouble with this idea is all other paragraphs in the paper would have to be indented manually, essentially bypassing the margin settings.

Margin-Released Hanging Indents:

If you need what I like to call a "Margin-Released Hanging Indent:"

press Shift-Tab to move the cursor one tab-stop to the left of the Margin.
Begin typing the "paragraph-header"
Press Enter to start a new paragraph along the existing margin

Notice how you can do this with a simple menu/keystroke; there is no need to fiddle with the ruler-bar or margins and all subsequent paragraphs stay along the original margin. "Out-dent" new headers by exception, only as needed.

In Reveal Codes, the margin release is known as a "HD Back Tab" (hard back-tab).

Keep in mind that these types of headers are nothing more than a short paragraph that is shorter than one line. The risk is, at a page-break, they may stay on one-side of the page while the following text jumps to the next page. See this article (WordPerfect - Protect Text Across Page Breaks) for hints on how to handle this.

Related Articles:
WordPerfect - Block Protect Text Across Page Breaks
WordPerfect - Using WP for School Papers - Page Numbering

WordPerfect - Protect Text Across Page Breaks

2011-07-09T08:05:00.007+01:00

WordPerfect Howto: Keeping Text together across page-boundaries. Block Protecting text across page-boundaries. Block protecting lists.

Problem:
The document has a margin-release header (somewhat like a hanging indent) that is approaching a page-boundary. The text below crossed the page-break and the header is now orphaned.

Ideally, the heading and at least a sentence or two of its text should stay grouped together on one side of the page-break or the other. Widows and Orphans won't work in this example because the header is technically a separate paragraph.

The "improper way":

The improper way to fix this problem is to ram a manual hard-page-break above the header, forcing the header and its text to the next page. Although this solves the immediate problem, in the long run it becomes a maintenance problem. As new text is inserted and deleted; the hard-page-break can end up in the middle of a page and later you'll be forced to delete it.

Issues:

Manually typing Hard-Page-Breaks in any flowing text should be avoided. Manual page-breaks require too much maintenance over the life of the document.
Widow and Orphan controls do not apply here because technically, the "header" is a separate paragraph.

Solution:"Block-protect" the header and (part of) the next paragraph, locking them together as one object. As the blocked text reaches a page-boundary, it leaps to the next page as one group. If text above is deleted, and enough space becomes available, the entire block automatically moves to the previous page.

Steps:

Highlight the header and at least two sentences into the paragraph. Often, it is easier to highlight the entire next paragraph.
Select menu: Format, "Keep Text Together"
Select [x] Block Protect

Results:
The text-header and next paragraph cross the page-boundary as one entity.

Reveal codes will look like this:

Click image for larger view, click "right-x" to return

Hints:

With a hanging Header, as illustrated above, start highlighting to the Left of the the codes. In other words, highlight left of the HdBack Tab and Bold.
Block protect *all* headers and their next paragraphs, even if they are not at risk of crossing a page boundary. This saves you the trouble of chasing them as the document's length changes.
If the next paragraphs are "long", block-protect only the first few sentences -- but in general, I tend to block the entire paragraph.

LISTS
Use this same technique to block-protect items in a list.
Block protect the entire list (if short), or at least the first several items (if long)
Block protect the list, even if it is not at risk of a page-break.

Often, as I'm writing long papers, I don't bother protecting the text until near the end -- ignoring all page-breaks, letting the text fall where it may. Then, starting at the top, I go through the document, protecting all headings and lists. The paper will be perfect and it will survive all future edits.

Macro Hint:

Block protecting text is a common occurrence in long papers. Because it is used so frequently, I recommend writing a simple WP macro and assigning it to the never-used F1-Help. With this, you can quickly protect text without wading through the menus.

The "block-protect" macro is short and can be recorded, or you can use this two-line macro:

Application (WordPerfect; "WordPerfect"; Default!; "EN")
BlockProtect (State: On!)

Related Articles:
WordPerfect Page Numbering for School Papers
WordPerfect - Hanging Indents / Paragraph Headers
WordPerfect X5 - A Quick Review

Using WordPerfect for School Papers

2011-07-04T02:52:00.031+01:00

This article describes how to use WordPerfect on a normal High-School or College paper. With these steps, your papers will have proper page numbering and pages will always "break" correctly. You will not need to make manual page-breaks nor will you need to delete previously-built page-breaks. In short, the paper will behave no matter what text is inserted or deleted.

These instructions work with all versions of WordPerfect for Windows and was written using WP X5. For best results, follow these steps, in this order.

Contents:

Fixing White-Space Behaviors
Setting a Default Font
Setting default Tab Settings on Ruler Bar
Margin Releases
Paragraph Widows and Orphans
Reveal Codes
Draft View
Fancy Page Numbering
Headers
Cover Page
Suppressing Page Numbers / Footers
Reset Page Number to 1
First Page / Duplexed First Page (Odd)

Initial Setup:

Make these one-time recommended changes to WordPerfect's preferences. This makes editing all future documents easier. If you have already made these changes, skip to the Starting a New Paper section.

A. Set the Cursor "Active in text"
This keeps mouse-clicks from inserting tabs in the middle of the document. I have no earthly idea why WP would default the setting the way they did. By turning this off, the word processor will behave more naturally.

In Tools, Settings, Display
Select the first tab, [Documents]
Mark "Active in Text"
Click OK and close the preference screens

B. Set a Default Font:

From a blank document, select Format, Font.
Choose Times New Roman (a True Type font)
Size 11 or 12 (11 looks more professional)
On the same Font menu, click the bottom "Settings" button.
Choose "Set face and point size as a default for all documents"
Click OK

Following the standards set by nearly all printed magazines and newspapers, printed material should be a serif-font (Times New Roman) while online material is typically a sans-serif font (Arial).

C. Set optional default tabs:
Set a default tab (ruler-bar) for this and all new documents. By default, tab stops are every 1/2 inch -- which is too wide. Set the tab-settings every 1/4" inch. This also sets a Margin Release. Even if you like tab-settings at 1/2", you should still set the negative -.50 margin release.

Setting Tabs:

Format, Styles: Choose "DocumentStyles"
Click Edit to open the "Style Editor"
Click the mouse in the "Contents" section
Click Format, Line, TabSet
Confirm Tab Type = Left
Change Tab Position to -0.5 (negative point 5)
Click box [x] Repeat every .25 (point 25)
Click "Set"
Click Close, returning to the Styles Editor

Margin Release Example:

Notice how you are setting the tab stops 1/2" to the left of the Left margin (-.5) -- this is called a "Margin Release." Often, in a paper, a Hanging Header is needed. With this setting, you can quickly type a bolded title that "sticks out past the margin" without having to fiddle with the ruler-bar or with margins. At the beginning of a paragraph, press Shift-Tab to hang the heading. Press the key once or twice to change how far to the left it hangs:

Click illustration for a larger view; click right-x to return

D. Set Widow and Orphans
(This keeps the first and last line of a paragraph from 'orphaning" at the bottom of a page-break -- it always forces at least two lines before a page-break. No more chasing text that happens to live at the bottom of a page.)

Still in the Styles Editor, select Format, "Keep Text Together"
[x] Prevent first and last lines of paragraphs from being separated across pages" (check)
Click Ok

E. Optionally, set a default Font in the Default DocumentStyle
Set the font using the instructions from above. You will note it appears in the default Document Style.

F. Confirm the settings.

From the main Styles Editor screen, confirm the Tab Set and Wid/Orph are set in the Reveal-codes 'Contents' window (the order does not matter).

Click "OK" to save
Click "Yes" when prompted "Apply this style to new documents as they are created."

This completes the default WP preferences.

Starting a new Paper

With the settings above, all new papers begin with a preferred default font, tab settings and Margin-releases. Widows and Orphans are also set. The remaining settings could also be set in the Default/Preferences, but I prefer setting them manually because some papers have different needs. These settings will be "Document" changes (rather than defaults).

When making any Document change, remember WordPerfect makes its changes at the cursor's position, down. In other words, where ever the blinking cursor is, the change takes effect from that point until the end of the document. This is noticeably different (and better) than Microsoft Word -- which makes all of its changes at the "current paragraph".

1. Begin by Exposing Reveal Codes

If you have not already done so, expose WordPerfect's famous Reveal Codes. This makes editing a complicated document easier because you can see all codes, including bolds, underlines, font-changes, footnotes, etc. Click and drag the reveal-codes pane, as illustrated:

2. Set Draft View (recommended)

Although WordPerfect can edit documents in a full "What-You-See is What you Get" mode, it is easier to edit in Draft mode. This way, you don't have to scroll past white-space and Headers, Footers and Footnotes don't get in the way.

From the top menu, select View, "Draft"

The rest of this document assumes "Draft view"

3. Set Page Numbering for all Pages

The easy way to set page numbering is with menu - Format, Page, "Numbering", which gives a simple page number at the bottom of each page.

If a more complicated page indicator is needed, use a Page Footer. This example shows a graphic line, your name, a page number and the Course title:

Building a footer like this is relatively easy. On the same line, you will be left-justifying, centering and right-justifying text. To do this, create a Footer (Footer A). In summary:

Footer Steps:

a. If you have already begun writing the document, confirm the editing cursor is near the top of the document before making these changes. Changes to Headers and Footers take effect on the current page and flow down, through the remainder of the document.

b. Select menu Insert, Header/Footer.

c. Choose "Footer A", then "Create"

(Because of Draft View, a new document window opens, which obscures the original document. Do not panic -- your document/paper is in the background. In Reveal Codes, note the [Open Style: FooterA] code.)

d. Press Enter (Return) one time. (I like a blank line, separating the footer from the text above)

e. Optionally, insert a Horizontal Line by choosing menu: Insert, Line, "Horizontal Line". Note Reveal Codes shows a [Graph Line].

f. Press Enter (Return) after the graphic-line. Type Your name (e.g. J.Smith); this aligns along the left margin.

g. Insert the current Page Number:

Press "Shift-F7" (Center)
Select Menu: Format, Page, "Insert Page Number"
Choose "Page"
Click "Insert"

Notice how you can center the page-number-text on the same line, even though other text was already typed. Your name stays along the left margin while the new text centers. Once again, this shows how WordPerfect is a little different than Word. Most text controls (Centering) take effect at the cursor position -- they do not apply to the entire line or paragraph. This allows you to make complicated footers using only a few keystrokes.

Alternately, after centering, you could type the word "Page " (space), then Insert the Page Number, giving a "Page #".

h. Type the Class-name:

Immediately after the [Pg Num Disp] reveal-code (at your current cursor position), press Alt-F7 (Flush Right) and type "Biology 202".

The screen, with Reveal Codes, will look like this:

Click image for a larger view, click right-x to return

i. Click the Document's "X" (near the upper-right, illustrated above); this returns you to the original document.

Because you are in Draft Mode, the footers are not visible while typing in the main paper.

Headers with the Paper's Name

Similarly, define a Header at the the top of each page in the paper. For example, here is the paper's name, justified to the right:

a. Confirm the cursor is near the top of the document (the exact position in Reveal Codes is not particularly important. If you have made no other editing changes, the Header will appear next to the previously-built Footer, as seen in Reveal Codes; this is acceptable.)

b. Select top menu:

Insert, Header/Footer
Choose Header A
Create
(Opening a new editing window, obscuring the original document).

Press Alt-F7 (Flush, Right)

Type your Paper's name; e.g. The Secret Lives of Turtles
Press Enter one time (I like a blank line below the header)

Click the document's "X" to close this window (Do not close WordPerfect). This returns you to the (blank) document. Because you are in Draft View, the Header is hidden while you type in the main document.

Cover Page

Up to this point, you have a document defined with a default font, margins, tab-settings, and page-number footers (which will be disabled for the first page in a moment). Follow these steps to write the Paper's Cover Page.

a. Disable the Headers and Footer for this page only.

Select menu: Format, Page, "Suppress"
Check "Header A"
Check "Footer A"
Click OK

Note: I prefer to define the document's Headers and Footers on the first page of the document and then disable them where not needed. This way, their location is easily remembered and easily found. Alternatively, you could create the Headers and Footers on the first "real" page of the paper and let them "flow down" through the remainder of the document.

b. Press 8 or 9 Returns (Enter), to move the cursor down the page.

c. Press Shift-F7 (Center) and type the document's title "The Secret Lives of Turtles".

d. Highlight the text and change the font by pressing F9.

Choose "Extra Large"
Click OK

e. Click the white area after the large text
(note how the editing cursor appears after the closing [ExtLarge] Reveal Code).

Continue building the remaining text of the cover page, pressing Shift-F7 to center each line and press Return to move to a new line. Results will look similar to this:

The Secret Lives of Turtles

Your Name
Biology 202
July, 2011

f. Press Ctrl-Enter to insert a Hard Page Break,
moving you to the first "real" page in the paper.

