January 2017 SALTBytes www.cnypcug.org

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January 2017 Volume 28 No. 1

Published byThe Central New York Personal Computer Users Group, Inc

A Volunteer, Non-Profit Organization Distribution 250 $2.00

Our meetings are at

Liverpool Public Library

Carman Community Room

Q&A starts at 6:00 P.M.

Presenters at 7:15 P.M.

Inside

Pg 2

Pg 3

pg 4-6

pg 7-8

pg 9

pg 10

CNYPCUG Information

Presidents Message

Article

Recipes

Calendar

Schedule

Please notice that

our January meeting

will be held in

the Sargent Room

on January 30th

January 2017 SALTBytes 2 www.cnypcug.org

SALT Bytes

Submission Deadline is the 5th of the month!

CNYPCUG, PO Box 6444, Syracuse, NY 13217 Published Monthly

Articles, advertisements, and other submissions should be made only in RTF or MS-Word format, unless prior arrangement has been made. Margins, double spaces at the end of sentences should be removed before submission. A single hard return should occur at the end of paragraphs, not at the end of each line. Send all submissions via e-mail to newsdesk@cnypcug.org. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in SALTBytes. Due to space limitations, the Editorial Staff reserves the right to restrict publication to articles offering the greatest benefit to CNYPCUG or its readers. We encourage articles which educate and entertain our readers. Commercial advertising is best supplied as camera-ready art, to size, screened at 85 lines or less. SALTBytes reserves the right to reject any advertising and is not responsible for typographic errors. We cannot guarantee that an advertisement will appear in a specific issue or its placement if it is submitted after the 5th of the month. Ads that do not conform to the proper sizes will be re-sized and a production charge may be applied. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the opinions expressed in any article or column are those of the individual author[s] and do not represent an official position of, or endorsement by, the Central New York Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. CNYPCUG is an independent, non-profit agency and is not affiliated with any vendor or manufacturer. Entire contents Copyright 2015, the Central New York Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., except as noted. All Rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce articles in part or in whole is given to other user groups for internal, non-profit use, providing the author and SALTBytes are given credit for reproduced item[s]. All brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Directions to the library: From the NY State Thruway: Exit at Route 57 (exit 38). After the tollbooth, turn right on Route 57 towards the Village of Liverpool. At Tulip Street, turn right and go one block. Liverpool Library will be on the left side at the corner of Tulip and Second Street. From Interstate 81 North: Take the Liverpool Exit to Onondaga Lake Pkwy (Rte 370). In the Village of Liverpool, follow Rte 370 West (called Second St. in the Village) to the corner of Tulip St. Liverpool Library will be on the left. From Interstate 81 South: Take 7th North St. exit. Bear right on 7th North St. and follow it to the end. Take a left on Electronics Parkway. Go to the end and take a right on Old Liverpool Road. At the Liverpool Village center (Heid's Corners) follow Rte. 370 West to the corner of Tulip St. Liverpool Library will be on the left. Parking is available on Second St., on Tulip St., and underneath the Library in the garage.

