Articles in Category: Administration
Items related to Leo, Ask Leo! and overall website and related operations and administrivia.
What Is a Clipboard?
The Windows clipboard is a fundamental and exceptionally useful feature that many take for granted. I’ll review what it is and what it’s good for.
Ultrasurf and Anonymous Browsing
Ultrasurf is an anonymous browsing service. I’ll discuss a reader’s problems using and also review alternatives and the impact on speed.
How do I back up my e-reader?
Backing up is important not only for your PC but for your digital book purchases as well. I’ll look at whether you need to and how.
2011 Most Popular Questions
The 10 most popular questions for 2011 as measured by visits to Ask Leo! This year’s top issue? Email account theft.
What does a recovery CD recover?
The term “recovery CD” is somewhat ambiguous as there are several different possibilities. I’ll review some of the options.
How do I use a URL broken by my email program?
Occasionally, long URLs sent in email are broken to fit some maximum line length. I’ll review one way to reconstruct the URL so it works.
How do I change what search engine is used by Internet Explorer?
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer naturally comes with Microsoft’s Bing as its search provider. That’s easy to change and there are many alternatives.
A brief overview of Webdrive
Webdrive is a powerful FTP/SFTP client that works in a unique way: It makes your remote site ‘just another drive’ on your Windows system.
Webinar #8 – Photo Manipulation
Webinar #8 – Photo Manipulation – was Sunday, January 8, 2012.
What Kind of Router Do I Need?
A router is a router is … actually, there are several different kinds of routers that are used in different situations. I’ll review the most common.
How do I remove spyware from a computer I loaned to a former friend?
Anyone with physical access to your computer can do anything with or to it. I’ll look at cleaning up after loaning it to the wrong person.
A brief overview of AutoHotkey
AutoHotkey is an incredibly powerful keyboard macro and keystroke remapping program. I’ll demonstrate its basic use.
How do I repair Windows 7 with a re-install?
Windows 7 has no explicit repair option when installing, but if a few criteria are met, there is a way to repair Windows 7.
How do I avoid trojans like Win 7 Home Security 2012?
Win 7 Home Security 2012 is the latest in a long line of so-called “scareware” trojans. I’ll review this malware and how to stay safe.
Why does my screen have a black border all around it?
Most flat panel displays have a default or native resolution at which they are best. If Windows uses a different resolution, the display compensates.
A brief overview of VLC
VLC is a popular media player known for its ability to play just about any format. I’ll go over a few of its features.
Amazon Kindle Fire – More than a great reading device
Amazon’s Kindle is a great e-reader. The Kindle Fire brings a backlit color touch screen – and the power of an Android tablet – to the table.
Why can't I send mail unless I'm at home?
One common spam prevention technique may result in you not being able to send email normally when you’re traveling. I’ll look at why this happens and what to do.
How do I remove the black Google toolbar and blue 'Click here to start sharing' bar?
Google recently added a black menu bar to its sites and a blue bar promoting Google+. I’ll look at what you can and can’t do to get rid of them.
How Do I Get My Login ID and Password to Stop Showing on Sites that I Log Into?
Web browsers include features that will remember your login ID and password for various sites for you. We’ll look at how that works in Firefox.
A brief overview of Faststone Image Viewer
Faststone is my image viewing program of choice and another of the utilities that I install first when I set up a machine. I’ll show you a few of its features.
How do I get rid of these questionable entries in my Hotmail auto-complete?
If you’re finding unrecognized and adult entries in Hotmail’s auto-complete, there’s a good chance that you have Messenger invitations that you don’t know about.
Macrium Reflect 7: Restoring a File from an Image Backup
Image backups contain every file on the drive that they image. Fortunately, if you need only some files, you don’t need to restore the whole thing.
Macrium Reflect 6: Restoring an Image
Hopefully, you’ll never need it, but should your machine become malware-ridden or suffer a hardware failure, it’ll be time to restore from a backup image.
