Ever since I started using Windows98, I've been continuously frustrated by one of it's programmed-in quirks: Whenever you go to Open a document, or Save a new one in Notepad, the file finder window defaults to a folder called "My Documents" which is created automatically during the Win98 installation process. This same annoyance happens when using the Paint program, and also with many other programs. Although it doesn't happen with every Win98 program, it happens with too many, in my opinion. At least in my former opinion.

Up until today, I had always appreciated when a program would remember the folder that I last worked in, and Open or Save from that folder. My theory was that I had made the folder when I used the program before, so a computer should be smart enough to know that that is the folder that I want to use with that program!

I've been fighting with Win98, trying to "teach" it to remember what folder I left off in, but it keeps going back to My Documents, which is pretty much empty because I don't save stuff in it! Also, I've been keeping an eye out for a handy tip in a magazine, or on the Internet, about how to change Win98 to do this, but haven't found one.

At the Windows 95 Utilities SIG the other night, they were saying that when you partition a new hard drive, you should have one partition in which you install all your programs and a separate partition in which you save all your data (all the stuff you make with your programs). This way, when you want to save all your masterpieces (also known as "doing a backup"), you don't have to search all over trying to find the files that you made, they're all in one spot, and you just make a backup of it. You don't make a backup of the programs themselves because you've got them on the original install disks, right? You just backup the files you made with them!

This morning it dawned on me that this is what Win98 is trying to make ME do! It automatically wants to save the files I made into the My Documents folder, which would make it easier for me to back them up. They are all in one place! Apparently Win98 is smarter than I thought it was! (maybe smarter than me !?. Well, let's just say that now I understand a little better what the programmers were thinking when they wrote Win98 that way.)

Another built-in feature of Win98 is that when you are working on a text document in Notepad and you open the file finder window, it only shows you the text files (.txt) in My Documents. (You can change that, but Notepad changes it back later.) If you're in Paint working on a bitmap image, the file finder shows you the .bmp files in My Documents. You can change that to show "All Picture Files", or even "All Files", but the default is Bitmap files. So Win98 is "smart" enough to know what type of file you're working on, and "assumes" that that is the type of file you're looking for when you open the file finder window.

Again, when you open the file finder, you may not wish to see the same type of file that you're working on, and you may have to change the "File of Type:" box in order to display the particular file that you're looking for, but it is an attempt on the programmer’s part to make life a little easier for you.

Whether it helps, or hinders, depends on what you're trying to do. But from now on, I think I will be making greater use of the My Documents folder, although I'm sure I'm going to change the name to something else.

How do you copy or move files in Windows 95 (or 98)? Sounds like a simple question, right? Well, the answer is rather complex. But complex doesn't mean that it's hard, it simply means that there are many ways to do it! What's the right way? The right way is the way that you feel the most comfortable with.

In Windows 95 and 98, there are many ways to copy or move files around, and anybody who knows how to do it has their own favorite way. All you have to do is try the different ways, and see which one you like the best.

First of all, what is the difference between "copying" and "moving"? Well, if you have a file on your computer that you want to "copy" to somewhere else (like for instance, if you have a file on your hard drive, and you want to put a copy of it onto a floppy disk, so that you can take it over to your friends house), that means that you want to leave the original file in place. When you decide to "move" a file, what you're doing is making a copy of it in a new place, and then deleting (erasing) the original file.

So, first you have to decide whether you want to "copy" it, or "move" it, and that depends on whether you want to keep the original, or not.

Like I said, there are many ways to copy or move a file, and the one I hear about the most is the "drag and drop" method. But there are a few things you have to be aware of with that one, so I prefer the "cut and paste" method, or more precisely, the "cut, copy or paste" method. Let's do that one first.

If you're going to copy or move a file, that means that you have a file someplace that you want to end up someplace else. You have a "Source" and a "Destination" or "Target". An example of this is your hard drive and your floppy drive. If you have a file on your hard drive that you want to put onto a floppy disk, then the "Source" would be your hard drive, and the "Target" would be your floppy drive. (Usually, your hard drive will be the C: drive and the floppy will be the A: drive). If you wanted to go the other way, taking a file from a floppy disk and putting it onto your hard drive, then the Source would be the floppy disk (in your A: drive) and the Target would be your hard drive ( C: or D: or whatever).

