Computer Info – September 18, 2002

This Week’s Meeting

A little more on Excel – a few tips for Word – notes from the past handouts that we didn’t get to – and questions and answers.

Spreadsheets -- Using Excel

Adjusting Column Width

To quickly adjust the width of a column to be able to display the widest contents, place your cursor on the line between the names of the columns (ex. Between B and C) – you will notice that your cursor has changed shape. Double click and your column will be adjusted.

Another way to adjust the width of a column is to place your cursor on the line between the names of the columns – again, notice that the cursor has changed shape. Hold down the left mouse button and drag to the left (to make your column narrower) or to the right (to make your column wider).

Remember, there are many ways to do the same thing. So, another way to adjust the eidth of the column, is to click on the column name (ex. B) – this will highlight the entire column. Now, right click in the highlighted area and choose COLUMN WIDTH from the menu. Here you can type an exact width that you would like the column.

Need another way – click in a cell. From the top menu, choose FORMAT – COLUMN. You will be given the choice of WIDTH – AUTOFIT – STANDARD WIDTH – HIDE – and UNHIDE.

Typing a Series

Need to type the months of the year – maybe for the titles of your expenses worksheet. Start by typing January. Notice the little black square in the bottom right corner of the cell – if you place your cursor there – hold your left mouse button down and drag (either horizontally or vertically) – and you will notice that as you drag your mouse, the months of the year are shown – so that you can stop when you reach the one that you want.

This trick works with the months – the days of the week – and even numbers. For numbers, enter more than one so that you are demonstrating what the series will be (for example – type 2 in one cell and then type 4 in the cell below it – now, highlight the two cells – click and drag with the little black square in the bottom right corner and you will see the data that will be filled in follow as 6 – 8 – 10 – 12 until you have the amount of cells filled that you want).

Making a chart

From the top menu, choose INSERT – CHART. This will open up the Chart Wizard. Step 1 is to choose the style of the chart (pie – bar – line – bar – etc.). Click NEXT. For step 2, you will find your cursor flashing in the DATA RANGE – what do you do here?? Notice the little black and red square to the right – click on it. This will make a smaller window that still has the flashing cursor – but you are now able to view your shreadsheet. You can now select the cells (or information) that you would like put in the chart. Notice as you are selecting the cells, the formula for the area is being placed in the box on the Chart Wizard. When you have completed this, again click on the black and red square to the right. This will make your Chart Wizard window larger again and you can click on NEXT. Step 3 allows us to add a title for the chart. If you click on the Data Labels tab – you can have the parts of your chart labeled for their value or percentage. Click NEXT. Step 4 allows you to place your chart in the worksheet that you have open – or to create it as a second worksheet. Click on FINISH. Your chart should now appear.

Windows XP and Service Pack 1

The service pack will include USB 2.0 support – optional .NET framework – enable technologies for new devices such as Tablet PCs, “Freestyle” PCs and “Mira” display hardware. The .NET framework will be a optional choice in the service pack – but it will be an integrated part of the next Windows version and all Windows applications will require it.

It will include all of the security fixes and hot-fixes that have been issued since Windows XP was released. A new version of Messenger (version 4.7) will be included.

It will also include the Add/Remove capabilities that were required by the consent decree compliance signed with the U.S. Department of Justice and nine state attorney generals. The changes allow both computer manufacturers and users to remove end-user access to Microsoft® Internet Explorer browser software, Windows Media™ Player, Windows Messenger, Outlook® Express and Microsoft's Java virtual machine.

But note the language here: "enable or remove access to each Microsoft Middleware Product." That is, Microsoft doesn't have to remove any middleware products (which include Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine, and Windows Messenger), it just has to hide them from the end user. And hiding them means simply that any Start menu, desktop, or taskbar icons to those applications will be removed, while the applications themselves stay right there on the system where they always were. Microsoft is adding a new entry to the Start Menu and Add or Remove Programs applet called Set Program Access and Defaults, which provides end-user access to the so-called middleware settings. This lets users "remove" (actually, hide) access to Internet Explorer,

Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, or Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine. The following four configurations will be presented:

Computer manufacturer - If you choose this configuration, your machine will be returned to the middleware configuration that was chosen by your PC maker. So, if you purchase a Dell PC in this purely hypothetical scenario, and Dell has signed deals with RealNetworks and America Online, choosing this configuration would

hide Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer, and assign RealNetworks RealONE as the default media player, and AOL as the default Web browser.

Microsoft Windows - This configuration uses Microsoft's applications, obviously, so that other middleware would be hidden and Microsoft's products would be the defaults.

Non-Microsoft - In this almost humorous configuration choice, all of Microsoft's middleware products are hidden.

Custom - Here, you can customize how each middleware application behaves, so that you can individually hide application shortcuts or make certain applications the default.

If it's not obvious, this compliance piece will also require Microsoft's competitors to add code to their products so that they can identify themselves to Windows XP and be included in the configurations. Microsoft has already alerted all of the middleware competitors what they must do in order to be included, and it looks like all of them will ship new versions that quietly add this functionality before the fall.

Microsoft's controversial Windows Product Activation (WPA) technology is also seeing minor modifications in XP SP1, which will not affect any legitimate users. The company discovered that the majority of pirated XP copies are tied to single volume license product key. So Microsoft has alerted the company about the problem, changed their key, and disabled it for use after SP1. So anyone using this pirated key will be unable to upgrade to SP1 or any future updates via Windows Update.

Windows XP SP1 will be available for free download or via CD for the cost of shipping and handling (about $10) starting September 9, 2002. Additionally, the Windows XP retail packaging will be updated in mid-October 2002 to include SP1 labeling. That is, all retail copies of XP will include the SP1 code, slipstreamed into the original version of XP. There will be two types of downloads -- Express (installing on a typical Windows XP machine) which will be around 30 MB – and the full SP1 Network Installation is 133.94 MB (or 199.56 MB for the 64-bit version). The Network installation includes all of the Windows XP SP1 files needed for installation on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

You can read about it at

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_sp1_preview.asp

or

http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/winxp-sp1.html

Another Threat for Windows XP

This is another of the security flaw that has been corrected in the Service Pack 1 for Windows XP. This vulnerability allows files contained in a folder on your hard drive to be deleted if you click on a specially formed URL (web page address). It could appear in an email, in a chat room, in a newsgroup or on a web page. These web addresses start with HCP:// -- rather than the traditional ones like HTTP:// or FTP:// This exploit comes from a file that is on your computer named UPLDDRVINFO.HTM -- this is a file that is a part of the Help Center in Windows XP. You can safely delete this file or rename it or run the program listed below or obtain the Service Pack 1 from Microsoft.

If you do not wish to rename the file or delete it, you can download a very small, simple program named Xpdite that you can run which will update this file for you – to the one that is contained in Service Pack 1. Click on the web address below.

http://grc.com/xpdite/xpdite.htm

Netscape 7.0

There was mention made at the last meeting about Netscape 7.0 – but this is still a beta version. It looks like it will be faster at accessing web pages and will use a tab system so that you can have multiple web pages open at the same time. You can read about it at

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-920242.html

Borders on Table in Word

If you would like to change the outline of your table – highlight the entire table – then choose FORMAT – BORDERS AND SHADING.

Try outlining the table with no lines showing on the inside of the table. Do this by clicking on the BOX icon. The picture on the right will show you what it is suppose to look like. This is where you can change the width of the line and the color of the line.

The Street

This is a very good web site for obtaining everything you wanted to know about a stock besides the current price.

http://www.thestreet.com