First Page Duplexed

Decision: If the paper is being printed duplex (front-and-back), the first "real" page should begin on an odd-numbered page; not on the back of the cover-page (page-2).

The cheap and sleazy way to accomplish this is to insert a second Hard-Page (ctrl-Enter), moving you to "page-3". Do this now.

Press Ctrl-Enter (insert a second Hard Page Break)

Alternately: on the first page-break, Menu: Format, Page, "Force Page: Odd"

First Page of Paper

Because of the cover page(s), the first "real" page in the paper starts on physical page-2 /or 3 -- but it should be numbered as page "1".

Resetting the Page Number:

a. With the editing cursor on the last page, select menu: Format, Page, Numbering.
b. Click "Set Value", type "1"

Change the Page-Number layout on Page 1:

Traditionally, page 1 nomenclature should be at the bottom, center of the page, with no other accouterments -- in other words, no fancy footer. Once again, go into the Suppress menu and make this minor change:

a. Menu: Format, Page, Suppress
b. Click only on "Footer B"
c. Check [x] Print Page Number at Bottom Center

Begin Typing your Paper!

This completes the Paper's setup. You can now begin typing the paper. You will find all page numbers behave appropriately, and automatically with professional-looking formatting. After typing a few pages, switch to View, "Page" to see the results -- but I recommend switching back to "Draft" to keep editing. Doing the setup in this fashion will save a lot of headaches.

Related Articles:
Hanging Indents (out-dents)
"Block-Protecting" text - automatically forcing a page-break if an illustration and related text crosses a page-boundary.
WordPerfect X5 - A Quick Review

Future WordPerfect Articles:

Using Tabbed-Tables
Insert Graphics and Illustrations

Your comments are welcome.

Blogspot Blogger Edit Pencil Missing

2011-07-01T23:08:00.016+01:00

Problem: Blogger Blogspot Edit-Pencil Missing. Last updated 2011.07.24. Solution likely found.

Problem:
When using Blogspot's editor, I noticed the Pencil icon was missing and I could no longer enter edit-mode from the View Blog screens. Also, the tool-box icon is missing from the widget edit screens.

Summary:

I have found a solution to the problem but am unconvinced this is the best solution. One thing is for sure, this is more-than-likely a browser-related problem -- especially if the feature worked in the past but doesn't any longer. Use the following diagnostics to help identify the problem.

Update 2011.08.16: I returned these suggested changes back to default and discovered the Pencil-icon had returned. Also, during this intervening time, Firefox was upgraded from version 4 to 5, then to 6. Perhaps, also, Google changed how the Pencil icon was displayed. In any case, here is what I had done.

Confirm the Feature is Enabled:

Confirm the edit feature is enabled on your blog with these steps:

A. Sign-in to the Blog, go to DashBoard, click "Settings"

B. In the [Basic] tab, confirm "Show Quick Editing" = Yes

C. In the [Design] tab, (page-elements), look in the "Blog Posts" widget, likely on the left. Click "Edit"

D. In the popup window, confirm [x] "Show Quick Editing" is checked.

Diagnostics:

Prove if your Blogger Template supports the edit-icon; this also may prove if this is a browser-related issue.

Comments: For most Blogspot users, I doubt the template is the real problem and Template editing is not necessary.

If you are using a Blogger-supplied template, the edit feature will be there. In my case, I spent a fruitless hour backing up and editing the template, trying to figure this out, when I finally decided to test in IE -- proving the template was good and the problem was related to Firefox version 4 or 5. Later, I found the feature worked in Firefox 5 on a different machine, indicating this is really a problem with this particular installation.

If the pencil-edit icon *used to work*, but doesn't any longer, it is likely because of a browser or browser update. Do the following to test:

a. Sign-in to your Blogger account with Internet Explorer (7 or 8 -- there have been reported issues with version 9 - not substantiated).

b. Create a new test Blog Entry -- which forces Blogspot into Edit mode.

(Important: Blogger does not always show the edit-pencil until after something is edited one-time. For each test, edit something one time (using the manual steps described above).

Save the post.

c. Click "View Blog". Look for the edit-pencil.

d. Decision:

If the edit-pencil shows up in IE, but not in other browsers, especially FireFox, this proves the problem is with the browser and not the template. I have not tested Chrome or other browsers.

If the edit-pencil does not show up in any browser, see this Linked: article and text below, which suggests that some Blogger templates may not have this feature installed. This is a technical article. Be sure to backup your templates before making changes. It may be easier to just try a different template to see if the problem persists.

Possible FireFox Solution #1:

This solution has fixed the problem on my machine and it requires changing an internal FireFox setting. Change this setting: "network.cookie.thirdparty.sessionOnly" Change from the default false to true.

a. On the FF URL line, type this address: "about:config" (no quotes)
b. Click "I promise to behave" when prompted about the damage you can cause
c. In the top-center search box, type:

"network.cookie.thirdparty.sessionOnly" (no quotes. Similar screen illustration, below)

d. Change the value from false to true.
e. Close Firefox and reload the browser/blogger to see the results. Remember, you must edit something at least one time before you will see the results.

Possible FireFox Solution 2:

Note: This solution is not necessarily recommended.
In a previous test, I used Firefoxe's Config screens to block Sending Referer Headers. This seemingly unrelated setting has something to do with the edit-pencil because it temporarily fixed the problem, but later it again failed. Because of this, I have since returned this setting back to the default value of "2" and no longer recommend this solution, but this is widely discussed on the web and it must have worked for some people.

a. On the FF URL line, type this address: "about:config" (no quotes)
b. Click "I promise to behave" when prompted about the damage you can cause
c. In the top-center search box, type: "network.http.sendRefererHeader" (no quotes)
d. Change the value from (2) to zero.
e. Close Firefox and reload the browser/blogger to see the results.

Notes:
The Referer is often set to =2 as a minor security measure; it stops sites from tracking where you came from. It is safe to change this value.

If you do not find the key, this solution will not help you. Older versions of FF did not have a default value for SendRefererHeader, but the newer versions do. (The new default sets the value = 2).

This option is not available in IE and IE will not have this problem.

Other Possible Solution (untested by keyliner):

Others have reported this:
"My icons recently went missing, even though the Quick Edit setting was turned on. I went into the settings, turned it off, pressed Save Settings, turned it back on and pressed Save Settings again and they re-appeared."

Another blog reported this:
Go to the Privacy tab in your Internet Options. Click the Sites button.
Type "blogger.com" in the Address of website field and then press the Allow button.
Press OK twice to save the settings.
Reload your blog

In Closing:

On two machines, both running Firefox 5 and both with ostensibly the same settings, the edit-icon worked on one but not the other. Changing network.cookie.thirdparty.sessionOnly to false inexplicably resolved the problem on the broken machine.

Searching for other solutions to this problem, you will find discussions on Java-code problems. I suspect for most of us, this is not the solution. This can be simply tested by launching the editor in IE -- proving the Java-code is probably correct.

The suggestions on Java code center around this statement:

b:include data="post" name="postQuickEdit"

Moving this code to other locations, as suggested in the Link's reader comments, did not help. Plus, mere mortals should not have to work this hard for something that used to work, but now does not. All of this suggests the template is likely correct and the problem lies elsewhere.

Other Things Tested:

Changing to a new BlogSpot template did not help.

Additionally, using a suggested Blogger's DESIGN, Edit HTML, "Revert Widget Templates to Default" did not help.

Flushing Firefox's Cache does not help.

Switching to BlogSpot's new Editor or Old Editor made no difference.

And, even with all of this testing, each of these solutions does not make sense because the editor works in IE.

In the end, at least on my machine, changing the 3rd party cookie setting on one machine (but not another) fixed the problem. This is not a sensible solution.

Your unregistered comments are welcome.

WMP12 Audio CDs do not play in Car or Stereo

2011-06-27T02:54:00.019+01:00

Windows Media Player 12 (Windows 7 WMP) Audio CDs do not play in Car, Stereo or other non-computer players. The Burned disk is not playable. This article explains how to fix this problem.

Problem: Windows 7 Media Player (WMP) 12's burned Audio disks will not play in a non-computer audio player. The disks will not play on an older home stereo or the car stereo. These devices report various errors, such as No disk, Invalid Disk, Not a music CD, etc..

This is not the obvious problem where a "Data / MP3" disk was burned. You may find some Windows 7 computers can burn disks without these problems.

Symptoms:

Disk was burned as an "Audio" CD and something was clearly written to the disk
Stereo (non-computer) reports "No Disk" or Invalid Disk
WMP may show the disk as "Unknown" even though a Title was saved
Burning the Disk at Slow Speeds; without Gaps; as "WPL", etc, makes no difference; all burned disks fail.
WMP files are saved MP3 in the original library, but this is immaterial.
Burned disk plays in the computer that burned the disk and that copy of WMP shows the tracks even though Windows Explorer shows only 1 file
Windows Explorer shows one file, "Files Ready to Be Written to the Disk (1), with a filename of desktop.ini. No *.cda files are found on the disk
Disk may or may not play in a different computer
I suspect you have Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Ultimate installed, along with "Windows Media Center"

Example Windows Explorer View of failed disk:

Burn Notes:

Before burning an Audio CD, note the following well-known points:

Most Car CD players (especially older players) cannot play "data" or "MP3" music CDs. The CD's must be recorded in "Audio" format (commonly called Redbook). This article assumes you are trying to spin a standard, traditional Audio CD.

The CDs must be burned on CD-R disks. Do not use CD-RW or DVDR. Also, some ancient CD players can only read "74" minute CDs but almost all modern disk blanks are 80-minutes. This is probably not an issue with your player because all devices in the past (factoid:) 15 years can read 80-minute disks.

You can store your WMP music library as MP3 (recommended). The format the music is stored as is immaterial to this problem. When all issues are resolved, you can still use the MP3 files to burn audio without manually converting to AAC, WAV or other formats.

Standard WMP Audio Burn Steps:

When burning an Audio CD, use these WMP 12 settings, assuming you want to spin a standard Audio CD. Likely, you have already tried these steps, and failed, but these are required settings and need to be discussed. However, I suspect the real solution can be found near the end of this article.

A. In WMP, click the [Burn] tab and then "Clear list" to start fresh.

B. Drag an album or tracks from your library to the Burn list. If the album is currently playing, consider clearing the play list in the [Play] tab before burning, just to be safe.

C. In the Options pull-down

Confirm "Audio CD" is selected
Choose "More Burn Options"

D. In "More Burn Options"

Set Burn Speed to "Slow" for the most reliable results
[x] Automatically eject the disk after burning (checked)
[x] Apply volume leveling across tracks (optional)
[ ] Burn CD without Gaps (unchecked)

Choose "WPL" in "Add a list of all burned files to the disk in this format"
[ ] Use Media information to arrange files in folders on disk

Click OK to save the options.

E. Near the [Burn] tab, click "Start Burn"

Solution to the Audio CD Problem:

Although the steps above are required for any Audio disk, my computer still failed to burn a valid disk. I found the solution after noting that one of my Windows 7 computers correctly burned disks while a second did not.

The difference between the two machines was "Windows Media Center" was installed on the failing computer. Un-installing Media Center, then re-installing WMP solved the problem. Follow these steps.

1. In Windows Control Panel, open "Programs and Features"

2. On the left Navigation, click "Turn Windows Features on or off". This takes several moments to open.

3. In "Media Features",

[ ] Uncheck "Windows Media Center"
[ ] Uncheck "Windows Media Player"

This de-installs Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player. WMP will be re-installed in a moment. Windows will prompt that some features will be disabled. Continue and reboot when prompted.

Note: During the re-install, your Music Library (music collection) will remain as-is and will re-attach in a moment.

4. After rebooting, return to the Control Panel, "Programs and Features."
re-Open Media Features,

[x] Re-select the "Windows Media Player" option and click Ok.

This re-installs WMP and your existing music library will automatically re-attach.

5. Audio CD's should now burn properly. Test with the settings from above.

Re-installing (0nly) WMP resolved the issue; originally, the author left Windows Media Center un-installed for the first test. Upon later testing, I found Windows Media Center can be re-installed without damaging the Audio burn solution but I did this in a two-stage install. I did not test re-installing both programs at the same time. Your comments on this would be welcomed.

6. Optionally, return to Media Features and re-check (re-install) Windows Media Center. Test again. CDs should still burn properly. The Author did not test checking both WMP and Windows Media Center at the same time during the original re-install.

Your un-registered comments on this article are welcome.

Related articles:
Adding an MP3 folder to your existing WMP library
Streamline Windows 7 (including how to move the WMP library to a different data folder)

Website Recommendations

2011-06-07T07:23:00.009+01:00

Website Recommendations. Worth repeating

Besides this site, I have found these sites to be particularly interesting.
This posting is periodically updated.