Our meeting location for CNYPCUG

SALTBytes Staff

Publisher/ John Driscoll & Derek Currie

Editor/ John Driscoll & Derek Currie

Graphics/ John Driscoll & Derek Currie

Editorial Staff/ Derek Curie, Rod Stubbs

Advertising/

Columnists/ Derek Currie

CNYPCUG Website Webmaster/ Don Ristagno – don@cnypcug.org

President

Rod Stubbs

president@cnypcug.org

Vice President John Driscoll / 446-3944

vp@cnypcug.org

Treasurer David Gregg / 446-3326

treasurer@cnypcug.org

Secretary ___________________

secretary@cnypcug.org

Directors

Dave Cooper / 672-3489 davec@cnypcug.org

Derek Currie derek@cnypcug.org

Mary Buttaro maryb@cnypcug.org

Past President John Driscoll

pastpresident@cnypcug.org

January 2017 SALTBytes www.cnypcug.org 3

President’s Message

By Rod Stubbs

Happy New Year Fall and winter are two seasons that bring new tech to consumers. We see many new gadgets introduced in fall and we are able to preview electronics in winter. The Microsoft Surface Studio was released in November. It is a desktop version of the touch screen computer. It has a large screen, which can be tilted and remain in position. It was designed for people who appreciate design. It is priced for professionals, though -- its owners will be in an exclusive club. The Consumer Electronics Show, with over 4,000 vendors, introduces a lot more products in Las Vegas. The CNET staff reviewed three stand-out products at CES 2017. The hovering camera, the laptop computer with three displays, and the LED wallpaper TV. The hovering camera was a crowdfunded device that uses hand gestures to execute commands. It connects to a mobile device and includes two batteries for extended photo shoots. Gamers and anyone who has a need for extended multiple screens will enjoy the Razer prototype (AKA Project Valerie) laptop. It has three 4K displays to immerse the user in a wide virtual world or has enough room for spreadsheets, email, social media... all without stacking windows to spread across all screens. T he thin LG TV has to connect to a sound bar for audio. It easily mounts on a wall with little support. Something for creative people is the 3Doodler. It melts plastic like a 3D printer, but is the shape of a pen. It can be used to draw in three dimensions with the media that melts quickly. In operating system news, Windows Vista will reach its end of life support on April 11 and Windows 7 EOL is January 2020.

January 2017 SALTBytes 4 www.cnypcug.org

Article

End-of-the-year cleanup

checklist for Windows

Get Windows ready for 2017 with this easy-to-follow list of

important steps to keep your PC running smoothly into the New

Year.

By Jesus Vigo | December 26, 2016

Windows is—for all intents and purposes—the most

widely used OS in the world. Firmly entrenched in

both the business and consumer computing worlds,

its reach continues to grow steadily across desktop,

tablet, and mobile platforms.

With the end of the year upon us, there's no better

time to perform some system upkeep chores to ensure

that your system is optimized as you head into 2017.

This is also the time of year when equipment is

replaced by holiday gifts, with older equipment being

handed down or sold to make way for the new.

So let's work through this handy checklist of practical

procedures that will keep your Windows PCs

humming along.

1: Upgrade applications

Truthfully, updating applications should be part of a

regular maintenance cycle, but the task sometimes

falls through the cracks. Great care should be taken to

ensure that applications are always current, so as to

maximize compatibility with newer hardware and to

support the overall security posture of a system. Don't

head into 2017 with out-of-date software.

2: Back up data

This critical task should be performed on a regular

basis to ensure that data is recoverable in the event of

loss, theft, or catastrophe. But without a properly

configured, automated backup scheme, the next best

thing is to manually perform a full backup of all your

data—especially if you're upgrading to a new PC and

looking to recycle your current device.

All versions of Windows since Vista have included a

modern backup application built into the OS itself,

which allows for backup to an external drive or

shared folder on a network drive. Although not as

robust a backup solution as some of the third-party

offerings, it works as advertised and even allows for

backups to run on a schedule.

One backup client worth considering is CrashPlan. It

offers a simple interface and a powerful backup

feature set—like encryption of local and remote

backups and file versioning—not to mention various

options for backup destinations. CrashPlan has both

free and paid choices, including business and

enterprise options that add cloud-based backup and

recovery for added peace of mind.

3: Update Windows

Windows XP featured the ability to integrate

systems updates automatically. Such a simple feature

has continued to be streamlined into current

Windows versions to assist in keeping machines

patched against malware and security threats. Even

so, millions of devices worldwide do not regularly

receive system updates. I can't think of a better time

than the new year to develop the habit of performing

system updates to protect your devices and keep

them stable.

4: Clean temporary files/cache folders

With the large amount of data going back and forth

online and the increased reliance on web-based

applications, the temporary folders and cache

folders, including cookies that store all this data, can

grow to unbelievable sizes in a short amount of time.

To free up storage space—and to prevent this type of

data from being used to compromise your system

and/or accounts—it's important to delete these

temporary files to clean your system.

Among the many applications available that offers

system cleaning utilities, CCleaner stands out as

powerful and easy to use. Even the freeware version

has enough capabilities to clean out all temporary

folders and caches, and it can make storage space

available with its handy scripts. You can set it to run

upon startup, so that your system is always clean and

functioning properly.

5: Update anti-malware and run a full-system

scan

The popularity of Windows, while great for market

share, places a bulls-eye on you as far as security

threats go. With so many threat actors looking to

January 2017 SALTBytes www.cnypcug.org 5

compromise Windows PCs, an updated malware

detection system is often the only thing standing

between keeping and losing your data.

