InBox

Q: An unnamed reader writes that they have now received the same email from a Yahoo address three times. It reads: "Hi, we have a large parcel for you and want to arange delivery. Please contact us urgently on: +44 7061746 004. Kind regards Jeff Bryant Global Transit Delivery Ltd." The reader wants to know if this is a scam.

A: Another reader also received this email. Spelling mistakes - a missing "r" in a simple word such as "arrange" - are usually a dead giveaway, suggesting the email is suspect. The +44 refers to a British number, but where does it route to after that, and does the caller, just by dialling, end up paying a sum of money that he or she is unaware of until the phone bill arrives?
Most reputable companies don't run on Yahoo addresses.

Q: Peter is using Windows ME and has large losses of area on the right and top and bottom of his screen. He says he has tried all the tricks to stretch it back, but to no avail. At the same time, his desktop icons have become enlarged. How does he get back to normal-sized screen and icons?

A: Right-click the desktop and select Settings. Move the screen resolution slide bar to the right until the listed screen size matches the listed screen area size. Click Okay or Apply for the changes to take effect.

Q: Sam wants to know how to find out if his internet connection is slow, the internet at large is slow, or if it's just a particular webpage that is slow to load.

A: Windows XP has a component called Trace Route. You can use it to find out how many "hops" your computer is taking, and how long those hops take to get to the site. The time taken for each hop is given in milliseconds. Using the Herald's website as an example, you would click Start/Run, then type in cmd and press enter. In the command prompt box, type tracert www.nzherald.co.nz. The results should read for each step: three "ping" times in milliseconds, the site name and IP address. If all is well each step should have a ping time less than 300ms . Any step with longer ping times may be handling a higher-than-designed load, or have technical issues.