Or …How to stay sane in the growing clutter of e-mail!
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irst, let me welcome everyone who
subscribed to Keystone Keyboard this past week. I hope you find the Newsletter both interesting and
valuable. If you ever have any
questions regarding the Newsletter’s content, please feel free to e-mail
me. If you’ve missed a previous
Newsletter, you can find them all in the Newsletter Archives. Just click on the Newsletter Index button at
the bottom to get to the Archives.
Also, for everyone who has
recommended the Newsletter to others, I’d like to say thanks. This past week, the largest number of people
signed up compared to any other one-week period since the Newsletter
started. The purpose of this Newsletter
is to help people keep their computers secure and to aid them in learning to
use their computer as both a timesaving and a research tool. I’m delighted to hear that a lot of people
are printing the Newsletter so they can study and refer to it.
One other item of note: On Thursday, February 14th
(Valentine’s Day), the server that handles the e-mail for Keystone Computer
Concepts was unavailable from approximately 9:00 am until 10:00 pm. All e-mails
directed to me during that time period were lost. So, if you sent me an e-mail and received no response, that is
the reason. I apologize for the
inconvenience.
Having said all that, let’s move
on to the subject at hand. Two weeks
ago, we covered creating folders in your list of favorites (bookmarks). This week, we’re going to discuss doing the
same thing in your e-mail. As I service
computers for people here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, I constantly see
“Inboxes” with literally dozens, if not hundreds, of e-mails. When a client tries to find an e-mail to
show me – usually because it has an attachment they can’t open or something
along those lines – it either takes ten minutes to find or they don’t find it
at all. Once again, let me say that a
computer should save you time not consume it!
Most e-mail software programs come
with the basic folders: Inbox, Drafts,
Outbox, Sent and Deleted. However,
let’s suppose you get a number of e-mails from one person or organization
such as … hmmm, let’s say “Keystone Keyboard.” If these are e-mails you want to keep, you
should create a folder in your e-mail program just for Keystone Keyboard. You can do the same thing for family and friends.
As an example, here are snapshots of my Outlook Express folders.
Looks like a lot of folders,
don’t you agree? Truth is, there are
even more. Notice the + in front of
some folders? There are subfolders under
those categories as well. Still, there
is only one unread message in my Inbox and I can easily find a particular
e-mail for which I might be searching.
Whether you use AOL, Hotmail, Netscape, Outlook Express or some other
e-mail client, you can create your own folders so that you can keep your
e-mails organized. Find out how to
create these folders here:
http://www.keystonecomputerconcepts.com/How2/emailfolders.html. Initially, it may take some time to get
organized but you will be saving time in the long run once you start creating
these folders!
Things That
Crossed My Desk
u
First and
foremost this week was Microsoft’s Security Update for Internet Explorer. Everyone who was a member of this mailing
list on February 14, 2002, received a special notice. Here’s some additional information. When you go to download the patch, you are asked to select a
download that corresponds with your version of Internet Explorer. However, several people wrote me to ask me
how to tell which version they had running on their computers. Finding the version on your computer is
easy. 1) Open Internet Explorer, and at the top, click on the HELP drop
down menu. 2) Select “About Internet Explorer.” A version number will appear.
Please compare that number with the following list. (By the way, if you have a version of
Internet Explorer that is older than 5.5SP1, you should upgrade to version
6.0. After upgrading, then install the
patch for 6.0.)
5.00.2014.0216
Internet Explorer 5
5.00.2314.1003 Internet Explorer 5 (Office 2000)
5.00.2614.3500 Internet Explorer 5 (Windows 98 Second
Edition)
5.00.2516.1900 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000
Beta 3, build
5.00.2031)
5.00.2919.800 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows
2000 RC1, build
5.00.2072)
5.00.2919.3800 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000
RC2, build
5.00.2128)
5.00.2919.6307 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Also included
with
Office 2000 SR-1, but not installed by default)
5.00.2920.0000 Internet Explorer 5.01 (Windows 2000,
build 5.00.2195)
5.00.3103.1000 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP1 (Windows
2000)
5.00.3105.0106 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP1 (Windows
95/98 and Windows
NT 4.0)
5.00.3314.2101 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (Windows
95/98 and
Windows NT 4.0)
5.00.3315.1000 Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 (Windows
2000)
5.50.3825.1300 Internet Explorer 5.5 Developer Preview
(Beta)
5.50.4030.2400 Internet Explorer 5.5 & Internet
Tools Beta
5.50.4134.0100 Windows Me (4.90.3000)
5.50.4134.0600 Internet Explorer 5.5
5.50.4308.2900 Internet Explorer 5.5 Advanced Security
Privacy Beta
5.50.4522.1800 Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 1
5.50.4807.2300 Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2
6.00.2462.0000 Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview
(Beta)
6.00.2479.0006 Internet Explorer 6 Public Preview (Beta)
Refresh
6.00.2600.0000 Internet Explorer 6
Once again,
here’s the announcement and the patch location:
On Monday, February 11, 2002, Microsoft issued a
critical security update for Internet Explorer.