Dozens of choices exist on the security front, but

some packages offer high detection rates, are free or

low cost, and won't tank your PC's performance.

Offerings from BitDefender ($39.99-44.99) and

Kaspersky ($34.99-49.99) work to keep your PC

totally protected, bundling in additional security

protections, such as a firewall and web and email

filtering. Free apps, such as Avira, Windows

Defender, and Avast also rate highly, though they

have a slight impact on system resources while

offering top-notch performance.

6: Use System File Checker (SFC)

Windows files get modified as system updates occur

or applications get installed and upgraded. They can

also be corrupted by malicious software or incomplete

updates. Bottom line: When system files aren't as they

should be, weird things will occur to your Windows

installation.

To prevent Windows from acting erratically or failing

to load the system and/or applications correctly, you

should regularly run SFC—the built-in Microsoft

utility to check and fix system file issues. Here's how:

Launch CMD with elevated privileges.

Type sfc /scannow to begin the verification process

for all system files. As the scan progresses, any

corrupt files will automatically be corrected from the

cache stored locally in the Windows directory.

7: Uninstall unused applications

We all use a variety of apps to get work

accomplished. Some are small, while other are large

suites. But make no mistake: Over time some of these

apps lose their viability and no longer serve their

function.

This presents a problem on a couple of fronts. First,

keeping unnecessary apps installed can lead to bloat.

Second, they can present security issues. If the apps

no longer being used are also no longer supported by

the developer, there could be an even greater security

risk. Close out the year by ridding yourself of these

unused apps before data loss occurs.

8: Transfer Windows data from one PC to another

If you're upgrading to a new PC or swapping out your

gear, you can transfer your account profile, including

files & folders and settings, from your old PC to the

new one. Sadly, Microsoft's Windows Easy Transfer

does not support Windows 10. However, Microsoft

has a partnership with LapLink to officially provide

Windows 10 support for its PCMover Express

software ($14.99-29.99) to migrate data to a new

Windows 10-enabled PC. The application also

includes regular and enterprise editions that may be

used over corporate networks and provides zero-

touch support.

9: Perform a PC reset

This too will apply mostly to those looking to trade

up from an existing PC to a newer model. Typically,

formatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windows

would be the course of action. But from Windows 8

on, Microsoft has included recovery options to fix

non-working computers, as well as adding the option

to factory-reset an installation. This essentially

deletes all user data, including apps, and reloads the

Windows OS back to its defaults.

To accomplish this, follow the steps below:

Go to Settings | Update & Security | Reset This PC |

Get Started.

Choose the option Remove Everything, as it will be

the best option to fully clean the internal drive,

settings, and all user data. Depending on the speed of

the computer, the process will typically take two

hours or so to complete.

10: Reboot Windows to clear sleep/hibernation

data

I'm guilty of this one on the PC as well as on the

Mac. I do it almost 99% of the time. I use my PC for

work and when I'm done, I put it to sleep. Hardly ever

do I reboot, and I never shut down unless the system

has become unstable or the battery runs out of power.

Each time the PC goes to sleep it stores copies of the

working environment into RAM and hibernation files

so that when the user wakes the system, they can

resume where they left off. The problem is that the

files never get flushed properly until a reboot or

January 2017 SALTBytes 6 www.cnypcug.org

shutdown. So they just sit there taking up space and potentially leaving a security vulnerability, since some

system updates require a machine restart to complete properly.

11: Upgrade hardware

For those of us working on non-2016 Windows PCs, it may be a good time to reassess the viability of

continuing to use your existing device. You may need to upgrade it by adding more RAM or swapping out a

mechanical HDD for a solid-state drive. Or you might consider upgrading to a larger external drive or adding

some accessories, like a docking station, to boost performance.

If you choose to go the total system upgrade path, performing the tasks listed above will prepare your current

PC for its new owner by ensuring that your data completely backed up and ready to be transferred to its new

home and that the older equipment is in primo condition for the next user.

Sign up for TechRepublic's Microsoft Weekly newsletter and get Windows and Office tutorials, plus our

experts' analyses of Microsoft s enterprise products.

January 2017 SALTBytes www.cnypcug.org 7

Corn Casserole for the Holidays

Ingredients

2 cans Whole Kernel Corn

1 can Creamed Corn

1 cup Sour Cream

1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

1 Stick Butter

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the 3 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream and melted butter.

