Spam is a fact of life on the Internet.
Some spammers make millions of dollars by sending spam. There's money in spam because some people will buy anything if they think it's something they need and the price is attractive enough. Spammers send tens of millions of spam emails each week - and all it takes is a very tiny percentage of those receiving a particular spam to buy something and the spammer makes tons of money. Don't ever buy anything that's advertised in a spam email, even if the spam mail is touting a brand name product at an unbelievable price. Spammers are not exactly a trustworthy lot to begin with - and prices that seem to be too good to be true, usually are.
Here are some other good things you can do to help limit the amount of spam you get - or in your case to help you keep from getting even more spam.
1. Never respond to unsolicited email. One response or "hit" from thousands of emails is enough for spammers to justify the practice. In addition, a response lets the spammer know that your email address is active, which makes it more valuable and opens the door to more spam.
2. Never send your personal information (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.) in an email. Spammers can fake the format of ANY trusted sites. Banks and other trusted sites will never ask you to send your password or credit card information by email.
3. Never follow a spam email’s instructions to reply with the word "remove" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line or body of the message unless you are sure of and trust the source of the email. Normally, this is a ploy to get you to react to the email, which tells the spammer that your email address is valid.
4. Never click on a URL or web address listed within a spam email, even if the message tells you that’s how you unsubscribe. This is another trick to that tells the spammer your email address is valid. Once they know your address is valid it can be added to databases which are sold to professional spammers on DVD or CD for a few hundred dollars. And this will result in you getting more spam for sure!
5. Don't fall for sites set up to help you remove your name from spam lists. Although some of these sites MIGHT be legitimate, some use this type of service as a ruse: They're really collecting valid email addresses to sell to spammers. If a collector gets your address and they know it's a valid, working email address, it is worth a lot of money to them. They'll put your email address in one of their databases and sell these databases to professional spammers. Not only won't your email address be removed from spam lists, it will added to many spam lists. And you'll get even more spam. So don't turn to online services that promise to help you get rid of spam unless you've thoroughly investigated it.
6. Set Outlook Express/Windows so you don't use the Preview Pane. Using the preview pane shows images in HTML mail. Using the preview pane to view mail actually "opens it". So if a spammer sends you an email with graphics, the graphics can be used as Web beacons to tell the spammer that you've opened the mail. They'll know your email address is valid and that you've read (or at least looked at) the spam email. Not using the Preview Pane is more convenient to me, at least, than blocking images in every email. Sometimes images serve a purpose. This newsletter is an example. With the preview pane turned off, you simply double-click the email to open it, images and all. If you suspect an email is spam, don't open it.
Spam is a fact of life on the Internet.
Some spammers make millions of dollars by sending spam. There's money in spam because some people will buy anything if they think it's something they need and the price is attractive enough. Spammers send tens of millions of spam emails each week - and all it takes is a very tiny percentage of those receiving a particular spam to buy something and the spammer makes tons of money. Don't ever buy anything that's advertised in a spam email, even if the spam mail is touting a brand name product at an unbelievable price. Spammers are not exactly a trustworthy lot to begin with - and prices that seem to be too good to be true, usually are.
Here are some other good things you can do to help limit the amount of spam you get - or in your case to help you keep from getting even more spam.
1. Never respond to unsolicited email. One response or "hit" from thousands of emails is enough for spammers to justify the practice. In addition, a response lets the spammer know that your email address is active, which makes it more valuable and opens the door to more spam.
2. Never send your personal information (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.) in an email. Spammers can fake the format of ANY trusted sites. Banks and other trusted sites will never ask you to send your password or credit card information by email.
3. Never follow a spam email’s instructions to reply with the word "remove" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line or body of the message unless you are sure of and trust the source of the email. Normally, this is a ploy to get you to react to the email, which tells the spammer that your email address is valid.
4. Never click on a URL or web address listed within a spam email, even if the message tells you that’s how you unsubscribe. This is another trick to that tells the spammer your email address is valid. Once they know your address is valid it can be added to databases which are sold to professional spammers on DVD or CD for a few hundred dollars. And this will result in you getting more spam for sure!
