Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly - A weekly computer publication featuring tips, tricks, website & freeware picks, answers to your computer questions and more!

Our newest Cloudeight Endorsed Email Program - Very Similar to Windows Mail & Outlook Express. Stationery works great!

Read more about OE Classic here!

Sandy is worried that the blazing speed of fiber optic cables will burn up her computer
I have a Dell Intel Core 13. 1T memory In April it will be 5 years old. Our phone company is putting in all fiber optic lines and going to hook up to my house/computer. I was wondering if this would burn up my computer. One of my friends said that it would burn up the hard drive. Is that true?

Our answer
Hi Sandy. Your friend is wrong. It's absolutely, positively, NOT true. If fiber optic cables burned up computers, half the world's computers would be burned up by now. And all of Amazon's and all of Google's servers (which are just specially configured computers) would be burned up. Fiber optic cables can carry more bandwidth faster. They deliver greater speeds and extra bandwidth; they don't deliver heat.

Sandy wrote back: "Thank you so much. Oh, what a relief. I have to quit listening to some of these people. I'm glad I know I can come to Cloudeight. Thank you, Sandy."

Mona has four email addresses and needs help sorting them out
Here I am again... I have 4 email addresses (Google), keeping business and personal accounts. Because I spend time moving from one Google account to another and trying to help my husband who doesn't like computers. Is there any way that one login will open the four accounts and keep them open until I physically close them? It would be so much easier than having to log in every time I have something to do on a different account.

Our answer
Hi Mona. The easiest option is to use a mail program like OE Classic, as all four accounts can be setup in the program, and all four will stay separate. Here is info page if you are interested in that see this page.

Another option, is to setup each in a different browser, i.e.., Edge, Chrome, Firefox. But still requires a lot of clicking.

You can also open each account in the browser's Incognito mode, also called In-Private mode/Private mode depending on the browser.

The third option is to have one Gmail account check the other three and creating a label to keep them separate. You should also set up the main Gmail account to send from any of the four when replying. This is an option in Settings for Gmail.

We hope this helps you, Mona.

Candace can't find our article about or recommended YouTube downloader
Hi there. I must have accidentally deleted the link you gave me for saving You Tube videos. Could you please send it to me again? In addition, would this link work with Facebook videos as well? Thanks much.

Our answer
Hi Candace. Here's the article you're looking for.

https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/youtube-downloader-extraordinaire/

According the developer of the program, it works with YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Tumblr, Flickr, TikTok and more.

We hope this helps you, Candace.

Earla wants to know what's using up her bandwidth
am using Networx to monitor my internet connections. Today I was receiving warnings that 200 MB/per min were being uploaded and shortly the DL registered 2.62 GB used - it had been around 1.5 GB when I started.

I just shut off my Turbo Hub to stop it. Is it possible to find out what (program?) specifically was suddenly using so much data?

I went to Windows Update to see if it registered anything new but saw no indication of something being interrupted if it was. Couldn't see anything within Networx topics that helped.

I sure would appreciate your thoughts on this because it does happen from time to time and I am on a limited data usage plan. I usually figure it is a windows update. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Our answer
Hi Earla. I had to look up "Networx" to find out what it is. I found that it measures your bandwidth consumption.

Windows 10 does that automatically, so there's no need to use a 3rd-party program. Windows Update uses bandwidth when it checks for updates and sometimes it downloads updates I've never used Networx so I'm not sure why it's not showing you exactly what is using your bandwidth/data.

However, if you read our article here, you'll see that Windows 10 keeps track of your data usage and shows you exactly what's using the most bandwidth (and the least bandwidth). If you follow the instructions in that article, you'll be able to see what is using that much bandwidth.

I hope this helps you, Earla. If not, just let us know.

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Kathy says Google's Results Previewer was working fine but not anymore
Up until the recent Google update, I was successfully using Google's Results Previewer. Now, I rarely get a preview, despite their advice to " try clearing your cache". I uninstalled/reinstalled 3 times --- still the same problem. I have the latest versions of Windows 10 & Google Chrome. Any suggestions? Kathy.

Our answer
Hi Kathy. Google Results Previewer is not a Google product; it is a Chrome extension and one I'm not familiar with. Did you try removing the extension, restarting Chrome, and reinstalling the extension. Here's a link to reinstall the extension.

If that does not work, try contacting the developer at jesse.rowee@gmail.com.

I hope this helps you, Kathy.

Melody wants to restore files from her Ashampoo backup
My old windows 7 pc finally died. I had Ashampoo backup installed. I now have Windows 10 PC and would like to restore my music files. I reinstalled Ashampoo Backup and configured it to create backups, but I can't figure it out how to restore my music from my backups.

