Microsoft Increases Security of Outlook Hotmail Connector

Microsoft has recently boosted the security of a certain tool that allows Outlook users to send and receive messages via Microsoft's web-based Hotmail service. The new Outlook Hotmail Connector now supports HTTPS, a protocol which encrypts all traffic between the email client and the Windows Live Hotmail service.

Back in November of 2010, Microsoft added an all-HTTPS option to Hotmail, due in part as a reaction to Firesheep, a Firefox add-on released the month before which allowed anybody to scan an unsecured WiFi network and hijack other people's access to Facebook, Twitter and a whole bunch of other websites.

The update to the Outlook Hotmail Connector that was released this week is simply a follow-up to Microsoft's move back in 2010. According to Microsoft's Outlook team, "Using a connection with HTTPS helps you be even more confident that your account is safer from hijackers, and that your private information remains private."

This new tool encrypts communication between Outlook and the Windows Live email, calendar and contact services. Google's Gmail beat out Hotmail to the HTTPS by more than a few years. Gmail users have had this option of encrypting all Gmail traffic since 2008. However, in mid-January of 2010 Google enabled HTTPS by default on the same day it accused hackers from China of breaking into its systems and trying to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists who lived in the country at the time.

In addition to this, Microsoft has also updated the consumer-grade Windows Live Mail to support HTTPS as well. Unlike its Outlook Express predecessor, which just so happened to be bundled with Windows XP, Windows Live Mail is an optional download for Windows Vista and Windows 7. Outlook Hotmail Connector can be downloaded in 32-bit or 64-bit versions for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 on Windows. There is no similar tool for outlook 2011, which was included with Office for Mac 2011.

The Windows Live Essentials update, which includes the HTTPS-enabled Windows Live Mail, is available here or on Microsoft's download website as well.

Source: Computer World - Microsoft beefs up Outlook-to-Hotmail security

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Internet Explorer Delete Browsing History Menu

Today’s How-To Guide for the Computer Beginner we will go into more detail about Internet Explorer’s:

Delete Browsing History Tab.

Keep in mind at times people do shorten the name Internet Explorer. 

Most people will refer to this as IE. 

It is basically just the initials of

Internet Explorer.

If you come across IE9.  It means Internet Explorer Version 9.   The number represents the version of IE or Internet Explorer.

So Today’s lesson could also be termed as, “

IE delete browsing history’

tab.

We have touched on the Delete Browsing History tab in a previous article about the computer cache (pronounced CASH).

I wanted to go down the list for each section so you were comfortable knowing what each section of the delete browsing history does.

1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.





The Internet Options box should open to the General tab.

The top section is the home page.

The Second - Browsing History section is what we will be dealing with today.






I have been also asked how to:

delete browsing history on exit

Notice in the Browsing History section you have a box you can check mark above.  This will delete your internet history automatically.  The internet history is basically the url’s that you have visited.  Computer Hope as options for older browsers. 


Back to the Browsing History section:
If you hit the ‘delete’ button your Delete Browsing History menu will come up.

At the Top of the menu you will notice is its called, Delete Browsing History.

Lets break this menu down by section.  If you want to ‘choose’ a section? 

Click on the square next to the title in order to make an “check mark” there.  See my example below where I checked “Preserve favorites website data” under the delete browsing history menu.

Preserve Favorites Website Data

If you have saved any websites as your favorites? Option one will save the cache and the cookies, etc on those sites. 

This cache option allows you to leave those sites alone.  It’s a nice feature they have added to Internet Explorer 9.

What is your favorites?

This is the section of your web browser at the top that allows you to save favorite websites – LIKE THIS ONE! (giggles)

Try it!  Click on “Favorites”, and then click to “Add to Favorites”.

We will go into the Favorites Section more later.


I will give you an example of a favorite that I go to regularly.  I have boards that I go to that have discussions about faith.  If I click the preserve favorite website data, because my faith board is under my ‘favorites’ section that I have pictured above?  It will load the page faster, and remember my login information.

So:

is to ensure that this data is not deleted, a check mark must be placed next to the Preserve Favorites website data option. 

Temporary Internet Files

The second option in this menu deals with Temporary Internet Files.   IE9 stores images from the websites and media files of Web pages that you have visited in an effort to reduce load time on your next visit to that page.