5. Don't fall for sites set up to help you remove your name from spam lists. Although some of these sites MIGHT be legitimate, some use this type of service as a ruse: They're really collecting valid email addresses to sell to spammers. If a collector gets your address and they know it's a valid, working email address, it is worth a lot of money to them. They'll put your email address in one of their databases and sell these databases to professional spammers. Not only won't your email address be removed from spam lists, it will added to many spam lists. And you'll get even more spam. So don't turn to online services that promise to help you get rid of spam unless you've thoroughly investigated it.
6. Set Outlook Express/Windows so you don't use the Preview Pane. Using the preview pane shows images in HTML mail. Using the preview pane to view mail actually "opens it". So if a spammer sends you an email with graphics, the graphics can be used as Web beacons to tell the spammer that you've opened the mail. They'll know your email address is valid and that you've read (or at least looked at) the spam email. Not using the Preview Pane is more convenient to me, at least, than blocking images in every email. Sometimes images serve a purpose. This newsletter is an example. With the preview pane turned off, you simply double-click the email to open it, images and all. If you suspect an email is spam, don't open it.
New Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts
Windows 7 all versions
If you are used to using shortcuts to save time and keep your hands on the keyboard, you will have want to keep this tip handy! Windows 7 has a lot of new keyboard shortcuts, and some will surprise you.
1. Windows Key + Up Arrow will maximize your window
2. Windows Key + Down Arrow will return it to size.
3. Windows Key + Shift + Up Arrow will stretch the window vertically you are active in so it will be as "tall" as your desktop, while keeping the width the same. To return to previous size, click Windows Key + Down arrow.
4. Windows Key + Left or Right Arrow Brings the active window to the left or right side of your desktop. Even if the window is open full screen!
5. Windows Key + Space Bar - As long as you are holding down the Windows Key, your open windows become transparent, and you can see your desktop.
6. Hold Windows Key down and click ++ (plus, two times) and you will zoom in. Hold Windows Key down and click minus twice to zoom out.
Hanging programs slow shutdown
Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
If you have a hanging program (a program that is not responding), it will make your shutdown time annoying long. When we decide to shut down or reboot our computers, most of us want the darn thing to shutdown or restart right now. But Windows, never does what we want - all the time. It's got its own mind. Quick starts and quick shutdowns are not a Microsoft Windows trademark. But shutdown time can be aggravating when you have a "hanging" application, because Windows sometimes will not shut down until the program is closed. That's meant to protect Windows and prevent you from losing any data. Regardless of what it's for, most of us could do without it.
Here's how to shutdown the hanging application more quickly than clicking the "X" on the application window fifty times:
Press the "CTRL" "ALT" "DELETE" keys in order to bring up Windows Task Manager (you can also click the start button, click "Run" and type in taskman.exe if you tend to be a masochist ). And if you're a stickler and like to know ALL THE WAYS you can bring up Task Manager. OK. You can right-click on an empty area of your taskbar and select "Task Manager". Know you have three ways of getting Task Manager open. Happy? :-)
Once Task Manager is open, click the "Processes" tab at the top, find the application (in the list of running programs) that is hanging (it will say "Not responding to the right of the application's name). Now right-click it, choose "End Process Tree" , then say "OK" to the warning that appears. That should shut 'r down in about 3 seconds without clicking on the "X" in the application's top-right corner at all. With the hanging application dutifully put to sleep, Windows should shut down normally and more quickly for you..
Set removable drives for "Quick Removal"
Windows Vista, Windows 7
If you have an external hard drive or other removable drive, such as a USB flash drive, that you use on your desktop as well as your laptop or another computer, you'll find this tip a time-saver. The proper way to remove a removable drive is to click the "Safely remove hardware" icon in your system tray and wait until Windows tells you it's safe to remove the device. This prevents data loss caused by removing a drive when Windows is write caching the drive. (Write caching speeds up your drive - slightly.) Sometimes when you're in a hurry you might forget to click the "Safely remove hardware" icon and remove the drive, which can cause data loss. So there are two reasons to use this tip, if you often disconnect your external hard drive or other removable drive.
