Fix Internet Explorer security, even for XP - & a trap to watch out for

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You should have heard there's a security hole  in Internet Explorer versions 6 to 11 (ie most modern versions), a fatal flaw which could let attackers plant malware on your PC. This zero day vulnerability, announced by Microsoft a few days ago, was considered serious enough that the US and UK authorities issued warnings about it, as did the EU security agency ENISA.

To their credit, Microsoft in short order released a fix for this critical issue - even for browsers running on Windows XP, for which support has now ended generally (so if you're still on XP, for the sake of your security you should move off it ASAP).

How to update your Internet Explorer for the fix? Use Windows Update. For many people you'll be prompted to type 'Windows Update' in your Start menu search box.

There is one trap you have to watch if you have your Windows Update settings set to 'Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them'. (I use that setting because Windows updates have been known to stop computers from starting up altogether! So, for non-critical updates, I usually wait a few days and search to see if there have been cries of despair online about failure or inability to boot after the new update, before I apply the update to my own computers.)

If you have that setting for Windows Update, after you check for updates you MUST click on '1 important update is available'  (or '2 important updates'. or whatever it says):

When you do that, you'll see the list of important updates. Now here's the important bit: on my Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers, often items in the list of important updates are NOT ticked by default. You have to manually tick them. This is what happened to me in the case of the critical Internet Explorer update on Windows 8.1. The option was not ticked!

So you must tick all the important updates, especially that one. Then you can go ahead and click all the 'Install' / 'OK' buttons, and restart your computer when prompted.

I've noticed this happen many times with Windows 7 and Windows 8 Windows updates. Also, important updates like Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender are often listed under 'Optional' updates rather than 'Important' updates, so you must go and check your Optional updates too, which is not good. I hope Microsoft fixes it so that security updates, especially critical ones, are all TICKED by default without users having to check, and that security updates are all under the 'Important' rather than 'Optional' section.

Open Word or Excel document read-only - add context menu item

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If you'd like to right-click on a Word or Excel document in Windows Explorer to open it as read-only, supposedly you should be able to hold down the Shift key, rightclick on the filename, and there should be an option to "Open as Read-Only".

However, choosing this Shift-rightclick option doesn't actually open the document as read-only. This seems to be a known bug in Office 2003 and Office 2007, and also in Office 2010 and Excel 2010.

There's one workaround and one fix.

Open in protected view

The workaround is that, if you Shift-rightclick on a Word or Excel .xls file in Windows Explorer, there's also an option to "Open in Protected View".

Choose that, and it works pretty much as read-only: you can't change anything, you can't save, but you can copy/paste from that document. This works for Excel as well as Word.

Rightclick context menu item

What solves the problem completely in Word, which I used myself, is to edit things to add a new rightclick Open Read-only context menu option that actually works to open Word documents as read-only. I based this solution on a combo of this post (which wasn't actually on opening read only) and this page (about opening read-only, but for XP only, not later versions of Windows).

Here's how to add a right-click context menu item to open Word files as read only, properly - works for me using Windows 7 and Word 2010:

First, download FileTypesMan (free, but donate if you can, the man certainly deserves it!) - you have to scroll quite a way down for the "Download FileTypesMan" link (I used "Download FileTypesMan for x64" as my computer is Windows 7 Pro 64-bit).

Next, unzip/extract the files (rightclick on the zip fiule downloaded and Extract all to create a new unzipped folder) and open the new folder, then run FileTypesMan.exe.

On the left, scroll down till you find and highlight .docx (or use menu Edit > Find and and type docx to find it, make sure you then highlight that line):

Now in the menu choose Actions > New Action (or press Ctrl-n).

In the box that pops up, fill it in like this (and see diagram just above the list):

• Action name - I used  "Open read-only" without the quotes, you could just use "Read only" etc as you prefer
• Menu Caption - I used "Open read-only" again
• Command-Line - you can click Browse to find your Winword.exe under Program Files or Program Files (x86) (you will have to drill down to find Microsoft Office, Office14 or Office11 etc depending on your version), or Select from Running Programs if Word is already running, which is the easiest. You could alternatively enter the full path to Winword.exe, with quotes around it, as shown below, but it's easiest to Select from Running Programs (you can launch Word just before you click Select and it should work, just scroll down to find it in the "Select Process" list, possibly to the end):

After you've used Browse or Select, it will fill in the Command-Line box for you with something like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\WINWORD.EXE" "%1"

Now, you have to edit what's in the Command-Line box, by inserting after the "%1" the following (which you can copy/paste from the next line) - just after the 1 but before the close double quotes, and make sure there's a space between the 1 and the first /:
/h /n /dde

In my case, the Command-Line box ended up reading like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\WINWORD.EXE" "%1 /h /n /dde"

Next, in the DDE section in the Message box, you should enter  the following, which again you can copy/paste:
[AppShow][REM _DDE_ReadWriteOnSave][FileOpen .Name="%1",.Revert=0,.ReadOnly=1]

(In the Application box you can enter Word if you like, but it will still work even if you don't.)

Finally, click OK. This adds a new Action to the bottom half of the FileTypesMan window, which you can doubleclick to edit in future.

Now, when you rightclick (no need to hold down the Shift key) a docx document in Windows Explorer, you will have a working "Open read-only" menu option (or whatever title you gave it in the "Menu caption" box above).

Furthermore, in FileTypesMan you can select (in the lefthand column) the type .doc for old-style Word documents, and rinse and repeat the steps above, if you wish.

Excel protected view - rightclick only

For Excel spreadsheets, unfortunately the above fix doesn't work, so you have to open them in protected view.

But to make life easier for yourself, you can use FileTypesMan to change things so that you don't have to Shift-rightclick to get the "Open in Protected View" menu option. Here's how to get that option to display just on a simple rightclick:

In FileTypesMan, find and highlight.xls on the left (scroll or search, as with docx above).

Now in the bottom half of the window, find and doubleclick "ViewProtected" (outlined in red above).

In the box that pops up, UNtick "Extended", and OK:

Now a simple rightclick, as opposed to Shift-rightclick, will call up the "Open in Protected View" option.

Error 0x80070052 The directory or file cannot be created - can't delete files - solution

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Can't delete folders or files? I kept getting error code 0x80070052 in Windows when trying to delete files, and they just wouldn't delete. Bit of a problem.

However I found that I could permanently delete files (hold down Shift when selecting Delete or pressing the Del key). Ie bypassing the Recycle Bin.

I kicked myself when I realised the answer was simple. Just empty the recycle bin first! (Just rightclick it and choose Empty, for those unfamiliar with the process. It make take a while.) Then you can delete documents, pictures and other files again.

Nothing to do with file or folder rights or permissions, just as well as I couldn't take ownership of files where I was already the owner!

I just wish the error code was "Recycle Bin too full, please empty it!". That would have been rather more helpful.

Hope my posting this tip saves others some searching.

(If you get error 0x80070052 with USB flash drives apparently the solution there is to move files at the root into an existing folder, or new folder if you can create it.)

Secure your computer against Windows .lnk shortcut zero day vulnerability

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If you use Windows, you should install anti-malware vendor Sophos's free Windows Shortcut Exploit Protection Tool ASAP - so called because a recently discovered "zero day exploit" enables attackers to use Windows shortcut link files (.lnk files) to run malicious code on your computer when you visit a dodgy website, open a dodgy document, plug in a dodgy USB stick (or open an infected folder on your network, load a dodgy DVD or CD - you get the drift, anything that gets Windows to display the icon of a manipulated file).

