Vol. 27 number 4 April 2010 The newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group Calendar OPCUG General Meeting National Museum of Science and Technology 1867 St. Laurent Blvd. Second (*first) Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm Beginner SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Linux SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Beer BOF (Wing SIG East), after all the SIGs, at 10 p.m. Liam Maguire's, 1705 St. Laurent at Innes (formerly Hooters) Please note that unless otherwise noted, SIGs meet at 9:00 p.m. (immediately following the OPCUG General Meeting). ____________________________ Coming Up... April 14 Speaker: Richard Brisson of Bletchley Park (http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/) Topic: Codebreaking Enigma - The World War II challenge then and today A Real Enigma Enigma was an encryption/decryption machine invented around the end of World War I. Through World War II, Enigma was used by the Germans for secret communications. At the April general meeting, Richard Brisson will be giving a presentation "Code-breaking Enigma - The WW-II Challenge then and today." Richard will fill us in on the rich history around Enigma. He will tell us about programming Enigma simulators on your PC and Enigma simulators on the Web. And Richard may just have an actual Enigma as well as a modern Enigma e-kit to show us. Come out and learn more about this fascinating topic. May 12 Speaker: Bert Schopf (Blackbird PCD) (http://www.blackbirdpcd.com/) Topic: PhotoShop editing June 9 (Pizza night) Speaker: Evelyn Watts (Corel Corporation) (http://www.corel.com/) Topic: (TBA) ____________________________ April Raffle At the April general meeting, thanks to the generosity of Corel, we will be raffling off a copy of Corel VideoStudio Pro X2. VideoStudio Pro X2, valued at $100, is an all-in-one video- editing software for creating high-quality HD and standard- definition movies, slide shows and DVDs. Edit video or photos quickly and easily using the Movie Wizard, or take full control with hands-on creative tools. Even paint, write or draw on your video. Burn your movies on DVDs, or high- definition AVCHD and Blu-ray discs. Share on PSP, iPod or iPhone, upload directly to YouTube. Watch your movies on set-top players or with the included Corel WinDVD. Tickets remain the at the same inexpensive price of only $1 for one, $2 for three, or $5 for ten. ____________________________ March Prize Winners Jack Klain was the winner of our raffle prize... a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate!! Many thanks to Microsoft for the prize this month. ____________________________ OPCUG Presentations at the Ottawa Public Library by Chris Taylor As was announced in the spring of 2008, rather than our traditional fall workshop, we are now giving presentations through the Ottawa Public Library. We hope this will continue to be a win-win situation, where we get to introduce people to the OPCUG and the library gets access to skilled presenters. Following are upcoming presentations currently scheduled. Spring 2010 Protecting Your Computer Monday, March 29, 6:30 PM, Hazeldean Branch The average time it takes for an unprotected computer to be compromised after connecting to the Internet is under 15 minutes. Don't let it be yours. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you the simple steps you need to take to keep your computer from being hacked. Clicking, Flicking & Tweeting: Concerns about Internet and Social Networking Privacy Tuesday, May 4, 7:00 PM, Nepean Centrepointe Branch Over the past few years, the web has exploded with participatory technologies like Flickr, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. While these tools are dizzying in their capabilities, there are concerns about how to use them safely. Come out and listen to Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group, talk about the things you, your family and your friends should be careful about. How to Buy a Digital Camera Saturday, May 8, 2:00 PM, Greenboro Branch When buying a digital camera, you are faced with a bewildering array of choices. Chris Taylor, Ottawa PC Users' Group President will help "focus" your search for the ideal digital camera. Presentations are scheduled as they are arranged with the Ottawa Public Library. Check for updates at the OPCUG website (http://opcug.ca) under Presentations. For more information about these presentations, you can check the Ottawa Public Library web site www.biblioottawalibrary.ca/events/todayevent_e.cfm Free registration is required. ____________________________ Article Sleuthing a Trojan by Chris Taylor I ran into a problem where Windows didn't want to let me delete a file. It was locked by some unknown process. This is always a pain when this happens. Normally I start closing down program after program trying to find which one has the file locked. Even then, it might be locked by some background process I either can't easily shut down. Re- booting will release the lock, but it was not a convenient time to re-boot - I had several things on the go, in the middle of edits, lots of web pages open that I needed to refer to etc. Then I remembered there was a program in Alan German's excellent Free Software Guide to deal with this exact problem. A quick search on the OPCUG web site found it in the June 2009 issue - Unlocker. I happily clicked the link in the article - http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/ Bam! IE8 threw up a big red screen, warning me this was an unsafe website! It clearly indicated "This site contains links to viruses or other software programs that can reveal personal information stored or typed on your computer to malicious persons." So IE8 saved me. But was it right? I didn't know. My first thought was that perhaps there were other links on that page to other sites that contained the