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THE BUG REPORT
A monthly publication of
GS-BUG Inc. (c) copyright 1996.
Reproduction of any material herein by any means is expressly prohibited
unless written permission is granted. Exception: Articles may be reprinted
by other users groups in unaltered form if credit is given to the author
and the original publication.
STAFF
Editor - Kay Burton
RECYCLING PC COMPONENTS AND PARAPHERNALIA: Part 3
 |
COMPUTER TOPICS
By Dr. John Hanson |
Topics:
1. Difference between AT and ATX
2. San Diego Conference
3. System Mechanic Utility
4. Why buy a clone?
5. Best buy computer
6. Power supply failures
7. Advisor.exe
8. Summer Computer Class
1. No one should buy an AT these days, especially since
ATX is the next evolution, is much better, and very inexpensive
if you know where to look. The easy way to tell is to look
at the back. If most of the connections are located together in the
upper left hand corner, it’s an ATX. The power supply should have
a switch on the back for safety. Be careful as some don’t.
If you look inside at the power supply you will see that the
connector that plugs into the mother board is long and
two pins across. The older AT had two separate
plugs. In the cluster at the back of the computer you should
see two USB slots and often next to it a RJ45 jack indicating the
network card is built in. Also look at the two nine pin
connectors. My favorites are one male and one female
with the female indicating that the video card is built in.
You will also see a parallel connector, a game port
and connections for sound.
By the way you can buy an excellent ATX case
with a 400 watt power supply for only $20 at one of the computer
shows. Avoid getting any with a funny looking floppy disk slot.
You want two normal floppy slots. If the power supply has the
name Deer on it see #6 below.
2. The South West Computer User Association
has it’s annual meeting in San Diego on the Aug 9-11 weekend.
If you have never been to one you should go. It only
costs $40 and you get back many times that in food, software
and other goodies. It is very well run, lots of fun and
very educational. You can sign up on APCUG.net or get more
details there. Talk to some of the members who have gone like Dr.
Gary Sexton, Herman Krouse, Emmett Ingram, Virginia Pfiffner, Tom
Tucknot, John Sellers or me. The Hilton Hotel rooms are
only $99 this year, so if you share with someone it is a real bargain.
People come from all over the West Coast.
3. System Mechanic Utility: Last month we had a terrific
program by Francis Johnson, the technical director of the company
that makes System Mechanic. It’s a pleasure to have a
speaker who really knows his stuff. Altho he didn’t hold the mike
close enough his words were so important you didn’t want to miss
any. We should get a cordless mic that can be clipped on to his
shirt as it is difficult for some members to hear his words clearly.
Apparently other members were as impressed as I
was and about 13 of us bought the program from
his lovely assistant Daniele. Please pass along your
comments as you try it. I was also impressed when Nuts and
Bolts came out and then very disappointed when I tried it.
It was just as bad as Norton Utilities after Symantec bought it.
What a shame as Norton used to be the best until it was bought out
by Symantec and became the pits. I am an eternal optimist so
I wanted to give System Mechanic a fair chance. It lived up to its
claims in that it recovered about 500 mb of temporary and back
up files, etc. but it did it in a manner that did not please
me. During the installation which was fairly good it asked for the
User ID number and the serial number which is always burdensome but
more so in this case as the numbers were printed very small and in
a font where it is easy to mistake a six with an eight, etc. Apparently
they didn’t test this with a normal, practical human. Another
weak point they should fix, was in the installation where it asks
what to do with the removed files. Fortunately it offers a
choice of putting them in a folder and not in the recycle bin where
they would be mixed with all sorts of other files. I elected
the third choice of a folder but hadn’t prepared one in advance and
it didn’t offer to create one for me as it should have.
That annoyed me but wasn’t the worst thing. The worst was when
I used the wizard to remove those extraneous files. It
started normally and had a feature that showed it was doing
something and then it appeared to freeze with just the hourglass
showing and control of the computer was lost. I almost
rebooted but decided to walk away and come back after a rest.
It turns out that it was working and did remove all those to the
new folder I had created this time in advance.
