The Gadgetress » Stump the PC Club

All about external hard drives

Kevin Sablan — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:01:46 +0000

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: I’d like to purchase an external hard drive. There are so many choices what should I look for and do they come with backup software?

PC CLUB: Not all external hard drives are created equal. For example, the HP Simple Save does not behave like a traditional drive. HP states the following about its drive: “What automatically starts backing up your PC the minute you plug it into your USB port? It’s our SimpleSave 1TB Portable Hard Drive. This practically hands free device comes with software that runs directly from the drive (no need to install anything”. The term 1TB means one terabyte which is equivalent to 1,024 gigabytes.

During my initial encounter with this drive I attempted to simply back up a client’s Internet Favorites and could not. This is because the drive only runs in a fully automatic mode. This mode allows you to configure which file types to back up but it does not allow you to choose a specific folder. The drive is not meant to be used as a traditional external hard drive.

However, this may be just the ticket for novice users who want to leave total control up to the drive. It will back up hundreds of file types, which should cover most users. Just don’t ask it back up a folder of your choice.

Conventional drives on the other hand can be used as follows:

In the manual mode where the user copies files and folders of their choice to the drive.
In conjunction with the software bundled with the drive, which varies with the manufacturer.
In conjunction with any third-party backup software of your choice.

External hard drives also come in a variety of capacities and 1 terabyte drives are becoming more prevalent. This could be overkill unless you want to back up many, many videos, pictures and lots of music. The average user can get by with 300 to 500 gigabytes. It also may be safer to not put all your eggs in one basket and invest in several smaller drives.

When you purchase one of these drives, free backup software is usually included. A CD is normally not included since the software is pre-loaded on the drive. When the drive is first plugged in, a wizard will open with step-by-step instructions. This software may be easier to use than other third-party software but may lack the custom features that you need. I recommend using the bundled software initially so you can learn more about the process before spending more money.

External hard drives are available in several configurations including a small portable size that requires no external power and a book-like size that does utilize AC power. I have found that the smaller ones are slightly less compatible with all PCs and that the larger ones are compatible 99% of the time. Regarding the software that comes bundled with these drives, some programs are better than others. The program is usually easy to set up and can be scheduled to backup your data daily if you wish. When you’re ready to move up to more advanced third-party software, Genie Backup, available at http://www.genie-soft.com/ for $49, is one of the best programs. It is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. The product is called Genie Backup Manager Home 8.0.

Some drives are password-protected and this feature can be annoying. The drives also come with a variety of interfaces or connections including USB, Firewire and eSata. I don’t recommend paying any more for anything other than a USB connection since it is quite fast. Both Firewire and eSata will be phasing out in the near future, especially with the new USB 3.0 starting to show up on newer hardware.

One of the best features of these external drives are that they are plug-and-play, which means that they can be connected or disconnected without turning off your PC’s power. You should use the “Safely Remove Hardware” feature to safely disconnect the drive since if you unplug it while data is being backed up, some of the data is likely to be corrupted. Many new drives have no power switch but they do go into a sleep mode after a period on being idle to save power.

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

Transferring files with USB cables

Kevin Sablan — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:09:37 +0000

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: I have an IBM ThinkPad T41p (aka – Type 2373, Model 315) and will hopefully soon be getting a T60 as a replacement. The question is this – how can I move files (and if possible, installed applications) from the T41p to the T60? I have had it suggested to me that ‘just’ connecting a USB cable between the two machine as a kind of hardwired 2-node network would allow me to see the hard drive on the T41p from the T60 and then move or copy files, etc. It sounds too good to be that simple. Please help me understand what I actually need to do.

PC CLUB: You’re correct, it is too good to be true that simply connecting an “ordinary” USB cable can’t be used to transfer files from one PC to another. However, there are other types or “special” USB cables that will do the job quite well. Unfortunately, installed applications cannot be copied from one PC to another. You will have to reinstall these applications using the original CDs, DVDs or by downloading the software from the Internet.

As far as cables go, there are several different types of USB-USB cables on the market. The one used to connect two PCs is called a “bridged” “USB networking” cable, because it has a small electronic circuit in the middle allowing the two PCs to talk to each other.

There also are the so-called A/A or Male to Male USB cables that, in spite of having two standard male USB connectors at each end, don’t have a bridge chip and cannot be used to connect two PCs. So, these A/A USB cables are completely useless for your needs.

A/B or Male to Female USB cables are used to connect your computer to peripherals such as printers and scanners, so they also won’t fit your needs.

Suppliers of the A/B type which will do what you need, include the Targus High Speed Transfer Cable available at Amazon.com for $30 ( see http://bit.ly/targususb) and the Startech cable also available at Amazon.com for $19 (see http://bit.ly/usbstartech). Laplink and Belkin also supply these cables.

Many of these devices do not require any software installation in that the software is contained within the cable itself. Here what Targus states:

“The Targus High Speed File Share Cable is the premier file and data sharing solution for PC and Mac users. With Easy Suite software embedded inside of the cable there are no drivers or software to install, making it a quick and easy way to transfer large amounts of data. Transfer e-mail, music, photos, videos and document files from one computer to another, at speeds up to 480 Mbps. Compatible with Windows XP and Vista, as well as Mac operating systems, the High Speed File Share Cable is ideal for those transferring important files to a new computer and also allows you to quickly transfer music or video files to a friend’s computer. Whether transferring from PC to PC, Mac to Mac, Mac to PC, or PC to Mac, the High-Speed File Transfer Cable is compatible and provides a direct computer-to-computer file transfer to save time. It is excellent for those who often share files with friends or transfer data between two computers.”

Even though Windows 7 is not explicitly mentioned, the cable will work under the new operating system. I connected a Windows XP PC to a Windows 7 PC and it worked flawlessly.

The Belkin and Targus cables use different approaches. With the Belkin cable, you must install software in order to use it with Window XP or Vista. Windows 7 will recognize the cable without installing the software. If you have an older Belkin cable and misplaced the software you can download it from http://bit.ly/easytransfer. The Targus cable, as stated above, has the software embedded in the device. I personally prefer the Targus approach. Staples and Office Depot frequently carry these products in their retail stores from $27 to $39. You can call them or check on line before going to the store. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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Your next computer: Laptop, desktop, netbook or tablet?

Kevin Sablan — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:52:35 +0000

QUESTION: I’m thinking of making my next PC a Notebook PC instead of a Desktop. What features should I consider and what are the pros and cons?

PC CLUB: Let’s start with some definitions:

Desktop PC –This is actually a misnomer since these types of PCs usually sit on the floor and the case is often referred to as a tower.

Notebook PC – These are often referred to as Laptops since that was their name when portables first arrived on the scene. They were too heavy to be totally portable and sat on your lap – hence the name Laptop.

Netbook PC – These recent arrivals are intended for the “Internet, Email and Word Processing” user. They are extremely portable due to their sub 3-pound weight. They have a relatively slow processor and lack a built-in CD/DVD drive.

Tablet PC –These are characterized by a touch screen and are available as Notebooks and Desktops. They allow you to draw directly on the screen using a stylus or your finger depending on the technology.

Should you buy a Notebook- first of all, the main advantage offered by a Notebook is portability. The second most important advantage is that they require less desk space than desktop PCs. These features alone may be enough to sway you towards a Notebook.

There is also a class of PCs known as Netbooks. These PCs are typically lighter and smaller than the average Notebook but have less capability. They are primarily intended for Internet and e-mail use and will not be discussed here.

After reviewing the unique characteristics of Notebooks below, the choice between Desktop and Notebook PCs should be easier to make.

Runs on batteries – This allows you to operate the PC away from AC power. Battery life typically varies from 3 to 8 hours and is a major consideration for applications such as watching DVDs on an airplane. Setting up the Power Options on a Notebook is quite different than on a Desktop. See the recent article titled “Everything you always wanted to know about Standby, Sleep and Hibernate” at (link: bit.ly/poweroptions) for details. There is an icon on the lower right, in the System Notification area that indicates the remaining time when running on batteries.

Difficult to upgrade – Adding additional ports and hardware can be challenging with Notebooks. Certain features can be added including external CD/DVD drives but this can defeat the portability benefit.

PCMCIA and PC Express slots – These slots allow you to add additional features such as a Phone Card and are quite different from one another. You should research the type of add-ons first to see which type of slot is more important to you. Some Notebooks offer both.

May lack Optical disc drive – Some of the Ultra-lights exclude the CD/DVD drive so consider its importance first.

Built-in mouse – This is a matter of personal preference but modern external mice are getting smaller and often utilize a very small USB receiver that can remain plugged in to the Notebook without significantly increasing the profile. I, personally, prefer an external mouse such as the Logitech VX-Nano wireless mouse. It uses a laser rather than a LED which conserves power and is more precise. It’s available at bit.ly/nanomouse.

Smaller screen – This can be important if you do a lot of graphics editing or writing. You can always connect an external monitor when you’re at home to overcome this. Also, be aware of highly reflective screens. If you can see your reflection on the screen, it’s liable to result in headaches. Docking stations are frequently available allowing you to use an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Portability – This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage since theft is more likely with a Notebook. You should use extreme care regarding what you store on your Notebook when traveling. There are locking devices available to make it more difficult, but not impossible, to steal.