malware they were talking about and Unlocker itself was fine. I wanted Unlocker! Software like this is often available at other locations, so I decided to Google and see. The first page of Google hits for unlocker included FileHippo, CNet, Softpedia, MajorGeeks - all well-known download sites that have no tolerance for malware. I was starting to breath a little easier. I wanted Unlocker! So I jumped over to FileHippo and downloaded unlocker1.8.8.exe. Bam! As soon as the download finished, up popped Microsoft Security Essentials with a Severe warning of a Trojan Notifier called TrojanClicker:Win32/Yabector.B. Back to Google to search on TrojanClicker:Win32/Yabector.B. First hit was a Microsoft site, which makes sense given that both IE8 and Microsoft Security Essentials come from Microsoft. Things start looking a little tamer, with the explanation that this "...notifies a web server of its presence without user consent." Still, I am not sure I want that happening. But I still wanted Unlocker! Back to Google and a search on unlocker (Trojan or malware). Now I start getting some interesting stuff. Numerous posts about what is going on. There are references to an optional component that creates a link to eBay. Microsoft's description also includes notices about a link to eBay. The Softpedia site also mentions "Promotional feature: Added fully optional shortcuts to eBay during the installation. Simply untick "eBay shortcuts" in the choose components page during install if you do not wish to have those." and "Reasons why this program is marked as ad-supported: Offers to download or install software or components (such as browser toolbars) that the program does not require to fully function: eBay shortcuts" I was now confident I could download and use the program without endangering my computer. After 10 minutes of not responding to Microsoft Security Essentials warning, MSE had gone ahead and deleted the installation program I had downloaded. So I downloaded it again. When Security Essentials again popped up its warning, I selected Allow from the available actions. I ran the installer and I eventually got to the promised screen where I could deselect eBay Shortcuts. Finished the installation and I now have Unlocker! Anti-malware software on your computer is a must. But if it finds bad things, don't just blindly accept the verdict. If you can, do a little research. It took me about 10 minutes to determine that I could circumvent the problem and still get the great little utility program I was looking for. Back to my locked file ... it turns out Unlocker does not work in 64-bit Windows. From the web site - "Does Unlocker work on Windows XP 64 or Vista 64? Not yet, I am working on it." Oh well. Maybe in version 1.8.9. ____________________________ Product Review A Truer Image in 2010 by Alan German My previous review of True Image Home 2009 (http://www.opcug.ca/public/Reviews/TrueImage2009.htm) was quite comprehensive and indicated that most users would find this backup utility to be most worthwhile. The product's downside for me was that it failed to operate properly for a Vista user who was not logged in as an administrator. While I found a work-around for the unscheduled backup process, it proved not to be possible to recover a disk image without having administrator status. Now, none of this would have bothered me, except for the fact that the program just stalled on these tasks. It did not provide any error messages. My problem reports to Acronis dragged on almost interminably and, when finally the issue was acknowledged, no solution was forthcoming. So, when True Image Home 2010 was released, I was keen to see if the problem that I reported had been fixed. The quick answer is yes. Regular users of Vista can now run an unscheduled backup and can also restore a saved image. The backup wizard needs a minimum of three inputs - the partition to be backed up, the location where the image is to be stored, and the authorization to proceed with the selected tasks. In the 2010 version of the program, the "Run task now" box is checked, and hitting the Proceed button starts the backup process. Recovering a stored image is just as simple. Right-clicking on an image file provides access to the recovery wizard. You can choose to recover an entire partition or just selected files and folders. You then indicate where the recovered items should be located on the target disk, review the options available, and authorize the recovery process to proceed. One nice feature of the 2010 version is that the backup and recovery processes have now been given separate icons on the main menu which makes selection between the two operations much easier than in the previous version. Otherwise, all of the backup options, plus the various tools and utilities, documented in the earlier review remain available for use. In addition, True Image Home 2010 has a number of new features that may be of interest to some users, although I haven't yet tested any of these. The program will now provide "continuous" data protection with a facility named "Nonstop Backup" that automatically creates incremental backups every five minutes. Optional on-line storage services (250 GB at $4.95 per month or $29.95 per year) are available to allow your important files to be backed up "to the cloud". The scheduler now provides many more options, including the ability to use a calendar view to build schedules and tasks. Default image files (.tib) may be converted to and from virtual hard disk files (.vhd), providing compatibility with the backup system used in Windows 7. In addition, Windows 7 Ultimate users can boot from a disk image (.tib file) containing a backup of their system partition. This provides the ability to test a backup image without having to restore it. True Image Home 2010 works as advertised - even for non- administrators under Vista! Furthermore, it has a