What You Need to Know about All Things PC
Volume 1 Number 11Click here to return to the back issues page.Click here to return to the main newsletter page.
The Naked PC - http://www.TheNakedPC.com What You Need to Know about All Things PC Publisher: Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee Editor: Dan Butler Contributing Editor: Al Gordon This issue is for Thursday, November 5, 1998 - Vol. 1 No. 11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ** 01. Letter from the Publisher ** 02. Low Tech Solutions for High Tech Problems (by T.J. Lee) ** 03. Does Your System Have Warts? (by Lee Hudspeth) ** 04. Annoyances Alley - Range Names and Labels in Excel 97 ** 05. New Releases - PRIME 97 for Excel and PRIME 97 for Word ** 06. An In-depth Look at PRIME 97 for Word 97 - Make a Mark ** 07. Featured Web Page - Lockergnome's "The Cool Stuff" ** 08. Featured Product Recommendation - CrackUp by PC Magazine ** 09. Featured Book Recommendation - "Windows 98 Annoyances" by David Karp (O'Reilly) ** 10. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff ** 11. We Get Mail - Comments and Tips from TNPC Readers ** 01. Letter from the Publisher WOW! When we mess up we fess up! In our last issue of TNPC we promoted Lifesaver v4.0 by JB Software as our Featured Product (a handy utility to keep your Windows Registry backed up) but we inadvertently left off the URL to its download page. For those of you looking for JB Software, you'll find them at: http://www.lifesaverbackup.com/ Sorry for the omission and thanks to a number of TNPCers who pointed this glitch out to us. When we catch these hiccups we post the correction on the TNPC Web page: http://www.TheNakedPC.com On another matter, not only have we been getting a lot of email from readers about what bugs them about computers (see Lee's "System Wart's" series), but also a lot of gripes and questions about the World Wide Web. Does the Web bug you? Does the Web have warts? What problems are you having with this medium (face it, the Web is taking over our computing lives) and what are you doing about them? Drop us a note at: mailto:webwarts@TheNakedPC.com Responding to numerous requests from TNPC readers, you can now request all back issues of TNPC via our Mailbot. For example, if you want to get TNPC #1.7 emailed to you, just send an email to: mailto:v1i7@TheNakedPC.com You can get a list of the all the things Mailbot can email to you and how to request them by sending a message to: mailto:mailbot@TheNakedPC.com Be sure to check out our classified ads at the end of each issue. Coptech West joins TNPC as an advertiser this week. They did an incredible job of duplicating nearly 500 CD-ROMs for us in a very short time. If you ever need to run off some CDs these are the folks to go to. Tell Alex that TNPC sent you. If you want to post comments or queries regarding TNPC feel free to send us email, or stop by the Annoyance Board: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/annoyanceboard/ We appreciate your reading TNPC and ask that you forward it to a friend that you think would appreciate our newsletter (but please don't spam anyone). +++------------------------ sponsor -------------------------+++ Outlook Annoyances Outlook driving you crazy? Despair not, the truth is out there! How it works, where it doesn't, what to do about it - Outlook Annoyances (covers both 97 and 98) from Woody Leonhard, Lee Hudspeth, & T. J. Lee, takes you through the Outlook 97 and 98 minefields unscathed. Tame the Outlook beast and make Microsoft's premiere email and information manager do your bidding. http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/annoyances/outlookannoy.html +++------------------------ sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 02. Low Tech Solutions for High Tech Problems (by T.J. Lee) A TNPCer commented on the RSI discussion of a few issues back that my rolled up towel as wrist rest was a nice "low tech" answer to a high tech problem. This got me to thinking about how we sometimes keep throwing technology at a problem when trying to solve it when a low tech solution might be a better answer all around. For example, we're often asked how overall PC productivity can be improved. The software is confusing, manuals don't exist anymore, isn't there a general prescription for getting more work done with computers? And the answer is, "Yes." Teach your users to type. It may appear to be a given that computer users have to be able to type but keep in mind that pecking at the keyboard and pointing-and-clicking with the mouse is a far cry from actually being a proficient typist. A low tech solution? You bet. And one that we'll bet a number of users could take advantage of. Can you touch type? Really touch type? Use the number keys across the top of the alphabet keys without looking? You'd be surprised how a little typing practice can increase your keyboard proficiency and by extension your productivity. Consider: I'm a CPA and very speedy with an adding machine so naturally I'd reach for the 10-key pad on my computer keyboard when I had to type a zip code