Technology Q&A

HELP! I’M RUNNING OUT OF DISK SPACE

I have a solo operation and my three-year-old computer’s hard drive is filling up fast. Short of removing those digital snapshots of the kids to make room for clients’ files, what options do I have? To complicate things, my hard disk came divided into two partitions, an 80-gigabyte C drive and a 20-GB D drive—a very inconvenient arrangement for a non-techie like me because I have to move back and forth between those two drives to access files. I thought of merging the partitions, but I’m told it’s a risky—and complex—operation. What do you suggest?

First I would recommend you spring for a new computer. A three-year-old machine with such a small drive is probably underpowered to begin with. So even if you solve the disk-capacity shortcoming, you’re operating a computer with minimum horsepower and storage space, and that means you’re working under a severe handicap.

However, if you’re intent on keeping your computer, there are several things you can do. Probably your best choice is to invest in an external hard drive that plugs into your computer via a USB cable. The installation is simple: It involves just plugging it into any USB slot in your computer. Once plugged in, your computer will probably immediately recognize it—identifying it as the E drive. I’d suggest a drive with storage of at least 400 GB. There are many excellent products for just a few hundred dollars. Some external drives even have automatic backup software built in, so not only will you be getting more storage space, but you’ll get a bonus of an automatic safety net, too.

Now, with so much extra storage, you may not even want to bother repartitioning your computer drive because, since a good remote is blazingly fast, you can load all your data files onto it and work with comfort.

But if you still want to eliminate the partition, I’d suggest you buy a special utility that minimizes the danger and makes the task very easy to do. There are several good programs available. I’ve used Symantec’s Partition-Magic (www.symantec.com), which costs $70.

By the way, if you decide to buy a new computer, I’d still invest in an external drive. You can use that space to store your automated backups with room to spare for those snaps of the kids.

DVD STUCK IN COMPUTER?
A PAPER CLIP TO THE RESCUE

A disk is stuck in my CD drive. Is there some way to get it out without taking my computer apart?

Yes, there is a nondestructive way to open a stuck tray-loading drive door. You’ll notice that the face of the door has a tiny hole; unfold a paper clip and gently push the end of the clip into the hole until you feel a click that signals the unlatching of the lock. That should immediately pop open the door. If the door doesn’t pop all the way open or is stiff, very gently work it out. Once open, check if there is dirt clogging the latching mechanism.

However, if the drive is broken and needs to be replaced, consider buying an external drive rather than replacing the computer’s more expensive custom internal drive. You may, however, encounter one problem: Your computer may automatically assign a new drive letter to it and some programs will only work correctly if they address the former drive letter. Worry not, switching drive assignments is easy and takes only a minute.

Open Control Panel from the Start menu, click on Administrative Tools and on the Computer Management applet and Disk Management in the Storage section. That should display a list of the fixed and removable disk drives on your system (see screenshot below).

To swap drives D and E, right-click on E and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths from the pop-up menu. Click the Change button and select an otherwise unused drive letter, such as S. Click on OK and answer Yes when prompted to confirm. Repeat these steps to swap the current D drive to E, and then do it again to change the original E drive from S to D.

IS IT UNWISE TO USE LOW-COST
OR FREE SOFTWARE?

Our tech support consultant challenges the notion that low-cost, or even free, antivirus utilities are necessarily inferior to products that carry a subscription price. What’s your take on

this?

It depends, and by that I mean there is no easy yes or no answer to that question. While it’s true that some free programs are worthless or even dangerous, many others do an outstanding or at least an adequate job. It’s usually hard to tell in advance which are both good and safe. The best guide is a recommendation from a knowledgeable source—but not someone connected to the outfit that distributes the program.

Why do some companies offer their products free? After all, you know there is no such thing as a free lunch. So there must be a catch: If you download some of them, you’ll discover they are really marketing gimmicks, cleverly engineered to entice you to “upgrade” the product for a fee. For example, say you download a free product that’s marketed as a utility which will solve all your computer problems. It then performs a full scan to check the health of your computer, and, of course, the scan will uncover many “problems”—some may even be real. But to correct those “problems,” you need to “register,” which involves paying for an upgrade key to release the product’s problem-solving software. And, of course, once you’ve divulged your address, you will be flooded with junk mail.