Then I looked at the duplicate files
option and decided it was not a good deal as it would
wipe out all of my duplicate fotos in Photoshop
and maybe others where I wanted a duplicate. I was
very impressed that Francis Johnson said the test
for duplicate files was not just in the name, size, or date
but in the content so that part is very good but there should
be some way to exclude certain types of files like fotos
or copies of files you have put on another drive for safety
purposes. Was I pleased that I bought System Mechanic - Not
really - but I would appreciate hearing from those of you who did
buy it.
4. Why buy a clone? The most important reason is
that you can get a very powerful and modern computer for about
one third to half of what a name brand costs.
You get more personal service if you have problems
and very important is that clones are made of standard
parts that are less expensive than parts made for the name
brands. Brand name computer makers are always designing
their machines so that you are dependent on them
for parts and repairs. They even modify standard software to their
own tastes, which can cause problems. Toshiba used to put their
own version of DOS in my laptop which caused me lots of problems.
When I say buy a clone you need to do some homework in order to get a good
deal. The clone I am talking about is for a desktop computer.
If you want a laptop then a clone may not be such good buy
because of all the specialized parts required. Stick with a
good brand like Dell or IBM. Never get a Gateway and be cautious
of HP and Compaq. If you can’t afford a new one get a used
Dell or IBM. Again do some homework as there are some good
buys available. Just because HP makes terrific test equipment
does not imply that they make good computers. That
new woman CEO, Carly, has made a lot of loyal
HP workers quite unhappy. Take Advisor.exe
with you on a floppy and CDrom to see what’s inside.
See #7.
5. Best Buy Computer: Advanced Computer on
Western Ave. is still one of my favorites but there are
other good ones if you want to drive across town. Advanced
Computer has sold perhaps 10 to 15 computers to our members
since October and all are very pleased. If you get one please keep
me informed. Sonny, who used to take good care of us, has been replaced
by Luong Lam, who says he will also be very good to us. Their number
is 618-0928.
Prices have dropped since my last report. Their basic AMD Athlon
value machine is only $269 and with the items I recommend for the Dr. Hanson
special the cost is only $299 which includes a 40 GB hard drive.
When buying, ask to be shown the list for the Dr. Hanson special and when
you pick it up, instal and run Advisor.exe to see that you get every-thing
you are paying for. For only $20 more you can advance from 900 mc to 1300
mc but don’t go any higher at this time.
Things change in the computer business and they can no longer get the
case I recommend so I suggest investing $15 more to get an even better
case that has two USB ports in front as well as sound ports. That’s
the latest addvance so now you will have four USB ports, two in front and
two in back which is ideal. It comes with a fast CDrom. If
you want a burner, for a 32x12x40 with Nero software which can burn a CDrom
in only three minutes. Look around, there may be better
values in burners somewhere else as I haven’t checked this
one out. I recommend keeping the provided CDrom even if you add
the burner but you could save a little by just upgrading.
6. Power Supply Failures: I talked a little about
this in my last article but here is some new information you
should be aware of. Our power supply expert, Jack Burton, has analyzed
several failed power supplies I gave him. All failed in the same
spot indicating poor design at that point and all had the name “Deer”
embossed into the metal case. They were all ATX supplies but
I have no idea how recently they were manufactured and if new ones have
the same potential failure weakness or have been improved I would
guess that by this time the manufacturers know about the failure
and have modified the design but there could be many of the old design
in the pipeline so decide for yourself.
7. Advisor.exe: What a terrific program by
Belarc.com! With only about 500 kb it easily fits
on a floppy so you can check your own computer
and those of your friends. It tells you all about
your computer in about three pages of printed output. It even
tells you how many memory slots you have and how much memory is installed
in each with a few errors here and there. Of course you can
do similar things with Sandra or System Suite but they are
much bigger and more complicated. This one is so easy, even
I can use it. Place it in your utility directory and
then install with the run command. It puts a nice icon on your
desktop so any time you want to know about your computer
just double click on the icon. I print two copies.
One I keep with the computer and one I put in a folder
for my various computers.
Marian O’Donnell, one of the sharp students
in my computer pair class, told me about it. I downloaded it over
the Internet and gave Bob Hudak a copy for the club library.
