Windows Accounts (K2 #71)

Question of the Week 
My class VIII daughter wants to use my Windows 7 laptop to do research for a school project. How do I make sure she doesn’t mess with my own files and programs?
— DHI employee

Answer
Sharing a Windows computer with others is risky if everyone is using the same account. By sharing a single account, users can accidentally (or maliciously) delete, copy, add or change files, settings or programs. Not good, and unfortunately a popular practice! The solution is simple: create an account for each user. This will make sure each person’s work doesn’t interfere with another’s. To create a new account for your daughter, first click on the Start button, then open the Control Panel. Make sure items are viewed by Category. Now select Add or remove user accounts under User Accounts and Family Safety. You will see a list of all the existing accounts, as well as an option to Create a new account. Click that option, enter an account name (it can be your daughter’s name), select “Standard user” to make sure she cannot mess around too much with your computer, and finally click Create Account. A new account for her will be created. It’s also a good idea to protect her account with a password. Simply click on the account name, select Create a password, and then follow the instructions. In case you haven’t done so already, make sure to password-protect your own account as well. Don’t forget your password! From now on, when you start Windows, you will be asked to choose an account. Remember to log off before your daughter starts working on the computer.

A small tip: there’s a built in Guest account in Windows. This is convenient if a friend wants to temporarily use your computer. The Guest account is turned off by default. To turn it on, simply find the Guest account in the list of accounts, then select Turn On. From now on when someone wants to use your computer, let them log in using the Guest account.

Resist the Temptation

If you’ve been on Facebook recently, there’s a good chance you ran into the “Just 14 years Old drunk girl did this infront of all Public” [sic] post. Naturally, some users are tempted to click on the link, and if they keep following the instructions, malicious software will eventually be installed on their computer. Among other things, the malicious software might steal your private information, and it will also post identical messages using your Facebook account. That’s how this virus is spread. To avoid this trouble, don’t click on dubious links, and if you click by mistake, don’t follow instructions that ask you to install suspicious software or browser extensions.

Don't click me!

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

A Plain Paste (K2 #68)

Question of the Week 
When I copied some text from Microsoft Word and pasted it into a Gmail message, the message got all messed up. Is there a better way to copy-paste text?

— G., Consultant in Thimphu

Answer

Thanks, this is a great question that has probably crossed the minds of many of us.

So why does the text get “messed up”? When you copy content from one application to another, it’s not only the pure text that is being copied. The formatting of the text is also copied. What’s formatting? Glad you asked! Formatting includes the different fonts, font sizes, colors, and other cosmetic information that influence the makeup of the text. If the content includes tables or images, these are often included as well.

Now that we understand what was copied when you clicked Copy, let’s move to the pasting stage... When you paste the content into the Gmail compose box (or any other application, for that matter), all that formatting can often wreak havoc in your message. You often want to copy just the plain text to the destination application. Luckily, there is an easy trick. Instead of a normal Paste, you can use the Paste as plain text option. This will paste just the text without all the excess baggage. This nifty option usually appears just below the normal Paste option (see figure). You can also use the Ctrl+Shift+V shortcut to achieve the exact same effect (hold the CTRL and SHIFT keys while clicking on the letter V).

Broadband Pricing Corrected
In early June I wrote about the obscure pricing scheme of DrukNet’s new broadband plans. Good news: Druknet listened and corrected their pricing. Now, the more expensive the package, the cheaper the cost per GB. Huray!

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Left and Right (K2 #67)

Question of the Week 
My son is left-handed. Is there a special mouse for left-handed people?
— A mother from Bumthang

Answer
Various surveys show that about 10% of the world population is left-handed. If the same percentage holds for Bhutan (and that needs to be verified), then there are more than half a lakh left-handed people in Bhutan. That’s a lot!

Living a left-handed life can be challenging: Have you ever tried using ordinary scissors - the ones designed for right-handed people - with your left-hand? It’s not easy! What about playing the guitar? Switch your guitar to the other hand, and suddenly the strings are in the reverse order. There are even special pencil-sharpeners for the left-handed.