More expensive – Feature for feature Notebooks are more expensive due to their small size but the gap is lessening.

Smaller keyboard – You should always attempt to try the keyboard before buying a Notebook. Factors such as the layout, size of the keys and touch can be important. With a Desktop you can always get a new keyboard, especially if you like to drink Pepsi while you type. Some Notebooks have spill-proof keyboards. Some manufacturers employ a full keyboard including a numeric keypad.

Built in wireless – There are several specifications for wireless including Wireless g and the newer Wireless n. If you want to take advantage of the newer n specification you will need a router with this capability also. Most Notebooks have a switch that allows you to turn off the wireless to conserve power.

Built in web cam – This feature, if included, allows you to video conference and create quick videos for Youtube or other online sites.

If you plan to use your Notebook for gaming, working with HD (High Definition) video and graphics editing, you will need more horsepower than if you just plan to surf the Web, write letters and send e-mail. Whatever you do, before making your decision, be sure to read all of the on-line reviews and evaluate the PC in person if possible. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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Everything you always wanted to know about Standby, Sleep and Hibernate

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:29:41 +0000

QUESTION: Can you please explain the difference between Standby, Sleep and Hibernate and which mode do you recommend? Also, which modes are safer with regard to data loss and which mode conserves the most power?

PC CLUB: This is an interesting and often confusing subject for several reasons. There are differences in performance depending on whether you’re running XP, Vista or Windows 7 plus, the choices are different for desktops than they are for laptops.

Let’s begin with a few definitions. Windows XP uses the term Standby but Vista and Windows 7 use the newer term Sleep. In Addition, Vista introduced another mode called Hybrid Sleep which has been carried forward to Windows 7. The description of these modes is as follows:

Sleep is a power-saving state that allows a computer to quickly resume full-power operation (typically within several seconds) when you want to start working again. Putting your computer into the sleep state is like pausing a DVD player; the computer immediately stops what its doing and is ready to start again when you want to resume working. This mode does consume a little power.

Hibernation is a power-saving state designed primarily for laptops. While sleep puts your open documents and programs in memory and draws a small amount of power, hibernation puts your open documents and programs on your hard disk, and then turns off your computer. Of all the power-saving states in Windows, hibernation uses the least amount of power, essentially none. On a laptop, use hibernation when you know that you won’t use your laptop for an extended period and won’t have an opportunity to charge the battery during that time. Hibernate results in a faster boot time compared to booting from a powered off state.

Hybrid sleep is designed primarily for desktop computers. It is a combination of sleep and hibernate; it puts any open documents and programs both in memory and on your hard disk, and then puts your computer into a low-power state so that you can quickly resume your work. That way, if a power failure occurs, Windows can restore your work from your hard disk. When hybrid sleep is turned on, putting your computer into sleep automatically puts your computer into hybrid sleep. Hybrid sleep is typically turned on by default on desktop computers.

Note: you must enable the Hibernate mode before Hybrid Sleep becomes an available option.

So, you may ask, if Hibernate results in a faster boot time, why not always use it? The reason is that Windows needs to be totally shut down periodically to rejuvenate itself.

To enable Hibernate:

XP or Vista – open the Control Panel and select Power Options. Select the Hibernate tab and place a check in Enable hibernation. You can disable it here also by unchecking the option.

Windows 7 – click Start, All Programs, Accessories and right click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. You must be logged in with Administrative privileges to do this. In the window that opens type the following:

powercfg –h on

Type “exit” to close this window. You can change the word “on” to “off” in the line above to disable hibernation.

To enable Hybrid Sleep:

Vista or Windows 7– You must enable Hibernate first then open the Control Panel and choose Power Options. Click Change plan settings and then click Change advanced power settings. Scroll down until you see Sleep listed. Click the little (+) plus sign to expand the choices. Expand Allow hybrid sleep. If it says Off next to Setting, click it and a drop‑down box will open allowing you to change the setting to On. Click OK and close all windows.

When using XP with Hibernate enabled, you will have a choice to Shutdown, Standby or Hibernate. Using Vista or Windows 7 you will have the same choices unless you enable Hybrid Sleep. In this case, Hibernate is not an option. The choice labeled Sleep is now Hybrid Sleep. Click images below to enlarge.

Notes:

Laptops can be set up with Hybrid Sleep On when plugged in and Off when on battery; the Start menu will contain an option to Hibernate only when on battery.
Laptops can have various options for what happens when you close the lid. These settings are under Advanced Power Management also.
My Windows 7 desktop boots in 100 seconds from a Powered Off state, in 50 seconds after Hibernation and wakes from Sleep in 12 seconds.

To learn more about this topic, visit the Microsoft FAQ at bit.ly/hibernate2 and for a neat free utility called Wake on Standby (WOSB) go to bit.ly/standbyutil.

- Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his blog at www.edwardns.com/blog.

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Why won’t that DVD play correctly?

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:45:59 +0000

QUESTION: I find that some DVD’s won’t launch on my PC, whereas others play with perfect visuals and sound. I have a mixed bag of DVD’s, some from friends and others I bought. One of these finicky DVD’s came with a new textbook and did not launch on my computer but did on other computers. I checked my Device Manager and everything looked fine. What’s up? I am rather unsophisticated with computers.

PC CLUB: Up until Windows 7, most PCs required the installation of software to play DVD movies, even if you had a DVD drive. However, many PCs today come bundled with this software already installed.

When DVD drives first arrived on the scene, I would purchase a DVD movie for testing purposes since you never know if you have a faulty DVD or one that was created improperly. This comes in handy when I suspect that a PC has a problem or that a DVD is faulty.

Regarding your mixed bag of DVDs, it’s almost impossible to diagnose them. But typically, PCs with newer hardware or software installed will play a larger variety of DVDs. As an aside, a friend of mine could not play a DVD on an older DVD Player. It turned out that he had a newer player in the next room that worked fine.

Windows 7 Home Premium and higher versions have built-in support for playing DVD movies but the Starter and Home Basic editions require additional software or a decoder to be installed. If you have a problem playing DVDs with Windows Media Player you can download and install the free VLC Media Player from www.videolan.org/vlc/. If you still can’t play a DVD with this program, either the DVD or your hardware has a problem.

Unfortunately, checking your Device Manager will not shed any light on the problem unless you have a hardware problem. If you do have a hardware problem, by all means resolve it, but it’s no guarantee that resolving it will allow you to play DVDs since it could be that some crucial piece of software is missing or corrupted.

Here’s an example of what can go wrong with DVDs. If someone is authoring or creating a DVD and accidentally adds an extra audio track which is left blank, some DVD players will still play the DVD correctly and others may not. It’s impossible to test all DVDs with all players but most DVD movie producers use stringent rules for producing them.

There are several commercially available programs for playing DVDs including WinDVD, available at www.corel.com for $79.99 and PowerDVD, available at www.cyberlink.com from $49 to $99 depending on the features. However, I would start out with the free VLC player first and see if it meets your needs.

Even though you can play DVDs, that doesn’t mean that you can play the new HD (High Definition) Blu-ray disks. You’ll need a Blu-ray DVD player in your computer. And hopefully, if you have one of those, the drive or PC came with software to play it. The free VLC Player cannot play these types of discs. So, before buying any software, be sure to read the specifications and reviews. For example, the Cyberlink Web site will show you a comparison of the various versions of PowerDVD including the formats of DVDs that can be played. The most expensive version usually can play all formats.

Normally, there is quite a selection of freeware for a particular application but free DVD player software is quite limited. Be careful when searching for software on the Internet since there are many sites that advertise “free downloads” but you still have to pay to unlock all of the features or convert a trial version to a permanent one. Read the fine print or search Google for a review of the program. You can read a review of the top ten DVD player programs at TopTenReviews (link: bit.ly/dvdreview).

- Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his blog at www.edwardns.com/blog.

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How to access your files from anywhere

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:34:34 +0000

QUESTION: Occasionally when I’m traveling I’d like to have access to a file on my home PC. The file could be a picture, a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation. What do you suggest?

PC CLUB: Fortunately, there are several options for making files on your PC available to you when you’re away from your desktop provided that you have Internet access. Also, some of the solutions require special hardware including a router.

Here are several options:

Use a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device – This method requires a router with an open port into which you connect a NAS device, which is a hard drive with an Ethernet port. Just about any router, whether wireless-G or wireless-N will work. NAS devices are available from several manufactures including Buffalo Technologies, Western Digital and Seagate.

The NAS device also provides backup capability for your PC. These devices do require patience to set up. Once installed, you will have access to your device from anywhere with an Internet connection. The device will also let you backup your PC, or any PC on your home network, either manually or automatically using the included software or other backup software. The Western Digital device is called the Western Digital My Book World Edition. The 1TB (One terabyte) version sells for approximately $219.

One advantage to this approach is that your PC doesn’t have to be powered up for this to work; just your router and NAS device must remain on.