Could this be done with a repair key? Thank you! I have been with you for years and have learned so much!

Our answer
Hi Melody. Here's a link to easy instructions for recovering files and folders from Ashampoo backups. This article shows you step-by-step how to recover your files and folders from your backup.

We no longer support Ashampoo Backup. We are currently recommending using Windows File History for backups. But if the Ashampoo article doesn't help you and you find you still need help recovering your music files, just let us know.

Attention Cloudeight SeniorPass Holders! Announcing our new SeniorPass Telephone Hotline Service

One of the tricks scammers and other miscreants use is to disguise links, either with text, or a link that looks safe but isn't. We have said many times that it's really important that you think before you click. One of the things you need to think about, is counterfeit links - that is links that look safe or text that disguises the destination of the links. By hovering over a link, you can see the real deal - the real link - uncloaked and not disguised.

But it recently came to our attention that some folks, when they hover over links, don't see the "real" URL to which the link will take them. It seems so simple, we simply forgot to tell people where to look to see the real URL.

In order to make sure everyone knows how to reveal the real URL by hovering over any link, we made the animation above. You can watch as the mouse pointer hovers over the link and how the actual URL is displayed at the bottom left.

This is an important tip - it is a fundamental tip that can help you stay safe on the Web. And remember - always THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!

How to Put Your Favorite Websites on Your Desktop, Taskbar, or Start Menu
Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 and Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers

Note: This tip was written for the Chrome browser on Windows 10 (any version). We’ve also added instructions for Microsoft Edge users. If you’re using Firefox, IE, Opera or other browsers, you can drag the URL from the address bar to your desktop.

If you use Chrome and you’d like to put a shortcut on your desktop or taskbar to Facebook, Gmail, Outlook.com, Twitter, Cloudeight InfoAve or any of your favorite sites, it’s super easy to do.

In Chrome, visit the site you want to create a shortcut to. Click on the settings icon (3 vertical dots) at the top right corner of Chrome. Click “More tools” then click “Create shortcut…”. That’s it!

For this tip, I’ve added three of the sites I visit most often: Outlook.com, Gmail and Cloudeight InfoAve…

And there they are. I named them as I wanted – but you can leave the names as they are or change them to whatever you want by right-clicking on the file and choosing “Rename”. (Listen… do you want to know a secret? if you awant fast, easy way to rename a file or folder, highlight it and press the F2 key.)

Now if I want any of those shortcuts on my taskbar, all I have to do is right-click on one and choose “Add to taskbar”. See?

I’ve added Cloudeight InfoAve Tips & Tricks web site and the Gmail account I used most to my taskbar. It’s quick and easy. Try it! You can also right-click on the shortcut and choose “Pin to Start” which pins the shortcut to your Windows 10 Start menu.

If you’re using Edge on Windows 10 you can do this. Click on the 3-horizontal dots "hamburger" icon in the top right corner of Edge. Scroll down the menu that appears and click "More tools". You can then select "Pin to taskbar" or "Pin to Start".

The FAST Way to Check Your Internet Speed & More Speed Stuff
All browsers, all operating systems

A while back, I had some internet connection issues and my ISP recommended I use Ocala Speed Test at https://speedtest.net/ to check my Internet speed. But Speedtest.net has so become overgrown with advertisements and extraneous stuff. The Speedtest page is too cluttered. I don’t like clutter. I want to see my Internet speed, not a bunch of other junk.

About the time I was haggling with my ISP over my Internet connection speed, we found a site that is as accurate as Speedtest, but without all the clutter and page detritus. It’s called FAST.com and that it is. Whether your Internet connection is fast or not, FAST can tell you.

FAST is owned by Netflix. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, depends on how you view Netflix. One good thing about Netflix owning FAST.com is that they don’t need to cover the page in ads, they just raise the price of Netflix subscriptions!

Seriously –The next time you want to check your Internet speed without viewing a bunch of advertisements and other page clutter, try checking your Internet speed at FAST.com.

Cloudeight InfoAve

What can I say? My aging eyes have no problems reading that. And though that’s only my download speed, it’s what most of us want to see when we want to know how fast our internet connection is.

But if you’re the kind who yearns to know more, no problem. Just click “Show more info”.

Cloudeight InfoAve

You’ll see my download speed is 70-73 Mbps and my upload speed is 9.8 Mbps. My speed is supposed to be 100 Mbps, according to my ISP. However, my router is in a corner room of my house, quite a distance from the laptop I’m using. If I had more motivation, I’d move the router to a more central location and then I’d get speed closer to the 100 Mbps speed I’m paying for.

And now some words from FAST.com…

What is FAST.com measuring?

FAST.com speed test gives you an estimate of your current Internet speed. You will generally be able to get this speed from leading Internet services, which use globally distributed servers.