or some other number while typing a letter. But taking my right hand off the alpha keys, settling it on the 10-key pad, then tapping out the digits, was very slow when compared to typing them with the typing number keys. Sure when I'm entering numbers into a spreadsheet I'll race the best of them on the 10-key pad but for anything short of a column of numbers the 10-key pad is overkill. It's faster if you use the "typewriter" keys for as much as you can. This goes back to "the right tool for the job" maxim. Speaking of taking your hands off the keyboard, this is something you should avoid like the plague if you want to be productive. (Okay, I'm assuming you're doing documents and spreadsheets and are not a graphics artist who would be better advised to keep your hand glued to your mouse). It may not sound like much of a productivity drag, but trust me, small things like constantly going from the keyboard to the mouse and back really impact your work efficiency. Improve your basic typing skills and you won't be sorry. There are a plethora of typing tutor programs -- shareware, freeware, and commercialware -- available on the Web. Try it and see. In future issues we'll make this a semi-regular feature so send me your favorite "low tech solutions to high tech problems" at: mailto:low-tech@TheNakedPC.com ** 03. Does Your System Have Warts? (by Lee Hudspeth) In my original System Warts piece, my PC's number 1 wart at that time was "My BIOS gives a false alarm that my CPU fan might be kaput." The upshot was that Micron didn't configure its own PC's BIOS and firmware to properly detect CPU fan failure. My future vision on this matter stated, "The PC of the future includes a real-time temperature gauge (plus other helpful operational parameters) for the CPU and an easy-to-use graphical interface for inspecting same." As many of you pointed out to me, that future is right now. Several modern motherboards support real-time monitoring. For example, Bob wrote, "I have an Asus motherboard, P5A Super 7, and it has a real-time GUI with the CPU and motherboard temperatures, and all the extant voltages. It is laid out in a logical display with graphs that show the acceptable ranges for all the meters. I was thrilled with the extra step that Asus took when they included this. Previously, I had a jury-rigged gauge; I put the sensor between the CPU and the fan, ran the lead out a vent hole and twisted my neck almost off to view the dim little meter." Peter A. recommends MotherBoard Monitor by Alex van Kaam, a freeware application with extensive detection and reporting features that runs under Windows 95/98/NT. My production PC's Micronics motherboard happens not to be supported, but dozens of others are; there's a well-designed motherboard compatibility page on the author's Web site. Just looking at its dialog and help file I can tell you that this is a cool application. Check it out. http://www.euronet.nl/users/darkside/mbmonitor/ In the previous issue's Warts article I asked if any of you had wart-free systems. Judging by the responses, yes, there are well- behaved systems out there but they're clearly in the MINORITY. Typical of these replies is this bitter-sweet one from Roger V., "Maybe I'm the exception, but my PC at work running networked NT 4.x, Office 95, and IE 3, is about the most stable setup I've worked on since I started down this road in 1979 with a TRS-80 model II. The PC is a Compaq Deskpro 133. I can't remember the last time I had a problem! Alas, I can't say the same about my home system (233 MHz Cyrix, Win95, Office 97 Pro). IE 4 crashes the system almost every night with Word a close second. If or when NT adds more drivers, I will switch to it in a second!" Amen, Roger. Thanks to those of you who have written in with suggestions and tips for sleuthing Low Resources problems. Keep 'em coming: mailto:warts@TheNakedPC.com ** 04. Annoyances Alley - Range Names and Labels in Excel 97 Annoyances Alley is a tiny glimpse into the Annoyances series of Office 97 related books from Woody Leonhard, Lee Hudspeth, and T.J. Lee. This is just one of the detailed tips related to optimization and customization that appears in "Excel 97 Annoyances" published by O'Reilly & Associates (ISBN 1-56592-309-X) and reprinted here with permission. REVIEWER'S CORNER... "Like William Safire's famous columns on English usage, these authors' tips reflect extensive experimentation and deep familiarity with how these products actually behave (as opposed to what their manuals say they'll do)." -- Peter Coffee, PC Week, reviewing "Excel 97 Annoyances" "Range Names and Labels Individual cells or groups of cells can be given text descriptions called names -- plain English descriptions made up of letters, numbers, periods, and underscore characters. If you are not using names it's high time you start. Take a look at Figure 4-41. No cells were explicitly named in this example, yet we can use the names "Income" and "Expenses" in formulas within the sheet. This is because of the new Label feature in Excel 97 that lets you use what the Redmond PR machine calls "natural language" in your formulas. That's a new moniker for an old concept, the named range. But in this case it's Excel that is assigning the names automatically. Here's how it works. Excel uses whatever labels are handy and applies those names to the appropriate rows and columns. The formulas in cells C4, D4, and C5 are all identical: =Income. Excel has applied the name "Income" to cells C2:E2. You won't find a named range if you look in the Insert / Name / Define, or in the Go To dialog, but you can use the name in a formula just the same. So the =Income in C4 returns 500, the value from cell C2. D4 returns the value 25, which it reads from cell D2; and the formula in E4 returns the string "Expense", the value from cell E2. Columns are also affected. If there were no value in C2 but you had a value in B4, the formula in C4 would return the value from B4. On row 2, the Income name stops where the Expense label appears in column E row 2. The formula in F4 then, =Expenses, returns 498 from row 2. Confusing? More like annoying. The names that Excel is assigning don't show up in the defined names list so you can't check what name refers to which range. Overall, it's nice of Excel to go to all this trouble, but we strongly recommend you explicitly name your ranges so this issue of "What cell will it return, the row or the column?" does not arise. In Figure 4-42 cell C2 has been named Income (Insert / Name / Define) and C3 has been named Expenses. This makes using the names in a formula very straightforward since there is only one cell each name could refer to. A name can be up to 255 characters, can be made up of letters, numbers, periods and the underscore. It must begin with either a letter or underscore and cannot look like an actual cell reference (example: A1 or R1C1). You can use upper and lower case letters to make the name more readable, but case is ignored by Excel (i.e., you can't have Sales and SALES as two different names in the same sheet). In the rest of the book, we'll use explicitly named ranges." Send comments about the Annoyances Alley or any of the books in this series to: mailto:update@primeconsulting.com ** 05. New Releases - PRIME 97 for Excel and PRIME 97 for Word Here at PRIME Consulting Group we're entering into a beta cycle for two new products. (See the end of this tidbit for the links to apply to the beta program.) We're preparing a new release of our PRIME 97 for Word add-in with some minor upgrades and fixes. We're also preparing to publish a completely NEW release of our Excel add-in: PRIME 97 for Excel. Many of our existing PRIME 95 for Excel customers have been asking (screaming is more like it) when we would publish the Excel 97 update. Well folks, although there's been no break in our relentless book writing and consulting schedule, Christmas will come early for you Excel fans. All of PRIME 95 for Excel's features will be in the PRIME 97 version; that's Cell Protection Viewer, Name Manager, Toolbar Manager, TUGExcel Tools (renamed as Quick Clicks), Window Assistant, and Zoomer, plus more than a dozen NEW utilities! If you're interested in the current PRIME 95 for Excel, check out: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/software/p95xl.html This will be a private beta program, conducted in the spirit of the "good old days" when beta programs were a familial experience. TNPC subscribers are invited, so surf here to apply for participation: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/beta/ Folks who participate in the beta will receive a free, registered copy of the add-in (we reserve the right to limit the number of participants, so apply early). Although we're testing two products, they're both in the Office 97 family so whether you're an Excel aficionado, a Word junkie, or both, applying once will automatically grant you access to both the utilities. We're looking forward to working with you! And stay tuned for news on the PRIME for Excel 2000 and PRIME for Word 2000 beta programs. ** 06. An In-depth Look at PRIME 97 for Word 97 - Make a Mark Bookmarks are one of Word's five most powerful features. The nice thing is, a Word bookmark is far more than just an electronic slip of paper jammed into a specific location inside a document. You can name this bookmark just about anything you want (more on the naming rules in a moment). Yet with all this power revving under the hood, Word leaves you hanging by requiring that you decide what the name should be, even if your bookmark is sitting right on top of some text! Amazing, but true, and along comes our development team with yet another useful Word utility. You see, PRIME Make a Mark (MaM for short) creates a bookmark at the current location using a name based on the selected text. Say you've got "Lockergnome" selected when you run MaM, it very quietly but quickly -- no fuss or ringing bells -- creates a bookmark called, you guessed it, "Lockergnome" right there on top of that text. To be specific, MaM takes whatever text is currently selected and attempts to create a new bookmark there using a name comprised of the