Use a router with a storage or USB port – Not all routers with a USB port are capable of making files available via the Internet. The Buffalo Nfinity Wireless-N High Power router has this capability but the Belkin N+ wireless router, even though it has a USB port, does not. You have to read the specifications carefully. For example, the Buffalo Web site states that “if you are away from home, you can even access your data remotely using Buffalo’s easy-to-use Web Access.” You can read more at Buffalo’s Web site (shortcut: bit.ly/nfinity).

In essence, you set up a user account at www.buffalonas.com and you’ll be able to access to the USB drive attached to the router from anywhere — as long as you have Internet. Be aware, however, that the Buffalo device allows only FAT32 drives to be used but not the more prevalent NTFS drives. If you already have an external drive you can examine its properties by right‑clicking the drive icon in My Computer. Look for the term “File system.” Buffalo Technology Nfiniti Wireless-N High Power Router & Access Point sells for $109. A new router by Netgear, model WNR3500L should be available soon. It looks like a great product and it will also have this capability.

This approach has the same advantage as the NAS box in that your PC doesn’t have to be powered up for this to work; only your router and external hard drive have to remain on.

Use Web based file storage – Use a service such as Box available at www.box.net. You can upload your files to it and access them from anywhere that has an Internet connection. The first 1 GB is free. You can also share files with others. This is a great way to share those large files that some e-mail programs block.

Use on-line backup services – These services not only backup your files but make them available to you from any location that has an Internet connection. Examples include Carbonite at www.carbonite.com and Mozy Backup at www.mozy.com.

Use remote access services – services such as GoToMyPC, available at www.gotomypc.com allow you to access your home PC from anywhere. Your home PC must be on at all times for this to work. This service starts at $19.95 per month for 1 PC. A similar service called Log Me In is available at www.logmein.com and is less expensive but not as good in my opinion. These services have trial periods for evaluation.

Use remote access software – PC Anywhere (shortcut: bit.ly/pcanywhere) enables one computer to remotely control and access another computer, establishing a one-to-one connection. Both host and remote components can be installed together on the same computer or separately on different computers. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to setup an e-mail distribution list

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:41:10 +0000

QUESTION: I have Microsoft Outlook as my e-mail program and I have a large list of contacts. I would like to group my contacts into subgroups. For example, I have a group of about 30 high school classmates that I would like in one group. Such grouping would make it far simpler for me to enter into the “To” box when sending an e-mail to them. I have similar contacts that I would like to put into subgroups. I would still wish to keep the entire single list so I can send an individual e‑mail.

PC CLUB: Group e-mail lists are a very handy feature and quite easy to implement. The term that’s used to describe this type of list in Outlook is a Distribution List. In Outlook Express it is simply called a Group. In the new Windows Live Mail program it is called a Category and in Windows Vista’s e-mail program, Windows Mail, it is called a Contact Group. Microsoft has changed the name with each version of it software, how rude is that?Here are instructions on how to set up a distribution list in the various Windows operating systems and Google’s Gmail:

Outlook 2007

Open Outlook
Select the Contacts button in the Navigation Pane
Select the drop-down arrow next to the New button on the toolbar and select Distribution List
Enter a name for the list and click the Select Members button
Select multiple members using your control key, click the Members button at the bottom of the window and click OK

Windows Vista’s Windows Mail

Open Windows Mail
Click the Contacts icon on the toolbar to open Contacts
Select New Contact Group
In the window that opens give the new List a name and add contacts

Microsoft Windows Live Mail

Open Windows Live Mail
Select the Contacts button on the lower left
Select New, Category
Give the Category a name
Click the names you want to add click Save

Outlook Express

Open Outlook Express and click the Addresses button
Select New, Group
Enter a name for your Group, and click the Select Members button
Choose members on the left and click the Select -> button
Click OK

Gmail

Go to your Gmail account
Select the Contacts link
Above the My Contacts are two buttons, the one on the left is New Group. Click it.
You may get a warning regarding scripting, click OK
In the next window enter a name for the new group
Next, click your main contacts list and place a check on all the contacts you want to add to the group
Click the Groups button near the middle of the screen and select your new group under “Add to.” That’s it.

For more information, including removing a group, go to Google and search for “Gmail contacts group” for directions.

Notes:

To test the new list, group or category, create a new message and select the To: button. Your new Distribution List should be listed in bold letters.
If you export the contacts or addresses as a CSV file, the grouping information will not be preserved but backing up the Outlook Express WAB file or the Outlook’s PST file will preserve the grouping.
If you remove an entry from any group, it will still remain in the main list but the reverse is not true.
To see who is in a list or group you can create a new message and click the To button to add the list. Right click the list and select properties to see who is in it. You can open your group and edit it like any other contact, just double click the group to make any changes to it such as adding or deleting members.

- Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his blog at www.edwardns.com/blog.

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PC stopped working? How to save or recover important files

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:30:46 +0000

QUESTION: I have HP-Pavilion PC running Vista Home Premium with 3GB memory and 400 GB hard drive. One day my computer didn’t start and I tried to restart it and nothing worked. I had an extended warranty and I brought the PC in for service. They performed diagnostics and without my knowledge they used System Recovery to reinstall the factory-shipped operating system. I didn’t have a backup of my files and I lost everything that I had on my hard drive. Is there a way I can recover my lost files from the hard drive?

PC CLUB: In a word, no!

The System Recovery restore process formats the hard drive and overwrites it with the original factory files and settings. This frustrating situation is a result of several issues. One, users do not always know the right questions to ask before allowing someone to work on their PC and two, PC repair personnel frequently do not warn users of the consequences of such a restore procedure. I would put more blame on the service company which should have known better. I’m not letting you off the hook either. You should always back up your data before letting anyone touch your PC. Of course you know that now.

When a PC gets to a state where it will not start, your first concern should always be “How do I save my data and e-mail, etc.” If you already have a backup program backing up your data you should be in good shape. However, if you are like many PC users, you may not have your data securely backed up.

Should you ever find yourself in such a position, always ask the person that is going to repair your PC what the plan is to save our important data. There is only one situation where you may not be able to recover your data and that is if the hard drive itself experienced a mechanical failure. Even then it can be done but it is extremely costly and the drive has to be sent to one of several companies that can recover data from a failed drive.

This is not usually the case, however. When a system will not start up, the data can still be saved by connecting the proper cables to the hard drive and restoring the data to another PC. In addition, the hard drive can be removed from the PC and connected to another PC making it possible to recover the data. Any reputable repair person should know how to do this and offer this service.

Let’s talk a little more about what to do when a system crashes and will not start. There are several options but make sure that your data is backed up before attempting any of these solutions. If you do not know how to do this, find someone who does.

1. If you have a Windows disc that came with your PC, you can boot from it and attempt a recovery by reinstalling Windows. This is the easiest to do and the least likely to succeed. Also, many manufacturers have discontinued the practice of shipping a Windows disc since it saves them a few dollars.

2. You can use the System Restore or System Recovery facility that came with your PC. This restores your PC to the state it was in when you purchased it. This must be followed by a lot of work including restoring your data, updating Windows and reinstalling all of your programs. Some PCs flash a message on the screen that states “Press F11 for System Restore”. This is the step that restores your PC to its original state and destroys your pre-existing data also.

3. You always have the option of reinstalling Windows from scratch assuming you have a Windows disc. This step requires that you download all of the drivers from the manufacturer’s web site and install them. The advantage of this method is that you have a clean system without any junk software that came with your original PC. This is a lot of work but results in the cleanest system. You will have to restore your data, update Windows and reinstall all of your programs, of course.

So, how do you avoid this mess in the first place? One way to avoid it is by backing up your entire system with a disc imaging program periodically using software such as Acronis True Image, www.acronis.com or Shadow Protect, www.storagecraft.com . There is also a free trial program at www.macrium.com, just click the download link at the top. The image is stored on an external hard drive and can be restored after a crash in roughly 20 to 30 minutes on the average.

The secret is to make an image every month or so to limit your data loss to one month’s worth. Of course you can also backup your data as frequently as you like. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to add album art to iTunes

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:46:01 +0000

QUESTION: I ripped CDs to my PC and they are all in the WMA format. Many of the CDs ripped brought with them album art which shows when the folder is viewed in Windows Explorer. I downloaded iTunes and it found and converted the music to iTunes format. What’s missing from the conversion is the album art from the CDs that were previously ripped to the PC. Is there any way to convert or get the album art loaded into iTunes music? I’d like to do this before loading music on to an iPod.

PC CLUB: First of all, ripping a CD is another term for extracting the music tracks from the CD onto your PC. Even though the common term is to rip or extract, nothing is removed from the CD. I can’t tell from your question how you ripped your CDs but you most likely used the Windows Media Player (WMP). WMP does download album art as soon as you begin the ripping process. iTunes, on the other hand, does not.

Album art does not reside on the CD but it is obtained by WMP and other programs from an online data base. One of these data bases is the CDDB (Compact Disc Database). Unfortunately, the album art placed on your PC by WMP is in Hidden System files and can’t be accessed unless you’re a computer guru.

