How do I know if my computer is ready for Windows 7?

I’ve lost count of how many emails and txts I have received on this question so I thought I would post a simple solution.

So for all my Aussie clients and readers, just click here to download Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Not based in Australia? Contact me for more details below

[dekoboko]

Have you received a domain name renewal letter in the mail?

If you’re in business or have a website, chances are you have received a domain name renewal letter in the mail at some stage or you will in the near future.

No matter how authentic the domain name renewal letter looks, don’t act on it!

In every case where I’ve been shown a renewal letter by a business client asking for advice, they have been companies making spurious comments to scare people into renewing the domain name with them, often giving up their rights to those domain names!

Some examples of scare tactics used in bogus domain name renewal letters

• Your domain name is about to expire! Send your cheque/money order or call us now to save your name or lose it forever
• Your domain name is in danger! Contact us now to save your domain name from being deleted!
• Your competitors are interested in your domain name! It is urgent that you contact us today regarding your domain name.
• This is an official warning about your domain name. Please contact us now to avoid legal complications

The list goes on, but you can see the general tone will be about urgency and in the worst cases, they will make suggestions about the letter being an ‘official warning’

So what do I do if I receive a letter about my domain name?

Here are some simple steps:

1. Contact the person who currently looks after your website and ask them who looks after your domain name (this is your domain name registrar)
2. Make a note of the registrar and keep it somewhere easily visible to anyone who accepts mail on behalf of your website.
3. E-Mail or phone your registrar to find out when your domain name is actually due for renewal and add this information to the note (above)
4. If you don’t have a current webmaster, feel free to use my contact form (below) and I will use my handy dandy domain name gadgets to find out who your registrar is for you.

Also if you receive an e-mail that looks similar, follow the steps above to be sure.

Contact me if you’re not sure…. I will answer ASAP:

[dekoboko]

If your email is suddenly not working, here is one common reason for it.

Before you call your ISP or website host, check the Server Settings in your email software. Make sure that you are set to receive emails every 16 minutes or greater.

Why? In recent years ISPs and Website Hosts have had to tighten up on those modern day pirates of the Internet that send SPAM and hack into computers.

Cause: Sometimes if you sit there hitting the Send/Receive button for your emails, you can be banned from checking your emails for 30 minutes because the automated system thinks you are either sending SPAM or trying to hack into the mail server. If you keep trying to check your email, you lengthen your ban and extend your frustrations.

Cure: If it has already happened, turn your email software off for over 30 minutes.

Prvention: Don’t constantly press Send/Receive and check that your email is set (In Server Settings) to be downloaded every 16 minutes or more.

If waiting more than 30 minutes doesn’t help? Call your ISP or website host and remember to copy down the error message you receive when you try to check your emails.

If you’re into Digital Photography, or if you just want to organise your photos on your computer then this site has a smorgasbord of free software!

(www.photo-freeware.net)

While many home Internet users might scratch their heads and wonder what all the fuss is about, ask anyone with a website or who have made the mistake of sharing their e-mail address with the wrong person or website and you’d better put the kettle on `cause it will be a long conversation!

Beating SPAM

There are many hints that I have come across over the years, but this one is one of the easiest for anyone who owns a website and has access to their website’s control panel.

Step 1.
Set your main email address as something that is easy to remember, but hard to guess; one combination could be your initials plus your favourite colour and your shoe size (not necessarily in that order).
e.g. thblack10@trenthayes.com

This is your real e-mail address. Don’t give this to anyone, even your friends!
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Step 2.
Set up a forwarder as your main email address to avoid confusion, i.e. the address you give to friends.

e.g. friends@trenthayes.com

This is your main email address and the one you should enter into Thunderbird (or Mail) when asked for your email address.
ONLY give this address to your friends
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Step 3. (repeat as necessary)
Now whenever you sign up for a website, take the time to create a forwarder just for that website

e.g. somewebsitename@trenthayes.com

Enter this address anywhere on that website as your email address for registration purposes.
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You are done! But why do this? Because if you start getting SPAM, check out the address it has been sent to – a voila! You have found out how the SPAMMERS found you and can have a quiet word with the website (they need to know there is a security problem) also now all you have to do is delete that forwarder and create a new one. SPAM: gone.

Need more information on website control panels?
Stay tuned. I will have more website tips coming your way here.

The best way to approach your first website is to ask yourself some important questions.

1. What do you want your website to do?

Whether you want it to be an online business card, an online information brochure, or a full shop for users to purchase from, you need to set down your aims.
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2. When do you want your site up and running?

Generally speaking you will want to set up a time line for getting your website up and running. A month at the shortest, three months for a more complex site (although some large sites can take up to six months to get going)

Another time line to establish, is your ROI break even point, or how long before your site ‘pays you back’.
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3. What is your budget?

Decide how much you want to spend on the entire website, then break that total into portions.
A general rule of thumb for the initial costs are:

20% on the look of the site : Website Design

45% on making the website work: Website Programming

25% on telling people you’re there: Website Promotion

10% on the Whoops! category: Things you didn’t think of when you began.
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4. Coming soon!

…
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All of these points will help your website developer give you an accurate quote
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Are you frustrated at having paid for Google Aps to look after your business email and now find that every email has “blahblah@gmail on behalf of Your Name”?

Unfortunately the problem seems to be bigger than Google would like, so while you’re waiting for an answer from Google, my suggestion is to:

1. Watch this thread

http://groups.google.com/group/Gmail-Help-Message-Delivery-en/browse_thread/thread/f651cb1db5d9dd23#
- and hopefully “soon” will soon be replaced with an approximate date… soon.

2. In the meantime

I’d recommend using Thunderbird and a regular use of MozBackup.

If, like me, you find Google Calendar to be indispensable, use the “Provider for Google Calendar” add-on for Thunderbird.

I know these steps aren’t a direct fix for Gmail and it is very frustrating that Google has marketed Google Apps to SMEs with this “on behalf of” situation in place for over a year, but those steps above might save some frustrated people throwing computers out the nearest window in the meantime

Download link for Thunderbird:
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Download Link for Mozbackup:
http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/download.php
Download link for Google Calendar add-on for Thunderbird:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/4631

In closing; I suggest anyone frustrated with the situation take a look at the links above and don’t let the problem beat you down. It’s not worth it. Spend that business time on your business, where it belongs.

Take care,
Trent

Many webservers run both php4 and php5 together.

Rather than bore you with the whys and wherefores – here is a simple solution that works on cpanel based servers.

Adding this line to your .htaccess file (remember to always make a backup!) which should be in your /public_html/ folder gives you php5

AddHandler application/x-httpd-php5 .php .php3 .phtml .php5