Articles in Category: ask-leo.com
These are articles that have been migrated from the old “ask-leo.com” site but have NOT yet been cleaned up or otherwise updated. They’re here primarily as a reference. We’ll be updating the more important and popular ones over time.
Why do some ISPs disallow special characters in passwords?
Aside from historical reasons, there really is no good excuse for not allowing lots of special characters and long passwords as an option for users.
Should I combine my data onto CD/DVDs or flash drives?
It depends on how long you want to keep them. If you’re simply combining out
of convenience either will probably do.
Why do some emails that I forward get stuck in my outbox?
My guess is that your email provider has some kind of a size limit that is
preventing large emails from being sent.
How do I find out what’s filling up my external drive?
Two things to try are to analyze your backup program and the allocation of your disk
space.
What do you recommend for storing the many addresses we all have?
By and large, there really isn’t a strong and specific recommendation that I
have for everybody. Google and desktop email clients both have good contact
management systems.
How do I confirm that a file has been copied correctly?
In the long run, I wouldn’t really worry. Trying to verify that the
file is copied correctly takes more time than simply keeping regular
backups.
Chrome won’t load my home page on the first attempt, but will on the second. Why?
There are several steps to try, including clearing the cache and then
restarting the browser.
How can someone create a fake account in my daughter’s name?
It’s unfortunate, but people can go out and create email accounts using what
ever name they might want to.
Someone’s sending email that looks like it’s coming from my domain. What can I do?
The problem is that the from address on an email is incredibly easy to
spoof. Fortunately, that spam has nothing to do with your servers.
My power options include an active or passive CPU setting. Which do I want?
It depends so much on how you use your computer and what your own personal
preference is for things like heat versus noise.
Why can’t my recipients open the documents I email them?
There’s a simple reason why a computer or an email program, out of the box, can’t read every possible file format.
How do I replace my hard disk while preserving the old contents?
The approach that I’m going to suggest is quite practical and I think it kills
two birds with one stone.
Will Windows 8 have Outlook Express?
Outlook Express was a wonderful email program and I understand people’s
reluctance to move to something else, but Microsoft stopped supporting it a
long time ago.
What is svchost, and why is there more than one copy running?
Svchost.exe, or just “svchost” is a Windows component. It’s quite normal to have more than one copy running. Unfortunately, it’s also the target of malware and often shows up in malware-related problems.
What’s this file that ends in “.dll” or “.exe”?
When given just a file name, it’s often difficult to know exactly where it came from or what it does. I’ll look at a few approaches to identifying .exe and .dll files.
Do YouTube downloads slow internet loading?
I think the fact that you downloaded these videos is probably coincidental, unrelated
to something else going on with your machine.
Can I determine whether two IP addresses come from the same source?
There’s really no way for the average person to determine the end location
of an IP addresses.
Do network communications have different channels or only one?
When it comes to network segments, there’s really one pipe that carries all of the information from all of the computers. And the information is colliding all the time.
Why do I get “write protected” when I copy a file to an external destination?
It depends on what external device you’re talking about when you’re talking
about the destination for your file, but the error messages give us a clue.
Why does an https certificate work under one browser but not another?
Many browsers don’t install the full set of root certificates when you
install a browser. That can result in these errors.
Why don’t you partition your hard disk so that programs are on C and data is on D?
Ultimately, the reason why I don’t talk about partitioning drives for software
management is because it’s not something that I believe in.
How do I transfer my email stored in Gmail to another online email service?
I believe the only reasonable way to transfer a large bulk of email from one
email service to another is to use IMAP and a desktop program as the middle
man.
Can I take the hard drive with Windows installed on my Toshiba laptop and have it work on my HP laptop?
This is usually a bad idea. Even when it appears to work, you’re never
really certain that everything’s been fixed up properly.
Why is my laptop hot and why does it eventually crash?
Some laptops don’t have the proper ventilation to handle a high CPU load for
a length of time, which causes them to protectively shut down or crash.
If VPNs can be blocked by ISPs how do people in firewalled countries get out?