Macrium Reflect 5: Scheduling Backups
Scheduling backups to happen automatically is perhaps the most important and often overlooked part of a backup strategy. I’ll show you how in Reflect.
Macrium Reflect 4: Creating an Incremental Backup Image
Incremental backups are the true backbone of any backup system. Incremental backups build on the initial full backup by saving files that have changed.
Macrium Reflect 3: Creating a Backup Image
The most basic and perhaps most important type of backup is the system image. I’ll walk through creating an image backup in Macrium Reflect.
Macrium Reflect 2: Creating Rescue Media
The first step after installing any backup software is to create bootable rescue media. I’ll show you how to do that with Macrium Reflect.
Macrium Reflect 1: Downloading and Installing
Macrium Reflect 5.0 is available as a downloadable application. I’ll walk you through the process of downloading and installing the program.
How do I print a .prn file?
If you’ve saved a document in .prn format using print-to-file your options to actually print that file are severely limited. As in slim to none.
How do I disable Internet Explorer add-ons?
Internet Explorer add-ons are a common cause of problems that are incorrectly blamed on IE itself. I’ll show you how to disable IE add-ons.
How do I share files on my Windows 7 machine with my Windows XP machine?
Windows networking is difficult, to put it mildly. I’ll walk through setting up a share and connecting to it, and explain why it’s not terribly secure.
Webinar #7 – Your Questions
Webinar #7 – Your Questions – Sunday, December 11th, 2011
Where did my volume icon go?
Windows tries to manage the taskbar icons for you in a way that sometimes causes some to go missing.
A Brief Overview of Snagit Screen Capture Utility
Snagit is a one of the utilities that I install first on any new machine. I’ll walk through installing it and show a few of its features.
Will you help fix my account? My username and password are …
In a desperate move to resolve account access issues, people are frequently trusting people they shouldn’t and providing too much private information.
Can I remove Internet Explorer if I never use it?
It’s not uncommon to use a web browser other than Internet Explorer. What you may not realize is that you’re still using IE for other things.
How do I tell what program is slowing down my machine?
When your machine slows down, it can sometimes be traced to a single misbehaving program. We’ll use Process Explorer to try to identify which one.
Should I turn off my wireless access point if I don't use it?
Wireless routers contain both a router and a wireless access point. I’ll review your options if you’re not planning on using the wireless component.
How do I get Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) to work – at all?
IE9 takes advantage of your graphics card to draw on the screen more quickly. It’s nifty when it works and frustrating when it doesn’t. We’ll turn it off.
The Spam Primer – Learn about and deal with spam
Spam is a an internet plague that affects us all. The Spam Primer is a one-stop site for learning about and dealing with spam.
How do I get Foxit Reader to let me click on links?
PDF readers are implementing security measures to protect you from malicious PDFs. I’ll look at what to do when that interferes with a PDF’s content.
A Brief Overview of Dropbox
Dropbox is a file sharing tool that can make keeping files on multiple machines and sharing them with others very easy. I’ll show some of its features.
I Installed Microsoft Security Essentials and Now Things Are Worse! How Do I Recover?
When installing anti-malware tools on your machine makes things worse, it’s one hint that there may already be a deeper problem.
Why is my BRAND NEW domain immediately getting spammed?
Purchasing a domain can sometimes cause you to inherit things, like spam directed at the domain’s previous users.
Webinar #6 – Tools Sampler Continued
Webinar #6 – Tools Sampler Continued – Sunday, November 13th, 2011.
What's the difference between RAW and JPG image formats?
Many digital cameras can save in either a “raw” or “jpg” format. I’ll look at the difference between the two and offer guidelines on which to use.
How do I recover from a bad virus infection?
Recovering from a bad virus infection isn’t always easy, but there are some things to try before drastic measures need to be taken.
A brief overview of Evernote
Evernote is a data collection, organization, and retrieval tool that is both simple and powerful. I’ll take a quick run through its features.
How do I delete someone from my Hotmail address book?
Windows Live Hotmail maintains an address book for you as part of your account – they just don’t call it an address book.
