Dear Friends,

Welcome to InfoAve Premium - the best free computer newsletter anywhere. This is InfoAve Premium Issue #676. If you've missed a back issue, you can catch up. You can find the last few issues of InfoAve Premium on this page.

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THANK YOU!

We both want to thank you for being a reader and for your support; we appreciate it very much.

INTRO PRICIING GOOD THROUGH THIS WEEKEND ONLY

Email on Windows 10 is becoming a problem for many. Microsoft is phasing out support for Microsoft email accounts (Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com, Live.ca, and MSN.com) in Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail is no longer being updated by Microsoft. Windows Mail on Windows 10 is a problem because every time Windows 10 has a major update, Windows Mail has to be reset. Plus, the Mail App included with Windows 10 is very basic and few people find it useful

Mozilla Thunderbird is a great alternative for those of you who have been using Windows Live Mail or Windows Mail on Windows 10 and who don't want to use the limited Windows 10 Mail App. Thunderbird is compatible with all email accounts, including all Microsoft accounts, Windows 10 updates don't affect it, and has the familiar look of Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail. However it's very different as far as setting it up and configuring it.

So we're offering our new Thunderbird Email set-up service.

Our new Thunderbird Email set-up service includes installing and setting up Thunderbird to look and work as much like Windows Live Mail / Windows Mail as possible. We'll configure up to 3 email accounts for you and set them up as IMAP so that all your mail messages and folders on your mail server(s) are included in your Thunderbird Email program too! Plus, we'll give you a list of tips & tricks to help you get the most out of Thunderbird Email program.

Our new Thunderbird Email Set-up Service begins on October 1, 2016. From now until then we'll be offering a special introductory price of just $25. (Intro price is good through September 25, 2016 only, regular price is $35). We'll start scheduling Thunderbird Set-up sessions starting the 1st of October on a first come, first served basis. So get your Cloudeight Direct Thunderbird Email Set-up Service key right now and put an end to the Windows 10 email merry-go-round. You'll save money and you'll be among the first to be scheduled - so don't wait!

GET MORE INFO AND SIGN UP FOR OUR NEW THUNDERBIRD EMAIL SETUP SERVICE RIGHT NOW!

Important News For Yahoo Users
Everyone using Yahoo email or other Yahoo services

For several years now, we've been warning Yahoo users against using Yahoo services, because of lax security and, in our opinion, failing to update hardware and software to protect its users from privacy violations. Now it comes to light that a half-billion Yahoo users have had their Yahoo accounts hacked.

Here's the story from The Washington Post:

Yahoo says hackers stole info from 500 million user accounts:

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo said hackers stole personal information from 500 million of its user accounts, a massive security breakdown it attributed to a “state sponsored actor.” The breach disclosed Thursday, the latest setback for the beleaguered internet company, dates back to late 2014.

That’s when high-tech thieves hacked into Yahoo’s data centers, the company said. But Yahoo only recently discovered the break-in as part of an ongoing internal investigation.

The stolen data includes users’ names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, and the security questions — and answers — used to verify an accountholder’s identity.

Last month, the tech site Motherboard reported that a hacker who uses the name “Peace” boasted that he had account information belonging to 200 million Yahoo users and was trying to sell the data on the web.

Yahoo recommends that users change their passwords if they haven’t done so since 2014. The Sunnyvale, California, company said its investigation so far hasn’t found any evidence that information about users’ bank accounts or credit and debit cards were swiped in the hacking attack. It said it has “no evidence” that the attacker is still in Yahoo’s network.

News of the security lapse could cause some people to have second thoughts about relying on Yahoo services...

Read more here...

A comment from Connie
I enjoy your news letters. They are very useful specially for an elderly person like me.

Thanks so much Connie, we're glad you enjoy them and find them useful! TC & EB

A comment from Ken
Emsisoft is the one to use, for me it is a great anti virus and malware tool to use along with your brain . rounded off it costs about eleven cents per day for this protection. if you pay full price, it goes even lower if you buy it on sale. I was skeptical at first but am very glad I purchased a years license and will re-up when the time comes . Thank you Thunder Cloud and Eightball for a great anti virus and malware tool .I have never been steered wrong by this newsletter and attribute it to me being free from malware and viruses for the last five years, the first four years was using the method taught in the newsletter, do not click on anything until your brain is fully engaged

Thank you very much for your kind words, Ken. We appreciate your support very much. Thanks for taking time out to write! TC & EB

A comment from Christine
A long while back, at your recommendation, I started using Emsisoft. Yesterday I got one of those stoopy hoax popups and couldn't get rid of it. It was on a legitimate site that I have used daily. I got a screen shot and sent the hoax to Emsisoft with an explanation of how it came about. Within an hour, I got a response and guidance. The guidance was effective. Emsisoft, over time, and once again proves they are the BEST in customer service and support as well as in AV protection.

