Internet Access – Traveling Without Your Computer

By terry Leave a Comment

If you’re on business and are visiting one of your company’s other locations, you can probably use a computer there to check your business email. Depending on the company’s Internet Acceptable Use Policy, you may or may not be allowed to check your personal email.

Tech Tip
Remember that the Internet Acceptable Use Policy is a corporate policy. It is designed to tell you what you can and can’t do. The company network may, or may not, prevent violations of the policy. Just because the network does not block you from doing something or from going somewhere on the Internet, do not assume that it is permitted.

Many hotels have a business center that is open to the hotel’s guests. Sometimes, the computers are available for use for free. Other hotels will charge you based on the time that you use it. Remember that this is…

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Filed Under: Dialup, Internet Access, Security, Terry's Computer Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Blocking Call-Home Attempts by Microsoft Software

By terry Leave a Comment

A reader wrote to ask for more details about how I configure my firewall to block Microsoft.com’s call–home attempts:

In your Email Newsletter — Volume 3, Number 12 — September 3, 2007, article “Windows Genuine Advantage SNAFU” you say, “When they want to check in with Microsoft, they run into my copy of Sunbelt Personal Firewall,” and “Sunbelt Personal Firewall has shown me that Microsoft’s products often want to connect to Microsoft.com, whether it makes sense or not.” You do not give enough details on the matter so one could take action…or not. QUESTION: 1. Is there a problem if they are prevented from calling home? 2. If not, how can I set up my Sunbelt PFW to do that, as you infer you have done. P.S. I used your links to purchase said product a while back along with Counter Spy and iHateSpam. Thanks in advance for your help.

The good news was that Ed was asking about Sunbelt Personal Firewall, since it will actually apply its controls to Microsoft’s programs. The process with SPF is easy, too.

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Filed Under: Broadband, Cable, Dialup, Firewalls, HowTo, Networking, System Control, Terry's Computer Tips

Traveling with a Computer

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It’s the season for traveling again — are you going to take a computer on your trip? Or, are you going to take a break from the world of email and web? Or, do you plan to find an available computer to use?

Of course, some people travel a lot for business. They know that email has become a critical part of their business world, so they carry their Blackberry or their notebook computer (or both) to stay in touch.

But, most of us travel occasionally for business or pleasure. We may take along our office computer, if it is a notebook, or our home notebook if we have one. However, both of those options solves many of our needs, but not all of them.

If we’re traveling for business, we often have equipment supplied by our employer to help us keep in touch while we’re on a business trip (or when we’re on vacation .

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Filed Under: Backup, Cable, Dialup, DSL, Terry's Computer Tips, Usability

Thinking About Broadband Internet Access

By terry Leave a Comment

If you’re still using dialup Internet access for use from home, you should start thinking about “broadband”.

What’s broadband? That’s the term for getting your Internet access via a cable or DSL connection, or even a fiber-optic connection if that’s available to you.

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During the roll-out stage of cable and DSL Internet access, there weren’t too many choices. If only one was available in your neighborhood, that’s the one you got.

For some of us, that’s still the case. Although I live in a relatively large city (Baton Rouge), my area of Baton Rouge does not have DSL access available. The phone company’s equipment servicing my subdivision is not compatible with DSL.

Unfortunately, just a few years before the DSL rollout started, the latest-and-greatest phone switching equipment was released — and it turned out to be incompatible with DSL.

Read more in Thinking About Broadband Internet Access

Filed Under: Broadband, Cable, Dialup, DSL, Internet Access, Speed-up, Terry's Computer Tips, Usability

Free Dialup Internet Access – great backup solution

By terry Leave a Comment

I was chatting with Walter Scott, one of my local friends and a Terry’s Computer Tips Newsletter reader, at lunch last week. Walter has a new notebook computer and was trying to come up with a good solution for dialup access for two purposes.

First, when he travels, he wants to have a good dialup solution with local phone numbers in most of the country. Many hotels have wired or wireless Internet access, but not all of them — or they charge an outrageous price like $10/day for high-speed access.

Second, he wanted a backup connection via dialup for those times when he has cable Internet troubles (ever notice that your phone still works, even though your electric utility has lost power in your area of town?) — I sent my August 29th Terry’s Computer Tips Newsletter via dialup on Hurricane Katrina Day — no power, but my notebook had its battery and my telephone worked.

I mentioned to Walter that he could Get Free NetZero Internet Access for 10 hours per month.

Read Walter’s comments about free dialup from NetZero

Filed Under: Backup, Dialup, Internet Access, Other, Terry's Computer Tips