Ask DACS
March, 2006
Bruce Preston, Moderator

Members who are unable to attend the General Meeting may submit questions to askdacs@dacs.org by the day prior to the meeting. We will attempt to get an answer for you. Please provide enough detail, as we will not be able to ask for additional information.

Q. It is becoming more and more common to have web-casts on the internet, running from half an hour to several hours. They include PowerPoint presentations, audio, video, etc. I would like to save the entire web-cast. Is there a way to save them?

A. First, you need to know which streaming video format they are using. You might be able to do a right-click/Save As, but it is unlikely. Best bet is to contact the web master and ask if it can be downloaded.

Q. After my wireless mouse has been in use for a while, it seems to get a mind of its own – it slowly drifts across the screen. Sometimes there is a very long delay between clicking and something happening. I’ve run Spybot S&D and AdAware, the later reports 14 things and then locks up.

A. We’ve seen it when the battery in the mouse gets low. Have you tried putting fresh (or recharged) batteries into it? A simple test would be to connect a wired mouse to the computer – this would isolate whether the problem is in the mouse or some software interference. As for getting the things reported by Spybot S&D or AdAware, Webroots Spysweeper (from www.webroot.com) is highly recommended. It is an annual subscription. We’ve seen it at Circuit City for $20, and on their site at $39 for a 2-year subscription. Another thing to try is to boot your machine in Safe Mode (right after power on; before you get the Windows logo, press F8 several times. You will get a character-mode screen – select Safe Mode and continue). Then run your anti-spyware program in Safe Mode. Safe Mode prevents most things from loading at startup, thus giving the clean-up tool the ability to remove it since it isn’t running.

Q. What happened to the free Microsoft Anti-Spyware (beta)?
A. The original beta needed to be replaced last December with a new release. Since then, it has been rolled into the (also free) Microsoft Windows Defender, which is listed as being at beta level 2. Various press releases from Microsoft state that it will remain available as a free utility, but it is expected that the full-featured product will be part of the Microsoft OneCare subscription offering. (Press Release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/may05/05-13 Windows OneCarePR.mspx). Be that as it may, for now you may download Windows Defender from this site: http://www. microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx. Note that as with several other new Windows plug-ins from Microsoft, you must pass the Genuine Windows validation, which will require that you accept an Active-X control that examines your machine to verify that you have a valid (not bootleg) copy of Windows. Note that it is a beta – there are bugs. For example, it is reported that it identified Symantec Anti-Virus Enterprise Edition as spyware and deleted it from client machines.

Q. I know about cleaning up the hard disk, watching for anti-virus updates, spyware, etc. However, is there maintenance for network hardware
devices as well? For example, I have a cable modem, router, etc. Is there something I should do with these other than occasionally dusting them off?

A. Modems, routers, etc. often have ‘firmware’ updates. There is software in the device that is ‘burned’ into an electronically programmable read-only memory. (EPROM). Bug fixes or product enhancements may be made. For example, my router originally only supported port forwarding of only 8 service ports to client machines. This functionality is to permit routing calls from outside your site to different machines within your network – for example you might set up port 80 to route to a machine that is running a web server. A firmware upgrade increased the size of the port forwarding table to 24. Typically, the firmware is usually delivered as a .ZIP file. You download it and unpack it onto the hard disk of your computer. You then use the browser interface in the device to go to the Firmware Update mechanism, which will ask you for the location of the upgrade file on your machine. It will then read the file and install it.

Q. I went to install a second hard drive in my desktop machine, and when I opened the case, I found that the internals of the machine were coated with a layer of dust. Is this harmful, and if so, how should it be removed? I’ve heard that using a vacuum cleaner can be dangerous. Is that true? Is canned air better?

A. A vacuum cleaner can generate a static charge, which if discharged into a circuit board component on the machine could cause damage. Some say that using canned air can cause a problem in that it could blow dust into a socket. Canned air is also very cold, some don’t like the thermal shock that may happen if the very cold air hits a hot component. Leaving the dust on the devices can interfere with cooling as it can act as an insulator. I have seen video cards fried because dust built up within the fan on the video card’s GPU to the point where the fan wouldn’t rotate. What I use is a small vacuum adapter that slips onto the vacuum cleaner’s hose – it is plastic and presumably won’t discharge static. It is commonly sold for cleaning sewing machines—here’s a link—http://store.yahoo.com/sewing warehouse/vacat.html

Q. What is the difference between 6-wire and 4-wire USB cables?

A. Standard 6-wire USB cables have a male “A” end, and on the other end either a female “A” end (for use as an extension cable), or the device itself. The A-type connector is rectangular, about a 6:1 aspect ratio. If the cable has a “B” end (almost square, with two adjacent corners chamfered off) it is most usually used for plugging into a printer. Lately, 4-wire cables known as “Mini-B Flat DCUP” have appeared—these are used for con-necting to digital cameras. They have an “A” connector on the other end. During the discussion, it was asked if you were referring to the more common 6 and 4 wire Firewire variants. Firewire is more commonly seen with digital video cameras and external hard drives.

Bruce Preston is president of West Mountain Systems, a consultancy in Ridgefield, CT specializing in database applications. A DACS director, Bruce also leads the Access SIG. Members may send tech queries to Bruce at askdacs@dacs.org.