number of new features that may be useful to some users. This program offers powerful backup and recovery options for both your operating system and your data files. And the price is right. Gene and Linda Barlow, our friends at User Group Relations (http://www.ugr.com/TrueImage.html) will let OPCUG members download a fully-licenced copy of the package for just US $29.00. At that price you can't afford not to backup your system on a regular basis! Bottom Line: True Image Home 2010 US $29 (with User Group Discount) Acronis, Inc., Burlington, MA http://www.acronis.com/ ____________________________ Article Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts by Chris Taylor Windows 7 revamped the desktop in many ways - smoothing operations and allowing you to be more productive. To be extra productive, you can use keyboard shortcuts. Fortunately, Microsoft added many new keyboard shortcuts for the new aspects of the desktop. In all of these, Win refers to the Windows logo key. General desktop keystrokes: * Win+Up arrow: Maximize window * Win+Down arrow: Restore/Minimize window * Win+Left arrow: Snap window to left (keep pressing to move it across monitors in a multi-monitor configuration) * Win+Right arrow: Snap window to right (keep pressing to move it across monitors in a multi-monitor configuration) * Win+Shift+Left arrow: Jump windows to left monitor in a multi-monitor configuration * Win+Shift+Right arrow: Jump windows to left monitor in a multi-monitor configuration * Win+Shift+Up arrow: Stretch Windows vertically to maximum * Win+Shift+Down arrow: Restore windows stretched by Win+Shift+Up arrow * Win+Home: Minimize/Restore all other windows (leaving only the windows with focus on-screen. This is the same as what "Aero Shake" does. * Win+D: Show desktop (minimizing all Windows) * Win+Space: Peek at the desktop * Win+G: Bring desktop gadgets to the top and cycle through them * Win+P: Presentation display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc) * Win+# (a number): Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program. * Win+Shift+# (a number): Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number * Win+Ctrl+# (a number): Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number * Win+Alt+# (a number): Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number * Win+Ctrl+B: Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area * Win+ numeric keypad +: Zoom in using magnifier * Win+ numeric keypad -: When in magnifier, zoom out * Ctrl+Alt+Space: When in magnifier, previews the desktop in full-screen mode * Ctrl+Alt+F: When in magnifier, switch to full-screen mode * Ctrl+Alt+L: When in magnifier, switch to lens mode * Ctrl+Alt+D: When in magnifier, switch to docked mode * Ctrl+Alt+I: When in magnifier, invert colors * Ctrl+Win+Tab: Opens Flip 3D but you can release these keys and Flip 3D will stay open. Use arrow keys to move through the open apps and enter to select the app you want. Windows Explorer * Alt+P: Show/hide preview pane * Ctrl+Shift+N: Create new folder * Shift+F10 while a file or folder is selected: A bunch of hidden options! * Shift+ F10 while a file or folder is selected and select Send to: Extra options! While the following require the use of the mouse, there are some useful modifiers by adding keystrokes. * Shift+Click on icon: Open a new instance of the program * Ctrl+Shift+Click on icon: Open a new instance of the program as an administrator * Shift+Right-click on icon: Show window menu with Restore/Minimize/Move, etc. * Shift+Right-click on grouped icon: Show window menu for the group with Cascade/Restore All/Minimize All/Close All, etc. * Ctrl+Click on grouped icon: Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts in Windows 7 see http://preview.tinyurl.com/y9zfm72. You can also access the Windows 7 help system. Press Win+F1 and type keyboard shortcuts. Hit Tab until you have selected 7. Keyboard shortcuts and press Enter. There. You didn't have to reach for the mouse at all! ____________________________ OPCUG Free Software Guide - Part 14 Compiled by Alan German This guide features an annotated list of free computer programs. The software mentioned has not been reviewed (except where noted) nor have any tests necessarily been conducted. Consequently, no guarantees are provided that the individual programs will perform as described. Rather the list of available software is provided for the information of our members who may find one or more of the pro- grams useful. If you try one of the listed items, you are encouraged to share your experience, good or bad, by providing a brief review of the program for a future issue of the newsletter. Glary Utilities This suite of utilities has registry and disk cleaning, privacy protection, a performance accelerator and amazing multi-functional tools. It can fix registry errors, wipe away clutter, optimize Internet speed, safeguard confidential files, and maintain maximum performance of your computer system. Current Release: Version 2.19 Web Site: http://www.glaryutilities.com/ Songbird Do you have iTunes envy? Get Songbird. Control all your music, videos, and subscription services through this one application. Build smarter playlists. Serve up Flickr pix and YouTube videos. Songbird supports the latest generation of hot new phones. It will even tell you when your favourite band comes to town! Current Release: Version 1.4.3 Web Site: http://getsongbird.com/ Google Chrome This browser is fast to launch, and runs web pages and applications with lightning speed. Google Chrome has been designed for efficiency and ease of use. You can search and navigate to web pages from the same box, and arrange and organize browser tabs however you wish. Get to your favourite web sites with just a click from the thumbnails of your most-visited sites. Use customized themes to make this browser yours! Current Release: Version 1.4.3 Web