Author Topic: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help (Read 213616 times)

LarryHanna · « **Reply #920 on:** March 20, 2014, 09:39:14 AM »

MaryZ, let me caution you about changing operating systems with the Carbonite. I was using it when I went to a new Windows 8 computer thinking it would be easy to reinstall files on it from the Carbonite backup. It would not work. I was very upset when the tech told me it wasn't going to work. I would never use them again.

pedln, I use the Google Drive for my files. You download a little program that puts a folder on your computer called Google Drive. Then just move your other folders of your files that you want to be sure and save into the Google Drive folder and it will back it up to the Google Drive cloud servers. The files are always available whenever you sign on to your Google account, regardless of the computer. I can also access them with the iPad or iPhone. I also use the Google photos and now use the Google documents to create files like word files or spreadsheets and they are backed up at the time you create them. I believe we now have 15 gigs of free storage at Google. I have also used the Gmail program for a number of years and really like it.

jane · « **Reply #921 on:** March 20, 2014, 10:40:24 AM »

On the other hand....yep, there's always one!!

I'm still a cloud-less person. Yes, I'm paranoid about having financial data out there on somebody's "cloud." I won't store financial data...ie, Quicken and our Investment folder anywhere but on external harddrives and flashdrives that I have here at home. I don't even keep a copy of the Investment folder on this laptop. It's on the flashdrives and external harddrive exclusively. I make a print copy of the investments one every so often and store it and the flashdrives/harddrives in a bank safe deposit box when we go away for Jan and Feb. Paranoid much? Yeah, I am.

If hackers can get into Target data and the Univ. of Northern Iowa and get refunds on income tax that the various employees should have gotten, and into the various banks, I simply don't trust the "security of the cloud." For my books, and for photos, fine to be on a cloud or whatever...I couldn't care less if others see that.

One of the libraries in this area was saving all their data to a "cloud storage company" and found out, after a computer crash that nothing was there. Their computers all said they backed up, it looked like they'd backed up...but nothing! They've had to redo their entire collection and patron databases. OUCH! Our local library uses one, but the Director also manually backs it up every week or so to external harddrives she has on the site.

Cloudless jane

CallieOK · « **Reply #922 on:** March 20, 2014, 12:37:35 PM »

I am another "cloudless" one who uses flashdrives for storage. I don't see the sense of storing things on anything that can "go down" or be hacked.

I won't do ANY kind of financial work through computer programs. Closest thing I come to that is using the Calculator because it doesn't need batteries.

pedln · « **Reply #923 on:** March 22, 2014, 10:18:16 AM »

Thanks again for the good pointers. I'm pretty paranoid about financial stuff, keep my Quicken backups on flash drives.

Another question -- What exactly is a touch screen -- is it like what's with the iPad -- pinch and expand? Then I see things that say 10 pt. touch, 5 pt. touch. I'm clueless.

Have been looking at All-in-Ones -- I like big screens, big print. My kids think I could do everything on the iPad. I don't, but am only in the pre-kinder class at the iPad school.

Rosemary, I saw a picture of your Lenovo-yoga -- very cool! No wonder you love it.

LarryHanna · « **Reply #924 on:** March 22, 2014, 10:31:22 AM »

pedln, the touch screen works like the iPad in terms of not having to use a mouse. I have never used one but fairly certain of how they work. I think that the Windows 8 Metro icons on the desktop were really designed with the touch screen in mind as they are large. A touch screen might be fine for a laptop but don't think I would care for it on a regular monitor.

pedln · « **Reply #925 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:16:31 AM »

On Thursday, with help for the set-up, I turned on my new Dell Inspiron 23 Al-in-one. Touchscreen, which I do like. A few ups and downs. Spent two hours with Dell support from India yestereday getting the kinks out of MS Office. They answered quickly and were hellpful. No complaints there.

Windows 8.1 -- seems to be very Microsoft dominated. My helper advised against creating a Microsoft account, but there I things I can't access without one. Like Mail from the start screen, so I go thru Chrome to get to either gmail or att mail.

Biggest hurdle right now is learning how to find things, terminology, a good manual, setting up easily accessible folders.

