TechBits

Don't forget how to Logon to Windows

It's easy to forget about logging on to Windows! 

Here's a quick how to video:

http://youtu.be/xgnf5wADEEI

 

 

Is Your Home PC Sick?

I'm sure a lot of you have a PC at home and that you use it in part to send and receive email and to surf the Internet.  This means that your PC can be exposed to any number of viruses, trojans, malware or root kits.  Hopefully you have some antivirus software installed on your PC to catch these "baddies" before they get installed.  If you're unlucky enough to have been infected you know what problems and hassles they can cause.  If you're one of these people then let me offer some advice that may solve your problem.

If you're infected, your antivirus software may be turned off or disabled and you need some other way to disinfect your home PC.  Here are some products that will assist you in disinfecting your home PC:

1. Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
2. Bitdefender's QuickScan is an online scanner that uses in-the-cloud scanning to detect malware running on a PC, usually in less than 60 seconds.
3. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free utilizes Malwarebytes powerful technology to detect and remove all traces of malware including worms, trojans, rootkits, rogues, dialers, spyware and more.
4. If you get a root kit then an excellent tool to use is Kaspersky's TDSSKiller. This program is portable and can be run from a flash drive.  A rootkit is a program (or set of programs), that hides its presence or the presence of another program(virus, spyware, etc.) on a PC thus making them almost undetectable by common spyware blockers, antivirus and anti-malware software.  A rootkit can get to a computer using various ways. The most common way is through some trojan horse or some suspicious e-mail attachment. Also surfing the web may result in installation of a rootkit, for example when "special" plugin (pretending to be legitimate) is needed to correctly view some webpage.
5. Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool will check for infections and remove then if found.  This tool comes with the other Windows updates, so hopefully your PC is up-to-date on its Windows updates.  Please note though that the version of the tool delivered by Microsoft Update and is run by Windows Update in the background will report if any malware infections are found. To run this tool more than once a month, you will need to use the version that is found here.

Hopefully these tools will be enough to combat any "baddie" that finds their way onto your home PC.

For your LINK staff PC we run a product called Sophos Endpoint Security and Control.  This product is updated many times a day for LINK staff PCs and during the overnight processing for your LINK patron PCs.  Even with this software I still receive a few calls about an infected PC.  I've seen this a happen some when staff are surfing the web and they get a popup that says that they are infected.  They click on it and then get infected.  To read more about these fake virus alerts check out this article.  If you see one of these fake virus alerts or you think your PC is infected please give me a call at the Help Desk.

Hacking the Windows Taskbar: Custom Toolbars

I have a love/hate relationship with the Windows Start menu. It's great that it tends to be self-organizing and all-inclusive, but the fact that it shapes itself automatically is a downer because that means Windows is deciding for me how it will be. And sometimes it just feels slow. What I want is full control of my main applications launcher menu, and maximum efficiency.

One can certainly wrangle and edit parts of the Start menu, but not completely. And then a new program or upgrade will go and change it on you anyway. One can try to avoid using Start entirely, and lots of folks do that by throwing umpteen shortcuts onto the Desktop. But did you know that too many Desktop shortcuts can slow down Windows?

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Here's how to clean up your Desktop and avoid the Start menu. This should work for all current versions of Windows.

1. Create a new folder on your PC.

This folder can live anywhere that's convenient, but if you want to share the magic with other user accounts on the same computer then it should be outside of your user profile. For this example, let's call it C:\Toolbox. Keep the name short (you'll see why later).

2. Create application shortcuts in this folder.

There's lots of ways to go about doing this. One way is to left-click your way into the Start menu until you see the icon you want, then right-click that icon and drag it over to your new folder, choosing "Create shortcut here" from the menu that appears.

3. Right click the Taskbar and choose Toolbars => New Toolbar...

A dialog will open, asking you to choose a Folder. Navigate in this dialog to the location of your shortcuts folder. If you remember the path (like C:\Toolbox) you can just type that right in.

4. Click Select Folder.

Now look on the Taskbar near the clock and you should the name of your folder, followed by a little arrow symbol (>>). Click on the arrow and a menu will pop up from taskbar containing all your chosen application shortcuts. Ta-da! Easy access all the time, and Windows and program updates won't go around changing it on you. Basically, it Should Just Work (tm).

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As an alternative to this technique, you can make an existing trove of Desktop icons into a Toolbar by simply right-clicking the Taskbar and choosing Toolbars => Desktop. However, that cheat won't keep your Desktop clean and efficient.

To remove or hide any Toolbar that you've activated, just select it on the Toolbars menu to clear the checkbox next to its name. This procedure also works with documents and web browser bookmarks, but I usually find that other methods are better for managing those things.

Changing the view

Let's say your PC is running Windows XP...and you open a folder...and you don't like how the contents of the folder are displayed.  Maybe you're thinking, "I want the DETAILS, but ALL I SEE ARE LARGE THUMBNAILS!!"  (maybe you missed your morning coffee and it's been one of those days already...)

