Newsletters 2000 - April 2001

Click on a link to any of our recent newsletters, or just scroll down. Every month there are valuable tips and hints on Microsoft Word, Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and more! In Internet Explorer, you can search this page for keywords using Ctrl+F. On our home page you can search this entire web site. Click here for the list of ALL Newsletters.

September 2000 October 2000 November 2000 January 2001 February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 Later >>

To subscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail to info@softwareafrica.co.za with the word SUBSCRIBE in the Subject.

Communication in Action – April 2001

Newsletter

Joint Ventures and Increased Support Options

We are moving away from offering our own support services on networks etc and will be using Supima (Pty) Ltd to do our outsource hardware and network support. They have a strong team of engineers, as well as a laptop repair centre and a fully authorised HP repair centre. They are able to supply PCs, servers and all networking equipment including cabling. We will continue to install solutions and to recommend to you what to use in your environment, whilst letting them do what they do best. It will free us up to give better service in the areas that we are best in as well.

We are also moving back into supporting and selling Maximizer and Maximizer Enterprise. This powerful Customer Relationship Management solution has been a leader in SA for some time and the new versions are proving even stronger than their predecessors. We will configure the systems and then train users on their use.

Remember, if you are using Pastel Accounting, Maximizer and Pastelizer make your company’s departments fit perfectly together.

Software Licensing Options

D-Day has come and gone – please check now that you have complied with the licensing requirements. The fines are R5 000 per program loaded illegally or 6 years in jail. Since software licences do not cost that much, is it worth being illegal?

If you really want to avoid paying for Office software, download Star Office from the Sun Systems site.

Please note that by buying software, you are contributing to the growth of the economy, providing jobs and growth opportunities as well as increasing the revenue collected by SARS. As we are aiming at a minimum of 3% per annum growth, your contribution will help.

To find out more about this issue, call the BSA hotline on 0800-110-447, or e-mail info@bsa.co.za or go to their website www.bsa.co.za/truth.

Templates for your Company

How do you market your company electronically? We can develop templates to send out of Word and Excel to your customers, which are protected against changes to your corporate image and logos. These also ensure a corporate feel and identity is delivered by every communication you and your staff send out.

Community Spirit

SA Guide Dogs are having their annual raffle and we are selling tickets. If you would like some, please call and we’ll arrange to bring them around!

Anti-Community Spirit

If you are offered suspect second-hand computers or they are brought to you for repair, please do not ignore it – and thus contribute to more crime– call 10111! (Visit www.crimestop.co.za before accepting a cheque or second-hand goods, and list your stolen goods there)

A customer recently had all their computers stolen at gun point. One of the thieves really had brazen cheek – he asked the person he was holding up for a job!

Tips from the Help Line: Problems we solved recently

Hiding e-mail addresses

Do you want to conceal addressees? Use the BCC option for them and no one will see the list of addresses. BCC means Blind Carbon Copy and is intended to hide its contents.

Signatures in Outlook

Save yourself having to type your name and address details at the bottom of every e-mail you send. Add your signature through Tools | Options | Mail Format | Signature Picker and create a signature using New. Select the file when you have saved it and your signature will appear automatically. The signature file can include disclaimers and other information.

This can be done for everyone in the company and again enhances your corporate image.

Organizer and Smart Suite

We are finding that many people are having corruption problems with these packages. If you are suffering the dreaded “illegal operation” when trying to start any of these packages, reload it into a new directory before you remove the old load. This will prevent the software loading over the problem areas. If you know how to, run Scandisk to mark the damaged areas of your disk after you have removed the old version.

How can I learn Microsoft Access?

Our two courses, Access Beginners and Access Intermediate, provide a good grounding in the program and principles of good database design. There are also two courses on Visual Basic. We run courses for companies (3-8 people), but we will also license the manuals and examples diskettes to individuals. You can then go ahead and design your own database (we like to be involved in the specification, it saves time later) and then just call us for support when you get stuck.

That’s all for now!