Thanks so much, Christine...we shared your comments with our friends at Emsisoft. We don't just recommend Emsisoft, we use Emsisoft to protect our business and home computers. Not only is Emsisoft a great security program, the team behind Emsisoft is first class. Thanks again for writing and for your support.

For those who don't use Emsisoft yet, or for those who need to renew their Emsisoft license, we're offering a free license for Revo Uninstaller Pro with any Emsisoft purchase from this page.

A comment from Thelma
Darcy has just reset my email quick as a flash. Again she has rescued me. Every time there is an update I cannot get into WinMail but I am all set AGAIN. Thank a bunch.

A comment from Mary C.
Thank you Darcy, for the quick response in reinstalling Windows Mail. What would we computers users do without the great team of Cloudeight Wonderful service and wonderful people. Thank you again. Mary

A comment from Rina
Once again I had trouble with my Windows Mail, I contacted Darcy and she was able to help right away. In 5 min it was done and my e-mail program was working again. I just love your service, you are the best. Thanks again so much . Rina

A comment from Harley
Thank you once again, TC. You have saved our data and fixed this system. This is 2 in a row over that last two months and I can not say enough thank you. I will recommend you to all my friends.

A comment from Susan
TC....I can't thank you enough for fixing my Win Live Mail...in a matter of a minute whereas the place I have gone to said it was impossible to fix and I needed to use Thunderbird. I could give you a big hug as I hate change and was liking TB even though I know it is very good....I just knew that you would be able to fix it....again, thank you very much for your expertise. You are a great computer guru....can you tell I am elated...lol

A comment from Patty
I spent over an hour with TC the other morning while he work wonders on my laptop. Supplemental oxygen keeps me alive while TC and Darcy give me a life. I spend many hours on my computer and their help is always quickly given and appreciated. Thank you, Darcy and TC for your many years of assistance. Patty

Thanks to Thelma, Mary, Rina, Harley, Susan, Patty and all of you who wrote to us during the past week about the computer services you received from Cloudeight Direct Computer Care. We are so glad we've been able to help so many people from all over the world If you need computer service we hope you'll let us help you. TC & EB

Do you have a comment, question, tip or freeware pick to share? Send it to us. 

Take advantage of our special "Capture a Deal" special Save on Cloudeight Direct Computer Care repair keys and get a lifetime license for FastStone Capture FREE. Learn more here.  Another great deal is our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Season Tickets. Unlimited Computer Repairs for an entire year. It's like insurance for your PC! 

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$ave on Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Service Keys & get a lifetime license for FastStone Capture Pro absolutely FREE!

Every screen shot in our newsletter for past 10 year has been made with FastStone Capture. The registered version has so many cool features – it even has a screen recorder and can make animated gifs from videos! Get a lifetime license (a $19.95 value) FREE when you purchase a Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Computer Service key for $49 (Save $16 off our regular price) during our Capture a Deal sale. Get more information here.  

Mary wants to know what's up with her D drive.
I have a question for you. I just got a new computer and I have a drive D. It shows only about a GB of free space. 14.6 GB Used space. This is a new computer, so why is this so full?  Drive C only has 74.3 GB space used and it's got 873 GB free? Why is the D drive so small? What's it for? Thank you. Mary.

Our Answer
Hi Mary. Your D drive (partition) is something your computer manufacturer included, instead of giving your an operating system disk. If you ever needed to reset your computer back to its factory state, you'd need this partition. The partition is created from space from your C:\ drive - and the partition is just big enough to hold all the files necessary (including Windows) to return your computer to its factory state. Additionally, in Windows 8x and Windows 10, the recovery partition is used to perform a System Reset. We hope you never need it.



Leslie's experience is a lesson for all
Regarding Speed-Fix Tool Plus: I called them to let them know that the tool did nothing to my computer. I was told (after stupidly letting them take remote control to my computer) that I had a tiny banker Trojan and that only Microsoft tech 3's could fix it. It would cost me $500. to have Microsoft do this... BUT they could do this for $299. right now.

