Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
June 1, 2008

Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter
http://www.terryscomputertips.com
A computer tips newsletter for users of PC's.

Volume 3, Number 51 — Sunday, June 1, 2008

IN THIS WEEK'S ON-LINE ISSUE:
   1.   Reading Emails - Opera's Email Functions
   2.   My Computer Security Software Recommendations
   3.   Windows XP Screen Freezing
   4.   Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends

Welcome to the on-line edition of my Terry's Computer Tips newsletter.

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1.  Reading Emails - Opera's Email Functions

Most of the time when I write about Opera (www.opera.com), I mention it as a web broswser. Actually, Opera has a lot of other capabilities, including functioning as an email program, a Usenet newsreader and more.

Reader Rakesh (Ricky) Tewary wrote me to ask for help with a problem he's been trying to solve with the email functions of Opera:

Hello Terry,

I have been a subscriber to your newsletter for more than a few years now because your labour of love is a wonderful source of help and information to newbies like me. I didnot know which address to use to ask you for help and I hope the address I am using is the correct one!

1)My Opera browser's preview pane has disappeared and I desperately want it back. I looked in the Help section and also asked on 3 different lists/groups but to no avail. Fervently hoping you can help me get back my preview pane.

2)Also, how do I import back my current Opera's profile (which I have on a DVD) to a new installation of Opera?

Many thanks in advance.

Warm regards,
Ricky.

First, I needed clarification to idenfify exactly what he was trying to see and what he as seeing. Ricky responded:

On the extreme left of the Opera page is a column showing (from top to bottom) the Bookmarks, Mail, Contacts, Widgets, Notes, Transfers, History and Links.

You can turn that on and off by
View > Toolbars > Panels
—Terry

Next column shows the All Messages, Active Contacts, Active threads, Labels, Attachments, Mailing Lists and Newsfeeds.

That list changes depending on which functions you've configured.
—Terry

To the right of that is a single panel/pane which shows 'all' my incoming unread mail. Previously, there were two panels - the top one would show all the mail but unopened/unread (not showing the contents) and the bottom one showing the contents of the mail I had selected (clicked on).

This bottom panel (which I am referring to as 'Preview Pane' due to my lack of computer knowledge!) is the one which I am trying to get back but donot know how. Hope I have been able to make things clearer this time. Sorry for my low level of computerese.

It looks like this:

(click on the image for a larger version)

and you want it to look like this:

(click on the image for a larger version)

The difference between the two is that the preview window actually exists, but it's top margin has been dragged down to its minimum position, so the preview window appears hidden.

Just hover over the light-gray line shown by the red arrow below. That's the top line of the preview pane. Your mouse pointer will turn into a double-headed arrow (vertical). Hold down the left mouse button and stretch the top fo the preview pane back to the height you want.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Ricky wrote back to say that

1)My problem is that in my Opera here, the "light-gray line shown by the red arrow below" is a *single line* (as shown in my attachment Clip1.bmp3.bmp) whereas the light-gray line shown in your attachment is a double line. When my mouse pointer turns into a double-headed arrow, as soon as I drag it upwards it immediately reverts back to being the normal mouse pointer (arrow-head). That is why this method is not working for me.

2)If in case you advise me to uninstall this Opera and install a fresh version, I do not understand how to re-import my Mail and Contacts into the newly installed Opera. In response to my first mail wherein I had said that I have the Opera Profile saved on a DVD, you had advised me to 'File Import'. When I go there and click on Import mail, it leads me to the New Account Wizard which offers the following choices - Import from Opera 5/6, Import from Netscape 6/7, Import from OE, Import generic mbox file and Import from Thunderbird. Where do I click to get back my mail into the new Opera if my present Opera has been uninstalled?

There's another solution that you should consider any time you have a problem with something displaying when it should not, or not displaying when it should. You should check out the View options in the program.

In the case of Opera, there are two View menus - one on the menu bar (which is where we typically expect it to be) and one immediately above the list of emails. Strangely, these two View menus are different.

On the one right above the list of emails, click View > Display > "List and message below"

You've got it set on "List only" right now.

On the second question, assuming he backed up Opera's profile directory C:\Documents and Settings\[yourUserID]\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile then he would just need to copy them over the folder he just installed.

Ricky responded:

Tons and tons of thanks for your invaluable help - this had been a problem with me for over a year now. Thanks again.

Take care and have a nice day.

Warm regards,
Ricky.

2.  My Computer Security Software Recommendations

Anti-Virus

I'm often asked about several other popular anti-virus or anti-virus combination packages. Yes, I realize that they are not in my recommendation list. "Enough said..."

My personal choice is the ESET's small, fast NOD32 anti-virus program, which offers a FREE 30-day evaluation license. I consider NOD32 to be the cream of the crop in anti-virus protection. Unlike some of the others, ESET offers multiple-year licenses also, including updates to the program in the multiple-year license.

Many antivirus programs will offer you an anti-virus signature subscription renewal when your subscription renews. I strongly recommend against this option — buy the full program or make sure you get program updates with the subscription renewal (like NOD32 does). Vendors routinely improve the capabilities and speed of the programs, too.

If you update only the signatures, you miss any program improvements. Fortunately, NOD32's subscriptions include both program updates and signature updates.

