Answers to Your Questions
by Cate Eales
Appeared November 5, 2009 on castanet.net
Not surprisingly, many of the questions I’ve received in
the last couple of weeks are about Windows 7. But not all of them! So
whether you’ve made the leap to Windows 7, are thinking about it, or are
hanging on for dear life to XP, there’s a tip in this column for you.
Where is the email program in Windows 7?
Microsoft gave us Outlook Express in Windows 98 and Windows XP. In Vista,
the built in email is called Windows Mail, and it has a very Outlook
Express-like look. In Windows 7, there just isn’t a built in email
program! Surprise!
If you use web-based email like Gmail or Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, not having
an email program isn’t going to present a problem for you. All you need is
a web browser and an internet connection. If, however, you store your
email on your computer, you need an email client.
No problem. This is a great time to make the switch to Mozilla
Thunderbird. Thunderbird is from the same folks who brought us the Firefox
browser. I’ve been using Thunderbird for just over four years now, and I
love it. You can set it up to look very much like Outlook Express or you
can change the layout to take advantage of Thunderbird’s advanced
capabilities. Thunderbird is free. You can
learn more here and
download it from this page.
If you want to stick with Microsoft products for your email, you need to
grab Windows
Live Mail, here. It will handle your email and your web-based email
too, if you let it. Windows Live Mail is part of a suite of add-ons from
Microsoft called
Windows Live Essentials, available here. XP and Vista users can use
these applications also.
Of course, if you are using Microsoft Outlook as part of the Microsoft
Office suite, that will work in Windows 7, too. Remember, Outlook and
Outlook Express are not the same thing!
I keep getting emails asking me to update my
Facebook account. Should I?
Almost certainly not. Clicking on the link in that email will likely take
you to a download page, and the “update tool” there is actually a Trojan
designed to steal your banking information. You can
read more about it here. A similar email asks people to reset their
Facebook password. That is also a scam.
Details here.
(click to enlarge graphic)
If you are a Facebook user, you should check out the
Facebook Security page, here, and consider becoming a fan of the page
so you receive updates.
How can I make my pictures smaller so I can email
them?
I could write a whole column on this.
Oh wait, I did! One of
the items mentioned in that column, the Image Resizer Power Toy for XP
only works in XP. I regretted its loss when I moved to a Vista machine for
my primary computer.
Good news: Now there is an Image Resizer Powertoy Clone that works in
Vista and Windows 7. You can
learn more
about it and grab your free copy here. (For Vista 64-bit and Windows 7
64-bit systems, the download is
here, under “Other Applications). The
original XP Powertoy is on this page.
Links
Thunderbird2 Features
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/features/
Download Thunderbird
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Windows Live Mail
http://download.live.com/wlmail
Windows Live Essentials
http://download.live.com/
Facebook email scam
http://blog.appriver.com/2009/10/zeus-botnet-targets-facebook.html
Fake Facebook email contains Trojan
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10384028-2.html?tag=mncol;txt
Facebook Security Page
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?feed#/security?ref=nf
Sending and Sharing Photos
http://rlis.com/columns/column151.htm
Image Resizer Powertoy Clone
http://www.codeplex.com/ImageResizer
Image Resizer Powertoy Clone (64-bit)
http://imageresizer.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=26281
Computer Care Kelowna
http://computercarekelowna.com
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives
http://rlis.com/column.htm
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--
Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or
business computer get along!
Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna, a mobile service helping home users
and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment
phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and
suggestions. Send email to
help@computercarekelowna.com.
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©
Cate Eales 2009 – All Rights Reserved
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