Did you know that ACDSee would run even faster and quicker if you did a little maintenance? The maintenance is easy. It’s called optimize the database.

But before I tell you how to do it, I want to tell you a little about what does. Optimize gets rid of extra obsolete info in your database and re-files everything nicely. Part of the extra obsolete info is if files have been deleted and no longer exist and thumbnail info.

Word of caution: If you think you might have moved something outside of ACDSee after assigning categories, you should go verify that you don’t have orphans files (files that no longer exist) To check for this, follow the first 5 steps in this help: Did you move folders outside of ACDSee? How to fix it? If you do find orphans, follow the rest of the steps to correct the issue. If you are positive that you haven’t moved files you can skip this step.

How often should I do this?

Weekly. Our digital scrapbooking kits create such a large database that we should optimize frequently.

To Optimize:

1. If you are running External Hard Drives: Connect and start your EHD.
2. Choose Database | Optimize Database…
3. Click Next
4. Select Both Boxes and click Next
5. Click Next and let it run.
6. When done, click on Finish.

Last weekend, I went traveling with my External Hard Drive. Before I left home, I had done a synchronization with my backup EHD. When I came home my EHD worked for one day and then wouldn’t power on. It could be because of the traveling or it was a coincidence that the EHD broke. Nonetheless all my scrapbooking digital kits, my photos, & my layouts are inaccessible. I wasn’t too concerned though because of the synchronization. I connected up my backup EHD, re-binded my main folder in ACDSee Photo Manager and I am back to scrapping. The only thing I lost was my photos from the trip but I haven’t deleted them off my camera yet so I really haven’t lost those either. Now, I just need to do another shopping trip and go find another EHD on sale so I have a backup EHD and can synchronize again.

Vista has caused me to spend some time thinking about it… and talking with Heidi about it. And we had agreed to hold off on posting anything, but I think it’s time! We have a new ACDSee 9 user that just started out with Vista too. (ACDSee will soon release their Vista compatible version.) And I know of another digiscrapper that is using Vista.

With that I think it’s time to start a conversation about it. My laptop has a little sticker ‘Designed for Windows XP - Windows Vista Capable’. I bought it last August because I wanted a laptop. Now my sister bought hers in December to make sure that she got XP. Her stance is that she plans to wait until they get the bugs out of Vista before dealing with it. So I’ve been talking to people about it. And I when I read the following article, I thought that it had a lot of facts in it and maybe things worth considering. I have heard that Vista gobbles up 1 gig of RAM to run. WOW! I enjoy my 2 gig of RAM and I don’t intend to share half with my OS (and I don’t even scrap in PS).
So I’d like to hear your opinions - are you using Vista, do you like it? did you have to upgrade your hardware? or is happy on your existing computer?
From the Rockbridge Weekly Online

VISTA: Better Check Before You Buy
Microsoft Windows Vista Operating System Released To The World
By Kevin Parker
Staff Writer

If you live in the civilized world, there is no doubt you have heard of the recent release of Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows Vista. The newest, although late, operating system developed by Redmond Washington’s Microsoft Corporation has finally hit stores and been made available for purchase throughout the world. If you are considering an upgrade on your PC to Vista, there are certainly things that need to be considered before you drop the $199 - $399 (depending on the version you desire), for the operating system.

Vista has outrageous hardware requirements, driver compatibility issues, and some inconsistent operation of its applets (like Windows Search). Microsoft’s claim is that Vista is the most secure operating system developed to date by the software giant. Of course, this claim was also made in 2000 when Microsoft turned Windows XP loose on the public. Finally, after a slew of fixes, security updates, as well as service packs, Windows XP finally became the most secure Microsoft operating system to date.

Although Vista has a very “cool” look to it, you have to consider whether the looks are worth giving up the solid operation that has become Windows XP.