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 2077, Rivonia, 2128 South Africa.
Tel: (+27 11) 802-2685. Fax: 802-4576. Cell: 083 626-5339.
E-mail: judith@softwareafrica.co.za

This entire newsletter is Copyright© 2001 Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd. Please feel free to share this newsletter with your friends or post it on your site as long as it is left intact with all links unchanged and includes this notice. To unsubscribe, e-mail info@softwareafrica.co.za with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Communication in Action – March

2001 Newsletter

Useful Free Software

Last month we mentioned the programs Match (for DOS) and WinMatch (for Windows), which allow you to compare date/times and sizes of files with the same names on two paths and optionally copy later files to the other path. This month we tell you where to find them! Click Here. There are several other programs available on our site, many of particular interest to programmers in various dialects of Basic. The programs are Shareware: If you find them useful, we ask for a small contribution to encourage us!

Software Licensing Options

E-mail judith@softwareafrica.co.za and we can arrange to do a full audit of your software. This month is the final deadline for legalising your software and obtaining certification from the Business Software Alliance. There are a number of options available and the issue does not only cover Microsoft licences, but Adobe Systems Incorporated, AutoDesk, Corel Corporation, Lotus Development Corporation and Symantec. Penalties are heavy and the BSA will take action from 1st April.

To find out more about this issue, call the BSA hotline on 0800-110-447, or e-mail info@bsa.co.za or go to their website www.bsa.co.za/truth.

Not Quite Famous…

On Valentine's Day Rick was invited to participate in the Radio SAFM Computer Help Line presented by Tony Lankester from 9 to 10 pm. As luck would have it, our expert in 1-2-3, Excel, Access databases and Visual Basic programming was given questions mostly about hardware, iMacs and operating systems!

Redfern Label Templates

We have set up Word 97/2000 templates for a large number of layouts of labels produced by Redfern Labels and Colour Jet Labels. These are A4 sheets of peel-off labels that you can print with a laser or inkjet printer. The Redfern labels can be downloaded from their site at www.redfern.co.za (click on the Download button). For Colour Jet Labels, see www.portamex.co.za (click on Adhesive Labels and Software Downloads).

Community Spirit

With the support of Communication in Action, Rick is setting up the Sandton Precinct web site as a community service. Sandton Precinct is a Section 21 (non-profit) company dedicated to improving the security of Sandton residents. It collects money from the community for the Police and other emergency services, and has done tremendous work in keeping the tottering emergency services going. Your R30 monthly debit order (R50 for companies) is money well spent and also entitles individuals to free emergency SOS rescue.

Communication in Action also supports the computers of the Sandton Community Police Forum and SA Guide Dogs Association for the Blind on a non-profit basis.

Anti-Community Spirit

The SA Guide Dogs Association for the Blind was burgled early in February. Their Server and several of their PCs were stolen. These disgusting thieves will target even charities –no one is immune! If this happened to you, would your business survive? Make sure that you have backups (Guide Dogs mostly did), mark and preferably bolt your computers to a bench, wall, or floor! If you are offered suspect second-hand computers or they are brought to you for repair, please do not ignore it –and thus contribute to more crime– call 10111! (Visit www.crimestop.co.za before accepting a cheque or second-hand goods, and list your stolen goods there)

Tips from the Help Line: Problems we solved recently

Lotus Word Pro: How do I get all my paragraphs in Arial always?

Set your SmartMaster's "Default Text" style to Arial, as follows: Open the relevant SmartMaster – typically default.mwp (File Open > Files of Type: Lotus Word Pro SmartMaster (*.MWP) > locate default.mwp > Open). Press Alt+Enter to get Text Properties. On the last Tab (Named Styles) make sure you have "Default Text" selected. On the first Tab (Font, attribute and colour) set the Font name to Arial. On the last Tab (Named Styles) click Redefine Style . OK. Save the SmartMaster.

Doing the same in Word

Click on Format > Font and choose Arial and the size that you want. Then click on default and OK before closing. The Normal template will then keep Arial as your default font. In general, clicking on Default in any of the dialog boxes where you change things makes the new choice operative from then onwards.

How do I Automatically Check my Spelling when I send e-mail from Outlook?

Avoid the embarrassment of sending out e-mails like this: " Thak you for yor sevice, it is much apreciated, I ahve fowarded teh mesage to hte clinet."! In Outlook, under Tools > Options > Spelling, turn the automatic spelling checker on by ticking "Always check spelling before sending". In the same area you can set it to use the English UK dictionary instead of US.

