Page Index:
Eric Johnson from Microsoft, Windows XP November 8th, 2001
Cathy Mulhern October 11th, 2001
Capture and Share  September 13th, 2001
Power Quest August 9th, 2001
Joshua Darnell July 12th, 2001
Computer Jeopardy! June 14th, 2001
Ask Dr. Tech May 10th, 2001
Make PCUGR a Better Club  April 12th, 2001
Simple Office Solutions, Santa Rosa   March 8th, 2001
Sonic.net February 8th, 2001
eGems Collector™ 
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition™ 
January 11, 2001

  Microsoft • Thursday  November 8th, 2001

Eric Johnson, Microsoft Channel Marketing Representative.

We have heard a lot of negative comments about it.  We would like to hear Microsoft's side of it.

  What size system is needed to run XP? Will the same system that runs Windows 98 perform better after I convert to Window XP?

  What programs will run on it? We have been hearing rumors that some of our old favorites will not run. Will DOS and Windows 95 run on it? 

  What hardware problems would we watch for?

  Will Windows XP support USB2? If not, why not?

  Who needs Windows XP Professional?  Is XP Professional the upgrade path for Windows 2000?

  What do you get for the extra money you spend for the Professional version?

  Why is the discount for multiple home use so chintzy?

  Please explain product activation.

Come to the meeting and find out if this upgrade should should be in your future!

  Microsoft's XP Home Page

Check out what Lockergnome has to say about XP.


Eric's Resume:
Eric Johnson is our Microsoft Channel Marketing Representative. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and is looking forward to working with some of the finest computer user groups in the country. 

He is a graduate of Sacramento State University with a degree in Marketing. Before coming aboard with Microsoft in Jan 2000 he was employed at Compaq Computer Corporation, fulfilling the duties of a Retail Support representative. His experience in the computer field ranges from:

  •  Basic Networking
 
•  Building Systems for Small Businesses
 
•  Marketing Computer Technologies to Retail Establishments

Eric is looking forward to meeting everyone in our group and sharing knowledge with us regarding Microsoft's new XP operating system and other innovative products.


Cathy Mulhern, Proprietor of "Bytes to Words! Thursday, October 11th


Megahertz, gigahertz, SDRAM, RDRAM, DDRAM, Level 2 cache, front-side bus, blah, blah, blah. We are inundated with a sea of acronyms and technical jargon. What does it all mean? What's important and what's not? 

Come to the October 11 PCUGR General Meeting and cut through some of the fog! 

Cathy Mulhern will give you the lowdown on the Intel CPUs, specifically the differences, pluses and minuses between Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 technology. Bring your questions and all those friends and neighbors who've been asking you their questions! It should be an educational evening!

Cathy provides hardware and software consulting and training focusing on stand-alone systems to small networking environments. She has over 15 years of experience ranging from Mainframes to small computer systems and networks. Her business focuses on teaching "you specifically what you need to know quickly and effectively, because you just don't have time to read the manuals and weed through the information."

She has developed and presented training to the public through recreation departments and educational institutions, to private industry and to government agencies. She is a SRJC instructor teaching classes in beginning and advanced web page design as well as an introduction to the PC class. She is expert in computer and Internet hardware including modem/DSL installation-usage and real-time data acquisition systems. Her network expertise covers Win9x/ME/NT/2000 and she is a Novell Certified CNA.

Cathy was G R E A T !


 "Capture and Share"    Thursday, September 13th

"Digital imaging, that is the use of digital cameras, scanners and other visual input devices, is a significant trend in computing today. 

The major benefits of digital imaging are the ease of use, transferability of captured images, and the cost savings related to going digital. How ready is the technology? Realize that most of the images you now see in printed publications are already digital images. Now, it's your opportunity to learn how simple and inexpensive it is to capture and share your own images. 
Ed Weber has been the North Bay's HP representative for the past five years. His knowledge and expertise in this area is significant. On Thursday, September 13th, Ed will offer a straightforward presentation, demonstration and valuation of digital imaging, with a focus on digital photography. Be sure to attend this "Capture and Share" presentation to improve your understanding of your own role the future of digital photography. 

For more information, you can email Ed directly at netweber


 • Thursday  August 9th, 2001

Divide it, format it, re-arrange it, make it more efficient, back it up and more!

PARTITION MAGIC, DRIVE IMAGE, DATAKEEPER and other utilities by POWERQUEST make these tasks easy.

In technical terms, these are known as Partitioning, Formatting etc. and there are many ways to do these tasks. Some ways are difficult, others are easy. .Gene and Linda Barlow from User Group Relations will visit our user group this month and show you how.

After 34 years working for IBM Gene and Linda created User Group Relations to offer professional presentations of products. They've become well-known, respected and liked among the user group community and regularly visit user groups throughout North America.

From the beginning, Gene and Linda have been strong and enthusiastic supporters of user groups (see their website).

Much of their emphasis has been promoting POWERQUEST products but Gene has also become a much-welcomed presenter because of his ability and willingness to help us know and understand our hard drives better. Gene's tutorials on How To Organize Your Hard Drive, Running Multiple Operating Systems and How To Protect Your Hard Drive are worth paying money for but he offers them FREE in his presentations.

 

As an organization tool, PartitionMagic V6 is unique. Create, resize, merge, and convert partitions without destroying data! Exceptional ease of use with wizard functionality makes partitioning tasks effortless.

