Leo's Answers #45 – September 29, 2006

Leo's Answers
A Weekly Newsletter From
Ask Leo!
Leo Notenboom

Hello!

*** Contents

*** New Articles of Note on Ask Leo!

How do I make a new MSN Hotmail account?

How do I make another Hotmail account, something more appropriate for when I enter college like just my first and last name, something like that, how do I make another account, besides the one I have now.

A lot of people will think I'm nuts for taking on this question. To them, the answer seems so blindingly obvious they'll wonder why I'm wasting my time.

I'm not.

They don't see what I see - and what I see is this question, or very similar versions of it, being asked almost daily.

If hundreds of people miss "the obvious" - is it really that obvious?"

And besides, there are issues people should be aware of.

Continue reading: "How do I make a new MSN Hotmail account?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_make_a_new_msn_hotmail_account.html

* * *

Outlook error 0x800ccc0d - how do I fix it?

I am unable to get my e-mail from outlook express - I keep getting this error: 0x800ccc0d. What does it mean, and what do I do about it?

Outlook and Outlook Express both report that error number when they can't find or connect to your mail server.

Understanding what's happening is fairly easy. Fixing requires some additional information.

Continue reading: "Outlook error 0x800ccc0d - how do I fix it?"
http://ask-leo.com/outlook_error_0x800ccc0d_how_do_i_fix_it.html

* * *

How do I turn off the Windows firewall warning?

Recently, my husband had trouble installing a wireless router and enlisted the help of D-Link, the manufacturer. The staff instructed him to disable the Microsoft firewall. Now the warning about the computer being at risk is constantly showing. My husband told me not to worry because the router is acting as the firewall now. Is he correct to assume that? If not, what should we do?

Your husband is half right. The router is, in fact, acting as a firewall. But, technically, only half a firewall.

But, not to worry. I run with only half a firewall myself.

And I get no warnings.

Let's look at how.

Continue reading: "How do I turn off the Windows firewall warning?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_turn_off_the_windows_firewall_warning.html

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*** Popular Articles from the Archives

This week, an article touching on an all too common question:

How do I hack into someone's account?

This is actually an over simplification of many variations:

I think my boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse is cheating on me. I want to hack into their email/im/myspace/other account and find out what he/she/it is doing behind my back. Can you help me?

Can you get me the password for *****@hotmail.com/yahoo.com/myspace.com? This person's been saying really bad things about me, and I want to hack in and teach him/her/it a lesson.

I've lost the password for *****@hotmail.com. Could you please find it and send it to *****@hotmail.com? It's really my account. Honest.

A family member has passed away, and I'd like to retrieve whatever was in his/her email account before it gets deleted for lack of use. But I don't have the password. Can you get it for me?

You get the idea. People want to hack into other people's accounts for various reasons. Some, like that last one, sound perfectly legitimate. Others, not so much. And others are just blatant attempts at theft or harassment.

And do you want to know what's really scary?

I get several of these requests every day.

Every day.

Read more... How do I hack into someone's account?
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_hack_into_someones_account.html

*** Thoughts and Comments

If this week's newsletter seems a little light ... well, I apologize. This week was "The Big Move" out at my wife's doll shop. After many hours of "lifting heavy things", my brain just wasn't ready to answer questions. Life should return to normal next week.

In other news, I hope you're either running Windows automatic updates, or are paying close attention and doing the equivalent manually. This week Microsoft pushed an update for another vulnerability discovered that could allow a malicious web site to infect your machine - all you have to do is visit the malicious site.

While the vulnerability's been around for a while, the problem is that hackers now know about it. I've heard reports already of sites attempting to exploit the vulnerability.

I know that Windows Automatic Updates is somewhat controversial - it is, after all, the way that Microsoft pushed a non-critical update for Windows Genuine Advantage. But all in all, I still believe it's the right thing to do to stay up-to-date. Critical updates are just that - critical. Unless you're willing to track them all down yourself (and I know I'm not), Automatic Updates is still the easiest and safest way to stay on top of things.

Among other things, it allowed me to focus on moving lots of heavy boxes around this week, knowing that while I was working hard, so was Windows Update - keeping my machines safe.

Leo

* * *

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*** Newsletter Administration

Do you have a question? A comment, perhaps? Newsletter subscribers can drop me a line at leo <at> ask-leo.com. (I only give that email address to newsletter subscribers, so I'll know it's from one of my loyal readers.) If you like, you can make sure you get past any spam filters by simply posting your question or comment using the Ask Leo! question form: http://ask-leo.com/askleo.html.

I'll be honest: I'll try to respond, but I get a lot of questions every day - I just can't answer everyone. Rest assured, though, that even if you don't hear from me directly, I read every email I get.

Leo's Answers Newsletter is a weekly publication of Ask Leo! and Leo A. Notenboom. It's also available as an RSS feed at this URL: http://ask-leo.com/newsletter.xml?UD=nl. Archives of previous newsletter issues can be found on the Ask Leo! web site, http://ask-leo.com/newsletter.html.

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Newsletter contents Copyright © 2006, Leo A. Notenboom & Puget Sound Software, LLC.

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Posted: September 29, 2006 in: 2006
Shortlink: https://newsletter.askleo.com/2798
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I'm Leo Notenboom and I've been playing with computers since I took a required programming class in 1976. I spent over 18 years as a software engineer at Microsoft, and after "retiring" in 2001 I started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place to help you find answers and become more confident using this amazing technology at our fingertips. More about Leo.