Vista’s Aero visual environment includes a flip 3-D feature, which allows a user to cycle through a stack of open windows to find their desired application. Vista also offers “gadgets,” small programs that resemble MAC “widgets.” Networking computers is virtually automatic, as it was supposed to be but never quite has been with Windows XP. The Photo Gallery is a great built-in organizer to manage digital pictures; it even includes basic photo correction tools. There are other ways in which Vista shows off its new 3D capabilities though, apart from the transparency and glass effects. There is now an alternative to the old Alt-Tab method of switching between applications called Flip 3D. Hit the Windows key and Tab and instead of flat, anonymous icons, you get previews of all your currently open windows stacked in 3D. Hit Tab while holding down the Windows key and the stack smoothly cycles through each one, just like a virtual Rolodex. The “sidebar” is a nice touch also. This takes a similar but more attractive approach to Google’s Desktop sidebar. You can dock various ‘gadgets’ here, including a clock, sticky notes, an RSS news feeder, a photo slideshow, contact list and various other handy mini-applications. Vista also includes parental controls, which is likely to be a big selling point for those with children. Now personally, I have my doubts about any kind of parental control – once your kids have figured out how to hack into the administrator account (and they will), it won’t be of much use anyway – but it is a handy tool if you want to leave them unsupervised for a few minutes here and there. The tool enables you to create a log of computer activity for a set user account so you can see what they’ve been looking at while your back was turned, apply filters for which web sites they can look at, set time slots for when they can and can’t use the computer, and block specific programs altogether. But the biggest news on the security front, and a development that has sparked plenty of debate, is the introduction of UAC, or user access control, a change intended to help prevent unauthorized changes being made to your system. With Vista’s UAC switched on, most users run in a restricted mode, in which permissions can be elevated to Administrator level at any time. When a process that could compromise the security of your computer (driver or other software installation, for instance) begins, Vista generates an alert box asking for permission to proceed and locks down all other Windows tasks so you have to focus on allowing or denying it permission to continue.

Although Windows Vista does have a few very nice additions to it, the hardware requirements alone are something to consider.

First, let’s take a look at Microsoft’s recommended system requirements for Vista (these are minimum requirements):

• 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

• 512 MB of system memory

• 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

• Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory

• DVD-ROM drive

• Audio Output

• Internet access

These requirements don’t seem that bad. But before you click your heels and run off to place a pre-order for Vista Home Premium, hold on. This list, unsurprisingly, doesn’t tell the whole story. The above list, though not the barest of bare minimums, is what you need to run the most basic version of Microsoft’s new operating systems – Vista Basic – which is, very basic. Instead, what you really need to run Vista - Home Premium, Ultimate, Business and Enterprise Versions are:

• 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

• 1 GB of system memory

• 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:

• WDDM Driver (Windows Vista Display Driver Model)

• 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)

• Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware

• 32 bits per pixel

• DVD-ROM drive

• Audio Output

• Internet access

The key thing to pay attention to here is the memory requirement. Though even Vista Ultimate will get by on the minimum 512MB of RAM, you won’t be able to benefit from all of the interfaces included in the operating system. Some interface’s, including Flip 3D and the live Alt-Tab and taskbar previews are memory intensive and simply can’t be accessed if you don’t have enough memory installed.

It doesn’t stop there. Since so much in the Vista upgrade is focused on the visual experience, your display hardware is going to need to be up to spec too. Though you can run it on lower resolution displays, you will need at least 1,280 x 1,024 to take full advantage of all of that lovely eye candy. Your video card is going to have to have a bit more horsepower to spare than it did with XP as well – you’ll need at the very least 128MB of memory and it should support DirectX 9. So, before running out to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or placing an order online for newest Windows version in an attempt to boost the performance and look of your 2 year old PC, you should at least run a compatibility test on your PC to ensure that it can handle the robust requirements of Vista. You can find and run such a compatibility test on Microsoft’s Vista Website: test here to decide if buying or upgrading is best

I was just reading over some of the suggestions that my sister has given for Firefox & I can’t wait to try them out! The daily bookmark one will be so very helpful! Firefox is truly a superior browser (I’ve been using earlier versions at work for 7 years). A few days ago I saw that someone’s keyboard was responding oddly after downloading an update of Internet Explorer. When she downloaded & installed Firefox, it solved the problem! If you haven’t tried it - what are you waiting for?

You don’t use Firefox?

I would highly recommend trying Firefox. I could give you many reasons but the biggest one is it is more secure that Internet Explorer. For free Firefox, go to Firefox

Why would I customize my browser?
To create better & easier web surfing.

What can I customize?
Almost everything.