Activating Insert Mode in Word and WordPro

Word is more user-friendly as you will see that OVR is showing on the bottom bar. This means that you will overtype anything to the right of your cursor. If this is happening in either package, pressing the Insert key on the keyboard will push the text along in front of your cursor instead.

That’s all for now!

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 2077, Rivonia, 2128 South Africa.
Tel: (+27 11) 802-2685. Fax: 802-4576. Cell: 083 626-5339.
E-mail: judith@softwareafrica.co.za

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Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd. –

February 2001 Newsletter

Out of Action

Lightning did what nothing else has been able to – down our e-mail and Internet connection on the 2nd February. We came back on-line yesterday, so if you have had e-mail returned, please send again!

Coming Soon...

We expect to have our web site enabled for e-commerce this month (February). Visit us from time to time!

Useful Free Software

Have you ever had two copies of a folder, each one with some later files than the other, and you wanted to reconcile them? How long did it take you? It can take just a few seconds if you look on our web site under "Free Stuff", and download the programs Match (for DOS) or WinMatch (for Windows). Match will compare date/times and sizes of files with the same names on two paths. There is an option to make a batch file to COPY later files to the other path. WinMatch will compare two folders and automatically mark newer files. You may change the selection by clicking check boxes. You may then copy or move selected files in either direction, or delete them. The programs are Shareware: If you find them useful, we ask for a small contribution to encourage us!

Software Licensing Options

E-mail judith@softwareafrica.co.za and we can arrange to do a full audit of your software. This month and next are the final deadline for legalising your software and obtaining certification from the Business Software Alliance. There are a number of options available and the issue does not only cover Microsoft licences, but Adobe Systems Incorporated, AutoDesk, Corel Corporation, Lotus Development Corporation and Symantec. Penalties are heavy and the BSA will take action from 1st April.

To find out more about this issue, call the BSA hotline on 0800-110-447, or e-mail info@bsa.co.za or go to their website www.bsa.co.za/truth.

Templates

What do DaimlerChrysler (formerly Mercedes-Benz SA), ABSA Bank and African Rainbow Minerals have in common? They are among the companies for whom we have created templates for business letters, faxes, memos, and e-mails. These often incorporate the company's corporate identity in the form of logos, special fonts etc. For some clients, notably dsgn and Ninham Shand Consulting Engineers, we have included automation: When a new document is created, a dialog box asks for the recipient’s and sender’s details and then fills them in on the template, which can be protected. It remembers the details of previous senders and recipients who can be chosen from drop-down lists to avoid retyping and possible typing errors. We can also save documents to specified folders, give them sequential numbers, and keep a log of documents produced. This is ideal for controlling correspondence and ensures a uniform presentation to your clients.

Along with this expertise we have built up a list of things to look for when creating templates, so it is good for your designers to involve us at an early stage. Examples: Do not use less than 8-point text on a fax (unreadable!), and if you put footers on a fax it increases faxing time.

Insurance Information eXchange (IIX)

This product grows almost by the day! The Claims module is up and running. Split Expenses now make it possible to identify commissions to a broker within the brokerage and for subagents.

We are negotiating with Application Service Providers to give small clients a cost-effective access to a fully licensed solution for their systems.

Tips from the Help Line: Problems we solved recently

Lotus 1-2-3 Millennium Edition 9.5: How do I get the "Classic" WYSIWYG Menu?

This is the "colon" menu "Worksheet Format Graph Print Display..." used for formatting, as opposed to the "Classic" Slash (/) menu "Worksheet Range Copy Move File...". This menu is now hidden, but you can still get it by creating a macro as follows: Find two blank cells in your spreadsheet that will not be interfered with. In the left-hand of these two cells, type the following: ^\M (caret, backslash, M). Press Enter, then /RNLR Enter (slash for the "Classic menu, Range Name Labels Right, Enter). Move one cell to the right, and enter a colon (:) in that cell. Now you can press Ctrl+M (hold Control, press M) whenever you want the old Classic WYSIWYG menu. Note: The file with the \M macro must be open for the Ctrl+M macro to work!

How can I calculate the split of the Pay Packets for my 200 staff members?

