Computer
Tips & Tricks by Viki C
I recently joined the Webteam of the AWC, and they asked me to write an article on computers since I have some experience in that area. They said it could be about anything, so during the meeting we came up with “Tips and Tricks”. Computers are fun when you know what you are doing. But when you get confused or just frustrated because something doesn’t work right, who do you turn to? We are not all computer wizards, but it sure helps if we know a few short cuts. Here are a few Tips and Tricks to get you started. Email: I’m sure we have all had spam at one point or another. So, how do you stop spam email from getting on your computer? A fast and quick solution is a program called the Spam Inspector at www.giantcompany.com for use with AOL (America Online) 7.0 or 8.0. Because of its popularity, your AOL email address makes you a target for junk emailers. Spam Inspector is the only junk email filtering software available for America Online users. You can also look for the Spam Inspector for Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, Outlook Express 5 & 6, Incredimail, Eudora and Hotmail. When you download the program, it has a free trial for 30 days and then costs $29.95. Another way to block spam is Zone Labs IMsecure™ Pro. ZoneAlarm has a free trial at www.zonelabs.com. You can also enable the less competent Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) in Windows XP. Rather than sending you notifications about activity, ICF silently discards unsolicited communications, stopping common hacking attempts such as port scanning. To enable it, click Start > Control Panel. Double-click Network connection, locate and double-click Local Area Connection, click on the Advanced tab and check the box that says, “Protect my computer”. A good rule of thumb: it is always good to have two email addresses, one for business and one for personal use. Treat your personal email as you would an unlisted phone number and only give it to those you trust. Remember, never ever reply to spam or view spam pictures; it confirms your email address for spammers. Setting up an Email Account Online: One thing you have to know about getting free email accounts is that there’s always a catch. For example, when you set up a free email on Yahoo.com, it only comes with 4MB of space, which means if you want to send or receive pictures from relatives, they have to be small, and you can only receive so much at a time before you run out of space and have to delete it all to receive more. If your email is at the maximum capacity, the incoming email will only stay on their server for a short time before you lose all your data from whomever. There is a way to get around this: just order extra space and features which will cost you about $9.99 per year. I currently subscribe to Yahoo Mail Plus which gives me 25MB of space. I also have it set up through my Microsoft Outlook program which gives me more flexibility when sending or receiving email. A nice feature that comes with Yahoo is Spam Guard, which dumps all my spam into a Bulk folder online only. Today when I checked my bulk email I had 512 spam messages. I am sure glad it wasn’t in my mail folder on my computer; I would be there all day deleting it. The bulk messages can only be read online and after 30 days are automatically removed. Hotmail is another good way to receive online email. You just follow the instructions for Hotmail at www.msn.com and fill out the form, but you also agree to receive targeted advertisements from MSN. You can report junk email back to Microsoft or report the message and block future messages from its sender, but that seems like a long process and is not worth the time spent for each spam message. I love this one: if you have an existing email account and you are on vacation and wish to check your server for new email messages, then this website is for you. Mail2Web picks up email from any server, anywhere in the world. No need to register! You can register with them for added features such as storing email messages online. I have listed links below for online internet email service or applications. All information here is obtained from my personal experience and research on the web. If you have any questions, I can be found in your AWC directory. Just email me! Mail2Web: www.mail2web.com Return to: Computer Articles Home |
|
Maintained by AWCH Webgineer Copyright © 2001-2004 American Women's Club Hamburg, e.V. All rights reserved. |