James Derk -- CyberDad

New HP printer offers much

James Derk — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:35:00 +0000

Small businesses and high-end consumers who need high-speed color printing need look no further than HP’s new CM1017. This is a great, multi-function laser printer that does it all.
I once spent about $600 for a black and white dot-matrix printer that used ribbons, so I am amazed at the price of printers these days. For a list price of $699, HP is delivering color laser printing, color copying, color scanning, color direct digital photo printing, black-and-white printing, black-and-white copying, black-and-white scanning and black-and-white direct digital photo printing. (Missing is fax capability.)
If you have a small office with color printing needs beyond a deskjet printer, this ought to be your first stop. (It has a recommended rate of 500 to 1,500 copies a month)
The printer is heavy, about 50 pounds, so make sure you have an adequate work surface. It’s also pretty tall (about 21 inches) so don’t expect to stick it on a shelf somewhere.
Unpacking the box is simple. After you install four print cartridges (black, cyan, magenta and yellow) and install the software, you’re ready to go. (Ooops, no you’re not because HP has neglected to include the $1 cable… a major pet peeve of mine. I agree that some offices may need more than a six-foot USB cable or even use the built-in Ethernet but even so, throwing a cable or two in the box would be a nice gesture.)
Installing the software takes a while but it went fine on Windows XP and Mac OSX. (You also can install it on Linux but I didn’t try it.)
Color output was exceptional on this printer when compared to my deskjet printers, as you’d expect from a color laser. (The trick for this in a small office is to keep people from printing all manner of personal stuff on it and making your cartridge bill go out the window.)
Of course the trick to saving money on toner, which is the way printing companies make money, is to print everything except the final version in draft-quality black and white. HP, like nearly everyone else, buries the printer settings so it’s not terribly easy to make a draft copy but once you get the hang of it you can set that as the default and change to high-quality color only when needed.
The printer has four media card slots, so you can just insert the media cards from your digital cameras and look at your images on a bright 2.5-inch LCD screen. That’s nice if you don’t have a PC handy and just want to directly print your images. This is a pretty unusual feature for office-oriented printers, so real-estate agents and others who use photos a lot may find this compelling. (The printer has 94 megs of RAM onboard which you can upgrade to 225 megs if you print photos a lot.)
Replacing toner cartridges is a snap; just flip open the front panel and take one out and pop one in. New cartridges are $70 to $85 depending on which one you need. Each one is rated for about 2,500 pages for black and 2,000 pages for color.
All in all I liked this a lot and if you don’t need fax it’s a solid choice.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: In my quest to find a good replacement for Google Answers there is now Just Answer (www.justanswer.com). Give it a look.

James Derk (www.derk.com) is computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Viewer mail fills the box

James Derk — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Another episode of reader mail hits the books today. Let’s get right to it.
Q. I was surprised that my security software was automatically renewed on my credit card without my permission. I think this is something that you need to disclose in your column.
A. Yes, more and more security packages and anti-virus programs are using automatic renewal “for your convenience” in an effort to retain more of their customers. As the price of competitors reaches “free”, they are increasingly using devices like this to hook consumers into a renewal. So before you give your credit card to renew a product, read the fine print. Another option is to use one of those “one use” numbers you can get from your card’s Web site (that way the renewal will fail.) If you still plan to use one of these retail packages, I frankly would never renew and instead buy the latest version of the program every year. That way you’d get not only the latest virus definitions but the newer program.
Frankly I am happy with AVG Free Edition 7.5, which is free.
Q. How much RAM memory do I need for Windows Vista? I plan to install the upgrade in a couple of weeks.
A. It seems 1 gig is the sweet spot. I would have thought 2 gigs would be better but PC World did some testing and found it only increases performance another 10 percent on a typical computer.
Before you upgrade make sure you do a complete backup of your data files. Any major upgrade isn’t a slam dunk and you need to be cautious (but not scared) when you do it.
Q. I ordered a new computer and was surprised it did not come with Microsoft Office. (I guess I just assumed it would come with it.) When I went to the store to buy it I was surprised at the price. My PC did come with Microsoft Works… is it a direct replacement?
A. For basic word-processing and spreadsheet work you will find Works will do just fine. (The rumor is Microsoft plans to make Works free for download sometime soon.) If you need more features you can download OpenOffice from www.openoffice.org for free. This is an open source version of Office that many people find a suitable replacement. If you need the “real” Office and you or someone in your household is a student you can get the “Academic” version for significantly less money.
Q. My PC shuts down after about an hour. I have run all of the spyware and virus scans. Sometimes it beeps but that’s it.
A. Your PC is full of dust and the fans are probably stopped. Turn off your PC, unplug all of the wires and open the case. Get a can of compressed air. Touch your hand to the metal of the case to dispose of any static electricity and carefully blow out all of the accumulated junk. (A typical PC will take almost a can if it has been a while.)
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Linked In, the business networking site, has launched an Answers feature where business people can ask each other professional questions. You can use Linked In for free (www.linkedin.com)

