Moving Thunderbird (email, accounts, settings, calendar, message filters, and address book) to a New Computer:

This Method of Transfering your Thunder Bird email accounts preserves ALL your Thunderbird email accounts, settings, message filters, and address book.

1. Install Thunderbird on the new computer / account:

You can install Thunderbird by downloading it from the Mozilla.com website here. Once you have downloaded the program to your computer, double-click on it to start the installation.

2. Copy your  Thunderbird profile to the new computer /account.

After thunderbird is installed, copy the “Profiles” folder/directory from your old computer/account to where the profiles folder is on the new computer (often in C:\Users\Owner\Application Data\Thunderbird). This will replace the profiles folder created when Thunderbird was installed. This folder should be fairly large in size depending on how much email you have.

3. Copy the Profiles.ini file to the new computer / account.

Once you have copied the Profiles folder to your new computer / account , you need to tell Thunderbird where that profile is, and what it is called.  This is accomplished by copying the profile.ini file into the same directory/folder you copied the “Profiles” folder into  (often in C:\Users\Owner\Application Data\Thunderbird).  Alternately, you can edit the existing “Profiles.ini” file to tell it which profile to load (see below).

Editing the “Profiles.ini” File:

1. Go to the profiles.ini file (often in C:\Users\Owner\Application Data\Thunderbird) and double-click on it to open it.  The contents should look something like this: (between the horizontal lines)

_________________________________________________

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/m1gu4r32.default

_______________________________________________

The portion that you need to edit is the last line that says: Path=Profiles/m1gu4r32.default.

2. Change the part after the forward slash (/) to the name of the profile that you copied over from the old computer/account.

The name of the profile can be found by simply double-clicking on the “Profiles” folder and observing the name of the folder located inside.

You can simply type the name in the “profiles.ini” files in place of the name that was there.  A quick way to accomplish this is to simply click on the folder once, press the F2 key on your keyboard, press and hold the “Ctrl” key (Windows) “Command” key (Mac) press the letter “c” on the keyboard and release both keys.  Go into the “profiles.ini” file and select the portion of text after the slash in the last line and press the “Ctrl” key (Windows) “Command” key (Mac) and press the letter “v” on your keyboard and release them both.  This will effectively copy the name of that folder/profile and paste it after the forward slash (/) where it needs to be.

3. Save the changes to the file and close it.

4. Open Thunderbird (all your emails, accounts, message filters, calendar, and contacts should appear).

Your TrueStar Technology Expert

Looking for a Fully Functional Office Program?

Have you considered purchasing a copy of Microsoft Word, Excel, or maybe the entire suite (Office)? You may have been turned off by the high pricing associated with this type of software. Are you aware that there are several versions of office software available to the public at no charge?

Open Office

One of the leading open-source software suites is provided by Open Office. Open Office features a full suite of software, ranging anywhere from word-processing to spread-sheets and presentations. This office program is free to download and use. For a free program it provides excellent functionality. To download it, visit OpenOffice.Org. and click on the download link provided.

Open Office Functionality

Open Office is very comprehensive and provides a full range of services you would expect from a professional stand-point when purchasing an office suite. Lets take a look at some of the abilities the software has.

1. Word Processing (Writer)

2. Database Creation and Management (Base)

3. Presentations (Impress)

4. Drawing and Charts (Draw)

5. Create and Manage Scientific Equations (Math)

6. Spread Sheets, Manage Finances and Equations (Calc)

With this amazing level of functionality, it is difficult to purchase a typical version of Microsoft Office that provides the same funtionalities but with a insensitive price tag.

Downloading Open Office

1. To download Open Office, click here and click on the download link provided on their site:

2. You will be presented with the download box associated with your Operating System ( you may be prompted to confirm the download).

3. Once the download is complete, you may launch the executable file to start the installation of the office suite:

4. The installation will prompt you with the license agreement etc. and will continue with the installation after these options are selected.

