Some people have been getting an error message "An Unknown Error has Occurred" in Outlook Express ANSWER ............we want you to know we've tried to get a definitive answer about what's going to happen to Outlook Express and its successor on Windows Vista "Windows Mail". While blogs, newsgroups, and discussion groups are replete with rumors and hearsay, we've yet to get a definitive answer from the anyone "in the know" at Microsoft. We did find an answer, and we're guessing the days of Outlook Express and Windows Mail are limited, but if you can figure out exactly what all this means - you're smarter than we are! First we'll try to answer your question about Windows Live Mail replacing Windows Mail in Vista (and Outlook Express on Windows XP) and then we'll tell you how we'd fix your problem with "stuck messages" in your Vista Windows Mail outbox (which is, from what we've found, a very common problem). First. let's address your concerns about Windows Live Mail replacing Windows Mail in Windows Vista (and Outlook Express users, don't you go breathing easier, because according to what we've been able to ascertain, Windows Live Mail will replace your beloved Outlook Express too). This answer comes courtesy of a Microsoft spokeswoman. The question was "Does Windows Live Mail and/or Windows Live Hotmail replace Windows Mail on Windows Vista machines and Outlook Express on Windows XP?" The answer: "Windows Mail remains resident on PC, but Windows Live Mail replaces the shortcuts. When you use Windows Live Mail for the first time, it brings over your settings/email info from Windows Mail, or the previous client so you don't need to reconfigure or re-set all of your accounts. You will be able to now add one or more Windows Live Hotmail accounts for free - and when you do so we'll light up additional features of Windows Live Mail. Windows Mail (client on Vista) does not automatically import your Windows Live Hotmail (on the web) settings/contacts/e-mail. It does not turn into Windows Live Hotmail. Windows Live Mail (the client) will import these things when installed." To further muddy the waters, Microsoft issued this press release on May 6, 2007. Huh? What does all that mean? Does it mean we'll still have Windows Mail on Windows Vista but it will really be Windows Live Mail and we won't be able to tell the difference. Does it mean Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail will peacefully co-exist? We hate to speculate but is sure looks like Microsoft is trying to ease the pain of saying in a few months all of us using Windows XP (Outlook Express) and Windows Vista (Windows Mail) will be nuzzled gently (and unknowingly) into using Windows Live Mail with its close ties to MSN/Hotmail and we're not sure we like that idea very much. Do you? We like the idea of having a stand-alone mail client that doesn't have any affection for or affiliation with any "live" web mail. We can see some serious privacy issues coming. Not that Microsoft would be foolish enough to start placing MSN or Hotmail advertisements in our private mails, but what about other not-so-savory applications out there on the Web frontier. The must be salivating at this thought. And as most of your know, many unsavory types out there are operating as legitimate, public companies And many tricksters, we are betting, would love to get into the live web interface that will ultimately be established when Windows Live Mail and all the MSN/HOTMAIL associations it brings to the table, replaces Outlook Express and Windows Mail. Well, that is, if that ever really happens. Here's some other articles you can read where you can learn more about the Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, Outlook Express, Windows Mail issue: http://liveside.net/blogs/main/archive/2007/05/07/windows-live-hotmail-launches-worldwide.aspx http://www.windows-now.com/blogs/robert/archive/2007/05/06/alas-windows-mail-we-hardly-knew-ye.aspx Now, if we were able to walk into your house and lay our hands on your computer this is exactly how we'd deal with your "stuck outbox" problem: Before you begin makes sure Windows Mail is not open and not running! Create a restore point. Click Start, then type System Restore in the search form at the bottom of your start menu *it's the fastest way to find System Restore :) . Click Start Click "Computer" then navigate to C:\ Users \ your user name\local\microsoft\Windows Mail\Local Folders Find the Outbox folder and save any messages you find there (they will be in *.eml format) to another location. We suggest you create a folder in "Documents" called "Saved Outbox Mail" or something that will help you identify the contents. You could also save them to a folder on your desktop. But make sure you save them somewhere that you can easily find them. After you've saved all the messages in your Outbox to another location, delete the emails in your Outbox folder by right-clicking each one and deleting them one-by-one. Don't select them all and delete them, delete them one at a time. After you've done that and all emails are removed, delete the file called winmail.fol . When you restart Windows Mail it will recreate this folder automatically. It will be empty and nothing will be stuck in it. Now to resend the emails that were stuck in it previous to this "fix" navigate to the folder where you saved all the emails that were "stuck" in your outbox. Click on the first one and it will open in Windows Mail. Now click "Send". It should send without any problems. If so, do the same with the next email, and the next one until they are all sent. After all the emails you saved have been sent, you can delete the folder and all its contents. All the mails you've sent can be found in your "Sent" folder. So there would be no reason to keep the emails you've saved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT ARE HOTKEYS Go to http://thundercloud.net/infoave/answers/2007/hotkeys.