Why did they change so much from XP?

Larry, I'm going to try Drive.

Jane, one big bright spot -- I was afraid I might have to buy a more up-to-date Quicken, but my 2009 is working just fine. And backed up on flash drives.

jane · « **Reply #926 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:25:11 AM »

Great! My 2010 works fine on Win8, too. My old printer works fine, too, and I loaded my old, old Office on it without a problem, so I have Word and Excel.

LarryHanna · « **Reply #927 on:** March 31, 2014, 11:35:51 AM »

I don't understand why you were told not to get a MS account. You wi need it to download apps from the MS store or to use the drive. I have experienced no problems having an account.

Frybabe · « **Reply #928 on:** April 12, 2014, 08:24:45 AM »

I've been following this new Heartbleed security threat. This is the first article that lists some (major sites) of the sites affected. Note the IRS is included. Super!

http://www.komando.com/blog/247660/here-are-the-accounts-you-need-to-change-your-passwords-to?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=notd&utm_content=2014-04-10-article_1-in-body-a

jane · « **Reply #929 on:** April 12, 2014, 09:55:21 AM »

Did they list the place you can check your choice of secure sites? You go to that site and run the url ....I did for my banks and the online brokerage we use. My local bank got a "broken pipe" which is explained as they're working on it, etc.

In an interesting aside, I emailed our bank CEO at the "main branch" in another small Iowa town and then a gal at the local office I know well. She emailed IT and got right back to me. I'm still waiting to hear from Mr. CEO. Grrrr!! I wonder if he even knows what Heartbleed is...or maybe even what the internet is???

The site I read said change your password AFTER the site has been fixed.

This site ran a list of the top 1000 sites a few days ago and are supposedly doing another scan now.

https://github.com/musalbas/heartbleed-masstest/blob/master/top1000.txt

There is a online tester here:
http://filippo.io/Heartbleed

mabel1015j · « **Reply #930 on:** April 15, 2014, 09:35:34 AM »

I thought it was very nice that i got an email from Pinterest to say hey had fixed their problem and that i should now change my password.

jane · « **Reply #931 on:** April 15, 2014, 10:52:50 AM »

I didn't get any info from them. I don't have "sensitive" data there, so I guess it's not an issue.

jane

Frybabe · « **Reply #932 on:** April 26, 2014, 07:18:19 AM »

New scam alert. I can see how this would snag a lot of people. At the bottom of the article it says that scammers are even buying ads for their scams.

http://www.komando.com/blog/250091/copycats-bring-back-the-netflix-tech-support-scam?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=notd&utm_content=2014-04-25-article_1-in-body-b

jane · « **Reply #933 on:** April 26, 2014, 08:37:52 AM »

Geez....

Thanks, Frybabe.

Frybabe · « **Reply #934 on:** April 30, 2014, 08:31:04 AM »

Uh, Oh! I don't use IE but I know plenty of you do. If you haven't heard about the new, HUGE flaw, here it is, once again courtesy of Kim Kommando's website. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/28/internet-explorer-bug-homeland-security-clandestine-fox/8409857/ Even homeland security is recommending you not use it until a fix is in.

Frybabe · « **Reply #935 on:** May 09, 2014, 10:42:58 AM »

Uh oh, all of a sudden I cannot get into Seniors and Friends. I am getting an invalid/unknown certificate notice. When I try to overide and put it into the exception folder, it wants a username and password for the server Oldiesman's server, but it isn't the same as my login. Does anyone know what is going on? I don't have Oldiesman's email to inquire. It was working fine earlier this morning. Perhaps it will be fixed later on.

jane · « **Reply #936 on:** May 09, 2014, 12:11:46 PM »

They're working on it, and most of it seems to be back up.

My Show New Replies there still takes me to that same cPanel login I think you're seeing.

Be sure to refresh your browser. I had to several times before it connected correctly.

Frybabe · « **Reply #937 on:** May 09, 2014, 12:22:17 PM »

Thanks for checking Jane.

Frybabe · « **Reply #938 on:** June 01, 2014, 12:38:01 PM »

I received an email from Publishers Weekly offering a free online seminar called "Making the Most of Your Digital Collection". Some of you may be interested in signing-up.

