Ten Steps to a Happy Computer

Be careful opening ALL attachments delivered through email

This regularly catches out clients of mine. If you receive an email with an attachment you must be careful to investigate it before you open the attachment. The most common of today's viruses are transmitted through email. These viruses look through the address books of their infected hosts, select a random subject heading and send as many infected emails as possible to those addresses. Therefore you can see that a virus may be received from a friend, showing that it is prudent to investigate all emails that you receive before opening them.

NOTE: Microsoft does not send emails to its users with files for updates attached. Do not be fooled by this. Only update your system from the Microsoft website.

Update your virus software regularly

You must have virus software. If you don't then you should purchase it. It will save you time and money in the long run. The software that we use the most frequently is Norton Antivirus. We have found this software to be perfect for both home and corporate users although the corporate edition is best for a larger number of computers.

Once you have antivirus software installed you must update it on a regular basis. Virus writers are prolific and new viruses appear all of the time. Antivirus software works because it can recognise the specific virus and can remove it. Without regular updates to your virus software, it is basically useless. Most virus software allows you to set updates to occur automatically. This is more useful if you have a broadband connection which is 'always on'. Those with a standard telephone connection should update once a week.

Update your operating system

Keeping you operating system updated and in good shape is important. Hackers find new exploits in operating systems all of the time most of the time their findings are reported to operating system makers who release a patch to fix it. These patches must be downloaded by you to update you system. The process can be quite lengthy if you only have a normal telephone connection to the internet but it is worth it. For Microsoft Windows systems, the best place to update your system is by pointing your web browser at: windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Remove programs that you do not use

Most of us install and try out programs all of the time. We download from the web, install from friends and from CDs on magazines. This has the effect that we have lots of installed software on our machines that we never use. Regular removal of unwanted programs will improve your system performance and save disk space.

Stop spam

Spam (unsolicited email) is a common problem for a lot of users. Spam comes from people and companies who are advertising their products and services. Many products exist to block unwanted email; however there are a number of things that you can do to stop people getting hold of your email address:

• Pick an uncommon email address - Some email lists simply guess a name i.e. joe.bloggs@someplace.com. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it If you have a common name, the simple thing to do is to change your email address so that it cannot be guessed easily.
• Get a bogus address from hotmail - Sign up for an email address with hotmail.com. Use this address whenever you are asked to register with a website that you are unsure of. Some of these websites sell their email listings to spammers, so if you register you will get plenty of spam. We have used this method effectively for nearly seven years with only a small amount of spam getting through.
• Use spam blocking software - Spam blockers allow you block incoming mail from people who are not in your address book or from known spammers. These can be good however you must be aware that sometimes email from people you do know will get blocked.

Spybot Search and Destroy

It can be downloaded to remove all spyware and adware from your machine. Spyware is a type of software that monitors which sites you are browsing on the internet and sends this information to a central store. This is then used for marketing purposes. Adware is software that contains invasive advertising which makes adverts pop up as you are browsing the internet. The software is usually clever enough to pop up an advert that matches the subject of the web page that you are reading. Both spyware and adware are invasive software that impinges on your personal privacy. The removal software allows you to get rid of this invasion.

Save files in standard places such as 'My Documents'

If you save all of your documents in the same place then you will know how to find them again. Doing this also allows you to move your files easily.

Save your files often and make backups

Lost files are a common problem. Most people blame the computer, however if you save your files often then there is usually no data lost if the computer crashes. Hard disks crash very rarely but making regular backups of data that you can't afford to loose is important. You don't have to backup everything, just those most important files.

Make your passwords bigger

A long password makes it many times more difficult to crack. The longer the password the more difficult it is. Choose a small sentence as a password, change some of the letters to numbers and replace some of the spaces with punctuation characters, this will make your password almost impossible to crack or guess.

Shutdown Gracefully

All recent operating systems provide a way of shutting down your computer. When shutting down gracefully the computer will save any changed settings, reset anything that needs resetting and sometimes repair broken programs. Turning off power to your system while it is still running can be a disaster. Give your system the time it needs before you pull the plug. Better still, leave your computer running. If you have a broadband internet connection you can set your computer to download updates to the operating system and virus definitions overnight so that your computing fun is not disturbed by these operations.

Richard Greenane has been working with computers for most of his life. Richard has a B.Sc degree in Cybernetics and a M.Sc in Computer Science from Trinity College. Although passionate about his trade, he is not a jargon junky like many of his peers and is happy to teach clients while he is fixing their computer. Richard prefers disaster prevention over cure, although he says that "cure pays more!" Richard is the Technical Director of Dublin based IT Support company, SupportsIT http://www.supportsit.com

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Email -10 helpful Email Tips by Kamal Kaushal

Most of us weren?t born with a genetic predisposition for email, so it?s only natural to take a few missteps along the way If you want to look like an email pro and avoid the most common errors, follow these ?Netiquette? tips 1 Most of us weren?t born with a genetic predisposition for email, so it?s only natural to take a few missteps along the way. If you want to look like an email pro and avoid the most common errors, follow these ?Netiquette? tips:

1. Use the Subject Line - Always include a brief Subject line that provides some insight into the focus of your email. Given the volume of email that most people receive, the Subject line is becoming a ?must-have? if you want your message to be read or noticed. Avoid generic "Hi" or non-specific Subject lines that tell the recipient nothing. Some spam filters will block messages without a Subject line, so for the scant few seconds it requires to enter a few words, it's in your best interest to always include a Subject.