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail is jim@cyberdads.com

Letters from readers

James Derk — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:31:00 +0000

Letters are filling the box today; let’s go to the mailbag and see what’s on your mind.
Q. Your comment about $100 cables for the PS3 was off-base. If you shop around you can find the high-def cables for $20 or so, sometimes less if you go with an off-brand.
A. True, but my comment reflected my thought that Sony should have tossed in one of those cables and since it did not, I was forced to find one on Christmas Eve at one of the big-box rip-off stores. It is the same thing with USB cables for printers; if you buy one online or on Ebay they are a buck or two; if you have to buy one at local retail they are $20. Cables can be found cheaper but you often pay mightily for immediacy and convenience.
Q. I followed your advice on updating windows and did receive an update. Thanks. Surprisingly, my "automatically update" button was turned on. Must the computer be connected to the Internet at the time you request windows to update?
A. No but those with full-time connections will receive updates on the schedule you pick (the default is 3 AM once a week.). If you don’t have a full-time connection it takes Windows a bit to figure out you’re online and it won’t necessarily run the update sequence quickly. So periodic connectors should run Windows Update at least once a month. (The new patches come out from Microsoft on the second Tuesday of the month.).
Q. I followed your advice about going to www.filehippo.com but never can find the free cleanup that you write about. Everyone I try is only trying to get me to purchase their product. How do I do the free download that you write about?
A. There are some ads on that site that can be confusing but the applications I recommend (AVG, Spybot Search and Destroy, AdAware SE Personal and CCleaner) are indeed there and free. Click on the name of the application on the front page and the file download link is in green on the second page, upper right corner.
Q. Which software do you recommend for recovering deleted files?
A. It honestly depends on how badly they were deleted in terms of how long ago and by what process. One of the packages we use in our computer repair firm is from OnTrack (www.ontrack.com), which can recover files in some instances even after a complete reformat.
Q. I'd like a backup system for my personal PC (I have a Dell, Windows XP Home Edition). I'd prefer something that is very user friendly but I don't have an idea which software is good. Can you recommend one?
A. I use both Acronis True Image and Symantec’s Ghost. I find Acronis easier to use and more powerful but either of those would do well. Both will make a complete image of your hard drive so when it fails (not “if”) you can recover your entire system in a few hours. After the first full backup both will schedule “incremental” backups once a day or once per week to catch the changed files.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Like the excellent site “Snopes” (www.snopes.com) the Museum of Hoaxes seeks to limit the amount of forwarded “fact” on the Internet. See if before you forward at www.museumofhoaxes.com