How can I customize?

1. Go to Tools | Add-ons and choose Extensions or Themes.
2. Click on Get Extensions or Get Themes.
3. Browse for one you would like and click on Install.
4. Firefox will install it and then Firefox will close and restart. If it doesn’t do this automatically then close and restart Firefox.
5. To easily switch themes go back to Tools | Add-ons, click on a theme and choose “Use Theme.” Close and restart Firefox.

The look:The look of the software can be changed. Firefox calls these themes. All those icons and colors can easily be changed. There are many themes to choose from. Large themes for people with bad eyesight. Cool themes for those that need cool themes. Functional themes to make things easier to use. I like the last one best.

• I like this theme a lot: Noia 2.0 (Extreme)
• Other good one: Mostly Crystal
• A scrappy looking one: Curacao 3

Just browse to see if you find one you like… Before installing, make sure it works with your version of Firefox (current version is 2.0) Look for “Works with”

Adding extensions….

There are some great extensions to improve your surfing experience. Extensions are little pieces of software to improve or add a feature.

• Download Statusbar
  • View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar - without the download window getting in the way of your web browsing.
• DownThemAll
  • DownThemAll is all you can desire from a download manager. DownThemAll is fast, reliable and easy-to-use! It lets you download all the links or images contained in a webpage and much more: you can refine your downloads by fully customizable criteria to get only what you really want!
• Forecastfox
  • Get international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com, and display it in any toolbar or statusbar with this highly customizable and unobtrusive extension.
• IE Tab
  • This is a great tool to easily see the website in IE. Not all websites work with Firefox (very, very few: Like Windows Updates)
• CuteMenus — Crystal SVG
  • This handy extension adds icons to every menu.

Other Add-ons suggested by other scrapbookers:

• PermaTabs
  • Adds the ability to turn tabs of your choice into permanent tabs (”permaTabs”). PermaTabs can’t be closed accidentally (even when closing multiple tabs at once), and will stick around between sessions.
• Mouse Gestures
  • Allows you to execute common commands (like page forward/backward, close tab, new tab) by mouse gestures drawn over the current webpage, without reaching for the toolbar or the keyboard.
• Morning Coffee
  • Keeps track of daily routine websites and opens them in tabs.
• Colorful Tabs
  • Colors every tab in a different color and makes them easy to distinguish while beautifying the overall appearance of the interface.

All extensions operate in different ways and have different configurations. Most extensions can be configured this way:

1. Go to Tools | Add-ons
2. Click on the extension you want to configure
3. Click on Options
4. You can also uninstall here too if you don’t like the extension.

Want to find more, Just Click on Get Extensions in Tools | Add-ons and start browsing to see if you find one you like… Before installing, make sure it works with your version of Firefox (current version is 2.0) Look for “Works with”

Getting bookmarks into your toolbar…

1. Make sure the bookmark toolbar is visible. View | Toolbars | Bookmark Toolbars is checked
2. When you bookmark a site you want in the toolbar, Bookmarks | Bookmark this Page
3. Choose Create In “Bookmark Toolbar”
4. If you want bookmarks in your list and toolbar, the easiest way is to just do it twice.

Getting too many bookmarks in your toolbar and ALL are needed. Here is how to group them and still use them.

1. Right click on tool bar
2. click on New Folder
3. name your folder
4. drag & drop your toolbar bookmarks you want into that folder.

To use: when you click on a folder, it shows those bookmarks in a little dropdown menu.

Easy way to get all your daily websites loaded in a click of a button. No add-on necessary.

1. First go open all your visited daily websites in their own tab.
2. Go to Bookmarks | Bookmark All Tabs
3. Edit the folder name to what you want. I used “Daily Sites”.
4. Change Create in “Bookmarks Toolbar”

Now to use, click on the new folder you created in the toolbar, go to the bottom and choose “Open All in Tabs” Isn’t that cool?

Quick way to open a new tab to start more web surfing:

• Ctrl - T

Want to keep viewing a page but want to follow another link too?

• Right click on link and choose Open Link in New Tab.

I do this a lot when I am reading forums. I want to finish reading a forum but don’t want to interrupt myself to follow a suggested link. I open link in new tab and keep reading on that forum. Later I look through my tabs and see the tab and go to it.