2. Don?t Forget the Bcc Field - When sending email to multiple recipients, place email addresses in the Bcc field (Blind Carbon, Courtesy, or Cyber Copy, depending who you ask) to hide them, unless you specifically want each recipient to know who received your message. In this day and age when many people protect their email addresses as aggressively as they do their unlisted telephone numbers, it is grotesquely inappropriate to publish all recipient email addresses without permission.

3. Cool Off! - Never send an email written in anger. If you're upset, go ahead and write your email, pound the keyboard, stomp your feet, vent your spleen to your heart's content, but do not send it. After you've spewed your digital venom, save the message and review it a minimum of 12 hours later. Chances are you'll be very glad you didn't send it?a phenomenon known as "dodging a digital bullet."

4. Personalize Your Message - Email is informal, but it still needs a greeting. It can be "Dear Mr. Smith," or "Dear Bill," "Hi Susan," or ?Yo, Joe,? but failure to use the recipient's name can make your message seem a bit cold and aloof, even if that's not your intention.

5. Sign it - Conclude a message with your name, and in most instances, first name alone is fine, particularly if your full name appears in the From: field. If only your email address appears in the From: field, and your address provides no clue as to your identity, it's even more important to sign your message. Most email programs will permit you to create a signature block which can include your full name, address, and other contact information, if you wish. Don?t overdo the signature line, though. Nobody cares about your life?s philosophy. Save it for your autobiography.

6. Tone Matters - More than 90 percent of face-to-face communication is non-verbal. Because email has no accompanying body language or facial expressions, and the reader cannot hear the tone of your voice, choose your words carefully. Sarcasm, for example, doesn't always translate well via email, but using an emoticon or other parenthetical, e.g. (laughing), can help. Try to place yourself in the recipient's position and think how your words might be perceived or even more importantly, misperceived.

7. Check Your Spelling - In the early days of email, spelling errors were generally accepted or at least overlooked. We were a simpler people back then, but those days are pretty much gone. While spell-checking is certainly not as important when communicating with casual friends or dysfunctional family members, other individuals will form immediate impressions about you from your messages. Integrated spell-checkers make it easier than ever to use correct spelling. Proper capitalization (never type messages in ALL CAPS) and correct punctuation can't hurt, either. Keep in mind that your messages represent you, and particularly within a business context, that can cost you.

8. Get to the Point - Try to keep your messages succinct, to the point, and be generous with your paragraphing. No recipient wants to be confronted by a massive, wall-to-wall screen of text. That's a good way to ensure that you either won?t receive a response, or that your message is quickly skimmed, or moved directly into the Trash folder.

9. Nothing is ?Off the Record? - Never write in email that you wouldn't want the world (or your mother) to see. Once a message has departed your mailbox, you have no control over where it will end up. Diamonds are forever; email lasts even longer.

10. Patience is a Virtue - Don?t expect an immediate response. Not every person is sitting in front of his or her computer checking email. People check messages at their convenience and respond at a time when it's best for them. If your communication is so vitally important that you need a response right away, use the telephone.

Happy emailing!

About the Author

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Recovering, Backing Up and Moving Email

Backing up email

XP

With outlook express open, select tools ? options from the main menu and then select the "Maintenance" tab and then the box marked "Store folder". Once this opens use, control %2B c to copy the folder location address. Now close all folders. Go to "Start" and select "Run". Now use the Control %2B v keys to paste the folder location into the box.

Vista

With Windows mail open, click tools ? options from the main menu and then select the "Advanced" tab. Now click the box marked "Maintenance" and then the box marked "Store folder". Once this opens use, control %2B c to copy the folder location address. Now close all folders. Go to "Start" and select "Run". Now use the Control %2B v keys to paste the folder location into the box.

XP and Vista

In both cases, a new page will open showing all your mail folders. Select and copy the ones you want to back up and choose the place where you want to store this data. This could be an external drive or perhaps on a CD or DVD. Now click paste to store the data. Note: It is much safer to store any important information whether it is mail or something else somewhere other than on your computer. If do you store it somewhere on your computer and it crashes, you may not be able to retrieve it.

Moving emails to other folders

There are two ways you can do this (Windows and XP)

1. Right click the message you want to move and select "Move to Folder" and click the folder you want to move the email to.

2. A faster way is to click and hold down the mouse button on the message you want to move and still holding the mouse button down, drag the email to the required folder in your folder list. You can also do this to drag an email directly to an external hard drive.

Recovering lost emails

If you have the misfortune to lose all your important emails and you have not backed them up as described above, then follow this procedure, which may help you get them back. This will work with both XP and Vista but you will need to do this very quickly as soon as your emails disappear.

With Outlook Express, use start ? search to look for ".eml" files without the quotes.

With Outlook, use start ? search to look for "pst" files without the quotes.

If neither of these works, you may have to use a recovery programme like free undelete.

However, whatever method you use, do it as soon as you can before any of your files are overwritten.

My name is Peter Martin Jones and I enjoy computing and photography both film and digital.

If you would like to look at a completely free book on digital photography then you may like to visit my web site at;

http://www.picturememory.co.uk

It covers everything from choosing a camera through editing your images to scanning your old film negatives and slides and uploading your image files to the internet. Everything you need to know for successful digital photography.

The book is based on my experience as a photographer and the many questions I have been asked by people who find some aspects of digital photography confusing or who simply want more information.

By Peter Martin Jones

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