IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Over the past week or two every time I send a single e-mail using Outlook the bottom right side of my screen shows 1 of 2 messages being sent even though there is only 1 e-mail in my Outbox.

Can you advise me on what to check for? I do use Adaware, Spybot, Windows Defender & AVG.

The problem lies in your Outbox. You’ve created an email that wants to use your mobile email settings rather than the one you use at home or office. Your work or home email server is refusing to send it because the settings are incorrect.

Open the Outbox and you will see the email. Drag it to the drafts folder.

You might get a message saying Outlook is sending the message. If that happens, cancel the Send/Receive and then try again.

If you still want to send the message, open it and click on the Accounts tab in the top left hand corner. Make sure the correct email account is selected. Once it is, click send.

I am having problems accessing my Yahoo mail. It was all OK until about a week ago. I installed Nortons 360 about a month ago but it worked OK with that for a while. I now get a bland screen coming up with just blue text and no pictures or boxes etc.  I have 3 computers linked and it is happening on all 3. I am with Bigpond. It is most frustrating as I am running a project and all my operating files are stored in the emails.

I have Windows and am using Internet Explorer as my browser. I am wondering if ther is anything in the properties which may have been unchecked with regard to the Yahoo website. I can access all other websites OK. The problem sometimes fixes itself for a few hours then it seems to freeze and I have to restart it and it comes back as only text. PLEASE HELP!

We’ve had a  few reports of Yahoo! Mail having these problems recently. It appears there’s been some changes to their system which causes these problems.

The first thing we would suggest is to install the latest version of Java. Before doing it, it’s worthwhile uninstalling the earlier versions.

It’s also a good opportunity to update your Flash Player and Windows Scripting Host.

If the problem continues you could try using Mozilla Firefox, this will show if the problem is with Internet explorer or deeper in the system.

The final suggestion is to exclude the Yahoo! domains from the Norton 360 firewall. To fix this open Norton 360, click Tasks and Settings then Advanced Settings and Firewall Protection Settings, Symantec have full instructions on doing this at their website.  You may need to ask Yahoo! what addresses should be added to the trusted list.

I have recently changed to broadband from a dialup connection and each time I go into Outlook (2007) it tries to connect using my old dialup connection instead of the new broadband connection. I have removed all the links to the dialup connection as far as I can see, but still the problem persists. I am using Vista home premium and Outlook 2007

The problem is in Outlook. It thinks the dial up setting is still there and tries to connect through it.

To fix this, click on the Tools menu and choose email settings. Select your email account and choose view or change existing settings, if you have more than one email account you’ll have to do this for each one.

Once in the the change account screen, click the More Settings button and then the Connections Tab. You’ll find the rogue dial up connection sitting there.

If you are connecting over broadband, then choose the Connect using my local area network.

The Canadian Pharmacy keeps sending me ads for viagra. They are sent with a different sender name each time, to get past the “Block Sender”.

How else can I stop them?

Is it illegal for them to do do?

HOW do they get in? Have I checked something out of curiouslity and become exposed?

As my provider, is Bigpond required to give every assistance in this matter? I subscribed to Bigpond Security: Does this mean they definitely have a duty to assist?

It’s unlikely the spam is a result of you visiting somewhere untoward, it’s more likely someone you know is infected with a Trojan and their computer is pumping out spam email to everyone who’s address it can find.

Unfortunately, once your address starts moving in these circles you’ll find this rubbish keeps coming in.

You can set up Mail Rules to delete this stuff automatically, but the nature of the people sending this stuff means they will keep changing the keywords and addresses to get around the rules.

Generally we’d recommend you get your Internet provider to block spam in the first instance, but you appear to have done this already by subscribing to the Bigpond security package. It may be that there is a configuration problem at their end that is letting this stuff through. You should contact them to discuss this.

If you aren’t getting any satisfaction from your ISP, you can get a third party filtering service like Mailguard or get a filtering program that sits on your computer. One of our favourites is Mailwasher which comes in a free and paid for pro version.

I want to configure Outlook Express what are the steps I have to follow?

First you will need your Internet provider’s mail server settings, your email address, user name and password. If you don’t know these, you will have to call your provider.