All instructions for Firefox 2.0.

This is a simple, yet often overlooked part of taking care of your computer’s maintenance. It’s kind of like the question - how long do you go before changing the oil on your car? It just needs to be done regularly to keep your computer running at maximum performance (and it seems everyone wants that as fast as possible). My sister says that if you go too long without defragging, things get flaky & if you fill up your hard drive entirely, it won’t defrag. (A note about her description of the file folders — how does she know how my office is & that I pile folders on the floor?!!!). So extend the life of your computer & defrag it today, then get on a schedule of routinely doing it - the payoff is worth it. You won’t be buying a new one as soon!
Defrag? You hear about it but do you do it?

What is Defrag or defragment?

Defrag is your hard drive cleaning up. Imagine your files on your hard drive as a filing cabinet in an office. When you first move into your office (new computer) everything is nicely arranged. You work for a while and you are so busy, that you don’t return your files to the filing cabinet. Now the files are in piles, on the floor, and scattered around. You’re productivity slows down because it takes time to find things and it takes longer to find a place to work. Same goes for your computer. Over time, the files get stored where it’s convenient. Eventually everything is all over and your computer slows down in trying to find files or step on any files. Defrag, takes all thoses files and stores them neatly back into the file cabinet. Clean office — clean computer, you work faster because your computer is finding your information faster!

How often should I defrag?

Monthly is a good guide. Don’t remember when you did it last or just wondering if it needs defrag? When you start defrag, click on Analyze. If it says you don’t need to defrag, exit it. If it says you should, then defrag.

How do I defrag?

I am assuming you are running XP. (If you are running Win 98 or ME systems, you should download a defrag program. I have yet to hear the exact method on how to defrag Vista.)

1. First let’s do a little cleanup to make this even better.
   1. Clean up & delete any useless/junk mail and empty your trash bin in your mail program
   2. Delete all unnecessary or junk files
   3. Run Disk Cleanup
      1. How: Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
      2. Disk Cleanup can do all this for you:

      3. •	Remove temporary Internet files.
         •	Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
         •	Empty the Recycle Bin.
         •	Remove Windows temporary files.
         •	Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
         •	Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

         Click on any boxes that you would like it to do: I would recommend Temporary Internet Files & Recycle Bin

      4. Note: Emptying the recycle bin is up to you. I usually take a quick run through the recycle bin (Windows Explorer & click on Recycle bin and look through the files listed) and make sure there is nothing that I really wanted. Once the recycle bin is emptied any files that you deleted that you might have wanted to retrieve are gone for good.
   4. If you use Firefox, empty your cache. In Firefox, go to Tools | Options | Advanced Tab and click on Clear Now in the cache section.
   5. Exit all applications
   6. Unplug your network connection, turn off your virus checker and firewall. (Steps 7 & 8 will make the defrag run faster and better.)
2. Go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Defragmenter
3. Click on Analyze. If it tells you: “You should defragment this volume” then continue on.
4. Click on Defragment and go take a break from your computer. It takes a while depending on your the size of your hard drive. (I would expect on an average computer at least 30 minutes, most likely an hour, and it could go for 2 hours.) This is a great thing to start and go to bed.
5. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for any EHD’s you have connected too!

Today we are going to help you recover some RAM without spending money!!! It will be like a super charge for your computer’s performance. When I used to do this - I used the msconfig route that my sister, Heidi, mentions - but I always hated messing in the Start Up menu. She has found a new tool that makes it easier. (I just used it & it was straightforward & easy. I turned off 4 things).
BUT a word of CAUTION!!
One golden rule - if you do not wish to render your system unbootable and useless is that if you do not know what it is, leave it as it is. This means don’t mess with the following (an autorun programme, a service, a driver) & if you’re unsure, let it run. The rule of thumb that I’ve always heard is leave things alone like: System, Microsoft (except the messenger), printer, etc

Getting rid of unnecessary processes that always run on your computer:

Did you know that having a lot of unnecessary things running on your computer slows down your computer & affects performance? For memory intensive software, like photo editing software, this can play a big factor in how well the software runs.

How do I know what to get rid of?
Well, this is probably the toughest question to answer. If you use something daily then you can probably want it to start automatically. If you don’t use it daily (or every time you use the computer) then there is no need to have it start automatically.