(Note: your hard drive has a LOT more capacity than your floppy drive, so you'll often find that a hard drive has been split up into many sections, called "partitions". Most people find it easier to find stuff if they know it's on the C: or D: or E: drive (partition), rather than having everything lumped together on the C: drive only).

So first decide what you want to do. Let's say you want to copy a file from a floppy disk onto your hard drive. You'll need a way of seeing the file on the floppy, and also of seeing the space on your hard drive. Again there are many different ways of doing this, but let's start by using "My Computer".

When you startup your computer, and Windows 95 (98) loads up, you get a "desktop" screen on your monitor. You should see an icon (a little picture) that looks like a computer, and underneath it should be the words "My Computer". This is going to show you a graphical representation of your computer's drives, so that you can see what files are on them, and what ones you want to rearrange. Move your mouse so that the little arrow (the cursor) on the monitor screen is over the My Computer icon, and click the left mouse button two times, rather quickly. A window should open up on your monitor screen that says "My Computer" on the very top, and has icons in it for all your drives. You should see an icon for the A: drive, and the C: drive, and also some icons for any other drives that are in your computer. Plus there'll be some other miscellaneous icons that we'll deal with at another time.

You'll want to open two more windows, a window with the files on your Source drive (the one where the file is now) and another window with the files on your Target drive (the one where you want to put the file). Move your cursor over the icon for the drives that you want to work with, and click on them twice. Once you have these two open, then you don't need the "My Computer" window anymore, and you can close it. (Click on the X in the box on the top-right corner of the window, one time). It will be handy to have the Source and Target windows side by side, instead of one on top of the other, so move your cursor down to the Taskbar (the gray bar along the bottom) and click on it once with the RIGHT mouse button. You should see a menu open up, and one of the selections will be "Tile Windows Vertically". Click on this once, and your two windows should rearrange themselves side by side. (You could also select "Tile Windows Horizontally", if you prefer.)

Now you have two windows open, and you should see an icon in one for the file that you want to move, or copy to the other window. Click on the file icon once with the left mouse button so that it has a blue highlight around the name, and then move the cursor to the very top of the window. You'll see the word "Edit", click on that once and a menu will drop down. Select the word "Cut" if you want to move the file, or "Copy" if you just want to make a copy of it. (Again, moving or "cutting" will remove the file from the original location.) Now move your cursor over into the window where you want the file to go, and select Edit in that window, and then "Paste". When you click on the word "Paste", your file will appear down below in the new window. If you "Cut" it, it will no longer be in the first window. If you did a "Copy", it will be in both windows. Make sense?

So the procedure is: Open two windows, one for the drive where the file is now, and one for where you want to put the file, then click on the file to highlight it, and then select Cut or Copy, and then go to the other window and select Paste. Remember that any drive can be the Source, and any drive can be the Target, so you can move files back and forth all you want to.

Once you've got that technique down, try this: find the file that you want to copy or move and highlight it (click on it once). Now click on it again using the RIGHT mouse button, and a menu will open up that includes the Cut and Copy commands. Click on whichever one you want to do, then move the cursor to the other drive window and click once with the RIGHT mouse button in it. The menu will open up again, and the Paste command will be available. Select Paste, and the file will appear in that window!

You'll notice that I said to highlight the file first (click on it once with the left mouse button) before you click the right mouse button. You don't always have to do this, many times you can just click on it once with the right button, and it will become highlighted and the menu will open at the same time! Be careful, however, because this doesn't always work the way you expect it to. It's safer to highlight it first with the left button, then open the menu with the right button, but try it both ways.

OK, the hot way of doing is all this is the "drag and drop" method. That simply means that you move your mouse cursor over the file and click down the left mouse button and HOLD IT DOWN and drag the cursor over into the other window, and then release the button. This is fine, but you'll find that Windows tries to guess whether you want to Move it, or Copy it, or make a "Shortcut" to it. There are certain rules that Windows follows in order to figure out what you're trying to do, and so you have to be aware of them. Basically, if your Source and Target are two separate drives (like A: and C:, or C: and D:, or whatever), then drag and drop will Copy the file. But if the Source and Target are both on the same drive (like different folders), then drag and drop will Move the file. And if you drag the file onto the Windows desktop, it will make a "Shortcut" to the file.

Confused yet? Hold on: You can FORCE Windows to make a copy by holding down the Control key on your keyboard (probably labeled "Ctrl") before you drag and drop, and Windows will make a copy. Just remember that Copy starts with a "C", and Control starts with a "C", and you'll be able to remember this trick. If you hold down the Shift key before you drag and drop, you can force Windows to Move a file.

