A reader wrote me to ask about IP address security. I’m not really sure whether he meant keeping his IP address a secret, or whether he was asking if someone could break into his network and use his ISP connection with his IP address, so, let’s first look at the idea of keeping one’s IP [...]
The simplest way to set up a home network, including both computers with wired connections and computers with wireless connections, is to set up a wireless router immediately following your DSL modem or Cable modem. Sometimes, a DSL modem even has the router built into it.
In this setup, all the computers are assigned their IP [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
So far, I’ve still avoided installing the new Windows XP Service Pack 3. I know that a lot of people have installed it without any problems.
However, when there is a problem, it is not trivial! Recently, two subscribers wrote to tell me of their horror stories and ask for suggestions on solving them.
Delmer [...]
Subscriber and long-time reader Scott Adler wrote to me about his experiences with three of the various anti-spam programs. I’ve used Mailwasher Pro and PopFile and like both, but they are entirely different in their approach to spam. My current choice is PopFile.
I’ve also mentioned iHateSpam, which is from the same company that offers my [...]
Several people recently have had the emails, that they sent, fall victim to spam filters somewhere before getting to their recipients.
In one case of which I know, the email was sent to a mailing list. Many mailing list programs have filtering routines that are designed to block unwanted messages — not just blocking unsolicited commercial [...]
I’m often asked about how I handle passwords for all the different sites that require passwords.
The questioner’s eyes get pretty big when I mention that I use random mixtures of letters and numbers for my passwords, and even bigger when I say that I use a different password on every site.
The immediate question is “How [...]
This week, I received a query from a reader about a warning message he was receiving:
Hi Terry , I was wondering if perhaps you can help me , I have this very annoying adware that occurs EVERYTIME at startup …. not-a-virus:Adware.Win32.BHO.cr Now althugh this doesn’t appeato be causing any problem on my PC and I [...]
Recently, Agnes Brach wrote to me with a question that, eventually, applies to all of us:
Hello Terry,
I enjoy your newsletter very much. I have a question that has been on my mind for a while. I have an old computer which i would like to recycle, but have absolutely no idea [...]