Since you have already saved your favorite websites you will delete all the images, etc from other websites that you have visited, and will free up some space by deleting the temporary files. 

We all go traveling around the internet, and each page is pretty much saved.  You don’t need them all, and this basically throws out the trash.

Cookies

Tech FAQ’s Describes web cookies:

A browser cookie is a small piece of information sent by a web server to a web browser to be stored for future use. The data in the browser cookie will be sent back to the web server whenever the browser reconnects to the web site.
Cookies are commonly used to store user preference information, such as web site options. Cookies are also used to store shopping cart contents. The most security-relevant use of browser cookies is when they are used to store authentication data, such as user names and passwords.

I normally check this one myself

History

The fourth section of the Delete Browsing History menu deals with History. IE9 records and stores a list of all websites that you visit.

The others sections dealt with data, cookies, images, files, etc.  This basically deals with the URL addresses stored.

Download History

Any time you download a file through your browser, IE9 keeps a record of it including its filename as well as the date and time which it was downloaded.

Keep in mind this does NOT delete the download itself.  Just the list.  Some people prefer to keep this, and others don’t.

Form Data

The sixth option deals with Form data. Any time you enter information into a form on a website, IE9 stores some of that data. 

Pictured here I was going to comment on a blog or website.  The first field asked me for my name.  I typed in H, and the form data that was saved in Internet Explorer Browser came up with Hannah Thomas.  It retrieved this from a comment box I had filled out on another site. 

Although this can be very convenient, it can also become an obvious privacy issue.

Passwords

The seventh option deals with Passwords. When entering a password on a Web page for something such as your email login, IE9 will usually ask if you would like for the password to be remembered.



If you choose for the password to be remembered, it will be stored by the browser and then prepopulated the next time you visit that Web page.  It basically fills in the blanks next time you visit the website.

I will admit some sites I will allow this, and others I won’t.  My example again is a faith board I go to often.  I will save the password in the browser.  If I’m paying a bill online?  I don’t want that type of information in the browser.


I personally don’t checkmark this section for deletion, but it can be useful for others.  If you wish all your saved passwords to be deleted you would check this section.

ActiveX Filtering and Tracking Protection Data

The eighth and final option deals with InPrivate Filtering data. This data is stored as a result of the InPrivate Filtering feature, which detects where websites may be automatically sharing details about your visit.

An example of this would be code that could tell a site owner about other sites that you have recently visited.

Online Tech Tips has a good article on InPrivate Filtering data worth checking out.  It goes into more detail. 

When you have made your selections you will click the delete button at the very bottom of the Delete Browsing History menu.  If you want to get out of this menu?  Click cancel.

With older versions of Internet Explorer:

From the Tools menu in the upper right, select Internet Options.

1. Under "Browsing history", click Delete... .
2. To delete your cache, click Delete files... . To delete your cookies, click Delete cookies... .
   To delete your history, click Delete history... .
3. Click Close, and then click OK to exit.

I hope today’s How-To Guide for the Computer Beginner on the Delete Browsing History Menu was helpful. 

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.

Don’t forget to subscribe by leaving your email address in the section provided so you don’t miss out on future lessons!

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Insane Demand Causes Google to Shut Down Invite Process for Google+

Just a single day after Google unveiled Google+, the company's brand new social networking service, Google decided it would be a good idea to open up the invitation process late Wednesday afternoon to all those fortunate enough to have already been invited to participate in the service.

Before, the keys to Google+ were only given to those very select few who were fortunate enough to be allowed in at launch. So naturally an invite was a precious and prized commodity. Google has stressed that Google+ is in its very early stages though whatever it was that Google was aiming for with its field trial must have been pretty darn successful. The reason I say that is because every single person that was invited to the service is now able to invite other people in as well.

But that wasn't all, the people who were invited by the initial users were able to invite friends of their own too. Even better was the fact that people writing about the decision to open up the invitation process were suddenly struck with a lot of popularity amongst readers. MG Siegler from TechCrunch wrote on his Google+ page on his own story that, "I'm not sure any TechCrunch post has gotten comments at such a fast rate."

This amount of attention seems like it must have been a bit more than Google had asked for. After nearly six hours, Google shut the invitation process down over what Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google Vic Gundotra called "insane demand". Gundotra posted on his Google+ page late on Wednesday night, "We need to do this carefully and in a controlled way." Gundotra did not specify when the invite functionality would be back up and running.