For you gurus, here’s how:

Click Start
Run and enter “cmd,” which takes you to a Command Prompt.
Navigate to the folder containing your Music and enter the following command: attrib /S –S –H *.jpg

This command alters the file attributes for all jpg images in all sub-folders of your Music folder making the album art files visible. You can now copy and paste the images in iTunes as described below. What this implies is that you can download album art with WMP and use it in iTunes.

With iTunes open, you have several choices to obtain the album art. If you click View and select grid, you will see your albums with or without album art.

To add album art, right click an album and select Get Album Artwork. If you don’t have an iTunes Store account, you can’t proceed.

You can set up an account using a credit card and get the album art without having to purchase any songs.

However, there are other alternatives. This time when you right click an album choose Get Info. You will get a warning that you are editing multiple items, ignore this. This warning is telling you that if you add album art using this feature, all songs on the album will have the same art, which is usually what you want. If you wish, you can put iTunes into the list mode and add art to individual songs. This time, right click and select Get Info and select the Artwork tab.

For both of these methods, once you get to the point where you see a rectangle labeled Artwork you can add your art. Here’s one way:

Go to images.google.com
Search for the album artist and album. For example, search for “Michael Bolton Soul Provider”
Select the image of your choice
Right click the image and select Copy. You don’t even have to download the image to your PC.
Switch to iTunes and right click the Artwork rectangle and select Paste.
Click OK and watch iTunes add the art to all songs on the album.

The image you copied and pasted is actually now stored in the song file and will accompany it when it is transferred to your iPod.

Should you wish to change your mind, just right click the album and select Get Info. You will see a blank artwork rectangle on the right. Place a check in the little box and click OK. This tells iTunes to remove the album art allowing you to change your mind. How neat is that? In case it’s not obvious, you can use any image for album art including a picture of your dog – so have fun.

There are other options including third-party software. The best free program is MP3Tag available at mp3tag.de/en and the best commercial program is Software Tuneup available at www.tuneupmedia.com for $19.95. This program is also available in a trial version. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to view giant e-mailed photos without scrolling

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:00:19 +0000

QUESTION: When e-mailing a photo, everything seems to work OK, except that the picture comes out so enormously big that no one can reduce it to a reasonable size, so basically no one can look at it. This also happens when a friend sends me a picture. But it doesn’t happen with every friend. Some of them are received and printed in normal size.

PC CLUB: I get this question a lot. Let’s start off with some theory first and then we’ll discuss the solution.

Let’s assume that the pictures we’re discussing were taken with a 10 megapixel camera. The first thing you should do when you purchase a new camera is set it up the way that suits your needs which may change from time to time.

For example, if you plan to print the pictures taken with your camera, you could set it up to take the largest size and highest quality pictures. However, if you plan to only e-mail your pictures you should use a smaller size picture.

Below is the guide from an actual 10 megapixel camera manual illustrating the various pictures sizes that can be taken. Notice that this particular camera can take pictures with various aspect ratios including 3:2 and 16:9.

Image Size (Pixels)	Suggested Print Size and Application
10M (3648×2736)	Poster Print
3:2 (3648×2432)	Poster Print
16:9 (3648×2048)	HDTV
7M (3072×2304)	A3 Print
4M (2304×1728)	A4 Print
2M (1600×1200)	3.5″x5″ Print
VGA (640×480)	E Mail

You can see from the above table that different settings could be used for different end results. Does this mean that you need to periodically change your camera settings? No it doesn’t. My recommendation is to leave your camera on the setting for the largest image size and solve the e-mail problem using another method.

The method discussed below is completely independent of which version of Windows or which e-mail program you are using.

When people e-mail pictures, they e-mail various sizes and are sometimes not even sure of what they are sending. Here’s the problem: Our PC screens have various dimensions but a very popular size is 1024 by 768. This means that the screen is 1024 pixels wide and 768 pixels tall. Thus, a picture that is 3648 pixels wide (see the 1st row of the above table) will not fit on the screen. An e-mail recipient of this is likely to have to scroll quite a bit to view the entire picture.

To make life simple for the recipient, resize your pictures prior to e-mailing them. By using the free Picture Resize imageresizer.codeplex.com you can easily do this. Download the program being careful to choose the 32-bit or 64-bit version as appropriate for your PC and install it. If you are using XP chances are that you are using a 32-bit operating system. For Vista and Windows 7, you can tell whether you need the 64-bit version by clicking My Computer (Computer in Vista or Windows 7) and selecting properties. This Picture Resizer is compatible with XP, Vista and Windows 7.

After installation is complete, just right-click any picture and one of the choices will be Resize picture. You will have several choices including 854 x 480 and 1366 x 768; either of these two is OK. You can also click the Advanced button and choose a custom size. Should the recipient want a full size picture for printing purposes, just send them the original picture and warn them that it should be saved to the hard drive for viewing as discussed below.

As a recipient, if you receive an image that is too large to view, just save it to your hard drive in a location where you can find it later. The safest location is My Pictures (Pictures on Vista and Windows 7). After you save it you can double-click it and it will open in any one of several programs depending on your particular PC.

You should now be able to view it without any scrolling. This is due to the fact that all picture viewing programs automatically resize pictures to fit on the screen. Many of these programs also allow you to magnify the picture to full size so you can examine the details more closely.

You can also visit an old Gadgetress Q&A about resizing photos for e-mail: “Stump the Gadgetress: Resizing photos for e-mail.”

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to move your fonts to a Windows 7 PC

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:31:19 +0000

QUESTION: Here’s one that should have strong general application. I do editorial work using XP, and have built up a useful stable of fonts. I just got a new computer using Windows 7, and want to move the fonts over to it, but can’t make anything work. Is there a way to do this?

PC CLUB: Before we get to the punch line, let’s start with some font facts:

Windows 7 ships with 235 fonts, versus 191 in Vista and 133 in Windows XP. PrePressure.com offers a handy list of typefaces that ship with Windows 7 (link: bit.ly/windows7fonts).
The more fonts that you install, the more computer memory (or RAM) is used. Your system must load all fonts at boot-up and this may extend your boot time. This is not as critical with newer PCs since they have faster processors and more RAM but it’s something to keep an eye on.
There are a lot of font managers available, some are free, but not many of them are compatible with Windows 7. Windows 7 has improved font management making it easier to manage fonts without a third party program.
Programs such as Extensis Suitcase, available at www.extensis.com for $99, MainType, available at www.high-logic.com/maintype.html for $49, and Font Expert, at www.proximasoftware.com for $59, are all good programs that function with Windows 7.
Never delete any fonts unless you are very experienced. Deleting the wrong font can render your PC useless.

Most of us end up with quite a few fonts after using our PC for a while. For example, installing Microsoft Office 2007 adds 217 fonts and installing Adobe CS4 adds another 87. Most fonts reside in the folder C:\windows\fonts but not all.

If you open the Control Panel in Windows 7 and select fonts, you are likely to see several fonts with a shortcut arrow. If you right click the font and select Properties, you will see the path. Some fonts may appear to be dimmed which indicates that they are hidden. If you select a font, you will see an option to Show or Hide a font. This will make very little difference in most cases since Microsoft Office ignores this setting and shows all fonts.

The fonts Control Panel in some versions of Windows allows you to see how many fonts you have installed. In Windows 7, however, only font groups or families are shown rather than individual fonts. Therefore, the number shown at the bottom is the number of font groups. If you double click the Arial font, for example, you will see 9 individual fonts including Regular, Bold, Italic, etc., as pictured below:

If you select Font settings on the left, you will see several options for managing your fonts. One of them is to allow fonts to be installed using a shortcut. This allows you to keep some fonts on second or external hard drives and install them from there without placing them in the C:\windows\fonts folder. This is not recommended unless you’re a PC guru.

In my particular case I have 312 font groups installed according to Windows 7. If you examine your PC with several font managers, you will get differing results as to how many fonts are installed. This is due to the fact that not all programs count the same way. There are such categories as hidden fonts, system fonts, individual fonts versus families of fonts, to name a few. Some programs just examine the System Registry and get a count from there. Fonts are not an easy resource to manage but fortunately, this issue can be ignored by most users and everything will continue to work just fine.

If you plan to move fonts from an XP or Vista PC to a Windows 7 PC, here is what you do:

1. The first step is to copy the fonts from the old PC to an external drive skipping all of the fonts with a .fon file extension.

2. Back up your existing font folder in case of trouble down the road. I would also create a Restore Point within Windows (see how to do this in Windows 7 at bit.ly/restorepoint).

3. Once the fonts are copied to the external drive, disconnect the drive and connect it to your Windows 7 PC.

4. Navigate to the folder on the external drive containing the fonts and right click one or several fonts and select Install. That’s it.

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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Where are my Contacts in Windows 7?

Kevin Sablan — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:46:31 +0000

Hi folks! PC Club is moving to Saturday publication with this post. Thanks for reading!

QUESTION: I notice that the Contacts folder in Windows 7 does not match the Contacts in Windows Live Mail, however, in Vista the Contacts folder does match the Contacts in Windows Mail. What happened?