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail is jim@cyberdads.com

New toys for Xmas

James Derk — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:05:00 +0000

It’s that time of year, when we try to review some of the best toys you can fit under the tree for the techno-nerd in your house. No time for the bad stuff so let’s get right to it.
I never wanted to be one of those Trekkie-looking people with the Bluetooth headset attached to my ear jabbering on the phone. Then I ended up with a Blackberry, which is a great e-mail device and a fairly cumbersome telephone. So it made sense then to have the headset so I could keep the Blackberry on my hip or in my pocket.
(Let’s back up for those who don’t know what Bluetooth is. It’s a short-range, fairly secure wireless product that lets you transmit data over 10 feet or less. You can use it to power cordless mice and keyboards, to beam your location from the GPS in your car to your cell phone or transmit your cell phone call to a remote headset.)
So one of my goals was to find a headset that wasn’t too geeky yet offered uncompromising performance. (And I promised to always take it off when I wasn’t on the phone.)
After trying a few I found the Jabra BT500. The main benefit of this little gem is that it fits behind your ear and not on top of it. It is sort of shaped like a crescent moon with the mouthpiece sliding out from under your ear.
The BT500 gives you one more thing you have to keep charged but it comes with both an AC adapter and a handy USB charger so you can keep it going from your PC if need be. It has a claimed 240 hours of standby time and 8 hours of talk time but I have never been on the phone that long.
A small earpiece snakes into your ear to allow you to hear the caller; some people may find that annoying but for me it helps me hear and note that it doesn’t go into the ear cavity, just outside of it.
Overall it’s pretty small, measuring 4 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches and weighing only 0.7 ounces. I quit noticing it on my ear during long calls and I certainly appreciated the lack of wires from a conventional headset or having to hold a phone to my ear.
The downside? When you’re walking along people think you’re talking to yourself. I also wasn’t crazy about the volume control but I only have to set it once.
List price is $119 but it’s often on sale at retail for less than $80. Details are at www.jabra.com
---When one of my children want to borrow a digital camera I often shudder and wonder if I will get the unit back in one piece. The Disney “pix micro” has come to my rescue. For less than 20 bucks I can give each of my kids a digital camera of their own. It takes 40 pictures and comes with easy to use software that the kids can use to play with the images that they have taken.
It is powered by a single AAA battery and connected seamlessly to my Windows XP desktop.
It’s a sure winner at this price and highly recommended for children 5 and up.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Check out the user opinions for various products at www.epinions.com

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Microsoft blinks

James Derk — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 04:12:00 +0000

Microsoft, a company that rarely blinks, did the blinking in a battle with anti-virus vendors over Windows Vista the next version of Windows.
This was a battle you may not have been paying attention to but one that I found pretty fascinating.
Simply put, when Microsoft entered the security market in a big way a couple years ago, vendors such as Symantec and McAfee were in deep trouble. After all, when the owner of the operating system builds the utility in, there is little reason to buy a third-party utility.
When Microsoft was planning Windows Vista, it decided to lock down the core of the operating system. It claimed that would keep it the most secure. The other vendors, of course, threw down the anti-trust card and claimed the company was unfairly locking them out of the competition. After all, without access to the core, or kernel, the other companies claimed they could not effectively protect Windows Vista.
Here is what drives me nuts. I don’t know who to believe in this mess. I do know when McAfee is preinstalled on a new Dell and at first boot I decline the End-User License Agreement, it installs anyway.
I know it then is nearly impossible for normal users to uninstall because the virus product is running. (More than one client has hired my computer repair company just to uninstall this product and the other junk Dell pre-installs.)
My favorite trick that both Symantec and McAfee offer helpfully to “disable duplicate alerts” from Windows but what that really means is they disable Windows Security Center.
My opinion is just that, my opinion, but as these anti-virus products became what I call “bloat-ware” they became less valuable to consumers. They are now these large suites containing a half-dozen applications, some of which people don’t want or need. I think especially dangerous are consumer-level firewalls, which are pretty troublesome for the average consumer to use and configure when compared with the one built in to Windows XP Service Pack 2. (Yes, I know the after-market ones are more powerful but for an average consumer they also are very troublesome if you answer incorrectly on one of those pop-ups.)
On the other hand, I see the point that Microsoft should not both own the operating system and the security system that controls it. Instead there is something to be said to having Microsoft focus on making its OS better and then having the folks at Kapersky, Symantec and other third-parties making tools to secure the perimeter. That way there are more people focused on the issue, a better chance that security will be a priority and that holes will be filled faster.
Of course, Microsoft didn’t make this decision out of the goodness of its corporate heart. It was possible that the sale of Vista would have been blocked in Europe under anti-trust had it not been opened.
So we shall see in January when Vista goes on retail sale how virus protection will finally work. I would expect Microsoft to offer a year of protection for less than $10 if not free.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Remember when radio was cool? Me too. Relive it at Radio Free Phoenix (www.radiofreephoenix.com)

James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Wanna buy my book?

James Derk — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 02:46:00 +0000

Be the first on the block to own the hot off the press copy of "Hungarian Rhapsody," my new book about international adoption. You can get the details at www.derk.com

Thanks!