This was when it dawned on me I was being scammed (again)!

He tried to get me to trust him by showing me logos and guarantees. I told him to give me back complete control of my computer and then hung up the phone after asking him for his contact no and name. I had to laugh when the heavily accented (East Indian) voice told me his name was Dennis Parker.

I'm not the most computer savvy person, but not completely dense either.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Our answer

Hi Leslie. Thanks for sharing your story with us. There's a good lesson here. As a rule of thumb any program that has Turbo, Speed, Tune-up or Boost in its name – or anything that promises a one-click fix — is almost certainly a scam. We wrote an article about this which everyone can read here.

No matter how much people want to believe computers can be fixed with a one-click fix, or that a computer's speed can be significantly increased by running speed booster programs, it's just not going to happen. You can't put a can of something in the gas tank of your car and fix your engine, and you can't take a pill and then eat pie, cake, ice cream, and pizza and lose weight - no matter how much you wish it were true.

Thanks again for sharing your experience with us, Leslie. Hopefully, your story will save someone else from being scammed.

Ruth has problems with Windows Live Mail
I can't get my emails to load in windows live mail. I get an error message that says, there is an error when attempting to connect to windows live calendar service. if the error persists check to see if there's an upgrade to windows live mail available. I have tried to uninstall and reinstall, but I still have to get my mail through outlook. Can you tell me what I need to do. It was working fine and then this came up. Thank you for all the help you have given me over the years. You two are awesome.

Our answer
Hi Ruth. We noticed you are using Hotmail. Microsoft is gradually phasing out support for Microsoft accounts in Windows Live Mail. Microsoft accounts are those email accounts that end in @hotmail.com, @live.com, @live.ca, @msn.com and @outlook.com . You are going to need to change email programs or else you're going to have to log on to www.outlook.com and check your email with your browser if you want to  continue to use your Hotmail email account.

Microsoft has not updated Windows Live Mail since 2012 and there will be no further updates to Windows Live Mail. it's just a leftover from Microsoft's "Live" days - now dead.

We want to point out that Thunderbird is fully compatible with all email accounts, including Microsoft accounts. We can install and configure Thunderbird for you - including setting up your email as IMAP so all your mail messages and folders are included. See this page for more info on our Thunderbird service.



Fran is having severe keyboard problems
I am having r=tro8ubl2e l2ike this when I type ./Qhat can I do8 t8o get it to8 sto8p ??/ I can go back & delete the 8's & 2's but this is driving me crazy./ I

Nick's Windows 7 Games don't work on the newest version of Windows 10
I recently lost my beloved old version of MS Hearts that I downloaded as per your instructions in one of your weekly newsletters. I tried to reinstall it but it will not work. i recently had a windows update which i am thinking tanked it. Any way of getting it back? Thanks and keep up the good work. Nick

Our answer
Hi Nick. You will have to reinstall an updated version of the Windows 7 games package for Windows 10. According to the author of this post, their updated version of Windows 7 Games for Windows 10 will work on the newest versions of Windows 10, including the so-called Windows 10 Anniversary Edition.

A couple of caveats:

1. We have not installed or tested these games on Windows 10 Redstone (Anniversary edition).

2. There is no guarantee that the next Windows 10 upgrade won't break the games again.

So now that you know all of that - to get the newest incarnation of Windows 7 Games for Windows 10, please visit this page.

Pin Tabs to Save Space on Chrome (and Firefox)
All Google Chrome Users

If you're like us, you visit a lot of web sites in a browsing session - and sometimes you like to go back and forth between the sites you've visited, but after a while, you have so many tabs open at the top of your browser you can't tell which page is which.

Did you know you can pin tabs in Chrome and save space? When you pin a tab it reduces the size of the tab, yet makes it easy to tell what each tab is, so you can open more tabs in the same amount of space and switch back and forth between them before your into the situation where you have so many tabs open you can't tell what they are.

Anyway, if you find yourself surfing with a lot of browser tabs open, then this tip will save you some space and, maybe even some time.

To pin a tab, just right-click on it and click "Pin tab". See?



When you pin a tab the tab will become about 1/4 of the normal size, yet you can still what each tab is because each tab has the Web site's fav icon displayed. See?



