Articles in Category: Administration
Items related to Leo, Ask Leo! and overall website and related operations and administrivia.
Can I use my router’s DMZ to attach my IP-based phone to the internet?
On a NAT router any unrequested outside connection is blocked. Using the DMZ is a good workaround.
How Do I Get Rid of ‘Like’, ‘Send’, ‘Share,’ and so on, that Slow Down so Nany Web Pages?
It’s the website that you’re visiting that’s putting those social icons there,
and there’s really no way for you to turn them off.
Why does my backup use all available RAM and fail?
This is really behaving like a confusion between the terms “RAM” and “disk
space.” It’s rare for lack of RAM to cause backup failures.
I can’t send HTML email or attachments; they get stuck in my outbox. What do I need to do?
I’m not leaning towards Microsoft Outlook being the problem here. I think
it’s something related to your ISP or email service and the size of the emails
you are attempting to send.
How does my phone know my YouTube subscriptions if I’ve never logged into it there?
There’s nothing clandestine or hidden behind the scenes. It’s simply the
case that your YouTube account and your Google account are the same thing.
How do I print a list of emails from my email program?
At this point, I don’t have an answer for you other than it can’t really
be done – at least not easily.
Where can I purchase a replacement DVD laser?
I’m not sure that replacing the laser is going to solve the problem, or that
you’ll end up with a working DVD drive after installing and aligning it.
Can I Swap My Third Mouse Button for the Left Button?
The problem is that if the drivers for your mouse don’t support that kind of
button swapping, it may not be possible.
My laptop’s sound card doesn’t work in Windows XP, but did in Windows Vista. How do I fix it?
It’s possible that the drivers required for that Vista-era sound card
haven’t been written for Windows XP.
Will a bad sector cause my backup image to become invalid?
Sectors can go bad on hard drives, but that should have no impact on your
ability to restore a successfully created backup image to another hard
drive.
Why is all my email not getting downloaded in Outlook?
The first thing that comes to mind is that one of the devices you’re accessing your email account with is set to downloaded the mail, thereby removing it from the server.
How can I tell if my external drive is SATA or IDE?
Today, in 2012, most external drives are created using SATA interfaces. But
ultimately, there isn’t a good way to know which you have, other than opening up the
box.
Why do some smartphone photos come out upside down?
When we use a phone to take a picture, often there is no obvious right side
up, especially if you’re holding it sideways in landscape mode.
I’m told my firewall isn’t working, but it is turned on. Do I have a problem?
I agree with you that this is somewhat unsettling. One of the things malware does is corrupt the firewall on your system in order to allow other malware to get on board.
Is there technology that would allow a file to be opened only once?
I’m not aware of any technology that will do what you’re asking; and in all
honesty, I wouldn’t trust any technology that did.
What happens when an email account holder passes away?
In general, if an account holder suddenly stops logging into that account,
the account will go through a series of steps and eventually be closed
down.
Can I install the VC++ 2008 runtime even though I have the 2005 version installed?
Runtime versions are a bit of a mess, absolutely! Fortunately, you should be
able to have both of them installed at the same time.
My router disconnects every few days. What do I do?
Every few days is a bit much! Wi-Fi routers do need to get rebooted every so
often. But I’m talking more like a number of weeks or months… not days.
Malware prevents me from booting, even in Safe Mode. What do I do?
We’ll try a bootable malware CD. But in situations like this, where malware
has gotten itself so entrenched into the system, sometimes, reinstalling is the
most pragmatic answer.
My machine now gives me a completely white screen. What do I do?
I’m hoping that you have backed up. If not, this is a very good reason to do so.
We don’t know that your data hasn’t been completely overwritten!
I’m Having Trouble Getting Access to a Second-hand Machine. What Can I Do?
There is no way to rename the administrator account. Windows doesn’t work
that way.
What’s my upgrade path for a machine running Windows 2000?
It’s not so much the operating system version that you’re running that
matters in this kind of an upgrade. It really depends on the power of the
hardware that operating system is running on.
Why is Windows Explorer slowing down?
There are several things to look at. One is folder size. If files are
accumulating in the folders, then Windows Explorer has to do more work to
enumerate the list of files.
How can I get data off of some very old 10MB and 20MB drives?
I would start by getting a hard drive connector cable, which is essentially a USB enclosure without a box. They’re usually multi-connected at the drive end and can plug into old drives.