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT HACKERS KNOW AND YOU DON'T KNOW!! What Hackers Know That You Don't - Part One Windows All Versions This is not a tip to teach you to be a hacker. This is a tip to make you aware of things you might not know - but hackers do. The more you know what lurks out there on the Web the less you'll be afraid of the boogeyman. Sometimes the bogeymen you imagine skulking around the in the dark are pathetic creatures when exposed to the light of day. Our goal is to shine the light on these "bogeymen" so you can see what you're up against. Knowledge is always your best weapon. Let's cover three things that hackers know that you probably don't. We'll show you a couple tools hackers use, and we'll show you where they get them. Please don't download these kinds of programs. They are very difficult to use. Besides that, we have not checked them and we don't know if they are full of badware, malware or spyware. The only goal of this tip is to let you know that there are things out there you probably never knew existed. And you can will see as your read more of this article that there are some pretty nasty stuff floating around on the Web. But then again, if you read the news, there has always been some pretty nasty stuff floating around in the real world too. It's nothing new. But the odds are in your favor, you are very unlikely to ever see the cyber-bogeyman. Hac/king Web Sites There's a tool called ObiWan. It is a password-stealer. It is used to crack passwords of password-protected sites and servers. That means that all of us who have Web sites are vulnerable to this sort of software. Many Web sites are hacked every day. But you may never hear about them because they are not the popular sites you probably know. Sites get hacked all the time - and every once in awhile it happens to a very popular site, like the Super Bowl site last January. Hackers use tools like ObiWan to crack sites. Then, they can, if they wish compromise the files on those sites. Then innocent folks like us come along and download something unexpected. A trojan perhaps. Maybe a virus. Maybe a tricky piece of spyware. That's why it's so important that you keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware up-to-date. It's also important that you have more than one anti-spyware program on your computer. And, it's a good rule of thumb to say away from off-the-wall sites which exist on the dark fringes of the Internet, such as por/n sites, gambling sites, known adware/spyware sites, and other not-so-nice sites. We cannot put a link to the ObiWan site in this newsletter simply because so many ISPs would probably censor this newsletter. If you really feel a need to learn more about it, do a Google Search for ObiWan password stealer (leave the forward slashes out, of course). Harvesting Email Addresses Like Yours Many of us get lots of sp*am. Sp*am has become so much a part of Internet life that we have come to take it for granted. We wish it wasn't that way. But, then again, we wish people wouldn't murder each other. We wish that peace on earth would become a reality. We wish that young children wouldn't ever have to go through a terminal illness. Wishing, unfortunately, doesn't do much good but prove that wishing doesn't do much to change the way things are. (Aren't you glad we go off on these philosophical tangents right in the middle of an article about Hac/king?) If you've ever wondered how that infamous lot we refer to as "spamm/ers" get our email addresses so easily, we're going to tell you some software applications used by spa/mmers called "harvesters". We'll also touch on a couple other ways they get your email addresse(s). A "Harvester" is a program that "spiders" Web sites looking for email addresses. Any email addresses it finds in those web sites it collects and stores them in a database. Among these addresses may be yours and mine. Some of you have personal Web sites. Did you know that when you include a link so people can contact you, your email address is vulnerable to harvesters? It is inevitable that an email harvester will come along at some point and "spider" your personal Web site or Web page and "harvest" your email address. You might sign a guest book and include your email address as part of your "comments". The Harvesters will get it. And entire Web sites can be "spidered" and email addresses gathered from them in a matter of seconds. Email addresses are all over the Web. On Web sites, on mail servers, on ISP hard drives. Harvesters can spider thousands of Web sites in a very short time and gather up every email address it finds. One tool that is not specifically an email harvester, but has the harvester's capability of extracting all email addresses from Web sites, is called "Blackwidow". And there are dozens of others too. Blackwidow must be a very popular one, because many hackers and spa/mmers seems to recommend it. In fairness to the developers of "Blackwidow", the program was not meant to be used as a hac/king tool. Once you read more about it, you'll see why hackers love it. Email addresses are bought and sold like any other commodity of value. Spammers make millions of dollars a year spa/mming people. And, furthermore, it's easy to do. Easy money is a very hard-to-resist lure for those willing to take the risk. While most sites, that require your email address to sign up for something, have strict policies about selling or sharing your email addresses, others such as spyware and adware makers do not. You don't think a spyware/adware maker really cares what you think, do you? They're already doing unethical things by using your computer as a billboard and extracting data from you, so why would you think they'd not make a ton of extra money by selling your email address or "sharing" it with others? If not spa/mmers they'll share it with their advertisers. And these advertisers then might share it with spa/mmers. Valid email addresses are worth a lot of money. One sure way of increasing your sp/am is to allow adware or