Bezier Curves - a primer.
Interactive Mathematics

Industrial Design and Artwork, various
http://www.coroflot.com

A Vision of Students Today:
A remarkable video by Professor Michael Wesch. An anthropological study.
Searching his name will also bring up other similar videos. Check this one out first.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&NR=1

and this: The Machine is Us

Other Videos on Public Education:
RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Gapminder:
Statistical analysis of various trends, such as birth rates, HIV, CO2 emissions and others. This is very interesting information, presented by Hans Rosling. This is part of a GNU project called TEDTalks.
http://www.gapminder.org/videos/

Photography:
This is one of the finest collections of juried photographs I have found.
Start by clicking the top-menu "Photos" link.
http://1x.com/

Photoshop Disasters:
Be prepared: This site is time consuming.
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

xkcd.com Comics
Computer and scientific humor
http://xkcd.com

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION
from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.
Beautifully done; wonderful music. I have come back many times to view this short film.

A collection of interesting Video and Print advertisements. I particularly liked this one:
Adweek.com/AdFreak

Keywords:
website recommendations recommended websites favorite websites

InkJet Printers

2011-06-05T06:04:00.007+01:00

Commentary: HP or Epson Printers - Probably neither. It is time to abandon home color printing.

I am unhappy with my HP Photosmart D7160 printer.

It has 6 ink cartridges and, at any given time, one of them is out of ink. Although the cartridges are relatively inexpensive ($15), they seem to conspire with each other, saying, "hey Magenta, why don't you run dry this week."

I occasionally use the printer, probably printing 40 sheets a month, along with a photograph or two. But this must not be exciting enough and the printer gets bored. It starts a cleaning cycle, preening like a cat, and this consumes prodigious amounts of ink. Because the cartridges are so small, there is never enough ink to print when I actually want to.

There are other problems. Last month I needed to print a portrait and 45 minutes later, I succeeded. Part of this was operator-error; part was not.

Here is a typical print job: It printed from the wrong tray. I had the photo-paper in up-side-down. There was a line in the print and it had to clean itself. It printed landscape instead of portrait. The driver set itself to Draft. The driver changed to regular paper instead of Photo-paper. It printed 3x5 on 4x6 paper. A cartridge ran out of ink. I installed a new cartridge. It had to clean itself. A second cartridge is sucked dry.

I could have driven downtown and back in the time it took to resolve all of this. On top of this, the prints are not waterproof and they apparently fade. With all the hassles, I'm ready to toss it and try something else. Of course, the problem is 5 of the 6 cartridges are still full and it seems like a waste to trash the whole thing on the account of one cartridge. But this is enough and I am done.

What I'm going to try is going to the local photo store and let them do the printing. By all accounts, this is cheaper than doing it yourself.

As I was reaching this decision, I researched the differences between HP and Epson printers and came across an interesting article.

http://www.timhunkin.com/a115_inkjet%20print%20longevity%20tests.htm

Mr. Tim Hunkin did a series of tests, comparing the two brands, inks and papers. The un-dated article discusses HPs Vivera inks and Epson inks.

In summary:

Buy Ink from the OEM manufacturer
Buy paper from anyone
HP Vivera inks rapidly fade when exposed to light or air
HP inks do not clog as easily
Epson inks do not fade
Epson inks can clog when not used

He also refers to this site, which has a lot of other interesting Inkjet articles, including Myths of Digital Inks (horribly formatted; virtually unreadable - note sent to vendor).

In Conclusion

Color printing at home is too expensive and should be abandoned. Everyone should quit, sending HP, Epson, Lexmark and Canon a message. Let the local photo-lab do the printing for a fee. I'll report on my findings in a future post.

Keyliner Comments: HP Vivera Ink Promotion

Microsoft SystemSweeper - Antivirus

2011-06-03T05:30:00.015+01:00

Microsoft is beta-testing a new way to clean viruses and it should help clean even the most stubborn infections. The new method downloads a bootable CD image and runs Microsoft's Security Essentials (MSE) from a separate, non-infected boot disk. Building and using the CD is easy and reliable.

If your machine is infected, I now recommend running this utility prior to any other virus scanning steps.

Recommended download from here:
http://connect.microsoft.com/systemsweeper

Easy Steps: Build the CD

1. Preferably, from a non-infected computer, click the link above and choose the 64-bit or 32-bit version. If in doubt of the version, see Microsoft's documentation in the linked page. In general, unless you know otherwise, use these:

32-bit for Windows XP
64-bit for Windows 7 - most likely
32 or 64 for Vista; could be either; try the 32-bit

The download is a small stub called msstoolxx.exe where xx=64 or 32.

2. Save the download-exe to a known location on your disk.
3. Open the folder where you downloaded and run the executable.

This builds the image and it will take about 30 minutes, depending on your Internet connection speed. The image-build is automatic. You will be prompted to build either a CDR, USB thumbdrive, or as an ISO image. I recommend the CD because not all machines can boot from a USB thumb-drive.

Ideally, build the image from a non-infected computer, but if this is not possible, try from the infected machine. If you are downloading from an infected computer, rename the downloaded EXE to a random name before running because you know the viruses will figure this out and will try to stop you.

Using the Image:

Insert the CD and boot the computer, choosing "Boot from CD"
The scan will take several hours, depending on the size of the disk. The process is completely automatic.

If your machine does not boot from CD

Summary: Cold-boot the computer and enter the BIOS configuration screens (hardware/BIOS settings, often pressing F2 or F10 as the machine boots). In the BIOS menus, change the "Boot order", allowing the CD to boot before the hard disk. Save the configuration change (typically with an F10=save) and try booting again.

See this Keyliner article for additional details. Booting from a CD or DVD

Caveats to Think About

Download and build the bootable image when needed. Old copies are obsolete. Microsoft continuously updates the CD with the latest virus signatures. Because it is a CD, it cannot update itself.
It can only clean viruses that MSE knows about. If it fails to clean the infection, consider re-building this same disk a few days later. Microsoft updates their virus signatures several times per day.
None of these products replace the need for real-time virus scanning.

Final comments:

If you have read my previous articles on these topics, cleaning a virus while running on an already-infected machine is like fixing a car's engine while driving. While the infection rages, you have to trick the computer while cleaning and the steps are difficult and vary, depending on the virus.

Booting from a guaranteed-clean operating system is an ideal way to catch a virus. The virus is completely disabled during the scan and Microsoft has full-control of the system. I wish all virus-scanning vendors could use this same design - it vastly simplifies the process.

Once cleaned (and presumably the machine is useable), I still highly recommend running other virus tools, such as MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware to double-check. As much as I like MSE, no single virus scanner catches all the bugs. If you have one virus, you have others and you will have to run multiple tools to make sure.

See the related articles, below, for the steps on how to use these other programs.

And this leads me to this thought: If your machine is already running MSE and you were still infected, then Microsoft's standalone System Sweeper may not help because it missed it in the first place. But I still believe MSE is one of the best tools on the market -- and it is free.

Technical Note:
The bootable image loads a run-time copy of Windows. Unfortunately, the bootable image does not allow you to do anything else. You won't be able to copy data files or run other virus scanning products. It would be neat if you could run other cleanup tools, but Microsoft locked this down. Hopefully, they will re-consider this.

Related Products:

Microsoft is also distributing a related product called "Microsoft Safety Scanner". This is a single executable that does not need to be installed and you might be able to run this when no other program will work. However, this design is not as good as the bootable version described earlier in this article. If you have a netbook without a CD, this may be worth a try. The Scanner (msert.exe) is only valid for 12 days, then it expires. This forces everyone to download the latest and greatest version.

Related articles:
Microsoft Security Essentials
Removing Win32 Cryptor
Removing Win7 Anti-Virus - Recommended steps for all viruses
Removing Personal Security Virus
Securing Windows 7 from your Children
Booting from a CD / DVD

Other recommended virus scanners:
MalwareBytes: Malwarebytes

SuperAntiSpyware: superAntiSpyware
Choose the Free Edition. Despite its suspicious name, this is a legitimate program.
Rename to xxSuperAntiSpyware.exe before running.

Interesting article on spear-phishing attack:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2011/05/31/when-spear-phishers-target-security-researchers.aspx

Java Control Panel Icon "Application Not Found"

2011-05-30T18:22:00.024+01:00

Howto: Fix the "Application not found" error in the Java Control Panel icon. These same steps may be useful for other malfunctioning Windows Control Panel icons.

In Windows 7, the Java Control Panel icon may be damaged / corrupted. Attempting to launch the icon results in "Explorer.exe : Application not found". Note the generic icon:

When working properly, the circled icon should look like this:

This problem appears to be an artifact from previous JRE installations and Sun's installation routines were flawed.

Re-installing JRE (the Java Runtime Environment) does not resolve the problem.

Immediate workaround:

If needed, the Java Control Panel can be manually launched using this location:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\JRE6\bin\Javacpl.exe

As a side note, when launching, other-mouse-click the .exe and choose "Run as Administrator". Running as Administrator resolves a bug where changes in the Control Panel (especially Auto-update changes) do not stick. This is true even when the icon is working properly. Sun/Java is aware of this issue.

Permanent Solution:

To fix this problem, you need to know the name of the executable that drives the Java Control Panel. Often, control panel icons are not obvious about the name of the program. Follow these steps to determine the .exe name. If you already know the name of the executable, from above, skip to step 1. (e.g. Program Files (x86)\Java\JRE6\bin\Javacpl.exe)

A. Determine the name of the program.
In the Control Panel,"Other-mouse-click" (right click) the failed icon
Click "Create Shortcut".
The shortcut will be placed on the desktop, with no message or other prompts.

B. Locate the new Desktop icon.
"Other-mouse-click"
Choose "Properties"

Note: In this case, the Java Control Panel icon's name will be similar to 'Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Java' -- which is not an actual executable name and is not very useful. Most Control Panel icons will not display the target-path and the true name is hidden in the registry.

C. Discover the actual path by clicking "Change Icon".

If the underlying executable is corrupted or missing, the displayed error message will show the actual path. For example, the Java Control Panel reports "Windows can't find the file C:\Program Files\Java\JRE6\bin\javacpl.exe".

Note the path and filename. Use this to find the registry value in the next step.

Removing the Control Panel Icon:

Assuming you know the path to the Control Panel's icon (see steps above), use Regedit to fix the malfunctioning key. As always, exercise care when editing the registry:

1. Launch the Windows Registry Editor with a Start, Run, "Regedit.exe"

See this article for how to expose the Windows 7 Run command.

2. Position the cursor at the top of the Registry tree.

3. Type Ctrl-F (find) and search for the executable's name. When searching, use a partial path, not the full name.

For example, the actual (fully-qualified path name is : C:\Program Files\Java\JRE6\bin\javacpl.exe). In this case, search for this:

"\bin\javacpl.exe" (no quotes)

Searching for a partial string avoids problems with 'Program Files (x86)' vs "Program Files" or 'JRE5', etc..

4. Expected Find Results:

For the Java Control Panel, expect to find this registry key GUID. Be sure this key is within "HKEY_Classes_Root\CSLID" and not in another location in the registry:

HKEY_Classes_Root\CLSID\{4299124F-F2C3-41b4-9C73-9236B2AD0E8F}

Confirm by opening the key; you will see javacpl.exe lurking within.

5. Delete the top-folder {4299124f...E8F} and all items within.
Do not delete the CSLID folder.
Close Regedit.

If the "MuiCache" or "Wow6432Node" key is found, you overshot the CSLID key. Confirm you started the search at the top of the tree. If you still cannot find the key, do not continue with the rest of this article.

Test the results:

Close and re-open the Windows Control Panel.

The 'generic' Java icon should be replaced with a properly-formed Java icon and the control panel icon should behave properly.

If the control panel still mis-behaves, consider re-installing the JRE or see the registry-merge below.

The Correct Registry Key:

The above steps should resolve the conflict and no further action is required. For documentation, here is the correct key (with JRE6). Note the key has the same GUID and it should *not* be deleted:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{4299124F-F2C3-41b4-9C73-9236B2AD0E8F}]
@="Java"
"System.ControlPanel.Category"="8"
"InfoTip"="@C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Java\\jre6\\bin\\javacpl.exe,-2"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{4299124F-F2C3-41b4-9C73-9236B2AD0E8F}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Java\\jre6\\bin\\javacpl.exe"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{4299124F-F2C3-41b4-9C73-9236B2AD0E8F}\Shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{4299124F-F2C3-41b4-9C73-9236B2AD0E8F}\Shell\Open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{4299124F-F2C3-41b4-9C73-9236B2AD0E8F}\Shell\Open\Command]
@="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Java\\jre6\\bin\\javacpl.exe"

Other Control Panel Icons:

If you are searching for other non-Java Control Panel icon problems, this registry key may be of interest:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\CPLs.

Be aware the Java Control Panel does not live in this location. Only a few system control panels live here but I could imagine other vendors sticking something in here.

Your unregistered comments on this article are welcome.