Even tho it is very small and easy to download you should still spend
three dollars and get a copy from Bob at the next meeting. Call him
in advance so he can reserve a copy for you. It’s fantastic.
It even gives you the serial numbers of your software and not only a list
of all your software but where it is in your system
8. Summer Computer Class: Its starts on july 8th at narbonne
school on Western Ave from 5 to 8 on Tuesday - Thiursday or Monday
- Wednesday. For Seniors, it's only $6. One of the classes will be
all about digital imaging imaging and the other about making music CD's
from your oldrecords, tapes or CD's with the music you want. the
teacher is Mike Ochoa, who is very knowledgeable and makes learning lots
of fun.
Editor’s
Note: John Hanson is the inventor of Tooties,
a superb self-teaching system used by millions in schools,
homes, and by eye doctors around the world to improve vision.
He also invented a new form of psychology called QET
(Quick Effective Therapy) which transforms poor
students into good students, almost overnight,
usually in 5 to 15 days. He has also had
outstanding success in helping brain damaged people, even years
after their accident. Why go to therapy for years and spend lots
of money when you can improve quite fast with QET?
He uses computers to document his cases for his books so that others
may benefit and improve their vision and other skills. Visit his
web site at www.Tooties.com for more information.
 |
INTERNET TALK
By Frank Chao |
This 47th article in the “Internet Talk” series is part of the fourth
newsletter that is being generated by Kay Burton, our energetic editor.
In additional to enhancing the look and feel of the paper version of this
newsletter, Kay has also implemented readability improvements to the Web-based
version of this publication, which is posted at the GSBUG website at http://gsbug.apcug.org
ON-LINE COUPONS
The Internet is a great way to get money-saving coupons. Read Jennifer
Mulrean’s excellent article at http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/smartbuy/dollarwise/9658.asp?special=summer
Then
go to some of the hyperlinks that are mentioned in the “Related Web Sites”
sidebar to the left of the article. Print yourself some coupons and start
saving some of your hard-earned money.
FIREWIRE HOME NETWORKING
Firewire, also known as IEEE 1394, is just beginning to emerge as a
new way for people to network home computers together. At raw data speeds
of 400 Megabits per second, Firewire is the fastest way that you can connect
two computers together for a reasonable price.
The use of Firewire for home networks is described in http://www.homenethelp.com/network/firewire.asp
There are many limitations to the use of Firewire for peer-to-peer
file sharing between Windows computers. However, it is worth your time
to become knowledge about this cutting-edge technlogy.
Windows XP computers have native Firewire support: To network two Windows
XP computer together using Firewire, just run the Network Setup Wizard
on each computer and you should be able to share files in a peer-to-peer
manner. Windows 98 and Windows ME computers usually do not have native
Firewire support. To circumvent this problem, you can use Unibrain’s “Firenet”
software: See http://www.unibrain.com/products/ieee-1394/firenet.htm
to download a free evaluation copy of this software application.
The maximum cable length of a Firewire link between any two computers
is 15 feet. Compare this to the 100-meter maximum cable length of an 10/100
Base-T (Ethernet) connection and you can see that Firewire is very distance-challenged.
RENEWING A BROADBAND INTERNET CONNECTION
If you have a DSL or cable modem connection to the Internet, and this
connection is not working AND you are using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol) to assign IP addresses (which is true for 99 percent of broadband-connected
computers), try releasing and then renewing your IP address assignments
connection.This example also underscores the advantages of having some
dialup Internet access capabilities, even if you have the latest and greatest
DSL or cable modem connection for your computer. When your broadband
(DSL or cable modem) Internet access is slow or inoperative, then your
dialup Internet access serves as a redundant backup connection for the
Internet.
AT&T PREPAID INTERNET SERVICE
If you are a real light user of dial-up Internet access AND Netzero
and Juno do not have toll-free phone numbers that are available to
you, AT&T’s PrePaid Internet Service might have a toll-free phone number
for you to use. To learn more about this service, go to http://www.att.com/prepaidinternet/
According to this Website,AT&T’s PrePaid Internet Service is incompatible
with both flavors of Windows XP, so it will only work with Windows 95,
98, ME, and 2000.At the end of May, I purchased a startup kit for $9.95.