You don't even have to click anything to get infected. Bad guys have been having a field day with this security vulnerability but unfortunately Microsoft haven't issued a full fix yet (their suggested workaround blanks out your Start menu shortcut icons), so kudos to Sophos for announcing the provision of their free tool to block the exploit from running on your computer.

Just check your computer for malware first (there are free tools to do that, e.g. NOD32 ESET and Microsoft's Security Essentials), then download the Sophos tool and run it (or click the link and click Run) to install Sophos's blocking tool. Sophos say it won't interfere with any existing anti virus software.

Here's a Sophos video with more info about the problem.

Tags: malware, security vulnerability, security vulnerabilities, zero day vulnerabilities, exploits, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Windows: print list of files & folders easily

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For how to print a listing of files and folders in a particular Windows directory or folder on your computer (including external hard drives), Karen's free Directory Printer is a great sophisticated tool with the ability to drill down and print the contents of selected subfolders too.

But if you only want a quick and dirty printout listing the names of the files and top level folders in one particular folder (and you don't need a list of what's inside sub-directories too), here's a tip - simply use a web browser. And, if your folder structure is not too complex, you can navigate to and get and print subfolder listings without too much trouble too.

Note that this trick doesn't work with Internet Explorer, which just opens up a Windows Explorer window showing the contents of the folder - but it works with all other popular free browsers like Firefox, Opera, and even Google's Chrome.

How to print listing of files and folders in a particular directory or folder

1. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and navigate to the folder you want; open it so you're viewing its contents.
   
   
   
2. Click in the address bar (or hold down Alt and tap d). This displays the "real" folder address or path and highlights it.
   
   
   
3. Copy the selected address into clipboard (rightclick it and Copy or hold down Ctrl and tap c).
4. Now go to your browser (use anything but IE - try Firefox).
5. Click in the browser address bar (or Alt d, yep that works in browsers too), then paste the copied folder address (Ctrl v or rightclick and paste).
6. Then click Go or hit the Enter button in your browser, and the contents of the folder you want are listed in the browser like a webpage.
   
   Firefox
   
   Opera
   
   
   Chrome
   
   
   
7. You can now just print the page as you'd normally do for webpages (menu File -> Print or Ctrl p).

That's it. As you can see it'll even show info on file sizes and date last modified, and you can click the links to open files or folders to navigate round some more.

Interestingly for trivia fans, what they show in the address bar is different - with Fox showing (in my example) file:///K:/My%20Documents/test/, Chrome file:///K:/My%20Documents/test/ and Opera file://localhost/K:/My%20Documents/test.

Tags: listing folders, listing directories, tip, trick, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

New Windows XP security issue - fix for non-geeks

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For those with Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 there's a recently discovered security issue involving Windows Help and Support Center which could allow bad hackers to take over your computer. For this one, though, you're OK if you're on Vista or Windows 7.

Microsoft said "This vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using a Web browser or clicks a specially crafted link in an e-mail message." (See also this Microsoft blog post.)

How to fix the vulnerability

This zero day vulnerability doesn't seem to have been exploited yet, but for non-technical readers, the easiest way to protect your computer is to use this automated hotfix from Microsoft (direct link). That page also contains a link to undo or disable the fix as and when a permanent security update is produced and rolled out by Microsoft.

It's more of a workaround than a fix, and be warned that doing that may block innocuous activity, e.g. some of your Control Panel links may stop working. (You could undo the fix temporarily then re-enable it when you're done, perhaps!)

Incidentally the way this issue was reported by a Google security researcher (full details were published before a fix was found) has raised some hackles at Microsoft in relation to "responsible disclosure" of security vulnerabilities.

Tags: security issues, security vulnerabilities, security vulnerability, Windows Help, hcp, zero day vulnerability, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Open Word document as read-only (one-off)

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Previously I covered how to set a Microsoft Word document to open read-only as standard. Now, here's a tip on how to open a Microsoft Word document in read-only mode on just a one-off basis (Word 2003, but I think it's similar in 2007).

1. When you choose the menu File > Open, single left click on the document you want to open on a read-only basis on this occasion.
2. Next, on the bottom right of the File Open dialog box, click the down arrow to the right of the "Open" button, outlined in red in the pic below:
   
   
3. Then in the menu that comes up, pick "Open Read-Only", and that's it, the selected document will now open in readonly form!

It's somewhat tucked away, isn't it? Well here's another trick - if you want to open a Word document as read-only through Windows Explorer or My Computer, there's also a way: just hold down the Shift key, rightclick on the filename, and there'll be an "Open as Read-only" option in the rightclick context menu, which you can select (works in Vista anyway):

Tags: Microsoft Word, Word, tricks, read-only, readonly, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Internet Explorer, Outlook: update ASAP!

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Yesterday Microsoft issued a Windows security update for the Internet Explorer browser exploit that had been, well, exploited by cyberspies to get data from the computers of Google and other companies, as I previously mentioned. Criminals have already started using the same security vulnerability. The security hole can affect other Microsoft products like Outlook, Heise Security have pointed out.

If you haven't already got the update for your Internet Explorer, make sure you do. The easiest way is via Windows Update. Those who have it set to automatically download and install Windows Updates should have had it installed automatically.

If not, be sure to manually check for Windows updates and install - find Windows Updates via your Start Menu, check, download and install - or download and install the version suitable for your version of Windows and your browser from Microsoft. (For beginners - to find your browser version go to the Help > About Internet Explorer menu. If you're a non-techie your computer is very likely a 32 bit rather than 64 bit system.)

Notepad: save non-TXT files without .txt ending e.g. html files

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I still often use Notepad in Windows for quickly producing simple html or js files and the like.

One pain is that when you "Save" or "Save as" a file in Notepad, the program automatically sticks a "txt" at the end of the filename so you end up with a file called something like "myfile.html.txt" - which really doesn't work properly as an html file (or whatever) until you rename it to get rid of the ".txt". Or you have to change the "Save as type" box, which is an extra step.

Here's a tip which I only recently discovered, I don't recall where from, which saves you all that hassle - read on for how to save non-text files quickly without a .txt being appended to the end of the file name.

When you choose Save or Save as, in the File Name box just type the name of your file with .html or .htm (or whatever extension you need) as the ending, but surround the filename with doublequotes. NOT single quotes, it has to be double quotes (Shift 2 usually). Like this, where I've used "myfile.html" as the filename:

Then choose your file location and Save it, and you'll find that even though you didn't touch the "Save as type" box, it's been saved with exactly the right file extension - no annoying extra "txt" at the end. I love tricks like these!

Tags: Notepad, file extensions, tricks, trick, tip, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Vista: how to view Windows Explorer full path, banish breadcrumbs!

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If like me you hate that in Vista the address bar in the file manager (Windows Explorer / Computer) shows a line or trail of "bread crumbs" with arrows, instead of the proper full path to the folder you're viewing (hierarchical directory structure), here's a simple tip for how to get the folder path to display.

Alt d (hold down the Alt key, press & release the d key) will make the Windows Explorer address bar show the proper folder path, e.g. K:\videos\GGD. The Esc key gets you back to the bread crumb / arrrows view, if you really must.

The path is even highlighted after you go Alt-d, so you can copy the directory path straight into your clipboard by using Ctrl-c. Easy way to get work round a major annoyance!