We recently created a spreadsheet that will work out pay packets (minimum number of each available denomination of coin and bank note) for a customer. It totals each denomination so that you know exactly how many of each to ask the bank for. This spreadsheet is too complex to give here, but is available from us for a nominal R120 + VAT. E-mail Rick and specify Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel version.

How can I get Subtotals and Grand Totals in Excel?

Use the function =SUBTOTAL(9,range) for each range (smaller ranges for the subtotals, the entire range for the Grand Total). Unlike SUM, the SUBTOTAL function does not include other SUBTOTALs in its calculation. You can also do other calculations by changing that first parameter (9). Use: 1=AVERAGE, 2=COUNT, 4=MAX, 5=MIN, 9=SUM. Consult Help for others. You can use this function to any level, i.e. Subtotals, sub-subtotals, sub-sub-subtotals, etc.

How can I get Subtotals and Grand Totals in Lotus 1-2-3?

Use the function @SUBTOTAL(range) for the Subtotals and @GRANDTOTAL(range) for the Grand Total. @SUBTOTAL sums any numbers in its range. @GRANDTOTAL will only sum @SUBTOTALs in its range. For extra levels of total (great-grand-totals!), use @GRANDTOTAL functions with larger ranges.

That’s all for now!

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 2077, Rivonia, 2128 South Africa.
Tel: (+27 11) 802-2685. Fax: 802-4576. Cell: 083 626-5339.
E-mail: judith@softwareafrica.co.za

Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd.–

New Year 2001 Newsletter

Compliments of the Season!

What’s new?

Apart from the year and the millennium of course – definitely a feeling of optimism and we’ve come back raring to go.

We have a full e-commerce facility in development and already have the go-ahead from a bank to use credit card authorisation via the Internet. We are intending to have everything up and running by mid February.

As usual, we will let you know how this progresses!

Useful URLs

Here are some resources we've found useful in the last year:

Peter Carruthers's Free Weekly Business Idea for Small Business Owners: www.PetesWeekly.co.za
List and search for stolen goods and cheques: www.crimestop.co.za. Visit it before accepting a cheque or second-hand goods!
To subscribe to our own occasional anti-fraud newsletter (tips on avoiding cheque fraud, hot cheques, etc.) send an e-mail to rick@softwareafrica.co.za with the word SUBSCRIBE in the Subject. The last issue described how to find your cell phone Serial No so that you can block it if it is stolen, so no one else can use it.

Software Licensing Options

Are you finding that licensing is a nightmare? Did you know that you can rent software? Providing your total requirement is R100 000 or more for your order, this is a reality. No more “assets” on your books, just a current liability and an arrangement with your supplier and the rental company to make sure that your licensing situation is up-to-date. For more information, please contact judith@softwareafrica.co.za and I will arrange for the Rental company to come and discuss the opportunity.

Remember that Microsoft Systems Management Server can assist you in tracking your software licensing, as can other non-Microsoft solutions. They also help you to keep an on-line Asset Register of your PCs and printers.

Website Challenges

The banks are not infallible – their sites do crash. We wanted to access our account and could not so rang to find out what was the matter. On being told “Nothing, contact your administrator”, we disputed this but ran the command tracert followed by the site name (for instance tracert www.softwareafrica.co.za) at the DOS prompt. This returns the full route to the site, how long it takes to do each “jump” on the way and the IP addresses.

We were then able to ascertain that we could reach the site but it was not displaying. A further call established what we knew – the site was down!

Insurance Information eXchange (IIX)

This product grows almost by the day! The Claims module is in final testing with clients and the batch printing solution goes out for client testing next week. Many simple improvements have been made to make data entry easier – street addresses can be copied to postal where they are the same for example.

The reporting functionality becomes more and more dynamic. It is so exciting working with clients to meet their needs – and being able to roll-out the new functionality for everyone.

The robustness of the product is its major strength – across diginet, analog and ISDN dial-up it performs the same.

Troubleshooting - It’s the Little Things that Matter

Can’t Log on – invalid password etc

Let’s be honest, we’ve done it too and felt idiots when the penny’s dropped! Check that someone else hasn’t logged onto your PC and that it really is your logon name there.
However, we came across an unusual one some time ago, and thought that reminding administrators that it still can happen is never lost. If a user cannot logon despite their user name and password being correct, check in User Manager that there are no spaces AFTER their name. It has happened!
Are you on the Domain? Or have you returned to a workgroup or (if on NT Workstation or 2000 Pro) just on your PC?
Also check CAPS LOCK – most passwords are case-sensitive.