As you can see above, the pinned tab (highlighted in yellow) are much smaller than the unpinned (normal-sized) tabs to the right, yet you can still what tab is. If you want to unpin a tab, just right-click on it and choose "Unpin tab":



Also, you can close a pinned tab just like you close any other tab. Now you know how to pin tabs in Chrome. If you're a Firefox user, you'll be glad to know it has the same feature  - so you can pin tabs too.

Chrome: About Stuff
Stuff all Chrome user can use

Chrome has a lot of useful About Stuff. You can get to it by typing either About: or Chrome with a simple command after it

About://flags is the same as Chrome://flags…got it? But you don’t even need to type the slashes, About:Flags or Chrome:Flags works and saves you keystrokes if you’re lazy. So to use these commands just type them in Chrome’s address bar and press enter. You can type a command any of three ways. For example: About:Chrome, Chrome:Chrome or Chrome://chrome .

Here is a list of just a few of the many useful Chrome About Stuff:

about:flags ( chrome:flags)

View and enable some of the experimental features hidden in Chrome. CAUTION! CAUTION! As noted on this page, these are experimental features and might break chrome leaving it broken or useless. You enable these features at your own risk.

about:dns (chrome:dns)

Shows you a list of URLs that Google Chrome will prefetch to make browsing speedier.

about:externsions (chrome:extensions)

Displays a list of installed extensions in your copy of Chrome

about:downloads (chrome:downloads)

Displays recently downloaded files – you can do the same thing with the keyboard shortcut CTR+J

about:plugins (chrome:plugins)

Displays all your Chromes plugins and lets you disable or enable any plugins you have installed. Also, lets you check for multiple instances of Adobe Flash Player which is a major cause of Chrome crashes when using sites heavy with Flash.

about:bookmarks (chrome: bookmarks)

Displays your Chrome bookmarks – you can do the same thing with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+O

about:memory (chrome:memory)

This command displays the memory used by Chrome and all other browsers running on the system (including Firefox).
This also displays all the process related to browser with their PID, process name, and the amount of memory used.

about:net-internals (chrome:net-internals)

This displays all networking related information. Use this to capture network events generated by the browser. You can also export this data. You can view DNS host resolver cache.

about:quota-internals (chrome:quota-internals)

Shows you stuff about disk usage of chrome including a break down of the space used by individual websites in temporary files

about:sessions (chrome:sessions)

Shows you how many chrome sessions (instances) are running, and it is probably more than you think 🙂

about:settings (chrome:settings)

Takes you to the Chrome settings – as if you clicked the settings icon shown at the upper right corner of Chrome.

about:cache (chrome:cache)

Shows your Chrome cache and lets you browse through it.



about:credits (chrome:credits)

The people and foundations and resources credited by Google for things that went into creating the Chrome browsers. You might be surprised how much stuff is here.

about:chrome (chrome:chrome)

Tells you the version number of Chrome and lets you know if you’re using an updated version.

Hope you as much fun with these as we did! What, EB? You didn’t have fun? Big Surprise! You never have fun!  

There is a plus to having a Gmail or Outlook account. Period.
All computer, tablet, and smartphone users

***This is an encore tip. Virginia wrote to us and asked us to feature this article again. It's about how to grow many email accounts (sort of) from one email account.***

We think everyone should have a Web mail account. We promise you - it will come in handy someday. For instance, you get a new computer and you have no mail program set up yet. Or if you buy a new tablet or smartphone. Or if your ISP's mail server goes down. (Sentence fragments! Yes, we know. Don't write us offering to edit for us; you will hurt Editor-in-Chief Darcy's feelings.) There are a lot of good reasons to have a Web mail account. Not only are they useful and convenient, they're free too. And while we're on the subject of too, there are two Web mail account we recommend - and one we don't. Of course, the number one choice - for us at least - is Gmail. We use it professionally and personally and over the years we've come to relay on it more and more. But we aware that some of you suffer from Googlephobia or for some reason you hate Google. If you are one of those, we recommend Outlook.com - the venerable old Microsoft's attempt to emulate Gmail. The one big Web mail outfit we think you should steer clear of is Yahoo. In our experience it appears Yahoo users are more easily compromised than are Google Gmail and/or Microsoft/Outlook.com.

In case you're wondering who that guy is over there to the left, it's not, as many believe, TC. His name is Abraham Tuwitze and he'll become important soon. You'll see.