Source: PC World - Google+ Invite Process Shut Down Amid 'Insane Demand'

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How-To Restore a Deleted Recycle Bin

My Recycle bin is GONE!

My Recycle Bin is GONE!

I accidentally deleted recycle bin!

Where is the recycle bin?  Its not on my DESKTOP!

My windows recycle bin is GONE!

I have done that myself, and don’t worry we will get it back!

Today’s How-To Guide for the Computer beginner is: how to restore recycle bin, because you might have deleted the recycle bin by accident!

 

Dumb Delete Option for Recycle Bin

Delete Recycle Bin

If you look at the picture you can see that right clicking on the recycle bin gives you an option to delete.

Don’t ask me why they came up with this bright idea, but they did.

The first time I deleted the recycle bin I never even caught the ‘delete’ option that is pictured.  AFTER I was finished freaking out I had to learn How to recover the recycling bin.  How frustrating!

How-To Recover the Windows Recycle Bin

First thing we want to do is RIGHTclick on some available space on your desktop.   Then we need to click on ‘personalize’.




The control panel will open on the personalization settings.  In the upper left hand corner you should see, ‘change desktop icons’ in the blue section.

Once you click Change Desktop Icons you are almost done!  You will see the option to restore that recycle bin very quickly.

As you can see there are a couple of different options for you right on TOP!  You can click to make an X in the box next to the word ‘recycle bin’. 


The X should be missing next to the recycle bin now, and placing the X in the box restores the recycle bin.    If you look towards the bottom of the desktop icon settings scene make sure your ‘allow themes to change desktop icons’ is checked if available.

Look to the bottom of this screen, and then click the button ‘apply’ button.  At times you do need to push ‘ok’ as well, and other times you don’t.

I notice at times screens may flicker for a minute, but look to see if your deleted recycle bin is back!  Flickering doesn’t always happen when we restore the recycle bin, but I wanted to mention it in case it did happened.

Now you don’t have to be like I was and freaking out, ‘Where is my recycle bin?  MY WINDOWS RECYCLE IS GONE!”

I hope our How-To Restore our Recycle bin lesson as helpful! 

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave me a comment here.

Don’t forget to place your email address in the subscribe box so you can have more lessons sent your email when they come out!

Hope you come back for another How-To Guide for the Computer Beginner lesson!

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What is a USB Flash Drive?

Picture of a common USB Flash Drive

Today’s lesson for the computer beginner is my attempt to explain the USB Flash drive.

What is a USB Flash Drive?  Its is a Data storage device that you can take with you!

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus.

When I was in college all we had to save our work on was a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk.  In time we had used a 3.5 inch floppy disk which were nicer.  Next came the CD Rom, and now we have the USB Flash Drive.

With each generation of storage devices that we have had they got more durable, had more storage space, and are easier to everyone to use.  USB Flash drives can come in all colors, spaces, and even sizes.

When you create a file on your computer?  It could be a letter, presentation, picture, etc you can save that on your hard drive. The hard drive, disk drive or in most cases is also called your C drive.  YES they can all mean the same thing.

How often do we hear people mention we need to ‘back up’ our files?  Today people can use the USB drive for that purpose, and many MANY others!

USB Flash Drives are smaller, faster, have thousands of times more capacity, and are more durable and reliable because of their lack of moving parts. 

Nothing moves mechanically in a flash drive; the term drive persists because computers read and write flash-drive data using the same system commands as for a mechanical disk drive (floppy disk, CD rom), with the storage appearing to the computer operating system as just another drive (Floppy or CD).

Plug your USB Flash into USB Port

If you look at the first picture of the USB Flash drive I used something should look familiar! 

USB Flash drives you would plug into your USB port on your computer. 

What do you use a flash drive or thumb drive for?

There are MANY uses, but I will give you some general ideas today.

The reason people like the USB flash drives or thumb drives is because they transfer your files faster, and have a larger capacity for storage.  I have read (have never used the USB flash drive this way) you can save information from game systems such as Xbox and Playstation on these.  Soon they say some mobile phones will have this capability.

What is neat about that?  Your children have their latest game setting saved on their Xbox, and you announce that you are going to a family event.  The kids can save their game settings on the USB flash drive, and bring it with them.  Once you get to the families house they plug in their information into the families Xbox, and now they can play with all their cousins!