Want to know in advance what Windows is going to do when you drag and drop? Take a look at the file icon when you're dragging it into the other window. If you see a little plus sign attached to it, Windows will make a Copy. If you see a little bent arrow, it will be a Shortcut. If you don't see either, Windows will Move the file.

Don't like the mouse? use the up or down arrows on the keyboard to highlight the file, then hold down the Ctrl key, and tap the x key to Cut, or the c key to copy. Then hit the TAB key until the other window is activated, and hold down Ctrl and tap the v key for Paste!

Good luck, hope this helped...Once again, if you want to see it in action, come to one of the SIG workshops, and we'll demonstrate it for you.

One thing I left out of my article in the last newsletter on installing new software, was Uninstalling it if you ever want to. A nice feature of using the "Add\Remove Programs" feature in Control Panel is that, when you install the program with Add\Remove, it adds the name of the program to its list. Then if you decide to Remove the program, you can go back to the list, select the program, and click on the Add\Remove button and Windows will search out all the places it installed the program, and delete them.

In the old days, when you installed a program, it was copied onto your hard drive all in one place. Nowadays, Windows 95 and 98 copy different parts of the program to different areas on your hard drive, depending on what each part does. With the Add\Remove function, you can have Windows go and search your hard drive for all the pieces that it installed, and get rid of them. Does it work? I don't know if it works completely, or if it works all the time, but it's a good place to start!

A few months ago, I wrote an article on Clean Sweep Deluxe, an excellent program by Quarterdeck. While trying to introduce the program to you, I wrote "Clean Sweep is not a Windows 95-only program! It works on all files: DOS, Win 3.1, both 16 and 32 bit, and Windows NT!" This comment came from the Introduction section of the manual, and I quote: "Clean Sweep can remove unneeded DOS programs and Windows 16- and 32-bit programs... If you have upgraded to Windows 95, CleanSweep safely cleans up all remnants of Windows 3.1"

Recently, another Member pointed out to me that what I wrote in my article made it sound like CleanSweep could be used under Windows 3.1, or even DOS! This, of course, is not true, but when I went back and reread my article, I realized that what I had written was confusing. So let me clear that up, and apologize for any confusion it may have caused. The software System Requirements for CleanSweep are "...Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or later Server or Workstation...". (Note: I use it on Windows 98, so it works on that, too.)

Thanks to Bob Hudak for catching this error, I'll try to do better in the future!

Since I wrote that article on .zip programs for the last newsletter, a couple of people questioned me on it, saying that they can't get WinZip 6.3 to compress files. They say they can use it to unzip (decompress), but not to zip!.

When I wrote the article, I included instructions how to use WinZip to compress files, and as I was writing it, I was actually following my own instructions with the program, just to be sure that what I said was correct.

Tonight I finally sat down and tried to figure out why mine works, and theirs doesn't. First I went through the zip procedure, like in my article, and checked that everything works like it's supposed to. It does.

Next I checked to see if maybe I was running a later version or something, which didn't seem like it would make a difference, because the program is designed to both zip and unzip, regardless of what version you might have.

In the program, up under the Help menu, there's a selection for "About WinZip...". When I click on it, there's a window that opens that says " version 6.3, ...licensed to John Sullivan...", and that is the reason mine works and theirs does not: I paid for it.

I remember now that WinZip is freely distributable as a "trial version". You can use it to unzip programs all you want, but the zip feature is disabled. In order to unlock the zip feature, you have to register, and pay the $29.00 fee. Once you've done this, you'll receive the full version, which enables you to compress files!

WinZip is a great program, and if it's something that you can use, it's definitely worth the $29.00!

Were your speakers designed to fit on your monitor? If not, you can attach them to the sides of your monitor with heavy duty Velcro-like stuff. One person found it at Radio Shack. Other stores probably have it too.

On Internet Explorer 3.0 (IE3), The Microsoft Network (MSN) was hard to set up. Then, when I discontinued it, it refused to disappear although it would no longer work. When I installed IE4, I ignored MSN for that reason. Now Microsoft has decided to make it easier -- see the next item.

Now MSN has gone to the Internet with its newsgroups. Anyone can use the Internet to reach them. But those who already used MSN must change News settings.

To change those settings, start Outlook Express. From the main screen, select: Tools, Accounts, News tab. Then select: msnnews.msn.com, Properties, Server. Then uncheck: This server requires me to log on. Next select: Apply, then Close.

