tech_tips

Q. I want to send multiple e-mail but I do not want the TO: e-mail addresses to be visible to any other recipients. How can I do this?

A. That's called a Blind CC: or BCC:. You can create BCC: in two ways in Outlook Express.
1. To add a BCC: field to the addressing fields click on New Message, select View, then click on All Headers.
2. An easier way is to click on New Mail, click on the To: button. This brings up the Address Book. From there you can add addresses to the To:, CC: and BCC: fields.

Q: What does System Compatibility mean?

A: Before buying or downloading, you should make sure your PC meets the program's Minimum System Requirements. Sometimes just called Requirements. You can also find them on the back or bottom panels of most boxes or disk cases, usually in really tiny letters. They tell you what standards your system has to meet to be able to run that piece of software. These requirements typically include which version of Windows, what speed processor and how much RAM you have, and then hardware requirements (CD-Roms or CD-burners, DVD players or burners, printers, monitor settings, video or sound cards), and the amount of hard disk space you'll need to make this program work. Many modern programs also list Recommended System Requirements. You can think of these standards as what your system should have to run that program well. If you meet the Minimums but not the Recommended list, the program maybe taxing a component of your system. The program may run slowly or you may not be able to use all of its features. You may need to shut down all other running processes before you start this program. Basically, it'll run on your system, but it could run better. You can find your version of Windows, processor speed, and amount of RAM by right-clicking the My Computer icon and looking under the General tab. Older versions of Windows are laid out differently, so if you don't have a My Computer icon, start at the Control Panel and look for an icon labeled along the lines of System Properties. Find the amount of hard disk space available in your system by double-clicking My Computer, Right-clicking your C: drive, and choosing Properties. Under the General tab, you'll see the amount of free space left on your hard drive. To find out how much RAM you have available at any given moment, hold down Control, Alt, and tap Delete. Give it a second, because hitting this combo twice will reboot or shut down your PC, depending on your settings. The Windows Task Manager will appear. Under the Performance tab, you'll see Physical Memory, Available. This is the number of kilobytes of available RAM you've got. Divide by 1000 to bet the Mb of available RAM. The more programs you have running, the lower the amount of available RAM. To see if your system meets hardware requirements, go to the Control Panel and click the Systems icon. The System Properties window will appear. Go to the Hardware tab and use the Device Manager to see the complete list of hardware on your system.

Q: I keep getting Illegal Operations. Is there a way to fix this?

A: Don't you hate it when you see this error: "This program has preformed an illegal operation and will be shut down". It can happen for a variety of reasons. In my experience, most of the time it's due to a software conflict of some sort, usually with a program that's running in the background. If you find you have a bunch of stuff sitting in your system tray (it's the little box opposite the Start button on the taskbar), you may find that shutting down some of those programs will help tremendously (most have an option to shut down if you right-click their icon) . It's usually one of them that's the culprit (RealPlayer causes *lots* of problems), especially if the program with the problem seems to be the only thing running. You can also use the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination to shut programs down manually, but you also run the risk of accidentally shutting your computer down (Don't close Explorer or Systray). Only do this after you've shut down all your system try icons and are continuing to have problems. If you shut all of those background programs down and still haven't resolved the conflict, you may have a Windows driver that's messing things up. Try booting to Safe Mode and running the program. (To get to Safe Mode, hit the F8 key just as Windows starts to boot, before the first Windows loading screen comes up). If all works well in safe mode, you may have to re-install or update your drivers. Another possibility is the program has a corrupted file. Try uninstalling then re-installing the program. If you're still having problems, contact the program's vender and see if they know what's going on. Although they may not be able to help you, it's still worth a try. Keep in mind that every computer is as unique as you once you start using it, so sometimes even the guy who wrote the program won't know why it's causing a problem on your machine and no one else's. You can usually resolve the illegal operation problem by taking the steps above. Don't panic if you see this error message crop up from time to time at random intervals. It happens, usually after Windows has been running awhile without a re-boot. Only take the actions above if the problem appears every time, or almost every time, you use a particular program.

Q: I can't seem to get any attachments in my email. Outlook Express says that it removed "unsafe attachments" from my email. How can I start getting attachments again?

A: Constant bombardment from internet villains makes me wonder if WWW actually stands for "Wild, Wild West"! We yearn for safe browsing. We long to send and receive email without being harassed. That's why we install anti-virus software and firewalls. That's why browsers and email programs have security settings. But sometimes, too much security can cause other problems. Anyone who has upgraded to Outlook Express 6 or bought a new computer may be experiencing an error message like this: "Outlook Express removed access to the following unsafe attachments in your mail..." Why is this happening? When faced with mysterious problems, blame it on Microsoft! By default, the "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus" option (hereafter called DNAATBSOOTCPBAV) is enabled in OE 6. When this virus-protection feature is on, OE uses Explorer's unsafe file list to determine if a file is safe. Any e-mail attachment with a file type that is considered "unsafe" is not downloaded, and access to the attachment is removed. The unsafe file list includes any file types that may have script or code associated with them. Thus, you may find that you can't receive the pictures from your cousin's wedding, or the mp3 of your grandson's first words. All is not lost...you can avoid this problem by turning off the DNAATBSOOTCPBAV option. Start Outlook Express. On the Tools menu, click Options. Click the "Security" tab, click to clear the DNAATBSOOTCPBAV check box under "Virus Protection", and then click OK. You should, of course, be scanning all attachments with anti-virus software anyway, which makes the extra OE6 security unnecessary. Netscape Mail does not have any similar security features that could cause a problem like this. Most web-based email (such as Yahoo or Hotmail) allow you to scan for viruses before you download attachments.

Q: How to Safely Removing Hardware?

A: Even though USB devices are Plug & Play�that is, they're ready to go upon being plugged in�you shouldn't just unplug them. A USB port has current running through it, so the power jolt caused by unplugging a "hot" connection can corrupt data on a storage device, camera, or mp3 player. You can prevent such problems by clicking the "Safely Remove Hardware" button down in the system tray (by the clock). It looks like a rectangle with a green arrow pointing down at 8 o'clock You'll be given a list of USB devices that are active. Highlight the one you want to remove and click. When the power shuts off Windows will tell you that it is safe to remove the device.