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Looking for new anti-virus software
Dec. 31st, 2013 11:35 amI am willing to pay for it. The kicker is, it must work on Windows XP. Anybody have any suggestions?
In true Christmas shopping tradition, I just bought myself an expensive new toy - one of those teeny little baby laptops (Acer Aspire One). I'm trying to get it set up to use for Minicon Programming notes at today's Minnstf meeting. Problem is, it comes with a 60-day trial of Word 2007.
Now, I've been using Word for years and years and I'm pretty good at it. But THIS THING IS HATEFUL!!!! Everything I knew about Word is now useless. The toolbars are completely changed, and I can't even search for help effectively because the terminology has all changed. I don't have time right now to erase this atrocity and reinstall good old Word '97, so I need to find a way to make this usable quickly.
Here's my problem: instead of the old familiar toolbar there's a huge mess of toolbar at the top of the screen that fills up about 10% of the screen on this tiny little laptop. I just want to hide the damn thing. Anybody know how?
Now, I've been using Word for years and years and I'm pretty good at it. But THIS THING IS HATEFUL!!!! Everything I knew about Word is now useless. The toolbars are completely changed, and I can't even search for help effectively because the terminology has all changed. I don't have time right now to erase this atrocity and reinstall good old Word '97, so I need to find a way to make this usable quickly.
Here's my problem: instead of the old familiar toolbar there's a huge mess of toolbar at the top of the screen that fills up about 10% of the screen on this tiny little laptop. I just want to hide the damn thing. Anybody know how?
Okay, now what??
Nov. 23rd, 2008 11:34 amFortunately I still had a copy of my entire iTunes library on the computer in the attic. Maybe a little out of date, but should be close enough. I put it on my new 32G thumb drive (which it came closer to filling up than I expected) and then transferred it to my sparkling new Seagate external drive.
Now how do I tell iTunes where my music library is? It's still showing all the old iTunes content but all the links are broken.
Now how do I tell iTunes where my music library is? It's still showing all the old iTunes content but all the links are broken.
Do I actually need wireless security?
Dec. 27th, 2007 01:57 pmI keep reading various dire warnings about how dreadful it is that nobody secures their wireless networks, and I have wondered if it actually matters. I don't care if my neighbors use my network to get to the Internet. Is there an actual security threat to leaving a wireless network unsecured, other than poachers using up your bandwidth? If so, what is it?
At long last - wireless!!
Dec. 26th, 2007 08:23 pmOff and on for about the last 4 years I've been trying to add internal wireless access to my existing home LAN (which is served by DSL). This has proved surprisingly difficult. I started out trying to set up some old wireless equipment I got at a yard sale, with predictably unsuccessful results. Then I bought a Linksys home router that almost worked, briefly, before it just disintegrated like the piece of worthless junk it is. My third attempt is a Netgear (a brand I've had much better luck with) but it's been sitting around for a year waiting for somebody to muster up the enthusiasm to try and install it.
This is probably fairly easy to do if you don't have any kind of home network to start with and are planning to connect to the Internet through something that might conceivably be described as a "DSL or cable modem." If you already have a DSL router that is managing a small LAN with addresses configured the way you want them, the instructions and setup wizards that come with these home network devices are essentially worthless. I am also unreasonably resentful of the requirement to uncable my computer from the Internet, disable my static IP address, and plug my 'puter directly into the new device so I can fight my way through an insufferable browser interface just to change the IP address.
It took me a couple of tries this time, because I kept trying to use the "Internet port" to connect to my local LAN. I finally found a page on the Netgear Knowledge Base on "Using WPN824, WGR614, or WGT624 Routers as an Access Point." The secret is: don't use the "Internet port" for anything. Just cable to one of the 4 Ethernet hub ports, assign the port a static address on the LAN and disable the DHCP server. Once I'd done all that, the wireless network popped right up, and the computer in Amber's room can now go through the wireless network onto the Internet!
Now I'm trying to figure out how to set up basic security. I tried enabling WEP and entering a "passphrase" on the router, but couldn't find anyplace in the wireless setup on the client to enter the same passphrase. Also, online info indicates that WPA is "newer and better" than WEP. Should I use that instead? Or will it be too new for the USB wireless adapter I'm using on the client computer? What security do you people use for your wireless networks??
This is probably fairly easy to do if you don't have any kind of home network to start with and are planning to connect to the Internet through something that might conceivably be described as a "DSL or cable modem." If you already have a DSL router that is managing a small LAN with addresses configured the way you want them, the instructions and setup wizards that come with these home network devices are essentially worthless. I am also unreasonably resentful of the requirement to uncable my computer from the Internet, disable my static IP address, and plug my 'puter directly into the new device so I can fight my way through an insufferable browser interface just to change the IP address.
It took me a couple of tries this time, because I kept trying to use the "Internet port" to connect to my local LAN. I finally found a page on the Netgear Knowledge Base on "Using WPN824, WGR614, or WGT624 Routers as an Access Point." The secret is: don't use the "Internet port" for anything. Just cable to one of the 4 Ethernet hub ports, assign the port a static address on the LAN and disable the DHCP server. Once I'd done all that, the wireless network popped right up, and the computer in Amber's room can now go through the wireless network onto the Internet!