It may be necessary to use MSN software and get the latest upgrade from Microsoft. Also try this site for answers to FAQs (frequently asked question) for IE4 (Outlook Express) and IE3 (Internet Mail and News). http:// memberservices.msn.com/supportandhelp/msnfaqs/flash.htm#NEWS

If OE disconnects while downloading, the time-out value needs to be increased. But make it less than five minutes as some servers will not work if it is set at five minutes. On the OE main screen, select: Tools, Accounts, Advanced Properties. Increase the time-out value for each account.

If OE quits showing attached images, click Start. Select Run and type this: regsvr32.exe /i shdocvw.dll

If a Win98 computer is booted exactly at midnight, the clock may display the wrong time. Solution: don't boot it within a minute or two before or after midnight.

With the My Computer icon on the Desktop, there are two ways to check memory. First method: right click the My Computer icon, select Properties, click on the Performance tab. Second method: Hold down the Alt key, double click the My Computer icon, click the Performance tab.

The following is an example of the results on my system.

Memory: 32.0 MB of RAM

System Resources: 87% free

File System: 32 bit

Virtual Memory: 32 bit

Disk Compression: Not installed.

PC Cards (PCMCIA): No PCMCIA sockets installed.

Your system is configured for optimal performance.

If you have Internet Explorer 4.0 or Win98, you can increase the useable screen space by hiding the Toolbar. It will still be available whenever you want it.

Move the mouse pointer to a blank area on the Toolbar and right click, click Properties, click Auto hide, and click the X in the upper right corner to close Properties. If you prefer to use the keyboard, after the right click, press R, press U, press Esc.

Move the mouse pointer away from the Toolbar and it will slide out of sight. When you want to use it, move the mouse pointer to that edge of the screen and wait a second or two for it to appear. Now it is ready to use until the mouse pointer is moved away from it.

Problem: Sometimes the Toolbar appears when you are trying to access something near that part of the screen. Solution: Work faster so the Toolbar does not have time to appear.

One Win98 user noticed his Sysbckup folder had about 16 MB of files and wondered about its purpose. He was advised not to touch it because Windows uses that folder to restore system files after something bad happens. Sysbckup evidently stands for System Backup.

The Sysbckup folder is in the Windows folder and contains mainly dll files. On my Win95 machine, it holds only 2.29 MB. Does that mean the Win98 operating system is six or seven times the size of Win95?

The Properties dialog box is easy to display for any icon or item that has one. One way to go directly to it is: hold down the Alt key and double-click the icon or list item. A less direct way is to right-click the icon or list item, press R (in most cases; sometimes you need to press P). Or you can click Properties instead of pressing R or P.

Here is yet another program for checking your machine's year 2000 performance. It is free.

Go to: http://www.advance.to/millennium. You may need to look for TimeBomb pro to find it. Sorry, I haven't done it, but its promoter says it is easy to install on the hard drive and use.

Users of Novell NetWare versions 4.x and higher can sign up for tips, hints, and advice. It is free at: http://www.tipworld.com/

There is said to be a minimal install version of IE4 for developers to include with applications that need IE4 to work properly. You must have a license. Go to http://ieak.microsoft.com/Default. asp to get the license and a free download of ie4stw95.exe. There is also said to be a version for Windows NT.

When you want to save a Web picture you are viewing, either online or offline, right click on it. Choose Save Picture As.... When the box opens, you can save it to the Desktop by pressing Enter. If you want to save it elsewhere, type Drive:\Folder\Filename. For example: D:\Pics\Roses. jpg

Most pictures are copyrighted. It is best to get the copyright owner's permission before making a copy.

If your household has more than one computer, would you like to connect them together for games, printers, files, and more? Intel is expected to issue the needed items to let them be connected by phone lines. The phone lines are often already in your walls. That avoids making direct connection with cables running through the attic or basement. The notice did not say whether the phone line needed to be an active one.

