T-NET International  •   Discipling Disciplemakers   •   FALL 2003

Great Computing on a Parson's Budget

Powerful Free Software Antivirus, Word Processing, Digital Photo and Other Utilities

Your face is red!

Your computer just sent some of your most sensitive documents to everyone on your contact list. Talk about embarrassing! Dr. DIMM knows. A few years ago, one of the largest Christian foundations in the US had this happen, much to their chagrin. It can happen to anyone.

Never fear! Dr. DIMM is here with a free antivirus program for you that not only checks your hard drive for viruses, but will check all incoming and outgoing mail as well. In addition, you can set it to update automatically.

Did someone donate a used computer with no software other than the operating system? Dr. DIMM will show you how to equip this computer with all the software you will probably need and protect it at the same time.

Let’s Start With the Antivirus

Dr. DIMM has a son who just graduated with a degree in Computer Science so Dr. DIMM can no longer boast he taught him everything he knows. Well, DIMM’s son, (the sound of that makes a guy hungry) worked for an Internet firm where all the computer stations use this antivirus. This company also sells their services to major corporations so you can be assured this software is constantly updated. They make it available free to individuals. I am running it on a computer in my office and have been quite pleased. Just go to this link, download and install http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php.

One more thought about viruses. A friend just sent me a message apologizing for having infected my computer. His email then identified a file that this “virus” installs on your computer and gave directions for finding it and erasing it. The problem is the file it identified is on everyone’s computer because it is installed there by Microsoft not the virus. So look before you leap whenever you get an email that tells you to erase a file, open your pockets so Bill Gates can shower you with money or do something else that sounds very bad or too good to be true. The easiest thing to do is pick out the most identifying part of the message and paste that into Google and see what links come up. There are also a number of sites that catalog hoaxes. One extensive listing is at Hoaxbusters http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org.

What About Word Processing?

Now you need Word Processing software and the good news is there are a number of choices. However, let me recommend one of two options that should work just fine doing what most people need. AbiWord looks and feels much like Microsoft Word. It has most of the basic features most people use and will seem quite familiar to Word users. It also takes a lot less space on your hard drive, which is nice for older computers. The best place to get it for Windows machines is at http://www.abisource.com/download and follow the links for the installer. There is also a Mac version at http://www.abisource.com/download/index.phtml?all=1 (You can tell this is a site created for techies because it is a little confusing to mere mortals. If you have trouble, go to www.download.com and search for AbiWord. But if you can figure out the AbiSource site you will often be rewarded with a slightly more recent version.

Perhaps you are interested in OpenOffice, a suite with almost everything it’s bigger brother from Microsoft has except Outlook. It will open and edit most Word, PowerPoint and Excel files and has such an impressive set of features that many consider it a viable alternative to MS Office and all this without investing $500! This is also available all over the Web, but the place to get the latest version is http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/download.html. Select the link that says “latest build.” Again if it is too confusing just search for it at www.download.com. Note there is a Mac version of OpenOffice, also.

Here are some more of Dr. DIMM’s favorite free utilities, which you will find quite valuable and . . . you can add them to as many computers as you wish.

Speed-Up Your Hard Drive

Now how about a defragging tool? Check out Diskeeper Lite.

Why do you need to defrag, you ask? Let’s say a Sunday School teacher comes to the office just before class wanting 20 pencils for a class exercise. Very poor planning you say to yourself, but you set about to find 20 pencils for her. There are seven in the supply closet, five in your desk drawer, six in your assistant’s drawer and the rest you get from the ushers closet. You do all this minutes before you rush out of the office to start the first morning service asking her to bring them back when she is done. Later you find them on the assistant’s desk (with a note pledging undying gratitude) and you then put all the pencils in the empty pencil box on the shelf of the supply closet.

You have just defragmented your office pencil supply. You have collected all the pencils and put them together in a place where you can quickly find them. Your computer hard drive is like a storage closet. Programs are always grabbing files out of the closet to use, creating new files and then, when you decide to quit the program, they set them down with the discrimination of a 3 year old. Over time your computer slows down because as the files it uses and makes are increasingly scattered, it takes longer and longer to track them down. A defragged drive has the efficiency of a well-organized office.

Some of you are saying Windows comes with a defragger, why do you need Diskeeper Lite? Well, that’s right except in some versions of Windows the built-in defragger quits anytime another program tries to access the computer and it can be quite difficult to figure out what is causing that. Consequently, many who encounter that problem quit defragging even though it slows down their computer. It will also remind you to defrag telling you when your hard drive needs it. The reminder is a bit of a nag also doubling as an ad for purchasing the upgrade, for $30, which is much more automated. You get rid of it with a click of your mouse. Still this version works well and is a bit hard to find because the company wants you to buy the upgrade. But it is still available at http://www.webattack.com/get/dkeeperlite.shtml.

Oops - I Take That Back! How to Undelete That File

The most valuable tool you will ever own is an undelete program when you just accidentally deleted a file you have been working on for the last 6 hours. Here is a free one that you should download, install BEFORE you need. Why before? Because you want to have as little disk activity as possible when you have deleted a file so that it doesn’t get written over. Ever wonder how the FBI can get so much out of a computer? Well look at it this way. When your computer tells you it just complied with your wishes and deleted that file . . . don’t believe it. It is a little white lie common to all computers. But you say, I checked and it is no longer listed. That’s true. The computer keeps a record of where it stores every single file on your computer. So when you delete a file all you are doing is deleting the record of where the file is located. The file will remain on your hard drive until the computer randomly decides to store another file there. That is why an undelete program will get you back that valuable file and save you from having to redo all that work. Download this file at http://www.executive.com/freeware/freeware.asp. The readme file will instruct you to transfer some files to a floppy disk. Then clearly mark that disk as your Undelete disk and you will be ready when disaster strikes.

Do you do much writing on your computer? Then try WordWeb. Want to make a quick check to see if you are using a word correctly? On the other hand, you want to check synonyms or antonyms. If you have the word selected in your document it will come up selected in WordWeb complete with all sorts of information. For example, I just had my cursor on the word "complete." WordWeb shows five meanings for the verb form and six for the adverb form and eight tabs suggesting synonyms, antonyms, and various aspects of this concept to help Dr. DIMM express himself. The free version is available at http://www.tucows.com/preview/198316.html.

The Tale is in the Tape

One more excellent free utility that is of special interest to laptop users is TapeCalc2. Every now and then you find yourself needing to add up a list of numbers. So you use the Calculator program that comes free with Windows. The problem develops when you are halfway through a list of 32 numbers and someone has a question that will not wait. You answer it and then begin to wonder whether you already added the item that you still have your finger on or not. Enter TapeCalc2. A neat little calculator that actually puts a tape on your screen and allows you to go back in the list and start over from there. You can then print your list or cut and paste it into your document. Dr. DIMM shows you where you can get it for free! Go to the following page which appears to be for a different program, but if you scroll down to the bottom of the page you will find a link for TapeCalc2 http://www.eastfree.org/wf_load.htm which will begin to download the program.

Shrink that Picture - Put a Slide Show on Your Computer

Did you just get a digital camera? Or do you scan any photos for church publications or display on the Web. Here is an amazingly powerful program that not only allows you to view your pictures in a slideshow, but makes it easy to compress the size off the file dramatically so your Internet Service Provider won't choke and spit it back when you attach it to an email. That just scratches the surface of what this program can do. If you need any of those things, try IrfanView at http://www.irfanview.com.

Back to First Page