DRIVE IMAGE complements PARTITION MAGIC. Using DRIVE IMAGE after your system is set up makes the backup process easy. DRIVE IMAGE V4 lets you write images directly to CD-R and CD-RW devices. POWERQUEST's

DATAKEEPER feature adds another level of protection for users' important data by including continuous data backup.

 

As time permits, Gene will demonstrate many of the newest products from POWERQUEST and answer your questions.

There will be special User Group prices and product will be available at the meeting so you can take it home with you. Door Prizes and literature, of course.


 Thursday  July 12th, 2001

Anything you can do in Windows, you can do with Linux -- for free...it just takes more work

Joshua will be talking about Linux, including the different distributions and ways to configure them. This will include how to tweak your video, recommended hardware, and a description of the many applications available...and also where you might find them. He will talk about firewalling, DNS, DHCP, Web and data servers, and Windows/Linux networking.
Joshua is currently a System Administrator and Programmer for HomeSeekers.com, a web-based MLS service, Joshua has had much experience working in a Windows2000/IIS5/SQL2000 enterprise. During this time, he has also consulted with small businesses looking to avoid the often restrictive licensing fees that Microsoft charges. He has experience with Source solutions such as Linux, MySQL, and GreatBridge's implementation of Postresql Database Server. 

Joshua attended the local Junior College and then Berkeley as a Math/CIS major, but dropped out to learn about computers and save enough money to attend Reed College (a small, radical liberal-arts college in Portland, OR.) His hobbies include: eating Thai and Chinese food, building specialized workstations and servers, traveling, playing Blues Guitar, playing Arabic and Bulgarian Drums, reading, and sitting in front of his computer all day. He couldn't survive without a high-speed Internet connection. He also enjoys watching movies and arguing with his friends.

You can contact Joshua at jdarnell


Computer

 
Computer Jeopardy Thursday, June 14th, 2001 

That's right, computer users and game show fans. PCUGR is presenting, for your entertainment and edification, Computer Jeopardy! We will have some of our computer whizzes available to be contestants, but if *you* think you know something about computers terminology, hardware, software or history, step right on up and show us your stuff!  We *will* be asking for audience participants. It will be loads of fun to see who knows what and we guarantee you will learn something in the process as well. 

Come on out. Invite your friends. Root for you favorite contestant and marvel at all of their arcane knowledge.


William Lam President & CEO of "Ask DR. Tech"

Thursday, May 10th, 2001  

Mr. Lam founded Ask Dr. Tech in April 1999, and serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. The lack of available quality computer support became evident to Mr. Lam as his many friends and family members came to depend on him for technical help. Realizing the opportunity, he quickly began building both his team and vision to launch a company that will revolutionize the computer support industry by making sure everyone has the support they need for worry-free computing.

If you join Ask DR. Tech you will get a comprehensive set of support resources for your computer. Phone Support for members is toll-free phone call. The doctor is always in, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to provide you guidance and answers to keep you and your computer up and running. Just call 1-800-ask-dr-tech.

Online Support is also available for members either online and via email or use the Online Call Back feature where a support specialist contacts you by phone.

Online Help Tools are available. They provide members with easy-to-understand "how-to's" and other automated support tools. Learn all about your PC, from maximizing performance to customizing your system.


  Make PCUGR a better Club • Thursday, April 12th, 2001

This was our Annual Evaluation event! At this meeting we started the process of forming more SIGs. Like minded people meet to expand their knowledge of computer related topics. SIGs are an easy inexpensive way to learn more about something that is quickly becoming a required household appliance. In a SIG, you don't have to be an expert to join, but you do need to be willing to share your knowledge however small it may be. Don't get left behind.  Check out our SIG listings.


 Simple Office Solutions, Santa Rosa • Thursday, March 8th, 2001

Demystifying Printers, Scanners, Fax Machines and Their Relatives in the Digital Age

The presentation was by Lee Hall, co-owner and service department manager of Simple Office Solutions in Santa Rosa. Lee told us about the evolution in office machines from “the crude to the resolute” and will explained how many of the output peripherals we commonly use such as printers, scanners, fax machines and copier machines function. 

We learned about the differences between inkjet and laser technology and the similarities between the printers, scanners, fax machines and copiers of today and how they work together in the new multi-function units such as 4-in-1 printer/scanner/copier/fax machines. Lee also discussed the selection, repair and cost effectiveness of these machines for the business and home user.


February 8th, 2001 

Sonic.net  Was Here to Answer Our Questions
Our February presenter was Matt Kirk from Sonic.net. Sonic.net is Santa Rosa's own locally grown national ISP and the official ISP of the PCUGR.  Matt talked to us about many different aspects of the Internet. He covered basic topics such as the function of an ISP to spam email and how one can reduce it. Matt also covered availability of high speed access in Sonoma County such as DSL, cable access, T1 and the specifics of what these products are.

PCUGR's own Jeff Basham, Technical Support Representative at Sonic.net, joined Matt to host a question and answer session at the end of the presentation.


eGems Collector™ • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition™ January 11, 2001
Our January meeting will be double-header beginning with Russell Jacobsen from eGems Software. eGems is a simple, graphical application which helps users to organize and maintain facts, quotes, images or any other type of electronic information while maintaining links to the reference sources allowing a convenient retrace when desired. eGems can be used by anyone doing research through the Internet or email including hobbyists, students and researchers.

Our second presentation will be given by Eric Johnson from Microsoft Corporation who will demonstrate the newest operating system for the home PC, the Windows Millennium Edition (Windows ME).



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