Where do I look for things that automatically start?
In the past this has been very difficult to do and it has required an experienced user. Users had to check startup folders, tasks running in system tray, system configuration tool (msconfig) and the registry. Microsoft released a new systems tool that does this all for you. It can be found here: AutoRuns for Windows v8.61 (scroll to the bottom)

How to use AutoRuns?

• To use, download the zipped file, unzip it and start autoruns.exe.
• This will bring up a list of everything running on your system. For seeing what is starting, you want the logon tab.
• Now there will be plenty of stuff here you will not recognize. Some things are necessary and some aren’t. How can you tell? They provided a nice description so that will give you a clue.
  • Don’t stop things running that are for your hardware, virus checkers, system.
  • Things to look for: windows messenger, real player, AOL stuff, etc. Obviously if you use one of these on a daily basis then you may not want to stop it.
  • When removing it from startup, you are NOT deleting the program, you are just stopping it from starting every time you turn on the computer. For example, if I want to use real player, I will start it by myself or click on a music file and it will start.
  • Don’t know what some things are? Click on the item, right click and choose “Search Online” (keyboard shortcut: Ctrl - M) This will bring up your browser and automatically search on that item. Click on some of the first few hints and it will describe what the item is and usually if its necessary.
• Once you have decided to stop something from starting, click on the box next to it and it will not start the next time your computer starts.
• If you determine you don’t like not having it run, restart autoruns and click the box to have it run again.
• Reboot & your computer should be refreshed!
• It’s that easy.

I LOVE to fly and my experience with layovers in airports has taught me that wheels are a necessity. (Or I should pack less in my carry on - but that probably won’t happen!). Flying out of rural America means lots of connections & I want to be able to shop comfortably in the Denver airport. Seriously - they have some great shops there! My favorite is the jewelry store…
So how do you protect your laptop when you fly? It’s unthinkable to leave it home! When I went to New Orleans last summer for work, I LOVED having my work laptop with to check on local sites, restaurants & menu prices online. Granted I had prepared in advance, I still wanted to connect online. (yes - I AM addicted). Now I have this 17″ laptop (my investment) & I wanted something with wheels.
After doing some research online - I purchased this Contour Roller by Kensington (model 62348). There are more images at the website.

If you like zippers & pockets & a place for everything! This is for you. I am very tall at 5′8″ and the telescoping handle at 3/4 is perfect, so extend it all the way & it would be great for men too! When you put the telescoping handle down, it tidyly zips out of site. My 17″ laptop fits in snugly & there would be room to carry up to two EHD’s - can we say digiscrapping crops? The person that designed this bag did a great job!

How much you say? Well that’s the amazing part - it can be purchased for $60-100 and the reviews are phenomonal. (I do a lot of online purchasing - did I mention I’m geographically challenged? quite rural — and read reviews). It’s available at Amazon, Circuit City & ebags.com

Happy travels to you. Mine will hit the skies soon!

 Update:   This information has been updated here & includes screenshots.  See #7, part 3.

In our tutorial, we suggest that you catalog all of your previews first. If you decide to assign colors to them, I found a really quick way to do that & whip thru them using the slideshow feature of Photo Manager!

Here’s how to do it:

In View | Organize click on Previews - pull up all of your previews.

Now open View | Properties - and select the first preview.
Now, you have the check boxes for the colors.

Double click on the first preview to make it large,

Select the colors that are in it (my sister does just the one predominant color, but I do all possible ones - and ACDSee makes that easy by just clicking on the boxes) You decide what’s best for you.

Then at the top of the screen in the middle (just to the left) - you’ll see an arrow pointing to the right (Next). Click on it & the next preview will come up & you can do assign the colors to this preview… this goes so FAST! I love it.

(to close the slide show feature - just close out the window & you’re back to ACDSee’s main screen)

Then if you do subjects - you can work thru your previews in the same way - assigning them as birthday, vintage, Christmas, season, etc.

Why do this? Well, let’s say you search for your Birthday kits in View | Organize.

Then you see the one that you want to use - Right click on it & choose ‘Go to Folder’ and it will open that kit! And you’re ready to scrap.