5. Once the installation is complete, you can launch the program to see the features provided:

6. Select any of these Items on the list, they provide you with the functionality of any of services indicated. Thats hard to beat at no charge.

Another Free Office Program

There are other free office programs available to you from different organizations that develop and manage these programs. AbiWord is another example of an office program that is fully functional and completely free. There are others out there but these are two of the bigger names in the field of free office programs.

Just Might be what You’re Looking for

Go ahead and download them and give them a try, you never know, they just might be what you’re looking for.

TrueStarTE

Your TrueStar Technology Expert

Firefox is Very Versatile

Firefox, the browser by Mozilla, is indeed a very versatile creature. If you consider the multiple levels on which you can use Firefox it is quite amazing. Today I would like to cover a couple of the more popular features available. One of the features that I like and find extremely handy, is the “Forecast Fox” Add-on. This feature basically allows you to view the weather for a given location in a few moments by integrating a little weather station if you will, into any of a number of locations in Firefox.

Simple, Easy to Understand Layout

You are presented with a simple layout that features a radar button for an geographically expansive outlook at the weather, followed by the current state of the weather and the current temperature. This is followed by two other panels dictating tomorrow’s and the “day-after’s” forecasts (noted below).

How Do I Install ForecastFox

Adding Forecast Fox to your Mozilla Firefox browser is a simple matter. Follow the instructions below:

1. Visit the Mozilla Add-ons page here (you’ll download the Add-on here).

2. Do a search for “Forecast fox” by typing forecast fox into the search box noted below (I personally like the enhanced version of the software).

3. Click on the version that you like, it will take you to the page dedicated to that version specifically.

4. Click on the “install now” or thus related button.

5. You will be presented with the software installation dialog:

6. Clicking on “Install Now” will let you install the software into your browser:

7. Once the installation is complete, you will have to restart Firefox:

8. After the restart is complete, you will need to tell Firefox to make use of the addon. You may accomplish this by:

1. Clicking on “Tools” in the menu.

2. Next click on Add-ons.

3. Click on “Extensions”.

4. Click on “Enable” under the Forecast fox Add-on:

Installation and Initialization Complete

This should put the dock into your browser. It may be necessary to restart your browser once more. Once the doc is in place, you simply need to tell it where you would like to track the weather. You may accomplish this by right-clicking anywhere on the weather interface and selecting “options”. This will present you with the Options dialog box and allow you to type in your zip code (this allows Forecast fox to track the weather for your location) If you’re putting this on a laptop and you travel frequently to multiple locations, you can add another profile and switch to that profile when you are at that location to have Forecast Fox show the weather for that location specifically:

After you type in your zip code, click on “OK” to close the dialog box. Forecast fox should begin showing the current weather as well as the two-day forecast.

Easy Weather Access

From now on, whenever you want a quick peek at what the clouds overhead are doing, simply point your mouse over the little, green, radar symbol and it will pop-up a little weather map showing cloud conditions in your area.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Skin? What’s this About Firefox Skin?

Firefox has a skin, believe it or not, Firefox is quite the dermatological agglomeration. When I say Firefox has a skin, I mean that the look and feel of Firefox can be changed to a look and feel with a completely different atmosphere. This can easily be accomplished as is made available to you by the community of Firefox interface developers.

A Plethora of Skins

The amount of skins and styles that are available for your Firefox browser is varied from the simple, cool, and professional, to skins that will make you go hmmm. Take a look here at the types of skins available, you can go simple, bright, large, cool, smooth, modern, old, have a Mac OS look… etc. etc.

How do I Get These Wonderful Skins?

Obtaining skins for Firefox is simple and free… just like the browser they are made for. If you do not have Firefox, you can download it here. If you would like skins for Firefox, you can download them here. Installation is a snap, they take the same path as do the installations that were performed above (the Forecast fox Add-on). Just follow the same instructions choosing instead, whichever skin you would like.

