Feb 14, 2008
Computer Corner #1032 – 02/14/08
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The $44,600,000,000 bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo is shaking up the
whole global financial community. It is barely noticed in our country’s
fanatical mudslinging by clueless candidates for political office.
It is called a bold move, but I fail to see how paying 60% more for
stock than the market value is a master stroke. It looks like a
desperate move by Microsoft to take on Google, which has a 77% market
share with its search engine compared to Microsoft’s 3.7%. These are
global figures.
Obviously, Microsoft is looking at the huge growth in Internet searches
and wants to make sure to participate. Remember the projections made
for the wonderful synergies when in 2001, AOL purchased Time Warner for
$181 billion, hoping to combine their clashing corporate cultures?
It foretells of interesting times ahead, particularly for spectators in
the computer field. Looks like the bean counters have taken over the
computer field, and let us hope that their actions don’t impact the
lives and families of the real producers in our country.
PC and Mac
I run both a Mac laptop and a PC XP
desktop and use a USB “Thumb drive” to move data between the two. Most
of the time I succeed but sometimes it does not work. I have tried
various formats but am puzzled. I have not been able to specifically
identify when the problem occurs. Do you have any suggestion on where
to look? Thanks. Ronald V.
Dear Ronald: Based on my experience, I think that you forgot to use the
recommended procedures when pulling out the drive. Both systems keep
information in memory about the files and folders in use. If the USB
drive is removed and then reinserted, the system gets thoroughly
confused.
The recommended way to break up the connection in the Mac is to drag
the drive’s icon to the Trash icon. This does not delete the files from
the drive; only removes them from the computer’s active list. With the
PC, click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon on the right side of the
task bar, and select the external drive.
When there is a problem in reading the thumb drive, the best way to
make the USB drive compatible with both systems is to format it. In the
PC, use the Explorer and right click the drive | Format | FAT32 (under
File System), and do a full format. You can also format the drive in a
Mac. Insert it in a USB port. Go to Go | Applications | Utilities Disk
| Utility | select the thumb drive | Erase (at the top of the right
panel) | MS-DOS File System | choose a name | Erase button at the
bottom right | Erase. A dialog box informs you of the operation and
gives a time estimate. You can tell the system to eject the drive, or
drag it to the trash icon.
Red x
Recently I have been seeing little
boxes with a red x in my e-mail messages. This is something new. I am
using Windows Mail in Vista. What is causing this? How can I see the
pictures that they are supposed to represent? Help. John W.
Dear John: The small red x means that the software is unable to locate
the image held in an embedded file. There are multiple causes, and
frequently, the sender may not have included the required file with the
message.
For instance, the hyperlink may point to a file on the sender’s
computer. When he checks it by e-mailing himself a BCC (Blind Carbon
Copy), he will not see the problem since the link will find the file on
his computer. In that case, the sender has to make sure to send the
specific graphic as part of the message.
If the link points to a file on the Internet, it is possible that the
site referenced is not operational. It could also be a misspelling of
the link’s address.
Another source of problems could be with the security settings on your
computer. It could be too tight. Or it could be your virus protection,
which is set up to be too secure. This can frequently happen when the
software writers have decided for you that you should have higher
security settings.
You will find that these changes were made, and are shown in several check boxes under Tools | Options.
It may take a little time to go through all the possibilities. Have you
added a firewall or other spam blocking utility since it was OK?
Sometimes, it might be difficult to pinpoint the cause of the problem.
What makes it tricky is that from your question, you indicate that the
problem is intermittent. You will have to do a thorough analysis of the
history of the problem. If there are new updates to the system, some
security might have been tightened.
One way to locate where the blockage might have occurred is to disable
the firewall or security software for a few minutes. This can usually
be done from the task bar and is the easiest way to track down problems
occurring on your own computer.
Changing mail program
How can I change the default e-mail
program on my Vista computer to the standard Microsoft Mail? It was set
up when I bought my computer but want it to be more Windows compatible.
I also would like to have Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. I
prefer not to hire an “expert” from the store unless really necessary.
Thanks. Win E.
Dear Win: You can make these changes yourself. It is done in Control
Panel. Go to Start | Control Panel | Classic View | Internet Options |
Programs (tab) | Set Programs (button) | Set your default programs |
Windows Mail | Set this program as default | OK.
You might have noted that there is also a button available for
selecting a browser. As you go through the procedure, it might take a
few seconds for the system to scan your computer but it will find the
browser and mail program, which are part of all Vista computers.
Computer Corner 1032. Copyright 2008 by Roger Giler. Send questions for this column to P.O. Box 402, Wilton 06897 or e-mail Roger@Giler.com.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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