Welcome to Leo's Mailbag!
Not every question gets answered on Ask Leo!, and not every answer gets published. Here you'll find a peek into my mail bag where you'll see some of the many direct responses that may not end up on the Ask Leo! main site.
Perhaps you'll find your answer here!
power differences
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 26, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: power differences
>
> Leo,
> Hello Leo, I bought my mom a MacBook laptop in Canada, she
> is now in France. The electricity voltage is different. Can
> she still plug it here or will she burn the computer?
> On the computer, the only thing written is 165A MAX
It's not the laptop you care about, but the transformer
"brick" that connects to it. Between the end you plug
into the wall, and the end you plug into the laptop is
a box ... that box will probably tell you that acceptable
voltage ranges are "100-240v" at 50-60hz.
In other words, those power bricks handle the difference
automatically and somewhat magically :-).
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
IT departments and IM conversations
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 26, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: IT departments and IM conversations
>
> Leo,
> hi, is it possible for our IT to retrieve our yahoo
> messenger archives thru the server computer? my computer is
> part of a company local network. someone from our IT told us
> it could be retrieved...it this possible?
It depends.
They can "monitor" conversations as they happen.
They could record or save those conversations as they happen.
They could then recover what they've recorded.
If they've NOT recorded the conversations as they happen, then,
no, they cannot retrieve them.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
checking where your email address is registered
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 13, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: checking where your email address is registered
>
> Leo,
> How do I check which web sites my email address is
> registered at please?
I know of no way to do that.
Sorry.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
preventing an address from sending email
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 13, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: preventing an address from sending email
>
> Leo,
> Hopefully, fairly simple. I have 15 or so email addresses,
> with things like 2do (todo) and such... I realized I sent
> home a "cute" email to my 2do address, and wanted to
> forward it to my family... so I did... I hit forward, and
> of it went. You guessed it... it came from my 2do
> address...
> HOW can I set a rule so that that address can NOT send
> email?
Well, without knowing what email program you use it's
hard to even guess.
If you're using outlook there you can set up "Rules" that
fire up on send (we normally think of them as happening
on receive). Check the Rules item in the Tools menu.
You might be able to set up a rule that says if it's
"from" this email address, pop a warning.
If you're not using Outlook, I'm not sure. Different email
programs have different capabilities, and this one isn't
common.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
How do I get rid of Bing?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: How do I get rid of Bing?
>
> Leo,
> How do I get rid of Bing?
Depends entirely on where it shows up. It's just a website
(bing.com), so if it became your home page set a new page
as your home page. If it's showing up somewhere else that
you want to get rid of, then how depends on exactly where.
Sorry I can't be more help without more details.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
connecting to remote server
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: connecting to remote server
>
> Leo,
> I recently took up a job and i have a server i work with;
> but i need to connect my PC to the server, and i have no
> inkling how to go about it. Much is expected from me from
> this job and i don't want to proof incompetent. How do i do
> a server-client connection? Thanks.
It depends entirely on how the server is set up and what
software is being used, there's no way I could know. You'll
need to ask the people you work with.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
blown keyboard after a lightning strike
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: blown keyboard after a lightning strike
>
> Leo,
> Recently my Dell 8400 Demension computer crashed(?)by a 4
> second power outage due to a thunder storm. I'm running
> Windows XP professional and it's password protected. When I
> booted her up again the Login Screen refused to accept or
> responed to the Dell USB keyboard. I can shut the computer
> down, in options, using the mouse but nothing else. I tried
> using a Microsoft conventional keyboard but experienced the
> same results. The login screen cursor just blinks. Could
> you Please Help me since this computer is the base for our
> home network, printer(s) and WLAN to my wife's and my
> laptops.
Unfortunately probably not. This really sounds like something
was damaged on the motherboard and probably requires a technician
to look at, diagnose and repair.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
remotely run speed tests
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: remotely run speed tests
>
> Leo,
> Hi there! My friends and I had a debate regarding this
> issue. A technician is remotely connected to his home
> computer from his work computer, he performed a speed test
> on the work computer that is remotely connected to the home
> computer. The question is that which computer's speed will
> the speed test measure? Will it be the home computer or the
> work computer? Hope to get a reply from you as soon as
> possible! Thanks!
It'll reflect the speed (more or less) of whichever computer
it was run on.
Run on the technicians computer, it's that computer's speed.
Run on the remotely connected home computer, it's that
computer's speed.
(I'm making some assumptions about what you might mean by
"remotely connected", but in general, that's the scoop.)