A new look at borrowing money

James Derk — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 02:43:00 +0000

What if you needed to borrow a couple thousand bucks to replace your washer and dryer but didn’t want to pay 18 percent interest on a credit card?
What if you had a couple thousand bucks but wanted to earn more than 2 percent on your money than you would on passbook savings account at a bank?
Such is the idea behind Prosper.com, a Web site designed to anonymously link borrowers and lenders in the spirit of Ebay.
Of course, the best idea is not to borrow money at all (see also: Dave Ramsey) but if you have to this is one interesting concept.
Prosper was founded by Chris Larsen, the founder of E-Loan, an online mortgage broker. Once he shook up that market he decide to shake up another.
What’s in it for the borrower?
Generally you will pay a lower interest rate than on a credit card, a bank loan and (shudder) a payday loan joint. You specify your own repayment terms, the interest you are willing to pay and lenders bid on your business. You can borrow up to $25,000 for up to three years. And you have to release your income and your credit score. (A credit rating and a debt ratio is released to your potential borrowers.)
You also can join a “group” of like-minded borrowers that may make you a more attractive risk.
What’s in it for the lenders?
Here it gets a little more dicey.
If your borrower pays as promised you can get a decent rate of return in many cases (certainly a lot better than a bank savings account or a CD.)
There is one main strategy that lenders use to reduce their risk: to widely diversify and invest across lots of individual loans to reduce your individual exposure.
It’s a tad hard to explain but it is explained well on the site. I am not necessarily recommending the site but it is another sign of how the Internet is changing how things are getting things done.
When my mother passed away in 2003, I found a Web site called “Beanies for Baghdad” to which I donated her collection of Beanie Babies. They are now in the hands of Iraqi children thanks to American troops, which distributed her toys and tens of thousands of others. (www.beaniesforbaghdad.com)
Without the Internet how could such a worldwide grassroots effort have ever existed?
Take another one, called Modest Needs. This Web site (www.modestneeds.org) matches compassionate persons with people with short-term emergency needs. These things are the things you can imagine coming up in your life, the sick child, the bad water heater, the car transmission.
You explain your need and hope for the best.
It’s not a hand out, it’s a hand up.
Again, without the Internet, where would we be?
All three are great examples of how the Web are moving the dial of our society and removing the middlemen in out culture. No need for the banker, no need for anyone between you and the soldier. You mail him or her a toy and he or she puts it in their backpack and hands it out on their next patrol.
That’s amazing stuff.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER:
Help a soldier at Thanksgiving. See how at America Supports you (www.americasupportsyou.mil)

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

This week's tips and tricks

James Derk — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 02:41:00 +0000

A column full of tips and tricks for you today.
---My computer shop often is full of computers that shut off for no good reason. One great toy around the shop is the Thermohawk 200, a small touchless infrared thermometer. You aim the little beam at the processor or whatever and wham, an instant readout of the temperature of whatever you’re pointing at.
This is, in the vernacular of long ago, wicked cool.
This $50 gizmo is no larger than a penlight, fits on a keychain and works in a second. Point, aim and shoot. It’s great for overclocking processors (how hot is too hot?)
It’s from Q3 Innovations (www.Q3i.com) and available in many computer stores.
---If you’re ever tempted to buy one of those $25 mini vacs to clean out dust from your PC, forget it. Not enough suction, I found out after a couple of vacs. Instead I am out about a billion of those little cans of air that I hope don’t harm the ozone layer.
---Speaking of dust, you are periodically opening your PC and blowing it out, right? Right? Well, if you’re like most people, you’re not. If your PC is in an enclosure or other tight space it’s even worse. Investing $5 a can of compressed air and 10 minutes of work is time well spent.
Unplug everything, take it outside and unscrew the two thumbscrews or the slide (unless it’s a Dell) and open the side. Then blow the dust out of the CPU fan, the case fan and the video card fan. Then blow the dust out of the power supply fans and vents too.
Make sure all of the fans spin freely and the dust is all cleaned out before buttoning it all back up.
---I got a great set of Sears/Craftsman screwdrivers (#41711) including some hard to find small Torx screwdrivers to open some odd computers and media players. My only issue prior to finding these was that tiny screwdrivers were tiny. (Opening some Apple Powerbooks were nearly impossible.) So there was very little leverage while using them. These have been a great tool in the repair arsenal. The only trick is not to misplace them.
---If you own an Apple Mac, make sure you run Software Update. There are some critical software patches that have been released for the Mac. If you run a Windows XP machine also run Windows Update for a couple of patches released in September.
---I have received several e-mails with feedback about Ubuntu, a version of Linux offered free on the Internet. It’s not only free on the Internet for download but free on CD (even free postage.)
All of them who have written me so far like it, saying it has given new life to old hardware that otherwise wouldn’t have been used for anything. I agree. It’s just the answer for day care centers and K-4 classrooms who don’t need the latest and greatest stuff, either.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: One of the first sites I found on the Web is still one of the best. Check out Chateau Meddybemps with your kids at www.meddybemps.com