Related articles:
Streamline Windows 7 Start Menus
Turn off UAC Nags on Start Menu Items
Recommended Win7 Explorer Changes

Related Links:
I have not used this utility, but in the event of a complete java failure, this link may be of interest: Completely uninstall all Java using a beta product called JavaRA:

Keywords:
Java control panel, java.cpl, javacpl.exe, JRE

AntiVirus Hopelessness

2011-05-28T14:07:00.012+01:00

Commentary: Virus scanning of Interest.

Related articles:
See these other Keyliner articles for detailed virus removal Instructions; these instructions will work on most viruses.

Microsoft System Sweeper - Bootable Antivirus - Highly Recommended
Removing Win32 Cryptor
Removing Win7 Anti-Virus
Removing Personal Security Virus
Securing Windows 7 from your Children
Microsoft Security Essentials

I was reading an article on the recent "USPS.gov website infected with Blackhole Exploit kit" (zscaler.com). The article briefly described how encoded Javascript was used to re-direct browsers to the virus and how the code installed without any user help.

But of more interest was almost a footnote in the article. It showed the payload filenames and described how poorly they were detected by antivirus programs. The virus installs a half-dozen different programs and most programs allowed them to arrive Scott-free.

On 2011.04.07 (apparently a month after the virus was first unleashed), the virus was only detected by 5 out of 41 virus-scanning vendors -- with AVG being the only major vendor. Other payloads from the same infection were detected by a none of the vendors. The Virus is a variant of previously-seen code and even though vendors have heuristic-scanning, they could not see through the attack. Here is a table showing the four detections early in the attack: VirusTotal.com

Roughly 3 days later, detection rates climbed to 26/42 -- which is both amazing and disappointing when you consider how they must see the virus before they can clean it -- but at least the statistics improved (updated details at VirustTotal, and tabled below). Later, most of the major vendors were detecting the virus, but it took a while.

VirusTotal Scan Results
(Results on 2011.04.10 - three days after the first statistic -- showing a 60% detection rates. But this is still approximately one month after the virus was unleashed. Newer results not published. This means nearly 1/2 of the scanners still miss the infection.)

Antivirus	Version	Last update	Result
AhnLab-V3	2011.04.10.01	2011.04.10	Win-Trojan/Tdss.102400.EA
AntiVir	7.11.6.20	2011.04.10	TR/ATRAPS.Gen2
Antiy-AVL	2.0.3.7	2011.04.10	-
Avast	4.8.1351.0	2011.04.10	Win32:Olmarik-B
Avast5	5.0.677.0	2011.04.10	Win32:Olmarik-B
AVG	10.0.0.1190	2011.04.10	Win32/Heur
BitDefender	7.2	2011.04.10	Trojan.Generic.KD.181230
CAT-QuickHeal	11.00	2011.04.10	-
ClamAV	0.97.0.0	2011.04.10	-
Commtouch	5.2.11.5	2011.04.06	-
Comodo	8294	2011.04.10	-
DrWeb	5.0.2.03300	2011.04.10	BackDoor.Tdss.4951
Emsisoft	5.1.0.5	2011.04.10	Virus.Win32.Heur!IK
eSafe	7.0.17.0	2011.04.10	Win32.TRATRAPS
eTrust-Vet	36.1.8261	2011.04.08	-
F-Prot	4.6.2.117	2011.04.10	-
F-Secure	9.0.16440.0	2011.04.10	Trojan.Generic.KD.181230
Fortinet	4.2.254.0	2011.04.09	-
GData	22	2011.04.10	Trojan.Generic.KD.181230
Ikarus	T3.1.1.103.0	2011.04.10	Virus.Win32.Heur
Jiangmin	13.0.900	2011.04.09	-
K7AntiVirus	9.96.4347	2011.04.09	-
Kaspersky	7.0.0.125	2011.04.10	Trojan.Win32.Jorik.TDSS.gm
McAfee	5.400.0.1158	2011.04.10	DNSChanger.cl
McAfee-GW-Edition	2010.1C	2011.04.10	Artemis!B01326CA8533
Microsoft	1.6702	2011.04.10	Trojan:Win32/Alureon.CT
NOD32	6031	2011.04.10	a variant of Win32/Kryptik.MMD
Norman	6.07.07	2011.04.10	W32/Suspicious_Gen2.KSGTX
Panda	10.0.3.5	2011.04.10	Trj/CI.A
PCTools	7.0.3.5	2011.04.07	-
Prevx	3.0	2011.04.10	-
Rising	23.52.06.03	2011.04.10	-
Sophos	4.64.0	2011.04.10	Sus/UnkPack-C
SUPERAntiSpyware	4.40.0.1006	2011.04.10	Trojan.Agent/Gen-FakeAntiSpy
Symantec	20101.3.2.89	2011.04.10	Trojan.FakeAV!gen42
TheHacker	6.7.0.1.171	2011.04.10	Trojan/Jorik.TDSS.gm
TrendMicro	9.200.0.1012	2011.04.10	TROJ_FAKEAV.RHE
TrendMicro-HouseCall	9.200.0.1012	2011.04.10	TROJ_FAKEAV.RHE
VBA32	3.12.14.3	2011.04.08	-
VIPRE	8980	2011.04.10	Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT
ViRobot	2011.4.9.4402	2011.04.10	-
VirusBuster	13.6.297.0	2011.04.10	-

VirusTotal is a free, independent service, that takes submitted files and tests them through all of these virus scanners. I am unclear about how quickly viruses are submitted to the site and this may explain some of the lag-times.

The point is this: You can't rely on a current virus scanner to catch the bad guys because the viruses quickly mutate. Although careful surfing habits go a long way to help, it clearly doesn't work all the time. The last defense is Windows 7's UAC (the Nag screens), but as I've written in the past, most people ignore it and infect their own machines anyways. If you are on XP, it is time to change.

Related articles:
See these other Keyliner articles for detailed virus removal Instructions
Microsoft System Sweeper - Bootable Antivirus - Highly Recommended
Removing Win32 Cryptor
Removing Win7 Anti-Virus
Removing Personal Security Virus
Securing Windows 7 from your Children
Microsoft Security Essentials

HP External USB 3.0 Drive

2011-05-18T19:16:00.007+01:00

Non-technical review of an HP 750GB portable USB hard drive.

I now have 5 computers at home and for the past several years, I have used Acronis True Image Home to back them up, using a Keyliner-reviewed Maxtor 250GB external USB hard disk to hold the images. Last week, I ran out of space. 250GB apparently is not as big as it used to be.

The replacement drive is an HP 750GB USB2.0/3.0 external drive and it was chosen strictly on price, being on sale at Best Buy. Physically, the disk is slightly larger than a deck of cards.

750GB $80
1TB (1000 GB) $120

I decided on the smaller disk, figuring by the time I needed a Terabyte, 6T drives will be on sale for a similar price and I might as well save a little money. Of interest, this works out to $0.11 (cents) per Gigabyte. (Old-timer warning: I remember when disks were $1.00 per megabyte and that was a great price.)

Although it is a laptop drive, it can be used on both desktops and laptops and does not require a separate power cable -- making it easy to move from machine to machine. The drive includes a short 45cm (14") data cable, backup software (which I ignored because I like Acronis) and a cardboard box.

Benefits:

Small
Silent
USB 2.0 and 3.0 compliant
Short USB cable (convenient for laptops)
Inexpensive
2yr Warranty
Pre-formatted NTFS
Literally, no setup - plug in and use

Drawbacks:

No drive-activity light (correction: Drive activity light on back side)
USB cable may be too short for some desktops
Shiny-black plastic case; easily scratched; fingerprints
Feels cheap when compared to my previous Maxtor drive

Complaints? - None.

The drive is literally plug and play. A 2-year warranty is nice; tape the receipt to the box and store in a closet in case it is needed. Being USB 3.0 capable means as I buy newer computers, the drive's performance will improve.

Of interest, USB 3.0 has yet-again, two new cable standards:

Update 2011.10
I plugged this disk into a new laptop with USB 3.0 for a disk image. Oh my gosh, was it fast. I think it was about 36GB in under 1 minute.

Related articles:
Review: Acronis vs Ghost
Acronis 2010 Step-by-Step
Disk Cleanup Steps (highly recommended before backups)
Fixing slow USB Backup Speeds in Windows 7

Securing Windows 7 from Offspring

2011-05-01T17:49:00.018+01:00

Commentary and How to: Lock down a child's computer.

My youngest daughter nonchalantly said, "Dad, my laptop is infected with a virus." This is the first time this particular child had trashed the machine and 3 years was a good run without major problems. This made me wonder about the wisdom of giving her administrative rights on the computer.

The Virus
When the virus attacked, both Vista and Windows 7 prompts with permission screen (UAC - commonly called the Nag). The virus presents itself by enticing the victim with a game or some other program of interest. Most people will see the UAC Nag screen and click "Allow." You've probably done this yourself -- clicking Allow -- without giving it a second thought. In other words, people purposely install the virus, not realizing the payload.

Here is the sneaky part: The virus installs the program you want (usually a game), then it slips-in the malware -- where it waits a few days before showing itself. This way you won't remember where you caught the bug.

Especially with Vista, many computer owners disabled the UAC and they get their viruses installed automatically, without any prompts. Disabling UAC is somewhat foolish but at the same time the feature is useless if everyone mindlessly clicks Allow. My rule is simple: do not allow any program to install itself from the web unless you are confident of the vendor. How much you pay for the content is an indicator on how safe it is; free may not be safe.

Administrator vs Standard Users

As I looked at my daughter's computer, I realized it was running an ancient copy of A-VG anti-virus (no longer recommended) and was behind in other maintenance. It was also running Windows Vista. Rather than clean the virus, I decided to salvage the data, format the hard disk and install Windows 7.

With Windows 7, I contemplated a change to security. Windows allows users to be an "Administrator" or a "Standard User". By default, Administrator gives the user near-full control of the PC. Because my daughter had administrator rights, she was free to do as she pleased.

What would happen if I changed her to a Standard User? For a child's computer, this may be a good solution. With a non-administrative account, when she attempts to install an application, by accident or by design, she will be presented with an Administrator's login and cannot proceed. When the administrator logs in, they will be presented with the UAC nag, as expected. Doing this essentially locks-down the PC. This design works in Windows Vista and Windows 7, but does not work well in XP.

The Setup

Follow these steps to configure a child's secured desktop.

1. Ideally and optionally, install all needed programs, service packs and other updates, getting the computer into a good state before setting new security.

2. Important - Build an Administrator Account:

Before doing any of this work, you must make a new Administrator's account -- one where you do not tell the child the password. You must complete this before locking down the child's account or you will lock yourself out of the computer. You can make more than one administrator's account, if desired.

a. Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, "Manage another Account"
b. Click "Create a new Account"
c. Name the account "Administrator" (or other name); mark as "Administrator"
d. Click the newly-created account; choose "Create a password". Be sure to fill out the password hint; this is a password you do not want to loose.

3. Login to the new account:

a. Click Start, (Shutdown: submenu); "Log off"
b. Login as Administrator

4. Change the child's account:

a. Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, "Manage another account"
b. Select the child's account
c. "Change the account type"; set to Standard User.

Results:
Your child will be prompted for an administrator's account before he can install any software or make any system-wide changes. If you were wise, you would not tell them the password. You can log in any time and install things as you-please.

Windows system updates will still run as-before (if set to automatic, they will install on their normal schedule), but applications will prompt for permission before updating, which can be a nuisance. Because of this, you should periodically login to the device and complete various updates for Java, Firefox, etc.

Update:

I still recommend these changes for children's accounts. But with this said, my Niece managed to install a new virus, even though she was a defined as a standard user. I am still trying to determine how she did this. But there was one bright side to this setting, the virus was not able to install itself in all of the places it would normally have rights. I suspect the cleanup was a easier than it would have been otherwise.

Finally, one closing note: Having a backdoor administrative account -- even if it is different than your own personal administrative account, is useful for cleaning some of the more simple viruses your machine might catch. Simple viruses may only infect the current user and the backdoor account is one way to clean up the mess.

See these Keyliner articles for other virus articles:
Microsoft System Sweeper - Bootable Antivirus - Highly Recommended
Removing Win32 Cryptor
Removing Win7 Anti-Virus
Removing Personal Security Virus
Securing Windows 7 from your Children
Microsoft Security Essentials

Setting up a Home DSL Network / Router

2011-04-25T01:48:00.022+01:00

Howto: Configure a Linksys Router

This article describes how to setup a typical home network using a DSL Modem and a Linksys Router. These same instructions can be used to "re-program"/re-configure a Linksys router that is malfunctioning or if the password was lost and the router needs to be re-set. You will notice I do not use the vendor's Installation CD.

In this type of network, a phone-line runs from the wall to the DSL Modem and a Cat-5 network cable connects the DSL Modem to the internal (Linksys) router. All wired and wireless workstations connect to the Linksys.

Related Articles:
If you have intermittent network failures, consider this article: Windows 7 and Vista Network Problems (IPV6)
Router Testing Steps

Basic Wiring:
Skip this section if the wiring is already in place.