How can you change the way the contents of a folder are displayed?

• Click on View from the menu bar
• Select your preferred view  (Thumbnails, tiles, icons, list, or details)

Whew! That was a step in the right direction!  Now...  how can you change it so the contents of ALL folders are displayed the same way and you never will have to be bothered by this again?

• From the menu bar, select Tools->Folder Options
• Click on the View tab
• In the Folder Views section, click on Apply to All Folders

Double-click smaller, double-click full screen

Here's a quickie "how did I not know this?!" tip:

Instead of using the little button in the corner to "Restore Down" (to less than full screen) or "Maximize" (to full screen), you can just double-click on the blue title bar!

(this works in all the programs I've tested so far)

A simple photo resize in Paint

I have a confession to make:  I use Microsoft Paint to do simple photo manipulation (resize pictures, add circles & text, and save pictures as a different format).

I use the "resize" feature most frequently.  Here's how (click on the photos at the right for larger versions):

• Open a photo in Paint
• Image -> Stretch/Skew
• Enter the percent you'd like to shrink (or grow) the picture
• Click OK

Voila!

I know there are lots of different programs out there for resizing photos (some can even do big batches at a time).   I find myself using Paint most of the time because it's available on any Windows PC.  (And here's something to look forward to---the version of Paint that comes with Windows 7 has some additional features like shapes, arrows, and word & thought bubbles!)

Looking at things with a fresh pair of eyes

Do you ever work with something so frequently and so repetitively that it becomes second nature and you stop seeing all of the settings (and possibilities)?

Our new SCLS director, Martha Van Pelt, started today and as we were talking about email, calendars, the network, etc, she asked me some questions that made me realize there are a lot of things that I don't know about the software I use each and every day. 

Whoa.  I just learned:

• Google Calendar offers email and pop-up event reminders, and notifications can be customized from the calendar listing on the left
• You can snooze pop-up reminders by clicking 'Remind me again in 5 minutes' in the yellow bar that appears at the top of your calendar after you dismiss the pop-up reminder

In the weeks to come, we will be soliciting your input about SCLS patron PCs, and I'm hoping that you'll help us look at them with many fresh pairs of eyes.  More information about this survey will be sent out to the scls-announce email list and appear here in TechBits.

Modifying Folder View Settings For All Folders

In Windows XP, there are several different ways you can view the contents of a folder.  The options are Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List and Detail view.  I prefer Detail view because it is really easy to sort folders and files alphabetically, by size and by date of modification.

When you change how the contents of a folder are viewed, you're only changing the settings for the folder you have opened.  If you'd like to make the changes to all the folders at once, follow these instructions:

1. Open any folder
2. Click View
3. Select how you'd like to view folders and files by choosing one of Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List and Details
4. Click Tools
5. Click Folder Options
6. Click the View tab
7. Click Apply to All Folders
8. Click Yes to confirm the change
9. Click OK

What version is it?

Often when you are troubleshooting a problem, it is helpful to know what version of something you are running. Where can you find this information?

What version of Windows?

• Click on the Start button in the lower left. The menu that pops up should list the version of Windows up the side.
• OR... Right-click My Computer and choose Properties. The version of Windows should be listed under System
• OR... Click on Start->Run. Type "winver" in the box. The box that pops up should display the version.

What browser and version?

• Your browser name is often displayed in the bar at the top of the window.

• Browser version information is often found in the Help menu under "About..."

 

What version of other programs?

• Many programs list version information in the Help menu under "About..."

What version of Flash and Shockwave?

• You can use this site to check Shockwave and Flash versions: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/

Connecting to Staff PC Print Shares

Many people have asked me to connect their staff PCs to a print share.  For my TechBits, I just wanted to type up a few words about staff PC-hosted print shares and how you can connect to them on your own.

A print share exists when a local printer, a printer directly connected to a PC by USB or parallel cable, is configured so that users at other PCs can also use the printer.  Just about any laser or inkjet printer can be shared out from one LINK staff PC to other LINK staff PCs.  Unfortunately, library staff does not have privileges to create a print share on their own.  That part needs to be done by Automation staff.  Once the print share has been set up by Automation, you can connect any of your other LINK staff PCs to the share on your own.  The PC that hosts the print share needs to be powered on before you can connect and send print jobs to the printer.

The easiest way to find out if a printer is already shared out is to walk over to the PC that the printer is physically connected to and follow these instructions:

1. Click Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Printers and Faxes
4. If the printer's driver icon has an open hand with the palm facing up, it is shared out

There is more then one way to connect your PC to a print share, but I think this is the easiest:

1. At the PC you want to connect to the share, click Start
2. Click Run
3. In the Open field, enter \\PCNAME where PCNAME is the name of the PC that hosts the print share (not station number)
4. Click OK
5. Double-click the icon for the shared printer
6. After the flashlight disappears, you will have access to the shared printer