Site: http://www.google.com/chrome Drive Manager This is a utility for people with lots of drives - mapped network drives, thumb drives (USB memory sticks), smart media and compact flash, CD-ROM's and DVD's. Drive Manager will help you identify the different drives and monitor the space available on each. It will also let you hide drives from Windows Explorer, and do local drive mappings on file folders. Current Release: Version 4.09 Web Site: http://www.alexnolan.net/software/ driveman.htm CD Recovery Toolbox Recover files from damaged or corrupted CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu- Ray disks. You can use CD Recovery Toolbox to restore information lost as a result of some mechanical damage of the disk (e.g. scratches or chips on the surface) or as a result of incorrect recording. The tool will scan any CD and DVD disk and, depending on the degree and location of the damage, will list the files and folders available for recovery. The program recovers the maximum amount of information in the damaged file. Web Site: http://www.oemailrecovery.com/ cd_recovery.html Jing Use Jing to capture a portion of your screen display (window, pane, or region). Mark up your screenshot with a basic text box, arrow, highlight, or rectangle. Select a window or region and Jing will let you record up to five minutes of video of everything that appears in that area. Use your computer's microphone to add a commentary to your movie. Post the image to Flickr, or the movie clip to Screencast.com, and send the link so that others can view the material. A great tool to use for computer instruction and support. Web Site: http://www.jingproject.com/ ____________________________ OTTAWA PC NEWS Ottawa PC News is the newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group (OPCUG), and is published monthly except in July and August. The opinions expressed in this newsletter may not necessarily represent the views of the club or its members. Member participation is encouraged! If you would like to contribute an article to Ottawa PC News, please submit it to the newsletter editor (contact info below). Deadline for submissions is three Saturdays before the General Meeting. Group meetings OPCUG normally meets on the second Wednesday in the month, except in July and August, at the National Museum of Science and Technology, 1867 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa. Meetings are 7:30-9:00 p.m. and Special Interest Groups go until 10 p.m. Fees: OPCUG annual membership: $25 per year. Mailing address: 3 Thatcher St., Nepean, Ontario, K2G 1S6 Web address: http://opcug.ca/ Bulletin Board - PUB II (BBS): http://opcug.ca/default.htm President and System Administrator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Meeting Coordinator: Alan German, alan.german@@opcug.ca Treasurer: Andrew MacLeod, Andrew.Macleod@@opcug.ca Secretary: Gail Eagan, gail.Eagan@@opcug.ca Membership Chairman: Mark Cayer, Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca, 613 823-0354 Newsletter: Brigitte Lord, Brigittelord@@opcug.ca Email: (Mr.)Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Public Relations: Morris Turpin, PR@@opcug.ca, 613 729-6955 Facilities: Bob Walker, 613 489-2084 Webmaster: Brigitte Lord, opcug-webmaster2@@opcug.ca Privacy Director: Wayne Houston, privacy2@@opcug.ca Special Events Coordinator: Bob Gowan, bob.gowan@@opcug.ca Beginners' SIG Coordinator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Linux / Open-Source software SIG: Andrea Wells, andrea.wells@@opcug.ca Note: We added an extra "@" to the emails to reduce spam. (c) OPCUG 2010. Reprints permission is granted* to non- profit organizations, provided credits is given to the author and The Ottawa PC News. OPCUG request a copy of the newsletter in which reprints appear. *Permission is granted only for articles written by OPCUG members, and not copyrighted by the author. ____________________________ Newsletter by email: To receive the newsletter by e-mail, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "subscribe NewsletterTXT" or "subscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes) in the body of the message. No subject line is required. To cancel e-mailing, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "unsubscribe NewsletterTXT" or "unsubscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes). To change your e-mail address, cancel using the old e-mail address and re-subscribe using your new e-mail address. Cancelling the Paper Newsletter: You can help the environment and save us some costs by sending an email to Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca asking to cancel the delivery of the paper version of the newsletter (or ask him in person - Mark is usually at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings). Announcements Mailing List: To subscribe to the Announcements List send an email to listserve@@opcug.ca, leave the subject blank and in the body of the message put "subscribe announcements" (without the quotes). Within a couple of minutes you will receive a confirmation message from the list server. OPCUG clock/calendar/calculator and mug: Check out the clock/calendar/calculator and thermal coffee mug sporting our club logo at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings! OPCUG insulated mugs are $15 and OPCUG clocks are $20. Reuse, recycle: Bring your old computer books, software, hardware, and paraphernalia you want to GIVE AWAY to the general meetings, and leave them at the table near the auditorium's entrance. Please limit your magazines to publication dates of less than two years old. If you don't bring something, you may want to TAKE AWAY something of interest, so look in on this area. Please note: If you bring anything for the recycle table, you are responsible to check on your way out and if the items you brought are still there, you must take them home with you.