A. On all phones, caller-id boxes, fax machines, answering machines, satellite receivers, etc., install a DSL noise filter that came with the Modem. Do *not* install a filter on the line that runs to the DSL modem.

If a phone and the DSL-line need to share the same wall jack, either plug the phone into the RJ11-phone jack on the back of the DSL Modem (and a filter is not required) or purchase a standard RJ11 Y-Adapter and wire as illustrated on the left.

B. Run a standard phone-line cable from the wall-plate to the DSL Modem, plugging into the "DSL-Line-In", illustrated with the grey cable, above.

C. From the DSL modem, run a standard Cat-5 network cable (usually comes with the Modem) from the Ethernet (network) port to the router. This is illustrated above, in yellow. From the backside, the wiring looks like this:

C. Finally, run a standard Cat-5 network cable from the Router's Port #1 to your desktop or laptop's Ethernet port. Even if you intend to use a wireless laptop, temporarily use a wired connection during the configuration steps because it is easier. Ideally, you would have two network cables -- one for the Modem-to-Router and a second for the Router-to-your-PC. But if you have only one, 'borrow' the Modem-to-Router cable for the configuration steps.

Configure the Linksys Router

Follow these steps to configure the linksys router. You will be changing from the factory-settings to slightly different settings for security and configuration reasons. Warning: If you have a functioning network, these instructions will re-set the network and you may need to re-visit existing workstations to get them re-connected.

1. Reset the router.

With the router powered on, use a pencil and press-and-hold the reset button (illustrated in Red, above. This is a recessed micro-switch button; feel the "click" when pressed). Hold the button for 5+ seconds, then release.

This sets the router to factory defaults and makes the the (Linksys) router's internal IP address:
192.168.1.1

(Other brand routers may use different default addresses)

2. Reboot your workstation.

Details: With your computer plugged into Port#1 (illustrated above as the blue cable), reboot your workstation. This will cause it to grab a new "DHCP" IP Address from the router. Technical note: An 'IPConfig / Release /Renew' will not work.

3. Launch a browser window and type this address in the URL line:

192.168.1.1 (This is the router's default address when re-set)

You will be prompted with a login screen. For the first-time (reset) login, use:

user-name: (blank)
password: "admin"

Note: Subsequent logins will use different credentials and other brands of routers have other login steps -- see the documentation that came with the router for details.

4. On the Linksys menu, click the Wireless tab (illustrated below)

a. Choose "Manual" for the Wireless Configuration.

b. Invent an SSID (Broadcast) name for your soon-to-be-built wireless network. For example, I use "Wolfhouse". I noticed another networks in my neighborhood used broadcast names such as "Shut your Damn Dog up" (I do not have a dog).

c. Confirm "SSID Broadcast" is enabled.

d. Click Save and wait approximately 30 seconds for the screen to return.

e. Return to this same screen and set Wireless Configuration back to "Wi-fi Protected Setup" (this is important).

f. Click Save again (and wait).

Discussion:
Set the configuration to Manual so you can code an SSID name that is meaningful to you -- this way you do not get a system-generated name. Additionally, allow SSID to broadcast because Windows Vista and 7 require this to work properly. In the past, many people blocked the SSID broadcast in order to hide their network. With today's sniffers, there is little security benefits in doing this and I no longer recommend hiding the SSID. But you must set Wi-Fi back to protected mode for encryption. Don't forget to Save before moving to the next screen.

5. Click the top-tab "Wireless - Wireless Security"

Set Security Mode: "WPA2 Personal"
Set Encryption: "TKIP or AES"
Type a pass-phrase (password)
Click SAVE and wait until the screen returns

Discussion:
You really, really want encryption on your network.
The passphrase is the keyword other computers will use to gain access to your wireless network. Write the passphrase down so you don't forget it.

Note: The passphrase is not the same as the router's administration password.

6. Click the Administration tab.

a. Change the Router's administrative password, typing a password of your choosing. This can be the same as the passphrase or different. (Do not leave it at the default "admin")
b. Click SAVE
c. You will be prompted to login again.

This time, the login is different: Use a user-ID of "admin":

Tape the password to the bottom of the router or document it in another location you won't loose. You must have this password in order to logon to the router and make configuration changes. Without this information, you will have to re-set the router and re-configure all of your wireless devices.

7. Basic IP Address Setup

In the Setup, Basic Setup tab, make these changes:

a. Internet Connection Type: Automatic Configuration - DHCP
b. Host Name: Any name of your choosing; I use the SSID name

c. Set the IP Address: 192.168.200.1
d. Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

e. DHCP Server: Enabled
f. Start Address: 192.168.200.100
g. Maximum number of users: 50
h. Client Lease time; change from zero to 1440 minutes
i. Set your time-zone

j. Click Save! (Scroll down to see button)

k. Important: When the screen returns, close the browser window and *reboot* the computer.

Discussion:
I like giving the router a different default address than a typical factory setting (e.g. 192.168.200.1). In the end, the network will look like this, where the workstations pickup variable DHCP network addresses, starting at 200.100:

Note: The DSL Modem's address (192.168.0.1) has not been configured or discussed in this article.

This completes the Linksys Router's setup.

Consider backing up the router's configuration by clicking the Linksys Menu: Administration, Management, "Backup Configuration" (near the bottom of the screen). Save the config.bin file to your local C: drive.

When powering on the network, it is best to boot (power on) the DSL modem first. Wait a minute, then boot (power on) the Router. This gives the DSL modem time to establish its IP address so it can send it down the line.

Workstation Setup

Connect all wired connections per normal and reboot the workstation. When windows prompts for the network connection, choose "Home" and let it connect. Details on this step are not documented here.

Once connected, browse the Internet. If all is well, you are done. Otherwise, see the testing steps, below.

TESTING:
If the network is still failing, see this article for recommended testing steps.
Router Testing Steps

Related articles:
Router Testing Steps
How to upgrade Linksys BIOS
Windows 7 and Vista Network Problems (IPV6)

Router Testing Steps

2011-04-25T01:15:00.003+01:00

Howto: Router Testing Steps.

This is a sister article to "Setting up a Home Network DSL/Router" and it discusses basic network trouble-shooting and diagnostic techniques.

This article can help you determine which component on has failed and it assumes a network wired in this fashion, with these example IP Addresses. Your addresses may be different:

If your home network intermittently "crashes" (especially when a laptop is booted and first logs in), see this very interesting article: Windows 7 and Vista Network Problems (IPV6)

Ideally, you would have recorded your previous network configuration by simply making a drawing like the illustration above -- but most people do not bother and this makes diagnostics more difficult.

Assuming you have previously configured your DSL Modem and Router, but you are still having connection problems. Consider these tests. You will need to test both the Linksys Router and the DSL modem. Similar steps work for Cable and non-Linksys routers.

Confirm the Workstation

1. From any workstation, open a DOS Prompt by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, "Command Prompt"

or optionally, Start, Run, "cmd" (enter) See this article: Exposing the Run command.

2. Confirm the current workstation has an IP Address with this DOS command:

ipconfig

Look for an IPV4 address similar to: 192.168.200.100 (or 101, etc.).
This is an address from the Linksys router's DHCP pool.

3. If IPConfig reports no IP Address (0.0.0.0 -- Address not found):

Confirm the network cable is plugged in or if a wireless, confirm the wireless card is active. If you have a laptop, it is easiest to test the network with a wired Cat-5 network cable. Plug it into the laptop and then into the router; reboot and test the ipconfig again.

If other workstations are on the network, do the same IPConfig test to see if they respond with a valid IP Address. If they have an address, the problem is with the workstation's network card, wiring or local software.

If IPConfig responds with a wrong address: 192.168.1.2 address when another address, such as 200.100, 101 was expected, then then the router has lost its configuration. Follow the steps in the configuration/setup article to re-program it (or restore your backup configuration). See this link: Setting up a Home Network DSL/Router

4. Bypass the Router for this test:

(This test only works with a wired connection and for this reason, I keep a short Cat-5 Network cable handy.)

If no IP Addresses can be found on your machine, or any other machine, unplug the network cable that leads from your PC to the Linksys/router and connect it directly into the DSL or Cable Modem (bypassing the Linksys). With a direct connection to the Modem, reboot the computer and check your IP Address again; it will be different than 192.168.1.100. If you do have an address, something is wrong with the router; it may need to be re-programmed, rebooted, etc.

If the direct-connection to the DSL or Cable Modem returns an IP Address, but the PC cannot browse the Internet, the problem is likely with the DSL/Cable Modem or with your ISP (assuming you trust the local PC's hardware and setup). Start looking at the blinky lights on the DSL/Modem. Consider calling your ISP and asking them to test the circuit (DSL). Leave the network in this state while working with the ISP, this way they can't blame your internal router.

If the direct-connection to the Modem does not return an IP Address (ipconfig), log-into the DSL/Modem and confirm DHCP is enabled. Confirm the local workstation is set to use DHCP (not detailed here.) Both of these ideas are not likely to happen as almost all equipment is set to use DHCP.

Testing the Linksys Router

Return the router to the network (wiring from Walljack to DSL/Cable Modem, to Router, to Workstation) and continue with these tests.

Reboot all workstations on the internal network. Assuming an IP Address is present on your workstation, consider Pinging other devices on the network. You can "ping" other workstations, network printers or the router itself. If any of these devices respond to the ping-test (below), your workstation and the router are configured correctly. Here are the details for the ping tests:

1. Assuming your workstation has a valid IP address: At the DOS prompt, 'ping' the router with a "dot.1" address. This address can vary, depending on how your network was built, but for most, use this address -- taking your workstation's returned IP Address and change the last octet to "1". Thus, if your workstation was given an IP Address of 192.168.200.1, ping 192.168.200.1:

ping 192.168.200.1

Decision:
If this test succeeds "time<1ms", then the Router is probably working correctly.
Continue with the DSL Modem test.

If this test fails "Destination host unreachable", check these possibilities:

a. Reboot the router by unplugging the power cable; wait 10 seconds, then plug back in.
After a minute, reboot your workstation and re-test with an IPConfig and Ping test.

b. If the Ping test still fails. Confirm the network cables are plugged in to your workstation and the router. If wireless, confirm the wireless card is active (Control Panel, Manage)

c. For wireless devices, switch to a wired connection and test again. If the wired connection succeeds, but the wireless fails, this is probably a software issue - either in the router or your workstation. More details on this, below.

Test the DSL Modem:

2. Test the DSL/Cable Modem.

If the workstation gets a valid IP Address (192.168.200.100, 101, etc.) and the Router Ping tests succeed, but you still cannot connect to the Internet, test the DSL Modem.

This assumes these addresses; your equipment may be different:
Workstation: 192.168.200.101 (or 192.168.100.101)
Router: 192.168.200.1 (or 192.168.100.1)
DSL/Modem: 192.168.0.1

ping 192.168.0.1 (Pinging the DSL/Cable Modem)

If the ping answers, suspect a problem with your workstation's firewall or virus protection software.

3. If 'ping 192.168.0.1' fails, do this test, if you did not already test this from above:

a. Plug your workstation (wired only) directly into the Ethernet port of the DSL Modem and reboot to get a new IPAddress range. (Temporarily unplugging the illustrated yellow connection between the Modem and the router.)

b. Do an "IPConfig"; expect an address similar to 192.168.0.2

c. Ping www.google.com (most web addresses will not respond to a ping, but google does). If google responds in 60 to 400ms, then the DSL modem is functioning properly and the problem is within your local network - it could be harware or software.

If you can ping google (while connected directly to the DSL) but cannot browse, suspect a software problem with the browser, firewall, virus software.

If you re-connect back to the Router (reboot to get a new IP Address) and you still can't browse, suspect a problem with the router. Perhaps the router has physically failed?

4. Can't PING Google while directly connected

If you can't Ping google, suspect a problem with the ISP/phone company. Call your DSL provider and ask them to check the line. It could be a problem with the hardware itself. If this device fails, it can be difficult to debug. The DSL/Cable modem may have "reset" itself to a new, default IP address. Your workstation's IPConfig test should give you a hint on where to test (ping .1)

Consider resetting the DSL/Cable Modem to factory defaults. Follow the DSL/Cable Modem's instructions or see my previous article for steps.

Related articles:
Setting up a Home Network DSL/Router
How to upgrade Linksys BIOS
Windows 7 and Vista Network Problems (IPV6)

Adding MP3 Folder to WMP12

2011-04-18T04:58:00.009+01:00

How to: Add a folder containing MP3 files to Windows Media Player 12 (Windows 7)

Contents:

Adding a pre-existing MP3 Folder to WMP
Finding the WMP music library
Changing the default directory for My Music files

WMP 12 (Windows 7, Vista), is lame in how it imports a directory of MP3 files. Contrast this with importing a CD: Insert the CD and click "Rip" -- the CD is added to your library. But if you happen to have a folder of pre-ripped files, adding them to the library involves trickery. Windows XP (WMP 11) has a slightly different procedure to follow.