A security problem allows hackers to read PC files via IE. I think that includes IE3 and IE4. TipWorld offers a patch for it at: http://www.tipworld .com/arts.cgi?pcwbrowse09101

 I do not have any new programs for you this month! Can you believe it? Most of the members are on the internet and download whatever they need or find interesting. So the Library is trying to bring things of interest to the non connected members. I have a copy of the Starr Report for you to add to your collection. This might be of value to you now or in future years. After all, it is a history-making report. Pick up a copy. It is on one disk and in plain text so that it can be viewed with any text viewer. I went through the Library Catalog and picked out a number of old but useful programs that you might want to consider for your needs. It is best to give me a call and order any one of these programs to make sure I will have a copy with me. Here is the list by number, name and label:

5 POWER TOYS WIN95

Utilities that are of great help in Win 95:Tweakui, Xmouse, Quickres

8 DIR FREEDOM

Read ASCII files, View or extract zipped files. Great file manager.

9 STIKME

Labeling program. Type "GO" to start

12 LIST & FV

Text view & scroll utility. View archived files V-9.0a 7-14-93

13 PKZIP---PKUNZIP

Compress Uncompress program for all ZIP ext files 2-1-93 V-2.04g

19 ANYANGLE

Graphic triangle solver calculator 10 memories 12-93

22 PINOCHLE-DB DECK

Change rules, save game pass cards, mouse, keybd. V-2.O

24 UNIVERSAL CD-ROM DRV. BEEP CODES

Beep & error codes for AMI & AWARD BIOS

33 VIEW V113a

File viewer for WP 5.0, 6.0. WORD 1-6, WINW 1-2, AMI PRO, WORDSTAR, ASCII

38 COPYQM-FORMATQM

Diskette copy machine. Diskette formatter. Copy DMF disks V-3.22 8-95

45 ACDSee 32

Graphics viewer, thumbnail slide show, Rename, Copy handles most image files

46 PAINTSHOP PRO

View, Edit, Print, Clip Art, Convert graphic files. 2 disk set

60 HOME LOAN

Mortgage diary. Show savings from early payoff. Record payments

64 NORTON COMMANDER

For Win95. LFN-32 bit clone. Run Setup to install

65 CHERRY DELIGHT

Video slots for WIN95-98. 9 wheel, 8 pay lines, bonus spins, sound effects.

68 ZTREE WIN

XTREE GOLD clone. 32-bit file manager for Win95

74 SNOOPER

Two up-to-date diagnostic SYSCHK programs that tell about your system

83 DIR PRINTER

Print Win95 directories & file names, dates, etc. Print what you want.

92 PRINTKEY

System tray based "PRINT SCREEN" Fast hard copy. Captures Win 95-98 V3.07

95 UNIVERSAL CONVERTER

600 Instant conversions. Windows friendly, can TSR. V-2.0 4-92

97 SOLVEIT

Financial math solving, fill in the blanks, TSR bond calculator V-4.0

103 WINZIP3.1A

Zip shell for Windows 3.1, built in Zip. V-6.1

103 WINZIP95

Zip shell for Win95, built in Zip, drag & drop, uninstall V-6.2 10/96

6/98 Disk of the Month (DOM) - JUNO

Free Email, no cost to use! V-1.49 4/98

5/97 DOM - ALL ABOUT MEMORY RAM, SHARK, B1

Shark screen saver & B1 Bomber 4 Win95, 11 pages about memory chips

4/98 DOM - WIN95 ERROR CODE, Y2000, MTUSPEED

Increase modem transmit, check year 2000 problem, explain error codes.

I have been attending the Digital SIGs held every Tuesday. So far, they have consisted of a lot of hardware repairing. Members have brought in new scanners to attach and load software and a CD writer to attach and get working. Emmett Ingram brought in a SCSI card and hard drive to set up. He used the SCSI for a printer and wanted to use it for a drive also. But we had trouble because, once we got the SCSI card set up, the floppy wouldn’t work. It turned out that the SCSI card had a I/O port for a floppy that had to be disabled and it took us two weeks to find the correct jumper settings on the internet.

Several of the members heard about the Staples closeout deal on a Canon 7000 color printer for $199. George Austin, his daughter and Virginia Pfiffner all purchased this printer.

Hello. This is the third in a series of articles about subjects pertaining to the Internet. These articles are based on the comments and questions that GSBUG members send me, so please contact me by means of any of the methods listed at the end of this article.

Herman Krouse, our Internet SIG leader, and I have repeatedly stated over the past two years that the Los Angeles Free-Net (LAFN) is a great low-cost way for you to get access to the Internet. We believe that $40 per year for a "Point to Point Protocol (PPP) account" is the best deal available in the way of low-cost Internet access.

The LAFN is a non-profit corporation and they are not in business to make money. Every other Internet Service Provider (ISP) that I am aware of is a commercial business with the profit-motive as it’s reason for existence.