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
wiped machine clean and now it won't boot
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: wiped machine clean and now it won't boot
>
> Leo,
> i purchased a new computer and wish to give theold one to my
> granddaughter however i wiped it clean and now i cannot get
> windows to come back up i've done everything the book said
> no luck it's a gateway 18months old ie8 installed any
> suggestions and thanks
It kinda depends on what you mean by or did "wiping it clean".
It sounds like you erased everything including Windows, in
which case you'll need to install Windows from scratch using
the installation media that hopefully came with the machine.
Good luck!
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
does having a lot of favorites slow my computer?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: does having a lot of favorites slow my computer?
>
> Leo,
> I have an extensive list of favorites in my favorite site,
> under my save favorites. I rarely use them, but do likr to
> look up somethong nao and then. Is keeping this long list
> bad, good or indifferent? Does it take unnecessary space on
> my computer? Would it cause my computer to be slower? Thank
> you.
It's benign. Doesn't take much space and won't impact your
speed much.
Only problem I have with it is that it's hard to be portable
if I move to a different computer or rebuild the one I've got
such a list on. There are tools that allow you to move favorites,
but you have to remember to use them.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
files beginning with tilde disappear
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 11, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: files beginning with tilde disappear
>
> Leo,
> The problem (using Win XP): In the My Documents folder, I
> have a subfolder "Company". Within the "Company" folder is
> a subfolder "Open Today." I created a shortcut to the "Open
> Today" folder and placed it on the desktop so I could
> access "Open Today" quickly. Within the "Open Today" folder
> are about fifteen files of different types, but in order to
> group the five most important ones together so I could open
> them all with a single mouse click, I gave them names
> beginning with the tilde (~) character.
>
> Two days ago, I tried to open these files, and whoa! . . .
> all five of these files that begin with the tilde were gone
> . . . completely. Not only had the files disappeared, but
> the shortcuts to them had disappeared too. (If it had just
> been a deleted file, I would have expected that the
> shortcut would remain but would of course be unable to find
> a file that wasn't there.
>
> They weren't in the recycle bin and they were also missing
> from the backup drive.
>
> Is this a problem caused by the name of the file?
> (Beginning with a ~)?
I'm guessing here, but yes ... I think tilde was an unfortunate
choice.
Several programs create temporary files that begin with tilde,
and as such many cleanup utilities (perhaps even Windows own)
will *assume* that any file beginning with a tilde is a temporary
file that can be deleted.
I'd choose something else - perhaps something "a." or "0."
to be safe.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
Is OpenOffice malware, and will the compatibility pack help?
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 10, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: Is OpenOffice malware, and will the compatibility pack help?
>
> Leo,
> I now have Microsoft Word 2003, and a friend told me to
> download Open Office.org, because that supposedly would
> take the place of Microsoft Word 2007. When I tried to
> download it, my AVG program alerted me that this was a
> dangerous site. Is Open Office not a good, or safe site?
> I also just downloaded the Microsoft Word "Converter"
> because it looked like it might just update my 2003 version
> into the 2007 version without me having to buy the
> Microsoft Word 2007 program for around $200.
OpenOffice is fine. Make sure you go to http://openoffice.org
to get it though.
Installing the "Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack"
will allow you to read/write 2007 documents in office
2003. http://go.ask-leo.com/office2007converters
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category:
regaining access to lost Hotmail accounts
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 9, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: regaining access to lost Hotmail accounts
>
> Leo,
> Hey Leo I've figured out how to regain access to locked-out
> free hotmail accounts for a small fee... how do you
> suggest I share this info with the world?
Since there's no legitimate/legal way to do so as
a third party, I'd suggest you not share it. Only
Microsoft has the right.
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: EMail
Restoring a deleted profile on Outlook
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 9, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: Restoring a deleted profile on Outlook
>
> Leo,
> is there any way to restore a deleted profile on outlook?
Not that I'm aware of, no.
Sorry,
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Microsoft Office
Locking a desktop icon
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 9, 2009
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: Locking a desktop icon
>
> Leo,
> I have Windows XP; I subscribe to DSL speed 256K,and I have
> a shortcut to IE on my desktop which you just give one
> click and you are on internet. Is there a way to password
> protect the IE icon on my desktop? Locking down the
> computer every time someone in our family is not using it
> seems like overkill, and hiding the icon doesn't seem very
> effective since most people would know how to find IE
> easily enough. My ISP tech support really didn't have an
> answer.
Unfortunately I'm not aware of a way to do that.
Sorry,
--
Thanks for asking,
Leo Notenboom
Category: Windows