PC CLUB: The Contacts feature built into Windows has changed with each new version of Windows including XP, Vista and now, Windows 7. This is related to how the built-in support for e‑mail has changed. Windows XP uses the term Addresses and subsequent versions use the term Contacts but the terms are interchangeable. The implementation in each version is as follows:

Windows XP – in this version there is no Contacts folder per se but there is an Address Book. This address book is linked directly to Outlook Express and there is a separate address book for each user. If there are 3 users sharing a PC, there are 3 unique address books. It resides in the location below:

C:Documents and Settingsuser nameApplication DataAddress Book

This is a hidden folder and you can follow the instructions on a Microsoft’s web page “Show Hidden Program or System Files” (link: bit.ly/hiddenfolders) to enable viewing of hidden folders. The actual name of the address file is user.wab. If the user name is Mike, the file will be named Mike.wab.

There is also an application named wab.exe which resides is the following location:

C:Program FilesOutlook Express

When Outlook Express is launched and you click the Address button on the toolbar, the wab.exe program is launched and it opens the Address Book for the current user. You can also click Start, Run and enter WAB in upper or lower case and the address book will open.

When the address book is opened by either method, you can add, delete or edit any entry in the address book. You can also import to or export from the address book using a CSV (Comma Separated Value) format.

CSV files can be imported to and exported from virtually any email program including Windows Vista’s Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail to name a few. CSV files can also be opened with and edited by Microsoft Excel.

I strongly recommended that you export your Address Book to an external hard drive or flash drive to protect yourself against disaster.

Windows Vista – In this version, Outlook Express was replaced by the built-in Windows Mail program. Vista has a Contacts folder located at the following location:

C:Usersuser nameContacts

As in XP, there is a Contacts folder unique to each user account. This folder is directly linked to Windows Mail and changes made to this folder, such as adding a new contact, can be made in the folder directly or in the Windows Mail application. When you open Windows Mail and click the Contacts button on the toolbar, you actually open the Contacts folder. You can also access the Contacts folder by clicking Start, All Programs, Windows Contacts.

Windows 7 – In this version, Microsoft did away with any built-in support for e‑mail. There is a Contacts folder, however, located as follows:

C:Usersuser nameContacts

Again, there is a unique folder for each user. This folder is linked to absolutely nothing. You can add contacts to it but there is no good way to utilize these contacts with an e‑mail program. You can select a contact and click the E‑mail button that shows up but I found this to be very unreliable. I recommend totally ignoring this folder. You can access this folder by clicking Start and entering “contacts” into the search box (without the quotes) and hitting the enter key.

If you download and install the free Windows Live Mail program from download.live.com/wlmail, you can then launch the program and click the Contacts link located on the lower left to open Contacts. From here you can add an individual contact or click File, Import or Export to work with CSV files. You can also import an Outlook Express Windows WAB file here as well.

Notes:

If you have an existing Hotmail account (now called Windows Live Hotmail), when you install Windows Live Mail and add your Hotmail account, Windows Live Mail will automatically sync to your Hotmail and import all of your existing Hotmail contacts.
If you are using Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 and have it installed when you install Windows Live Mail, a feature called Microsoft Office Outlook Connector will be installed. This will allow you to synchronize your online Hotmail contacts with Outlook. You can also download the Connector application at any time from Microsoft (link: bit.ly/outlookconnect). This feature works with XP, Vista and Windows 7 provided your Outlook is 2003 or later.
See “Importing contacts from Windows Contacts Folder” at www.msoutlook.info/question/382 for more useful tips.

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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What’s the real capacity of your hard drive?

Kevin Sablan — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:15:11 +0000

QUESTION: I have a PC running Vista Home Premium. I have a 500 gigabyte hard drive with an actual capacity of 455 gigabytes. When I look at “Properties” for the C drive, it shows that I have used 444 gigabytes with 11 gigabytes remaining. However, when I use Windows Explorer and add up the sizes of each directory (e.g. Documents, Windows, Program Files, etc), I end up with 400 gigabytes used. I have a gap of 44 gigabytes between what Properties says and what I added up. What is in the hidden 44 gigabytes and how can I see what it is?

PC CLUB: This is a common question since there’s a lot of confusion regarding advertised disk capacity versus the capacity reported by Windows. This confusion stems from the fact that 1 gigabyte is actually 1,073,741,824 bytes, or 2³⁰. Therefore, if you open My Computer (or Computer in Vista or Windows 7) and examine the properties of a hard drive by right‑clicking it, you will see 2 numbers. Assuming the disk is advertised as a 500 gigabyte disk, the numbers will be listed as follows:

Capacity: 500,096,658,212 465 GB

This confusion led to a lawsuit several years ago resulting in disk drive manufactures having to place the following or similar statement on their packaging:

One megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes.

If your PC has a 500 gigabyte drive, then it should have capacity of 465 GB as listed above (and pictured on right). Another way to look at it is that a kilobyte is 1,024 bytes and a megabyte is 1,024 times 1,024 or 1,048,576 bytes. It’s easy to think that a gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes but it’s actually 1,024 megabytes. The world of PC’s is all about powers of 2.

In summary, what this all means is that when you purchase a hard drive with “500 GB Hard Drive” stated on the box and check its properties, it will show up as 465 GB but it actually holds 500,096,658,212 bytes.

In addition to using Windows, you can use a free program called FreeCommander (available at freecommander.com) to examine your disk contents. You can also configure Windows Explorer to show hidden files and folders and hidden protected operating system files while examining your disk’s files and folders. I wouldn’t recommend this setting permanently, however.

A general rule of thumb to quickly convert the manufacturer’s hard disk capacity to the standard Microsoft Windows formatted capacity is to multiply by 0.93. For example, a box labeled as containing a 500 GB drive has a drive with a capacity of 465 GB.

When you use Windows Explorer to add up the size of each directory, you may or may not get the correct numbers but the percentage error will be small. This is mostly true on the C drive which stores non-standard files and folders such as temporary files, hidden files and the Recycle Bin. There are several other free disk usage utilities available including the following. I have found varying results with these programs since they all treat “special files” differently.

WinDirStats available at windirstat.info/
Space Sniffer available at bit.ly/spacesniffer
Disk Detective available at www.disktective.com/

Another factor to consider is that a file’s size and the space it occupies on a disk may be reported differently. This is due to the fact that files occupy a minimum of 4,096 bytes on most disks regardless of their actual size. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to fix a computer that has lost its sound

Kevin Sablan — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:02:00 +0000

QUESTION: The speakers that I have connected to my computer system stopped working a couple of weeks ago. Other than taking my system to a computer repair shop I don’t know what to do. For example, I can watch a PowerPoint presentation, but don’t get any sound, i.e., music. Any suggestions?

PC CLUB: There are several explanations for losing your sound from the very simple to an actual hardware failure. Here are some possible problems.

Connection Problem: Although it may sound obvious, the first thing I usually do in is check all of the connections to the computer. Most speakers use an AC adaptor that plugs into an outlet and have a cable that plugs into the green jack on the rear of the PC. After checking the connections, the next thing I do is try another set of speakers or even a headset if possible.

Hardware Problem: To see if you have a hardware problem you can open your Device Manager and check the sound hardware. Follow these steps:

In Windows XP, right-click the My Computer icon and select Properties.
Next, select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
With Windows Vista or Windows 7, right-click Computer and select Properties.
Next, click the Device Manager icon at the upper left. When you get to the Device Manager, look for the Sound entry and make sure there are no warning symbols. A black exclamation point (!) on a yellow field indicates the device is in a problem state, like the image on right. A red “X” indicates a disabled device.
If it’s disabled, try re-enabling it. Frequently, a device that is not functioning correctly can be uninstalled and subsequently reinstalled automatically during the system re-boot. To uninstall a sound device, just right-click it from the Device Manager and select Uninstall. Restarting your PC will reinstall it.

Software Problem: You might try updating to a more recent version of Windows Media Player. You can download the program at Windows Media Download Center (link: bit.ly/wmpupdate). The most recent version is 12. If you are using Windows 7, Windows Media Player 12 is included.

Driver Problem: Another possibility is that the driver for your sound card has been corrupted, especially if you have a dedicated card such as a Sound Blaster card. If this is the case, reinstalling the software that came with the card may resolve the issue.

Configuration Problem: If you have more than one sound device hooked to your PC, you may have your settings directing the audio to the incorrect device. For example, if you have a headset plugged in to your PC it may be receiving the audio. Also, if you use a device such as the wireless Logitech Music Anywhere connected to your PC you should check that the audio is being directed to your speakers. You can check this in several ways.

With Windows XP, right-click the speaker icon on the lower right of the System Notification area and select Adjust Audio Properties. Select the Audio tab in the Window that opens and look in the section labeled “Sound playback.” The drop-down box in that section lists the possible devices. If you have several choices there make sure you select the one for your speakers.
With Windows Vista or Windows 7, right-click the speaker icon and select “Playback devices.” In the window that opens you can right-click the device that you want to be the default and select “Set as Default Device.” If it has a green check next to it, it is already the default device. If any application is open that plays audio, is must be re-opened if you change the playback device.