However, like all things in life, there are disadvantages. The disadvantages of the LAFN are that there are a lot of Internet technologies that it does not support. To quote from "Item 2)"at http://www.lafn.org/help/settings.txt:

"2) LAFN does not support: RealAudio, RealPlayer, Instant Messenger, PPP IRC programs, InternetPhone, PPP FTP programs, or other similar programs.."

If these features are important to you, then you would have to get an account with a more expensive ISP. However, if you have never heard of these Internet technologies or just plain don’t need them, then a "PPP account" at LAFN will save you a lot of money relative to the for-profit ISPs.

Now, let’s talk about personal Web pages. A personal home page is a page that you create on your own computer. You then publish it on a Web server on the Internet so that the whole world can see it. To look at some sample personal Web pages, go to http://www.lafn.org/web/homepages.html

There are a lot of reasons for creating and publishing a personal Web page. It is a great way for you to develop an understanding of how the World Wide Web works. You do not really understand it until you have experienced it from both sides. Most of you have seen

the Internet from the client side. That is the side where you dial up into the Internet, run a Web browser, and view the "content" that people have placed on various Web servers for you to look at. When you create and publish a personal Web page, you are engaging in the Internet experience from the other side of things; you are providing "content" for the world at large to look at.

You might ask how much is this going to cost. The good news is that there are many Web sites that let people publish personal Web pages for free. As a personal challenge, I published my personal homepage at four of these sites yesterday. The real reason that I published on all four Web sites was to see how the exact same Web page looked at the four most popular free sites for personal Web pages. The four sites that I chose are Geocities, Tripod, Spree.com, and Xoom. If you want to look at the Web pages that I created at these sites, go to

If you are interested in trying your hand at developing a personal Web page, you can go to the home pages of the above-mentioned Web sites:

Since I am new to all four sites, I cannot, at this time, tell you too much about how the four sites differ. I have some first impressions but I believe in reserving judgment until I have worked with these four Web server sites for at least a month or two. Since all of these sites are free, you, like me, can also publish your personal home page at more than one of these sites, eventually developing some experience with which site you prefer to keep in the future.

I was pleased to find that all of these Web sites have lots of user-friendly documentation about how to create and publish a personal Web site. All have various forms of tech support, usually via e-mail to volunteer consultants. As part of the experience, you will learn about Hypertext Markup Language, file uploading and file downloading by means of your Web browser, graphical design, and other fascinating creative activities. Some of the other computer clubs that I belong to have a SIG dedicated to the creation and publication of personal Web pages. If a lot of people express an interest in this fascinating activity, I might help some of you publish personal home pages at one of these free sites, perhaps at one of the SIG meetings.

If any GSBUG members already have personal home pages, let me know and I will mention your site in future articles. I promise to say only positive things about any sites that I talk about. If you already have a personal Web site, you also might wish to help me help other GSBUG members create and publish their own personal home pages.

Also, let me know if you have any questions or problems with your Internet access, especially if you are a member of LAFN, and I will either help you out or find someone that can. I can be reached in several ways:

1. Leave me a voice message at 323-600-1390 (a Hawthorne phone number)

2. Page me at 800-516-3104.

3.Send e-mail to me at ac602@lafn.org

4. Send me "snail" United States Postal Service mail at

Frank Chao, P.O. Box 2548, El Segundo, CA 90245-2548

Hope to hear from a lot of you soon. Happy Web surfing and Web page construction!

Wanted: copy of Generic CAD level 3.

Call Jimmie Corones at(310) 322-1441

1. Discussed PC monitor color vs. printer color. A PC screen uses color model RGB (red, green & blue). A printer uses color model CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow & black). There is a program by Pantone that optimizes between the two according to the color profiles standardized by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Adobe Photoshop v. 5.0 has a built in color matcher.

2. Discussed choosing a designated DIG SIG graphics program to streamline discussions/debates. Choices are Micrografx Picture Publisher v. 8.0 ($150), Adobe Photoshop v. 5.0 ($650) and Corel PhotoPaint v. 8.0 ($330). Noted that Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard and the program most used by other groups. The September 98 PC Magazine has a review of the Corel program.

3. Learned the correct technical definition of a graphic. An ‘image’ is a bitmapped (raster) graphic while an ‘illustration’ is a vector (line) graphic.

