Articles in Category: Administration
Items related to Leo, Ask Leo! and overall website and related operations and administrivia.
Twitter Starter Pack
Resources for people trying to understand just what Twitter is all about.
My Windows Live Hotmail account was closed for a "Terms of Use Violation" – I did nothing wrong, what do I do?
Some Windows Live Hotmail users are seeing accounts closed for a “Terms of Use Violation” – we’ll look at what that is, and what to do.
How much does my encrypted wireless connection protect me?
Wireless encryption is important, but it’s not as far-reaching as some might believe. We’ll look at how far, and what additional steps you might need.
Did I really get a critical update notification for Outlook Express in my email?
Emails that look like a critical update from Microsoft are scams. We’ll look at exactly what makes the scam obvious.
My old computer is too slow for anti-virus software. What should I do?
Extending the life of older computers can be a challenge, especially when current versions of important tools like anti-malware scanners fail to run.
How are upload and download speeds related, and why are they different?
Upload and download speeds quoted by your ISP aren’t as directly related as you might imagine. It’s easier to think of them as two separate things.
How can I password protect a desktop shortcut?
Passwording a desktop shortcut, while theoretically possible, wouldn’t really accomplish the goal of securing information. We’ll look at alternatives.
I let a stranger send email from my computer, what could that have done?
It’s tempting and even noble to want to help, but letting a stranger access your computer without strict supervision is asking for trouble.
Why am I getting a network attack from China?
Internet connected computers are constantly probed for vulnerabilities. Many come from China, but safety steps are the same no matter where from.
How do I move my Windows Live Hotmail account from one computer to another?
It’s not uncommon to want to move your email access from an old to a new computer. Web mail is easy, but there are things to watch for.
What's the best thing to do when my hard drive fills up?
Once you start running out of disk space, it’s time to look at options. We’ll cover a couple of approaches to dealing with a full hard drive.
Did someone really send me photos on Tagged?
Many people are getting messages from Tagged indicating that a friend has posted photos. Here’s a clue: they didn’t.
Can I tell when someone logged into my machine, and what they did?
It may be possible to determine when someone has logged into your machine, but knowing exactly what they did while there is more difficult.
Why do some web pages not update like they should?
Every so often we run into web pages that don’t stay up to date, displaying old information. We’ll look at causes and possible solutions.
How do I determine the subnet mask I'm supposed to use?
A subnet mask is one part of the information used to make a network connection. For most people, it’s something you need never know about.
Why do I get "This operation is canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer"?
‘This operation is canceled …’ is an unfortunately common symptom of an all-too-common problem: a virus infection. We’ll look at your options.
How much can people find out from a photo I email them?
Photographs often include additional embedded information about the picture. Most is boring camera stuff but a couple of items are worth knowing about.
Just how do websites track or monitor our activity?
Many people are concerned about website tracking and monitoring. While it’s not something most need to be concerned about, it can get quite involved.
What if I just can't get installation media with my new machine?
You should always get installation media with a new machine. Period. If you can’t, or it’s too late, we’ll look at one partial alternative.
How do I remove uninstalled software "leftovers"?
It’s not uncommon for uninstallers to leave behind “leftovers” after they complete. Sometimes intentional, sometimes not. How to deal with leftovers.
Is it ".html" or ".htm", and when do I need a trailing '/' when typing a URL into my browser?
Designers and implementers make a lot of choices when setting up a web site. Names and domains and even the need for slashes are among them.
Why is my computer picking up radio stations and sounds?
Radio might accidentally show up on your computer several different ways. We’ll look at some of the possibilities for accidental computer radio.
What alternatives are there to FrontPage?
FrontPage is a popular web page design tool, but there are many alternatives depending on exactly how you want to write and design web pages.
How do I block people from finding information about me on the internet?
Once information has been posted on the internet and can be found, it’s nearly impossible to remove it. The internet has a long and persistent memory.
How can an anti-malware program possibly scan all my files in a reasonable amount of time?
Anti-malware software is amazingly tuned and optimized for doing what it does. On top of that, scanning all your files might not always be needed.
