Using Your Tablet PC for Networking and Working Remotely While Traveling
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In the beginning, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition was aimed at two types of professionals: the Corridor Warrior who worked away from his desk in meeting rooms and labs and the Road Warrior who took her Tablet PC on trips across the country or all over the world. Now that the Tablet PC is in more widespread use, it's become clear that many other professionals can benefit from using a Tablet PC.
Tablet PCs are finding niches in the hands of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and soccer moms. My Acer TravelMate C111 Tablet PC accompanies me daily around town and monthly around the country. In this column, I'll talk about my experiences with taking my Tablet PC on the road and explain how to back up data before a trip, find and use hot spots while traveling, and how to create a Windows Journal trip book.
Back Up Data Before You Travel
Whenever you take a computer on the road, you are taking a risk that it can be damaged or lost and any data stored on it will be gone forever. Life with a mobile PC requires a backup solution. My Tablet PC is my primary computer. I use it to write and store my e-mail correspondence, store all of my current and archived files, and run most of the software I use. When I hit the road, I don't have to install anything on my Tablet PC—everything I may want is already there. When I'm at my desk, my Tablet PC is connected to an external monitor and keyboard, so at a glance you wouldn't know I'm using a Tablet PC.
I automatically back up my data every night by using shareware called Synchromagic Pro. This tool will help me recover everything I designate as critical. You can also use the Backup or Restore Wizard in Windows to automatically back up part or all the information on your computer.
To back up information by using the Backup or Restore Wizard:
1. | Tap Start, tap All Programs, tap Accessories, tap System Tools, and then tap Backup. |
2. | When the Windows Backup or Restore Wizard opens, tap Next. |
3. | On the Backup or Restore page, tap Back up files and settings, and then tap Next. |
4. | On the What to Back Up page, specify what type of information you want to back up. |
5. | On the Backup Type, Destination, and Name page, specify where you want to store the information. |
Note: If you're backing up everything on the computer, make sure you have a large external hard drive connected by a fast system, such as IEEE 1394 or USB 2.
The advantage of using the Backup or Restore Wizard is it's free, simple, and built into Windows XP. I like using Synchromagic because it creates a duplicate directory with individual files you can open and use immediately. I'm curious about retail solutions that create an image of the entire hard drive automatically, such as Acronis True Image, Symantec Drive Image 7 Backup, and Norton Ghost, but I haven't tried them yet.
Many people use a desktop computer as their primary computer and take copies of files and folders with them on their Tablet PC. In this case, consider using the Offline Files feature in Windows XP. You can work on all of your key documents while you travel, and then synchronize them with your desktop computer when you return. There are also many third-party solutions for synchronizing Microsoft Outlook files across multiple computers.
If you use Outlook for your e-mail, calendar, and contacts, but don't access these items from an Exchange Server, be sure to back up your Outlook data files. These files and folders can be found in the directory: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\. These folders and files may be hidden by default, but you can still direct your backup software to them.
Using Wi-Fi Hot Spots
When I'm visiting a new place, I look for my favorite travel combination: wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) hot spots and good coffee. You can find the location of hot spots before your trip on Web sites like Wi-Fi Hot Spot List. When I lived in Seattle, my favorites were All City Coffee and Zoka Roasters. If you're in town, stop in at some of the best coffeehouses for a good latte and some surfing.
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 makes connecting to wireless hot spots much easier. For more information, read the Wireless LAN Enhancements in Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Wireless Provisioning Services Overview, an article by the Cable Guy. Also visit Home and Small Office Networking with Windows XP for articles and tips about wireless networking.
One common problem with using hot spots on the road is not being able to send e-mail messages, even though you can receive them. This problem is actually the result of spam. To receive e-mail, you log on to your e-mail server by using a name and a password. But when you send messages, it's often done anonymously through a Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) server. When you're at home, your ISP's SMTP server recognizes that you are an authentic user of its network and that the messages you're sending are probably legitimate rather than spam. When you use a public hot spot, your e-mail program, such as Outlook, tries to send messages to your ISP's SMTP server, but the server doesn't know who you are because the messages are coming from an unknown network. Because you could be a spam generator, it bounces the messages back to you. This problem does not occur if you use a virtual private network (VPN) to access your e-mail.
Figure 1: Sending e-mail from a hot spot can be tricky.