Now I'm trying to figure out how to set up basic security. I tried enabling WEP and entering a "passphrase" on the router, but couldn't find anyplace in the wireless setup on the client to enter the same passphrase. Also, online info indicates that WPA is "newer and better" than WEP. Should I use that instead? Or will it be too new for the USB wireless adapter I'm using on the client computer? What security do you people use for your wireless networks??
Calling all Mac Users! Need some tips
Apr. 2nd, 2007 01:46 pmIt looks like I'll be doing the BBT this year on a Mac of some kind, so I've been trying to get the iMac In the Attic into a condition where I can use it if a better one doesn't show up. It's probably about 6 years old and is running OS9.2. It's got Word98, and I was able to open and edit my BBT template from last year, so it ought to be usable for this task.
Here's some questions I was unable to figure out the answers to:
1) Is there any way to rename the main hard disk? It's currently showing up as "untitled." Just selecting the name and typing a new one has no effect. It's not important, just annoying.
2) How do you add/delete things in the Application List (the dropdown list in the upper right corner)? Word 98 does not show up in this list, and I want it to. The text editor (called something like Simpletext) shows up twice. I'd like to delete the second copy.
3) What do you call the list that drops down from under the apple icon in the upper left corner? It has some overlap with the Application List that drops down from the upper right corner, but is not quite the same. It's got both applications and old files in it. I have no interest in the old files and don't want to see them there. How can I get them out of this list? How can I get Windows98 to appear?
4) How do you configure the IP address? I have no problem connecting to the Internet in a LAN that has a DHCP server, but have no idea how to assign a static address in the absence of a DHCP server, or even to find out what my current IP address is. [Remember, I don't have OSX, so don't tell me about Linux commands!]
5) How do I create an alias on the desktop for commonly used applications and/or files? I see some aliases already lying around, so I know it's possible. I'm hoping there's a key-combo that you can hold while dragging the icon (on Windows it's the ALT key).
6) When the computer freezes up, is there some way to restart it comparable to CTL-ALT-DELETE on Windows?
7) When you click the little box in the upper left corner of a window, does this actually close the application or just hide it? If the latter, how do you close it?
8) Is there a way to set view preferences for folders so it defaults to the list view instead of the icon view?
9) What is the default browser for this OS? There's a copy of Netscape 6 (which I got working after a few false starts) and a copy of Internet Explorer. But I'm guessing there's a native browser hidden away somewhere that might work better on this machine than either of the alien browsers. What's its name?
THINGS I DID FINALLY FIGURE OUT
1) Which folder Word98 was supposed to live in. I accidentally dragged it out of its home folder while trying to create an alias and it refused to start until I got it back into the folder it expected to be in.
2) Finding the USB thumbdrive. I must not have had it fully seated the first time. I removed and reinserted it, and it DID pop up on the desktop, just like people told me it would. Unfortunately, however, this version of the OS cannot read Windows files, so it showed up as unformatted.
Here's some questions I was unable to figure out the answers to:
1) Is there any way to rename the main hard disk? It's currently showing up as "untitled." Just selecting the name and typing a new one has no effect. It's not important, just annoying.
2) How do you add/delete things in the Application List (the dropdown list in the upper right corner)? Word 98 does not show up in this list, and I want it to. The text editor (called something like Simpletext) shows up twice. I'd like to delete the second copy.
3) What do you call the list that drops down from under the apple icon in the upper left corner? It has some overlap with the Application List that drops down from the upper right corner, but is not quite the same. It's got both applications and old files in it. I have no interest in the old files and don't want to see them there. How can I get them out of this list? How can I get Windows98 to appear?
4) How do you configure the IP address? I have no problem connecting to the Internet in a LAN that has a DHCP server, but have no idea how to assign a static address in the absence of a DHCP server, or even to find out what my current IP address is. [Remember, I don't have OSX, so don't tell me about Linux commands!]
5) How do I create an alias on the desktop for commonly used applications and/or files? I see some aliases already lying around, so I know it's possible. I'm hoping there's a key-combo that you can hold while dragging the icon (on Windows it's the ALT key).
6) When the computer freezes up, is there some way to restart it comparable to CTL-ALT-DELETE on Windows?
7) When you click the little box in the upper left corner of a window, does this actually close the application or just hide it? If the latter, how do you close it?
8) Is there a way to set view preferences for folders so it defaults to the list view instead of the icon view?
9) What is the default browser for this OS? There's a copy of Netscape 6 (which I got working after a few false starts) and a copy of Internet Explorer. But I'm guessing there's a native browser hidden away somewhere that might work better on this machine than either of the alien browsers. What's its name?
THINGS I DID FINALLY FIGURE OUT
1) Which folder Word98 was supposed to live in. I accidentally dragged it out of its home folder while trying to create an alias and it refused to start until I got it back into the folder it expected to be in.
2) Finding the USB thumbdrive. I must not have had it fully seated the first time. I removed and reinserted it, and it DID pop up on the desktop, just like people told me it would. Unfortunately, however, this version of the OS cannot read Windows files, so it showed up as unformatted.