James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Rebates suck

James Derk — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 02:45:00 +0000

It has been awhile since I have had a nice rant about something that has ticked me off in the computer world.
Today we’re talking rebates.
It seems everything I buy now comes with a rebate.
I am not alone in thinking this ridiculous idea is keeping retail prices high because the consumer actually thinks they are getting a bargain.
Here are the dirty secrets of rebates.
---Most consumers don’t fill them in and mail them off. That means they are paying a much higher price for the good than they thought they were going to. One industry figure I remember was 14 percent of rebates are actually redeemed.
---Some percentage are redeemed but the user doesn’t ever get the money. The redemption service makes up some excuse about you not including the right UPC code or something and you never hear anything again.
---Some are stolen in the mail (Kingston actually sends checks as postcards.)
So given all of this why am I still ticked off? Well, normal purchases are not so bad. I bought some RAM the other day at Circuit City and the pleasant young cashier stapled everything together for me and even printed duplicate receipts for the two rebates (one for $25 and one for $5.)
The only kicker is the second one required a photocopy of the UPC code. But I did manage to use my all-in-one printer to make a copy and got them mailed off okay.
However, I bought a bunch of parts recently from Tiger Direct, a large online seller. Five of them came with rebates. It was enough money to actually worry about so I sat down with a dozen envelopes and the UPC codes.
Tiger (and some other retailers) now are using a service called On Rebate (www.onrebate.com) that purportedly makes it easier to claim your rebates. I actually consider it a step backward. Here’s why.
For one, if you don’t have a printer handy when you actually make the initial order, you don’t have a chance to print the forms in one handy location. If you go back later, you have to visit Tiger’s Rebate Center. where invariably I can’t find the right form.
Anyway, with On Rebate you enter some information into an online form and you expect to be done. But this sites adds a wrinkle... you have to enter your e-mail address and wait up to 24 hours for a confirmation e-mail before you can click on that to then print out another form and then mail off all of the receipts and UPC codes.
To my mind that 24 hour delay makes it far more likely you’ll never find a second time to sit down to work on rebates.
The plus side of the site is it will directly mail the debate to PayPal in a couple of days; the downside is they want 10 percent of the rebate to do it in a timely manner. (A free PayPal deposit can take six to eight weeks.)
I have to ask... why not just reduce the price?
I know the answer...then everyone would get the lower price. And retailers don’t want that.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Enter “rebate scam” in Google and you will find a page full of interesting sites and columns about how to improve your rebate chances.

James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Windows Vista: Part 1

James Derk — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:31:00 +0000

Much of the recent buzz in the computer world has been about the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows Vista, the successor and replacement for Windows XP.
Some of the talk has centered about Microsoft’s fabled missed shipping dates (the company has the inability to hit is self-announced deadlines) and some has been about Vista’s new features.
The missed date is huge; computer makers had been counting on a release date before Christmas so lots of people would run out and buy new computers. However, Microsoft says it will miss the holiday season in 2006 and will release Vista in the first quarter of 2007.
Regardless, I received a pre-release “beta” version of Vista from Microsoft and can share some first impressions in the next few columns.
Let’s start with the installation.
First, this will take a serious PC to take advantage of the system to its fullest extent. No more $299 units from Dell if you want the graphical improvements that Vista brings forth.
The Vista Web site (www.microsoft.com/vista/) will share the complete system requirements as they evolve but already Microsoft is dividing the world into two camps: your PC could be “Vista Capable” or “Vista Premium Ready”. The former means your PC will run Vista but in a lesser video mode when compared with “Vista Premium” PCs, which will be capable of using “Windows Aero,” the latest cool graphical interface.
Clearly the goal should be to experience Aero, which brings with it a rather stunning level of graphics for an operating system. The PC to run it will be hefty: a one gig processor or more, 1 gig of system memory (minimum), a graphics card with at least 128 MB of video memory on board and a DVD-ROM drive. (Vista ships on a DVD.)
I can’t judge the “real” installation by my experience with the beta version, which is not yet complete. I had to hustle a bit to find a few drivers for my video card and sound card, but that all will be resolved by the ship date. Based on what I am seeing, just make sure you have lots of hard drive space (Microsoft recommends at least 40 GB with 15 gigs free just for Vista.)
One of the key features of Vista is increased security. You will select an administrator password during the install that holds the key to your PC. Like Macs have offered for years, the PC simply won’t install most software, plugins or Web downloads without you physically entering this password.
It’s designed, of course, to make the Windows platform more secure and it is a good add-on.
My first impression on the initial boot is that Vista is beautiful, even in this pre-release version. Users are going to be impressed by the interface and the Aero experience, which brings with it a sort of semi-transparency that is very pleasing to the eye.
But does it work?
We’ll have to explore that in the weeks coming up but the short version is, yeah, pretty much.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: If you want to read ahead, check out this walk-through of Vista at www.seewindowsvista.com

