Saturday Bonus Questions and Answers – 090724

Judie is careful. She uses Emsisoft and LastPass but still, her email was compromised
What I don’t understand about Emsisoft and LastPass is how my email could be compromised in the first place. I have been with you since the beginning; you have taught me so much and fixed my computer a few times, so thank you so much again! I have recommended you every time someone I know gets into a pickle and most have signed up and used you and have always been happy. Judie

Our answer
Hi Judie. Thanks for your nice comments. Your email was not compromised, your email password was. Security programs and password managers don’t have anything to do with hackers breaching websites and collecting usernames and passwords. Security breaches occur on Websites where you have logged in – they have nothing to do with your computer your security software, or your password manager.

For instance, when Equifax was breached, criminals stole user information and passwords from Equifax, not from personal computers. If Equifax stored your user information, your info was compromised. The same is true of any breach you read about in the news. If your information was on a breached site then it was compromised.

You can’t prevent companies on the web from being hacked, all you can do is use strong passwords and change them every few months. There is nothing you can install on your computer that can prevent this.

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Gary received an email from Google
Hello. I received this message claiming to be from Google. Looks like a scam to me. What say you? Gary.

Email from Google

“Change your compromised passwords

xxxxxxxxxxx@shaw.ca

Google found some of your passwords online. Anyone who finds them can access your accounts. Your Google Account is still secure: this leak came from somewhere else on the web.

You can now secure your saved passwords using Password Manager. Take action (link removed by Cloudeight).

You can also go directly to: https://myaccount.google.com/security-checkup

You received this email to let you know about important changes to your Google Account and services…”

Our answer
Hi Gary. Google does send out these warnings when it finds your Google password or Google account has been compromised. However, this email could also be fake. It says your Shaw.ca email password has been compromised. So, I’d be suspicious if you don’t have a Gmail account or if your shaw.ca account is not associated with a Gmail account.

The best way to address this is not to click any links in that email – rather sign into your Gmail account and change your password immediately. That way you are safe regardless. It’s a good thing to change your passwords every few months – especially on email accounts and financial accounts.

If you have a Gmail account, to change your Gmail password go to https://accounts.google.com/, and click on “Personal Info”. And don’t forget to change the password on your shaw.ca email account.

We can fix your Windows computer… check out our low prices here!

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Terry is having problems with Edge
My Edge browser has been freezing on me for about two weeks now. It doesn’t matter if I use it for the internet or File Explorer or even other programs not developed by Microsoft. It’s a pain. To return to what I was doing, I had to click the mouse a couple of times. I’ve tried restarting and rebooting my PC to no avail. Ideas?

Also, while I have you, following a planned power outage this morning, I restarted my PC and discovered a new Edge browser. It takes up screen space with a left-hand column (which I can turn off) and from what I have seen so far ADVERTISING either above or to the right of the site I’m visiting. Granted, I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, but I don’t like what I see. What can you tell me about this new look?

Our answer
Hi Terry. I am not aware of any ‘new’ look in MS Edge. I have the latest version. I would be curious to know what extensions you have added to Edge. If none, then it has to be the Website you’re visiting because it would be disastrous for Microsoft to start using Edge as a billboard. They’re just now gaining on Chrome.

You can reset MS Edge if it’s not working the way you want it. Resetting Edge will return its settings to their defaults. It will not disturb your Favorites or Bookmarks.

Here’s how to reset Edge.

We hope that works for you.
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Terry wrote back: “Hi TC. Thanks, bunches. Your ‘reset link’ did the trick. All the extra artwork has disappeared, and I have a handle on the so-called vertical shortcuts. The advertising is also gone. Not sure where that came from but I’m glad it’s gone. Once again, TC and Cloudeight are to the rescue. You two are amazing! Please enjoy what’s left of your weekend and stay healthy. Go for a walk! Cheers, Terry.”