These instructions are for Windows Media Player 12 (Windows 7):

1. Expose the Windows Media Play "File Menu"

Use this to determine where your music files are normally stored.

a. Launch WMP
b. Type Ctrl-M to expose the File Menu (or click Organize, Layout, Show Menu Bar)

2. Determine where the Music Library is stored

For most, the library is stored here:
C:\Users\[Your login name]\Music

However, it could (and should be) moved to a different location. To confirm the exact location:

a. Select top-menu: Tools, Options, [Rip Music] tab
b. Note the "Rip music to this location"

On my system, I store all music in C:\Data\Music (see below for reasons).

3. Using Windows Explorer, Copy the MP3 files to a dedicated folder, one per Album

Get ready to copy the MP3 files to a sub-directory within the Music Library. While this is not strictly required, it makes for a good structure and makes the music easier to backup.

Using Windows explorer, build the folder within your existing music library.
For example,
C:\Users\(your name)\My Music\(new folder-album name)\*.MP3

4. "Import" the new files:

Follow this step for WMP12. See step 4b if using WMP11 (XP)

In WMP, select top-menu: File, Manage Libraries, "Music"

In the Music Library Locations window, click "Add"
Browse to the newly created folder.
"Add" each folder/album as a separate item.

(If you have many folders/albums, you can create a top-level folder to hold the sub-folders and only add the top-level; the program will automatically navigate the sub-folders, however, I recommend dedicating a folder to each album. You'll appreciate this later, when you try to locate an album. Admittedly, it is odd to add a subfolder to an existing directory, but this is the trick to making this work - it is convoluted.)

4b. Windows XP, using WMP11, have an easier procedure. Copy the album to a subfolder, as described above. then click "File, Add To Library". Note the default music folder (C:\Users\...\My music or C:\data\music). Click OK. WMP11 searches the entire folder for new content and the new album(s) are added and you can skip the remainder of this article.

5. Click OK when done.

WMP will 'detect' the new files and adds them to the WMP library. The album will be added under "Unknown."

6. Cleanup the Music Library location list

Once the MP3's are imported, return to the WMP top-Menu: File, "Manage Libraries, Music" menu and *delete* the newly-added locations. This way, WMP does not have to constantly monitor those directories for new music. Deleting the Library location does not affect the underlying files or the import.

One would hope future versions of WMP would have a simple "Import Folder" menu.

7. Edit/Tag the newly-added album

Return to the main WMP screen
On the left side, click "Music, Artists".
Scroll to the end of the list, locating the "unknown" albums.
Double-click the Album cover.

"other-mouse-click" the album's details, manually editing the title, artist, and genre. Optionally, edit the track-list. Be sure to double-click the album before attempting to edit.

Optional Discussion
Where to Save the WMP music library

By default, Microsoft saves the music (and other data) in a relatively fragile location, called your user-profile: For Windows 7,
C:\Users\(your user name)

If your profile ever becomes corrupted, you may have troubles retrieving the data -- this is especially true in a corporate environment with 'roaming profiles.'

You may have noticed if you log into the workstation using a second User-ID, the entire Music library is invisible. This is part of the security and profiles. If you don't care about this, especially on a home computer, store the music in a less-fragile location.

Consider these recommended steps:

A. It is wise to backup your music files periodically. They are expensive to build and painful to loose.

B. Using Windows Explorer, create these directories:

C:\Data
C:\Data\Music

C. Using Windows Explorer, Move all files from 'C:\Users\(your name)\My Music'
to 'C:\Data\Music'

D. Launch WMP.

In WMP's top-menu, Tools, "Options"
Select the [Rip Music] tab
Change the 'Rip Music to this location' to the new directory "C:\data\music"
Click OK.

E. In the File, Manage Libraries, "Music",

add this directory: 'C:\data\Music'
Remove all other folders from the list

Related Articles:
WMP 12 Burned CD's Do Not work in Car Stereo

Your comments on this are welcome.

Win 7 Anti-Spyware Virus Manual Cleanup

2011-03-27T06:09:00.038+01:00

HowTo: Manually cleanup the Win 7 AntiSpyware virus. These instructions have been tested on Windows 7

Once again I've had the pleasure of cleaning a new variant of the "Win 7 Anti-Spyware virus." This article describes how to manually de-infect the machine. These steps describe how to manually remove the virus and counting scans, it will take about 2 hours. I did not test cleaning the original virus with 3rd-party tools. As with all viruses of this type, they mutate frequently. These steps are current as-of 2011.03.26.

See these Keyliner articles for other virus articles:
Microsoft System Sweeper - Bootable Antivirus - Highly Recommended
Removing Win32 Cryptor
Removing Win7 Anti-Virus
Removing Personal Security Virus
Securing Windows 7 from your Children
Microsoft Security Essentials

The Win7 Anti-Virus is by the same people who wrote the popular (Keyliner reviewed) Personal Security Virus. When infected it is surprisingly difficult to tell if this is a legitimate virus-warning message or if it is an actual virus. I understand why people get confused. Even for me, it took several minutes to decide this was a virus and sadly, (at the time) Microsoft Security Essentials MSE did not detect it. This virus specifically targets IE and Firefox users.

Symptoms:

Anti-spyware AntiSpyware AntivirusWin 7 scare-ware with numerous fake "infection" warnings. Warnings occur when any program is launched.
Internet Explorer and Firefox display fake messages when launched. Launching the browser will immediately re-infect the computer if the virus is not completely removed with the steps below.
Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is disabled or appears disabled/hijacked
The virus infects the currently-logged in user's profile; Other user-accounts are not infected (as long as they don't launch a browser session!).

You will see this screen, along with several other warnings:

This screen appears to be a real-time virus scan and it will find numerous viruses and other problems -- but none of the 'found' viruses are real. There is only one virus and it is the Win 7 Anti-Spyware.

Related is a convincing Microsoft Security Center that displays when the System Tray icon is opened. It appears to have replaced the regular virus scanner with its own name and it displays convincing errors, including "Win 7 Antispyware reports that it is turned off" along with a "Turn on now" button:

Clicking "Turn on now" takes you to their website where you can "register" the software, provide them with a credit card number and if you are lucky, they will disable the 'found' viruses and the scanner will continue to spy on you and will re-infect you later when they need more money.

What to Do

When presented with "scareware" such as this, do not click anything on the popup screens. Do not click Scan. Do not click "Turn on now." Do not give them a credit-card number. Ignore the popup windows; I don't even bother closing them.

Solution:

Important update: 2011.06.01:
Microsoft has a new Beta Virus scanner that I now recommend.
See this Keyliner article: Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper

Follow the steps in that article to create a bootable virus-cleaning disk. Use it before attempting the following manual steps as this may save you a lot of work.

Manual Steps

1. Disconnect from the Internet

I recommend disconnecting the computer from the Internet during these first few steps. Many of these types of viruses install other viruses and the disconnect may help to keep this from happening.

If you use a wired connection, unplug the CAT-5 data cable. If wireless, disable the wireless card with a slider-switch on the side of the computer or some machines use a function-key.

2. Download Malware Bytes - but do not install

From another non-infected computer, download the following utility and burn the installation file to a CD (I do not recommend using a thumb-drive because of possible virus-re-infections). If another computer is not available, continue with the next steps and attempt to disable the virus manually before downloading the utility:

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware software
http://www.malwarebytes.org

This utility will be used to check your cleanup work and to look for other installed viruses.

3. Begin the Cleanup by Logging in:

Reboot the computer and choose one of the following methods to login:

a. If you have a secondary login account (a back-door such as Administrator or other person's account), reboot the computer and login with that account. Likely, those accounts are not infected. Important: Once logged in, do not launch the browser. If you do not have a backdoor account, you may be able to create one "on-the-fly", see followup notes at the end of this article (I did not test this idea).

b. Or, boot the computer into Safe-mode:

To boot into safe-mode, cold-boot the computer. Immediately after the hardware-BIOS screens, before the Windows Splash-screen, repeatedly press the F8 key (some laptops may need to press a function-key-F8). Insistently, repeatedly, but not frantically, press the F8 key until prompted for Safe mode. If it starts in normal mode, shut-down and begin again. Once in safe-mode, do not launch a browser session.

(Apparently newer versions of the virus block booting in Safe Mode. See reader comments below if you cannot boot into SafeMode. Leave a comment on your experiences.)

4. Set Windows Explorer to show File Extensions

By default, Windows Explorer does not show file-extensions. Expose them with these steps:

a. Launch Windows Explorer*
b. In the top-left, select Organize, Layout, Menu-Bar
c. Click top menu Tools, Folder Options
d. Click the View Tab
e. Scroll down the list and check:

Check: Show Hidden Files, Folders and Drives
Uncheck: Hide extensions for known file types
Uncheck: Hide protected operating system files

f. Click Apply
g. Click top-button "Apply to folders" and close the dialog

* Note: if you can't start Windows Explorer, do the following:
1. Press ctrl-alt-delete
2. Click Start Task Manager
3. Click the Applications tab
4. Click button "New Task", type "Explorer.exe"

5. End Process

If you are still logged in with the infected account, close all running programs, then end-task on the problem software, using the steps below. If you logged-in with a backdoor account *and* the virus is not running, skip this step.

a. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, start "Task Manager"
b. Click the [Processes] tab

c. Locate one of the files and "End Process":

AV.EXE
KUS.exe
MAQ.exe
YUM.exe
$R2B37DC.exe
y7v11.exe
datapw.exe
AVEngn
XP_Antispyware.exe

In my case, the file was called "KUS.exe". Your computer may a different name and the name may change from the list above. The key is this:

* You want to end-task on all tasks non-required tasks, leaving only the operating-system's tasks active. In the Task-Manager's Process-list, end all non-operating-system programs. The list below will help you decide which are required.

These are typical valid Windows Tasks - Leave running - End all others
crss.exe
dwm.exe
explorer.exe
ipoint.exe
mssecs.exe
nvvsvc.exe (Nvidia drivers)
nvXDSync.exe (Nvdidia drivers)
plugin-container.exe
Ravcpl64.exe (NVidia Control Panel)RoxioBurnLauncher.exe
ShwiconXP9106.exe
sidebar.exe
standby.exe
taskhost.exe
taskmgr.exe
winlogon.exe

In Task Manager's process-list, look for 'unusual' programs and end them, but do not end the tasks listed immediately above. Unfortunately, I can't list all important Windows processes because there may be some hardware drivers (such as ATI video, or older NVidia drivers), that I don't know about. It takes some skill to determine this but don't panic. If you stop some important Windows process, no harm is done -- simply reboot the computer and start over. Take your best guess.

As an aside, spelling is important. If you find a program running that is a slight variation on these names, it could be the virus trying to sneak past your keen observational skills. However, in my case, the name was a little more obvious: "Kus.exe". (Advanced users might consider using Microsoft's 'Process Explorer'.)

6. Delete these files

a. Once you have ended the task(s), use Windows Explorer to open this folder:

C:\Users\(your user account)\AppData\Local

In this folder, I recommend deleting any executable files -- those with .exe extensions -- especially if they have one of the following names. When deleting, press Shift-Delete to permanently delete the files, which keeps it out of the recycle bin. There will likely only be one file:

AV.EXE
KUS.exe
EYG.exe
MAQ.exe
YGX.exe
YUM.exe
$R2B37DC.exe
y7v11.exe
datapw.exe
pw.exe
MSASCui.exe

Filenames vary, but any .exe files found in the root of this location are suspect and should be deleted (or at the very least, renamed). Expect this list to change as the virus mutates.

If files are "in use" and cannot be deleted, return to the task manager and find it. If you are using this article to clean a different virus, be aware there are more sophisticated viruses. See the Keyliner articles listed at the end of these instructions for more robust steps you can take.

b. * In this same AppData\Local folder, look for a non-exe file named with a numeric GUID code (your filename may vary)

8a0bd7L1sd4h51.... (no extension).

This is an additional copy of the same virus. If found, delete.
By this stage, the virus should be more-or-less disabled, but you will be re-infected if you do not complete the remaining steps.

7. Additional File Deletes

Delete *all* files in the following locations (The virus leaves temp copies in various cache directories). Delete the files, leaving the folders. As before, when deleting, press Shift-Delete.

a. C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Local\Temp\*.*

b. C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\*.*

c. C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\8a0bd7L1sd4h51.... (with no extension. The file may be named with other random numbers; it will be obvious.)

Continue deleting all member files in these folders (Shift-delete). These are simply cache files and they will rebuild when the operating system needs them:

d. C:\Windows\Prefetch\*.*
e. C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\Cache\6.0\24\*.*
(Your version number may vary).

Again, delete the files, leave the directories.

Unlikely: If you have re-directed your Windows TEMP folder to a different location than your profile, delete that Temp directory also. (See DOS, "SET" command).