How to set your removable drives up for "Quick Removal" and avoid having to go through the "Safely remove hardware" routine:
1. Click the Start button and type Device Manager in the start menu search
2. Open Device Manager
3. Expand the list of disk drives by clicking the "+" next to "Disk drives"
4. Find the removable drive you want to set up for Quick Removal
5. Right click it and choose "Properties"
6. Click the "Policies" tab and choose the option "Optimize for quick removal" (see screen shot below) and click OK.
7. Close the device manager (you'll have to contract the list of drives first by clicking the "minus" sign before you can close device manager).
Now you can safely remove your external hard drives or USB flash drives without going through the "Safely remove hardware" routine. Saves time and prevents possible data loss if you're in a hurry and forget about using the "Safely remove hardware" feature.
Expand the "Send To" menu so it displays many more options
Windows 7 all versions
Most of us have learned how handy the "Send to" menu is in Windows. It's been a feature of Windows since Windows 98. It's gotten better over the years, and it's one of our favorite right-click features. We use it all the time to send files by email. It's easier than attaching a file and/or messing around dragging the file to an email. We just right-click a file, choose "Send to" and then "Mail recipient". An email compose window appears with the file attached. All we have to do then is just add the recipient's address, type in a few lines of text (or not) and send. You can also write files to CD or DVD using the "Send to" - as well as many other things.
Windows 7 has even more great "Send to" features, including allowing you to display an expanded "Send to" menu that includes all the folders in your user profile along with other items not normally included in the "Send to" dialog. You can access an expanded "Send to" menu in Windows 7 simply by holding down the Shift key and when you choose the "Send to" option from the right-click menu.
How to get the full path to a file or folder in Windows 7
Windows 7 all versions
If you recently moved from Windows XP to Windows 7, you probably have noticed that the address bar in Windows Explorer no longer shows the full path of the current folder. If you want to see the full path displayed the way it was in Windows XP, just click anywhere to the right of the path in the address bar or right-click any part of the address bar and choose "Edit address". The right-click menu also includes the option to "Copy address" to copy the file path to the file or folder - or choose "Copy address as text" if you want to paste the file path into a text or Word document.
If you want to copy the full path for an individual file, just hold down the Shift key as you right-click on the file, then choose "Copy as path". This is useful if you have a Flickr, PhotoBucket, or other online image-sharing account. Having the full path to the image saves you the hassle of rooting around through drives and folders trying to locate the image file you want to upload. Once you've copied the file path, just paste it in the "File name" upload dialog. Saves time!
Flash Drives 101
The first thing you'll want to do is go to your desktop and double click on the My Computer icon. If you're using Windows Vista or 7 go to Start>Computer. Leave that open and then continue on with the next step. Next, you need to actually plug the flash drive into your computer. If you use Windows XP or Vista or 7, you don't need any drivers to get the flash drive up and running. Just plug it into one of your available USB ports and your computer will automatically recognize it. A "Found New Hardware" bubble will pop up in the bottom right hand corner of your desktop, so always look for that before you do anything else. On the other hand, if you happen to use an older version of Windows, you'll need to install the driver CD that comes with your flash drive in order for it to work properly.
Now, make sure you have your eye on the My Computer window and when you plug your flash drive in, look there to see where the flash drive goes. More than likely, it will bring up a new drive for you and it will be labeled as "Removable." On my computer, it comes up as "Removable Disk (L:)," but yours could be different, so just keep an eye on it. Once you find the correct drive letter, double click on it and you should see an empty window. (Don't worry, it's only empty, because you haven't put anything in it yet!) You can then go and find the files you want to save to your flash drive and just drag and drop or copy and paste them into the window. That's all there is to it. Once you have all the files you want saved on there, you can then go and put them on another computer or whatever you need to do. Flash drives really are awesome little devices
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