There are a bunch of new articles at Terry’s Computer Tips:
Can not reply to emails in Outlook
November 7, 2008 By
Subscriber John from Australia wrote about some problems he was having with Word 2003 and Outlook (presumably Outlook 2003). John wrote:
Cannot reply to emails in Outlook & Trouble with AutoText
1. I cannot type a reply to an email in the usual manner. When I try to type a reply, my typing does not appear on the screen.
I have to open word, type my reply to the email and then try to send it, but more often I just cannot send it even then. It guess that I must have pressed something or other to prohibit the sending of replies?
2 I use Auto Text quite frequently; however, it also seems to have gone bonkers…
Continue reading Can not reply to emails in Outlook
Malware Silently Alters Router Settings – Change Your Router Passwords
October 31, 2008 By
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Not your password for Windows — you may or may not change that, based on your personal preference (or if at work, based on the requirements of your employer’s network).
I’m talking about changing your passwords on your wireless routers and wired routers.
Whether you use a Linksys router, a DLink router, a Belkin route, or one of the many other brands of routers , whether you use wireless or regular Ethernet connnections with your router, change the password from the default password — now!
In my security articles on routers, I have long recommended that you change the router’s password. Sure, it can’t be accessed from the Internet side of the router, but if you manage to pick up some automated malware or a trojan that gives remote control of your computer to someone else, you may find your router subverted. It may run all of your requests through their system, so they can log and analyze your actions, passwords, etc.
Well, the automated malware that I’ve long predicted has now been found in the wild.
Continue reading Malware Silently Alters Router Settings – Change Your Router Passwords
Switching to WPA2 Wireless Encryption
October 19, 2008 By
OK, after reading Improving Your Wireless Security about WPA2 wireless encryption, you’ve downloaded the WPA2 encryption patch for Windows XP — or you’ve installed XP Service Pack 3, which includes the patch.
How do you switch to it? It’s easy.
First, we need to get to the router to make the change there. The procedure will vary by brand, but should be fairly obvious. The steps are to:
1. Use your web browser to log into your router
2. Select the Wireless Security settings tab
On the Linksys WRT54G, that’s Wireless < Wireless Security
3. Now, change the Security mode to WPA2 Personal (the name varies by manufacturer —
...
Continue reading Switching to WPA2 Wireless Encryption
Improving Your Wireless Security
October 16, 2008 By
If you’ve read some of my other articles about having an open, unsecured wireless network versus securing your wireless network so that others can not get into it, you know that I believe in security.
I recommend that everyone secure their wireless network to the extent possible. It’s impossible to completely secure a wireless system, but you can block out most users. You can make it difficult for others to use your network.
The point is to make the process hard enough that the visitor — the unauthorized person who is trying to use your network for normal Internet usage or illegal and/or immoral actions — decides to use someone else’s network.
Continue reading Improving Your Wireless Security
Windows XP Screen Freezing
October 13, 2008 By
Reader Steve Sturgill wrote to ask about screen freeze problems he was having:
Mr. Stockdale, My OS is XP, my ISP is MSN and I connect through broadband. My problem is, any time I right click, as in attempting to access dropdown menus, my screen freezes. Also I am unable to click on any of the tools in the top, left corner of my screen – i.e. File, Edit, View, etc. This has been going on for several weeks! I have looked extensively for a solution online – to no avail. Several sites suggest using a program called ShellExView, which I downloaded and tried, several times, in vain. Nothing seems to work. Can you please advise me? Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much, in advance, Steve
I wrote back to Steve to suggest some actions to try to resolve his problems.
I’ve seen some strange effects like that before – not those exactly (except the apparent freezing on right-clicking for a context menu).
Continue reading Windows XP Screen Freezing
Setting Up Your Router
September 26, 2008 By
Setting up a router for your home network, or even to protect the one computer you are connecting to a cable modem or dsl modem, can be very straight forward. Most people will plug it in, turn on their computer and see everything works — and not even think about the manufacturer shipping it in an insecure mode so that startup is easy.
After you hook up your router and see that it works, there are some basic security settings that you need to change, whether you’re setting up a wireless router or a wired router.
The first thing to remember when setting up a wireless router is that you will have to connect one computer to the router via an Ethernet cable, at least initially and periodically.
You configure the router via the network. So far, so good. But, when you try to configure the router using a wireless connection…
Continue reading Setting Up Your Router
