Articles in Category: Administration
Items related to Leo, Ask Leo! and overall website and related operations and administrivia.
Why does each update of Firefox have a new version number?
Quite often, version numbers seem to be random choices of the
programmers. There might be a better way.
What’s a Noob?
It’s just a fact of life that we all have to start somewhere. A Noob is
someone at the beginning.
Does deleting and adding information to a hard drive wear it out?
Hard drives are built to expect a certain amount of use. Drives do wear out,
but a certain amount of normal use is to be expected.
Does Hotmail store everyone’s IP addresses?
Your IP address is available to every website you visit, including
Hotmail.
How do I monitor what changes in my registry?
One part of most program’s installation process is modifying and updating the registry. It is possible to see exactly what was touched in the registry.
Will agreeing to this uninstall error break my computer?
Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell what kind of components are shared by
installed programs, so it is wise to be cautious.
How do I recover my old emails and contacts from my hacked Hotmail account?
When data is deleted from Hotmail, it is often deleted permanently. Backups
and safety are always important with any free email account.
What causes my computer to fail a Smart Short Self Test, and do I have to reformat?
SMART, or Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology, could be
indicating a failing hard drive. You may have to take further steps.
How do I recover with my backup when a virus took out my boot sector?
Although it needs to be done manually in your backup program, it is possible to include your boot sector in a full backup image.
How do I stop Windows from re-installing drivers just because I used a different USB port?
Occasionally, something as simple as inserting a device into a different USB port will cause Windows to reinstall drivers again. Or will it?
Are there Now Public Links to Everything in My Dropbox?
Dropbox recently announced that you could send a web-accessible public link to anything anywhere in your Dropbox. I’ll look at the security implications.
Where does Windows Live Mail store my contacts?
Your email and contact information should be backed up as part of your
overall backup strategy. Or you may want to export them.
How to I manually update Windows XP using IE6?
You should be able to update using Microsoft’s online service, but it is
also important to keep your browser up to date.
Is it possible to find out if a bad sector has been allocated to a file?
A bad sector is a physical problem with the hard drive. Copying the file
will give you clues to its status.
Why do I have to keep updating Firefox when I can’t see any difference?
It may seem like nothing is happening when browsers and other software
programs perform updates, but don’t minimize the necessity of those security
patches.
Can I save my original System Restore point?
System Restore is convenient when it works, but it can also be a disaster when it doesn’t work. I have another suggestion.
How do I stop automatic emails coming out of Hotmail?
Emails sending automatically from Hotmail sounds suspiciously like a hack.
Or maybe it is something on your computer.
I am running out of room on my backup drive, what can I do?
There are several ways to approach storage space for backups (compression,
increments, differentials). Some will be tricky, and in the long run, a new hard
drive just might be easiest.
Can I recover the information on my hard drive by putting it in an enclosure?
An encloser is a pretty cool way to access information from a hard drive, if
you use the right connection.
Does everything I do on the internet download, or just when I save a file?
What constitutes a download depends on why you are trying to define it. Are
you concerned with the files that end up on your computer or with the
bandwidth being used?
Can World of Warcraft be installed and run on a tablet?
The user interface in World of Warcraft is highly configured for Windows and
a PC environment. The display and tools may be difficult to convert to tablet
format.
Can you help me find an Ubuntu partition in Windows 7?
If a Ubuntu partition can’t be accessed by Windows, it may be in a different
format. I’ll show you how to access that partition and see if it is configured so
Windows can use it.
Will I lose internet access in July?
When a major malware infection was discovered last year, a temporary solution was created on the internet. On July 9th, 2012, it’s scheduled to go away.
Can a virus be transferred into our system, or our router, from our granddaughter’s smart phone?
For a virus to infect a smart phone, it would have to be written specifically for
that smart phone and poses little danger to your network system. But what kind of protection do you need for (and from) her laptop?
How do I safely get security software onto my newly reinstalled machine?
How do you safely install virus protection – when you don’t yet have
virus protection? A firewall is very good security. That plus one other practice should keep you safe.
Are computers crashing everywhere because of something from Russia?
It’s no surprise to hear about malware coming from overseas… This is nothing new and certainly nothing newsworthy. As always, good internet safety is the cure for this
sort of rumor.