This package consists of a calling card and a CD-ROM with proprietary software.
It allows me to use up 8 hours of dial-up Internet service over the next
12 months, with no additional charges. The calling card has a serial number
and a PIN number that you have to enter when you use the CD-ROM to install
the software. After installing the software on the CD-ROM, I ended up with
an icon called “AT&T PrePaid Internet Service” on the “Desktop” of
my Windows 98 computer. Since that time, I have logged on three times
and each time, my V.92 modem was only able to connect at 28.8 kilobits-per-second
to an AT&T modem that is located in Gardena. I will experiment with
this Internet service and attempt to see if I can make a faster connection
in upcoming months.
DUAL BOOTING AND MULTIPLE BOOTING
Using multiple operating systems on a single computer can enhance the
amount of fun and utility that you get out of Internet.
If you are running Windows 95 or Windows 98 for your operating system:
Click on the “Start” button. Click on “Run”. Type in winipcfg A dialog
box entitled “IP Configuration” will pop up. Click on the “Okay” button.
Click on the list pull-down arrow to select your Ethernet network adapter.
Click on the “Release All” button. Click on the “Renew All” button. Click
on the “Okay” button.
If you are running Windows 2000, use the “ipconfig” command from within
a “command prompt” windows to accomplish the same thing.
When you boot up your Windows computer, it is supposed to obtain IP
addresses from either your local Internet gateway box or your Internet
Service Provider, depending on how your home network is configured.
Unfortunately, if this process fails, you will not be able to access
the Internet.
Using “winipcfg” (for Windows 95 or 98) or “ipconfig” (for Windows
2000) lets you restart the process of getting IP address assignments and
provides you with a workaround for the original failure of the DHCP (Dynamic
Host Configuration Process).
To summarize, at this residence:
Internet access is provided by a cable modem which connects to D-link
Internet Gateway which connects via a 10Base-T modular Ethernet cable to
a Pentium 2.0 Gigahertz computer which connects via a Firewire cable to
a Pentium 1.0 Gigahertz computer.
The bottom line is that a 400-Megabit per second Firewire link is used
to connect two Windows XP computers together in order to facilitate Internet
Connection sharing, file sharing, and printer sharing. Cool !!
More information about Firewire home networking will be provided in
future articles.
WAYS TO CONTACT ME:
If you have any questions or problems, I can be contacted by
the following methods: Leave a voice message for me at (310)768-3896.
2. Send me e-mail at: fchao@pacbell.net 3. Send “snail” U.S. Postal Service
mail to Frank Chao PO Box 6930 Torrance, CA 90504-0030. Or sell your computer
and take up fishing instead !!
 |
SOFTWARE LIBRARY NEWS
By BOB HUDAK |
If you missed out on picking up a copy of Jeff Levy’s computer lessons
last general meeting, make sure you see me at the Library table tonight.
Have your picture taken tonight for the new ID cards our membership
chairman, Keith Decker,
is working on, if you have not done so al-ready. We are going
to be able to get discounts on computer stuff at a number of venders.
Gary Sexton is working on this. I am helping crop the pictures and made
you all an offer that if you wanted a copy of your digital picture, I will
put it on a disk for you for the usual Library fee. Order yours tonight.
Our club computer got to the point that work was no longer possible
on it. Windows booted whenever it wanted. I tried to save some
work in Photo Shop and the program just quit. All work was lost.
Many times a program would not even start. You get the picture.
We decided the only thing to do was fdisk the hard drive and start over.
A virus was working in the background so it was not safe to save any programs.