Luckily, there is no need for a special mouse for left-handed people. There are two buttons on the mouse. The primary button, which is usually the left button, is used for clicking items and selecting them, as well as for dragging-and-dropping items. Right-handed people use the index finger to operate this button. The other button is called the secondary button, and is usually the right button on the mouse. The secondary button opens a menu of various operations you can perform on the item you clicked on, for example, renaming a file.

To set an ordinary mouse for left-handed users, the primary and secondary buttons need to be switched, so that the primary button can be operated with the index finger of the left hand. First, open the Control Panel. Next, click on the Mouse icon (if you cannot find the Mouse icon, you are probably in the Category view - just switch to the Icon view first) . Under the Buttons tab, select the “Switch primary and secondary buttons”. The buttons are now switched!

Are you using your laptop’s touchpad? The touchpad can be difficult and frustrating to operate. Here’s a better option: get a small USB mouse, connect it to your laptop, and use it instead of the touchpad. If you use your laptop for long hours, it will reduce the stress on your eyes as well as your hand.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Sleep on it (K2 #64)

Question of the Week
When I turn off my Windows laptop, I noticed options for Sleep and Hibernate. What is the difference between the two?
— Nawang S., Motithang

Answer
Dear Nawang,

Shut down, sleep, hibernate... Let’s try and sort things out. We’ll start with the most familiar option: Shut down. When you shut down your laptop, all your applications close, and then the laptop turns off. In this “off” state, the laptop uses no power, so the battery can keep for days. When it’s time to use the laptop again and you power on the laptop, Windows restarts (which can take a minute or two – or five) and then you need to re-launch your applications, like MS Word or your Internet browser.

Now let’s talk about sleep. In sleep mode the computer starts dreaming. OK, just kidding. In sleep mode (previously known as Standby), the screen and other power-hungry parts such as the hard disk are turned off, but the computer’s memory — where the running applications are kept — is still powered. This allows the computer to wake up very quickly – usually in a matter of seconds – and snap back to where you left it off, applications and all. In sleep mode, the computer uses little power but it still slowly drains the battery. If you are not using your computer for a few hours, or if the laptop is plugged into power, this is usually a good choice.

Finally: Hibernation. Somewhat like hibernating bears (but not all of them – sloth bears do not hibernate!), this is similar to a deep sleep. Hibernating the computer and waking up from hibernation takes longer than putting it to sleep and waking it from sleep, but when it wakes up, eventually it restores to where you left off. Why use hibernation? Under hibernate mode, the battery can keep for days. Here’s how it works: When you hibernate your computer, the content of the memory – where the running applications are kept – is first saved to the hard disk, and then the computer shuts down, so the laptop uses no power. When you turn the computer on, it restores the memory back from the hard disk. This is why waking up from hibernation takes longer than waking up from sleep. Hibernate mode is useful if you know your computer will be disconnected from power for a day or more, but you still want to kick off exactly where you left off.

The proper way to shut down
If you pull out the power cord or otherwise turn off the power while Windows is still running, this may result in corrupted files and other unexpected trouble. It is best to first shut down Windows, then turn off the power to the computer.

Snapping the Screen (K2 #63)

Question of the Week 
I want to upload a snapshot of my laptop screen to my website. How can I create the snapshot and turn it into an image?
— Rinchen, aspiring web designer

Answer
Dear Rinchen,

Well, one foolproof way — though  undesirable — is to stand with a digital camera in front of the screen and take a snap... Luckily, there are neater ways to take a screenshot. If you are using Windows XP and above, simply clicking on the the PrtScr (Print Screen) key captures a crisp image of the entire screen to the clipboard. Look for this forgotten key at the top-right area of the keyboard. On different keyboards the key label might be  PrSc, Prt Scn, etc.

Now that the image is in the clipboard, you can paste it inside various applications, such as a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation. You can even paste it into the rather antiquated Paint application. Pasting the image to a PowerPoint slide is probably the most useful, since you can right click on the just-pasted image and select Save as Picture to export the screenshot to an image file in various formats (JPG, GIF, PNG, etc). You can also use PowerPoint’s photo editing capabilities (crop, resize) to edit the image before saving.

