PC Community Main Meeting
7:30 - 10 pm November 7, 2014
Calvary Baptist Church 28924 Ruus Road, Hayward California

The meeting was called to order at 7:34 pm by President Chuck Horner. See Lola Hunter at the ticket table for raffle tickets, door prize tickets, and 3" x 5" cards to write questions for discussion/answers at the end of the Meeting. Get at least one $5 raffle ticket for this month's raffle prize, a Logitech k360 Wireless Keyboard.

Chuck introduced new member Steve Burton. Steve found PCC in the PennySaver.

There were no SIG announcements.

Nominations for Board of Directors was opened. The Board of Directors appoints the Executive Committee, who conduct the day-to-day business of PCC. The following were nominated:
Jan Fagerholm
Bayle Emlein
Chuck Horner
Michael Wong
George Kornbluth
Bud Gallagher

Bud wondered how the PCC bylaws address e-mail nominations and voting.

Presentation: Member Bud Gallagher presented the newest version of Windows: Windows 10. The current offering is being billed as a preview, not yet a Beta or even Alpha. The preview has had one update. Four more updates are coming next week.

So far Bud has not seen much that is different from Windows 7. He likes the cleaner desktop, compared to Windows 8. The Menu has returned, though it looks a bit different and rumor is that it will update according to frequency of use of items on it.

Tip: The newest version of Chrome always runs in the background of Google. Turn it off by opening Settings. Go to "Show Advanced Settings." Scroll to the "System" heading. Uncheck "Continue running background apps."

The Windows DataSense option allows the user to track data usage. This is useful if you are using an account that limits you monthly data usage, such as a calling plan.

Rumor is that they are working on improving battery life. Bud rarely uses his laptop except plugged in, so he cannot speak to this.

The Windows 10 desktop can be divided into 4 sections, each running its own program. This restores the level of multitasking available in OS2.

StartIsBack is Bud's favorite shareware program for making Windows 8 look like Windows 7, giving you back the Start menu. No more Charms.

Part of the software testing is a key logger to help Microsoft address user issues. Bud assumes that the key logger will be removed in the final release.

Bud thinks that when Windows 10 is finally released—in the middle of next year or later—it will be offered to Windows 8 users for free or for minimal cost. Be aware that support for Windows 8 will be disappearing soon and upgrade to Windows 8.1 as soon as you can.

An aside: Geek Uninstaller does a good job of cleaning up uninstalls, in contrast to the built-in uninstall routine which leaves lots of garbage in its wake. Geek Uninstaller is fast and frequently updated.

Door Prizes

Pinnacle Systems--Ron Seipel
Windows 7 Unleashed--Andrew Tews
Clipz earbuds--Bob Dunn
O'Reilly ebook--Steve Burton
Champion bag--George Kornbluth
Portico car memo pad--Yorkman Lowe
Dynaflex hand exerciser--Bayle Emlein
Using Windows 7--Chuck Horner

Raffle Prize

Logitech k360 Wireless Keyboard Bayle Emlein

Chuck challenged those present to take PCC cards to hand out to friends.

Questions and Answers:

Question: How do I avoid being held prisoner by Windows Updates when I need to go somewhere and the Do Not Turn Off Computer message appears.

Answer: Once the update process has started, you're stuck. However you can go into Settings and request to be notified when updates are available and choose to install them manually. But do install them.

Question: What websites should we stay away from to avoid malware, pop-ups, spyware, etc.

Answer: First of all, avoid pornography sites. Practice safe computing. Have a good antivirus program and keep it up to date. Set automatic updates if they are available. Your protection is only as good as your last update. Avast, AVG, and Avira are all free and good. Every month or so run something like Spybot or Malwarebytes. New member Steve Burton emphasized the importance of keeping your browser sanitized.

Do not Click Here when you are told that your computer has a virus and you can click here to remove it.

When downloading updates, read carefully to check or uncheck to avoid getting taskbars and unwanted toolbars. Use Custom Install to take control of the features you really want. Go to the source site (Adobe, Oracle, etc.) to request downloads, rather than using 3rd party sites that are offered to you.

Thank you to George Kornbluth for taking care of refreshments. Thank you also to Michael Wong for helping with room logistics and with the signs.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Bayle Emlein, Secretary