The virus killed the virus scanning program in a way that I could not use
it, delete it or reload it. There was so many good programs loaded
over the years and all of a sudden everything is gone. It will take
a lot of work to rebuild the system. Of course, if a good back-up
was made now and then, a great deal of time would be saved. Finding
the video driver and making it work took a week of spare time. Lost
the driver or it was on the hard drive. Don’t know. It has
been years since the system was put together. I want to get it back
to being able to work on the ID pictures. Computers can eat up all your
time if you are not careful. A Thanks to Norm Scheck for finding
a new ISP that is really reasonable. Check out: http://www.bigzoo.com
Less than $6 a month for 150 hours per month with 6 mo plan. Even cheaper
with the Intro Offer. Sign up for six months and the seventh is FREE.
Another plan is $1.99 a month for the first three months if you agree to
stay on for another 6 months. You can sign for a month to give it a try.
No banner ads and email of course. There is no setup fee at this
time. Check it out. I hope all the raffle tickets for Windows XP
are sold by now as the raffle is tonight. Run to the Library table and
see if you can get in on this super chance. Only 30 chances are being sold.
Max. Might end up being less. Support the club buy your Raffle TicketNOW!
RECYCLING PC COMPONENTS AND PARAPHERNALIA: Part
3 (Donation Options for Whole, Functional PCs)
by Lee Hudspeth
November 1, 2001
If you don’t want to keep a recyclable PC, and you would prefer to
donate it rather than sell it, you can make the donation to a family member,
friend, colleague, next-door neighbor, or a charitable organization (select
from these different donee types in whatever order of preference works
for you).
For some insight into the recycle/donation market, here is a summary
of comments from Ken Goldstein, Ph.D., Founder and State Coordinator, Hawaii
Computers for Kids Program (“CFK”).
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?lee1
Ken started CFK in 1992 as a grass roots organization, and he now uses
the services of thousands of local volunteers. In 1996 CFK became a “signature
project” of the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu; through the Rotary
network, Ken can reach 1.2 million Rotary members around the world.
When an end-user donates a computer, he or she gets a formal donation
receipt that is qualified for federal and state tax write-offs. For PCs
less than two years old—if the donor is a corporation—a federal law allows
the entire original cost of the machine as a write-off (the corporation
gets the free use of that machine for two years, and still gets a full
tax write-off).
The donation process works like this: donated PCs are rounded up by
Helping Hands Hawaii (HHH), and are then distributed to one or more of
16 local high schools. Students at these schools have been trained to diagnose,
repair/upgrade, and load new operating systems on these donated machines.
Then CFK locates schools that need these ready-to-use computers. This has
proven to be Ken’s most daunting task, as the Hawaii Dept. of Education
does not currently have a system for easily finding needy end-users. Nonetheless,
CFK has managed to move more than 10,000 computers from donors to schools
to date.
The entire transcript of his comments are on my supplemental page.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?lee2
“Share the Technology,” a nonprofit corporation, offers caveats for
folks preparing to donate a PC. This is a MUST READ if you’re considering
donating a PC.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?lee3
TechSoup.org maintains a “Recycled and Refurbished Hardware” page that
lists on line (and traditional) national and local hardware manufacturers
and resellers that provide used hardware to non- profit organizations.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?lee4
AnotheR BytE, Inc. (nonprofit) maintains a Non-Profit Computer
Recycling Useful Links page. It’s extensive and you’ll find it to be very
helpful; check it out:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/422/tr.cgi?lee5
My next article in this series will cover scrapping PCs.
Note: for those of you interested in recycling your PC media as I reported
in Part 1 of this While it’s true that you can scrap a fully functional,
obsolete PC, I encourage you to try and keep it in service if at all possible.
This way someone continues to extract value from it as an operating device,
not just scrap metal or spare parts, and this minimizes inefficient, premature
recycling.
If the PC is not fully functional then you’ll need to make a judgment
call. If the problems aren’t too severe, you may be able to repair the
PC yourself for just a few dollars. Even with severe problems, there may
be a market for it in the used component channel. If you’re fortunate to
have a PC donation/recycling organization nearby, contact them and see
if they accept dysfunctional PCs.
Here’s how to sanitize a whole, recyclable PC. Folks, always sanitize
a PC before you sell it or give it to someone else, even if you’re
giving it to a scrap heap! Boot into Windows and manually clear the
Recycle Bin, clear your browser caches, delete proprietary data, delete
password files, uninstall programs, delete Registry keys containing sensitive
or confidential information, and so on. Then run a Windows-based You can
reach Lee Hudspeth: mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com
WHAT’S A BOT?