2. Pour into a greased pan.

3. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown in a 350 degree oven.

4. Remove from oven, sprinkle with grated cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Chocolate Streusel Bars Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar ¼ cup Hershey’s Cocoa ½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine 1 egg 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated) 2 cups (12 oz) Hersey’s special Dark Chocolate Chips or Hershey’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Directions: Heat oven to 350˚. Grease 13”X9”X2” baking pan. Stir together: flour, sugar and cocoa in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; mix well. Set aside 1 ½ cusp mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust for 10 min. Meanwhile, place sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup chocolate chips in medium microwave

safe bowl and stir. Microwave at med 1 to 1 ½ min or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred;

pour over crust. Add nuts and remaining chips to reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over top. Bake an additional 25 – 30 minutes or until center is almost set.. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

January 2017 SALTBytes 8 www.cnypcug.org

Creamy Chicken Marsala Mushroom Pasta Ingredients 1 box Rigatoni pasta 4 thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets 1 box baby Bella mushrooms (sliced) 1 medium red onion (thinly sliced) 2 cloves garlic (chopped) 1 cup Marsala wine 1/2 cup cream 1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese 2 tables dried Italian seasoning 1 tablespoon fresh basil (thinly sliced) *optional to top salt and pepper to taste olive oil

Instructions Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside. In a large cast iron sauté pan, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to heat up on medium high. Season both sides of your chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and brown on both sides. Remove

from pan and set aside. Add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and add in the onions until they begin to

soften. 3=5 minutes. Add in your mushrooms and garlic and lower the heat to medium. Season with salt pepper and Italian seasoning. Another 3-5 minutes. Pour in the Marsala wine and scrape up all the bits at the bottom of the pan. Add in the cream and cheese and stir until cheese has melted. Slice up the chicken into strips and add back into the sauce. Let everything cook together for 5 minutes. Lowering the heat to a low. Add pasta into the sauce and toss everything together. Serve immediately with sliced fresh basil and more parmesan on top.

Olive Garden Spinach & Artichoke Dip Serves 4

1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced

1 lb cream cheese, room temperature

8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

5 green onions, chopped

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1 6-oz pack fresh spinach, chopped

8 slices crusty Italian bread

Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)

Preheat oven to 325ºF.

DIP PREPARATION

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except bread and extra

virgin olive oil.

Coat a large non-stick baking pan with pan spray; fill pan

with mixture.

Bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and

center is hot.

Drizzle both sides of bread with extra virgin olive oil.

Grill bread on both sides.

Sprinkle top of heated dip with Parmesan cheese.

Serve hot with grilled bread.

January 2017 SALTBytes www.cnypcug.org 9

For Info Call 446-3326 Visit the web site at: www.cnypcug.org

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CNYPCUG Calendar

6:00 P.M.

Monthly

Meeting at LPL

Board Meeting

6:00 PM

Wegman’s on

Taft Ave.

February

2017 New

Year’s

Day!

January 2017 SALTBytes 10 www.cnypcug.org

ADDRESS

CNYPCUG

PO BOX 6444

Syracuse, NY 13217

315-876-9423

www.cnypcug.org

Member Door Prizes

& Giveaways every

month at meetings

Our meetings are at Liverpool Public Library

Carman Community Room

Tulip St. & 2nd Street, Liverpool, NY

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MEMBERS

Please be aware that we would like you to

register for EACH month’s meeting!

CNYPCUG requests that all members and non-

members register to attend our monthly meetings at

Liverpool Public Library. The registration form is

available online at -

www.cnypcug.org/reserve.

DOOR PRIZES

Here’s a partial list of some of the items

we have lined up for future meetings:

Air Ultra Duster

iPad Hardshell Case

Wireless Mouse

Kaspersky Security Software

HP 32 GB Flashdrive

DVD Movies

Vibe Acoustic Speaker

PNY 16 GB Micro SDHC Card

PNY 16 GB USB Flash Drive

And many more valuable prize items!

2016 Meetings

July 5 GRAMPS Software

August 1 Annual CNYTUG Picnic !!!

Sept 13 Solar Power

Oct 3 Cyber Security Month

Nov 7 Windows 10 from APCUG

Dec 5 Snippets & Short Videos

Jan 30 APCUG video & Talk

Our January meeting will be at the Liverpool Library, in the Sargent Room, on Monday

January 30th !!!