That’s all for now!

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 2077, Rivonia, 2128 South Africa.
Tel: (+27 11) 802-2685. Fax: 802-4576. Cell: 083 626-5339.
E-mail: judith@softwareafrica.co.za

Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd

– November 2000 Newsletter

This is our new HTML format - please let us know how you feel about it!

What’s new

The changes that we have been making over the past eight months are paying off – we are now ready to focus on our strengths and improve our service to our clients further. We will be launching our new website (still the same address) within the next few days. It has a very different look and feel and we want your feedback!

Also, would you like us to design and maintain your websites?

Pastelizer 5.2

Is released and already enhanced - See our web site for a FREE download!

http://www.softwareafrica.co.za/pastelizer.htm

A special version –Pastelizer 5.2 Recurring Billing– is now available. This version is ideal for organizations that do repeat invoicing for memberships, service contracts, etc. Billing can be done monthly, or annually the month before the anniversary of joining, and can take place on or after a specific date in the month, the last day, or last weekday. In Maximizer, you can create different membership categories at different prices. Pastelizer pushes the invoices through directly into Pastel, where they are ready to be printed.

Website Challenges

Why did we design our own website? There are so many companies out there doing it daily, so surely one can meet our needs?

Yes they can and they did, with one small problem – we had to nag them for updates, links and placement on search engines. There was no after sales service!

Having designed our website, we are now empowering ourselves to meet the needs that we have. Is it possible that they are also your needs?

Using Maximizer effectively (or any good contact management package for that matter), we intend to make sure that website services keep your web presence alive! We will even nag your website developer for you!

If this idea appeals – let Judith know. She’ll come and talk possibilities with you and see how to make your site sparkle all the time!

Insurance Information eXchange (IIX)

Just an update – the Claims module goes live this week. Never has processing your client’s claim been more straightforward and easier to track. Insurance Information eXchange is a living and growing solution to making short term brokering fun again!

Sit at the beach and keep your customers happy!

If it can happen to Microsoft – how safe are you?

Doesn’t it give you a feeling of power when the big guys get zapped? Yet your data is just as valuable and as vulnerable. Are you sure your backup software works? That it actually restores the information? That your antivirus is regularly updated and stops Trojans entering (that’s what got Microsoft)?

Backup Online offers a remote backup service with testing – but we’ve had no answer from them! We know that McAfee Antivirus works and we do regular updates both at our site and at our clients.

If a nasty doubt has entered your mind, get your IT guys to do those routine checks and report back. If you see a problem, call us and we’ll come to the party to make sure everything is safe.

Troubleshooting - It’s the Little Things that Matter

Microsoft Word does not spell check when a document is protected

At least it does not auto spell check. To make sure that your spelling is as it should be, press F7 when you have finished to start the spell check. There’s nothing worse than spelling errors that you didn’t see!

Keeping important e-mails in Outlook

Well – not quite! If your e-mails are important, then save them to the relevant folders on your server or PC as text files. Always save important attachments to the relevant folder. This lowers the risk of losing these documents.

1-2-3 returns fatal errors on File Open

This is a problem that recurs every six months or so. When a 1-2-3 file corrupts, the first solution is to open it in Microsoft Excel and resave it with a different name. Then reopen in 1-2-3. If it will not open in Excel, you can send it to rick@softwareafrica.co.za and he will attempt recovery – there is a charge for this however.

Again, to all 1-2-3 users – BACK UP your files!

Other file opening problems

Word often crashes with illegal access problems. When this happens, use Ctrl-A (Select All) followed by Ctrl-C (Copy) and then open a new document. Paste the copied material into it and save with a new name

This method has recovered many desperate situations. It also works for Excel spreadsheets.

Database files are more of a problem and will need someone who knows about recovery to rehabilitate them!

Cannot Rename, delete etc a file on a server

This happens often and always when you’re in a hurry. There are two reasons – one you don’t have rights to perform the operation and two – the file is in use.

If the first is not true – you do have the rights, then the second is true. Ask everyone to close their files and you will be able to do the changes.