Tip: If you need to capture only the active window, as is often the case, clicking Alt-PrtScr (holding the Alt key while clicking PrtScr) will do the trick.

What about Smartphones?
Want to capture a witty SMS exchange and turn it into an image? It’s easy to take snapshots of your smartphone’s screen if you know the right key combination. On Apple gadgets, simply click on the round Home button together with the Lock button. You will hear a click, and a screenshot will be saved to your Camera Roll (iPhone) or Saved Photos (iPad, iPod).

Android users have it a bit more difficult. On most phones running Android 4 you will need to press the Volume Down key together with the Power key, then hold for about 5 seconds. Not easy for people with small hands! You will then hear a click and the screenshot will be saved to the Screenshots folder, which you can view (and share) with the Gallery app. On some Samsung phones, the Power+Home keys does the trick. If neither of these work on your phone, your best bet is to check the user’s manual or to Google it.

Snip, Snip
The Snipping Tool is a great tool that makes it easy to take a snapshot of any area of the screen. The tool is automatically available to the lucky users of Windows Vista, Windows 8, and certain versions of Windows 7 (Home Premium and above). To run, simply click the Start button, then start typing Snipping Tool.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Dzongkha on Windows Phone 8

This morning, on the topic of "Dzongkha on mobile phones", we have some good news and some bad news. 

The good news: We can verify that Microsoft's latest operating system for mobile devices, Windows Phone 8, supports the rendering of Dzongkha Unicode. Users can view documents and webpages in Dzongkha. We are attaching a browser screenshot from the slick new Nokia Lumia 920 displaying a webpage from the Dzongkha Development Commission's website. 

The bad news: A Dzongkha keyboard is not supported. Also, there is no Tibetan keyboard. Thus, there is no way to type Dzongkha (or Tibetan) letters. Hopefully, future updates will add a Dzongkha keyboard to Windows Phone 8.

Devices running Windows Phone 8 include the Nokia Lumia series, the Samsung Ativ and HTC Window Phones. 

The DDC website, as viewed on a Nokia Lumia 920

Upgrading Windows (K2 #53)

Question of the Week
When I tried to install Windows 8 on my Dell Inspiron N5110 laptop, it didn’t work and the screen became black. The same problem happened to my friend who owns the same model. Please help.
— Kencho Nima, Sherubtse College

Answer
Dear Kencho,

Welcome to the risky world of Windows upgrades! Luckily for you, other owners of the same laptop model (Dell Inspiron N5110) have had similar issues, and there are a few workarounds. In fact, when you search Google for “windows 8 dell inspiron n5110” , some of the top results are forum discussions around the infamous black screen issue. Many of these discussions also include solutions. I suggest you follow the threads, and try the workarounds. Here are two such threads: goo.gl/Eey53 and goo.gl/YuvvV.

One needs to think carefully about such upgrades. If your current operating system is serving you well, a major upgrade is something that you should avoid or postpone. One of the main advantages of Windows 8 is support for touch screens, but most existing laptops do not have a touch screen. Windows 7 is a good, solid operating system, and will serve people’s existing computers for years to come.

For people still set on making the leap, Microsoft offers the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant utility at goo.gl/H2YZ6. Download and run the utility to check if your hardware and software are compatible with the new operating system. Even if you get the green light, upgrades often go wrong, so you should always backup your computer first and have a Windows 7 CD in case the Windows 8 installation fails.

New Year Celebrations Around the World

The first place in the world where the New Year is annually celebrated is Kiritimati, an island in the Pacific Ocean. Also known as Christmas Island, Kiritimati is in the furthest timezone (UTC+14), which is 8 hours ahead of Bhutan (UTC+6). To see when 2013 starts around the world, check www.timeanddate.com/counters/firstnewyear.html

Time zones can be confusing, so to find out the current date and time anywhere in the world, Google is your best friend. Search for “Time in Kiritimati” (or any other location) for a quick and authoritative answer.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Does Windows Phone 8 support Dzongkha?