But that said, there is some truth to your consultant’s claim. There are some companies that offer free applications that are excellent and are not marketing scams. True, those companies also hope you will be so happy with the free program that you’ll buy other products they make or upgrade the free program to a more powerful version.

For example, I’ve been testing an antivirus program, AVG (www.grisoft.com), on one of my computers (see screenshot below). It’s free for personal use. I’m very vulnerable to hackers and viruses because I do extensive surfing on the Internet and test loads of new software, yet I’ve never been the victim of a successful attack. I should add that my second computer is loaded with a popular antivirus product that costs about $40, and that, too, has spared me from any attacks.

AVG is, however, a “minimal” program—that is, it provides just the most basic protection. But it’s adequate. For a fee, however, you can upgrade to a more powerful program.

Another free program I use is Advanced WindowsCare Personal Edition (www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html). It does an excellent job keeping my computer free of spyware and adware. It also cleans and optimizes my registry and performs a host of other housecleaning tasks (see screenshot below) that keep my computer purring efficiently.

I also have in my utility toolbox NirSoft’s My Uninstaller (www.nirsoft.net), a free program (see screenshot below) that completely removes all traces of an application I no longer want on my hard drive. Although Windows can do the cleanup job sometimes (by engaging Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs), too often it leaves behind traces of the deleted software that can disrupt the operation of other software.

STAMP OUT THE ANNOYING MACRO WARNING

I often need to create macros in Excel files, and each time I open such a file Excel displays a security message asking me if I want to enable the macros (see screenshot below). Of course, I say yes. But later, when I remove the macros, Excel still interrupts with the security question. It’s bad enough that I have to repeatedly respond to the question when a file contains macros, but once they’re gone, the warning should stop. Can that problem be solved?

That notice is part of Excel’s security system; it helps protect you from unknowingly admitting a virus attached to a macro. So while it’s a pain to respond to the question, it has a legitimate value—but only when the files contain macros.

The reason Excel keeps asking the question after you removed the macros, which are created in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), is that when you removed them, you failed to also remove the VBA module that stored them. I’ll show you how to eliminate the module so the notice will stop popping up.

Open the file and press Alt+F11 or click on Tools, Macros and then on Visual Basic Editor from the resulting submenu and the Visual Basic Editor will be displayed. Then click on Project Explorer (see screenshot below).

If Project Explorer isn’t visible, press Ctrl+R to open a folder called Modules. Double-click on it to display its contents and right-click on any module and select Remove. When asked if you want to export the module, click on No. Repeat the steps for each module and close the Visual Basic Editor and save the workbook.

HOW TO CHECK WHEN A WEB SITE
WAS LAST UPDATED

As part of my audit activity I need to check on companies’ Web sites and determine how current they are—that is, when they were last updated. Is there a way to check that information without contacting the organizations?

All you need to do is open the Web site and type the following in the address bar: javascript:alert(document.lastModified). It works in Explorer and Firefox (see screenshot below).

A BETTER IDEA

In the January 2008 issue (page 81), I offered some suggestions for solving the My Document folder default-location problem, and Amanda Adams, CPA, tax manager at Blazek & Vetterling in Houston, suggested another solution for assuring that files are saved in a default location of your choosing. In Word, for example, go to Tools, Options, File Locations and change the default location (see screenshot below).

Also in the January 2008 issue (page 83), I described how a hotel room key card can become deactivated if it’s kept next to a cell phone. Several readers wrote to say key cards can cause problems, too. For example, if they are stored next to credit cards, they can deactivate the credit cards. One reader said it wiped out his Washington, D.C., Metro pass card.

Stanley Zarowin is a contributing editor to the JofA. His e-mail address is stanley.joatech@gmail.com.

Do you have technology questions for this column? Or, after reading an answer, do you have a better solution? Send them to me via e-mail at stanley.joatech@gmail.com or via regular mail at the Journal of Accountancy, 220 Leigh Farm Road, Durham, NC 27707-8110.

Because of the volume of mail, I regret I cannot individually answer submitted questions. However, if a reader’s question has broad interest, I will answer it in a forthcoming Technology Q&A column.