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

How to secure laptop computer data

James Derk — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:04:00 +0000

It seems like every passing day brings another story of a missing laptop computer with sensitive data on it. The most famous, of course, was the Veterans Administration computer, now recovered, that had personal data on 26 million U.S. military veterans on it.
Businesses are responding to this issue with increased enforcement of who can obtain sensitive data in portable formats as well as by using tools to protect data once it leaves a secured location.
What can normal users do to protect their data?
Most home computers don’t have highly sensitive business data on them but many people have tax returns, credit card information and other data on their hard drives. And it only takes one “smash and grab” of your car window to lose it all.
One study says 10 percent of all laptops are stolen or misplaced, a figure I think is high but still highlights the issue.
One thing a consumer can do is put an administrative password on the laptop. This is a simple thing, done in the setup screen right as the computer boots. (You get into setup by hitting DELETE or F2 or a different key that will display briefly just as your computer first boots.
If you put an admin password on your laptop, you will be prompted for a password when you first boot the computer. If you don’t know the password, it won’t boot. (Read that again: make this a password you will remember forever because if you forget the password your PC is now a paperweight.)
A second option is to add a disk password on some models, which will put a basic level of protection on your hard disk.
Both of the above are enough to stop the routine thief from using a stolen laptop. It won’t stop a seasoned data thief.
For that you need to encrypt the contents of your hard drive. There are many products on the market for this at the consumer level. Two I have tried are MySecureDoc from WinMagic and SafeHouse.
Both are reasonably priced at under $30. My favorite of the two was My SecureDoc, which installed seamlessly under Windows XP (and 2000) and was simple to use. The password hint features were especially good because if you forget your password you are never seeing your data again. (Just don’t make the hints too easy... if everyone knows your mother’s maiden name it’s not a good choice.)
You can see the product at www.winmagic.com
As for recovering your stolen laptop, a fine choice is the oddly named “Lojack for Laptops” from CompuTrace. Named for the Lojack system that recovers stolen cars, this software will “phone home” and let the authorities know where the laptop is connected even if it has been reformatted.
It costs $49.95 from www.lojackforlaptops.com

WEEKLY WEB WONDER: There are some key tips to keeping your laptop safe. Here are some good ones: www.scambusters.org/laptop.html