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Sheryl wants to know how to stop a popup on her computer
How do I stop hphemailaccesshere from popping up on my computer? When I run Emsisoft it doesn’t find malware on my computer. I thought that’s what this was. Can you help? Thanks so much. Warmly, Sheryl.

Our answer
Hi Sheryl. It’s a browser extension (search hijacker) that you installed – most likely by mistake or without knowing it. It probably came bundled in a freeware program you installed.

The best way to get rid of it is to reset your browser. We have written tutorials on how to do this for the 3 most popular browsers:

Click here to learn how to reset Chrome.

Click here to learn how to reset Microsoft Edge

Click here to learn to reset Firefox.

Once you reset your browser, it would be a good idea to restart your computer.
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Sheryl wrote back: “Hello. Thank you so much for the tutorials… it got rid of my browser hijacker. I sure appreciate the help. Warmly, Sheryl.”

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Beverly wants to stop repetitive spam emails
Hi EB & TC, I still enjoy your newsletters with so much info to peruse over or to find answers to any issues. wish to show you a Spam I got 2 days ago. How bold they are and to try and take advantage of people. So disappointing but at least with you folks we learned to recognize. I need to know how to stop repetitive spam e-mails which are so aggravating. Every day I have to add them to the spam folder I use in Windows 10. I add to Block Sender, add to Spam Folder, and every day same ones.

Our answer
Hi Beverly. If we had the secret to stopping repetitive or all spam emails, we would be millionaires! We’ve tried every anti-spam program known to mankind and the trouble with all of them is they let some spam through – but put good email in the spam folder.

There is no secret. We control spam – we cannot stop it. We receive thousands of emails every week and we see very little if any spam. It’s no secret because we share it with everyone.

If you want to learn how to control spam the way we control spam, take a look at the following page:

https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/control-spam-the-way-we-control-spam/.

This is how we manage spam and it just plain works.

One more thing…The miscreants that send spam don’t use real email addresses to send them from, they use forged or stolen email addresses with forged headers to make identifying or blocking the real sender nearly impossible. It takes a lot of digging through email headers to identify the real source of the spam. Google’s spam algorithms work so well at picking up and identifying spam, we rarely get any spam in our inbox, but our spam folder fills up quickly. Every week or so we look in the spam folder to make sure no good email was mistakenly sent to the spam folder – and very rarely do we ever find a legitimate email in the spam folder – or a spam email in our inbox. Nothing’s perfect, but Google spam algorithms are as close to perfect as they can be.

We hope this helps you, Beverly.

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Darlene has a browser opening to a search page on Windows startup
Every time I open Windows. it opens with Edge on a Bing search page, even though I have set Chrome as my default browser in Windows Settings. Is there any way to stop this?

As soon as that page closes, a window opens with a little message telling me that if I want to continue using Handy Address Book, I will need to purchase a license. As soon as I click okay, another mini window opens asking me if I want to buy the Handy Address Book. I click no, then I have to go up to the corner to close the page of Handy Address

Our answer
First, neither Chrome nor Edge should be in your Startups. Open Task Manager, click on the Startup Tab, right-click on Edge, and disable it. Disable Bing if it’s there. Disable Chrome if it’s in Startups and disable “Address book” too, if it’s listed in Startups.

Next, you’ll need to reset both Edge and Chrome. I am guessing “Address Book” is not something installed on Windows, it’s something added to your browser.

How to reset Edge.

How to reset Chrome.

I hope this helps you, Darlene.

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Sharon says she has to type her password in every time she visits a site that requires a username/password
I used to be able to log into sites without entering my password each time, but all of a sudden, I have to enter a password every time. Why?

Our answer
Hi Sharon. If you run a PC cleaner like CCleaner, it will clear your browser history and cache each time you run it — and you will have to log in every time and enter your password. If you don’t want to log in each time, don’t run the cleaner.

If you continue to run the cleaner, you’ll continue to have to type your password every time to log in.
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Sharon wrote back: “Yes… I just downloaded the pro version of CCleaner. Thanks for reminding me about CCleaner. Sharon”

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