To set up your mail accounts, open Outlook Express, click the Tools menu and select Accounts.

In the Accounts, click Add then click Mail. The Internet Connection Wizard will start.

The first box is the Your Name box, type the name you’d like to appear on your emails when they are received. Generally we recommend using your full name and perhaps add your business name as well (eg; Paul Wallbank, PC Rescue).

In the next screen, type your email address. This should be exactly how your ISP described it. A mistake will mean replies and returned emails won’t get to you and it may upset spam filters.

The next screen is the email server settings. Type your outgoing and incoming mail server addresses in the boxes. Normally the POP3 setting should be set as the server type.

In the final box you’ll be asked for your Account Name and password. Enter your user name into the first box and the password into the second. Tick the box “remember password” unless you want to be nagged about it every time you check your mail.

That’s it! Send a few emails to friends or relatives and see if they are returned. If they are, you are up and running.

 Windows XP Home. My AVG will not update and cannot download e-mails. E-mail error msg: Server responded with error.  A/c ‘MAIL.BIGPOND.COM’ Server: ‘MAIL.BIGPOND.COM’, PROTOCOL: POP3, Server response: -ERR AVG POP3 Proxy Server: Cannot connect to the mail server, Port:110, Secure (SSL): No, Server Error: Ox800CC90, ERROR No.Ox800CCC90.

I am on cable broadband with BigPond.  I dont understand Pop3′s and Port’s
Tks in anticipation.
Regards Robyn, Magic Happens so keep smiling

Hi Robyn,

POP3 is the language computers use to exchange emails while ports are the doorways into computers. Port 110 is the doorway on Bigpond’s computer, known as the mail server, that holds your emails.

The problem is AVG can’t see Bigpond’s mail server.

This almost certainly due to your firewall program blocking AVG’s access to both the mail server and the AVG update server. You’ll need to change your firewall setting to allow AVG to access the Internet.

When I try and download a “.wmv” file sent as an email attachment I have problems. Windows media player automatically opens and begins playing it. I want to save the file to my desktop but I can’t figure out how to do it. My PC runs on Windows XP and my works computer runs on Windows 2000. Any ideas how to save these types of files to my P.C.please?.

The problem is your wants to automatically open the attachment. While you can change settings on this, it’s difficult to explain without knowing what email program you are using.

Generally, attachments appear in the email with a paperclip icon or a list of attached files. If you right-click the attachment and select “Save To” you should then be able to save the file.

I have Microsoft Outlook

Will be grateful for any assistance

There’s three things it can be. The first is you have the same account set up twice. Open Outlook, click Tools, Options and Email accounts.

In the email accounts, click View or Change my existing email accounts. You’ll now have a list of the email accounts Outlook is checking. Remove any duplicates.

If there is only one account then the current Outlook setup is damaged. Delete the account, reboot the computer and then return to the Outlook email accounts and recreate the account.

Should that fail, it may be a firewall problem that isn’t allowing Outlook to confirm the messages have been received. Check your firewall has allowed Outlook full access to the Internet.

Can you recall an email sent through Hotmail?

Unfortunately not. Hotmail, like most other web based systems, doesn’t support this.

On some email systems you can recall sent messages but even then you can’t guarantee they will be recalled before they are read by the recipient.

One of the important things with email is to take a deep breath before sending them. We have more advice on email etiquette on our PC Rescue website.

Is there a type of email that has a time expiry to it – so that it refuses to allow itself to be seen again after a particular elapsed time after viewing it ?

But no matter how many time we do go back, that same message is all we get.

The problem is the email, or the images in it, are hosted on your friend’s server. This means the email isn’t actually on your machine, but sits on your friend’s Internet provider’s server.

It is possible your friend’s ISP has deleted the message however it might also be the email program you are using is blocking access for security reasons.

Try opening your email account through webmail and see if it works.

Incidentally, this problem can also appear with Firefox not displaying certain web pages or images. Internet Explorer doesn’t seem to have this problem. Again, this is probably a security issue.

All told, it might be better to get your friend to re-send the message and to make sure any images are embedded in the document.