The word is derived from “robot”, and refers to a computer program
that gathers information or performs a service, usually on some regular
schedule. A bot (sometimes called an agent) typically searches the
Internet, gathers information relevant to your interests, and presents
it to you on a daily or other periodic basis. Bots gained notoriety
on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) where they served such functions as greeting
new participants, monitoring the use of offensive language, and sometimes
being downright annoying. Today they retrieve information, and respond
to events on Use net, the Web and other corners of cyberspace. While
some bots silently roam the net at your bidding, others are interactive,
such as chatterbots - the kind of bot you can talk to.
CHATTER BOTS
The first bot, Eliza, was created in 1966 by Professor Joseph Weizenbaum
of MIT, to study natural language communication between man and machine.
Eliza parodies a therapist by answering questions with questions. Here’s
a conversation I had with Eliza:
Me: Hi there. I’ve got a few questions
to ask...
Eliza: Please go on.
Me: Well, I think I have a drinking
problem.
Eliza: But you are not sure you have a drinking problem?
Me: I’m sure. All my shirts are stained
in front.
Eliza: Why do you say your shirts are stained in front?
Me: The dry cleaning bills are really
getting out of hand.
Eliza: Would you like it if they were not getting out
of hand?
Although Eliza is 36 years old, you can still try it out at
http://www-ai.ijs.si/eliza/eliza.htm
ALICE (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) is a more sophisticated
program that creates the illusion of natural conversation. ALICE can even
tell lies, spread gossip, and is credited with influencing several real
world happenings. Try this one at
http://www.alicebot.org
There are lots more interesting chatterbots, like BRIAN (a computer
program that thinks it is an 18 year old college student), the John Lennon
bot or Mr. Mind (you have to convince him you’re human). Visit them and
many other chatterbots at
http://botspot.com/search/s-chat.htm
There are chatterbots that speak various languages (some can even EARN
new languages) and bots that you can invite into a chat room.
OTHER BOTS
Do you find yourself running the same search engine query on a regular
basis? Let a bot take over. Are you tired of scanning the classifieds
or shopping sites in search of the best deal? Send a bot to do your
shopping. Here are some bots that do useful things for
you.
TRACER LOCK offers free monitoring of search engines, stock market
info, newsgroups, classifieds, auctions, employment sites, and personal
ads. It emails you when it has found new matches for your search
terms.
http://www.tracerlock.com
MINDIT - Monitor any Web page for specific changes and receive alerts
on these changes via email, mobile phone or pager.
http://www.mymindit.com
REMEMBERIT - This service will help you remember important dates such
as birthdays, anniversaries, or whatever. You get an email to remind
you of the event on the date you specify.
http://www.rememberit.com
EYES - Helps you find recently published books on a certain topic.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/search/eyes.htm
SHOPPING Bots - Wanna find the lowest price without visiting
dozens of shopping sites? Check out dozens of bots and intelligent
agents that are waiting to help you.
http://bots.internet.com/search/s-shop.htm
INFOBEAT - News, Weather, Snow, Stocks, Sports, Entertainment.
Your own personalized news delivered daily via e-mail.
http://www.infobeat.com
INTERNET SEER remotely monitors your Web site and will send you an
email message alerting you when your site is down.
http://www.internetseer.com
LEARN MORE ABOUT BOTS
BotSpot is the place to go if you want to find bots or learn more.
They classify bots and intelligent agents by subject, with reviews and
historical perspectives. Maybe you’ll find a bot to automate some
online activity that you do by hand today.
http://www.botspot.com
Well, I gotta go... I hear Bob coming down the hall. —Bob’s
Bot
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How To Recover A File You Just Deleted
Whether you’ve only used computers for a few months or your first computer
was an IBM PC you bought 20 years ago, you’ve probably inadvertently deleted
a file. And it was probably an important file; Murphy’s Law guarantees
it, right? Perhaps when this happened, you panicked. Maybe you began clicking
and typing like mad, losing track of the steps you tried to recover the
file. Then, you admitted failure and placed the blame squarely where you
knew it belonged: on your computer.
