Clean up Your Email

I established my Yahoo email account many years ago. In those days, email was something to look forward to, usually a nice correspondence with a friend or family member. Boy have times changed. My account now receives upwards of 500 spam messages weekly, and most of the messages I receive are certainly not from family and friends, which is what used to make reading email fun. Can we get back to the way it used to be? Probably not, but we can "get to the good stuff" quicker with a few tweaks to the system.

Create and use a "junk mail" account. That one time I used my email address for something and didn't UN-tick the box next to "receive special offers" was the point of no return. My Yahoo account has become my catch-all “junk mail” account. I give out this email address to every Tom or Harry website that requires me to enter an email address to use their site. This way if I am signed up for a "member newsletter," or if the company wants to send me their "Internet-only special deals," they all go to one place. I then created a pristine special email address that only the important people in my life know, and I don't give it out to anyone else. In this way, I have a personal email address that is junk-free. Ahhhh.


Use disposable addresses. If you need a quick email address and you don't care about getting a response or keeping a record of correspondence, Mailinator (www.mailinator.com) is your answer. It's a public mail service, meaning there is zero privacy, but who cares about that when we're talking about spam, right? Simply create any email name you like and attach it to @mailinator.com. Any mail sent to that email address is publically-accessible on Mailinator's site, so you can view it if you like and forward it to your "real" email address if it turns out to be important. No passwords or sign-up required. A few things to note: all mail is deleted within a few hours so if there’s a chance you’ll need to view a reply message, you probably shouldn't use Malinator. Also, all attachments are removed from incoming mail. Good for stripping viruses, but lousy if someone sends you something important.

Use automatic filtering and sort incoming messages quickly. Most email programs have options for automated message filtering. Sort specific senders into special folders you set up, or color code them within your inbox so important threads grab your attention faster. Try sorting important contacts into an “Act Now” folder and have subscriptions or coupon offers sort to category folders you create like “shopping,” “school news,” or “recipes.” I’ve got mine set up to automatically move mail from certain senders right to the trash. The options are really endless. Thunderbird (www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/) is a free email application that can help you sort out several email mailboxes in one easy location. Have Thunderbird sync all your email addresses so that all your mail is in one place, and then use its advanced sorting features to consolidate and organize all your messages so you only have to login once to see everything, or at least everything you want to see.

Cut down on clutter. Once you’ve reviewed an email, make sure that you either sort it into a folder or delete it. If you don't use your Inbox as your storage area it won’t get so crowded and overwhelming. Don't forget to clean out your folders periodically too. Use the view options to sort messages by date and/or sender to purge quickly. You probably don't need to save that email you got from your sister in 2009, or the purchase confirm for the toaster that you tossed out last spring. Turn off social media notifications. Sign up for Facebook and Twitter and suddenly you're being spammed by them too. Yikes! Shut it down by going into the settings for each one and turning off email notifications for everything you possibly can. You really don't need to be notified within the application that you've got a new message and then receive an email that you've got a new message. Wow, that's a lot of notification!

Clean up Your Email

I established my Yahoo email account many years ago. In those days, email was something to look forward to, usually a nice correspondence with a friend or family member. Boy have times changed. My account now receives upwards of 500 spam messages weekly, and most of the messages I receive are certainly not from family and friends, which is what used to make reading email fun. Can we get back to the way it used to be? Probably not, but we can "get to the good stuff" quicker with a few tweaks to the system.

Create and use a "junk mail" account. That one time I used my email address for something and didn't UN-tick the box next to "receive special offers" was the point of no return. My Yahoo account has become my catch-all “junk mail” account. I give out this email address to every Tom or Harry website that requires me to enter an email address to use their site. This way if I am signed up for a "member newsletter," or if the company wants to send me their "Internet-only special deals," they all go to one place. I then created a pristine special email address that only the important people in my life know, and I don't give it out to anyone else. In this way, I have a personal email address that is junk-free. Ahhhh.


Use disposable addresses. If you need a quick email address and you don't care about getting a response or keeping a record of correspondence, Mailinator (www.mailinator.com) is your answer. It's a public mail service, meaning there is zero privacy, but who cares about that when we're talking about spam, right? Simply create any email name you like and attach it to @mailinator.com. Any mail sent to that email address is publically-accessible on Mailinator's site, so you can view it if you like and forward it to your "real" email address if it turns out to be important. No passwords or sign-up required. A few things to note: all mail is deleted within a few hours so if there’s a chance you’ll need to view a reply message, you probably shouldn't use Malinator. Also, all attachments are removed from incoming mail. Good for stripping viruses, but lousy if someone sends you something important.