Tip: Your PC can send audio to only one device at a time. Since I have several devices on my PC for playing sound I keep an icon on my desktop that allows me to quickly change devices. I do this by opening the Control Panel and right-clicking the Sound icon and selecting “Create shortcut”.

If none of these solutions work, it’s possible that you have experienced a hardware failure and it may be time to take it to a computer repair shop. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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All about iPods and organizing music, Part 2

Kevin Sablan — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:34:27 +0000

This is Part 2 of a 2-part article on iPods and managing your music, pictures and videos. This covers copying of music, pictures and videos to and from your iPod. Read part one: “All about iPods and organizing your music library, Part 1.”

How to copy music to your iPod

There are a few ways to get music on an iPod. Here are two methods:

Use the iTunes library

1. Open iTunes and click File, Add Folder or Add File to Library
2. Browse to any location on your hard drive or external hard drive and click Add Folder (or select files)
3. Plug in your iPod now or prior to step 1, it doesn’t matter
4. Select the Music link under your Library
5. Create a new Playlist if desired and drag the newly entered songs to the new or existing Playlist.
6. You can now drag songs from the Library onto your iPod. You may want to create a new Playlist first. Just right-click you iPod icon and select New Playlist.

The above method assumes that you are managing your iPod manually.

Skip the iTunes library

The second method is the one I use. I have my iPod setup to sync manually and add songs directly to my iPod bypassing the Library. You can do this as follows:

1. Open iTunes and plug in your iPo
2. Open a file manager of your choice and arrange your windows so you can see both iTunes and the File Manager at the same time
3. Drag a folder or several files and drop them directly onto the desired Playlist on your iPod in iTunes. That’s it, you’re finished. This does not add files to your Library.

The advantage of this method is that you can plug your iPod into any PC and drag and drop music directly onto your iPod without having to use the Library. Why would you want to do this? For one thing, if you get a new PC or have to restore your current one, you only have to worry about what’s on your iPod and what’s on your external hard drive, assuming you back up your music. Your Library plays no role in the process.

Copying Videos to your iPod

This can be done with iTunes but a free program called Videora iPod Converter (download at bit.ly/JCUS) can both convert videos to the iPod format and automatically add them to your iTunes library at the same time.

Backing up your music to your PC

iTunes does not allow you to do this. You need a third-party utility such a Sharepod (free download at www.getsharepod.com) or Media Widget, which is available for $25 at bootstrapdevelopment.com.

Backing up your Pictures to your PC

Placing pictures on an iPod is possible with iTunes but backing them up is not. It is possible with a third-party program such as Media Widget or Sharepod.

Backing up your Videos to your PC

Media Widget can do this but not Sharepod.

Special notes:

► If you have your iPod plugged in when your system boots up, it may hang up. If this happens, just unplug it.

► All utilities mentioned here have been tested with the latest version of iTunes and Windows 7. Be sure to try a trial version of any utility and test it with your PC prior to purchasing.

► If you’re not sure how your iPod is set up, perform the following if you wish to change to Manual:

While connecting the iPod to the computer, hold down the Shift + Ctrl keys. This will stop the iPod from auto syncing with iTunes. Wait until you are sure the iPod has mounted and iTunes appears. Many a user has lost all of their music through auto syncing with an empty Library.
Select the Summary tab, and then check the box that says “Manually manage songs and playlists” and click Apply. You can now manage your library manually without losing any songs on the iPod.

► Be sure to get a copy of a 142-page free iPod book at iLounge (link: bit.ly/1trxA8).

Summary

I recommend using iTunes to place media on your iPod and the free SharePod for music and pictures, or Media Widget for videos. iTunes has been blamed for using significant resources but it is the safest and one of the best programs for managing your media and copying it to your iPod and is fully compatible with all versions of Windows including the Windows 7 64-bit versions. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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All about iPods and organizing your music library, Part 1

Kevin Sablan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:10:46 +0000

This is Part 1 of a 2-part article on iPods and managing your music, pictures and videos. Here is Part 2: “All about iPods and organizing music, Part 2.”

QUESTION: My question is a little complicated but here goes. I want to store all my music on my new external hard drive. It can hold up to 250,000 songs. It has a FAT32 file system. I also want to be able to pull music out of it and put it onto my iPod. My computer is running Windows XP.

My friend has a MAC and has put onto my new external drive 13,000 songs. I have 20 songs on iTunes, 20 songs on My Music and I have 500 songs on my iPod another friend gave me. I want to put all of the songs on the new external drive. iTunes shows that it will erase all the songs that I did not buy. Also, I have downloaded a program called Media Widget. What do you suggest?

PC CLUB: Let’s review some of the tasks that you can perform with your music collection:

1. You can back up all of your songs to an external hard drive or to any hard drive
2. You can place any songs from you external hard drive, or from any folder on your PC for that matter, onto your iPod
3. You can copy songs from your iPod to your PC. This does, however, require third-party software such as Media Widget which is currently available from www.bootstrapdevelopment.com for $24.95. There are other utilities that perform this function also and some are free.

As far as the FAT32 is concerned, some external hard drives have this type of file system to ensure maximum compatibility between PCs and Macs. A more secure and robust file system is the NTFS file system. You can reformat an external hard drive to be NTFS but you will lose all of the data. You can read more about file systems at The Elder Geek’s “FAT32 or NTFS: Making the Choice” (link: bit.ly/BlYXS). This decision is not crucial but should be made before you start using the drive.

The number of songs that any drive can store is dependent on the type of music file. MP3′s for example are 3 to 5 megabytes in size but uncompressed files can be up to 10 times that size. In any case it looks like your drive will hold enough songs for your immediate purposes. If it fills up, just get another one.

Organizing your music

There are many way to organize your music collection and I’ll leave that up to you to pick which one to use.

Basically, you can use any file manager such as My Computer or Windows Explorer to copy the music from My Music (or Music on Vista or Windows 7) or your iTunes folder to your external hard drive. You may have received backup software with your external drive which will enable you to backup your music also.

Using iTunes to manage music

There are several methods for managing your music with iTunes. The first choice you have to make involves a setting on your iPod. This setting is labeled “Manually manage music and videos.” You can change this setting by selecting your iPod from within iTunes, selecting the Summary tab and checking or unchecking “Manually manage music and videos.”

So, you have two options:

1. Manually manage is checked or enabled

This setting does not sync your iPod with your iTunes music library automatically when you plug it in to your PC. You have to manually add and delete music yourself. However, you can select the Music tab and click the Sync button at any time.

2. Manually manage is unchecked or disabled

This setting syncs your iPod to your iTunes when you plug it in to your PC. The consequences of this is that it will sync to the iTunes library of any PC you plug it into. If you plug your iPod into another PC you will usually get a warning before this happens.

Here’s what can happen: If you have your iPod set up to automatically sync and you plug it into someone else’s PC and allow it to sync, your iPod will be wiped clean and their library will be copied to your iPod. This is not usually the desired result.

Before deciding which method to use, you can read Apple’s article on “Using iPod with multiple computers.” You can also get additional help on iTunes help page at apple.com/itunes/how-to.

For a review of cool things to do with an iPod, check out Lifehacker’s “The 20 Best iPod Utilities” at lifehacker.com/329507/the-20-best-ipod-utilities.

Part 2 will cover the copying of music, pictures and videos to and from your iPod. Read part 2 here: “All about iPods and organizing music, Part 2“

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to print multiple photos on a single page

Kevin Sablan — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:35:28 +0000

QUESTION: I have a Dell Inspiron 530, with Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3, 4GB of RAM, and 160 GB HD. I have Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 installed and have been using it. My problem is I cannot make multi-photo printing work, but just single photos are being printed ok. After the setup of multi-photo printing was done, even though the “Print” button is clicked nothing happens: the computer and printer do not go any further.

It has been printing multi photos well, but I found out it is not working when I tried to make prints a couple of weeks ago. I should have mentioned that I already had reinstalled the Photoshop Elements Program and 3 printer drivers, but that did not solve the problem.

PC CLUB: First of all, I assume that your printer is functioning correctly and is able to print documents other than multiple photos correctly. If not, please see a previous article titled How to Reinstall a Deleted Printer in Windows (link: bit.ly/printerinstall).

Printing multiple photos on the same sheet of paper is one of the tasks at which Photoshop Elements excels. The process has not changed significantly between earlier versions and the most recent version, Photoshop Elements 8. Elements is really two programs in one. The first one is the Editor where you can enhance or correct your photos and the second one is the Organizer. In the Organizer program you can print multiple photos on a page.

Here are the steps to print multiple photos:

1. In the Editor program, choose “File” and then “Print Multiples.” You will be taken to the Organizer.

2. Open the Organizer, if not already open. Before printing multiple photos you should prepare the photos to make the task a little easier. Make sure that all of the photos that you want to print have been added to the Organizer and subsequently cropped, color corrected, etc. as necessary. It also helps to assign Tags to photos to make it easy to locate them in the future, especially if you have a large collection.