1. Downloaded images from a Kodak DC40 digital camera via a serial cable. The 47 images took 5 minutes to download. Then we converted the .kdc format to .jpg/high quality which took an additional 20 minutes. Kodak Photo Enhancer, the image enhancing program that comes with the camera, has three .jpg format options. The 47 images used up 6.18 MB in .jpg/high quality. Individual images used 108 KB to 164 KB. This exercise shows why the Sony Mavica MVC-FD7 digital camera, which saves to a floppy disk

in .jpg format directly, is a faster and slicker setup.

2. A Sony Mavica digital camera owner said his images looked OK on the viewfinder but printed dark. Turns out an exposure value of +1 is required with the Sony camera to diminish shadows (effectively opens the lens).

3. Experimented with the Sony wide conversion lens VCL-ES06 ($60). The lens allows the camera to see a wider field of view and is good for group and scenery shots. The lens can only be used when the zoom is set to a wide (close up) angle. The lens is designed for use with the Sony video camcorder but can be installed on the Sony digital camera with an included adapter.

4. Learned that practice makes perfect when I took a Sony Mavica digital camera to an outdoor party. In afternoon light the images had good color and exposure (light). At sunset, the images were dark, but using the flash overexposed the subject. At night, with the flash, the subjects were clear and lighted while the background was dark. The zoom feature was handy because the camera flash had to be at least 6 feet away from the subject or the image would wash out. After some practice, I got the hang of it.

5. Compared image printed with Adobe Photoshop vs. Microsoft Publisher. Tested using same image, same printer and same paper but the two different image enhancement programs. The Adobe program had better skin tones but slightly less contrast. This shows that different programs see colors differently.

Spent the entire meeting manipulating a test image with Adobe Photoshop version 5.0 which was released last Spring. This version has layering, unlimited undo (called a history palette) and built in proprietary color management. Web features are minimal. Will report more details as we go.

We had about 16 people at the Sept 25 Windows meeting, and I took the opportunity to show Win98's Multiple-Monitors feature. With this, you can run up to nine monitors at once with Win98, and you can spread your Windows Desktop over all of them! Each monitor you add has to have it's own video card, however, so we were only showing two monitors at the meeting. But I think people were impressed with how you can open a program on your main monitor, and then slide it over onto a different monitor so that you can open something else on your first monitor. If you had nine monitors hooked up, you could open nine separate programs, and have each one on a separate monitor! (If you have Microsoft's Flight Simulator program, you can surround yourself with monitors and have all the different cockpit views - front, rear, left, right.)

I arrived at the meeting about 7:00 PM, and there were already people there ahead of me! After I did the multiple monitor demo, we hooked the computer up to the Club's new projector, and continued on with the question and answer period. Not all questions got answered in the next 2 1/2 hours, so here's a few that got left out:

MTU stands for Maximum Transmission Unit and it refers to the size of the information packets that are sent to you when you're cruising the Internet. It's a setting in your Registry in Win95 and 98. The Windows default setting is for ethernet, so you can often increase the speed that stuff comes to you from the Internet by adjusting the value to settings for a modem. There are a few settings in the Registry that you can adjust by hand to see how they affect your transfer speed, but there are also a few programs that will do it for you.

If you don't want to go fooling around in your Registry, you can download and run the free program "MTU Speed". It will give you the chance to change a bunch of settings, but you can just accept the changes that it recommends, and it will make them for you. Results are different on different machines, but I haven't heard anyone complain about it yet.

Naturally, you'll want to have a backup of your Registry files (System.dat and User.dat) before you go changing things, just in case. If you've been coming to the meetings, you'll remember that we've been telling you to use ERU for this.

There's also a text file included with MTU Speed, in case you want to read about what the program is doing. MTUSpeed is availale in the 4/98 Disk of the Month (see Software Library article (or you can download a copy of MTU Speed from the Internet by going to my website at

http://home.earthlink. net/~ltfgroup/utilities and clicking on the file called "mtuspeed241.exe". A box will open asking where you want to save it to on your hard drive, so tell it where, and then click on OK. It's only 144 KB in size, so you can download it directly to a floppy disk if you want to. Once it's downloaded, double click on the filename, and it will make a new folder called MTUSpeed and decompress the MTU Speed program into it. Then go into the new folder and double click on the file mtuspeed.exe, and the program will open.