Read more about anti-virus programs on my web site.

Related articles:

• Anti-Virus Programs and Online Scanners
• Free Online Antivirus Scan
• NOD32 Anti-Virus Review - A Look at NOD32

Firewall Software

While the Windows XP firewall is much better than no firewall at all, don't count on the Windows XP firewall to meet your needs. You need a two-way firewall, which the Windows XP firewall is not!. Microsoft woke up and supplied a two-way firewall with Windows Vista.

The Windows XP firewall does not control outbound communications originating from your computer — and you should want to have control if adware/trojans/spyware or even commercial products want to talk to the Internet. Whether they are calling home or spewing spam, you want to be able to control your computer.

Do you want Windows Media Player to call home every time you play something? It does! Do you use the Search function in Windows Explorer to find things on your hard drive? Did you know that every time you search, Windows Explorer talks to Microsoft?

I didn't know that when I ran ZoneAlarm, but the Sunbelt Personal Firewall flags that to me, and I can stop it or allow it to happen. Many other programs try to call home when you run them, too.

I recommend my choice for a firewall program, which is Sunbelt Personal Firewall.

You can try the full-featured "paid version" of Sunbelt Personal Firewall free for 30 days — after that, you can register it or, if you're using it on a home non-business computer, you can let it revert to the free, lesser-function license.

Sunbelt Personal Firewall is regularly $19.95 (with discounts for multiple computers and/or multiple years!) for a non-expiring license for the program and includes one year of their updates subscription.

Related articles:

• The Internet Versus You
• Do I Need a Firewall Program?
• Sunbelt Personal Firewall Review

Anti-Spyware / Anti-Adware Software

CounterSpy, from Sunbelt Software, has received many kudos from the computer press for its always-running and periodic full system scans. It is also my personal choice for my PC's and my family's PC's.

Sunbelt released their CounterSpy v2 in February 2007 and I promptly updated my computers to it. Version 2 greatly improved CounterSpy's performance and reduced its load on the computer when it was scanning.

In July, 2007, Sunbelt released v2.5 of CounterSpy, which again both improved CounterSpy's performance against malware and reduced its impact on system resources and responsiveness when its scanning.

Sunbelt continues to release updated program versions. Nicely, they do NOT install the updated programs automatically. You have to use the Update process in the program, which means that you'll know that something significant has changed!

Related articles:

• Fighting Against Spyware & Malware
• CounterSpy Review

Anti-spam Software

In today's Internet world, the question is not "if" you will get spam, but "how much will you get?"

I use and now I recommend POPFile as my first choice for handling spam. POPFile sits on your computer, between your email program and your ISP mailbox, and handles emial as it downloads.

POPFile uses a different approach to handle spam than some other programs do — it does nothing to reduce spam. It is designed as an email classification tool — you train it to recognize spam and any other type of email that you want to classify. These classifications can help you sort your emails into appropriate folders in your email program.

Sunbelt Software, who makes the anti-spyware program CounterSpy (which I use and recommend) and the firewall that I use and recommend (Sunbelt Personal Firewall) also has a well-regarded, award-winning anti-spam program called iHateSpam for Outlook and Outlook Express. Since I don't use Outlook or Outlook Express for email, I haven't tried iHateSpam.

Mailwasher Pro is my first choice to handle spam before it ever gets into your computer's Inbox. Mailwasher Pro uses on-line Realtime Black Lists mail servers sending spam recently, "training" by you of what you think is spam, and your own "friends" and "blacklist" lists.

Mailwasher Pro can even bounce spam messages, as if your email address was not valid, although the usefulness and appropriateness of this is questionable. There is a free version called "Mailwasher," but it omits the functions that I consider critical for this purpose -- such as safely previewing the emails safely before they ever get to your email inbox.

Related articles:

• Spam Filtering
• Keeping spam out of your Inbox
• Getting Control of Your Inbox
• How Can I Prevent spam?

Cable/DSL Router

If you have a cable modem or a DSL modem, you need to have another layer of inexpensive protection between you and the Internet. A cable/DSL router isolates your computer from direct connection to the Internet. Your computer can easily request your email, web pages, etc. through the router. The responses come back to the router and are smoothly routed to your computer. But, someone on the Internet side of the router can not initiate a connection to your computer — they can only respond to your request.

Even if you only have one computer to connect to your cable or DSL modem, I recommend that you purchase and use a cable/DSL router because of the protection it can give you against attempts to attack through some flaws in Windows itself.

A router isolates your local network, whether it is only one computer or several, from the Internet by actually making it a separate network. The router gets the "public" IP address and handles all your outbound communications and the responses to them. But, it blocks computers on the Internet side from being able to initiate communications with your computer! This will prevent you from falling prey to many worms that try to attack security holes in Windows itself.

For a wireless router, I recommend the Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I'm using the relatively new version 6 of this router.

If you don't want wireless, I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41 wired router. Either way, based on my experience, I recommend Linksys routers for price, reliability and Linksys' habit of releasing updated firmware for their products..

See these related articles:

• Wireless Security
• Wi-Fi Hotspots and Computer Security
• Wireless Networking Problems & Wireless Networking Security