True, you can left click to the right of the address bar (after the breadcrumbs lists) to make the full path visible and highlighted. Or rightclick on the breadcrumb line itself to get options to copy the address or edit address (Edit address gives the same results as leftclicking after the breadcrumbs; Copy address as text is more useful than Copy address alone as you can paste the path anywhere else then).

And I acknowledge that the Vista bread crumbs view’s clickable folder path has its uses (the post linked to also points out that you can navigate up a directory by using the Alt up arrow hotkey combo even though the Up Arrow button has vanished from Vista; for anyone interested, an alternative for going up a folder is to hit the Backspace key then Enter/Return).

But, as a keyboard shortcuts fan who doesn’t want to have to move hands away from the keyboard in order to get stuff done, I’m quite pleased to have discovered the Alt-D trick (the hotkey equivalent for clicking to the right of the address bar, effectively), as this issue had really been bugging me.

More handy hotkeys for navigating Explorer:

• Alt-left arrow (or right arrow) to go back or forwards in your “history” of Explorer use, respectively.
  
• Tab takes you from folder pane on the left to the file list on the right, and Shift-Tab back again.

Finding a file by keyboard in Windows Explorer – just type its name, normally

One good change in Vista: if you try to navigate to a file or folder in the Windows Explorer list by typing letters then, as long as you type the letters of the filename fast enough (and subsequent letters of the filename aren’t the same as the previous letter), you can now simply type the first letter then the rest of the file or directory name as most normal human beings would expect. E.g. to go to a file named “consumer” in the list of files I just type “c”, then “o”, then “n” etc until it comes up with the file.

In XP, you have to type only the first letter of the filename, repeatedly, until you get to the file you want. In this case, “c”, “c”, “c”, etc until I’d got past all the other filenames which start with “c” but occur alphabetically before “consumer”! (This method still works in Vista if you really prefer it - just pause a bit before typing the letter, e.g. “c”, again.)

Tags: Windows Explorer, Explorer, file manager, annoyances, tricks, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Firefox search box too slow (Vista)?

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In Windows Vista, if Firefox 3 is too slow, freezes or hangs when you're trying to search by typing a search term in its search bar or search box (outlined in red on the right in the pic below), or in its address bar (on the left) when using a custom Firefox keyword search, you could try the following possible fix for the problem. For me it started when I was searching, rather than typing the web address directly in the browser address bar.

I found the solution outlined in this helpful post so, for non-techies, here's a step by step pictorial guide on how to do it:

1. In the Firefox address bar, type:
   about:config
   (as shown on the left in the pic above).
   
2. If you get the following warning, click "I'll be careful, I promise!"
   
   
   
3. In the resulting Filter box, type:
   v6
   - and you should get this coming up:
   
   
4. If under the "Value" column for network.dns.disableIPv6 it already says "true", then sorry, your problem must be caused by something else and you'll have to try some other method of troubleshooting.
   
5. But if the value of network.dns.disableIPv6 is currently "false", just change it to "true" by doubleclicking on the "network.dns.disableIPv6" line, and you'll get this:
   
   
   

You could then close and restart Firefox first just in case, though I found I didn’t had to.

That solved it for me - searching via the Firefox address bar or search box had suddenly inexplicably started becoming agonisingly slow, hourglassing, not responding or not working at all, but after doing that fix the searching instantly started working properly again. Hope the same trick will work for you if your Firefox search grinds to a halt too!

Tags: speed, slow, productivity, troubleshooting, problems, Firefox, browser, tricks, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Microsoft SeaPort Search Enhancement Broker, Office Live add-in toolbar – how to uninstall / disable

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Here’s tips on how to disable or get rid of two unwelcome additions that just seem to install themselves whether you choose to install them or not (unbeknownst to you, in the case of SeaPort at least!):

1. Microsoft SeaPort Search Enhancement Broker.
   
   
2. Office Live add-in toolbar.
   

What is Microsoft SeaPort Search Enhancement Broker?

The description against SeaPort in Services (see below) says:

“Enables the detection, download and installation of up-to-date configuration files for Microsoft Search Enhancement applications. Also provides server communication for the customer experience improvement program. If this service is disabled, search enhancement features such as search history may not work correctly.”

I’m not entirely sure from that description exactly what Seaport does, but I think I know how I got it: from Windows Live (see Back-story below if you’re interested).

How to get rid of i.e. disable Microsoft SeaPort Search Enhancement Broker

From an online forum I found out SeaPort was running as a service, so here’s how to stop it if you want to - at your own risk etc (if you believe that it’s needed for “search enhancement features” then feel free to leave it alone if you wish!).

I like keyboard shortcuts so this is the way I’d use:

1. Vista: click the Start menu and in the "Start Seach" box just type (without the quote marks) "services.msc", then hit Enter.
   
   
2. XP:
   
   1. Hold down the Windows key (next to the Alt key) and tap the r key and release both keys. (Non-keyboard way - Start menu, Run)
      
      
   2. In the window that pops up, type: services.msc
      

3. Click OK and a window like the following should come up:
   
   
   
4. Scroll down to locate SeaPort under the Name column and click on that line to select it.
   
   
5. Then rightclick on the highlighted SeaPort line and choose Properties:
   
   
   
6. In the window that appears, click the dropdown arrow under Startup type and choose Disabled (or Manual, if you want to play it safe and allow it to start itself up manually – but then you’re not really stopping it from doing whatever it wants to do on your system).
   
   
   
7. Then click OK, but before you do that, if you want to stop SeaPort as it’s currently running, click the Stop button (outlined in red above), let it do its thing and then OK.
   
   
8. There you go, it’s stopped and Disabled from starting again (unless you picked Manual), and you can close the Services window.
   
   
9. (If you have problems with your Search History and want to get it back, just repeat the above but choose Automatic from the dropdown in step 6 instead of Disabled.)
   

Note: Is SeaPort related to searching IE history? My Internet Explorer history sidebar had recently stopped working (I couldn’t access the sidebar for History, Favorites, anything, though the info was still recorded behind the scenes) but I’ve got it back now through reverting to IE 7 (I was using IE 8 beta 2) and fiddling with the add-ons, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with SeaPort. Especially as I’ve always stopped SeaPort from accessing the Internet whenever my firewall popped up a warning about it, yet I can access my IE history. Maybe it’s only the searching of my Search History that’ll be affected by SeaPort, who knows. I think it’s unrelated anyway. But I'm mentioning this so you know, in case getting rid of SeaPort causes history problems for you.

How to get rid of i.e. uninstall the Microsoft Office Live addin toolbar

This one’s easier, thanks to this (to uninstall the download):

1. Go to Start menu, Control Panel.
   
   
2. Then doubleclick Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista).
   
   
3. Wait for the list to come up, scroll down to find “Microsoft Office Live Add-in Beta”, and then click Uninstall or Remove and follow the instructions to remove the add in.

