Tuesday, May 08, 2007
How e-mail works ....
Last week I touched upon etiquette. This week I’ll touch on a little about how it works.According to Darwin Magazine, the first e-mail message was sent in 1971 by an engineer named Ray Tomlinson. Until then messages could only be sent to users on
a single machine. We are still using the same email protocols today.
These were not designed for what we use it for. It was originally designed to carry messages within a closed collection of military institutions and universities. It simply was not designed for the volume that email has reached today. And that really is the problem with it.
Because of this, e-mail is considered a “Best Effort Service”. Meaning there are no
promises. Nobody guarantees the delivery of email. This is true no matter who your
service provider is. But how does it work? There are two basic protocols involved here, POP3 and SMTP.
POP3 stands for “Post Office Protocol”. This is the instruction set that sends email
from your local machine to the e-mail servers. SMTP, “Simple Mail Transfer Protocol”
is the protocol email servers use to download your email or transfer messages
between e-mail servers.
Now to read your messages you need an “E-mail Client” on your system. This is
normally a piece of software like Outlook. There are others, Outlook Express,
Netscape Mail, Eudora, Pegasus or Thunderbird are all examples of what we call an e-mail client.
These are not to be confused with web mail services like Yahoo, MSN or G-Mail. Web mail does not pull messages down to your local system. With these the e-mail client is based on their website.
The e-mail client allows you to do several things. It lets you create and send email.
It lets you send attachments like pictures and documents. It displays the number of
messages in the inbox, and it lets you choose an email to read.The large e-mail
suites offer many more features, but those are the four basic functions of an e-mail
client.
Now when you hit the send / receive button several things happen. First, if you are not already connected it will dial up to your provider. Then it send your login info thru port 110 and then sends any mail you may have waiting to go out. When that is completed, the client then uses port 25 to query the SMTP server for incoming messages. They are then downloaded to your system.
When it works it works fine but when it breaks, it breaks. The e-mail system we have
today is taxed to the max and according to studies as much as 3/4’s of all email traffic is spam. If we were able to get a grip on spam email we would be alot better off.
(Read E-mail survival/etiquette...Here)
By Chris Kaminski,
Head Tech for Computer Guys Live
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Dont' Let Congress Gut the Internet's First Amendment
Save The Internet For Small Business!!Make NET NEUTRALITY the Law in 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Vista Dilemma
If you should talk to a tech about Vista, most will tell you to hold off for awhile. Not that there is anything really wrong with Vista, but because there is a severe lack of driver support. Many of the devices you normally use are behind in issuing newcompatible drivers.
The problem is all the big box stores are only selling Vista loaded machines. It is not uncommon to get your new computer home only to find out printers, scanners, cameras and other accessories will not work. We are also finding that Vista does not always work well in mixed network situations. We have been dealing with this since the January release.
Complicating this further, Vista is a "technology break". This means many older accessories and software simply will not work and the manufactures have no plans to update. This means you will have to buy new accessories. The situation is more critical if you purchased Vista to up-grade an existing machine. You could suddenly find that your video card is not supported. You just spent $200 on Vista and now you have to purchase new hardware.
Now, in fairness to Microsoft and the other manufactures they have made this information available. If a little time was spent reading about the compatability issues, many surprises could be avoided. Microsoft makes available on their web site a list called the Hardware Compatibility List or the HCL as we techies call it. Just Google Microsoft Vista HCL.
This list is compiled by Microsoft and only contains hardware that has been approved. A little time spent with this list can save a ton of grief, pain and money. For those of you who don't have time for fun and games, XP is still available. It will be available for at least another year, but you cannot get it at the big box stores. To get XP you will have to seek out your local computer shop (like us). They will have Retail and OEM software and will still be able to build you a new XP machine.
So, bottom line, if you have that itch to go out and get a Vista machine, be prepared for some of accessories not to work. If you upgrade, be prepared for driver and hardware issues. Most of these problems can be avoided if you first do a little homework and check the HCL. Do this BEFORE you put your money down.
Chris Kaminski is head technician for Computer Guys Live Inc., an online computer repair company based in Asheville, NC. He has been working in computer repair for the last 18 years. Visit the techs at Computer Guys Live for your computer repair and tech support.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Memory Upgrades for Vista Operating Systems
Now that Vista is officially out, many of you are dying to run out and buy it. I know that many will upgrade without first checking system requirements or system compatibility. This article is for you. When you try to install Vista, you may quickly find out that something will need to be upgraded. Most likely it will be RAM, video or both. First we will look at memory. I am talking about system memory or RAM. Before we go further, my associate says I need to write about something more important. That is the peripherals, things like mice, cameras, scanners, printers. For most of these, you will find that there are no Vista compatible drivers available. The chain stores are going to be pushing Vista systems, but be patient and wait for the hardware to catch up. Here is where you will do better talking with your small neighborhood tech shops to find out if your computer will work with Vista.For those who want to upgrade for Vista, additional memory may have to be installed. RAM (Random Access Memory) is used by the system to run applications. You can never have enough RAM. The current standard has been 512megs. But as the software becomes larger, system resources really become an issue. This is true with the new security suites like Norton or McAfee. Today, I would not consider a system with less then 1gig of RAM. You can run Vista on 512megs, but you would not be able to enjoy all the features and your system may perform very poorly.
