WebDevelopersNotes.com archives for 2009 December

Hotmail asks to verify account each time

Posted on December 25, 2009 under Hotmail  |  7 Comments

From time to time, Hotmail may ask subscribers to verify their accounts. Typically, users are made to solve a Human Interaction Proof (HIP) puzzle whenever they send an email. The challenge entails deciphering characters that only a real person could interpret and this helps in protecting the Hotmail service from spammers armed with automated programs that abuse the system by sending tons of unsolicited email. For more information, please what is CAPTCHA and why is it so important.

Hotmail asking you to verify the email account

Unfortunately, you cannot turn off the Hotmail verification but its frequency may decrease when the system realizes that you are an actual human user and not an automated program. As far as I know, such a verification issue hasn’t been reported from the two other popular email services – Gmail and Yahoo – but I may be wrong.

I am a new user – why does Hotmail ask me to verify account each time?

Only the Hotmail staff know why certain accounts get the HIP challenge. However, based on the feedback I’ve received, it’s generally the new users who are asked to verify their Hotmail accounts but this doesn’t mean that old accounts are spared! Here are a few theories (mine, of course):

Hotmail urges its users to solve these HIP puzzles as they help the fight against spammers. For detailed help with screenshots on how to do this quickly, please read Windows Live email account verification. However, if you are a genuine user and are plagued with this issue, contact the Hotmail staff or post your concerns on the windowslivehelp.com web site – maybe you can get the verification challenge removed manually.

By the way, don’t get conned by a phishing email that threatens you to verify your Hotmail accounts – read that for more info.

How many emails can I have?

Posted on December 19, 2009 under Email  |  4 Comments

I am a middle-aged person and have been using an email for a long time. I have been quite happy with the service… but all my emails come to this one account. I wanted to know how many emails can I have because I am involved in a lot of community service and local businesses. Ideally, I would like to segregate emails from different senders into separate accounts.
Elaine Randolph

In all the years of teaching people about the internet and the web, I’ve learnt that it’s not the ‘fear’ of digital technology but misinformation that holds most of them back. The newly initiated somehow get this notion that they can have only one email address at one time. This is completely false! You can have as many emails addresses as you can handle… there is nothing stopping you from creating multiple emails as long as you are able to manage the several accounts. We’ll first take a quick look at some of the free services through which you can get an email and then explore the option of creating your very own email address.
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Put image in email message

Posted on December 18, 2009 under Email, Images & photos, Internet Tips, Windows Live Mail  |  1 Comment

Hey, I wanted to know if it’s possible to put an image in an email – I mean directly embed an image in message and not as an attachment. Can this be done?

As you probably know, any digital file can be sent with email. The standard practice is to send the file (or files) as an email attachment. But is there a way to put an image “inside” an email message and not as an attachment? Yes, there is! In fact there are many! And in this post I shall be detailing two methods to do this with links to a few more!
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Internet Explorer home page does not change – problem

Posted on December 18, 2009 under Internet Tips  |  1 Comment

I have a perplexing and persistent problem with Internet Explorer. It’s related to changing of the home page. I read your tip on how to change the home page in Internet Explorer but it doesn’t work for me. This is driving me nuts as I would really like to have Google and Gmail as the two home pages in Internet Explorer. Could you please help me out?
Ahmed Adem

All popular web browsers, including Internet Explorer which comes bundled with the Windows operating system, let you set up one or more home pages. FYI, the home page is the page that’s displayed when one starts the program. I’ve detailed how to change the Internet Explorer home page in another article and based on the comments received, I learnt that a few users have been unsuccessful in implementing the tip. The problems range from users not being able to change the settings or the settings being changed unexpectedly. Sometimes, even though the home page has been changed, it reverts back to what it was once the computer has been restarted. Though, it’s not possible to pin-point the exact problem without checking the computer myself, I offer a few suggestions as below:
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Email from myself – how?

Posted on December 18, 2009 under Email, Internet Tips  |  Leave a comment

Hey, I received an email from myself today. How is that possible? It smelled fishy so I junked it IMMEDIATELY. I wanted to know how someone can use my account to send emails?
Melinda

Melinda, great going. Most recipients would have been too perplexed to act quickly… like you did. The email was not just “fishy” but could have been a phishing scam or (more likely) carried a virus or a worm. Coincidently, the next day of receiving your message I too got an email myself and below is a screenshot of what landed in my inbox.
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Reset Internet Explorer

Posted on December 17, 2009 under Internet Tips  |  Leave a comment

Internet Explorer does not work properly on my laptop. The problem started the day after my son used it. I used to have Yahoo as the home page but its now been changed. The browser also behaves erratically and at times shows pop-ups. I liked Internet Explorer the way it was but am now thinking of changing to Chrome after reading your great reviews. What do you suggest?
Monica Pierce

I am a big Google browser fan and, yes, I will recommend you download and install Chrome on your computer. But if you (or other readers) prefer Internet Explorer and just want to iron out problems, here is a simple solution that even greenhorns can implement quickly. All you need to do is reset Internet Explorer and it will go back to the factory settings.
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