3. Select the photos you want printed while in the Organizer. To select several rows of photos, select the first photos and then while pressing the shift key, select the last one. Or, if you only need random photos, select the first one, then press the Control key and select only the photos you want.

4. Next select File, Print. A new window will open with your previously selected prints showing along the left.

5. Choose your print package. On the right, you have a choice of printing Individual Prints, Contact Sheets, Picture Packages or Labels. In this case, Pictures Packages is what you want. This is under Item 4, labeled “Select Type of Print” (click image on right to enlarge).

6. Select the desired print size under Item 5. There is a box labeled “Fill Page With First Photo” that determines whether each page will contain multiple copies of the same photo or not. These settings are for Elements 8.0 and may differ slightly for earlier versions.

7. Prior to printing you can add additional photos to the Print Multiples window by clicking the plus (+) sign at the lower left. To replace a photo on the right of the window, just drag the newly added photo and drop it over the one you want to replace. To change back to your original choice, right-click the photo and select “Revert to Original.”

One thing you should know about printing photos is that the size of the print is not exactly the size chosen. For example, if you have chosen 5″ by 7″ prints, they will actually be 5″ by 6.67.” This assumes that your digital camera takes photos with a 4:3 ratio. Some cameras use a 2:3 ration and the prints will be slightly different. If you choose the “Crop to Fit” option, your images will be exactly 5″ by 7″ but some cropping will occur. An exception is when your camera can shoot in the 3:2 ratio and you select 4″ by 6″ prints, the prints will be exactly 4″ by 6″. That is because 3:2 or more correctly 2:3 has the same proportions as 4″ by 6.”

8. Click the Print button after making all of these choices and check your results against your expectations.

Always write down all of your choices in case the results are not what you expected. – Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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10 more answers to your Windows 7 questions

Kevin Sablan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:01:04 +0000

Previous articles on Windows 7 have discussed the details of installing the software and can be found at “All your Windows 7 questions answered, part I” (link: bit.ly/pcclub2) and “Windows 7 part II: How to upgrade” (link: bit.ly/pcclub3). This article will address other recent questions that have been asked on Windows 7.

Question: I’m enjoying XP, why should I care about Windows 7?
PC CLUB: A lot of you share this belief. Yes, Windows XP remains a robust, reliable, brisk operating system. At the same time, sticking with XP forever isn’t a slam-dunk, either. You miss out on better security, better looks, better search and a huge number of convenience features. And over time, more and more new products and services will require a more recent operating system such as Windows 7. But, if XP is doing the job for you, stick with it.

Q:: Microsoft omitted calendar, address book, photo, video, and e-mail software from Windows 7, how do I get these features back?
PC CLUB:: There are many ways but one easy way is to type “movie maker” into the Search box to get a download link to the Microsoft Live versions which are free. You also might want to read my column regarding Windows 7 and e-mail, at “Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 1.”

Q:I have an HP Pavilion, model a6720f. If I install Windows 7 will it also set up a new rescue system on the D: drive?
PC: In a word, no! If you install Windows 7 and want to be able to rescue your system, you have to use a program such as Acronis Backup and Recovery available at www.acronis.com for $74 or Shadow Protect Desktop available at www.storagecraft.com for $79.95. These programs allow you to create a recovery image of your PC and place it on an external hard drive. There is also a free program www.macrium.com.

Q::I have now installed the full version of Windows 7 on my Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 D/E Mark II. I have done some research and found drivers to support video (Intel 945GM), but I am looking for a way to have the keyboard button on the front of the computer do just that, turn on the keyboard. Any suggestions?
PC Club: I’ve tried a clean install of Windows 7 on my 6-month old Fujitsu Notebook and some keyboard functions did not work. I then performed an In-Place upgrade with Vista installed and everything worked. You might try calling Panasonic or searching their Web site for the latest drivers.

Q::Will Windows 7 upgrades have the new “Windows Live Mail” program included in it?
PC: No, you have to download this free program and install it yourself from www.download.live.com but be sure to only install the programs that you want.

Q::Can I bring the Quick Launch toolbar back to Windows 7?
PC Club:Yes but you have to know where to look. It’s located at:

C:\ Users \ username \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Quick Launch

Simply create a new toolbar and point to this location. You’ll have to enable ‘show hidden files’ to find it. You can do this by opening the Control Panel and selecting Folder Options. Select the View tab and place a check in View hidden files and folders.


	More on Windows 7: Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 2 Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 1 How to reinstall a deleted printer in Windows Windows 7 part II: How to upgrade All your Windows 7 questions answered, part I Windows 7 — Do you really need it? Will Windows 7 force you to change your e-mail program? Microsoft offers Windows 7 free for 1 year starting … now! What 4 developers did with Windows 7 in 1 week

More on Windows 7:

Q::Will my 32-bit applications run if I switch to a 64-bit version of Windows 7?
PC Club:Most 32-bit applications will run without a hitch. But for some system-intrusive software, such as hardware drivers and antivirus software, you’ll need 64-bit versions. Some 32-bit plug-ins may not work in 64-bit applications.

Q::What’s the difference between the Upgrade and Custom installation options?
PC Club:Don’t confuse the term “upgrade” when it’s used to describe price differences with the term to describe the installation process. If you buy the “Upgrade” version of Windows 7, you’ll still have both the Upgrade and Custom options during installation. But the Upgrade option only is available if Vista has been installed on the PC. This moves your applications, documents, settings and user accounts over to Windows 7. If you’re not coming from Vista, you must choose Custom, which does a fresh installation. The Custom installation choice still preserves your old files in a folder called Windows.old. Also, the Upgrade process takes longer, and may bring along some unwanted programs.

Q::Clicking on a Quick Launch icon in Windows Vista would always launch a new instance of that application, even if one instance was already running. But in Windows 7, clicking on an icon you’ve pinned to the taskbar doesn’t do this. Can I replicate the Vista functionality?
PC Club:Not exactly, but you can get close. You can right-click on the icon and click on the program’s name in the Jump List that appears.

Q::My retail box includes 32-bit and 64-bit disks but only has a single product key. Will that key work for either edition?
PC Club:The format of a product key identifies a specific edition of Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and so on) as well as whether it’s a full or upgrade product. But it doesn’t care at all about the 32/64-bit question. The key will work with either version.

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 2

Kevin Sablan — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:50:55 +0000

This is Part 2 of a 2-part article. Part-1, at “Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 1,” addressed how to transfer your Outlook Express e‑mail messages and contacts to a computer running the new Windows 7 operating system. This article addresses how to transfer your messages and contacts from Vista’s Windows Mail to a PC running Windows 7.

The transfer: Vista to Windows 7 mail

If you haven’t already done so, you need to download and install the free Windows Live Mail from download.live.com. Be sure to uncheck any additional programs that you do not want to install. You can signup for a free Live ID, but you don’t need one to download the software. You will have to know how to configure your e-mail account with your Internet provider and you must know your User ID and password.

There are many options for Windows 7 but this article will concentrate on migrating from the free Windows Mail to the free Windows Live Mail. You have several other choices in addition to using Windows Live Mail and can read more about it in a previous article at “Will Windows 7 force you to change your e-mail program?“ To begin, follow these steps:

Step 1: Save your existing messages

1. Start your Vista PC. Plug in an external hard drive or flash storage drive.

2. Create a folder on the external hard drive to store the exported e-mail messages. You could call it “Old Mail.”

3. Open Windows Mail and click File, Export, Messages.

4. Select Microsoft Windows Mail and click Next.

5. Click the Browse button and locate the “Old Mail” folder you created in Step 2 and click Next. If you encounter problems with this step, export the messages to any folder on your hard drive, and then copy them to an external drive from there.

6. Select “All folders” in the next screen and click Next.

7. Click Finish.

Step 2: Save your contacts

1. Open Windows Mail and click File, Export, Contacts.

2. Select CSV (Comma Separated Values) and click Export.

3. Click the Browse button and locate the “Old Mail” folder you created on your external hard drive.

4. Enter a file name such as “Vista contacts” and click Save.

5. Click Next.

6. Place a check in the First Name and Last Name boxes and click Finish.

7. Click OK and Close.

** Make sure everything is safely on your external drive before upgrading to Windows 7. **

Step 3: Import mail to Windows Live Mail

1. Plug the drive with the saved Identities folder into the PC with Windows 7.

2. Start Windows Live Mail.

3. Select File, Import Messages.

4. Select Windows Mail.

5. Click the Browse button and locate the “Old Mail” folder on the External drive where you exported your Vista messages.

6. Expand the folder until you see Local Folders and click Next.

7. In the next Window select All folders or Selected folders. If you choose Selected folders, you can use your Control key to select multiple folders.

8. The messages from Windows Mail will now be in Windows Live Mail in folders labeled Storage folders. These folders can be dragged around or renamed as appropriate.