When you open the MTU Speed program, you get a window that lists the settings you can change. Ignore it. Go down to the bottom of the window and click on the box that says "Optimum Settings". Then click on the box that says "Update the Registry" and you're done! You can close MTU Speed, and go surf the Internet. Members report that, if you have a 486 or older computer or a new computer using Win98, you should notice a big increase in speed of the Web pages coming to you! If you want to see a demonstration of this program, ask me at the next Win95 Intermediate SIG.

Cfgback ("Configuration Backup") makes a backup of your Registry files (System.dat and User.dat). It can save up to nine copies before it deletes one to make room for another.

ERU makes a backup of your Registry files, plus your Autoexec.bat and Config.sys, plus System.ini and Win.ini, and a few more. It can save as many copies as you have room for on your hard drive (or as many floppies as you have). Every time you run ERU, it attempts to save the backup to the same filename, so you'll need to rename it before you click on OK. You can name the backup anything you want, so if you name them all differently, you can save hundreds!

For Win98, Microsoft dropped both of them in favor of "Registry Checker". Registry Checker runs when you start Win98 and checks for any errors in the Registry. If it finds that the Registry is OK, it makes a backup (saves a copy of it on your hard drive somewhere else). The backup files are in C:\Windows \Sysbckup and are called "rb000.cab, rb001.cab, etc."... up to rb005.cab at which time it goes back replaces rb000 with a new one. This is probably a good thing, especially because it's automatic, but you would want to copy one of these onto a floppy disk for safe storage on a day when your computer is running properly. (Save a good copy to floppy.)

You can run Registry Checker manually by clicking on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information and then selecting Registry Checker from the Tools menu. If you ever wanted to restore a backup that Registry Checker made, start your computer at a DOS prompt, and type "scanreg" (For example: C:\scanreg ) and follow the instructions.

If you've been using ERU from a previous version of Windows, it will still run under Win98, so you might want to copy it over and continue using it.

If the names that appear under the icons on your Desktop are too small, you can make them bigger. Open Control Panel (click on Start button, then Settings, Control Panel) and double click on "Display". You'll see a bunch of tabs near the top of the Window, click on "Appearance". In the window that opens, you'll see a box called "Schemes", but there may not be anything in it. Click on the down pointing arrow to the right of it, and scroll down and select either "Windows Standard (large)" or "Windows Standard (extra large)". Now click on "Apply", and move the window aside so that you can see the effects. If you like it, click on OK. Or else, select another choice, and try it.

Adam Story, D.C., gave the July presentation. His specialty is treating repetitive stress injury. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by a series of small, insignificant actions accumulating to cause a larger, more disruptive condition to appear. It is essentially a pinched nerve. Symptoms can be numbness, coldness, burning and/or lack of coordination in the hands. The nerve branch that affects the hinds can be pinched at five different places as it travels from the neck to the shoulder, elbow, through the wrist and finally into the hand. Irritation at any of the above mentioned places will manifest themselves in hand symptoms. This is why surgery does not always work.

Prevention of RSI is better and more successful than a cure. Dr. Story used concert pianists as an example. Carpal tunnel syndrome is almost nonexistent among professional pianists. This is because of the way they sit when playing. Their backs are straight, heads up, they face forward and their elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Correct positioning at work is essential. A person’s knees should be lower than the butt. This straightens the lower back slightly. A back support should be in place on the chair. This can be something as simple as a rolled up towel. The back must be arched slightly forward. A rounded back causes the shoulders to roll forward, forcing the head up and pinching the nerve in the neck. The keyboard should be positioned so the shoulder, elbow, wrist angle is 90 degrees. The muscles should be relaxed. The wrists should be straight.

The monitor should be at eye level and directly front of the user. If the screen is placed at one side of the desk, the head angles in that direction.

The mouse should be used with the shoulder, wrist and elbow at 90 degrees.

A telephone headset should be used if typing and talking at the same time. Tilting the head to the side to hold the handset while typing with both hands is guaranteed to cause a problem if performed more than occasionally.

Toby Scott volunteered to undergo a diagnostic evaluation demonstration. The exam covered strength, flexibility and range of motion tests in the hands, forearms, shoulders and neck. An imbalance in any of these areas between left side and right side or front to back can indicate a potential problem. Dr. Story has his practice at: Las Posas Family Chiropractic 3801 F. Las Posas, Suite 114, Camarillo, CA 93010 (805) 482-0723. I would like to thank him for an interesting and enlightening presentation. I would also urge everyone who uses a keyboard regularly to have a diagnostic evaluation.