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail is jim@cyberdads.com

Magellan Roadmate is pretty cool

James Derk — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 14:41:00 +0000

I’ve always been too cheap to fork out the money for a GPS system for my car even though I always get one when I rent a Hertz car. I have a GPS attachment for my Dell Axim handheld PC but downloading the maps and getting all the wires set up in the car was always too much of a hassle to use it.
And I’m too cheap to own a fancy-enough car to have GPS installed by the factory in the dash.
So when Magellan offered me the chance to test out a member of its new Roadmate line of portable GPS units on a family vacation to Florida, I was happy to give it a whirl. It arrived in a plain box a day before I left with no user manual or instructions (it was a demo unit) so I had a real-world test of how easy the Magellan 3000T would be to use and set up.
If you’ve ever used the Hertz NeverLost system you would be familiar with this unit, which works much the same, right down to the same female voice telling you when to turn. (The Roadmate obviously is based on the same technology but the Hertz system is far more advanced since it relies on a computer in the trunk.)
The 3000T, which lists for $599, is powered by rechargeable batteries or via the 12V adapter in the car. (You also can have it wired directly to the power supply in the dash if you’re handy.)
Once powered on, the unit locates the satellites and orients itself. One thing that impressed me was the unit’s ability to locate satellites even while being held by the passenger in a car; it didn’t seem to need line of sight to the dash or even clear view out the windows.
The unit’s 3.5-inch color screen was bright and easy to use. Using the touch screen you type in where you want to go and you’re offered several options, including the shortest time (duh!) or most use of freeways, etc. Once you pick that, it selects the route it thinks is the best and off you go.
Sometimes the routes Magellan thinks best are, shall we say, interesting, but I never found it to be totally off-base. Once in a while it will be a house or two off but that’s more a fault of the map and not the device. You can subscribe to live updates that will route you around traffic delays and construction zones as well.
One fault I would have with the device is timing; sometimes it told me too late to make a turn off an Interstate for example. Also the device’s female voice is sometimes too soft for a van full of people and the radio. However, it located gas stations, ATMs and restaurants automatically, which nearly paid for itself a couple times.
Is it worth 600 bucks? If I drove a lot I would definitely own a GPS and this one was a good one. In a few years you won’t be able to buy a car without one and maps will be one of those odd things our kids will look at in antique stores.
You can see the details at Magellan’s Web site at www.magellangps.com
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James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Google takes over the world

James Derk — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:44:00 +0000

Google's quiet announcement last week that it has launched an online spreadsheet product is a major shot across the bow of Microsoft and signals a quantum shift in how we will use computers in the years ahead.
The product, which you can see at www.google.com/googlespreadsheets/tour1.html, is one in a series of products that Google has launched that intrude on Microsoft’s lucrative turf. Why should you care?
Well, for many folks a spreadsheet and a word processor is a commodity. You launch them, use them to process some data and then close them. Most people don’t particularly care what brand you use (unless you’re a Mac person) as long as they get the job done.
Microsoft, on the other hand, cares a lot. Microsoft Office is the cash cow of the company, generating billions of dollars in revenue. At retail some versions of Microsoft Office cost $500 or more; multiply that times the number of desktop computers in a good-sized office tower and pretty soon you’re talking big money.
Now what happens if you only gave “real” spreadsheets to the finance folks and let everyone else use Web-based spreadsheets when they needed them? If you had a few columns of numbers to add up, you launch your browser, do your work and close it. Nothing to install, nothing to buy.
The hassle for the IT department is eliminated; the cost is dramatically reduced. Now what about word processing? Does everyone need Microsoft Word installed on your hard drive? Or could you launch a Web browser and write a letter just as easily? What about PowerPoint?
Now you can see why Microsoft looks at Google like one of the “Desperate Housewives”.
If you go to www.google.com and click on MORE you can see all of the areas that Google has slipped its fingers into. It’s a pretty impressive list, ranging from mapping to shopping to applications.
And it’s not just Google intruding on Microsoft’s turf.
Dan Bricklin, creator of the VisiCalc spreadsheet, has put out the WikiCalc (www.softwaregarden.com/wkcalpha/) that, knowing Dan, will be even better than Google’s once it gets rolling. It will need to be installed on Wiki servers, however.
Of course, the only missing link is that you need to be online to use Web-based spreadsheets. With free WiFi all over the place that’s not nearly a big problem but it is enough of a factor to keep many people buying office suites and installing them on local hard drives.
Trouble is, Microsoft is facing a challenge there, too, from the excellent open-source alternative called Open Office (www.openoffice.org) a completely free suite of tools that you can download and install on your hard drive that directly competes with Microsoft Office and Works.
The big mama of all of this is if Google comes out with an operating system of sorts, something it claims over and over it is not planning to do. With Linux already out there and not making much of an inroad on consumer desktops that’s probably true; Microsoft owns the consumer desktop for now. But what is likely to happen now more than ever is Microsoft may own the OS but Google takes over from boot on up.
And that will make things very, very interesting.
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James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Letters...we get letters