Why am I getting warnings from your newsletter and site links?
A recent newsletter surfaced warnings from a couple of security services. As a result, we’ll look at what false positives are, and what to do.
Why are there duplicate entries in Task Manager, and how do I clean it out?
Many programs are designed such that they will appear more than once in Task Manager. We’ll look at why that is, and when you should care.
My Windows Live Hotmail contact list has been hacked, how do I recover?
Once your Windows Live Hotmail account, or contact list, has been hacked or compromised, there are several steps to clean up after you get it back.
How do I install SP2 if I get "Access Denied" or some other failure when I try?
Installing SP2 can fail for a few different reasons. “Access Denied” might be fixable, or might require more aggressive measures to install SP2.
How do I block Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) from being automatically installed?
Internet Explorer 8 is being pushed out through Windows Update and Automatic Updates. If you’re not ready, there are ways to block the IE8 update.
Can I prevent phishing attacks by using a bookmark?
You can prevent phishing attacks several ways; the most common is to never click on an emailed link. Bookmarks can be also be used to prevent phishing.
What do I need to set up using my Windows XP virtual machine software?
Virtual machine software is incredibly powerful, but hard to conceptualize. Viewing a VM as a separate machine can make certain issues clearer.
How do I save email when using Yahoo, GMail or Hotmail webmail?
To save mail from a webmail service you need to download it to your machine. Not all webmail services make saving email easy, so we improvise.
How do I remove the latest IE update – Internet Explorer 8?
The latest IE update – Internet Explorer 8 – causes problems for some people. It might be easy to remove the IE update, or it might be a lot of work.
How do I do a computer defrag if I have no "My Computer" icon?
A computer defrag is most often accessed by hard disk drive properties on My Computer. We can recover My Computer, and defrag without it too.
Will adding a bogus entry to my address book stop viruses from emailing?
There’s an email floating around that says you can prevent email viruses by adding a bogus entry to your address book. Uh … no.
NoScript – A Firefox addin that makes browsing safer.
With cross-site-scripting and other forms of malicious attacks increasing in frequency, blocking JavaScript with NoScript is a sensible safety step.
Why does so much spam have a part of some other email or document in it?
A recently common technique in the war to send you spam is to include a lot of unrelated text in the message. We’ll look at why this often works.
How do I install a pre-installed Microsoft Office on another machine?
Office is a popular pre-install on many new computers. If you didn’t also get a CD, you should. Installing or reinstalling is a problem without it.
Why do I suddenly have another toolbar in my browser?
Browser toolbars come from two places: the browser, and addons or toolbars you ask for. It’s easy to ask for toolbars without realizing it.
What is the Recovery Console, and how do I get at it?
The Windows Recovery Console is an advanced repair tool that can in some cases help you to repair and recover from certain types of system problems.
What's hogging my machine for so long on startup?
When you first start up your machine many programs are run automatically. If one hogs resources it can make your machine temporarily unusable.
How do I get a new IP address?
Getting a new IP address on the internet can be difficult. The real issue is that a new IP address may not solve the problem you’re facing.
How should I share my home network with a visitor?
When hosting guest in your home it’s common to allow them to access your internet connection. There are serious risks depending on your level of trust.
Why can't I change user-specific folder and variable names?
When you rename a user account in Windows you might expect that the user specific folders would be renamed. Sadly, you’d be wrong.
How do I uninstall only Microsoft Outlook?
Microsoft Office includes several programs, including Word, Excel and Outlook. Uninstalling only one of them is fairly easy using Office Setup.
Can I block email from certain sites?
Most email programs and services allow you to block, or at least divert, email from specific senders and domains. I’ll look at a few techniques.
Why do cookies have my name in them, and do the sites I visit see that?
Cookies are used by websites to place data on your computer that they can access when you visit again. IE uses your name to keep track of your cookies.
Why is Windows Live Hotmail rejecting email I send my friend?
Spam prevention methods can often lead to legitimate mail being blocked by mistake. We’ll look at some of the ways to avoid it.
What’s Your Social Media Strategy?
I use Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn – and I actually have a little bit of a plan around how I use each.