8. Registry Cleanup Step 1

Author's note: Because I had a backdoor account ("admin"), I was able to launch Regedit without a barrage of scareware screens. If you are running on an infected account, you may have to plow through a lot of nag-screens. Do not close the screens, just toss them to the side and ignore them as you try to launch your software.

If you are on a non-infected account, you will only be able to clean the HKLM keys; you will not find any HKCurrent user values that are infected; this is to be expected. The next step resolves this problem.

Regardless of which account you are logged in as:

a. Start, Run, Regedit.exe

(To enable the Start, Run command, "other-mouse-click" the Start Menu, choose tab [Start Menu], Customize. [x] Check the "Run Command" box. Or press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, Task Manager and start the task as described in step 4.)

b. In Regedit, tunnel to

HKey-LocalMachine\Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\
InternetExplorer.exe\Shell\Open\Command

Change the line from
"C:\users\(your name)\appdata\local\KUS.exe" -a "C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

Remove the italicized red-text, leaving only the green text. The name 'KUS.exe' may vary.

Click image for larger view; click right-x to return

c. If you use Firefox

Make similar changes in these 2 locations. Again, remove the front part of the command, leaving only the "C:..." statement:

HKey-LocalMachine\Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\
Firefox.exe\Shell\Open\Command

HKey-LocalMachine\Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\
Firefox.exe\Shell\SafeMode\Command

(leaving only a "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla\Firefox\Firefox.exe" etc.)

9. Continue with these registry cleanups - Step 2

If you are logged into Windows with a backdoor account (administrator), now is the time to re-login as the infected user. Ideally, start in Safe-Mode. Once logged in, re-open RegEdit and make the following registry changes. (If you are familiar with Registry-merge files, skip these manual steps and run the optional step (z.), below; it is easier.)

a. Delete these registry Current-user registry keys (delete the folders). Again, you must be logged in as the infected user to delete these keys:

HKEY_Current_User\Software\Classes\.exe
HKEY_Current_User\Software\Classes\secfile

As an aside: If you have multiple Windows-login accounts, you may need to repeat each of the registry changes.

b. In the following registry key, change each of the detailed values (e.g. Default and IsolatedCommand). Note this is "exefile" without a dot and it is a *long-way* down in the registry:

HKEY_Classes_Root\exefile\shell\open\command

Change both values to "%1" %*
Include quotes. Type as quote, percent one, quote -- space, percent, asterisk.

Click Image for larger view; click right-x to return

c. Change this key:

HKey_Classes_Root\.exe

Change the (Default) value to "exefile" (no quotes)
Change "Content Type" to "application/x-msdownload" (no quotes)

z. Optionally, Merge a registry file:

You can automate the registry commands by doing these steps (do not do these steps if you manually edited the registry with the steps above):
- Copy the following text, paste into Notepad
- Save the file as "registryfix.reg" (quotes). Note which directory you saved the file.

-Before merging, confirm the file paths match where you installed Firefox. If you have not installed Firefox, delete those statements before merging. Merge steps, immediately below.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\open]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\firefox.exe\""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\safemode]
@="Firefox &Safe Mode"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\safemode\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\firefox.exe\" -safe-mode"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\IEXPLORE.EXE\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\IEXPLORE.EXE\shell\open]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\IEXPLORE.EXE\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe\""
- Use Windows Explorer and locate the saved file (likely MyDocuments).
- Other-mouse-click and choose "merge"

10. Delete Other Cache Directories

By this stage, it should be safe to launch other programs. Continue with these last cleanup steps, while logged in as the infected user. Basically, you are cleaning other inert copies of the virus file, which can be found in these additional locations:

Launch Internet Explorer .
a. Other-mouse-click the tab-bar, choose "menu bar"
b. From IE's top-menu, select Tools, Internet Options.
c. In Browser History, click Delete, Delete. This may take a few moments.

If you use Firefox, Launch Firefox.
a. Tools, Clear Recent History (All)
(in the new Firefox 4, click top-orange menu)

Open the Control Panel, "Java"
a. in "Temporary Internet Files"
b. Click "Settings"
c. Click "Delete Files"
d. I also recommend changing the disk space to 150MB (not 1000MB)

11. Empty the Windows Recycle bin.

In case you forgot to click "shift-delete" in the steps above, empty your Recycle Bin (other mouse-click the desktop Recycle Bin, choose "empty").

12. Reconnect the computer to the Internet

13. Launch and install MalwareBytes (see download steps above).

Allow the program to update itself to the most current version.
If you were not able to download, it should be safe to download now.
Allow a full scan; it will take hour or longer. Consider disabling the Windows screen saver.

In reality, this may be anti-climatic - you have already killed the virus, but this program is a good at finding other things that may have slipped in and it will confirm your work.

14. Reboot

15. Re-install MSE?

If you are using Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), you may need to un-install and re-install. Skip this step if you are using a different virus scanner.

Author's note: I was fooled by the fake Microsoft Security Center dialog and believed my MSE was damaged. In retrospect, it probably survived the virus attack, but I uninstalled/re-installed.

a. Click the System Tray and locate the (green) school-house icon.

If MSE does not launch, use the Control Panel to de-install. Then, go to Microsoft.com (security) and re-download.

b. Disable the Windows Screen Saver (Control Panel, "personalization", "Screen Saver", set to "none").

c. Start a Full-scan.

The virus should be cleaned.

Followup Notes:
The computer was nearly unusable while the virus was installed. Because I had a back-door account, I was able to perform most of the steps above, without resorting to safe-mode and was not plagued by hundreds of nag-screens. I did not test all of these steps while being nagged-to-death; I suspect you can still do all the changes suggested above.

For future attacks, you should make a secondary (backdoor) login account on all Windows 7 workstations. Only use this account in emergencies. Of course, this needs to be done before the emergency, but you may be able to build the account even while this virus is raging.

Do these steps on all workstations:

Start Menu, Control Panel
Change the View to "Small Icons" (not by Category)
Double-click "User Accounts"
Double-click "Create New Account"
Name the account "Admin"
On the newly-created account, click Change Password.
Be sure to type a password hint that will remind you

* If you are trying to build this account while infected, reboot prior to logging in with this account or it will be infected too. A minor drawback to this design is the account will permanently appear on all login screens.

See this related article: Securing Windows 7 from your Children

Backups

Viruses are always dangerous. Although this one was more annoying than most, it does not delete files. However, as I have always said, the data is more valuable than the computer. In my case, even while infected, I ran a quick backup of my most recently-changed files. I inserted a DVD and made a quick "click-and-drag" copy of my most important data files.

In the back of my mind, I knew I had a full-disk image (Acronis disk image) that was only a few weeks old. If the cleanup steps failed, I could have simply restored the image, and then dropped the manual backups and all would be well. Could you say the same thing on your computers?

Other Virus Information
This virus is also known as (alias):
Win32/FakeRean
Personal Security Virus
W32/FakeSec.B.gen!Eldorado
Mal/FakeAV-BT
Win32/Kryptik.DBC
Trojan.Win32.FraudPack.aovc
W32/FraudPack.fam!tr
Cryptic.BG
OScope.Trojan.0216
Win32:MalOb-AL
Win-Trojan/Xema.variant
Trojan.Win32.FakeAV!IK
Trojan.Fraudpack.Gen!Pac.5
Antispyware Vista (other)
Antispyware Win 7 (other)
Antispyware XP (other)
AntiSpyware XP 2009 (other)
Antivirus Pro 2010 (other)
Antivirus Vista (other)
Antivirus Vista 2010 (other)
Antivirus Win 7 (other)
Antivirus Win 7 2010 (other)
Antivirus XP (other)
Antivirus XP 2010 (other)
Desktop Defender 2010 (other)
Desktop Security 2010 (other)
Home Antivirus 2010 (other)
PC Antispyware 2010 (other)
PC Security 2009 (other)
Security Central (other)
Total PC Defender (other)
Total PC Defender 2010 (other)
Total Vista Security (other)
Total Win 7 Security (other)
Total XP Security (other)
Vista AntiMalware (other)
Vista AntiMalware 2010 (other)
Vista Antispyware 2010 (other)
Vista Antivirus (other)
Vista Antivirus 2010 (other)
Vista Antivirus Pro (other)
Vista Antivirus Pro 2010 (other)
Vista Defender (other)
Vista Defender 2010 (other)
Vista Defender Pro (other)
Vista Guardian (other)
Vista Guardian 2010 (other)
Vista Internet Security (other)
Vista Internet Security 2010 (other)
Vista Security (other)
Vista Security Tool (other)
Vista Security Tool 2010 (other)
Vista Smart Security (other)
Vista Smart Security 2010 (other)
Win 7 AntiMalware (other)
Win 7 AntiMalware 2010 (other)
Win 7 Antispyware 2010 (other)
Win 7 Antivirus (other)
Win 7 Antivirus 2010 (other)
Win 7 Antivirus Pro (other)
Win 7 Antivirus Pro 2010 (other)
Win 7 Defender (other)
Win 7 Defender 2010 (other)
Win 7 Defender Pro (other)
Win 7 Guardian (other)
Win 7 Guardian 2010 (other)
Win 7 Internet Security (other)
Win 7 Internet Security 2010 (other)
Win 7 Security (other)
Win 7 Security Tool (other)
Win 7 Security Tool 2010 (other)
Win 7 Smart Security (other)
Win 7 Smart Security 2010 (other)
XP AntiMalware (other)
XP AntiMalware 2010 (other)
XP AntiSpyware 2009 (other)
Antivirus Vista (other)
XP Antispyware 2010 (other)
XP Antivirus 2010 (other)
XP Antivirus Pro (other)
XP Antivirus Pro 2010 (other)
XP Defender (other)
XP Defender 2010 (other)
XP Defender Pro (other)
XP Guardian (other)
XP Guardian 2010 (other)
XP Internet Security (other)
XP Internet Security 2010 (other)
XP Police Antivirus (other)
XP Security (other)
XP Security Center (other)
XP Security Tool (other)
XP Security Tool 2010 (other)
XP Security Tool 2010 (other)
XP Smart Security (other)
XP Smart Security 2010 (other)
Smart Security 2010 (other)
Win 7 Security Center (other)
XP Defender Pro 2010 (other)
AntiVirus Studio 2010 (other)
Trojan:Win32/FakeRean (Microsoft)
Win32/FakeRean (Microsoft)
Spyware Protection (other)
Vista Antispyware 2011 (other)
Vista Antivirus 2011 (other)
Vista Home Security 2011 (other)
Vista Security 2011 (other)
Vista Total Security 2011 (other)
Win 7 Home Security 2011 (other)
Win 7 Total Security 2011 (other)
XP Antispyware 2011 (other)
XP Antivirus 2011 (other)
XP Home Security 2011 (other)
XP Security 2011 (other)
XP Total Security 2011 (other)
Vista Anti-Spyware (other)
Vista Anti-Spyware 2011 (other)
Vista Anti-Virus 2011 (other)
Vista Home Security (other)
Vista Internet Security 2011 (other)
Vista Total Security (other)
Win 7 Anti-Spyware (other)
Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 (other)
Win 7 Anti-Virus 2011 (other)
Win 7 Home Security (other)
Win 7 Internet Security 2011 (other)
Win 7 Security 2011 (other)
Win 7 Total Security (other)
XP Anti-Spyware (other)
XP Anti-Spyware 2011 (other)
XP Anti-Virus 2011 (other)
XP Home Security (other)
XP Total Security (other)

Microsoft has substantial MSE documentation, which you can read at this link. MSE was recently updated on 201.05.26 with better detection.

This virus is reportedly associated with these dangerous domain names, most of which are now off-line as the virus writers move from domain to domain:
antivirus-one-care2010.com
pc-livecare.com
pc-livecare2010.com
live-pccare.com
live-pc-care.com
one-care-antivirus.com
onecare-antivirus2010.com
securitypccare.com
win-live-care.com
windows-live-care.com
win-live-care2010.com
security-pccare.com

See these Keyliner articles for other virus articles:
Microsoft System Sweeper - Bootable Antivirus - Highly Recommended
Removing Win32 Cryptor
Removing Win7 Anti-Virus
Removing Personal Security Virus
Securing Windows 7 from your Children
Microsoft Security Essentials

Leave an unregistered comment if this article helped you.

Corel PaintShop Pro X3 Hangs

2011-03-06T02:14:00.009Z

Problem: Corel PSP X3 hangs. This article discusses a possible solution, as recommended by Corel. Contains instructions on how to perform a "clean install" of PSP.

Previously, I had written about Corel's PSP X2 hanging with a w-hite screen-of-death. Now I am finding PSP X3 occasionally hangs (hang freezes freeze crashes crash) -- especially while zoomed in on an image and doing pixel work.

As much as I like, and still recommend PSP, the crashes are frustrating. Tentatively, this article appears to have fixed the problem -- however, I am never a fan of this type of solution because the real, underlying problem was not addressed.