Using Free Programs for Work and Play

There are many applications that an end-consumer in the Personal Computer market will run into that can be performed with free programs. If you use your computer on a regular basis and use it for more than simply a word processor or to browse the internet, you’ve probably come across a situation that requires you to obtain a program that is not yet on your computer. This can prove to be some difficulty for the average PC user. One of the main issues with a situation like this is the fact the most end-users don’t know what program they need. That aside, lets take a look at the availability of programs that will perform the same functions as those purchased off-the-shelf but will not incur any cost to you.

Availability of Free Programs

The main functions that are performed on an every-day computer, tend to range from simple word processing, emailing, image management, and internet to more complex applications. More complex applications would include such things as graphics development, website design, multi-media processing, to other, even more specialized and complicated interests. If you as a end-user tend to produce a large quantity of specialized or industrial quality items, you may wish to consider more industry-standard programs, available for your field. If your needs are less complicated, there are many options available a the click of a button.

Flavors and Complexities of Free Programs

Free programs are available in a number of flavors and complexities. For instance, if you are interested in basic photo editing, an application such as Picasa should more than suit your needs. If however, you are more interested in something like graphics development or extensive photo editing, you should consider something like the Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program). The Gimp can help you work with layers, temperature, and other advanced option for photographers. The Gimp can also address such interests as the development of comprehensive Computer Generated Images.

Video

Say you’ve had your “computer-friend, guy” build you a new, custom computer. Your computer works great, you enjoy it’s performance… everything seems to be going fine. Next day you get home from work and decide to pop in a DVD and watch a movie. You’re trying to use Windows Media Player, Power DVD, or some such to play your movie, but you run into issues with an error message. The error message says something like “Windows Media Player cannot play this movie because you do not have decoder software installed on your computer” or some such. If you encounter this error, the most likely problem in such a situation, is that your computer does not have a video “codec” installed. A codec (in this particular case) is a program that allows your computer to decode the DVD movie you are trying to play. One free program that provides a path around having to purchase a codec for your movie player software is VLC Media Player . VLC Media Player has the necessary video codecs built into the software, this allows you to play a DVD or other video clip without acquiring a codec separately. Downloading and installing is a simple matter, you should be able to simply launch the program and begin watching your DVD or other movie.

Website Design

Website design, lets say you have an interest in website design , you’ve grabbed yourself a book at a local retail store and you’re ready to get started coding. The first problem you’re likely to encounter after you’ve done a little work with your book, is the need for a site-development tool. Like most professionals that develop websites, you will soon fine that coding each detail by hand becomes an extremely tedious undertaking. If your site development skills are on the look-out for a nice, versatile, program that will keep things simple and provide pain-free configuration, an application like *NVu should be sufficient.

* There is a newer, more updated version of what was Nvu that is referred to as “Komposer“, you may wish to download and try that version of the software instead.

Lots More…

The list could go on and on as far as free programs available to the end-user. I’ll quit by making mention to a few of the software developers out there that provide Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware applications to consumers at no charge. One of the better, free anti-virus applications that I have discovered out there, is AVG Anti Virus. AVG Anti-Virus is a program provided by Grisoft, that provides anti-virus protection at no charge to end-users. It’s a given that the free version of the software does have limitaions, but for free, its quite hard to beat. The program provides constant updates, does not require lots of system resources, is effective, and is easy to use. As far as anti-spyware applications, there are a number I have found to work exceptionally well. Ad-Aware by Lavasoft Inc. is a very proficient program when it comes to removing ads from your computer. Lavasoft, as of lately, has done a lot to improve the quality of it’s user-interface, providing more comprehensive otpions when it comes to locating and defining malicious programs on your computer. On the list as well, are programs such as “Spybot Search and Destroy“, “HijackThis“, and “Spyware Blaster“. All these programs are small, proficient, and provide a simple interface. When using a program such as HijackThis, it is necessary to excercise caution, as this program is a bit advanced and could cause potentially unwanted results.