Does repartitioning and reformatting a hard drive clean it?
Reformatting does not completely erase all traces of files from a hard drive
but, so far, no viruses are known to be able to recover from a reformat.
Repartitioning does something all together different.
Can I leave my TV hooked up to my PC through HDMI all the time?
Leaving your TV hooked up all the time is unlikely to pose a danger to
your equipment as long as you consider a few issues.
How do I use recovery disks on an empty hard drive?
Recovery disks, once you boot from them, are designed to restore your machine to factory-new condition. Whether they can depends on their assumptions.
How do I block unwanted emails in Thunderbird?
Blocking senders is an ineffective way to deal with spam, but Thunderbird includes the ability, along with an adaptive junk mail filter.
Do we still need that same old Recycle Bin?
Recycle Bin is still a very handy service on Windows computers. It is used
very often to recover from a quick mistake, and is integral to the way we use
our computers.
How do I cancel all Google services except for Gmail?
When you sign up for any Google service, you’re creating a Google account,
which will be available across all of Google’s services. Canceling everything
except Gmail might be tricky.
Webinar #11 – Mastering Your Own Domain
In this full-length webinar I demonstrate the process of finding and buying a domain, and setting up hosting, email and Wordpress.
Will the new iPad3 have Adobe Flash?
Adobe Flash is a popular program for many websites, but it’s slowly being
replaced by HTML5, so features are becoming available on devices that do not use Flash. Here’s what I expect Apple to do.
Why do my files get locked?
Files can get locked for several reasons, but the most common by far is simply that some other program is currently accessing them.
Why am I getting a message at start-up that my computer is checking the file system?
Checking the file system means that Windows is not shutting down correctly.
I look at the proper ways to shut down a computer and how to avoid this
error.
Can I delete Microsoft Office updates to free up disk space?
Deleting updates and folders might be okay if you do a backup beforehand,
just to be sure. There are better ways to free up disk space that will be less
problematic.
Can you help me archive Ask Leo! answers on my computer for future reference?
Using a PDF printer on your computer can help you organize online pages and
articles. I look at establishing your own organizational scheme and
permissions.
Why do I get a shut-down error message on Outlook when I am not running Outlook?
Sometimes, programs are running in the background and we don’t know it. I
explore how to find what’s running and ways to keep those programs from starting up in
the first place.
How do I get my computer back to like-new without reformatting?
Reformatting a computer is still the best way to get it back to like-new condition,
but there are a few useful habits and software choices that can help keep a
system clean.
Why do hackers hack and spammers spam?
Malware and viruses have changed over the years. Today’s rash of botnets and
viruses have different reasons and goals for hacking than they did decades ago.
Somebody knows my IP address and is sending bad emails. Can you help me close my account?
Email is not sent to an IP address, it is sent to an email address. I
explore how to close a Yahoo account, and why that is unlikely to help in the
long run.
Can an email be picked up from a non-existing email address?
Email addresses are tied to domain names. It’s possible that the domain
name has a catch-all. I explore what that means.
How do I block trojans and the man sending them to me?
Repeatedly getting trojans or any form of malware simply shouldn’t happen. To resolve this, we need to drop back to basic security principles.
Can I keep my old Windows XP and ignore this Microsoft Deployment Toolkit notification?
If your Windows XP machine is running without problems, you can probably
keep it for some time – just beware of notifications telling you to upgrade.
How can I recover deleted pictures from my digital camera if it doesn't show as a drive?
If the camera does not present itself as a drive, it will be difficult to
recover data. I look at a few options.
How do I run Windows Update on my Ubuntu computer?
Ubuntu is not just for nerds; it operates somewhat like Windows and can be
used by anyone, but it won’t run Windows Update.
Can I use my 25" desktop monitor on my laptop?
Most laptops come with a video port that allows you to easily connect an
external monitor. A few settings may be required.
What's the difference between system restore discs and system repair discs?
Manufacturers don’t like to ship full Window’s installation media, so many
of them offer a way for you to make your own restore or repair disc. But these
restore discs might not be as useful as you think.
Aren’t Incremental Backups Just as Important as a System Backup?
The different terms used for backups can sometimes make the process seem more
difficult than it is. I clarify some backup terminology and help sort it out.