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=796283&sessionid=1&key=B75DBC93BC942039EDCBACE4E1ADF5F9&utm_source=Publishers%2BWeekly&utm_campaign=e16f8a08e5-PW%2B-%2BWC%2BRecorded%2BBooks%2B-%2B20140530&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bb2959cbb-e16f8a08e5-304806741&sourcepage=register

Under "Title" in the registration, I intend on using Volunteer but I see there is a "None" selection too. Well, I was going to sign up. It is on June 12 at 1pm which is a Thursday, one of my volunteer days. Maybe I can leave a little early so I can check in.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #939 on:** June 08, 2014, 04:14:02 PM »

A computer geek in Silicon Valley recommended OOM telephone service to me (he has it) but it was not available until recently. Has anyone any personal experience with OOM?

kidsal · « **Reply #940 on:** June 11, 2014, 01:32:19 AM »

I bought Rosetta Stone and it came with a CD for use in MP3. Have no idea how to use this as most MP3 gadgets don't accomodate a CD.

Frybabe · « **Reply #941 on:** June 11, 2014, 07:02:55 AM »

Kidsal, if you don't have a desktop or laptop with a DVD/CD player, see these instructions. Good luck.

http://support.rosettastone.com/english/articles/Installing-Rosetta-Stone-Version-4-TOTALe-without-a-CDROM-drive/

pedln · « **Reply #942 on:** October 31, 2014, 10:20:27 PM »

My iPad Air, purchased slightly less than a year ago (11/18/13) seems to be dead. I was reading The Hot Zone on it yesterday and when I went to get it to read some more it was just nothing. Nothing happened, no matter what buttons to press. No little apples, no "slide to unlock" messages, nothing Just a dark screen. And I can find nothing about any kind of warranty. We don't have an Apple store here. I bought this at ATT beause a wanted a cellular model.

Has anyone else experienced this "sudden death." Does anyone know what the standard warranty is, if there is one. All I can find online are plans to buy now.

Frybabe · « **Reply #943 on:** November 01, 2014, 05:41:08 AM »

Pedlin, I found these instructions for you. Resolution #3 seems to be what you want. Click Reset your device for the instructions. If that doesn't work, go to #5 and follow those instructions.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3281

Here is another site with info on the 15 most common iPad Air problems:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ipad-air-problems/

LarryHanna · « **Reply #944 on:** November 01, 2014, 11:17:46 AM »

pedln, if the battery runs completely down you will get a dark screen. I have this happen occasionally and just plug in and recharge. Once it gets enough charge you can use it while plugged in as it will reboot.

pedln · « **Reply #945 on:** November 01, 2014, 01:35:14 PM »

Thank you very much Frybabe and Larry. I've bookmarked both those sites and made a note to try turning on while plugged in. I had tried recharging, but obviously didn't charge it long enough. And I had unplugged it prior to trying the turn-on.

But there is a happy ending. I ran over to the ATT store where I bought it and the "sales consultant" pressed both home and start buttons at the same time and it opened up. Apparently Miss Smarty here thought she had been turning things off, but that wasn't really the case. You have to hit the home button to do that. At any rate, things are well now, and I hope I learned a lttle bit.

LarryHanna · « **Reply #946 on:** November 02, 2014, 08:46:34 AM »

pedln, that is how we learn and just happy to know there wasn't a problem with your iPad. Occasionally they do need to be rebooted, as the man at the AT&T store did.

kidsal · « **Reply #947 on:** March 18, 2015, 03:18:57 AM »

SINCE YESTERDAY I HAVE BEEN REFUSED ACCESS TO SENIORLEARN ON MY KINDLE FIRE HD. WON'T ACCEPT LOGIN

jane · « **Reply #948 on:** March 18, 2015, 11:41:12 AM »

How strange. Have you checked the option set to accept cookies?