Anyway, with all that said, now it's time to move into other things - period.

Most of us know we can use periods to create multiple Gmail addressing scenarios. For instance you.are.not.eb@gmail.com is the same as youarenoteb@gmail.com . And my.grammar.is.not.as.bad.as.you.think@gmail.com is the same asmygrammarisnot.as.bad.as.you.think@gmail.com and mygrammarisnotasbadasyouthink@gmail.com . Or, if you dare,I.dodge.the.n.s.a@gmail.com is the same i.dodge.the.nsa@gmail.com.

This is for Gmail users. Period.

However, do not try the above with Outlook.com accounts, or you’ll be sorry because you won’t get mail addressed to you that way and you’ll be wasting time thinking of clever email addresses. If you want clever, you want Gmail – you might still be able to get eb.rides.a.broom@gmail.com –if you hurry.

This is for Gmail + Outlook users.

You can plus your way to additional email accounts with Gmail and Outlook.com using a plus sign. So if you are writing the NSA (I don’t advise it) you can use YourUserName+NSA@gmail.com. For example AbrahamTuwitze+NSA@gmail.com or AbrahamTuwitze+NSA@outlook.com . See? This gives you zillions of new email addresses and only having one.

Think of the possibilities:

AbrahamTuwitze+Electric_company_complaint@gmail.com

AbrahamTuwitze+Cable_Company_Stinks@outlook.com

AbrahamTuwitze+Love_Cloudeight@gmail.com

AbrahamTuwitze+Love_Cloudeight@outlook.com

AbrahamTuwitze+General-Martins-Guns@outlook.com

AbrahamTuwitze+General-Martins-Guns@gmail.com

Got it? Use your imagination, just remember the first thing in your email address (before the + ) must be your real address.AbrahamTuwitze@gmail.com See? So Abraham can put anything after AbrahamTuwitze+ as long as the words are connected with dashes — or underscores ____ or periods … For example: AbrahamTuwitze+I-Love-the-NSA@outlook.com is the same as AbrahamTuwitze@outlook.com. See? Whatever you put after the + is up to you, but anyone can figure out your real email address because it’s what comes before the + that counts. See?

AbrahamTuwitze+EB.Rides.A.Broom@gmail.com

AbrahamTuwitze+EB.Rides.A.Broom@outlook.com

And so that should give you all kinds of ideas.

PS: In case you’re wondering about my casual use of capital and lowercase letters, let me remind you that:

eMaiLaDdresseSaReNotCASeSenSitiVE@I-tells-ya.com

PPS: If your name is Abraham Tuwitze and you get a lot of junk mail because of this, we’re sorry. If you send a donation we’ll remove this post from the Web.

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Obtain a List Of All User Accounts On Your Windows PC
Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10

Open a command prompt: On Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, press the Windows Key + X to open the Power menu and choose "Command Prompt". On Windows 7, type CMD in the start menu search and click it when CMD appears at the top.

Type the following command ( or copy & paste it) at the prompt it the Command Prompt window:

WMIC USERACCOUNT LIST FULL

Some stuff you probably want to know:

The first account listed is the Windows built-in administrator account. It's disabled by default, and unless you have some good reason to enable it, you should leave it disabled.

The second account listed is the system default account. And you know this because it says "A user account managed by the system." In Windows 10 this account sometimes manages Windows Technical Previews.

The last account listed is usually the account you use to log in to your computer.

Here's some info to help you understand the arcane stuff

AccountType=512
indicates a normal or regular accounts.

Disabled=TRUE/FALSE
This tells you whether or not the account is active or not.

PasswordChangable=TRUE/FALSE
This tells you whether you have authority to change the password of the account. True means you do, and false means you don't.

Now you know how to show a listing of all accounts on your PC. What do you think of that, EB?.

How to Control Windows 10 Notification Icons
Windows 10

One thing that makes Windows 10 stand out is that it offers a ton of customizable features – for instance Notification icons.. Those are the icons that appear in the area on the right-hand side of your taskbar (assuming your taskbar is at the bottom) next to the clock.

It’s easy to control what shows and doesn’t show up in the Notification portion of the taskbar – and we’re going show you just how easy it is.

— Right-click on any empty area of your taskbar and select “Properties”
— Click on Customize (see image below):

The Settings dialog will open to “System” “Notifications & actions” (see below):

Click on “Select which icons appear in on the taskbar…” (this will be in the notification area to the left of the clock).