Back-story i.e. allow me my grumble

Those two things got installed recently through upgrading my Microsoft Windows Live Writer blogging software, which I’ve been using for a few months and had been really happy with (expect a review at some point). But those two additions I’m not so happy with, as I didn’t ask for them and wasn’t told about them, even if they let people use Word, PowerPoint or Excel with their Microsoft Office Live “online workspaces”, kind of Microsoft’s competitor to Google’s Docs.
Put it this way, I would prefer that all Windows Live software boxes are not ticked by default when you try to install just one product. I’m pretty sure I unticked everything except Live Writer when I tried to upgrade Writer, but the toolbar and “Seaport Search Enhancement” still got installed. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I didn't see any option to untick the Toolbar. It also used up some of my bandwidth capacity downloading 134MB of Windows Live software (including for Messenger, Mail, Gallery, etc) just to install the one Live product I wanted. I unticked the toolbar from Word’s View, Toolbars menu but it kept coming back whenever I reopened Word so I went hunting for how to get rid of it. It would have been helpful to see an explanation of SeaPort when it was being installed, so I knew what it was, rather than being surprised when my firewall first alerted me to its presence.

(UPDATED to move howto higher etc. )

Tags: Microsoft SeaPort Search Enhancement Broker, Windows Live, Microsoft Windows Live, Microsoft Office Live Add-in toolbar, tricks, uninstall, disable, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Open & print .ps PostScript files (Windows)

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If you download / receive a document in Adobe PostScript .ps format on a Windows computer, you may find that you can't easily view it or even open it, let alone print it out. Which may be a problem if you need to read that file!

How to view or print a .PS file in Windows

The easiest way I've found to see and print PostScript files in Windows is this:

1. Download and install GhostScript (free for non-commercial use).
   
   
2. Download and install GhostView, aka GSview (also free).
   
   
3. Launch Ghostview (GSview.exe) and File, Open the .ps file in GhostView - not in Ghost Script, which just presents a scary blank window. It should display fine in Ghost View:
   
   
   
4. Then just read or print it from GhostView as normal - make sure that "Windows GDI printer" is ticked under "Print Method", outlined in red below (it should be already, but check it in case):
   
   
   

Related tips / issues

Convert PS file to PDF

With GhostView you can easily convert the currently-open PS file to the more common PDF file format.

Choose File menu, Convert, and OK the default options (or tweak 'em first if you want, e.g. to convert only selected pages):

Then just browse to where you want to save the .pdf file, and enter the filename you want (but after the filename make sure you add ".pdf" without the quotes, before you finally hit "Save").

Automatically open .ps file in web browser

A bonus is that after you install GhostView, if you click a link to a PostScript file in a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox, and you choose Open, it will thereafter automatically open in GhostView.

Note

PostScript is used a lot for electronic publishing / desktop publishing, e.g. by universities / academics, but perhaps not very often otherwise. Still, sometimes when you're searching for information on the internet, what you're looking may be available only as a PS file.

When I was trying to find help or a guide on how to print a Postscript file, at first I could only find webpages or posts which advised using PrintFile or doing even scarier tweaks - but it takes time to try to figure out and input the right settings for your particular printer, and it just didn't work for me however much I tweaked things. The method I suggest above is much easier, simpler and faster: I hope this tip saves you some time trying to hunt for solution to the Windows PostScript printing issue!

Tags: PostScript, Post Script, PS, Adobe, GhostScript, GhostView, GSView, PDF, Portable Document Format, printing, print, trick, howto, howtos, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Windows RPC security hole: update your PC!

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If you use Windows on your computer, e.g. XP or Vista, it's best to immediately install a critical security update that was released last week, if you haven't already - see Security Bulletin MS08-067 for download links (click on the name of your version of Windows e.g. (direct links:) Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, to get to the download page for your operating system version).

There's already malware out there called Gimmiv.A which will send your system information and certain passwords stored on your system (e.g. Outlook Express) to the bad guys.

But potentially it's worse than that - as Microsoft put it, the security vulnerability "could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to compromise your Microsoft Windows-based system and gain control over it".

So go patch your system immediately by downloading and running the MS08-067 security update, if you've not done it yet.

(Via Heise Security who have more links e.g. to a post showing what Gimmiv.A does.)

Tags: internet security, computer security, RPC, online security, security holes, security vulnerabilities, XP, Vista, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Thunderbird won't open or launch in XP?

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Are you having problems trying out the free open source Mozilla Thunderbird email software on Windows XP - in that you can't open Thunderbird at all?

If, when you attempt to launch or open Thunderbird after installation, either nothing seems to happen at all or else the Import box (offering to import your settings from Outlook etc) pops up but then vanishes when you select an option, and Thunderbird still won't come up - well you're not alone.

I had this problem too. Nothing happened at all when I installed and tried to open Thunderbird. Frustratingly, in the Task Manager I could see that Thunderbird.exe was visible on the Processes tab, but not the Applications tab. No amount of killing the process, or uninstalling and reinstalling Thunderbird, would fix it: it was there, but invisible and inaccessible.

Finally, after too much time spent trying to troubleshoot this, I realised what the problem was.

I'd previously tried out Thunderbird, some months ago, but decided at that time that I didn't get on with it, so I uninstalled it. Unfortunately, the uninstallation didn't work very well (so a smack and a spanking for whoever was responsible for that!). It left guff behind that it shouldn't have, and that stuff was messing things up when I tried to install, or rather reinstall, it.

So here's the solution which worked for me (and I hope this tip helps someone else):

1. Uninstall Thunderbird (Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs).
   
   
2. In Windows Explorer / My Computer, find the Mozilla Thunderbird program folder which should have been deleted but wasn't - on my system it was in C:\Program Files\. Delete that Mozilla Thunderbird program folder (obviously, don't delete Program Files, just the Mozilla Thunderbird folder inside Program Files).
   
   
3. One more Thunderbird folder to delete - on my system it was in C:\Documents and Settings\My User Name\Local Settings\Application Data, real user name blanked out in the screenshot below. (Obviously it won't be "My User Name" on your system, it'll be your username). Nuke that Thunderbird folder too.
   
   
   
4. Now, go ahead and re-install Thunderbird.

Hopefully it should now work, if the source of your problem was the same as mine. (If not, I don't know what else to try - you could try asking for help on the Thunderbird support forums.)

Tags: Thunderbird, Mozilla Thunderbird, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience

Home wi-fi networking: basic practical guide for non-techies

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This post is a practical introductory primer / tutorial, with pitfalls to avoid and troubleshooting tips, on how to set up a home network via the most common type of wireless networking, wi fi, using a wireless router - such as the box provided by your internet service provider (like the BT Home Hub pictured above). Typically this box can serve as a wireless access point for your home's "local area network" (LAN) as well as a gateway from your home network to the Internet, to enable all computers in your home to connect through the router to the internet as well as to each other.

I cover just Windows computers (XP service pack 2 or Vista only) - Windows XP SP2 and above comes with a wireless zero configuration (WZC) utility which makes it much easier to get everything working. (Getting the Asus Eee, which runs its own version of Linux, to access other computers on a Windows network consistently, and maintain that access, is a whole different kettle of fish - and if I figure it out I'll post separately about it.)

I'm writing this tutorial because most of the articles I found online mostly either gave too little info to be of much practical use to me, or were too technical for non-geeks to figure out. My focus is on fundamental practical concepts that non-techies need to know in order to set things up properly and do some basic troubleshooting, as with my practical guide to connecting audiovisual equipment to your TV (set top boxes etc) - so there'll be no detailed explanations (except on security, because it's important).

The basic principles will be the same for all, although my examples use BT Broadband (which is via an ADSL connection) and the BT Home Hub as that's what I've used the most, and also illustrations using XP Pro.