Step 4: Import contacts to Windows Live Mail

1. On the PC with Windows 7, start Windows Live mail.

2. Plug the drive with the saved Vista contacts into the PC with Windows 7.

3. Click the Contacts icon at the bottom to open the Contacts window.

4. Click File, Import, Comma Separated Values (CSV).

5. Navigate to the external drive where you saved your Address Book.

6. Select the file and click Open.

7. Click Next and Finish.

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 1

Kevin Sablan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:25:55 +0000

Windows 7 has proven to be a popular topic among readers. Today, I’m beginning part 1 or a 2 part series on Windows 7 e-mail. It addresses how to transfer e-mail messages and contacts from a PC running Windows XP or Vista to a PC running the new Windows 7 operating system.

——————————-
Part 1: Windows 7 e-mail survival kit
Part 2: Windows 7 e-mail survival kit
__________________

Let me eliminate some readers first. If you use a Web mail service like Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL Mail or Hotmail, you can stop reading. You don’t have to make any changes since your e-mail is stored on the Internet and not your PC. It is always available as long as you have an Internet connection and the service is working.

Migrating Outlook Express to Windows 7

There are many options when you move to Windows 7. This one details migrating from the free Outlook Express to the free Windows Live Mail.

Follow these steps to prepare your Outlook Express e-mail for migration:

Organize your messages. Open Outlook Express and cleanup your folders by deleting any messages that you no longer need. No sense in bringing those into Windows 7. To permanently remove all of the junk in Outlook Express click File, Folder, Compact all folders. This can take anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes or even more depending on how frequently you have performed this, if ever.

1. Close Outlook Express.

2. Locate your Outlook Express Identities folder by following the instructions in my earlier post “How to move your e-mail to a new computer” (shortcut: bit.ly/win7email). If you have more than one identity, they will all be in this folder. When you install Windows 7 on a PC that is running XP, in theory, a folder named Windows.old is created and should have your Identities folder stored as a hidden folder. It’s safer, however, to back it up first before installing Windows 7. When I tried it, the folder was there.

3. Copy this entire folder to an external hard drive or flash drive.

4. Save your contacts. Click Start, Run and enter WAB and click OK or open your Address Book from Outlook Express.

5. Click File, Export, Address Book (WAB) and save the file to an external drive.

6. Make sure everything is safely on your external drive before upgrading to Windows 7.

Now for the actual process of importing old messages to Windows Live Mail.

1. First, download the free Windows Live Mail from download.live.com to your Windows 7 computer and follow the installation instructions. Be sure to uncheck any additional programs that you do not want to install. You don’t need a Live ID but it is free to signup. You will have to know how to configure your e-mail account with your Internet provider and you must know your User ID and password.

2. Set up your e-mail account using the settings you used for Outlook Express.

3. Plug the drive (from the previous step) with the saved Identities folder into the PC with Windows 7.

4. Start Windows Live Mail.

5. Select File, Import Messages.

6. Select Microsoft Outlook Express 6, and click Next.

7. Browse to the Identities folders on the external drive and keep opening sub-folders until you see the Outlook folder. Here you can choose the folder to import and you can select all folders also. For a clean start, just import your Inbox. Click OK. If there are several identities, you can choose any or all.

8. The messages from Outlook Express will now be in Windows Live Mail in folders labeled Storage folders. These folders can be dragged around or renamed as appropriate.

To import your contacts into Windows Live Mail:

1. On the PC with Windows 7, start Windows Live mail

2. Plug the drive with the saved Address Book into the PC with Windows 7.

3. Click the Contacts icon at the bottom to open the Contacts window

4. Click File, Import, Windows Address Book (WAB)

5. Navigate to the external drive where you saved your Address Book

6. Select the file and click Open

7. Click Next and Finish

You have several other choices in addition to using Windows Live Mail and can read more about it in a previous article, “Will Windows 7 force you to change your e-mail program?”

Part 2 of this article will cover Transferring Windows Vista’s Windows Mail to a new or upgraded PC with Windows 7. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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How to reinstall a deleted printer in Windows

Kevin Sablan — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:10:43 +0000

QUESTION: Is it possible to configure a Windows Vista computer to run a printer that was on the list of available printers but has been removed from the list? A Vista type driver for this printer has been downloaded.

PC CLUB: I take it from your question that a printer was deleted and is no longer on the list of available printers. There are several ways to add a printer back to the list of available printers in Vista or XP.

The basic procedure for most printers is as follows:

If you have a Vista compatible printer, the instructions may ask you to install the software from the included CD and wait for on-screen instructions before plugging in your printer. Other times, the instructions may ask you to plug in the printer first. It is safest to install the software first unless the instructions say otherwise.
If you purchased an XP compatible printer and downloaded a newer Vista driver, install the driver by double-clicking the file, and then wait for on-screen instructions. If you do not receive any instructions, you should be able to just plug in the printer and go from there.

After the installation, you should always open the Windows Control Panel and check that the printer is listed (see image below). Be sure to right-click the printer that you want to be the default printer and select the option to make it the default. In most cases, the most recently installed printer becomes the default.

The many printers of Ed Schwartz (Yes, I have a lot!)

Now with Windows 7 upon us, many printers exist without a Windows 7 driver. In most cases, the Vista drivers will work fine. Also, many printers will be recognized by Windows 7 without installing any drivers. There may always be exceptions for printers with special functions, such as scanning, but the basic printing function should be supported.

I just downloaded the updated Windows 7 driver for my HP 6310 All-in-One and it worked superbly. The best way to do this is to install the new driver first, then plug in the printer.

To obtain drivers for any printer if you don’t have disc, go to the manufacturer’s web site. Alternatively, you can search Google with the name and model of your printer followed by the word “driver.” You will usually be given a choice of XP, Vista or Windows 7 and perhaps 32-bit versus 64-bit.

To examine your installed printers, proceed as follows:

Windows XP – open the Control Panel, open Printers and Faxes
Windows Vista – open the Control Panel, open Printer
Windows 7 – open the Control Panel, open Devices and Printers.

To remove a printer, just right-click the printer and select “Remove Device” or “Delete,” depending on what Windows version you have. There are subtle differences but the steps are very similar.

Once a printer is installed, if you have a home network, you can share the printer. Search Google for “XP share printer” or “Vista share printer”, etc for more details.

More from Microsoft’s site:

~ Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com

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What’s this website bit.ly all about?

Kevin Sablan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:57:36 +0000

QUESTION: In your OC Register newspaper articles, you have links that are not understood by this PC user. In a recent article, for example, you give “File and printer sharing in Windows Vista” (link bit.ly/2DZiib). I have never seen a link like that and never saw an explanation of it and I am sure I am not the only one that does not understand it.

PC CLUB: In the article ”How to transfer files between Vista and XP PCs,” published online on October 6, 2009 and published in print on October 13, 2009, there was a link to get help on “File and printer sharing.”

You are correct in that the link was specified as bit.ly/2DZiib. If you were to type bit.ly/2DZiib into the address bar of your Internet browser, you would be taken to the Microsoft page that provides information on file and printer sharing. You could also have entered http://bit.ly/2DZiib and gotten the same results.

This is a URL shortener. It takes a long web address and shortens it to something with fewer characters. Bit.ly is one of the largest shortening services on the web. Another is TinyURL. These are automated services so the new short address looks like gibberish. You can read more about the bit.ly site at http://bit.ly/pages/about/.

URL shorteners saves space in print and leaves fewer characters for readers to type into an Internet browser. Instead of typing almost 60 characters into your address bar, you only have to enter 13. Which would you rather do?

By the way, the “ly” in bit.ly is just like the “com” in ocregister.com. The “LY” is the official top-level domain name for the country of Libya just as “US” is for the United States.

Now, back to my example. When you get to the “File and printer sharing” web site, look in your address bar and you will see the actual Web address, a longer one with Microsoft.com in the middle of it.

The site http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx is the same as bit.ly/2DZiib.

The text “bit.ly/2DZiib” or” http://bit.ly/2DZiib” is nothing more than an Internet address. One note: When you use bit.ly addresses, they are case sensitive. Many Internet addresses are not case sensitive, however. For example, www.pcworld.com will take you to the same place as WWW.PCWORLD.COM.

From now on, however, I will try to exclude the gibberish from bit.ly addresses and only offer something like this: bit.ly/pcclub1.

To use this feature yourself, start with finding a web site you want to share.

Then highlight the address in the browser address bar, right-click it and select Copy.
Next, go to the bit.ly web site where you will see a text box labeled “Enter your long link or file here:” Right-click inside the text box and select Paste.

Now, when you click the Shorten button, an abbreviated version of the original address is created.

You can now use this shorter address instead of the previous one. You can click the “Copy” link to paste it into your Word document, e-mail, Twitter post or any other place that accepts the pasting of text.

When would you want to use this? One example is the way we use it in our articles. Another is when you want to share a link with someone else. You can pass on the shorter version to make it easy on the other end for the recipient to use it.

One reason why URL shorteners have become popular in the last two years is that popular mini-messaging service Twitter has a limit on the number of characters users can type in a message. This allows users to allocate more characters to the actual message. If you have a web address that is 60 characters long, you’ll only have room for 80 characters for your message.

Occasionally, web addresses are so long that when pasted into an e-mail they take more than one line, possibly causing confusion. Using bit.ly eliminates this problem.

There is one down-side to using these services and that is, if their site goes down, the short links will cease to work until the site comes back up. Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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