Leo's Answers #103 - November 9, 2007

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Leo's Answers
A Weekly Newsletter From
Ask Leo!
Leo Notenboom

Hello!

*** Contents

• This Week's New Articles on Ask Leo!
• A Word from our Sponsor
• Popular Articles from the Archives
• Thoughts and Comments
• Newsletter Administration

*** This Week's New Articles on Ask Leo!

Can an anonymous proxy service capture my email password?

I some times use anonymous proxy server for browsing the web. Suppose I use this to check my email can that proxy server capture my password?

Short answer: quite possibly.

Longer answer: quite possibly your password and much, much more.

It depends on the proxy server, how it works, and how you're connecting to the sites you're attempting to access anonymously.

Continue reading: "Can an anonymous proxy service capture my email password?"
http://ask-leo.com/can_an_anonymous_proxy_service_capture_my_email_password.html

* * *

Why do I get "Access is Denied" when trying to copy a file?

I have two hard drives on my computer. I have a file on one hard drive and I cannot move (cut & paste) it to my other hard drive. I get "Access is denied." I have looked at the properties for that file and see that the "Read-only" attribute is set. I have 'unset' that attribute but still can't cut and paste the file on the other drive. Can you explain this situation? The file is a TurboTax file I created. Is there a solution?

There are several possible reasons that access to a file might be denied. Some are easy to fix, others might require a little more investigation on your part.

Continue reading: "Why do I get "Access is Denied" when trying to copy a file?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_do_i_get_access_is_denied_when_trying_to_copy_a_file.html

* * *

How do I keep my email address if I change providers?

I have two email addresses. A friend of mine is my webmaster and I pay him a certain sum of money per year for this service he provides me. Unfortunately I'm dependent on his whims and fancies, so I want to use a free provider. I have several questions: Can I keep the same e-mail address if i discontinue with this friends services? Are there any other free e-mail service providers that will allow me to keep the same e-mail addresses that I have now? Currently I have two e-mail addresses, but my friend and webmaster has fixed it so that I only have to open one of these addresses to access emails sent to both the addresses. If I have another email provider or webmaster will I get this same service? Is it possible to have my own website at some later time with the same address? My friend originally offered to get me an e-mail address with my company name, offered to maintain it for me for a small fee per year. Now he wants me to pay more for increasing capacity. He also did some tweaks as he called it and lost some of my mail. I was at his mercy to get things in order so I decided I want to move to another provider. Unfortunately I cannot move on if I cannot keep these e-mail addresses.

This all sounds very, very familiar. You see, I play the role of your friend for a few people as well.

What you're attempting to do could be easy, or it could be next to impossible. It depends a little on your friend's willingness to let go, and a lot on just who owns what.

We need to start by reviewing just how email addresses work, and how they're related to the domain names they use.

Continue reading: "How do I keep my email address if I change providers?"
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_keep_my_email_address_if_i_change_providers.html

* * *

Why can't my machine hibernate? And how's that different than Stand-by?

I have a 2 year old Dell Latitude on which the hard drive crashed a few weeks ago. I received a new hard drive from Dell and installed Windows XP. Everything works fine, except I have no hibernate function. Is there a step I missed in the XP setup? Standby/Shut Down/Restart etc. all work fine, but Hibernate is not an option.

It's not a step so much as an option that probably just needs to be turned on.

We'll do that, and while we're at it we'll explain the difference between standby and hibernate.

Continue reading: "Why can't my machine hibernate? And how's that different than Stand-by?"
http://ask-leo.com/why_cant_my_machine_hibernate_and_hows_that_different_than_standby.html

* * *

What should I back up before reformatting?

I plan to do a clean re-install of XP but am not sure of what absolutely must be backed up. Most of my important documents are on another drive but Firefox and Thunderbird in particular throw me. Where is my bookmarks folder and how do I back up my e-mail and address book? I assume that the program files folder should be backed up and I get the settings folder but I seem to have several.

This can get complicated, but it boils down to a very simple statement:

Backup everything, but expect to move only your data.

Oh, and it'll be a tad time consuming.

Continue reading: "What should I back up before reformatting?"
http://ask-leo.com/what_should_i_back_up_before_reformatting.html

* * *

Are you being tracked online?

Advertisers are most likely tracking you, sort of. Should you be concerned?

Continue reading: "Are you being tracked online?"
http://ask-leo.com/are_you_being_tracked_online.html

*** A Word from our Sponsor

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Advertisement. Ask Leo about advertising here.

*** Popular Articles from the Archives

Oh, man. This is an article that when I started Ask Leo! I would not have predicted would be necessary. But based on the questions and problems I started to see it quickly became one of my most referenced articles. Three years after it's initial publication I still point people to it all the time.

Are free email services worth it?

I've been receiving a lot of reports of problems with Microsoft's Hotmail free email service lately, and it really begs the question: are free email services like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Gmail worth the cost?

My position: Yes.

And: Absolutely Not.

As always, it depends on your needs and your expectations.

Read more... Are free email services worth it?
http://ask-leo.com/are_free_email_services_worth_it.html

*** Thoughts and Comments

It dawned on me this week that the holiday season is fast coming upon us. OK, "hit me over the head" might be more appropriate than "dawned on me", as I wandered the aisles in my local Costco listening to the Christmas displays and their tinny little holiday music recordings playing over and over and over and ... Well, let's just say my respect has increased for retail employees who will listen to that kind of thing all day long for the next two months and still retain their sanity (or at least appear to).

Anyway, with holiday season comes gift giving, and as always computers are a popular gift item. Around this time of year I mention this article: What computer should I give? as a basic primer for those who're considering such a gift.

•

Here's a milestone that kinda snuck up on me: Windows Vista is one year old. Yikes. And ultimately ... I'm still in the "stick with XP" camp. Even a year later. Kinda sad, that.

'till next time...

* * *

The Latest: at Forwarded Funnies: "Like a newborn baby."

Some of Leo's other sites: The Ask Leo! Store, Leo's Online Business Card, Taming Email, MovableType Tips, Leo's Blog, Buy Leo a Latte (or a Beer), A Letter To Myself, Dolls and Friends, Corgwn.com

*** Newsletter Administration

Do you have a question? A comment, perhaps? Newsletter subscribers can visit http://ask-leo.com/askleosubscriber.html to submit your comments and questions. That page is only mentioned here, so I'll know it's from someone who's taken the time to read this far!

I'll be honest: I'll try to respond, but I get a lot of questions every day - I just can't answer everyone. Rest assured, though, that even if you don't hear from me directly, every email gets read.

Leo's Answers Newsletter is a weekly publication of Ask Leo! and Leo A. Notenboom. It's also available as an RSS feed at this URL: http://ask-leo.com/newsletter.xml. Archives of previous newsletter issues can be found on the Ask Leo! web site, http://ask-leo.com/newsletter.html.

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Newsletter contents Copyright © 2007, Leo A. Notenboom & Puget Sound Software, LLC.

Article 11979 | Posted November 9, 2007