first 15 characters of the selected material. If there are problems or errors with this prospective bookmark name (the name already exists, is illegal, or the selection doesn't contain any text), it displays a message summarizing Word's bookmark naming rules (see below) then shows a dialog box so you can type in another name. Word's bookmark naming rules are: * the bookmark name must not exceed 40 characters * the first character of the bookmark name must be a letter * any character beyond the first character must be a letter, a number, or an underscore; all other characters are illegal Make a Mark is just one of dozens of productivity-enhancement utilities in PRIME 97 for Word 97, selected as one of the Top Ten Office Add-Ins by the prestigious PC World magazine. Check out a free 30-day trial at: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/software/p97wd.html or order your copy via our secure server at: https://secure.clickdata.com/prime/order.asp PRIME Consulting Group backs all its software products with a lifetime, money-back, no-questions-asked guarantee. ** 07. Featured Web Page - Lockergnome's "The Cool Stuff" Chris Pirillo has pulled together all the download links for every essential utility, program, and must-have goody that everyone with a computer should have installed. A killer collection of great stuff, surf over to Lockergnome's "The Cool Stuff" page and find out what you're missing. We were most impressed with a mouse utility that let us increase the refresh rate, making mouse movement smoother than that of a Macintosh. http://www.lockergnome.com/coolstuff/ ** 08. Featured Product Recommendation - CrackUp by PC Magazine (Recommended by TNPC contributor James Kinard) Defragmenting a hard disk takes some time, so it's not something you'd want to do unnecessarily. However, the version of Disk Defragmenter that comes with Microsoft Windows 98 does not report whether your hard disk actually needs defragmenting. Windows 95 may report your disk does not need a defrag when it really does, also if you select multiple drives, the Win95 defrag starts without any report whatsoever. CrackUp, which runs under both Windows 95 and Windows 98, addresses all of these drawbacks and adds additional features. It accurately calculates the fragmentation percentage, and it reports the fragmentation of all local hard disks in a single window. It also can run in the background to check fragmentation at intervals, and it can warn if any disk exceeds the specified fragmentation level. I've been using CrackUp for some time now and love it. CrackUp is a free utility published by PC Magazine, authored by Gregory A. Wolking and Bob Flanders. http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/ut1719.001.html ** 09. Featured Book Recommendation - "Windows 98 Annoyances" by David Karp (O'Reilly) The book that kicked off the Annoyances Series has been updated for Windows 98. This book provides an authoritative collection of techniques for customizing Windows 98. It allows you to quickly identify a particular annoyance and immediately offers one or more solutions, making it the definitive resource for customizing Windows 98. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565924177/tnpcnewsletter/ ** 10. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff *-* Microsoft has re-posted the Office 97 Service Release 2 (SR- 2) patch! Check out the Service Release 2 Fact Sheet: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/sr2fact.htm If you're brave, go ahead and download the patch that updates Office 97 to SR-2. You still MUST have SR-1 already installed to be able to apply this patch. We recommend you wait a week or so and see if any problems surface before installing the patch. Your best bet is still to get the Replacement CD (call Microsoft at 800-370-9272 to order yours). *-* It's official. Microsoft has decided to rename Windows NT 5.0 as Windows 2000. This is straight marketing shtick since NT is the only future Windows and Microsoft wants all the Windows 95 and 98 users to feel comfortable "upgrading" as opposed to changing operating systems, which is what they'll actually be doing. *-* If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 then be aware that Microsoft has posted a fix for the "dotless IP address" security bug recently discovered in IE. This is a different bug/fix than the one mentioned TNPC Issue 10. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/security/dotless.htm *-* Service Pack 4 for Windows NT 4 is now available. Since SP4 is 32 Mbytes in size we suggest you FTP it from: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt- public/fixes/usa/nt40/ussp4/nt4sp4i.exe or order the CD-ROM at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/contents/ Updates/NT4SvcPk4/OrderCD.asp (Beware: these URLs may wrap in your email reader) ** 11. We Get Mail - Comments and Tips from TNPC Readers *-* Robert G. pointed out that those crafty Redmondians have moved the download page for getting the WinNT 4 version of Windows PowerToys. Until they decide to move it again go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/default.asp?CustArea=b us&Site=family&Product=&Category=Power+Toys+%26+Kernel+Toys&x=9&y =11 (Beware: this URL may wrap in your email reader) *-* Ever want to test some feature in Word, only first you need to enter some text? Mike H. pointed out to us recently that this is a proverbial piece of cake. You just start a new paragraph and type "=rand()" without the quotes, and hit the Enter key. Bingo! You have the classic prose about a quick brown fox doing airborne calisthenics above a pooped pooch. Enter "=rand(3)" and you get three paragraphs of said text. We've heard that some of the foreign language versions of Word do a bit better than the tired old fox over dog bit. *-* Paul and Alison G. remembered a discussion of file associations we had in an earlier issue and pointed out that a free utility on ZDNet handles this quite nicely. In the PC Magazine Utilities section look for "Freedom of Association," a nifty utility that lets you take control of your file associations. http://www.zdnet.com *-* A question was posted on the Annoyance Board about how to keep a computer that is in suspend mode from "waking up" when passersby bump into the desk the computer is on. TNPCer Howard K. suggests a clever low tech solution: turn the mouse over on its back. The mouse movement caused by bumping the desk was causing the PC to wake up. Great tip. *-* Ian W. pointed out a problem with the "Replace text as you type" check box in Word (Tools / AutoCorrect / AutoCorrect tab) which you can use to disable the AutoCorrect feature in Word. AutoCorrect is a global Office feature but changing this setting in Word does not effect Excel or PowerPoint, while changing it in Excel causes it to change in PowerPoint and vice versa. The setting is supposed to be global (a change in any application should change the setting in all applications) but isn't. It's a bug. +++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++ COPTECH WEST Software duplication! Coptech is the largest quick turnaround (24 hours or less) CD-ROM duplicator in the United States. Coptech does CD label silkscreening as well. Say you saw them in TNPC and get a discount! Contact Alex at: mailto:alex@coptech.com +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ *** ARE YOU MAKING MONEY ON THE INTERNET? *** We are! Learn all the secrets to starting your own small or home based business. Thousands of businesses are already profiting. It's time you did too! http://profit.org/products/2580/index.htm +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ WANT TO GET YOUR WORD OUT? Classified ads in The Naked PC can be yours for the ridiculously low price of $15 per issue. Get your message out to over 14,000 TNPC subscribers. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ DISCLAIMER Personal computers are individual machines with performance that can vary with components, software, and operator ability. The Naked PC is not responsible for the manner in which the information presented is used or interpreted. Also, although we work hard to provide you with accurate Internet links in The Naked PC, we are not responsible for Internet links herein that represent sites owned and operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, performance, or availability of any such third-party sites. Grass stains may not wash out. Do not leave on your car dash with the windows rolled up on a hot day. REDISTRIBUTION POLICY We encourage you to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates, and colleagues for their review and enjoyment. However, please do so only by sending it in full, thereby keeping the copyright and subscription information intact. We do request that, once they've reviewed an issue or two, they subscribe independently rather than continue to receive issues from you. This helps TNPC grow and prosper, thereby funding its continued publication. Also, if you wish to post this newsletter to a newsgroup or electronic discussion group, you may do so if you preserve the copyright and subscription information. Thanks. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe, surf on over to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/subscribe.html To make comments or suggestions, surf on over to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpfeedback.html or send email directly to: mailto:tnpc@TheNakedPC.com WEB BULLETIN BOARD Check out our 24x7 Web bulletin board. If you've got a technical question about PC issues, or suggestions of your own, this is the place to hang out: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/cgi-local/annoy.pl ADVERTISING To advertise in TNPC go to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html Mail services provided by Blue Horizon Enterprises, one of the very few "Mom and Pop" operations left on the Web: http://www.bhorizon.com Copyright (c) 1998, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler. All Rights Reserved. The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. ISSN: 1522-4422 RMH: 564 TNPC Hot Tips:
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