Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
January 22, 2006

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

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Volume 1, Number 32 — Sunday, January 22, 2006

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

IN THIS WEEK'S E-MAIL ISSUE:
   0.   JUST FOR SUBSCRIBERS — EMAIL ONLY
   0.1   Welcome to New Subscribers
   0.2   Still More Gmail Accounts Available
   0.3   Wi-Fi Hotspots - Security Question
   0.4   Some Comments from Subscribers
   0.5   My Recommendations for Computer Security Software
   0.6   Recommend Terry's Computer Tips to Your Friends
   0.7   Changing Your Subscription Address

IN THIS WEEK'S ON-LINE ISSUE:
   1.   "How about a Free Internet Service?" Part 2
   2.   Updates Last Week
   3.   Have a Broadband Connection? Need a backup?
   4.   Restoring Your Outlook Express EMail Folders
   5.   My Computer Security Software Recommendations
   6.   Restoring Your Outlook Express Address Book
   7.   A Spot of Fun
   8.   Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends
   8.   Newsletter feedback: "three versions of Process Explorer"    10.   Send me some email!

Welcome to the online version of my Terry's Computer Tips newsletter.

My free, emailed newsletter includes a special "Just for Subscribers" article, an announcement that the new issue of Terry's Computer Tips has been published online, and the table of contents for the issue.

The emailed newsletter is sent weekly to individuals who have subscribed to the newsletter, have received an email confirmation notice that required them to confirm their subscription request, and who confirmed their request.

Click here to subscribe. It's free!

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1.  "How about a Free Internet Service?" Part 2

Last week, in How about a Free Internet Service?, reader Walter Scott wrote that he was trying out the NetZero Free Internet Service for his new notebook computer.

Walter was looking for a method to make his Internet connections when visiting family or staying in a hotel that did not a good wired or wireless network.

Walter wrote that he downloaded Netzero's "Get Free NetZero Internet Access for 10 hours per month" package to try it out.

Of course, the purpose of any free offer like this is to get you to try, and hopefully buy, their "paid" service. NetZero would much rather you decide to upgrade to their NetZero Platinum service. NetZero Platinum gives you fast reliable internet access for as low as $6.95/month!

So, the free service starts with a mandatory 7-day trial of their unlimited Platinum service.

Walter reported that the Platinum Service worked well and that he'd have to wait until the Platinum trial expired in order to report on the free service. Walter and I both have web sites hosted at Powweb and use Powweb's SMTP email servers for our outgoing email service. Therefore, we were very intested in making sure that the NetZero free service would let us access our Powweb inbound and outbound mailservers as usual.

This week, Walter wrote his next installment to report:

(Got my laptop back, problem fixed!) anyway, the 7 day free trial is over. The only difference is that the ads are in a small window along the top of your desktop, not big deal. Everything else works the same, Outlook Express sent and received POP3 email from poweb, and Opera fired up just fine. My only gripe is the lack of any way to track your online hours, but based on the way I plan to use the service that is not going to be a big deal!

Walter M. Scott, III
Senior Control Systems Engineer, retired
Digital Video Conversions & Services
http://smengineers.net

I had earlier asked Walter Is there a "use it every so often or we cancel it" requirement? He did not find such a requirement — it might be there, or might not, so watch for it if you don't plan to routinely use NetZero's free service.

It sounds like the NetZero Free Internet offer is a good solution for occasional use. The 10 hours per month will probably be enough for travelers to use when they're not at home.

If that's not enough time for the occasional traveler, there's another option. You could use it as your main choice for travel, as a supplement to NetZero's free 10 hours/month service, and as a backup for your regular dialup or cable ISP.

Read more in article #3 below, "Have a Broadband Connection? Need a backup?"

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2.  Updates Last Week

Microsoft (operating systems, email, web browser, office suites):  The next regularly scheduled Windows Updates are scheduled for Tuesday, February 10, 2006.

Firefox (web browser, www.mozilla.org, free):  No updates this week. Current version 1.5.

Opera (web browser, www.opera.com, free):  No updates this week. Current version 8.51.

Eudora (email, www.eudora.com, options: paid, sponsored or free/lite):  No updates this week. Current version 7.0.1.0.

OpenOffice (office suite — spreadsheet, word processor, presentations, graphics, web design; www.openoffice.org; free):  No updates this week. Current version 2.01.

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3.  Have a Broadband Connection? Need a backup?

The answer is "Yes," whether you know it or not.

You need a backup for your broadband solution. The time to arrange it is before you need it.

I've got a cable modem, which means I have a really fast Internet connection. But, what happens to my Internet connection if my power goes off? That's what happened when Hurricane Katrina came to town.

My cable company has Uninterruptable Power Supplies on the cable system. They need these in order to provide phone service during power outages. Unfortunately, they don't appear to have diesel-powered generators for the system. When the outage was longer than a very few hours, the system went down -- no cable Internet and no cable television.

Like Walter did in the article above, I could try Netzero's "Get Free NetZero Internet Access for 10 hours per month" deal. But, I've already got a prepaid Internet deal that I've used for a couple years and am happy with it.

The dialup system I use for travel and backup is BudgetDialup.com's prepaid Internet service, and it sure came in handly on August 29, 2005. With my notebook computer, I used my BudgetDialup.com dialup account to access the Internet and keep informed on what was happening as Hurricane Katrina finished with our area. Even more important for subscribers to my free Terry's Computer Tips email newsletter, I also used it so I could send my newsletter that day!

With local numbers in many large and small cities, and an 800 number for use in the rest of the U.S., BudgetDialup.com provides easy dialup access to the Internet. If you ever travel internationally, BudgetDialup.com also access phone numbers for the rest of the world.

BudgetDialup's prepaid system offers options of 10 hours ($5.95), 20 hours ($9.95), and 60 hours ($28.95) — all of which roll-over the hours from month to month, until they expire 365 days after their purchase date. BudgetDialup also offers a 120 hours per month plan and a 5-hour free trial. The monthly plan and the free trial are only good for local-access numbers, not 800 numbers, nor are they good outside the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada.

If you access their service via a toll-free number or from outside the 48 U.S. States and Canada, then you are charged "equivalent minutes." Toll-free calls with the U.S. are charged at a 6-equivalent-minute per clock minute rate — in other words, the $5.95/10 hour package would only provide 100 minutes of 800-number access. Still, that's much better than long-distance telephone rates. Equivalent-minute rates differ for different parts of the world, but they don't differ by much.

 

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Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

Volume 1, Number 32 — Sunday, January 22, 2006
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Copyright © 2006 Terry A. Stockdale.  All rights reserved.