To speed up your system and upgrade your RAM, you need to know a few details. You need to find out how much RAM you have, what type/speed, and how much your system will support. To find out how much, go to your START button, right click on My Computer, then select Properties. After the dialog box opens, look down to the bottom right. You will see information for the type and speed of the processor. There will also be a number indicating the amount of RAM installed. It will read 265, 512 or 1024 gigs.
On many of the mass produced machines, there may be an odd number like 448. That is because system memory is shared with the video. To find out the type and how much the system will support, check the system documentation. Check the specs in either the printed materials or check online. Sometimes there are stickers on the front. Look for something that reads like DDR XXX, (DDR400 for example), or PCXXX (PC3200 as another example). If you have never done this, or are not comfortable opening your computer, you may want to get a service technician to install the RAM. They will still need all the above information. Now we can open the computer and install the memory.
1) Unplug the power on the computer. Most motherboards still are powered, even with the power switch off. So remove the plug completely. Ok, pull the power and unplug everything that is attached to the tower. Mark them if you need to, so you can put them back.
2) Lay the tower on the right side and remove the left side cover. Inside you will see many colored wires and cables. Carefully part these until you can get to the memory slots. They are called DIMM slots. There can be two or more depending on the motherboard. They will be located close to the processor (big metal fins with the fan motor). You will also see the existing memory stick.
3) On each end of the DIMM slots there is a white clip. Make sure they are pushed back to the opened position. Look at your new stick of RAM. You will see 1 or 2 notches. These will match up with dimples in the memory slot. Carefully line up the stick and firmly press it into the slot until you hear it snap into place. Now, secure the two locking clips and you are done.
4) Stand the system back up (leaving the cover off at this point). Plug in the mouse, keyboard and monitor. Plug in the power and fire the system up. One of 2 things will happen. If everything is alright, the system will boot like normal and you can watch the new amount of RAM count up on the screen. If this happens, then you are finished installing the RAM.
The second thing that could happen is the machine starts beeping and will not boot. Do not panic, all this means is that the RAM is not seated correctly. Simply shut it down and unplug the power. Remove the new stick of RAM and reseat it again making sure it snaps firmly into place. You may need to press a little harder than you think. Test the system again by rebooting. Once you are done, replace the cover, put the tower back, and attach all the accessories. Let me just say again, if you are not comfortable opening and working on your computer then you will be better off letting a technician help you.
Chris Kaminski is head technician for Computer Guys Live Inc., an online computer repair company based in Asheville, NC. He has been working in web development and computer repair for the last 18 years. Visit the techs at Computer Guys Live for your computer repair and tech support.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Vista For Business
If you read my other review of the new Vista Home products you may have noticed I was not too impressed. That opinion steps up a little with the new Vista Business version.This version is where you can really see and take advantage of the many new features. Though I would like to warn you again, that to take full advantage of these new features you will need a pretty strong machine. This is especially true in the graphics dept.First, of course, are the before mentioned security improvements. On top of that, wehave improved integration with other office technologies, phone, fax, wireless, andhand held devices etc. There is improved network capabilities, new search and collaboration tools. The goal for Vista was to greatly improve the ways a businesscan search, create, store and share its data. There is a new file sharing wizard thatallows you to assign access privileges to other users on the same computer. One ofmy personal favorites is the collaboration tool, “Windows Meeting Space”.
With Meeting Space you can connect up to 10 people in the same workgroup. Youcan share desktops, applications, and files in a common work space … And allow you to jointly edit those files. Another new feature is the way Vista will integrate with the new Windows Office 2007, which in itself is brand new and has many new features a small to mid-sized business would appreciate.As mentioned, there will be two business versions, Vista Business, $199 for the up-grade and $299 for the full version. You get all the new features except the new“Media Center”.
The second is Vista Enterprise which will not be available to us mere mortals and only available to larger organizations. Overall, if you are a small business and have security issues Vista would be a goodchoice but pricey. You will have the cost of the OS plus the cost of the hardware up-grades and the cost of the learning curve. If you are starting out brand new, you maywant to look into Vista. For the rest of us, if everything is running fine on XP then it wont hurt you to wait awhile..
Chris Kaminski is head technician for Computer Guys Live Inc., an online computer repair company based in Asheville, NC. Visit The Computer Guys Live for your secure, online computer repair and tech support.
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