If you use Internet Explorer, you should download and install this update as
soon as possible.
To download this Internet Explorer patch, please go to this link:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/q316059/default.asp
v
Here is another
Microsoft security update announcement.
However, this one only applies to those of you running Windows 2000
Professional as your operating system (OS).
You’ll find the latest security patch here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/critical/q311401/default.asp
w
A client forwarded an
e-mail asking if it was a hoax. It
starts out like this:
Very Urgent!!!!!!!
PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR.
If you receive an email titled: "It
Takes Guts to Say Jesus" DO NOT OPEN IT. It will erase everything on
your hard drive.
Needless to say, this
e-mail is a hoax. Read all about it
here:
http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=98307
x I received notice of a new website sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance - http://www.staysafeonline.info/. This is a group made up of 30+ businesses and organizations including: AOL, Apple, AT&T, The FBI and Microsoft. The purpose of this website is to help consumers with home PCs protect themselves online. (That’s the primary focus of this Newsletter and the very reason it was started last year.) Here are the security tips listed on the website. If a particular tip has already been covered in one of our Newsletters, that link appears under the tip.
SECURITY TIPS
1. Use protection software "anti-virus software" and keep it up to date.
http://www.keystonecomputerconcepts.com/keystonekeyboard/Keyboard01142002.htm
2. Don't open email from unknown sources.
http://www.keystonecomputerconcepts.com/keystonekeyboard/Keyboard01072002.htm
3.
Use
hard-to-guess passwords.
http://www.keystonecomputerconcepts.com/keystonekeyboard/Keyboard12172001b.htm
4. Protect your computer from Internet intruders -- use "firewalls."
http://www.keystonecomputerconcepts.com/keystonekeyboard/Keyboard12242001.htm
http://www.keystonecomputerconcepts.com/keystonekeyboard/Keyboard12312001.htm
5. Don't share access to your computers with strangers. Learn about file sharing risks.
6. Disconnect from the Internet when not in use.
7. Back up your computer data.
Coming In Next Week’s Newsletter!
8. Regularly download security protection update "patches."
Every Newsletter plus special notices.
9. Check your security on a regular basis. When you change your clocks for daylight-savings time, reevaluate your computer security.
10. Make sure your family members and/or your employees know what to do if your computer becomes infected.
y
MSN Messenger has a
low risk security problem and Microsoft has already begun to notify users
to download a new version. For those
of you that use it, you should update to the newest MSN Messenger when prompted
to do so.
z
Comcast broke
the golden rule of password creation and wound up exposing hundreds of customer
accounts online. They used the word
“test” as both a username and the password.
Please tell me that you aren’t using the same type of easily hacked
passwords anymore! You can read the
entire story here:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/701661.asp?0dm=T229T
{
If you are
using Windows XP and have a CD-R or a CD-RW, Microsoft has released a patch to
repair an error in the writing process that was causing problems for some
users. You can find the patch
here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=34293&area=search&ordinal=14
| Received information about a
security problem in ICQ. If you use
ICQ, protect yourself by making sure you are using version 2001b, Build
3659. Don’t know how to find the
version you are using? Click on the
Main Menu, then About. The version and
build numbers will appear on the screen that opens. If you need to upgrade, go to
www.icq.com
and click on “Download.”
Favorites To Share
http://www.scopesys.com/today/
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
http://www.50states.com/statehood.htm
http://www.brainymedia.com/quotes/index.html
http://www.giga-usa.com/gigaweb1/quotes.htm
http://www.motivateus.com/index.htm
http://www.quotationspage.com/
http://h.webring.com/hub?ring=quotations&list
http://www.worldwide-topsites.nu/tops5/
Well, that’s about it for this week. I hope
you’ve enjoyed this Newsletter and discovered something new that will help
you make your computer the useful tool it is meant to be!
John
john@keystonecomputerconcepts.com
877-651-3939
This page updated January 22,
2005
©2005 Keystone Keyboard