Leo's Answers #52 – November 17, 2006

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

Hello!

*** Contents

• New Articles of Note on Ask Leo!
• A Word from our Sponsor
• Popular Articles from the Archives
• Thoughts and Comments
• Newsletter Administration

*** New Articles of Note on Ask Leo!

Why doesn't 'Back' always work when I surf the web?

I feel your pain. You hit back, it churns for a bit ... maybe even displays a thing or two ... and then returns you to the page you started with, without going "back" at all. If you time it right, perhaps you can hit back more than once to get where you're going. Or not.

The problem is I also feel the pain of the web site developer that caused this to happen. Sometimes it can't be avoided.

And it is a function of the website's design.

Continue reading: "Why doesn't 'Back' always work when I surf the web?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_doesnt_back_always_work_when_i_surf_the_web.html

* * *

Is it safe to delete this file?

I don't know.

Honestly, I have no idea either as to what they are, how they got there, or why they occupy so much space. That's the problem with ".dat" files - there's no way to know what they are without more information.

But I do have some ideas on how to determine if deleting them is ok, and ways to do it safely. And those ideas apply to any file type, not just ".dat".

Continue reading: "Is it safe to delete this file?"
http://ask-leo.com/is_it_safe_to_delete_this_file.html

* * *

Can I find my Hotmail mail on my machine somewhere?

Yes and no.

Hotmail, like many other email services, is web-based. That means that all of your information, including your email, is kept on Hotmail's servers.

However, you do have to use a web browser, such as Internet Explorer or FireFox, to read your mail. That's when things get complicated.

Continue reading: "Can I find my Hotmail mail on my machine somewhere?"
http://ask-leo.com/can_i_find_my_hotmail_mail_on_my_machine_somewhere.html

* * *

Can I make my C: partition bigger by taking space from D:?

Yes, I wouldn't expect that rename to work. There are simply too many places, such as within the system registry, that have recorded the fact that things are on "C:". If you rename C: to D:, the system wouldn't be able to find them.

What you're looking for is partitioning software.

Continue reading: "Can I make my C: partition bigger by taking space from D:?"
http://ask-leo.com/can_i_make_my_c_partition_bigger_by_taking_space_from_d.html

* * *

What software do you use?

Those are just some of the variations of a question I get fairly regularly. People frequently look to me for recommendations before spending the money or time to install a particular piece of software.

Looking for recommendations and others experiences is a smart thing to do.

And, in fact, you'll see I have an entire class of article categorized as Recommendations. But because I take actual recommendations fairly seriously, I don't do them as often as I'd like.

So, how about I just tell you what software's installed on my machine - the stuff that I actually use - without inferring any kind of "recommendation"?

Continue reading: "What software do you use?"
http://ask-leo.com/what_software_do_you_use.html

* * *

Making the Podcast

How I do it - with video!

Continue reading: "Making the Podcast"
http://ask-leo.com/making_the_podcast.html

*** A Word from our Sponsor

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*** Popular Articles from the Archives

The holiday season is approaching, so I figured now would be a good time to remind everyone of this article:

What computer should I give?

In a recent article, What computer should I get?, I discussed the criteria I used as I decided what computer to purchase for myself, and what criteria you might consider for yourself.

But what it it's not for you? What if you're looking for a computer as a gift?

Things get more difficult, that's what.

Read more... What computer should I give?
http://ask-leo.com/what_computer_should_i_give.html

*** Thoughts and Comments

Yes, this is the "real" issue 52. Last week's went out with the wrong number; it was bound to happen sooner or later. While I've fixed it in the archives, there's no way to "pull back" the email and fix it in your inbox. Thanks to the readers who pointed out my inability to properly increment a number by one :-).

And, as I alluded to a couple of weeks ago, issue #52 marks a special event: the first full year of the Ask Leo! newsletter, Leo's Answers. There are almost 10,000 of you now, and I hope that you continue to find this newsletter, and Ask Leo! in general, useful and informative.

The next year promises to be pretty interesting. Internet Explorer 7 is already here, and both Windows Vista and Office 2007 are just around the corner. I'm sure that they'll all bring their own set of questions and issues. One things certain about this industry - it's always changing. Even though some questions have been fairly frequent and constant through the history of Ask Leo!, there's always something new and unexpected that crops up as well.

Thanks again for subscribing.

Until next week...

* * *

The Latest:
Forwarded Funnies:	"Veterinary Bill"
Taming Email:	"Don't Ask for Spam"
Leo's MovableType Tips:	"Changing Page Names Mid-Stream"

*** Newsletter Administration

Do you have a question? A comment, perhaps? Newsletter subscribers can visit http://ask-leo.com/askleosubscriber.html to submit your comments and questions. That page is only mentioned here, so I'll know it's from someone who's taken the time to read this far!

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.

You're quite welcome to forward this email in its entirety, but you should probably delete your unsubscribe link below, so your friends don't unsubscribe you by accident. You may forward individual articles from this newsletter only if you include all and only the text of that article as found in this newsletter, including any links therein. You may not copy full articles from the Ask Leo! website - more on that in my section on copyright: http://ask-leo.com/terms.html#copyright.

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

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