I wonder if there was an update for it that changed your settings? That has happened to me with my IPAD. Updates seem to turn on my bluetooth and turn off saving cookies.

jane

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #949 on:** April 12, 2015, 11:31:29 AM »

I have IE and have never had a problem. My desktop computer is old but reliable - I have Vista on it. I am very ignorant of technology; particularly to all the new gadgets.

But I am getting popups stating I have an outdated browser and need to download a new one. Im not even sure what a browser is???

I've ignored them as all is working just fine.

Should I be doing something?

jane · « **Reply #950 on:** April 12, 2015, 12:45:05 PM »

Ella...your browser is what you use to get around the internet. In your case, that's IE [ Internet Explorer.] There are others that are popular....Firefox, Chrome, etc.

If yours is working, then that's fine, but I suspect IE has a newer version out. The problem is if it will work with your Vista. Sometimes the newer versions don't work with the older operating systems.

I looked around the internet and nobody talks much about Vista anymore, but it looks as if version 7 or 8 is the best...or at least it was in 2008 when people still talked about Vista. I saw that 10 doesn't work with Vista [your operating system].

I don't know what version of IE you have. To find out go to HELP up at the top of your IE and then to ABOUT Internet Explorer and it'll tell you what version you have.

I'd say again, if it's working fine, I would ignore the update things.

jane

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #951 on:** April 12, 2015, 06:09:44 PM »

Thanks much, Jane. I did that and I have Version 9.0.8112 -
Update version - 9.0.36 with a site afterward, I suppose to go there.

I think I'll just stay where I am at; I have that "won't fix it if it isn't broke" mentality.

Someday I suppose I may have to get a new computer, dread it though as I know this one so well.

jane · « **Reply #952 on:** April 12, 2015, 09:00:48 PM »

Ella...that's odd. It looks as if the update "version" is older than the one you have if those numbers are accurate. Usually going to the update is a good thing. The updates fill holes or gaps in security they've found.

Frybabe · « **Reply #953 on:** April 13, 2015, 06:03:02 AM »

Jane, I wonder sometimes if the update programs pick up some odd residual bit left in the registry and get confused. I've had the same thing happen. My update program was saying I had an older update than I actually had on it. I think the last time was just a few weeks back with Adobe Flash.

What is even more interesting is that I now have two programs that supposedly show if I need an update or not. Sometimes they don't agree. Nothing like having helpful utility programs confusing the issue. Sigh!

jane · « **Reply #954 on:** April 13, 2015, 10:33:30 AM »

That could be, Frybabe!

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #955 on:** April 14, 2015, 04:18:38 PM »

Another problem, why? I've never had problems with my email server befor, but today I'm getting this:

The message could not be sent. The authentication setting might not be correct for your outgoing e-mail [SMTP] server. For help solving this problem, go to Help, search for "Troubleshoot Windows Mail", and read the "I'm having problems sending e-mail" section. If you need help determining the proper server settings, please contact your e-mail service provider.

The rejected e-mail address was 'wjcaspar@caspariius.net'. Subject 'Turesday', Account: 'pop-server.columbus.rr.com', Server: 'smtp-server.columbus.rr.com', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '554 5.1.8 - Invalid email domain for: wjcaspar@caspariius.net [R0109007]', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 554, Error Number: 0x800CCC79

This is my sister's email and I know it is correct. I called my server and after the tech got into my computer he said it would be $150 to correct the problems and then he reduced it to $79. I said no.

Any help?

jane · « **Reply #956 on:** April 14, 2015, 07:16:12 PM »

Ella....roadrunner wants to charge you that amount?

Have you completely shut down your computer recently? I mean total shutdown and let it off for 5 or so minutes? Sometimes that sorts things out and when you restart everything is fine.

Another option, depending on what windows you have, is to do a restore back to some earlier date?

I can't think of what might have changed in your settings to cause this change. Maybe someone else has some ideas for you.

Jane

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #957 on:** April 23, 2015, 10:13:56 PM »

I did restore it Jane, thanks for the suggestion, and it is working fine now.

jane · « **Reply #958 on:** April 23, 2015, 10:25:46 PM »

Good news, Ella!

ginny · « **Reply #959 on:** June 25, 2015, 01:34:46 PM »

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Author Topic: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help (Read 213616 times)