James Derk — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:24:00 +0000

Reader mail fills the space this week after we all survived the coming of 6-6-6 with our hard drives intact.
Q. I have been offered a $150 discount on one of the older Apple Ibooks still in the original retail packaging by a local dealer when compared to the pricing of the newer models. Are the newer ones that much better?
A. Answering questions like this are tough because I don’t know the relative value of the 150 bucks to your life. If you really have to reach for the difference, I may offer a different answer. But assuming you’re relatively solvent let’s talk about the differences between the old Apples and the new ones, which should generate at least some new mail.
The new MacBook is much faster (Apple claims 5 times faster) with a 13 inch, brighter screen (the Ibook came in 12-inch and 14-inch flavors.) The new ones come with larger hard drives (60 gigs now is standard) and a host of other improvements.
Would I buy the old model for $150 less? No. Maybe $300 or so, considering you’re making an investment in the future and the Intel-based Macs are the future. There’s nothing wrong with the older Apples (I am writing this column on one) but $150 is not enough of a discount in my opinion.
Q. I need to purchase a laptop for my son to attend college in the fall. The university requires (or I should say “strongly suggests”) that I buy one of these IBM Thinkpads directly from the school. I guess I could buy one someplace else but what do you suggest?
A. According to the literature you sent along, the school is offering sort of a small, medium and large when it comes to laptops. The prices are not out of line when it comes to retail pricing but then again, neither are you getting a great deal, either. You are correct that the school can’t force you to buy this model from them. The compelling part of this offer however is in the fine print; if you buy the IBM model direct from the school, the school will provide technical support free of charge for your student all the while they are attending classes. That’s a huge plus… any time he is having issues with the computer he can take it someplace on campus and have it worked on free.
In your shoes I’d go with one of the IBMs (probably the medium offer) and get a security cable and hope he uses it.
Q. My Adobe Acrobat keeps wanting to connect to the Internet to update itself. My firewall keeps stopping it. Should I allow it?
A. It’s kind of annoying but yes. You can either allow it and let Adobe update or go into the Acrobat preferences and shut off the “feature” that automatically checks for updates to the program.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Dogpile, one of the venerable search engines of the World Wide Web, has re-invented itself again as a “best of” search engine. Give it a try at www.dogpile.com and let me know what you think.

James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com

Microsoft enters anti-virus space

James Derk — Tue, 30 May 2006 04:26:00 +0000

The market for anti-virus software is about to get very interesting with the entry of Microsoft into the space.
Microsoft is taking on the giants like Symantec, McAfee and others by launching “OneCare,” a $50 suite of products that will attempt to solve all of your computer maintenance chores. Not only does OneCare include anti-virus, but also the Windows Defender anti-spyware product, a backup software product, a firewall and disk maintenance utilities.
The big question is whether there is room for Microsoft in this already crowded market. Most corporate customers already have a contract with a provider and I am sure Microsoft will go after that market hard.
On the consumer end, you’re looking at a very fickle crowd. More than half of people never renew their contract after their first period when they install their anti-virus product. (For some, I am sure, it’s a matter of cost; for others it is complexity.)
Some people never install an anti-virus product and happily go through their computing life hoping they won’t get infected. (They will if they are running Windows.) So the idea of building even a basic version of OneCare into Windows (which you know they will for the upcoming Wndows Vista) will at least expose folks to anti-virus products.
What is going to be interesting is whether fifty bucks will be the right price point for this product or will people keep their current product. After all, there are several good products like AVG and Avast that offer free anti-virus protection to home users.
But despite good products being available for free, people are willing to pay for other things. Some do it out of habit; some to get the support. Otherwise no one would spend $450 for Microsoft Office and instead would simply go to Open Office (www.openoffice.org) and download the free version gratis. After all, Open Office is powerful enough for most users.
I like the idea of bundling all kinds of useful applications in one user interface together (sort of like the old Norton Utilities for DOS) so from that perspective I like it. If they all worked 50 bucks is not too much to pay. The trouble with the spyware aspect is Windows Defender, while a capable tool in the spyware and adware arsenal, is nowhere near the only tool you are going to need. (If your PC is brand new, it may be enough to keep a new PC from being royally infected, because its warning systems are pretty good, but in terms of cleaning an already gone PC, you will need more help than this.)
I guess we need to wait and see for a complete review of OneCare until it has been out in the market for a while and we have a chance to pound on it in the real world. It will be interesting to run it against some best-of-breed utilities and see where the suite’s components stack up.
In the meantime, make sure you are running some kind of anti-virus protection (something, anything) and you are keeping it up to date. Run a complete virus scan once a week on Fridays while you’re sleeping and make it a regular habit. Run Windows Update on the second Tuesday of the month and your month is complete.
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James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com