Symptoms:

The Hang is not predictable
The entire program hangs, quits working, suspends
No error messages or other indications
The Windows Event Viewer shows an AppCrash with CoreCmd.dll (see Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer)
Note Event Viewer: Event ID 1001
Re-launching PSP, you can usually continue editing the original image.
Crashes seem to happen more frequently until the next reboot.

Detailed Symptoms:

A dump file is written into the Corel Cache directory with a name similar to this:
"Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo 111822_17891926.DMP"
(See Corel PSP, File, Preferences, File Locations, Cache).
The DMP file, if opened in Visual Studio, will show "The thread tried to read from or write to a virtual address for which it does not have appropriate access." This is not a particularly helpful message -- this is a standard message for a program that is mis-behaving.
The Event Viewer (1001) will reference a variable Windows Temp file, such as
c:\Temp\WERBD61.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
(Your temp location is likely C:\Windows\Temp); however, this file will not be found. Unknown if this is expected behavior.

Possible Solution:

Corel did not offer a firm solution to the problem. Instead of helping to solve the real issue, they recommended a non-standard un-install/re-install -- suggesting a file might be corrupt. Note: My steps are slightly different than Corel's steps published in Answer ID 764432.

(originally written): I suspect this solution will not permanently solve the problem because the debugging information from above hints at a standard, run-of-the-mill bug. In any case, it is worth pursuing, because frankly there is no other good ideas. Update: 2011.07. The steps in this article appear to have fixed the problem.

These instructions were fully tested on Windows 7 / Vista, with slightly different XP comments.

1. Download, but do not run, the Corel Clean up Utility:

CDS 2010 Clean-Up ver1.9.exe
http://corel.custhelp.com/ci/fattach/get/18706/1281606771

Save the file to a known location (C:\temp, etc.); do not run yet.

2. Run the Cleanup Program.

Using Windows Explorer, locate the downloaded utility.
"Other-mouse-click" the exe and choose "Run as Administrator". Allow the cleanup to run.

3. Control Panel: Uninstall PSP.

Open the Control Panel,
Windows 7: Programs and Features
XP: Add-Remove Programs
Confirm, and if still present, uninstall Corel Paintshop Pro X3 (PSPX3).
Note: I did not see this in my un-install list, presumably the cleanup removed the entry.

4. Delete folder remnants.

To do this step, you need to un-hide protected system files, exposing them in Windows Explorer. Follow these steps:

Windows 7/Vista: Open Control Panel, "Folder Options" (or see this Keyliner article).
Make these changes, which are recommended for all Windows installations.

Click the [View] tab.
[x] Always show menus
[x] Show hidden files, folders and drives
[ ] Hide extensions for known file types (uncheck)
[ ] Hide protected operating system files (uncheck)

5. Delete these folders

Open Windows Explorer and delete these newly-exposed Windows 7 / Vista folders:

C:\Program Files(x86)\Corel\Corel PaintShop Photo Pro
C:\Program Files(x86)\Ulead Systems (if present)
C:\ProgramData\Corel\PaintShop Photo Pro
C:\ProgramData\Ulead Systems
C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Roaming\Paint Shop Photo Pro
C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Local\Corel

For Windows XP:
C:\Program Files\Corel\Corel PaintShop Photo Pro
C:\Program Files\Ulead Systems (if present)
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Corel\PaintShop Photo Pro
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Ulead Systems
C:\Documents and Settings\(your name)\Application Data\Corel\PaintShop Photo Pro

6. Cleanup Registry Keys:

Start, Run, "Regedit.exe"
(See this article for instructions on exposing the normally-hidden "run" command)

Windows 7 / Vista and XP: Delete these folder/Registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Corel\PaintShop Photo Pro
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Corel\PhotoDownloader
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Ulead Systems\Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

7. Still in Regedit, delete one of the following groups of keys, depending on your operating system:

Windows 7 / Vista:
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Wow6432Node\Corel....
\Paint Shop Photo Pro
\Ulead Systems (if present)

For Windows XP:
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Corel....
\Paint Shop Photo Pro
\Ulead Systems (if present)

8. Reboot the computer (always wise after work like this)

Begin the Re-install:

9. Recommended: Remove the computer from the network

Disable the Wireless NIC or unplug the network cable.

Do this step because the next step disables virus scanning.

10. Disable virus scanning.
(stop real-time virus scanning) This is a Corel recommendation and this is why I recommend removing the machine from the network.

11. Run the Corel PSP installation:

Insert the Corel PSP installation CD
Open Windows Explorer
"other-mouse-click" Setup.exe, "Run as Administrator"
Allow the installation to run.

12. Re-enable virus scanning and re-connect to the network.

13. Update PSP Patches with these steps:

Launch PSP. Select Help, Check for Updates.

When the update window appears, close PSP and allow the update.
Repeat by re-launching PSP, checking for updates, closing PSP, until no updates are found. As of 2011.03, this takes three times.

Additional Keyliner thoughts on this problem:

Confirm your video card drivers are current and up-to-date, especially if running in Windows 7 / Vista. See Control Panel, Device Manager, "Display Adapters". If you are running NVidia or ATI, then you have specific drivers installed; confirm the drivers are current by logging into the respective sites. If you are running default Microsoft Windows video drivers (I don't recall what they look like in the Control Panel), then you should upgrade the drivers.

Deleting Cache
PSP's cache files can be deleted without re-installing. Occasionally, consider deleting the Cache with these steps:

a. Launch PSP
b. Select File, Preferences, "Reset Preferences"
c. Check [x] Delete all Cache files, OK

AutoSave
I have an unconfirmed suspicion the crashes may be due to PSP's AutoSave settings. See PSP, File, Preferences, AutoSave. I am still testing this idea and will write back with more information.

Your comments are welcome and may help other readers with this problem.

Related articles:
PaintShopPro x2 Observations
Using PSP to crop images for Aspect Ratios (wallpapers)
Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 Stopped Working (Windows 7 w-hite Screen of Death)
PSP Fuzzy Text Fix

Windows 7 SP1

2011-02-26T04:09:00.011Z

Howto: Windows 7 SP1 Updates

Microsoft has released Windows 7 SP1. This is not an earth-shattering service pack but it does contain nearly 800 hotfixes and minor enhancements. This is a recommended update.

Download and installation will take approximately 1.5 hours and the installation can happen automatically or manually. Although the patching process is stable, you would ideally make an image backup before installing.

Using Windows Update:

For a single computer, use Windows Update because the download is faster. Follow these steps:

1. Select Start, Control Panel, Windows Update.
Note the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 KB976932 in the "Important" updates section.

The Windows Update size varies from 73MB to 900MB, depending on what maintenance you had previously applied. For a single computer, this is likely faster than downloading the entire executable. For example, on my laptop, which was current with Microsoft patches, the update was 90MB.

2. Allow the update to proceed.

Downloading Manually:

If you have multiple computers or if you intend to rebuild the PC in the future, consider downloading the entire installation file. This way, the file can be used multiple times and can be written to DVD. The download is approximately 900MB.

To download, follow these steps:

1. Determine which operating system you have installed:
Windows 7 x64 bit or Windows 7 x32 bit

Determine Steps:
a. Start Windows Explorer
b. On the tree-side, locate "My Computer" ("Computer").
c. Other-mouse-click "My Computer", Properties
d. In the center of the report, under System, note the System Type:

"64-bit" or "32-bit"

2. Open Internet Explorer. Go to this Microsoft page:

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 KB976932
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3202ce6-4056-4059-8a1b-3a9b77cdfdda&displaylang=en

3. Near "Validation Required", click "Continue" and allow the "Genuine Validation" to install the ActiveX control. Follow the on-screen prompts. Once it installs, click "Continue" a second time.

However, On my main computer, automatic validation always seems to fail. If needed, click the manual validation and follow the on-screen instructions.

4. From the "Continue" File name screen, choose one of the following. Most likely, you should select the x64 version.

For X64 computers, choose windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe
For X32, choose windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe

Download the file, saving it a known location on your hard disk.

The larger, 2GB download contains every possible install; use this if you have a mixture of multiple 32 and 64-bit computers.

Installing:

5. Optional Step: Once the download completes, disconnect the computer from the network and disable the virus scanners (turn off real-time scanning). Doing this will speed the installation.

For example, to disable Microsoft Security Essentials MSE:
a. Open the MSE icon in the system tray
b. Click the Settings tab
c. Click "Real Time Protection" on the left
d. Uncheck [ ] "Turn on real-time protection"

6. Launch the downloaded installation file. Installation will take apx 30-25 minutes. The install will linger at the 50% - 60% mark for a considerable period. Be patient. Reboot when prompted. If you are on a laptop, use AC power prior to launching.

7. Re-enable virus scanning, if disabled. This would be a good time to consider another disk-image backup.

Errata:
Details on the 800 updates can be found in this KB article: Download XLS Link: KB976932. This is a relatively boring document. Additional documentation can be found on the same page.

Related articles:
Cleaning up Startup Programs
Streamline Windows 7 Start Menus
Turn off Start Menu UAC Nags
Windows 7 Recommended Explorer Changes
Microsoft Security Essentials

Windows 7 Slow USB Drives
Windows 7 Unidentified Network Problem
My favorite wallpaper:

Open Windows Explorer to Default Folder

2011-02-07T05:50:00.002Z

Howto: Open Windows Explorer to a selected directory

When clicking the Windows Explorer Icon on the Start-Menu bar, it is nice to have the default folder arrive at a location of your choosing. I like to arrive at C:\Data (or you might want to arrive at a server's Home directory, etc.). This technique works in all versions of Windows, but these instructions are tailored for Windows 7 / Vista.
Steps:

1. From the Start Menu Bar, locate the Windows Explorer icon. These same steps can also be made on the Windows Explorer Start-Menu menu-item.

a. "other-mouse-click" the Explorer Icon
b. "other-mouse-click" the "explorer.exe" menu choice
c. Select "Properties"

2. In the Properties Window, modify the Target to read

%windir%\Explorer.exe /e; "c:\data"

Replacing "C:\data" with your favorite default directory (H:\projects, etc.).

Optionally, make similar changes within the Start Menu.

Results: When clicking the icon/menu, Explorer will open to the indicated folder.

Related links:
Windows 7 Explorer Recommended Tricks

Windows 7 - Turn Off UAC Nags on Icons

2011-01-29T05:34:00.007Z

Howto: Stopping UAC Nags while editing desktop and start-menu icons. This is an excerpt from a more involved article. These instructions are for Windows 7 and were updated on 2011.01.29.

Contents:

Changing UAC Nags just for Start Menu Icons (recommended)
Changing System-wide UAC Nags

Fixing Start Menu and Desktop Icon Nags:

I am always fiddling with Start Menu and Desktop icons but I get tired of all the security prompts. Although Windows 7 vastly improved UAC security nags, Windows 7 still bugs people too much when editing desktop and Start Menu icons. Follow these steps to disable UAC nags in this area while leaving the rest of UAC in-place (UAC is meant to help keep viruses from installing and if your computer is used by non-technical people, it should be left on.)

With a minor security change, you can disable UAC nags while editing Start Menus
-- while leaving the rest of UAC intact.

Follow these steps:

1. Expose Windows Explorer's File Menu

a. Open Windows Explorer

b. Select menu Organize, Layout, Check "Menu Bar"

2. Show hidden Files and Folders:
a. In Explorer, select top-menu, Tools, Folder-options, View (View Tab)
b. In the Advanced-settings checkbox list,

* Show Hidden files and folders
[ ] (uncheck) Hide Extensions for known file type
[ ] (uncheck) Hide Protected Operating System File

c. Click Apply
d. Click Apply to Folders

3. Close and re-open Windows Explorer
Tunnel to each of these two folders:

C:\Users\Public\Public Desktop
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu

4. "Other-Mouse-Click" each folder, choose Properties.

a. Click the [Security] Tab
b. Click button "Edit"
c. Select your user-account from the list (or choose "Everyone")
d. Click "Full-Control"
e. Click OK, OK

f. Do the same for the other folder.

Click image for a larger view; click right-x to return

This allows you to edit any Start Menu icon without the UAC prompt.

System-wide UAC Nags:

Overall System User Access Control (UAC) nags can be controlled here. Use this method if you want to turn off all UAC nags. I want to caution against this. The Nags are meant to stop fly-by virus installs. However when installing a new computer (and all of its associated software), this is handy:

1. Start, Control Panel, "System"

2. Click "Action Center" (lower-left)

3. Click "Change User Account Control Settings" (left)

4. Move the slider-bar to a lower setting to progressively disable UAC nags.
The default setting on a zero-3(max) is the second position (third from bottom).

Keyliner recommends leaving this at Microsoft's default. If you make the recommended start-menu changes from the top of the article, UAC becomes very tolerable. Remember, UAC protects you from viruses doing a drive-by install.

Related articles:
Windows 7 Explorer Changes (Recommended)
Windows 7 Streamline Start menus
Cleaning Startup Programs (Startup Decks)
Vista UAC - Stop the Nags