1. What's wifi home networking?

The wireless feature of the BT Home Hub and other routers can provide you with a wi-fi wireless local area network or WLAN, which is certainly very convenient: via the router, different computers in your home and even devices like smartphones and the iPod touch, situated in different parts of your home, even different floors, can connect to the internet and to each other, i.e. a wireless network, all at the same time - without needing any cables or wires.

The basic principle is that you connect each computer to your router, and thereby connect them to each other in a single network. The router is the "hub" of it all, at the center of a "star".

The router itself connects to the Internet through your phone line (phone socket connected via cable to router) or cable modem. So, the computers connect to the Internet through their connection to the router.

Wired connection. If your router has a networking Ethernet port and your desktop computer also does, then you could if you prefer connect them together with an Ethernet RJ45 cable instead of wirelessly - the cable's cheap, or might even have been supplied by your ISP. No setting up is needed for that except to plug one end of the cable into the router and the other end into the computer's ethernet port, while both are switched off of course. Indeed, personally I think it's best that at least one of your home computers should be connected to your router via a wired network connection.

Wireless connection. A wifi WLAN is pretty straightforward to set up these days. For notebooks / laptops, wireless networking via wi fi wireless radio signals is much easier, unless perhaps it's a laptop that stays just in one location as a desktop replacement. Line of sight strictly isn't necessary for wi fi to work, though it's better if possible. The range of the wi fi signals is variable and depends on the environment (wall thickness, distance, interference from digital cordless phones, metal etc) - could be 10 feet, could be 300 feet. With my BTHomeHub in my own home "reception" is fine on a different floor, about 20 feet away.

2. Equipment - router and all computers to be networked wirelessly must be wi fi enabled

Before you can connect a PC to a router via wifi:

1. Both bits of kit must support wi-fi - not all computers come with built-in wi fi capabilities (though most modern PCs especially laptops or notebooks / UMPCs will). Nor do all routers, though again many newer ones do.
   
   • If a computer doesn't have a wi fi chip, it's easy to add wifi by buying a wireless USB adapter e.g. a wifi dongle that plugs into a spare USB port on the computer, or a wireless laptop card that plugs into the PC card slot of a laptop - you'll generally need to make sure that you install the drivers for the adapter, usually from a CD, before plugging it in; just follow the instructions that came with the adapter. Obviously, make sure the adapter is compatible with your computer's operating system - most will provide Windows drivers.
     
     
2. They must both support the same type of wi fi. There are different standards. 802.11b is oldest and slowest. 802.11g (wireless G) is newer and faster. And there's even faster whizzier 802.11n (aka wireless N or 11n) now, with 802.11r on the horizon. Some equipment can support several standards, e.g. the BTHomeHub does.
   
   
3. Wi fi has to be enabled on both of them (it usually will be on the router by default; some computers have physical switches e.g. on the side of the PC to turn wi fi on or off e.g. some notebook computers; some computers have a key combo e.g. holding Fn then pressing a particular key on the keyboard to toggle wi fi on and off, e.g. some notebooks again).
   
   
4. Furthermore, both of them must be able to use the same standard i.e. the same type of wi fi - e.g. if the router has been set to 802.11b and the computer uses 802.11g, then they won't be able to communicate. My Home Hub, like many newer routers, can support both standards, and is set to 802.11b/g (http://bthomehub.home/ to access the settings, for version 1.0 click Advanced, enter password etc, click Configuration, Wireless, it's the Interface Type dropdown.)
   

That's just the capabilities of the gear, and checking the initial set up. (If you're not using your ISP's router or the stingy sods didn't provide one and you have to buy your own wireless router, the above should also help as a buying guide - make sure it has WPA, 802.11n with support for older if your computers only do 802.11g etc, and oh a hardware firewall too; and of course very importantly ensure that the router is compatible with your ISP's flavour of internet connection e.g. cable or ADSL, is it ADSL2+ etc.)

Now, how do you actually get them to talk to each other?

3. The router - basic concepts

First, it's helpful to know some very basic points about the router and how it works.

A. Positioning the router

It's best to place the router as high up as possible (e.g. on a shelf), with as little stuff as possible between it and the computers you want to network (or more correctly between it and the wirelesss adapters you're using). Walls and ceilings can't be helped of course. About 150 feet is usually the max distance a computer can be from the router for a wireless connection to work.

Avoid having it near possible sources of interference like the computers themselves, cordless phones/mice, video senders, baby monitors, microwave ovens, metal like radiators or pipes, lots of water like fishtanks.

The shorter the distance betwen the router and the computer, the better, so try to have it equidistant from your various computers if possible, e.g. in the center of your home. And have the antenna vertical.

B. Router configuration /settings

Normally you'd access the router's settings controls via the Web browser of a computer that's connected to the router (whether via a wired or wireless connection).

The address of the router varies, but usually http://192.168.1.254/ works (e.g. for the BT Home Hub and Be's ADSL2+ box). Some boxes have friendlier alternatives e.g. http://bthomehub.home/ also works to get to the Home Hub main settings page.

C. Network name or SSID

The wireless network set up by each router has its own identifying network name or SSID e.g. "BTHomeHub-1A00" (the original SSID is often printed on a label at the back or bottom of the router). Each router will ideally have a different network name.

Basically the router will sit there, broadcasting its own SSID to the world: "I'm BTHomeHub-1A00, here I am, ready & waiting for a request to connect to me".

You can change the router's SSID to a more personalised one via its router configuration page (BT Home Hub: Advanced, Configuration, Wireless, Configure, change contents of Network Name box (NB make sure you have a note of the new name!), Apply.)

It's also possible to tell the router not to broadcast its network name, for added security (BT Home Hub: Advanced, Configuration, Wireless, Security, untick Broadcast Network Name, Apply). I found I couldn't connect at all after I did that, even via computers on my network which had the right (though now invisible) SSID, so I ticked it again. You may fare better.

D. Channel

The router can broadcast its network name generally, or you can set it to broadcast only on a particular numbered "channel" (a bit like TV channels). You might want to do that for better security or to improve the connection e.g. to try to deal with interference from other equipment (such as cordless phones), or interference from neighbours' wifi systems.

Normally channel selection is automatic, but if you decide to set it to a specific channel try channel 11 or below first as some gear has trouble coping with channel 12 and up, and usually try to transmit on a channel that's at least 4 channels away from the channels your neighbours are using.

Again, you set the channel via whatever web page you use to configure your model of router (BT Home Hub: Advanced, Configuration, Wireless, Security, change Channel Selection to Manual, in Channel choose the number).

E. Security

Wi fi connections can be either public or secure (i.e. encrypted, requiring the correct passphrase (wireless key) to connect). Free public wi-fi hotspots in cafes etc are usually open and unsecured with no encryption at all, though some public wi-fi access points have encryption.

• Why a secured connection is best. You'd probably want your home network to be secure for all sorts of reasons. With an unsecured wifi connection, other people could p0tentially use your broadband internet service for free ("wifi leeching"), and you might not even know it because it's done wirelessly - they could be sitting out in your street in a car with a laptop, having driven round in search of an unsecured wi-fi wireless network ("war driving"). They could even be your neighbours.
  
  That would of course have consequences for your broadband costs (as their usage will eat into your download/upload allowance with your ISP, and thus potentially cost you money), as well as other risks - e.g. if they download illegal material it could be blamed on you, the network owner, and you could be accused of being the person who accessed that material.
  
