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Technical Help (for IPA
Members Only)
When you have a problem with or don't understand something
about your computer, it can prevent you from getting the most
out of this, or any other web site. This web page will try to
answer some of your questions (for Windows-based computers only--sorry,
Macs not covered), and provide hints and tips to help you better
enjoy your computer experience.
If you have specific questions, send an e-mail to
(click on this link to start your e-mail program). Include as
much information about your computer as possible, and describe
in detail what you were doing when the problem occurred. General
questions are also welcome. We'll do what we can to get you
an answer as quickly as possible.
- Larry, IPA web guy
Contents
Anti-Virus
Software
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First the free stuff. AVG
AntiVirus has a free edition. Go to their site,
enter some info and you can download the product.
Almost free. While this used
to be a free off, InoculateIT
Personal Edition by Computer Associates, the promotion
ended and they now charge a modest $19.95 for the program.
This includes a 1-year subscriptions to the virus definition
files. Subsequent annual renewals are $9.95.
They ask you some questions and e-mail you a customer number.
You use this number on the Web page then you can download
the software (Windows only).
Why use Anti-Virus Software?
If your computer is connected to the Internet, you are at
risk of having your system infected by a computer virus. The
effects of a viruses can range from an annoyance to actually
having your computer permanently damaged! Yes, your actual
computer can be damaged by a virus that changes or erases
the BIOS inside your computer. The BIOS is essential for starting
your computer. If it is damaged, your computer will not start.
Period! You would now own a boat anchor instead of a computer.
An anti-virus program checks your e-mail as you receive it,
and also check files as you download them from the Internet.
But, just having an anti-virus program on your computer is
not enough. You must configure it correctly so it does in
fact, check your files, and you must keep the data file that
contains descriptions of the viruses, up to date.
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Maintaining Your E-mail
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In an e-mail, dated 9/18/01, Sharon suggested deleting
all original e-mails when you reply. This is my response to
her suggestion.
I'd like to comment on what Sharon suggested. She's basically
right about nuking the message(s) you're replying to. However,
when there is more than one message in the e-mail, I suggest
leaving the last message you're replying to and nuke the rest.
If you nuke all the messages and give a reply, it's sometimes
hard to know the context of the reply.
You've all probably notice the ads at the bottom of the e-mails.
Because Yahoo Groups is free, they put in the ads. You can
nuke those anytime, along with the usage message at the bottom!!!
I know this is boring, but...
A word about nuking e-mail and your hard disk space. If you're
using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, when you delete
an e-mail, it goes into your deleted items folder. It is not
erased from your hard disk. If you want to recover the space
on your hard disk, go into your deleted items folder and delete
the e-mails from there. Now they are permanently deleted and
you get back the space they were occupying. Other e-mail programs
may work the same way. If you get your e-mail off the Web
(like yahoo.com or hotmail.com) this may or may not apply.
I'm not sure. I suspect, however, that since your e-mail is
kept on someone elses server, you have limited space to store
e-mail and if you don't delete your old messages, you will
eventually fill up your allotted space and may not receive
new e-mails. Questions? I'll help if I can.
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