If you want something to always show in the portion of the taskbar to the very left of the clock slide the on/off switch to On.
See below I switched “FastStone Capture” to On – so now it shows in my the area of my Taskbar near the clock – or what we generally call the Notification area.

And below you can see FastStone Capture now appears in the Notification area of the Taskbar:

And while we on the subject, don’t forget the little up arrow (circled in white above). This displays other hidden icons in the Notification area.

Now you know how to make icons show and how to hide icons in the Notification area of the taskbar.

Now go forth and keep customize your taskbar icons to suit you – not the suits at Microsoft.

Add custom toolbars to Windows 7, 8x or 10
Windows 7, 8.x, Windows 10

One trick we’ve been using for a number of years is turning our most-often-used folders into toolbars that can be accessed quickly and easily from the system tray (Notification area). This is one of the most useful tips ever and we should have shared this with you long ago – but better late than never, right?

If you have a folder you need to access often you can make that folder a toolbar. Or let’s say your desktop is covered with shortcuts and you find yourself using just a few of them all of the time. You can create a folder on your desktop and drag the shortcuts to the programs you use most often into it and then make it a toolbar. You can see in the example below that I’ve created a folder called MAIN DESKTOP — which keeps my most often used programs at my fingertips.


Right click on your taskbar and choose Toolbars –> New toolbar —> and choose a folder you want to make a toolbar. In this case, I chose the folder called MAIN_DESKTOP and made it into a toolbar. I can easily access it by clicking on the double arrows next to its name. Now I can quickly access my favorite programs quickly. You might want to make your Pictures folder a toolbar, or you MP3 collection folder into a toolbar. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.


See? I can quickly and easily access my most often-used programs and links (and my most used folder) just by clicking my spankin’ new Popular Programs toolbar.

Pretty slick, eh?

How to Find Your Windows !0 Product Key
Windows 10 

If you’re using Windows 10, you probably have no idea what your Windows product key is because you probably upgraded from a qualifying version of Windows (Windows 7 or Windows 8.1) so you never had to enter a product key. Would you like to know how to find your Windows 10 product key without using any software other than the Windows command prompt.

Here’s how:

Press the Windows Key + X key to open the power menu. Click on Command Prompt (Admin) to open it. Copy the following command…

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

and paste it at the cursor in the command window and press Enter…

There your go — and that’s that!

If you cannot get the command to work, you’re either not copying and pasting the command and you’re typing it in incorrectly or you were copying formatted text from this post. I’ve changed the formatting of this post to make the command easier to copy as plain text.

You cannot get your Windows product key from Control Panel / System. That is the Windows product ID.

If you’re looking for another way to get your Windows 10 Key, go to this page and download ProduKey by Nirsoft (be sure to download the correct version – there’s a 64-bit version) or just download the version with full install/uninstall support. The download links are near the bottom of the page.

If you see "BIOS" listed with your Windows 10 key, it means you won't need to enter a product key if you need to re-install Windows (on the same computer).

Reg Organizer - A Swiss Army Knife of Windows Utilities and Tools

Reg Organizer works on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The newest version of Reg Organizer has newly added special tweaks for Windows 10 - including a Windows 10 Start menu fix.

Get more information and or order Reg Organizer today and SAVE!

The First of Autumn

I woke up this morning and once the cobwebs were washed away by a strong cup of coffee, it suddenly occurred to me that today is the first day of autumn. It struck me as odd that summer has come and gone and I barely paid attention to it. I took my walks almost every day and some of those days were really steamy – I guess on those days it did occur to me that summer had settled in. But how can it be the first of autumn already?

It looks just like summer today – bright and sunny with cerulean-blue skies – and it’s pretty warm out, for sure. It looks like yesterday, but yesterday was not the first of autumn, it was the last day of summer. Summer drew its last breath early this morning, and now autumn reigns, but hardly anyone noticed. No doubt there are millions of people walking around today thinking it’s still summer – or not caring about the season, just obliviously enjoying the sunshine and the light warm winds of the first of autumn.

Of all the seasons, autumn is the sneakiest. It comes padding in on cat’s paws, dressed as summer, fooling everyone except those interested in astronomy, or calendar-watchers, or those counting the days until the end …or beginning of something.

