1.  Stopping Outlook 2007 From Starting Automatically

Subscriber Don wrote to ask about a problem that he was having with Outlook 2007:

Terry, I put Office 2007 Outlook in the start up so it would start automaticly when I turned the computer on. I then decide to take it off and I did remove it from the start up but it still starts. I looked in the msconfig but it is not there. I even went into the registry to remove it but no success. Do you have any idea how I can keep Outlook from starting when I boot up my computer?

Many large, slow-starting programs, as well as many other programs that simply want to be run all the time, set themselves up to start automatically. Examples include MS Office, OpenOffice.org, Adobe Reader, iTunesHelper, GoogleUpdater, and a lot more.

One of the disadvantages of the MSConfig program supplied with Windows (msconfig.exe) is that it doesn't show all the programs that start automatically, and doesn't give you many options.

I use and recommend WinPatrol to help you get control of the programs that autostart on your computer. WinPatrol is free.

I use the paid, enhanced version WinPatrol Plus, which has a few additional functions and, more importantly, provides access to their information database that identifies programs and makes recommendations about whether they're safe, optional to remove, should be removed, what they do, etc. www.winpatrol.com

I do not have an affiliate link for WinPatrol - I just like it, use it, and highly recommend it.

Don wrote back to say:

Thanks very much. I had winpatrol loaded on my computer but did not try to use it. I clicked on it and bingo there was OutLook. I removed it and now everything is fine.

Don

Related articles:

• WinPatrol Review | WinPatrol Plus Review
• A Look Inside WinPatrol and WinPatrol Plus
• WinPatrol - for System Control and Protection

 

2.  The Lighter Side of Technology

This week's computer/technology cartoon at Terry's Computer Tips!

Some things are best taught in person with hands-on...

3.  Email Problems: Outlook Express Emails Going into Deleted Items Folder

There have been a flurry of emails about Outlook Express dropping new emails into the Deleted Items folder. Subscriber Gerald Evans wrote:

Some of my emails show up in 'deleted mail' rather than 'new mail'. Why? What is fix?
many thanks

Gerald Evans

Subscriber Kim Bise had the same question, too:

Hi-
All of the sudden e-mails from two people in my address book go directly to my delete box. I can't figure out why it started doing that or how to stop it!
Thanks,
Kim Bise

And, subscriber Barbara Peck did, also:

Terry,
I have two of my email addresses that goes to my delete file they are not received in my regular email. Before they would go to my regular email. Why are they going to my delete file now?
Thanks you for your help
Barbara H. Peck

I think each of them has been affected by an email filter rule that they've set up in Outlook Express — and accidentally made more far-reaching than they anticipated. This could happen if, instead of filtering by the content, the Subject or the From field, they set up the filter to act on the To field.

I've written about this before — my article Outlook Express Emails Going Into Deleted Items should walk you though the concept and process of setting and changing filters.

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4.  Preparing to Reinstall Windows

Reader Cathy Fitzgerald is getting ready for the big cleanup — reinstalling Windows and all her software:

Hi Terry,

Can you give me any tips on what I need to know before stripping down my computer to reinstall everything? I purchased a Western Digital portable hard drive, and have saved everything (hopefully) to it. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks!!
Cathy Fitzgerald

It's really hard to try to come up with an exhaustive list, since I have no real idea of what's on her system (and, no, this isn't an invitation to tell me about it, because I still wouldn't know enough). The best I can do is some tips.

• Be sure to make backups of your emails (search my site for back up outlook express emails and backup outlook express address book and the corresponding "restore" items.
• Make sure you have your Windows XP or Windows Vista CD/DVD so you can reinstall.
• Make sure you have the SATA drivers on CD for your motherboard, if you have a SATA drive, especially if you use WIndows XP (which you must, since you're using Outlook Express)
• Make sure you have the driver CD for any other special hardware and other drivers for your motherboard (for audio, networking, etc).

Then, check out my Reinstalling Windows XP article on the order of major steps for the installation of Windows XP, your firewall, antivirus, antispyware and Windows Updates. In concept, these would apply equally to Windows Vista, although some specific locations may be different.

Once you've done the steps, it's time to start thinking about other software — but not before that point. The person was asking about some specific software, but it should be easy to "translate it" to your own security software.

 

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5.  Feedback and Comments from Readers

Subscriber Joy wrote to say

You and your site are amazing. I have learned so much in a very short time. Thanks so much

Thanks, Joy.

Subscriber V.R. wrote to ask about Microsoft Word calling home...

Terry, I need your advise. How do I stop Word 2003 from wanting to access the internet everytime I launch the program? AVG pops ups asking if want to allow. It then takes about 10/15 seconds for Word to come up. I've googled and went to several sites, tried what they suggested but no luck. Any help would be appreciated.

I wrote back to V.R. to tell him that if he always wants to deny that communication, he should be able to tell AVG to deny the connection and remember that answer. It might also be in a configuration dialog box in AVG. However, I don't use AVG and so I can't advise him on specifics of it. Regarding making Word stop trying — good luck. I haven't found a way to do it other than to control it with a good third party firewall (I use Sunbelt Personal Firewall ). See my review of SPF on my site.

Reader Herman Barnes wrote to comment and ask about problems with the beta version of Internet Explorer 8:

Thanks for a great site. Ihave IE8 beta on winXP. My favorites star button won't open. Star depresses like it's going to to something but nothing happens. Recent activity were uninstall Norton Security and install AVG. Any ideas? Thanks..

I wrote back to Herman to tell him that I'm not using the IE8 beta and can't provide any help on it. I seldomly use beta software, whether Microsoft's o r from other companies.

Remember that beta software is software that is released in the hopes that users will find and report bugs. It is not perfect, is not a "release candidate" nor final version, and often has known bugs that simply haven't been fixed yet.

Whether from Microsoft or other companies, you should not have any expectation that beta software's known bugs have been fixed — whether they are functional or security bugs. There's a reason that beta software licenses are even more emphatic in their disclaimer of any warranty and disclaimer of any damages that they may cause to your data or your system.

If it doesn't work correctly, report it. If it bothers you, uninstall the beta software and go back to the current version.

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6.  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..."

For the last five years, until very recently, my personal choice has been ESET's small, fast NOD32 anti-virus program, which offers a FREE 30-day evaluation license. I consider NOD32 one of the best in anti-virus protection. Unlike some of its competitors, ESET offers multiple-year licenses also, and includes program updates in the multiple-year license.

Now, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.

I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.

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
• VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

Click here for more information about VIPRE.

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. A home site license, for all you your non-business computers at one site, is only $39.95.

Related articles:

• The Internet Versus You
• Do I Need a Firewall Program?
• My 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 has been my personal choice for my PC's and my family's PC's.

Sunbelt's CounterSpy v2.5, 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 — the current version is v3.1. 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.

Now, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.

I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. My computer seems to have much more pep and power than it had previously. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.

Related articles:

• Fighting Against Spyware & Malware
• My CounterSpy Review
• My VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware 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 would be 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. Note: I found that PopFile generally meets my needs and stopped using Mailwasher Pro, even though PopFile works AFTER the emails have been downloaded. If I used a dialup connection, I would be more interested in Mailwasher Pro.

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, which I also use. 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

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