HTC's new 8X, running Windows Phone 8

Dzongkha on mobile phones still presents a major challenge. The Dzongkha-enabled Nokia N900 that we developed back in 2009 as a proof-of-concept is still the only phone that has full support of both the official Dzongkha keyboard and perfect rendering of Dzongkha/Tibetan fonts.

HTC and Nokia have recently announced new phones running Windows Phone 8, Microsoft's recent attempt to grab some market share for mobile devices.

Will Windows Phone 8 support Dzongkha keyboard or display? Well, not according to the specs. Here are the official lists of languages:

Display. The following display languages are supported: Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK and US), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. The specific display languages that are included in your phone are chosen by your mobile operator or phone manufacturer.

On-screen keyboard. The following on-screen keyboard languages are supported: Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK and US), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian. These input languages are available on all phones, regardless of which display languages your mobile operator or phone manufacturer chose to include.

None of the supported Display languages requires complex rendering (such as letter stacking), which might hint that Windows Phone 8 has no support for complex scripts. Whether the support is there but just not enabled remains to be seen. In the meantime, if what you need is a Dzongkha-enabled mobile phone, don't count on Windows Phone 8.

Who viewed my FB profile? (K2 #14)

Question
I got an invitation to a Facebook page promising to show me the list of users who viewed my profile. I am dying to know! Should I accept?
-- Sonam, Wangdue

Answer
There is absolutely no way to know who viewed your profile. Facebook does not provide this functionality, so do not be tempted! Any Facebook Application or web page that claims to show who viewed your Facebook profile is a scam, plain and simple. Yes, many of us are curious to know who's "stalking" us - but resist the temptation and you will prevent your computer from getting infected by a virus.

Question
 I am getting a "Windows Genuine Advantage" warning. How to remove it from my PC?
-- S. J., Haa

Answer
In an effort to combat pirated versions of the Windows operating system, Microsoft has introduced a system that detects illegal Windows installations. This system is called "Windows Genuine Advantage", or WGA. If the system decided that your Windows copy is pirated, a pop-up window will often creep on the bottom right of the desktop with a message such as "This copy of Windows did not pass genuine Windows validation". In addition, it may cause your desktop wallpaper to turn black, which is annoying. Even worse, it will disable the Windows Update feature which is used to patch up your system for security vulnerabilities. So how should one go about this issue? Apart from the obvious solution of using a legal copy of Windows, the web is packed with information on removing WGA. Unsurprisingly, you are not alone! One place to start is tinyurl.com/K2RemoveWGA. And searching for "how to remove wga" on Google will fetch plenty of other links, including some YouTube tutorials. Be extra careful if you decide to take that route, especially when asked to download "WGA removers": these removers might actually be viruses in disguise; also, be careful when asked to edit the Windows registry. If you don't feel comfortable with these tweaks, it might be better to ask a PC technician.

Question
I have formatted my PC but now have two operating systems - both of them are Microsoft Windows XP Professional. How do I delete one of these?
-- Naku, DGPC, Tshimalakha

Answer
Just follow the steps in support.microsoft.com/?kbid=888023

Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Finalizing a CD

I recently discovered that the CD burning software that comes with Windows 7 does not allow you to "finalize" a CD after you burn files to it. Finalizing a CD means that you can no longer write to it. This is unfortunately true also for the burning software that comes with Windows XP and Vista. Their option "Close Session" does not finalize a CD.

Why do I need to finalize a CD? To avoid spreading malware (viruses, trojans, etc.). We use CDs for installing software on different machines, some of them might be infected by malware. A finalized (that is, un-writable) CD is safer than a USB pen-drive for this purpose, because even if inserted into virus-infected computers, the viruses will not transfer to the CD (whereas, they can transfer to a USB pen-drive or to an un-finalized CD!)

Note that CD-R does not mean that the CD becomes un-writable after burning, just like CD-RW.

The solution: Use a CD burning software that allows finalizing. We use Power2Go (paid). A free option that comes recommended (I haven't tried it) is CDBurnerXP. In the screenshot below you can see the option "finalize disc" (below "Device") in CDBurnerXP.