If you keep your eyes open you tend to see these near almost every checkout in stores today. 

Here is a famous example of a USB Flash drive!

A recent familiar use of the flash drive or thumb drive was when they found Bin Laden this year.

When Osama Bin Laden was found and killed the news reports stated they found hundreds of ‘thumb drives’.  This is another name for them. 

It was reported that he did not have internet access, and yet we hear about him sending emails.  How is that possible? 

He wrote the emails on his computer, and saved them to his Flash Drive.  Someone took those flash drives to a location where internet access was possible.  They copied the emails into an email program, and they were sent off.  The emails he received from people were copied onto the flash drive (thumb drive), and brought back to him to read on his computer.

All his correspondence, files, plans and contacts were all saved for reference on thumb drives (flash drives).   Think about that for a minute!  If he knew they were coming to get him?  He would just grab his thumb drives when he left.  They would find his computer, but all his files were with him.  Its easier to take the flash drives compared to carrying around your computer when your are trying to escape! 

Bin Laden would NOT keep copies of his files on the computer directly EVER, but used his flash drives instead.  If they found his computer?  Big deal.  All the important stuff is with him.  Since they found the important stuff?  THAT is why they were excited!

I hope I helped explain to you what a USB flash drive is.  Keep in mind this is also called a thumb drive as well.  Bye for now from How-to Guide for Computer Beginners!

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What is a URL?

What is a URL?  That is a fancy way of saying the website address.

 

U is for Universal, R is for Resource, and  is for Locator.

 

What is a URL Address

 

Every page on the internet has its own unique URL address.   Today I’m creating a page named, “What is a URL?” 

We will go over the basics of ‘what is a URL’ is first, and then I will explain what I mean by each page as its own different address.

Most websites start with:  http://            as part of the URL address.   This is called the protocol. 

 

‘http’ stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol

You would just pronounce it ‘http’ (just the letters – not my quote marks)

The ‘://” part is pronounced: dot dot backslash backslash

 

so together they would be pronounced with letters separately, and then use the words:

 

h

t

t

p

dot

dot

backslash

backslash

 

Most of the time websites start with this protocol.   That is the reason most people do not mention the http:// part when they tell you the website address.  The web browser normally types that automatically for you, so you don’t even have to type it either.

 

If the website HAS a different protocol?  That is when they will mention it to you.  ‘fttp://” would be an example of that.

 

WWW

www.  

is the next part of the URL address, and it stands for world wide web.

 

When you hear people say ‘dot’ they are speaking of the period that you see at the end of the ‘www’.

 

So www. is pronounced:

w

w

w

dot

The next part of the URL is called the:

 

Domain Name

The first thing to keep in mind with domain names in the URL is they tend not to be case sensitive.  In other words, don’t worry about what needs to be capitalized and what is lower case.

 

URL addresses do not use spaces either.  So if someone told you that their website URL is “what is a URL” they assume you realize NOT to use spaces.  In other words, ‘ w w w dot whatisaurl dot com’.  You notice I used NO spaces!

 

whatisaurl is the domain name! 

.COM

.com is called a top level domain.

its is pronounced:

dot

com

 

Remember the periods are referred to as ‘dot’.  Below are examples of other top level domains you may have heard of.

 

com - commercial websites or generic

.edu - post secondary educational institutions

.net - network oriented sites or generic

.org - noncommercial community

.mil - United States military

.gov - United States government

 

Each page on the internet has its own address

 

Now that I explained, ‘what is a URL’ lets move to what I was talking about when I said each PAGE on the internet has its own address!

 

I will try to keep this simple, and keep in mind each page’s address may not look JUST like my example.  Its will hopefully give you an idea of what I’m trying to get across with the different URL addresses.

 

For this example lets use a layout of our homes. 

Our domain name may be 123 main street (your address). 

In the picture of our URL house above we have different rooms we all recognize. 

 

So our main domain name would be pronounced: w w w dot 123mainstreet dot com

 

 

Next URL page will have an article called, ‘bedroom’. 

 

Then you decide you wanted to keep to category of ‘bedroom’ and speak about the bedroom lamp.  Notice the second URL address difference:  bedroom/lamp 

 

My next URL address change is when I moved into the bathroom as my second category.  The next article we are staying in the bathroom, but use the URL bathtub to speak about bathtubs.