Use automatic filtering and sort incoming messages quickly. Most email programs have options for automated message filtering. Sort specific senders into special folders you set up, or color code them within your inbox so important threads grab your attention faster. Try sorting important contacts into an “Act Now” folder and have subscriptions or coupon offers sort to category folders you create like “shopping,” “school news,” or “recipes.” I’ve got mine set up to automatically move mail from certain senders right to the trash. The options are really endless. Thunderbird (www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/) is a free email application that can help you sort out several email mailboxes in one easy location. Have Thunderbird sync all your email addresses so that all your mail is in one place, and then use its advanced sorting features to consolidate and organize all your messages so you only have to login once to see everything, or at least everything you want to see.

Cut down on clutter. Once you’ve reviewed an email, make sure that you either sort it into a folder or delete it. If you don't use your Inbox as your storage area it won’t get so crowded and overwhelming. Don't forget to clean out your folders periodically too. Use the view options to sort messages by date and/or sender to purge quickly. You probably don't need to save that email you got from your sister in 2009, or the purchase confirm for the toaster that you tossed out last spring. Turn off social media notifications. Sign up for Facebook and Twitter and suddenly you're being spammed by them too. Yikes! Shut it down by going into the settings for each one and turning off email notifications for everything you possibly can. You really don't need to be notified within the application that you've got a new message and then receive an email that you've got a new message. Wow, that's a lot of notification!

Spring Clean your Computer and Improve Boot Time

Improve Boot Time with Tips From Our Nerds

One of the most common questions I get from customers, family and friends alike is how to improve system start up time.  When your system was new it probably felt like you were able to boot up and get working at record speed.  Over time, as you install more programs and maybe collect a few malware programs, system boot up can take longer and longer.

Fully powering off your computer when you’re done using it for the day is a good idea - it saves energy and reduces hardware degradation.  But it may leave you feeling like you could make yourself a cup of coffee (or bake a batch of muffins) while waiting for your system to start up.  Before you resolve to leave your system in perpetual hibernation, here are a few things to try to speed up your PC’s boot time:

1. Run an anti-malware program. Viruses and spyware wreck all manner of havoc on your PC.  They cause it to run slowly, generate errors and even sometimes crash.  These programs run malicious code that hijacks your computer and forces your system to divert resources from what you want it to do (start up) to what the malware program wants your system to do (run the malicious code first and foremost).


Make sure that you first download any necessary virus definition updates. While your anti-virus program should be downloading and installing updates automatically, it doesn’t hurt to open the program and check for updates just to be certain.  If you don’t have an up to date anti-virus program, Windows users should consider Microsoft Security Essentials (www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security), a free program that will run automatically and scan for all types of malware.

2. Stop extraneous programs from launching automatically at start up. Every time you install software on your computer, whether its iTunes, Quicken or your new printer’s installation disk, the program’s default installation instructions typically direct your computer to launch the application whenever your system starts up.  From that point on, the program runs in the background, ready and waiting should you choose to launch it or run an associated function that it could “help with.”

This can have advantages – it’d be annoying to have to launch your printer software manually every time you want to print something.  If your printer software starts up when you boot up your computer, it’s ready and waiting to print whenever you click the printer icon.  Unfortunately, the more tasks your system has to start before you can get working, the longer you have to wait for your computer to be functional.

Review the programs that your computer is starting and running automatically every time you boot up by going to Start – Run – and typing msconfig in the small window that appears (the command line is “Open:”).  This launches a window titled System Configuration.  Select the tab titled Startup to see a list of the applications set to auto-start.  Before you start un-checking boxes, be cautious.  Sometimes necessary functions are listed in terms that are difficult to recognize and turning them off can break things you want to work automatically (like your bluetooth mouse or your printer) or worse, cause your Operating System not to load properly.

Stick to obvious programs that you would prefer to launch by hand when you want them instead of running constantly.  Some examples would be music or editing software (like Roxio, Spotify, or Photoshop), iTunes (provided you’re ok with having to launch iTunes manually when you want to sync your iOS device), software that came pre-installed by Dell, Sony or HP that you can’t easily uninstall (like their integrated remote support software), etc.  It’s best to err on the side of caution than to get too hasty un-checking boxes.

3. Consider installing more RAM. Determine how much RAM your system has installed and how much it can support using a tool such as the “System Scanner Tool” on Crucial’s website (www.crucial.com/systemscanner/loader.aspx).  Most Windows 7 users that surf the net and do basic document management functions should be served by 4GB of RAM, but if your system can support more I’ve never had anyone complain that their system runs too fast.”  If you regularly edit videos or run a lot of applications simultaneously, you should consider 8 to 12GB, or maximizing the amount that your system can support.