Leo's Answers
A Weekly Newsletter From
Ask Leo!
Leo Notenboom
Hello!
*** Contents
- This Week's New Articles on Ask Leo!
- A Word from our Sponsor
- Popular Articles from the Archives
- Thoughts and Comments
- Newsletter Administration
*** This Week's New Articles on Ask Leo!
Why do people make viruses?
|
Why do people make these viruses and worms? How do they get distributed so widely? Are people forwarding them? Is there some database of emails that malicious people have? What do they gain by sending worms and viruses? |
"Why" has actually changed over the years. It turns out that viruses have become a big business. Yes, there are people making money writing and distributing viruses. How is that possible, you ask?
Spam.
Continue reading: "Why do people make
viruses?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_do_people_make_viruses.html
* * *
Where did file associations go in Windows Vista?
|
I'm using windows Vista, how do I set file associations here? There is no files type tab in Windows Explorer Folders Options. |
I read this question and went "huh?". But you're absolutely right; the file association dialog that we've come to love and hate that's been part of Windows Explorer is no longer there.
The question, of course, is where did it go? To a more logical place perhaps, but with nary a clue as to how to find it.
Continue reading: "Where
did file associations go in Windows Vista?"
http://ask-leo.com/where_did_file_associations_go_in_windows_vista.html
* * *
WGA phones home - and no one answers.
WGA - just another form of DRM that ends up potentially harming legitimate users.Continue reading: "WGA phones home -
and no one answers." 
http://ask-leo.com/wga_phones_home_and_no_one_answers.html
* * *
Why am I getting spam from myself?
|
I get email from: someone@somedomain.com <myemail@hotmail.com> where "someone@somedomain.com" is someone I don't know, but "myemail@hotmail.com" is, in fact, my email address. It as if the email was sent by me, but I did not send it. How do I stop these email from coming into my box? It's usually for drugs or financial services that I don't need or would never be interested in. How can they use my own email? I can't block them as it says it is illegal to block my own email. |
I'll start with the bad news: there's almost nothing you can do.
This is spam, pure and simple. Abusing your email address is only one of many techniques spammers use to throw their garbage into our mail boxes.
The remedies are pretty standard, albeit less than 100% effective.
Continue reading: "Why am I getting
spam from myself?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_am_i_getting_spam_from_myself.html
* * *
Why are email addresses sometimes in angle-brackets?
|
Every so often I see email addresses listed like this: Name <myemail@hotmail.com> or even myemail@hotmail.com <myemail@hotmail.com> What's it all mean, especially that last one? |
Well, the last one is someone just not filling in some information in their email program like they're supposed to.
But in general that format you're seeing is just the email protocol recognizing that most people don't think in terms of email addresses; they think in terms of names.
Continue reading: "Why
are email addresses sometimes in angle-brackets?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_are_email_addresses_sometimes_in_anglebrackets.html
* * *
From where can I download Outlook Express 6?
|
I need to reinstall Outlook Express, but I can't find it on the Microsoft web site. Where do I get it? |
Apparently the answer is "you can't".
With the introduction of Internet Explorer 7, Outlook Express has apparently been put out to pasture, at least if you're on Windows XP.
Let's look at why that is and what some of your alternatives might be.
Continue reading: "From
where can I download Outlook Express 6?"
http://ask-leo.com/from_where_can_i_download_outlook_express_6.html
*** A Word from our Sponsor
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*** Popular Articles from the Archives
This remains a common question:
How do I transfer Hotmail contacts to another account?
Transferring Hotmail contact information turns out to be slightly difficult, and certainly not obvious. While Hotmail allows you to import contacts, there doesn't appear to be any way to export them.
That's where we need to get clever.
Read more...
How do I transfer Hotmail contacts to another account?
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_transfer_hotmail_contacts_to_another_account.html
*** Thoughts and Comments
News reports have started to appear that Microsoft is planning Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Vista. They're saying it'll arrive early next year with the beta versions coming out Real Soon Now.
One piece of advice: don't install the beta. At least, not unless you're fully backed up and ready restore your machine completely from that backup. Betas are by definition full of bugs. The whole point is to use volunteers and other folks with a vested interest to test and identify those bugs before the official release.
While I'm at it, let me make a few predictions relating to Vista SP1:
-
We'll soon start seeing spam that says "download Vista SP1 now" which of course will be bogus and just a gateway to a virus infection.
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People will start to look for Vista SP1 long before it's been released.
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People, including myself, will wonder why Vista SP1 isn't being released sooner.
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Whatever date is published, Vista SP1 will be late.
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When it does arrive Vista SP1 won't fix enough of the compatibility problems that Vista users are facing today.
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People like me will say WAIT! before installing Vista SP1, since even when it's formally released and "done", it'll probably still break a few things that we'll want to understand before taking the plunge.
I could be wrong, of course. In fact, I'd be quite happy if things turn out better than I've outlined here.
Naturally, time will tell.
'till next time...
* * *
| The Latest: | |
| Forwarded Funnies: | "Boys" |
| Taming Email: | "Count to 10, to 100, to 1000 if you have to." |
| Leo's MovableType Tips: | "Tolerate Broken URLs" |
*** 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. Archives of previous newsletter issues can be found on the Ask Leo! web site, http://ask-leo.com/newsletter.html.
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