 

You can do this for every room in the house, and every item for as long as you wish.

 

Each time a new page is added to the website – it is given a new URL address.  Make sense?

 

If you have any further questions about ‘what is a URL’ just write me a note, and I will try to help you!

 

I hope you enjoyed this How-To basic lesson for the computer beginner that covered what is a URL.

 

 

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Setting Up New Computer–Assembly Your Computer

Now that we have found our, ‘Location, Location, Location’ for our computer its time to unpack everything.  Getting excited yet?

Lets move to the next step of setting up our new computer.  Unpacking our new computer!

One thing I have noticed it seems ever since the Tylenol  scare is unpacking of anything is nothing less than frustrating!  When you first setup your computer?  You have tons its seems like to unpack.  Take your time and put on your patience hat!

Computers have come a long way from the past, but you still want to be sure that food and drinks are not in places that are going to spill during the setup of the computer.

What I have done in the past is keep all the boxes and packing material for a while, in case something is wrong and needs to be returned.  I normally keep the biggest box in tact, and just dump everything else inside of it.  All the boxes, bags, packing material.

I normally pick up computers that I purchase, but if you had it shipped?  If it was extremely cold outside you may wish to wait until the computer warms up before powering it on for the first time.  We don’t want any condensation.

Find an area on the floor to spread everything out while unpacking, and that also helps from dropping items.  I have done that myself!

We don’t know how the manufacturers have packed the boxes, so avoid cutting into it.  Pealing the tape may take longer, but you are less likely to cut into a cable or scratch part of the computer.  Heck that even helps in case something is wrong with the computer once you take it out, and have a good box to return it in.

The CPU and the monitor at times are hard to get out of the boxes.  Don’t flip it upside down, and pull the box off.  Tip it on the side, and drag it out that way onto your floor.

I normally grab one of those oversized envelopes at this point.  You are going to come across a mound of paperwork during the setup of your new computer.  I write the computer’s name and model on the outside of the envelope, and place all the paperwork as I come to it inside the envelope.

You should come across your warranty forms as well.  I have noticed within the years computer’s give you the option of filling out your warranty online, but if prefer filled it out when you find it.  I would do this right away, because it may save you tons of money later on when you need the service. I would keep your receipts, etc in there as well.

In the past software would come separately, but that may not always be the case anymore.  Your operating system (for example) today seems to have a label from Microsoft on the side of your CPU or tower.

They call this the OEM software, and the product key is something you may wish to copy down, or take a picture of so you can see the serial number.  This is something I also place in the envelope with all the rest of the paperwork.

Nothing is worse if you have to call your computer manufacturer for something, and they ask for your computer’s serial number, or product ID number.  Normally on the computer’s rear panel (backside) you will find this label.   When my computer is setup the way I like it?  The last thing I want to do is figure out HOW to get to the rear panel to read this information to someone over the phone.

I found this picture online.  The model number is 9900, but the system number, support ID, serial number you may need as well.  I would again either write this information down, or what I have done is also take a picture of it. 

Keep these labels in tact on your unit, and make sure if you take pictures you can read those numbers clearly.

If you have found your packing slip yet make sure everyone is in the box that is listed.  If not, contact your store or computer manufacturer right away!   The cables are normally stored separately.  They can be in a box, or bag, at times they place them inside items.  It seems to me they normally place cables towards the bottom of the box.  They also seem to tape items to the Styrofoam, inside manuals or paperwork.  At times you need to be Sherlock Holmes to find it all.


Check the cables and the connectors.  One example of connectors is pictured here.  Cables should not have cuts in them, and the connectors should have all pins intact.  The pins can easily snap off, or bend at times.  I would call the manufacturer if you find this to be the case.  They may just ask you to straighten it out, but make note of whom you spoke to and when.  If it breaks?  That would be on them – not you!

Remove all packing from the computer and the parts.  Look in every hole, vent, etc.  They seem to get carried away with all the packaging, and it needs to be removed.

I realize setting up a new computer at this point can seem like a daunting task, but at this point you are almost HOME!  Next time, we will speak about the rear panel of your computer.  We will be ‘hooking it up’ as the saying goes.  This is the most exciting part of setting up your new computer!  At this point you have found your location, and unpacked everything.  Hooking it up means you are almost ready to turn your computer on, and have SOME fun!

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