Securely Using Public Computers I have written several articles in the past about ways you can protect your computer, but what if you're not using your own computer? What if you're using a public computer instead (at a library or hotel, for example?) Those computers may not be as secure as your home system and you need to take the proper steps to ensure your personal data stays safe. Here are five tips you can follow for securely using a public computer! 1.) Don't Do Online Banking I know this seems like a no brainer, but people do it. If you're using a public computer and you log in to your online banking Web site, you're putting yourself at great risk. There is no way to tell if there's spyware or adware on the computer you're using that could steal your data. That's why it's never a good idea to do any of your banking on a public computer. 2.) Don't Save Anything Would you bring a stack of tax documents to a hotel lobby and leave them there? Probably not! The same goes for saving any of your personal documents on a public computer. This one applies to files, passwords, music, pictures, downloads, etc. It's just not a good idea to do anything like that on a public computer. 3.) Don't Buy Anything This tip is similar to the first one. Buying something on a public computer usually involves some sort of financial information, which is simply a bad idea! 4.) Delete Internet Explorer Temporary Files This is a simple step that will help a lot! After you're finished using a public computer, make sure you delete the Internet Explorer temp files. To do that, go to Tools, Internet Options and click on the Deletebutton. Then just click Delete All. That way, no one else will know what you did on the computer. 5.) Restart the Computer This is another simple step that will do a lot of good. Restarting the computer after you're done using it will delete a lot of the temporary files and it will clear out the memory of the computer. People waiting behind you to use the computer might not like the hold up, but when it comes to your safety, it's a very important step. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends! ~ Gary Did this tip help make you feel secure? Tell us how you feel by rating it here:
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Back by popular demand! Another reader asks: I see that in a lot of your e-mail tips, you mention a Spelling tab in Outlook Express. I don't have that tab on mine and the spelling icon is sometimes grayed out when I'm typing an e-mail. Why is that and how can I get the spellchecker to work? Please help me! I'm very glad you asked this question, because I know for a fact you're not the only one this is happening to. I get several e-mails about this topic, so it was only a matter of time before I addressed it. If you use Outlook Express and you can't seem to find the option to use the spellchecker for your e-mails, keep reading to find out how you can turn that all around! Fortunately, there are a few things you can check to find out why the spellchecker isn't working. That leaves several options for you as you go about troubleshooting this issue. The causes are explained in detail below. Try one option and if it doesn't sound like your scenario, check out the next one. Hopefully, by the time you're done reading this tip, you'll have your spellchecker problem all fixed up! 1.) The first thing you'll probably want to look into is the version of Outlook Express you have on your computer. If you have any version older than OE 6, there is not a spellcheck option. If you have OE 5, 5.01, 5.5 or anything even older than that, Outlook Express cannot check the spelling for you. You will probably get a message saying something like "An error occurred while the spelling was being checked." To see which version you have, open OE, go to the Help menu and choose About Microsoft Outlook Express. A box will come up on your screen and your version will be right there in big letters. 2.) The next cause isn't very well known, I don't believe. I think a lot of people assume that a spellchecker will come with a new version of Outlook Express, but that's not always the case. There always has to be something else there to make the feature work. In order to have OE spell check your e-mails, you have to have another word processing program installed on your computer that OE is compatible with. For example, if you have a version of Microsoft Word or another familiar word processor, the spellchecker will work in Outlook Express. Another program that works with OE is Microsoft Works, but versions 4 through 6 are the only ones that will. Anything older or newer than that is not compatible with the OE spellchecker. So, if you don't have any type of word processing unit on your computer, you may want to get one if the e-mail spellchecker is that important to you. 3.) The Outlook Express spellchecker will close down if you have the programs of Microsoft Visual Basic 6 or Microsoft Access 97 running on your computer. Now, this is only true if you have one of those programs running at the exact same time you're trying to use the spellchecker. If you have those programs closed out, you can still access the spellchecker and it should work fine (that is, if you have a word processing program installed). 4.) One other problem could be the way you have your spellchecker set up. If you meet all of the requirements needed to make the spellchecker work, but it's still not doing its job, try this little ditty. Go toTools, Options and click on the Spelling tab. Make sure the option that says "Always check spelling before sending" is checked. That way, you won't have to worry if the spelling was corrected or not, because it will automatically be done for you before every e-mail is sent off to the recipient. Obviously, the last cause is the easiest to cure, but at least now you have some guidelines you can follow if you ever need to solve the missing spellchecker mystery again! ~ Erin Was this tip helpful? Let us know by rating it right here:
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Working with MS Office 2007? Have you noticed a huge change in the way program windows containing a ribbon deliver the Screen Tips? I mean, when I hovered over a button on a toolbar in older Office programs, I got a tip that looked something like this: Now, I get this: While I absolutely see the value of the Screen Tips, for someone who knows what they're looking at, the new ones are rather large and could be considered to be "in the way." So, can you turn them off? Of course. That is, if you know where to look! As you might expect, the Screen Tips can be controlled through the program's Options dialogue window, so let's start there. You can find the program's Options button through the Office Button. Once you're in the Options dialogue window, you need the Popular category, Top options for working with. You then need the Screen Tip style drop down list. Here you can choose to either turn them off altogether or reduce the amount of information the tips are giving you. To shorten them, choose "Don't show feature description in Screen Tips." That will stop all the extra information, but it will still give you the feature/button's name and any key combination that applies to it. (Basically, they're back to what they were before Office 2007). Or, you could choose "Don't show Screen Tips," which will turn them off completely. Either way, you'll feel a bit more "at home" in your Office 2007 programs! Oh, and one more piece of good news: I found that making the change in one of my Office 2007 programs (such as Excel) made the change for all of them, so I didn't have to repeat myself every time I worked on something new. Yes! ~ April Did you like this tip? No? Give us your opinion by rating it here:
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Q: A: For the most part today, I'm going to focus on AIM, because it's more widely used and well known. Awhile back, this statement was discovered in AOL's terms of service: "AOL has the right to read, and even publish publicly, your private IM conversations." It then goes on to say, "You waive any right to privacy." So, what does all that mean exactly? Well, it basically means that when you decide to use the AIM chat program, AOL has the right to use any of your conversations as they see fit at any time. That's a bit scary, don't you think?! Now, whether or not AOL publishes your conversation obviously depends on the content of your discussion. If you're just chatting with a friend about what time you're going to go to the movies on Saturday night, they're not going to make that public knowledge. Or, if you're just talking to your daughter about what you're going to get your grandson for his birthday, they're not going to share that information with the world. On the other hand, if you're using AIM for business purposes, that could be a whole different story. If you're using AIM to discuss private business matters, AOL could easily publish your conversation for the entire online world to see. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that could put you and your company at great risk. So, if you're ever going to discuss something you don't want anyone else to know about, don't use a free instant messaging program like AIM. For that kind of thing, you'll want to use a secure business class IM solution or simply use your company e-mail account. That way, you won't take the chance of your private information being leaked out all over the Web. Yes, all of this does seem a bit unfair, but AOL has to do what they have to do. They're allowed to create their own privacy policy with their own terms, so you should always keep that in mind and abide by it. You need to take the right steps to keep yourself safe as well. This is just something to think about. I hope I've opened your eyes to a whole new side of the IM community. Take it for what it's worth! ~ Erin Did you enjoy this tip? Not so much? Tell us how you feel by rating it here: Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
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