While it might make you feel better to blame the computer and threaten
it with a one-way trip out a 10th-story window, you’ll eventually realize
the blame for the accidental deletion problem probably resides with you,
the user. This isn’t a bad thing, though, because it means you also might
have the power to fix the problem.
If you accidentally delete a file in the future, or if you just deleted
one a few minutes ago, the first thing you must do is not panic. Don’t
start clicking randomly. Instead, if you have a current backup copy of
the file, calmly find the file on your backup media and reinstall it. Problem
solved.
If you haven’t made a backup copy in a while, though, you can panic
a little. (But only a little.) Depending on how long ago you deleted the
file, and depending on what you’ve done on your computer in the interim,
you still might have a good chance of recovering the file. The sooner you
attempt calm, calculated file recovery efforts, the better your chances
of success. Here are some steps you can try to recover files you’ve inadvertently
deleted Undo It. If you recently deleted the file, you are using
Windows 95 or newer, and you haven’t performed many other tasks on the
computer after deleting the file, try undoing the deletion. In the program
window from which you deleted the file, click the Edit menu. If you see
an Undo Delete command available, click it to restore the deleted file.
Depending on which tasks you performed since deleting the file, you
might see another type of Undo command, such as Undo Rename, under the
Edit menu. If so, you might be able to click it and work backward through
the various Undo commands to reach the Undo Delete command.
If the Undo command is dimmed and unavailable, you’ll have to try another
step. Recycle Bin. In Win95 or newer, you can use the Recycle Bin
feature. Unless you’ve changed the default settings, every time you delete
a file from your hard drive, the Windows OS (operating system) places it
in the Recycle Bin, which, in essence, is a holding spot for deleted files.
When you choose to delete a file, Windows marks it as deleted on the hard
drive but doesn’t remove it from your hard drive. Windows places the file
name in the Recycle Bin, letting you access it later and restore it to
your hard drive.
To see whether your deleted file is still available through the Recycle
Bin, double-click the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop and look through
the list of files there. If you find your file, click it. (To select multiple
files, hold down the CTRL key while clicking each file.) Then click the
File menu and the Restore command. You can also right-click the file name
and choose Restore from the pop-up menu to restore a single file quickly.
Windows will return the file to its original directory location on your
hard drive. (If you’ve also deleted the original directory, Windows will
re-create it first.)
Any files deleted from your hard drive remain in the Recycle Bin and
available for restoration until you empty it by right-clicking the Recycle
Bin icon and choosing Empty Recycle Bin from the pop-up menu. Once you
select that command, Windows will remove permanently all files marked for
deletion from the hard drive. (Even the Undo command in the Recycle Bin
window won’t bring the files back.)
If you can’t find your file in the Recycle Bin, it’s possible you’ve
bypassed this feature in Windows. Right-click the Recycle Bin icon and
choose Properties from the pop-up menu. In the Recycle Bin Properties dialog
box, click the Global tab. Make sure no check mark appears in the checkbox
to the right of the Do Not Move Files To The Recycle Bin command. This
command tells Windows to bypass the Recycle Bin. (You can also bypass the
Recycle Bin by right-clicking the file you want to delete and then holding
down the SHIFT key while clicking the Delete command. If you used this
method to delete your file, you won’t see it in the Recycle Bin, either.)added
layer of protection against accidental deletion of files, you might want
to place a check mark in the Display Delete Confirmation Dialog checkbox.
While activating this command can be a hassle (each time you delete a file,
Windows will ask you to confirm your choice), it’s a good guard against
accidental deletions, such as when your 3-year-old son hits just the right
keys to delete a file. With this command activated, he’d have to also hit
the ENTER key to complete the deletion. Click OK to save the changes you
made.