Hard Drive Problems

If a lot of your files are giving problems, you may also notice a strange sound coming from your hard drive. This indicates a problem with the drive and your support person will normally advise replacing it before it implodes with all your data – another reason to keep your data on the server (Not much use if you’ve only one PC however).

First – BACKUP all your data, then install the new drive. We have found that making your original drive the D: drive means that you can easily access the data to copy it across to the new drive once everything is up and running. Having a backup is insurance in case the thing packs up completely beforehand.

That’s all for now!

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd
E-mail: judith@softwareafrica.co.za

This entire newsletter is Copyright© 2000 Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd. Please feel free to share this newsletter with your friends or post it on your site as long as it is left intact with all links unchanged and includes this notice. To unsubscribe, e-mail info@softwareafrica.co.za with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd

– October 2000 Newsletter

This is our new HTML format - please let us know how you feel about it!

CiA (Pty) Ltd (and other TLAs)

In keeping with the professional image our clients expect of us, Communication in Action cc has upgraded to a Proprietary Limited company. The Directors are the previous cc members, Judith Taylor and Rick Raubenheimer. Our contact details remain as below.

Pastelizer 5.2

IS RELEASED - See our web site for a FREE download!

http://www.softwareafrica.co.za/pastelizer.htm

Insurance Information eXchange (IIX)

This product is changing the way insurance companies work. Are you motivated by the prospect of being able to work with your customers at their premises? On the phone from anywhere not just your office? Insurance Information eXchange enables you and your staff to do just that, whilst working live onto the company’s database.

Everything is in one place – client policy information, insured risks and their photographs, all your correspondence, e-mails, faxes and telephone logs plus the financial data through to Trial Balance and the all important Bordereaux reports.

Want production data on your desk daily or hourly – just ask Insurance Information eXchange to send you a report or use Excel to produce the pivot table of your needs!

Check that your client’s policy includes all the insurable risks they require? E-mail the document to them for confirmation and have the answer in moments.

For NON-Insurance business – need to keep up with Contacts and Accounts?

Maximizer 5.0 with Pastel Accounting 5.0 or 5.2 using the Pastelizer 5.1 or 5.2 link software can again put everything that you need in one place. It will soon be Christmas and Maximizer solves the printing of envelopes or labels for your customers and suppliers. A quick merge gives a professional approach plus you know how many cards to buy as well!

Forgotten that all-important birthday? Maximizer acts as your silent secretary, reminding you of all the important events in your life. What’s more, you can work from home or on the road with it as well using MaxExchange to synchronize with the office.

With either solution, you can increase your customer satisfaction and yours as well. Contact us for a live demo of these powerful productivity solutions.

New Service – Keeping Your Web Page up-to-date

Do you find that you once had a beautiful, state-of-the-art web page that looks old hat now? Would a reminder service be of value to you? One which also makes sure that your web design company delivers timeously for you and stays ahead of the trends, keeping your web presence alive and part of the e-commerce revolution?

If so, please contact Judith at judith@softwareafrica.co.za to discuss how we may be of assistance.

It’s the Little Things that Matter

Numbering in a document

Sometimes, when we are trying to achieve a particular objective, we come up against the little things that somehow stop us. Recently, I was editing a document in Word, which used legal numbering. The fourth level would not number correctly, whatever I did.

Finally, I deleted that level from the document and tried again. Lo and behold, it worked perfectly and I was then able to reset indents and tabs throughout the document at every level without a problem. Try my solution first – you may well save a lot of time!

Anchoring a picture

Microsoft Word first: Anchoring is best done with the hidden paragraph marks all on, then you can see the picture’s anchor. It is particularly necessary when you do not want the picture to move onto the next page. To be sure that it will not move, it needs to be anchored to the margin above it. If the picture is in a table as well as below it, then anchor it to the cell next to it.

The latter requires care, as Word will do its best to put the entire picture in the cell and this may not be what you want!

Lotus WordPro is more difficult at first sight. You need the picture’s properties. Once there, Placement gives you the option in Advanced to place the anchor position above the picture at the top of the page.

In both cases, no more movement can happen onto other pages.

Many modems, too long at the fax machine!

