Ask DACS
October 2007
Jim
Scheef, Moderator
Lisa Leifels, Reporter
We welcome questions from the floor
at the start of our General Meetings. In addition, members who
are not able to attend the General Meeting may submit questions
to askdacs@dacs.org. We
will ask the question for you and post the reply in DACS.ORG.
Please provide as much information as possible since we can’t
probe during the session.
Q. I am using a new HP notebook computer
with Windows Vista. I have a Motorola modem with a loud motor.
I no longer hear an audible dial tone and the slider control
volume has disappeared.
A. Go to Control Panel: Phone and Modem options and make sure
you have the speaker enabled and, if you have a volume slider,
set it to the highest setting.
You can also make sure that the check box is checked to show
the volume control if you open up the Control Panel: Sounds and
Audio Devices.
If this doesn’t fix the problem, you may need to get an
updated driver for your modem and/or your sound card.
Q. Sometimes when I send out an e-mail
one of the recipients doesn’t get it. Why didn’t
I receive a non-deliverable report?
A. Check to see if the e-mails are getting caught in the spam
filter of the recipient who hasn’t received the message.
Find out if they have not received other e-mails that have been
sent to them.
You should also verify that you have the recipient’s correct
e-mail address. Some mail servers will respond to an invalid
e-mail address with a non-deliverable report (NDR); others will
silently discard the e-mail. The reason that mail servers have
stopped sending NDRs is because spammers use the NDRs as a way
to harvest valid e-mail addresses.
Q. Is it still possible to get a virus
from opening an e-mail, but not opening the attachment?
A. Yes, a virus can be embedded into an e-mail message. This
is not possible in a plain text message, but an HTML message
could contain a script which executes a virus while a person
is reading the e-mail text. Some email programs such as Outlook
2003 will allow you to block HTML mail.
Rich text can also be exploited to send unauthorized messages,
and even plain text messages can contain URLs that may take you
to web sites where scripts run and disseminate viruses.
Make sure that your computer’s operating system, e-mail
and browser software are all properly patched against known security
risks.
It’s a good idea to turn off the preview pane, which is
the automatic opening of e-mail. If you are using Outlook Express,
click on view, layout and clear the check in preview pane. You
will have to double click to open your e-mails but this will
add another layer of protection for you to see the subject title
before you open the e-mail.
Q. I am using a third party firewall
that says to turn off the windows firewall. How do I now if the
third party firewall is working?
A. Unfortunately, in today’s world anti-virus and anti-spyware
programs alone don’t give you all of the protection you
need. If you are using Windows XP or Windows Vista you have a
built in firewall that is turned on by default. You can verify
that the Windows firewall is turned on by going to the Control
Panel and select either the Security Center or Security if you
are running Vista.
For most people, the Windows firewall will be enough protection,
however there are a number of third-party firewall programs available
that may offer more robust protection. Before installing a third-party
personal firewall software, be sure that the firewall built into
the Windows is turned off. It’s a bad idea to have more
than one firewall running at the same time.
One way you can check to see if your firewall is working is
by going to a trustworthy website where you can test your firewall
such as the Gibson Research Corporation at GRC.com
Submit any question to: askdacs@dacs.org. |