As for me, I just don’t know how I feel exactly. I can tell you that autumn is one of my favorite seasons – but I sure don’t like where it leads me. Those dark, cold, lifeless, gray, windy, white days of winter are hiding not too far away...

Read the rest of this essay here.

INTRO PRICIING GOOD THROUGH THIS WEEKEND ONLY

Email on Windows 10 is becoming a problem for many. Microsoft is phasing out support for Microsoft email accounts (Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live.com, Live.ca, and MSN.com) in Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail is no longer being updated by Microsoft. Windows Mail on Windows 10 is a problem because every time Windows 10 has a major update, Windows Mail has to be reset. Plus, the Mail App included with Windows 10 is very basic and few people find it useful

Mozilla Thunderbird is a great alternative for those of you who have been using Windows Live Mail or Windows Mail on Windows 10 and who don't want to use the limited Windows 10 Mail App. Thunderbird is compatible with all email accounts, including all Microsoft accounts, Windows 10 updates don't affect it, and has the familiar look of Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail. However it's very different as far as setting it up and configuring it.

So we're offering our new Thunderbird Email set-up service.

Our new Thunderbird Email set-up service includes installing and setting up Thunderbird to look and work as much like Windows Live Mail / Windows Mail as possible. We'll configure up to 3 email accounts for you and set them up as IMAP so that all your mail messages and folders on your mail server(s) are included in your Thunderbird Email program too! Plus, we'll give you a list of tips & tricks to help you get the most out of Thunderbird Email program.

Our new Thunderbird Email Set-up Service begins on October 1, 2016. From now until then we'll be offering a special introductory price of just $25. (Intro price is good through September 25, 2016 only, regular price is $35). We'll start scheduling Thunderbird Set-up sessions starting the 1st of October on a first come, first served basis. So get your Cloudeight Direct Thunderbird Email Set-up Service key right now and put an end to the Windows 10 email merry-go-round. You'll save money and you'll be among the first to be scheduled - so don't wait!

GET MORE INFO AND SIGN UP FOR OUR NEW THUNDERBIRD EMAIL SETUP SERVICE RIGHT NOW! 

 Some Great Free Software  (If you don't mind a little hassle)

(All programs featured below work on Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10)

Some software developers try to monetize freeware by bundling it with PUPs, hijackers, and even malware. Others try to trick you into clicking a download link that doesn’t download the program you think you’re getting, but malware instead. Some developers just give away freeware – no strings, no PUPs, no bundles, just the goodies.

The site we’re featuring today wants your name and email address – of course you don’t have to give them your real name – you can say your first name is Flower and your last name is Mister. It won’t matter. While I don’t think these folks are spammers, if you don’t trust anyone, you can use one of the following sites to create a throwaway email address to use for things like this:

www.throwawaymail.com

https://www.mailinator.com/

https://www.guerrillamail.com/

So, you can be clever and keep your name to yourself and give sites a throwaway email address so you don’t end up getting newsletters or sales pitches you don’t want. And let me say that it’s been a week since I’ve installed software from this site and I’ve not yet seen any sales pitches or annoying emails – the only emails I’ve received were the emails with registration keys and download info. However, your experience may differ.

Now that we have all that out of the way, let me say that this company has been around for a long time. Back in our Cloudeight Stationery days their software CDs were popular in stores. Oh! How the world has changed. 

The company is Serif and they make a lot of good software related to scrapbooking, desktop publishing and photo editing. They tend to give away older, but still useful, versions of their software – and/or feature-limited versions.  We’ve tried a couple of them, and we think many of you will find some or all of their free products useful.

Here is a list of the free software Serif currently offers:

CraftArtist Compact

Download today and start crafting

CraftArtist Compact is available to download FREE from our dedicated digital scrapbooking site DaisyTrail.com. Download CraftArtist Compact now and you’ll soon be able to create beautiful digital craft projects without having to spend a penny on materials or wasting any time. This version is 100% free and is yours to keep!

PagePlus Starter Edition

Simple and free desktop publishing

• Desktop publishing made easy!

• Stunning stationery is so simple

• Easy drag and drop designing

• Layouts in a couple of clicks

• Precise and easy design tools

• Versatile desktop publishing

• Help is always on hand

DrawPlus Starter Edition

Free graphic design software

Create bespoke designs, logos, technical drawings, animations and so much more with our most complete and easy-to-use graphics studio yet.