Or maybe only one modem! Did you know that if you have 5 users or less, you can use GFI Fax for free and send and receive faxes electronically? This award-winning program can make paper faxing and standing resending the same fax history. Try it on http://www2.iix.co.za - there’s all the information you need on that site where it is called FaxMaker. Check out Mail Essentials at the same time.

Many modems, no lines left for customers to call as everyone dials out for e-mail!

You may remember that we mentioned a FREE e-mail spooling program some time ago? Well we can still e-mail it to you and then you can free up your incoming lines to do business on! One modem dialling out to send and received e-mail makes much more sense. After all, can you evaluate how much business was lost from a call that you did not receive? Mail us on info@softwareafrica.co.za and we’ll send it to you.

Antivirus solutions

Make sure that you are updating yours weekly and that you renew your precious licences annually. Viruses do hurt. On the fun side, we received the dumb one written by non-programmers. It says, because we don’t program, please delete all the files of your hard drive after receiving this virus!

That’s all for now!

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd

Communication in Action Newsletter –

September 2000

Spring is in the air, so it’s time to clean up and get going. We apologise for not yet putting our download page on the Web Site – it will be there soon to celebrate the launch of Pastelizer 5.2! So this month, you will receive a second newsletter announcing its release!

What's new with us?

We are successfully up and running with Windows 2000 server and Workstation. The environment is proving exceptionally stable and a delight to use. However, here are some tips for changing over:

Check how much RAM you have – we recommend at least 128MB to successfully run 2000.
Check how big your hard drive is – 4GB or more is best.
We are running on a Pentium 200 and a Pentium II Celeron so PC up-to-dateness is not a problem. 2000 does not run on some none Intel Processors however so check that yours is not one of them.
Check on the Web and with your hardware support people for the latest Windows 2000 drivers. If you use the wrong driver, you will have to reload.
Back up all your data first and then use fdisk to delete your drive. Reformat and then load Windows 2000 Professional
We recommend keeping the operating system and the data drive separate. Windows 2000 requires 1GB of space.
Check with your software provider that the version you are loading will work on 2000. AntiVirus software is particularly inclined to crash the system if it is out of date. CD Writer software can be obtained from HP via their helpline and they will charge for it.
Service Pack 1 is out and can be ordered from Microsoft!

Problems encountered

Glad to say none other than those mentioned above.

Advantages

Many – drivers are recognised easily and many are included with the operating system. I have sound after many moons without it and the mouse roller works on the Internet. It is also faster to use and more informative.

Moving from Windows 9x, you will find a number of differences, because it is NT based and people have unique profiles.

Security is better particularly if you make a secure log in the default.

Insurance Information eXchange

This is now rolling out at customers throughout the country. We are having to plan ahead so help us by contacting me for demonstrations and to discuss your brokerage’s needs.

Security Hassles

On the Internet and not sure that your site is secure? We have found a number of solutions.

To run an initial test, go to www.netice.com and download their trial program BlackIce to see if you are getting violations.

If you are – talk to us about local well-supported firewall solutions. No on-line site can be safe enough these days. Also check your anti-virus software is totally up-to-date and is being updated WEEKLY. The Internet and e-mail opens you up to viruses.

We recommend McAffee (was Dr Solomon’s) and have had no virus violations on any fully protected sites. To make doubly sure, we can come and update your antivirus package regularly for you.

How is your backup? Not backing up leaves you open to loss of data and no repair company recovers your data for you. They regard its security as your responsibility. Solutions range from Microsoft Backup using a stiffy or a low cost Colorado drive for small volumes right up to large backup solutions using AIT tape drives.

Remember that the Internet also offers www.backuponline.com as well. We’re not sure of costs for this so check their website.

Loss of data can be caused by the following factors:

Hard drive failure
Theft
Lightning strikes
Motherboard failure
Viruses
Accidental deletion by users
Intentional deletion by users

If you want some assistance in deciding on the right solution for you – call us and we will come and discuss the problems and their possible solutions.

For Netaholics

Engineering News reports that, for those of us who are addicted to computers, help is at hand: "At www.netaddiction.com you can actually seek counselling – but that is like holding an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a bar."

Yours sincerely

Judith Taylor
Director, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 2077, Rivonia, 2128 South Africa.
Tel: (+27 11) 802-2685. Fax: 802-4576. Cell: 083 626-5339.
E-mail: judith@softwareafrica.co.za

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