Which is more secure: fax or email?
The bottom line is that I understand why email would not be HIPAA approved, but I
don’t really consider fax to be any more or less secure than plain text email.
Why am I getting spam that appears to be from my IP address?
Email headers, the place where the IP address information is stored, are
incredibly easy to falsify. Spammers do this on purpose to hide their true
location.
How do I transfer my documents and programs from my old Windows XP machine to Windows XP Mode on my new machine?
Transferring data files is easy – just copy over the files that you know you need. But programs are an entirely different ball of wax.
Is it safe to stay logged in to LastPass?
If you are worried about hackers coming in through the internet, you’re
worried about something much larger than LastPass.
How do I get “Send Mail” buttons to work on web pages?
The easiest solution is to have an email program installed on your machine
(such as Windows Live Mail) and configured to properly send email through your email account.
Why does email arrive sooner at one ISP than another?
There are so many reasons for email to travel at different speeds across servers. It’s not unusual and it’s really not something to worry about.
Will replacing my C: drive with an SSD speed up my overloaded system?
We need to focus in on what is causing your machine to be overloaded and
see what we can do about that before we start throwing hardware at the
problem.
How do I get rid of Download Accelerator remnants that are preventing me from downloading files?
I am not a fan of download accelerators for many, many different reasons.
Sometimes, they are a means for putting more advertising in front of your
face!
How do I stop spam?
The practical reality is that you can’t stop spam. The best that you can do
is deal with it as efficiently as possible using the technologies that you have
in your hands today.
Is there a reference of what services I need running on my machine?
Microsoft isn’t trying to run a bunch of software on your machine that you
don’t need. If anything, it’s the applications that come along later that do
so.
Could a technician discover my browsing history from seven years ago?
A technician certainly could stumble across this. But if they’re looking at
deleted files and that’s not part of what they’re trying to recover? To me, that’s unethical.
My machine won’t finish booting. What do I do?
Ultimately, I’m concerned that you may end up needing to see a technician
who can take a look at the machine hands on.
How do I get my browser to download where I want it to by default?
This is a very common setting, so there should be good information in the
browser’s help guides to assist you in changing the download default.
Is my browser tracking me?
Yes and no. Logging into Chrome allows you to use your settings on other
computers. Your browsing history is another matter.
My machine is slow and unstable. What do I do?
Depending on the age of this machine, it is possible that your machine is
simply trying to run too much software.
Can you recommend an anti-virus tool that will work in a 256MB system?
The fact is 256 MB is not sufficient to run any of the current operating
systems. That means that you’re in a difficult place.
Why did my PDF print with two additional pages of pornography?
One of the very first things that I would be concerned about is your print-to-PDF
technology. I’d be concerned that it was downloaded from a questionable
site.
How do I find out who’s sending me this harassing email?
I am sorry that the resources for this kind of thing are so limited… because unfortunately, online harassment and cyber bullying are very common.
Why is my email being immediately deleted as it arrives in Thunderbird?
In situations like this, my bet is almost always on the anti-malware tools that you have installed… They’re attempting to integrate just a little too tightly into the email process.
Why is the Maxthon browser always setting itself as the default browser, and how do I stop it?
There may not be a way to turn that off. If you’re not using Maxthon as your
primary browser, I’m not sure there’s a reason to have it on there at all.
Is it safe to keep Outlook Express?
I personally consider Outlook Express a ticking time bomb. As you accumulate
more and more email, the risk of encountering a problem goes up – but there is
one way to protect yourself.
Why can’t I download PDFs in IE9, but I can in Chrome?
To help diagnose the problem, try a two-step approach. Separate downloading
the file from opening the file with Adobe Reader and watch for error
messages.
How do I burn an audio CD?
Audio CDs use a completely different format than the data CDs or DVDs you might use in your computer. As a result, they require a different approach to create.
My ex-friends tell me they can read my email, that it’ll go to them. Is that possible? What do I do?
If friends (especially ex-friends) are looking at your email and they have
access to your account, I would seriously consider that you treat this has a
hacked email account.
I found what appears to be a crash report for MsMpEngine, what should I do?
There probably isn’t any kind of a lasting problem. As long as Microsoft
Security Essentials is running and running properly, I think you’re fine.
Does having my video card on the motherboard mean I can never upgrade?
The neat thing about this is that you’re one step away from a dual-monitor
system without really even trying.