As a final note, files you delete from any removable media, such as
a diskette or a CD-RW (CD-rewriteable), don’t travel to the Recycle
Bin, even if you drag and drop them on the Recycle Bin icon. Instead, Windows
immediately deletes such files. If you think you might change your mind
about deleting a file from a removable media source, you’ll first need
to copy the file from the removable media to your hard drive and then delete
the file from both locations. You can later try to use the Recycle Bin
to restore the file to your hard drive
Find Feature. Because many software programs automatically save files
as you’re working, a copy of the file might be stored on your hard drive
without your knowledge. For example, in Microsoft Word, you can click the
Tools menu and Options followed by the Save tab to configure Word’s automatic
save feature.
Usually, the software will store such files as temporary files (with
a .TMP extension) or with an altered file name, meaning it might not be
obvious to you that the file name you’re looking at is a copy of your deleted
file. These temporary files probably won’t contain the last edited version
of your file; instead, they probably will contain a portion of the file.
Unfortunately, Windows usually clears out such .TMP files each time you
reboot your computer, meaning you’ll need to find and restore the file
before the next time you reboot. The software program itself could clear
its temporary files when you close the program, too.
Try using the Find command in Windows to search your hard drive for
any copies of the file you might not know about. (You’ll find this command
by clicking Start.) In the Find dialog box, type the name of the file you
want to find in the Named text box and click Find Now. Make sure to select
My Computer in the Look In text box and make sure to mark the Include Subfolders
checkbox before clicking Find Now to perform a thorough search.
To give yourself a better chance of finding the file, you might want
to use wildcards. (In a text string, a wildcard represents all possible
characters.) For example, if your file is named “letter for grandma.doc,”
you might want to type lett* in the Named text box to find all files that
begin with lett and end with any set of characters (as represented by the
asterisk wildcard). This method will probably return many more results
than if you searched for the exact file name, but it will give you a better
chance of finding the file.
When software performs an automatic save, it might truncate or alter
the file name, meaning you wouldn’t be able to find it by searching for
the exact file name. If using a wildcard returns too many results, you
can use more characters in the search, such as “letter for *” in our example.
(When searching for a file name with spaces in it, use quotation marks
around the search string to limit the results to file names containing
that exact phrase.) Because some programs might change the first few characters
of the file name when doing an automatic save, if your initial searches
don’t yield any results, try searching for a portion of the middle of the
file name, such as typing *tter* in the dows run more smoothly and lessen
the chance of a system crash that could inadvertently corrupt or
delete an open file. Some of the more common options are Norton Utilities
2002 from Symantec (http://www.symantec.com)
and McAfee EasyRecovery from McAfee (http://www.mcafee.com).
Such utility software isn’t for everyone, but it can give you some peace
of mind.
Watch for viruses. Certain viruses, which are rogue programs looking
to cause annoyances or destroy data on your computer, could erase your
personal data files or corrupt them. You should have anti virus scanning
software running on your PC at all times, especially if you’re a frequent
Internet user. For broadband Internet users, personal firewall software
is a must, too.
Tune up your hard drive. Make sure your hard drive is in top condition
at all times by running ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter, which are built-in
Windows programs. These programs will help your hard drive run more efficiently
and will catch potential problems on your hard drive before they cause
a major loss of data. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, and System Tools
to gain access to these programs. You will probably want to run these programs
at least monthly; frequent computer users may want to run them two to four
times per month.
Free hard drive space. The more free space your hard drive has, the
better chance your deleted file will still be in the Recycle Bin when you
attempt to recover it. If your hard drive is nearly full, Windows will
permanently delete the oldest files from the Recycle Bin, as it needs additional
hard drive space to save new files. Try to keep at least 10% of your
hard drive space free at all times.
Make backups. How often have you heard that mantra? But a recent backup
copy of your important data files is your best defense against accidental
deletion of a file. You can make a backups in a
variety of ways: To a diskette, to a Zip disk, to a CD-RW, to another
computer on your network, or even to a Web-based data
storage area..
After-the-fact help won’t help you recover that last-minute term paper
the dog managed to delete by hitting the perfect series of keys while walking
across the keyboard. However, it will help ensure that the next time Fido
“helps” you with your computing, the results won’t be so damaging . . .
to your files or to the physical well-being of the computer that resides
in your 10th-story apartment.
by Kyle Schurman , SMART COMPUTING