  True, it's illegal for people to freeride using others' wifi internet connection and they could be fined for it. Plus, in Germany recently, in a lawsuit against the owner of an unsecured home wireless network for alleged illegal file sharing, Frankfurt's Higher Regional Court ruled that the owner was not responsible for the activity of other people on that network - the owner said it was someone else using the owner's network who had downloaded the files, and the court decided that the owner wasn't liable.
  
  But still, an open wi fi connection was considered an insufficient defence in a child porn case in the USA, and we don't yet know if the UK would take the same view as Germany or not - so it's best practice to secure your wireless connection (don't forget the finances angle too).
  

Routers generally come with security already enabled on them. One important point to note is that there are different types of encryption. Older routers use WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) for wireless encryption - but that's now very insecure. Using WEP is almost as bad as having no encryption at all - as Wikipedia puts it, " today a WEP connection can be cracked with readily available software within minutes". Newer gear uses WPA (wi-fi protected access) security protocol, which is much more secure.

However, surprise surprise, the two standards are different - and both router and computer need to use the same encryption standard. If your notebook computer only uses WEP and your router uses WPA, they won't be able to talk to each other. In that case you may have no choice but to set your router to use WEP - unlike with wi fi standards, where some kit can support different standards at the same time, with wi-fi encryption it seems to be a case of lowest common denominator only. (BT Home Hub: change security via Advanced, Configuration, Wireless, Security, in the Encryption section choose "Use WPA-PSK" or, if absolutely necessary but don't say I didn't warn you, "Use WEP Encryption". I'll provide more detail on wifi networking and the BT Home Hub in a separate post). In such a situation it really would be best if possible to upgrade your WEP notebook or other computer to one that uses WPA - or else buy a compatible wifi USB adapter or wireless card for it that supports WPA.

So to sum up on the security / encryption front: the router and all computers you plan to network must use the same encryption standard (ideally WPA); and furthermore the "key" (a password or passphrase, i.e. series of letters and numbers) which you use for each computer when trying to connect to the router must match the key that has been set up for the router (BT Home Hub: Advanced, Configuration, Wireless, Security, the password is the string of characters in the Wireless Key box; click Apply if you change it, again make sure you have a note of the new key).

The above is just the basic minimum security measures you ought to take. There are others you should consider, but I won't cover them in detail here - e.g. turn off broadcasting of your router's SSID name (so only people who know the name can connect - you'll then need to tweak your connection settings on each computer if you do that to ensure it connects even when the network isn't broadcasting); change the default administrator password on the hub, and the default WPA password / key; and use MAC address filtering to limit access to your router only to particular specified hardware devices, each of which has a unique hardware address known as a MAC address - not the same as IP address (access MAC address filtering on BT Home Hub). Also generally see BT Home Hub suggestions and their general security help.

Most routers will have a built-in hardware firewall for added security, which is a good thing - this is to help protect the computers on your network from attacks over the Internet generally (whereas the WEP / WPA security is intended to protect unauthorised devices / people from using your wireless network to access the Net etc).

4. Connecting computers to router

Next, how do you get a computer to connect to the router?

A. Basic principles

These general steps apply to all computers, not just Windows ones (I'll cover the specifics of how to do them in Windows XP and Vista in B. below):

1. Make sure the computer's wi-fi is set up, turned on and working - see 2.1 and 2.3 above.
   
2. Launch what I think of as the "wifi network detector", which scans the airwaves for wireless networks that you can try to connect to, and then shows you a list of names (i.e. SSIDs) of the available networks.
3. Select the network you want from the list (it should be yours, of course! unless of course you're at a public hotspot etc), usually by clicking on its name e.g. BTHomeHub-1A00.
4. Try to connect, usually by rightclicking on the name or clicking the name and choosing whatever option there is to "Connect" or doubleclicking the name.
   • If you've set your router to broadcast only on channel X, make sure that that connection is set to detect all channels or channel X too; it won't detect your network if it's only looking on, or "tuned to", channel Y.
     
5. It'll ask for the network key, security key or passphrase (unless it's an open unsecured network which doesn't need one). Enter exactly the same key as you set up for the router, matching upper or lower case etc.
6. Before you connect, if there are any options to automatically try to connect to this network as the preferred one on startup, you might want to tick those first (though you should be able to set that up manually later) e.g. on a computer you always use only at home.
   
7. Hit Connect.
8. Give it a while to do its thang, then test it by trying to visit a page on your browser (I usually try http://news.bbc.co.uk/). (Your browser Connections or Network settings by the way should normally be set up, in its Options or Preferences, to connect to the internet direct (Never dial a connection) and not through any proxy servers etc - unless of course you know what you're doing.)

Now for some specifics. The Windows networking wizard to set up a home or small office network will walk you through the key steps - I'd run it on your main computer first, then the secondary ones. (You can find the wizard via Network Connections, accessed through your Start Menu or Control Panel, or in My Network Places - the Wireless Network Setup Wizard is obviously more appropriate).

But, I'm still going to go through some of the manual steps because knowing them will help with troubleshooting if (or rather when!) you get issues with connecting in future.

B. Name each computer

You should give each computer a different name so you'll recognise it on the network, and add it to a "workgroup":

1. Go to the Properties for your computer.
   
   • XP. On the desktop, rightclick My Computer, Properties, Computer Name tab, click Change.
   • Vista. Start menu, rightclick on Computer, choose Properties, then Advanced System Settings. Click the Computer Name tab and Change
2. In "Computer description" give the computer a name e.g. "Desktop", "Laptop 1", or probably something more imaginative than that!
3. In "Workgroup", enter the name of its workgroup e.g. MySpiffyWorkgroup - if you've already done this for another computer in your network, make sure it's the same name exactly, upper and lower case etc, just in case (you can use any name you like for the workgroup, make one up, just as long as it's the same name for all the computers you want to network). Don't skip this step if you want your network to work. You " join" the computer to a workgroup just by inserting the name of the workgroup here.
   
4. Then OK.

C. Connecting wirelessly

1. You should already have installed and plugged in your wireless adapter hardware (including all drivers from the installation CD), if it wasn't built in to the PC. Also, make sure it's turned on /enabled, see 2.1 and 2.3 above.
   
2. To connect, open Wireless Connections from the computer's Network Connections page:
   • XP. Start menu, Connect to (or Start menu, Network Connections), then click or doubleclick Wireless Network Connection. Or you can get to it via the Control Panel, Network Connections then doubleclick Wireless Network Connection.
   • Vista. Network (from Start menu or desktop), then Network and Sharing Center; from the Tasks on the left click "Connect to a network". Or just Start menu and Connect to, etc.
     
3. A list of of available wireless networks will come up; to connect, click or rightclick on the name of your network and choose Connect (or doubleclick the name of your network) - I've scrubbed out the SSIDs in the screenshot below, and in other screenshots in this post:
   
   
   
4. Type in the key (passphrase) for your network, as used by your router (you may have to do this twice to confirm it); tick any options to automatically connect to the network in future, if that option is available and that's what you want.
   
5. Thereafter, the easiest way to connect is to use the networking icon in the system tray / notification area, at the bottom right of your taskbar. It looks like a monitor with radio waves: - with a happy buzzy beam when it's connected (or in Vista ) and a sad red X when disconnected: . Just doubleclick the icon (or rightclick it and choose "View Available Wireless Networks", depending) and pick the network to connect to. These icons are very useful to check the status of your connection, connect, disconnect, view available networks, change connection properties etc.
   
