InBox

By DON McALLISTER

Welcome to InBox, where we attempt to answer your internet questions.


Q. Heaps of annoying spam enters Pippa's (to name one of many) Xtra mailbox daily. Of even more concern to her is the fear that her grandchildren will find some of the many unwanted "Adult" emails settling there recently.

A. Another reader, John, suggests a kiwi program with loads of features to clean up incoming email - allowing you to simply "wash" the spam away. The program, suiting Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/XP Pro, is downloadable free from Mailwasher.

Q. James queries if Norton AntiVirus (NAV) 2000 can be updated for free via the internet.

A. If your Live Update feature fails to work in NAV 2000, James, there is a way you can manually download the latest virus lists. Unfortunately this means regularly downloading a sizeable file (3.45Mb), but it will allow you to continue using NAV 2000. The All Versions manual update is available from Symantec.

Q. Jack's Address bar has vanished. "Can you tell me how to retrieve it?" he asks.

A. Close all open Internet Explorer windows. Open Internet Explorer/View/Toolbars/Address bar. That should replace a missing tick and bring it back to stay.

Q. Mary would like to know how to tell the file type of an attachment and what it means.

A. All attachments have a dot after their name, then three letters, Mary. Those three letters indicate the file type. The file type tells us what programs should open the file. For example, .doc is a document and is opened using Microsoft Word; .jpg is a picture that is often opened in Internet Explorer.

Q. Ed used a computer magazine disk to install Internet Explorer 5.5 on his system. This was great but Internet Explorer now has the magazine name imprinted in the header.

A. Download a clean version from Microsoft, Ed. For Windows 98 or later, go to Start/Programs/Windows update. Download the latest Internet Explorer and install it over the top. As Windows 95 is no longer supported, the last version for Windows 95 is IE5.5 from Microsoft download centre.



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