Striking web graphics and animations
Web graphics and animations
Create pixel-perfect web buttons with rollover graphics that are HTML embedded as well as Flash banners that will instantly grab the attention of your visitors. Use keyframe or stop frame methods to capture movement frame-by-frame.

Authentic painting techniques
Authentic painting techniques
DrawPlus X6 includes a wide selection of watercolour, pastel, charcoal and other realistic-looking brushes. Photo-quality spray brushes allow you to add paint splats, glitter, flowers and many more decorative effects.

Achieve professional looking results
Achieve professional looking results
Achieve colour consistency across all the media you design and build up designs with layers. Enjoy creative options like Blend Modes and apply non-destructible Graphic Styles that make your designs stand out and shine.

PhotoPlus Starter Edition

Easy and free photo editing
Express your creativity for free!
Photo editing features that are so easy to use

Easily import and edit most image files
Restore classic family photos with ease
Use simple editing features like red eye and blemish removal
Turn photos in artwork with uncomplicated tools
Straighten and crop pictures in a couple of clicks
Incredibly easy to use

Photo adjustments made easy
Straighten and crop your photos to fit frames and collages and create stunning gifts or souvenirs.

Professional photo editing tools
Create perfect photos with tools for removing red-eye, blemishes and adjusting brightness and colours.

Restore old photos
Easily remove scratches, unwanted marks and creases with powerful Clone and Scratch Remover tools.

Descriptions (above) of the software products are from Serif.

There are even more free programs on this site -so you might want to check them out too. Just go to the Serif website  and click on PC Software on the menu at the top, then under “Free Software” you’ll find a list of all the free software offered by Serif, including the ones listed in this post.

So go on, go freeware hunting! Serif has a lot of good stuff...you can find it all here.

All About Your IP Address

 Your IP address is like your phone number. It’s a unique number assigned to you when you’re connected to the Internet. Your IP address can be static – that is fixed and unchanging – or it can be dynamic – meaning it changes every time you connect to the internet or semi-static meaning it changes from time to time.

Both of us have semi-static IP addresses that change every five or six months; your mileage may vary :)

Your IP address is logged by every Web site you visit and can be used to identify you right down to your city and country — and with a court order your name and address and phone number.

However, unless there is some reason for the authorities to issue a court order to find out who you are, IP addresses simply remain on Web server logs along with the time and date when you accessed the site(s). Every web server captures your IP address – and no ad-blocker or do-not-track or other browser extension which claims to keep your browsing private actually does.

Additionally, your ISP logs everything you do and everywhere you go on the Internet.

Well here, we’ll show you. Go to http://whatismyipaddress.com/  and click on the IP Lookup button at the top. Wait a few seconds. You can see that it shows a lot about you even -in most cases – the city and country you’re in and even your longitude and latitude.

There may be times when you’d like or need to know what your IP address is – or maybe you’re just curious. If you’re curious or need to know your IP address quickly, the fastest way to get your IP address is to go to www.google.com and type IP in the search box and press Enter. Immediately your IP address is displayed at the top.

If you want to find out more about yourself do an IP Lookup on your IP address. You can do that from http://whatismyipaddress.com/ or http://www.infosniper.net/ , Amazing and a bit scary too, eh?

Your IP address is essentially like a phone number. In order to get on the Web you have to have an IP address; your IP address is automatically assigned by your ISP. But just because you have an IP address doesn't mean some hacker or criminal is following you around or lurking in the shadows.

There is a lot more to IP addresses than we've covered here, but we don't want to turn into geek-heads and techno-jargonists :)

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These products and services are recommended and endorsed by Cloudeight:

Emsisoft Anti-Malware- The best anti-malware you'll find anywhere. Great protection -- both proactive and reactive. Learn more here.

Genie Timeline Home 2016- Backups made easy. Just install it, set it up and forget it. Genie will keep your backups up-to-date for you! Learn more here.

Reg Organizer-- A Swiss Army knife of PC tools. Easy for beginners to use -- with advanced features for experienced users too. Learn more here.

Cloudeight Direct Computer Care - Computer Repair Service-- And for computer repair, you can't beat our remote repair service. You never have to leave your home, take your computer anywhere or leave it with someone you don't know or trust. We can fix most computer problems and all you have to do is sit back and relax. Learn more here.

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Darcy & TC
Cloudeight InfoAve Premium - Issue #676
Volume 13 Number 49
September 23, 2016
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