   • Vista annoyance. Irritatingly, sometimes in Vista the networking icon disappears from the system tray and is greyed out from the notification area section of the Taskbar Properties. Here's how to get it back. It'll probably vanish again so get used to doing this regularly. If it's gone, you can connect using step 2 above or the quick launch bar icon if you've added it (see below).
     
6. You can hover over the icon to see the status of your connection: connection strength, speed etc (there's more info in XP than Vista; to get the detailed info in Vista you have to click on the icon, then Network and Sharing Center), for details on that see 5.A below.
   

D. How to disconnect the wifi (and reconnect)

There are different ways, depending. Try rightclicking or clicking on the networking icon in system tray and choosing Disconnect.

Here are the rightclick options in Vista:

Or in XP rightclick the icon and choose View Available Wireless Networks, then in the list either doubleclick on the name of the network or click on the name of the network and click Disconnect (and say Yes to disconnect if necessary). (If you rightclick on the networking icon and choose Disable, that disables wi-fi completely on that computer until you re-enable it - not just for this particular network but all wireless networks).

Provided wi fi is enabled, thereafter it'll be easy to re-connect by clicking, doubleclicking or rightclicking the networking icon:



If you find that other nearby networks have the same name as yours (e.g. Be seem to give all their routers the same SSID of "Bebox" without any unique ID after the name, unlike BT), you can still find your own network because it's likely to be the one with the strongest signal, i.e. the most green bars in the list of network names.

5. Tips and troubleshooting problems

A. Connection status and properties

The first step for troubleshooting is to be able to check what's going on. As I mentioned in 4.C.5 above, the networking icons in your system tray / notification area are very handy to let you connect or disconnect quickly, check and change settings etc.

XP. Hover over the icon to see speed and connection info:

Or rightclick the icon:

- and choose Status to see general info on the connection (you could also doubleclick the icon to get to Status):

- and the Support tab shows the IP address of that connection, subnet mask and default gateway etc (which you may need for 5.C below):

• "IP address" is just a unique numerical identifier assigned to a device (e.g. computer) to distinguish it from other devices on a network - whether a home network or indeed the Internet. On your home network, normally when a computer connects to the router the router will automatically give it an IP address for that session i.e. a dynamic IP address: when another computer connects, it gets assigned a different IP address, and so on (so the same computer could be given a different IP address the next time it connects).

You can also click the Properties button from the Status tab. Note the Wireless Networks tab of Properties:

From this Wireless Networks tab you can click on the name of a connection (in the Preferred networks section), then click Properties again (the button below the networks list), to get to the specific properties of that connection - notably the "Association" tab (which I'll come to below) and "Connection" tab. The "Connection" tab is where you can tick to get that particular connection (i.e. to your router) to be made automatically, if you want that computer to connect to your home network where possible whenever you turn it on:


Vista. Rightclick the icon, Network and Sharing Center (or get to the Center from the Start menu, Network):

- then click "View status" to get the status:

- and from that tab click Details to get the IP address, subnet mask etc:

- or the Wireless Properties button (not Properties) to get connection and security info (the Connection tab is where you can set that computer to connect automatically to your home network, if you didn't tick that option previously):

- the Security tab shows the type of security and encryption in use, and as mentioned it has to be compatible with what the router uses. You can also update your security key passphrase here if you changed it in your router:

Alternatively, call up the list of available networks (SSID list), e.g. by leftclicking on the network icon and choosing "Connect or disconnect":


Then you can hover over the network name in the SSID list to get speed etc. info:

- and you can rightclick the network name and choose Status to get to the same status tab:


(note that, confusingly, if you choose Properties from here, it brings up the Connection and Security tabs i.e. the Wireless Network Properties mentioned above).

B. Add the network connection icon to your quick launch bar for quick access

In Network Connections:

- rightclick on the icon for Wireless Network Connection, choose Create Shortcut, then drag the shortcut to your Quicklaunch bar in order to access the connection (connect/disconnect), its status and properties quickly in future, just by clicking or rightclicking on it.

It also works for a wired network connection (where a network cable has been used), see the first icon, the upside down T, in the screenshot above. The wireless network icon is the 3rd one along, wouldja believe.

This is very useful for Vista if your computer suffers from the disappearing networking icon syndrome mentioned above.

C. The firewall trap

One gotcha to watch. If one or more of your to-be-networked computers has a software firewall like the free ZoneAlarm, the firewall may also block other computers on the network. That's another reason why home networking may not seem to work sometimes and you can't see the other computers on the network.

The solution - configure the firewall to allow your home network / home computers through i.e. add them to your trusted zone, in ZoneAlarm parlance:

• Open or restore ZoneAlarm Control Centre.
• On the left click Firewall.
• Bottom right click Add, IP Range, fill in the lowest and highest IP address that the computers on your network use, add a description for your home network (screenshot of example below), then OK.
  • The IP addresses available for assignment on a private home network are within a set range, usually from 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255, which is why entering IPs encompassing that range or the main part of that range should work in ZoneAlarm. The router also has an IP address of its own - usually 192.168.1.254, which you'll recognise from earlier.
  • Tip: for the first address, use 192.168.1.64; for the second address you could try what I show below or if that doesn't work try upping it, e.g. to 192.168.1.237 or even 192.168.255.255
  
  
  
  
  • Static IPs. If entering an IP range doesn't work and your computers still can't see each other on the network, then try giving each computer a fixed, static IP address e.g. 192.168.1.65 for the first PC, 192.168.1.66 for the next one, etc; they must be different for each computer. Next, in ZoneAlarm, instead of adding an IP Range add an IP Address for the individual computer concerned, and rinse and repeat for each of the other IP addresses you give the other computers on your network.
    
    - How to assign a static IP address to a computer: on XP; in Vista - but ignore the bits about the DNS server, and the subnet mask will probably be 255.255.255.0 and default gateway 192.168.1.254 - just check what the subnet mask etc are in your existing connection before you try setting a static IP address, and then use the same IP addresses and subnet mask etc when setting a static IP. You can also check the IP address via the properties, see A above.
    - IP address, subnet mask, default gateway: tip. To check what IP address is used by a particular connection, what is the subnet mask or default gateway, see 5.A above (if you don't want to use the ipconfig method described in the previous links). You don't actually need to know what a subnet mask is, just make sure when you assign a static IP address that the subnet mask figure (e.g. 255.255.255.0) matches what it was in the existing connection, and similarly for default gateway.
    - Note: if you assign a static IP to a computer, and then want to use it outside your home network e.g. on a public wifi network, you may have to change it back to use a dynamic IP address or it may not work; then change it back to the original static IP when you get home.

D. Trouble reconnecting? Try tweaking the network connection properties

Windows XP SP2 upwards is supposed to make network configuration pretty much automatic. However I've had issues with being able to connect once, but not again, or not at all, etc. There's a particular problem after you put the computer to sleep (standby, hibernate) - when it resumes or wakes up again, it doesn't always automatically reconnect to your home wifi network and it can be hard to get it to get it to connect again even when you try to connect manually. Similarly if you've taken a laptop out of the house and used it on another wi fi network; when you bring it home it doesn't always re connect properly. And if you manually disconnect a computer from your wi-fi network at any time, then later try to get it to connect again, it may stubbornly refuse to.