Why does FAST.com focus primarily on download speed?

Download speed is most relevant for people who are consuming content on the Internet, and we want FAST.com to be a very simple and fast speed test.

What about ping, latency, upload and other things?

When you click the “Show more info” button, you can see your upload speed and connection latency (ping). FAST.com provides two different latency measurements for your Internet connection: “unloaded” and “loaded” with traffic. The difference between these two measurements is also called “bufferbloat”…

About Mbps and MBps

For the record, Mbps is different from MBps. Mbps is “Megabits per second” not “Megabytes per second”. So, what’s the difference? We are thrilled you asked:

A Megabit is one-eighth as big as a Megabyte. This means that to download a one MB file in one second you would need a download speed of 8 Mbps.

Just remember that Mbps means megabits per second – not megabytes per second.

But let’s not get all caught up in this stuff. The next time you want to check your Internet speed just go to www.fast.com – and you’ll see how fast (or slow) your connection really is.

Don’t be afraid to call your Internet Service Provider (ISP)

And if you think your speed is slower than it should be considering the big bucks you’re paying your Internet provider, call them and ask them what speed you’re paying for. If your speed is not up to snuff, have them check your lines and equipment. Most ISPs will do that for you free of charge.

We’re all getting old. I was going to use EB as an example for this article, but one shouldn’t pick on his elders. So, we’ll leave EB out of this.

When my dad was in his 80’s when I asked him how he was doing he would say, “I’m still breathing. It beats the alternative.” I’m not exactly sure how he knew what the alternative was or what it offered, but I’m not oft inclined to engage in philosophical or religious discourse.

Anyway, all of us are getting old. But I’m sure you never realized how old you’re really getting.

In this example, I’m using Humphrey Elliot. A completely imaginary guy I conjured up from Humphrey Bogart and Elliot from the movie “ET”, which, by the way, is not the past tense of “eat”.

When you go to our site pick, “You’re getting old“, you’ll be given a choice of doing the calculations for yourself or a friend. For your amusement, my imaginary friend Humphrey Elliot will be our guinea pig.

Note the birthdate is “everywhere-else-in-the-world-but-the-USA” style. That is, it is Day/Month/Year and not Month/Day/Year.

I know, for a fact, that Humphrey was born on 22 JUNE 1950. So, I input his birthdate and click “Go”… and away we go!

It tells Humphrey something, if he’s anything like me, he already knows. He knows he’s getting old. He does not need a website to tell him that. He knows because he grunts when he sits down and putting his pants on is not as easy as it used to be. I’m just sayin’…

And this website continues to rub it in. For instance, in Humphrey’s impressive lifetime, he has blown out 2,485 birthday candles, his cholesterol-clogged heart has beaten 2,580,108, 279 time – and counting. The moon has orbited the earth 945 times and Humphrey is hoping for at least 1000.

And speaking of numbers I cannot fathom, it looks like Humphrey has moved around quite a bit – as all of us do as we ride the wild earth as it spins around the sun, and the sun travels around the galaxy, and the galaxy travels through the universe toward the “great attractor” (well, that’s what it says).

And those of you who are not believers in the metric system will note that all the distances are in km or kilometers. To get miles out of kilometers use Google or multiply the number of kilometers by 1.609. It’s OK, Windows has a calculator built in. Just type CALC in the taskbar search – you’ll see.

And if you need more stuff to make your friend or you feel old, this site will cater to that need by providing you with all sorts of things that have happened during your lifetime.

And if you’re still with me, this site adds one more thing to let you know, without a doubt that you’re getting old. Humphrey is both dismayed and relieved to know that about 29% of people born in 1950 have kicked the bucket. On the bright side, about 71% still roam the earth. Lucky for us, Humphrey lives on.

Winter in Farm Country

It’s been brutally cold here for a brutally long time. I haven’t seen the ground for weeks – it’s been buried under a foot of snow. It’s boring here in farm country in winter. And this year, with the pandemic still in full vigor, it’s even more boring – if that is even possible.

The list of things I can safely do is shrinking.

However, some folks find plenty to do indoors. Recently I saw a crowd of people standing around in Walmart watching Walmart “team members” put up St. Patrick’s Day decorations right next to those big, red hearts and boxes of Valentine’s chocolates – which will soon be living in the “reduced for quick sale” bin.

I can imagine that it will be fun watching those heart-shaped boxes being unceremoniously dumped into the “I am not wanted” bin. I think there must be something deep and profound in all of that, but for the life of me, I can’t put my finger on it.

Maybe my mind is not working so well anymore – that’s if it ever did...

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OE Classic Email program. The email program that is most like Outlook Express. We can even set it up for you. Get more details here.

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