There are four possible solutions to this problem:
1. | Use a Web mail interface. Your ISP probably has a Web interface for your e-mail that you can use to send and receive messages from any location. If available, it's probably the best solution. Contact your ISP to find out. |
2. | Find the SMTP server address for the local network. Although finding this address may be a bit inconvenient, after you find it, you can send mail through that server even though you are "just visiting." I use this approach when I visit my father whose Internet connection is from a cable connection. I created a dummy e-mail account with his SMTP server. When I send mail from his network, I send it from the dummy account and it goes out through the correct server.  Figure 2: Use the outgoing server address.  Figure 3: Then send mail from a dummy account. |
3. | Change your SMTP server settings. You can change the settings so that the server authenticates you with a user name and password. Some SMTP servers allow you to send mail from public networks if you have a name and password that it recognizes. Contact your ISP to find out if this solution will work for you. Also, if you have an account with a provider, such as Boingo Wireless, they allow you to authenticate and send mail though its SMTP server. |
4. | Don't worry about it. Your messages will sit in the Outbox until you get home, and then you can send them. This doesn't help if you need to send messages right away though. |
If you use Outlook and your ISP allows you to send e-mail messages with authentication, follow the steps below to change your SMTP server settings. Most e-mail programs offer this option, but the exact steps may vary from the following procedure in Outlook.
To specify a name and password for your outgoing server:
1. | In Outlook, tap Tools, and then tap E-mail Accounts. |
2. | Tap View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then tap Next. |
3. | Select the e-mail account, and then tap Change. |
4. | Tap More Settings.  Figure 4: Specify a name and password for your outgoing mail server. |
5. | Enter you user name and password for the outgoing SMTP server.  Figure 5: Use the Outgoing Server tab to enter the information. |
After you've configured these settings, you can send e-mail from any location (including your home network). The drawback may be slightly slower sending times when you travel, especially if you're sending large attachments. Also, many ISPs don't offer this option.
Windows Journal Trip Book
When I travel, I often receive my flight, car, and other travel info as Web links or in e-mail messages. Although I take the Web pages with me as offline files and read the e-mail messages offline, I prefer to print them to Windows Journal and build a trip book. This book has all of the pages I need—flight information, driving directions, and maps—in the order I need them. The best part is I can use Journal's highlighter and pen tools to make notes on the documents.
Figure 6: Using the highlighter and pen to mark up a Windows Journal document.
To create my Journal trip book system, I must first combine several Journal documents into one document.
To combine several Journal documents into one:
1. | Print the Web pages, messages, maps, and whatever else you want in your trip book to Windows Journal. (Print to Windows Journal by tapping File, tapping Print, and then tap Journal Note Writer as the printer.) |
2. | Open a new Journal document, and then save it with the name of your trip. |
3. | Open the first document you want to appear in the trip book. |
4. | On the first page, tap Edit, tap Select Page, tap Edit, and then tap Copy Page.  Figure 7: Putting together a trip journal by copying and pasting data. |
5. | Switch back to the document you saved with the name of your trip and tap Edit, and then tap Paste Page. |
6. | Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each page you want in the book. Tip: Always go to the last blank page in the Journal trip book before you tap Edit, and then Paste Page. That way, all of the pages are in the right order. |
If you own the full version of Adobe Acrobat, you can print all of your Web pages and documents to Adobe PDF. Use Acrobat's tools for organizing several PDF documents into one. When that's done, print that document to Windows Journal so you can mark it up with the pen.
Stories on the Road
Traveling and working remotely with your Tablet PC provides plenty of opportunities to experience interesting encounters and learn lessons. Here are a few of mine.
I began a seminar for a group of Ohio state employees by showing a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on my Tablet PC. I marked up my slides with ink. This feature is native in PowerPoint 2003 and can be added to PowerPoint 2002 with the Microsoft Office XP Pack for Tablet PC. I noticed that many of the attendees were looking excitedly at my Tablet PC. Because people didn't introduce themselves until just before the break, I didn't know until an hour later that they were all IT professionals for the Ohio state government. Several were in a meeting the day before where they discussed a new program for giving Tablet PCs to state social workers!
Lesson: Be prepared for cool technology to distract your audience at first.
In another meeting, I worked with a group in Florida to brainstorm about documentation and training needed to support their software. I opened OneNote on my Tablet PC and connected an LCD projector to it. For the entire session, anyone present could write or draw on a digital white board, and also move content around. When we were done I could quickly send everyone all of the notes as either a OneNote file or an MHTML file.
Lesson: Many people who use a digital whiteboard work best when their Tablet PC is in slate mode, which is the easiest mode for drawing. It's also helpful to attach an external USB keyboard for typing.
Ask questions or discuss this topic in the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition newsgroup
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 | Jeff Van West is the author of over a dozen books, CDs, and training curricula about computers, technology, and aviation. Titles include Microsoft Tablet PC Quick Reference (Microsoft Press, 2002) and Illustrator CS Hands-On-Training (Peachpit Press, 2004). His multimedia training programs are used in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. An advocate of what he terms "appropriate technology," Jeff focuses on applying the best solution to accomplish the task, rather than using cool features just because they're there. He can be reached at Van West Communications. |