In those situations, what's worked for me (and might work for you, but I can't guarantee it) was to tweak the detailed settings for the security. To change the security settings for your connection properties - for XP go to the Association tab for the problem connection (see 5.A above on how to get there):


- for Vista, go to the Security tab, again see 5.A on how to get to that tab.

In both cases, I've found that if I change the security (Network Authentication) from WPA2-PSK or WPA2-Personal to just WPA-PSK or WPA-Personal, and the Data encryption from AES to TKIP, and then OK it, then try to reconnect on that connection again, it will connect (even though after connecting it then may then flip itself to AES and WPA2-PSK or WPA2-Personal!). I haven't learned enough to figure out why this happens, I just know that it works for me, so maybe it'll work for you if you have problems. (The network key must of course stay the same, whatever you set for your router.)

No connected networking icon? If the computer is disconnected and the problem is that you can't connect, then you may have to get to the properties for that computer's connection to the router another way - try going in via the Network Connections (Control Panel or Start menu) instead.

In XP rightclick the Wireless Network Connection icon in the computer's Network Connections, then Properties.

In Vista, try the Manage wireless networks task link in the Network and Sharing Center, which brings up a list of your wireless connections, even those which are not currently connected. Doubleclick on the icon for a connection to see its Security tab and change the security settings there.

If you can call up a list of available networks e.g. via the Start menu (Connect to or Network), or rightclicking the networking icon to View Available Wireless Networks, or rightclicking the Wireless Network Connection in Network Connections, then the "Changed advanced settings" task to the left of the SSID list (see the last pic in A. above) should help you get to the Wireless Networks tab in XP. Just rightclicking on the network name in the list and choosing Properties should do it in Vista.

Just experiment as the setup may vary with your flavour of Windows. The point is to find the detailed security settings and try the changes I suggested above.

Other things to try if that doesn't work:

• Turn wireless off (by whatever method your computer uses - hardware switch or Fn key combo, rightclick the networking icon to Disable etc); then turn it on or enable it again, wait a bit for it to be enabled fully, then try connecting again.
  
  
• Rightclick the networking icon, then Repair. Reconnect; use any Diagnose options available from the networking pages or icons.
  

6. Sharing files, folders, CD-ROM drives, printers on your network

Now your computers are networked, what next? You should be able to access the Net via your router from all networked computers, obviously.

What else? Well the principles are essentially the same. Again I'll mainly use a Windows XP Pro computer for the examples.

First, how do you "see" one computer on the network while you're on another computer? (obviously you can only do this if both computers are switched on and connected to the router at the same time.)

Answer: you can see the network via the Network (Vista) or My Network Places (XP) icon which you'll find on the desktop or in the file manager e.g. My Computer or Windows Explorer on the left (on an XP computer drill down through My Network Places, Entire Network, Microsoft Windows Network, then click on the name of your workgroup) - from which you can click on the name of the computer you want to access.

A. Workgroup

With Windows computers you can only "see" a computer from another computer if they're both in the same "workgroup". Being on the same network isn't enough. That's why you had to ensure that all Windows computers in your home network are in the same workgroup, in 4.B above.

This can be a bit of a pain for home users, and is the reason why some people have trouble setting up a full home network: they didn't add some computers to the right workgroup (or indeed to any workgroup).

If you've run through the network setup wizard you'll have already named your computer and workgroup and enabled file and printer sharing etc.

B. Sharing folders and files

Now, being able to see a computer on the network is not enough for you to be able to access files on that computer from another computer on the same network.

To do that, a further step is necessary - you need to "share" the relevant folders on the computer first, for security reasons.

If you ran the Networking Setup wizard, Windows will have set up a shared folder on the computer called "Shared Documents" (not a sub-folder within "My Documents" but a new folder parallel to it, because it's not "Your" Documents is it, it's shared!). You can save or move or copy into this folder any documents that you want to share with other computers on your network.

If however you want to share individual folders within My Documents:

• In Windows Explorer, rightclick on the name of the folder you want to share.
• Choose Sharing and Security.
• In the Sharing tab, tick "Share this folder/file on the network" and, if you wish, tick "Allow network users to change my files" (otherwise they'll only be able to read them and save a duplicate etc.), then OK.

Shared folders look different in My Computer / Windows Explorer - the icons have what I think of as a little flame at the bottom (see the Blog folder icon below):

Note: you can't share a document unless you share the folder that contains it; sharing a folder will share all documents and sub-folders within that folder. And obviously, a shared folder on a particular computer will only be visible to other computers on the network if the computer holding that folder is turned on.

Tip: even if you don't want to use Shared Documents you can still create a special folder within My Documents for the documents you want to share on the network, called e.g. "Shared", and share just that folder, moving the desired documents into that folder. That's obviously still going to be more secure than sharing all the documents, photos / pictures or other files in the "My Documents" folder of the computer or user.

C. Sharing printers

You can share i.e. network printers in the same way.

In XP open up the Printers folder of the computer that's directly connected to the printer (Start menu, Printers and Faxes), rightclick on the printer you want to share, choose Sharing, select Share this Printer (and give it a "Share name" to identify it on the network, consider clicking Additional Drivers to add more drivers for different flavours of Windows computers if you have them), then OK.

An extra step is needed - on each other computer on your network which is to print to the networked printer, you have to go to its Printers folder, choose Add Printer, and then add the printer you shared previously, making sure you choose "A network printer", and browse to the correct printer. And it'll only work if the right printer drivers are installed for all the types of computer operating systems that you want to use.

If the shared printer is connected only to computer A, and you want to print from computer B to that networked printer, obviously you can only do that if computer A is switched on and connected to the network. To be able to use a networked printer while your other home computers are switched off, you can buy a print server (for as little as under £30 even) which you connect to both your router and your printer. Then, as long as your router is switched on (which it normally will be always), you can print to that printer even if other computers are switched off. Again, make sure the printer server will support all the computers you want to use with it.

D. Sharing CD-ROM or DVD drives, external hard drives etc

Same thing with sharing optical drives and the like.

Rightclick the name of the drive in Windows Explorer, Sharing and Security, then carry on exactly as with folders.

Very useful if your notebook computer or UMPC doesn't have an optical drive built in - you can still access CDs and DVDs from the notebook, and run the software across the network. On the notebook, just find the computer on the network with the shared DVD or CD drive, and as long as it's been shared, you'll see the drive on the network and you can pop a disc into the drive and access it from the notebook. (Doesn't work to play music CDs though, haven't investigated tweaks for that.)

Similarly, if you have an external hard drive attached to computer A you can share that drive (and folders within it) and then access that drive from another computer on the network, as long as computer A is switched on at the time.

If you want to have a shared dedicated hard drive accessible by all computers on your network even if not all computers are switched on at the time, you can get network attached storage (NAS). There are 2 main ways to achieve this:

• buy a large hard drive that acts as a NAS server, e.g. the Western Digital MyBook World Edition (to which you can add another external USB hard drive, and which even lets you access files on that drive over the Net), or
• get a NAS device which lets you attach your existing USB hard drives to the network direct, like the Linksys NSLU2 (which has 2 USB ports for external hard disks and also lets you network USB flash drives).
  

You'd obviously need to have a free Ethernet port on your router to be able to connect the NAS server or device.

Tags: networking, wireless networking, home networking, home network, wifi network, wi fi network, wi-fi network, Windows, XP, Vista, BT Home Hub, BTHomeHub, HomeHub, security, howto, tutorial, introduction, tricks, tips, Improbulus, A Consuming Experience