Thanks Again,

Your TrueStar Technology Expert

My Computer is Slow
As is probably your experience, your Windows computer worked quite efficiently on the day of purchase. But sometime in the past three to six months, something has taken place that has caused it to slow down significantly.

Startup Items in Windows

There are a number of reasons why your Windows-based computer can slow down. One of the main reasons is “startup programs”. The term “startup programs” by definition, indicates the exact issue at hand. What basically takes place after a number of months of use, (installing and uninstalling programs, getting updates, downloading games and weather-watcher programs) tends to minimize your computer’s efficiency, by leaving a clutter of applications that your computer is needlessly demanded to run.

How it Happens

When you install programs on your computer, some of them will leave an entry/command on your computer that tells that program to startup in the background at the time your computer starts up.

Accessing the Startup Commands

The location of startup commands can be accessed by a utility known as “msconfig”. This utility allows you to disable which programs have the right to startup when you “boot-up” your computer initially. You place a check-mark in a check-box beside the programs that you want to startup in the background, and remove the check-mark for those you wish to remain inactive until you start them manually by clicking on them in your start menu.

To access the msconfig utility in Windows XP and Vista, you must type a command in the “run” dialog box. To access the startup dialog box, complete the following:

1. Click on “Start”.

2. *Click “Run”.

3. Click into the “text box”.

4. Type the Following Command: “msconfig”.

5. Click on “Ok”.

*For Windows Vista, you may click on “Start” then type “run” into the search box to locate the “run” dialog box.

Removing Unnecessary Programs from Startup

Your computer should then bring up the “msconfig” utility. One of the tabs on the utility, typically the last one, will be labeled “startup”. Click on the “startup” tab to view the startup items. Remove the check-mark in the check-boxes for any programs you do not wish to start-up when your computer starts. Please be sure to note that your anti-virus and other important programs may be listed in this list as well. Disabling your anti-virus or other important programs in this list may prove damaging to the long-term security and performance of your computer. If you are not sure what function a particular program provides, do not remove the check-mark.

You Will Need to Restart

After making your changes, click on “OK” and (if you do not have any other programs open) click on “Restart” to restart your computer and apply the changes. Once you have restarted, you will be provided with a prompt that basically indicates that Windows has recognized the changes you have made. If you agree with this statement you may select the “don’t show this to me again” (paraphrase) and click on “OK”.

Conclusion

That should conclude removing programs from startup on a Windows XP or Vista PC. If you discovered many unwanted programs in this list and have un-checked them, you should notice a significant increase in performance.

Your TrueStar Technology Expert

Note: You are responsible for any changes made to these settings at any point during this tutorial. TrueStar Computer Solutions or none of its affiliates shall be held responsible in any way.

Tablet On-Screen Keyboard Frustrations

Today I came across a very interesting and frustrating situation with a Tablet PC running Windows XP Tablet editon. The issue specifically was related to the on-screen keyboard. The on-screen keyboard would show up each time I tried to log-in to the tablet using one of its user accounts. Although this is not a critical issue, it proved to be a nuisance. You will find that disabling the use of the on-screen keyboard in control panel or by pressing the “Windows Key”+U and un-checking the “start automatically when I log in” in “utility manager” will not remove it from the log-in screen. The quick fix for this issue is to type the following command into your run box, followed by a restart: regsvr32 /u “c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\ink\loginkey.dll”. This should take care of the issue permanetly and does no damage to your system files.

Your TrueStar Technology Expert

  Welcome to TrueStar Computer Solutions… “TrueBlog”!

In this blog, we will discuss most anything technologically related… whether it be the latest computer Operating System technology (Linux, Apple, Windows based), computer hardware, third-party software, or whether it be as simple as the latest gadgetry. Drop by and take a peek at what’s going on, and hey, pop us a quick question or pass us a comment! Thanks, and… Enjoy!

Your TrueStar Technology Expert