Category Archives: Internet and Networking

Questions and answers on Internet use, connectivity, networking and the Web

Q. On July 9th, my machine stopped finding websites. What’s wrong?

There was a nasty piece of malware a couple of years ago called DNSChanger, which redirected your web browser to advertising sites instead of where you wanted to go. It did this by changing the DNS Server defaults of your … Continue reading

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Q. What is my router’s address?

There are two addresses associated with a router, there is the external WAN (Wide Area Network) address that it  gets from the broadband modem, which is what webservers and the outside Net sees. To find your WAN IP address, you … Continue reading

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Q. I can only get one machine to work on the Internet through my DSL modem?

A broadband account, whether it is a DSL modem or a Cable modem, usually only gives you one IP address, so only one machine can go on the internet. The answer is to get a router.  A router takes the … Continue reading

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Q. My computer won’t attach to my WiFi router?

Troubleshooting steps for WiFi connections: First of all, make sure that you know the router’s network name (SSID), and the password (WPA key). If you don’t know these, ask the owner of the router.  If you are the owner and … Continue reading

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Q. Can I use images from Google Images on my website?

Copyright and you: To start with, all images (photographic, moving picture, painted, sculpted or drawn) and texts (books, song lyrics) – are covered by national and international copyright law. This is automatic as soon as the image is created. Copyright … Continue reading

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Q. I have received an email – how can I tell if it is spam?

Mass-Email marketers work on the theory that it costs next to nothing to send a million emails, so if only one in 100,000 people is unwary enough to reply or act on their spam, then they are making money.  Unfortunately, … Continue reading

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Q. Someone knows my IP address and email. Can they hack my computer?

You don’t get hacked just because someone knows your IP address – you get hacked if your machine has malware on it or if you have left services open to the public or if someone has obtained the username and … Continue reading

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Q. How do I set up a website? Is it free?

To create a website, you will need to know a few basics about how Web (HTML) pages work, or use a website service or blogging service that gives you templates and allows you to create a web site just by … Continue reading

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Q. What does it mean to clean a cache?

Your web browser caches (keeps local copies on your hard drive of) many of the pages and graphics it downloads as you are browsing the Web. This makes it faster to reload the same page when you return to it … Continue reading

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Q. When you register on a website, do they know your IP address?

Yes, they know your IP address and a lot more without you having to register or enter any information. Your IP address is sent to the webserver with every page and file request that you make on the Web. That’s … Continue reading

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Q. What is Smart HDD and why does it say I have errors?

Do not proceed with anything!  Quit or Force Quit your browser, or it it isn’t possible to quit, shut your machine off.  Smart HDD is a scam – it is malware that mimics a legitimate repair or testing program – … Continue reading

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Q. What memory and hard drives fit my iBook G3/G4?

There are several models of iBook, the G3 models use PC66 or PC100 memory and the G4 models use DDR memory. Below is a list of all models. iBooks take 2.5″ IDE hard drives up to 120 GB in capacity. … Continue reading

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Q. My computer says it has cookies, is that bad?

Cookies are not malware. They are small text files that are written to your hard drive by your Web browser.  There will be a separate batch of cookies for each different web browser program you run (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, … Continue reading

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Q. Someone called me from my internet provider and told me my machine needed to be fixed?

Hang up the phone immediately.  This is a scam. (Never believe a phone caller. If your service provider really needed to contact you, you could hang up and call them back on their support phone number, which you can easily … Continue reading

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Q. How do I block a particular domain or keep my children away from undesirable websites?

The first step is always to create and Administrative login account on the computer, which the children do not have the password for.  Change the login account(s) the children use to Standard or limited privileges to prevent them from installing … Continue reading

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