Standard VPNs certainly will be blocked, but there are some that are designed
specifically to circumvent this kind of blocking, although they can only
circumvent it for a short period of time.
A friend got email that looked like it was from me, but with the wrong email address. What do I do?
This is clearly something you were able to track down to a Facebook-specific
relationship. But all it really is… is spam.
How do I get .zip attachments out of the .eml files that I get mailed to me?
Whoever is sending this email message to you seems to be doing it in a way
that is making this unnecessarily difficult.
Is Thunderbird more secure than Outlook 2010?
I’m not sure what additional security you’re looking for in Thunderbird. A
secure connection is something that can be done in either program.
Dban didn’t erase my hard disk and neither did Windows 7 setup. How do I wipe the drive?
There are choices that you can make when booting from CD that will tell Windows
to not just install Windows, but actually format the entire hard disk first.
Is it OK to install this software that an online streaming service says I need?
These software codecs are probably OK, although you should always be cautious when
an application is asking you to install something.
Can a keylogger record keystrokes pasted in by my password utility?
Regardless of what techniques a password utility might
use, it is possible that it could still be logged, even if it bypasses the keyboard.
How do I open .doc or .docx files in Windows Mail?
In order to open these attachments, you need to have an application installed
on your computer that understands those types of files.
After resuming from Sleep keyboard works in Linux but no longer in Windows. What should I do?
Booting into Linux to test the keyboard gives us the information we need to
know: that this is a software issue in Windows.
Can I delete the preloaded backup software from a new external drive?
There’s nothing that says you have to use what’s on that hard disk. Either
ignore it or delete it and use Macrium.
Can I use this other Windows XP Setup Disk on a different computer?
It’s certainly worth a try, but there are a few possibilities that may cause
it to fail.
What should I do when my browser tells me a script is unresponsive?
This is usually a side effect of JavaScript taking longer than the browser
expects and it’s probably worthwhile letting them continue to try for
awhile.
How can I retrieve some photos on a failed hard drive?
This disk is definitely on the verge… in fact, it’s probably over the
verge. Clearly, you can’t get your data off of it and recovery options are
limited.
What does “the path is not of a legal form” mean?
I can’t really answer where it’s coming from or even what to do about it,
but I can talk about what it means for a path to be of a legal form.
Can I prevent something from being forwarded by adding a legal statement to my message?
Ultimately, I think the best thing to do is realize that it can be forwarded,
regardless of what technology you use.
Why I’m not a fan of System Restore *discs*
System Restore discs allow you to reset your system to the state it was in when delivered from the manufacturer. That is, when they work. Because of that uncertainty, I much prefer a different approach.
Why does my computer sound like it’s running away sometimes?
What this normally means is that there is some software on your computer
that is essentially trying to hog all the CPU.
Is there a backup solution that will keep files I delete forever?
Set up your own system and backed up files will be kept as long as you keep
them. It’s totally in your control.
My Facebook account was hacked. How do I get it back?
Free online services do not provide any customer support. So, my
recommendation is essentially not a very pleasant one.
Why does printing take so long to start?
There are a lot of different things that can impact the printing process,
everything from large graphics to disk overload.
Does using a Linux Live CD protect me from keyloggers on public computers?
I do need to point out that there’s never going to be an absolute “safe” when using a public computer. You’ll see why in a moment.
Why is my WiFi signal stronger and weaker at different times?
Two factors affecting Wi-Fi strength could be the amount of metal construction or
the number of electronic devices between the antenna and the computer.
How do I switch to an encrypted connection to my ISP’s email servers?
Encrypting a connection to your mail server requires more than just checking
a box. Different ISPs have enabled it in different ways and on different
ports.
How do I tell if my ethernet is encrypted?
Ethernet LAN does not imply (or provide) any encryption. It is simply a method to get
data packets from point A to Point B. It’s up to you to set up any
encryption.
Defragging my hard disk blue screens, what do I do?
The big risk is that this kind of a blue screen (when you’re defragging)
indicates a physical problem with the hard disk. Backup right away!
How do I prevent pictures of my paintings for sale on eBay from being copied?
The best you can do is to work with the system and display images in a way that works in your favor.