spyware to reside on your computer. If you like sp*am, install a lot of adware and spyware. You'll have a feast of sp*am in a few months. Here's another way your email address ends up in a spammers hands: Did you ever subscribe to a magazine where they ask for your email address, so you fill it in? Did you ever look closely at those sign-up postcards? Most don't have any privacy policies stated on the subscription postcard you fill out and send in. What do you think will happen with your email address in those cases? Well, one thing that could and probably will happen is that your email address will be sold to "email marketers". Then these email marketers will sell lists of millions of email addresses (including yours and mine) they've purchased to sp*ammers. It might not be the primary company you give your email address too that will increase your sp/am, it will be the second and third line companies who buy addresses from the company you trusted with your email address. When sp*ammers buy lists of millions of valid email addresses, they sell these lists to other sp*ammers. And you know where this all ends. It ends with your inbox full of sp*am. One important note: There are many fine companies that will not share your address or sell your address for any amount of money. They don't share their mailing lists with anyone. We have never shared our lists with anyone and we never will. Beware of the companies that say the won't share your email address with any third party without your permission. What constitutes permission is the catch. "Permission" when used in that way, can be anything. It's subjective. Beware of sites that say they won't share your address without your permission. Virus Construction Kits You can go to Home Depot and buy a kit and build a greenhouse or a storage barn. Kits are handy ways for those without all the skill necessary to build things from scratch, to build storage barns, greenhouses, etc. from kits. But, would you be surprised to learn that there are sites out there selling (and giving away) Virus Construction Kits? Indeed there are. And, they're not hard to find. If you are a miscreant with some computer skills but not enough to build a virus/worm from the "ground up", a Virus Instruction Kit can help you build a virus or worm. After you've built your brand new virus or worm, and added your own personal "touches", they will even tell you how to disseminate it, so you can infect the largest number of computers in the least amount of time. Here's a good explanation of Virus Construction Kits from Addison-Wesley: "Virus writers continuously try to simplify the creation of virus code. Because most viruses were written in Assembly language, writing them remained out of reach for many kids. This inspired virus writers to create generators that can be used by just about anyone who can use a computer. Virus construction kits evolved over the years as viruses targeted new platforms. Construction kits and virus mutators were built to generate a wide variety of malicious code, including DOS COM and EXE viruses; 16-bit Windows executable viruses; BATCH and Visual Basic Script viruses; Word, PowerPoint, and Excel viruses; mIRC worms; and so on. Recently, even PE virus code can be generated by such kits....." You'll be thrilled to know there are such things as Trojan Construction Kits too! Knowledge Is Always Your Best First Line of Defense We wrote this article, not to scare you, but to inform you. There are billions of computers connected to the Internet. The chances of your computer being singled out for attack is small. The chances go up dramatically if you install adware or spyware. Or if you visit the "wrong" kinds of sites (and you know what I mean). Or if you click links in emails and you aren't sure where the email came from. Knowledge is a great thing. The more you know the safer you are. Still you need to keep a good anti-virus program installed and updated. You should make sure your anti-virus program is updated at least once a week. You should install at least two good anti-spyware programs. At least one of them should be commercial-grade like Spyware Doctor. Spyware Doctor can detect and remove most keyloggers. For a secondary anti-spyware program we recommend Spybot Search & Destroy which is free. But more than any program you can use, and more important for your safety, is educating yourself and learning how the dark side thinks and how they operate. And that was the main thrust of this "tip".

An interesting article, as usual, Chris and Caroline. Thanks for sharing it with us. Can I add that I have a yahoo mail address specifically for using on the net. So whenever I need to use an e mail address, unless I am really sure of the site I use the yahoo one. They have a bulk mail box which most of the spam goes straight into I can then delete the whole box. Some spam does go into the normal yahoo inbox but that can reported as spam. Hope the above is useful to list members. Regards Maureen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris & Caroline" <crhayles@btinternet.com> To: "royal-signals@yahoo" <royal-signals@yahoogroups.com>; "Herford Group" <HF-R-Sigs@yahoogroups.com>; "HAMPSHIRE-LIFE" <HAMPSHIRE-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 4:03 PM Subject: [HAMPSHIRE-LIFE] windows tips and tricks > Some people have been getting an error message "An Unknown Error has > Occurred" in Outlook Express > - Special message from TalkTalk - Please help in the search for Madeleine McCann Madeleine's aunt, Philomena McCann, has devised an email poster as she fears that Madeleine may have been taken to Spain where the girl's disappearance has generated less attention. You can download the poster from here http://news.aol.co.uk/web-appeal-over-missing-madeleine/article/20070510063809990001. Anyone with information should contact the Portuguese police direct on 00 351 282 405 400 (international call rates apply) or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.