Nov30
Sometimes your various print jobs might get stuck in the printer’s queue. If you’ve tried deleting the job in the printer’s job list (right-click and select delete). Below are the steps I follow:
If you are on Vista, Windows XP or Windows 7, go through the following steps to restart the printer spooled files.
- Go to Control Panel
- Select System and Maintenance (skip this step for Windows 7)
- Select Administrative Tools
- Double-click on Services
- In the list of services, scroll down until you find one called “Print Spooler”
- Right-click on “Print Spooler” and select “Restart”
- The “deleted” jobs will disappear and any queued jobs in your print queue will print
These are other print spool solutions from Windows as well.
November 30, 2009
Tags: computer, support
Nov11
As there are several ways to get your email, I am often asked by my customers about getting their email downloaded to their desktop, laptop, and even a mobile device.
POP3: The problem with POP3 sharing is that you are essentially downloading the same email 2 or 3 times; and these are being marked as ‘unread.’ This means you will have to wade through your email each time on each machine. Therefore, this is not truly syncing but rather sharing.
The only way to truly sync your email is with Exchange Server (for Windows) or utilize Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).
IMAP allows for two-way communication between your e-mail account and your devices. That means whatever software or computer you use to access your e-mail, they will sync. But this requires that the email remain on your email server. If you are like me, I have over 2GB of emails and many hosting accounts limit your web and email space. If you go over this amount, your website can go down for going over the limit. If you choose this, be sure that you have enough email space and bandwidth to account for this traffic.
Exchange Server: For my business this was the best solution. All my emails are truly synced on all of my devices. The downside is the Exchange Server can get expensive if you require several email accounts (on a hosted solution) or intend to host your own email at your business. They generally run between $8 – $25 per month per account. Having said that, how much will you save in frustration and time reviewing the same emails.
We recommend Apptix for Hosted Exchange Service
Setup POP3 on several devices
By default, when you download new messages from a POP3 e-mail account, the messages are deleted from the POP3 mail server. If you check your POP3 e-mail account from different computers by using the default Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 POP3 settings, the computer that downloads a new e-mail message is the only location where the message is stored. The message is no longer on the POP3 mail server when you connect from another computer. – Microsoft.com (read more)
To setup your POP3 with your Outlook on your PC and laptop, here are the steps:
- Click Tools | Account Settings
- Under Name, select the POP3 e-mail account that you want to change, and then click Change.
- Click More Settings.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then under Delivery, select the Leave a copy of messages on the server check box.
- Then be sure to select the number of days to remove older messages from your server. These settings might help prevent you from exceeding the maximum mailbox size set by your Internet service provider (ISP) or web host.
November 11, 2009
Tags: computer, email, outlook
Sep22
If you are having problems sending email using your own mailserver, make sure that your ISP has not blocked your domain’s IP or SMTP port 25. Recently, Comcast has done just that. I’ve had a flurry of issues and have had to make changes to my client’s outgoing settings in their Outlook.
There are various solutions to consider:
As an example, WestHost will setup an alternate port (2525 versus 25). Then you would need to set your Outlook to send email on port 2525 and to authenticate to the outgoing server, using the same information as the incoming server.
Each host will have their settings or you can use the server settings that your ISP provides you. Below are various SMTP settings for top ISPs. You will need your ISP login and password if you decide to use their outgoing SMTP.
AT&T: Set your outgoing SMTP to mailhost.worldnet.att.net
Comcast: Use Port 587 or set your outgoing SMTP to smtp.comcast.net
AOL : outgoing mail server to smtp.aol.com
NetZero: outgoing mail server to smtp.netzero.net
Below is Comcast’s Explanation:
“Port 25 is an unsecured port on a computer that those sending spam can take control of to send spam – often without the user ever knowing his/her computer has been compromised. When spam from a compromised computer is detected, Comcast’s anti-spam systems automatically apply a sending block and send an email notification to the affected subscriber’s comcast.net email address. This block does not interrupt mail service for Webmail (e.g. Comcast, Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail); however, this block does prevent email programs or clients (e.g. Outlook Express) from sending email. Client e-mail programs will still receive email. The instructions at our mail client help page explain how to configure common email client programs to use Port 587, which includes authentication, instead of Port 25.”
September 22, 2009
Tags: computer, email, outlook, smtp
Sep20
Nice! Figured out that you can do screenshots on your iPhone. Who knew? As a web company owner and project manager, it is great to be able to test a site on an iPhone live. So how do you do this?
Hold down the top “power” button and tap the home button. Then using a tool like Evernote, you can ‘paste’ the picture in a new note, save it, and access it later on your PC. From your PC, email it to your programming team.
September 20, 2009
Tags: computer, Evernote, iphone, screenshots
Sep01
Just a bit of a plug for eFax. I’ve used them for several years. It’s a great tool for small businesses as your faxes are sent directly to your e-mail account. You simply open the attachment to view your fax using their software that resides on your computer.
They’ve recently improved their software to allow you to create PDFs from the fax on the fly. This is wonderful! Now you can e-mail this fax to another recipient who might not have the eFax software or you can save it your computer for future reference.
The future is paperless!
September 01, 2009
Tags: Business, computer, fax, PDFs, software, tool
Aug18
There have been several times when I’ve (and I am sure many of you) been given an error that provides no explanation to doesn’t offer any solution. My solution? Google the error message.
Copy/paste or write the error message on a piece of paper and copy the message into the search box. You will see results from others that have had the same problem, and if you are lucky a solution.
Don’t see a solution? Try Google groups to see archived discussions that may relate to your problem.
August 18, 2009
Tags: computer, error, google, tips
Aug17
If you’ve installed some software or your PC is acting up you can use System Restore to bring your computer back in time to a day that it was working.
Follow these steps:
- Select Start | Programs
- Accessories | System Tools | System Restore
- Click Restore my computer to an earlier time
- Follow the instruction in the next window.
August 17, 2009
Tags: computer, software, support, tips
Aug16
Oops, you forgot your personal computer password (and you didn’t use the save password wizard).
Follow these steps to bypass this password.
- Reboot your PC and press until you see the Windows start-up options.
- Use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode, and press .
- Select Administrator (a hidden account without a password).
- Open the Control Panel | User Accounts and select your account
- Click Change the password, and follow the instructions to reset it.
August 16, 2009
Tags: computer, password, support, Windows
Dec21
December 21, 2007
Tags: advertising, computer, video
Sep05
When you get an error message, sometimes it may be too long to copy on paper to send to your tech support. A solution would be to press to copy the message the to past the error alert into your email message.
If the picture is too big, press (Ctl) (Print Screen) at the same time to capture an image of the error message box. Then you you can paste the screen into Windows Paint imaging utility and press into the picture. Save the picture as a JPEG and you can attach the picture to your e-mail and send to your tech support person.
September 05, 2007
Tags: computer, email, error, support, tips
