TechVirgin.com

How To Set Up Gmail In Outlook 2010 With IMAP

Shamim — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:49:49 +0000

As much as I like Gmail’s web interface, sometimes I would prefer to format the email in a desktop client. Outlook 2010 also comes with a lot of advantages and benefits over web based clients such as a completely redesigned interface, grouping of messages and their replies, built-in flagging and categorizing and simpler meeting invitations and scheduling. This guide will help you set up your already existing Gmail with Outlook 2010 using IMAP.

Go to Gmail’s website and go to Settings on the top right. Go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP page and make sure IMAP is enabled.

Now open your brand new installation of Outlook 2010. It will start up a wizard to set up your email address. Click the option to Manually configure and click Next.

Click Internet Email and click Next.

In this window put in your name and email address. This is the name that others will see who you send emails to. Set the incoming server to imap.gmail.com and the outgoing server to smtp.gmail.com. Then click More Settings.

You can rename the mail account here which by default is your email address. I name it something more pleasing like “Gmail”. Then go to Advanced tab.

Set the incoming server to 993 and encryption to SSL. The outgoing server should be 587 and encryption should be TLS.

Go to Outgoing Server tab and check the box for outgoing server requires authentication.

Once you click OK it will bring you back to the “Add New Account” screen where you should click Test Account Settings which tells you if it is set correctly or not. When you get a success screen then you are good to go. Click OK and enjoy your newly set up Gmail in Outlook.

December 13, 2009 -- How To Reset Microsoft Outlook To Default Settings

How To Reset Microsoft Outlook To Default Settings

Shamim — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:22:11 +0000

Every once in a while Outlook’s data files used to store all your emails, contacts and calendar entries gets corrupted. If you have an Exchange server, Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail which backs up all your email then you can very easily restore Outlook to default settings. Here is how you can reset Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010 to factory default settings.

In Windows7 go to Start > Control Panel and look for Mail. If you cannot find it type “mail” in the search box on the top right. Then click Mail.

This will bring up the Mail Setup dialog box with Show Profiles section that we are interested in.

In most cases you will just have one mail profile. If you delete this profile then all your Outlook settings will be reset to default. To delete click Remove and then press OK.

December 16, 2009 -- How To Set Up Gmail In Outlook 2010 With IMAP

Is Your Computer Ready For Windows7?

Shamim — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:49:44 +0000

Now that Windows7 is officially out and available to everyone, most people would want to take advantage of the shiny new operating sysem from Microsoft. But how do you check if your mahcine meets the requirements for Windows7? You can go by the official Microsoft requirements or use the Upgrade Advisor. Microsoft has outlined very general system requirements of a PC with 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM for 32-bit version. Windows7 Upgrade Advisor gives a much more customized report specific to your computer and network environment.

Windows7 Upgrade Advisor is a simple 8Mb applicaiton which can be downloaded and run instantly. One thing to note is that the Advisor recommends to connect other USB and external devices such as phones before running it. This way you can find out all at once if all of the attached devices are supported by Windows7.

When the Advisor finishes running a report is generated showing incompatibilities and and issues that may arise either from hardware or software components that are being used. The Advisor provides a 32-bit and 64-bit version of the report if your computer is capable of support both types of operating systems.

Google Affiliate Network Review

Shamim — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:42:28 +0000

Are you surprised that Google has its very own affiliate network? I know I was when I came across it. This is not something Google came up with overnight. The affiliate network originally came from Performics which was acquired by DoubleClick. In turn, Google bought out DoubleClick and eventually inherited Performics which got renamed to Google Affiliate Network.

What Is An Affiliate Network?

An affiliate network is like a virtual store selling products to your website visitors. But instead of manufacturing products you are selling a retailers products and taking a cut off the profits. An affiliate website can be seen as a middle-man which is diverting web-traffic to a particular location. But instead of blindly paying for clicks the advertiser only pays when the visitor buys something. This is also known as Cost Per Action (CPA) advertising or performance-driven advertising.

Google Affiliate Network is completely separate from AdSense or AdWords and as a website publisher you must submit a separate application even if you already run Adsense. The bar for admission is not very high and the rules for eligibility for a website are quite vague. Google requests that you ”are an expert in driving and converting visitor traffic” and manage a site that” attracts a desirable audience” in a particular niche. Of course you will also need to be able to test different affiliate advertising offers and promote the ones that have high conversion.

Google has to keep its reputation of high quality. This is reflected in some of the advertisers participating in the program. There are no Cash4Gold or Rich Dad schemes. Some of the partners in Google Affiliate Network are Verizon, Kohls, Citibank, Office Max and Barnes & Noble. So you might be thinking another day, another affiliate network polluting the internet – what’s in it for you? Well, Google has something called AffiliateVIP status which will give you access to exclusive promotions, deals and help you stand out with the advertisers.

Google Affiliate Network – The Application Dashboard

The Google Affiliate Network dashboard can be over whelming at first. There are four major tabs – Home, Links, Advertisers and Reports.

Home Tab: This is the default view which gives you a snapshot overview and status of all the promotions that you are following and advertising on. It gives you the most important stat that drive any affiliate – Earnings Per Month (EPC) broken down for the past 3months range and for the past 7 days. I also gives you the Network Rank within the Google Affiliate Network. The higher your rank the better your chances of landing some exclusive promotions directly with the advertisers. On the left column on the page you also see some basic stats such as total number of advertisers you are promoting, total impressions, visits to the landing page, conversion rate and amount earned. There is also a big prominent block of hot promotion listings which highlight several good deals that might interest you. The top header of the page also has links to payment data and any messages you might have.

Links Tab: This page shows the latest text and image ads based on the advertisers in your network. Most ads have a tracking URL along with a Creative URL which makes it very easy to copy and paste it on the webpage where you wish to run the ads. Each link also shows detailed description if they are included with the ad by the advertiser. It also provides a quick link to the landing page which will help you write effective ads titles and descriptions. Links tab also has a sub-page showing product RSS feeds and Hot Promotions section.
Advertisers Tab: This is where most newcomers will spend a majority of their time selecting advertisers and products.
Reports Tab: The reports tab allows you to run performance data over certain time periods for one or all your advertisers. If you have a particular report that you run often then there is a way to keep Saved Reports.

Google Affiliate Network has a lot of great advertisers who have tons of products. More importantly almost all the products have certain coupons and discounts that make the job of all web promoters very easy. Overall Google Affiliate Network is worth a shot.

How To Load Windows Vista Faster: Disable Unwanted Startup Programs

Shamim — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:40:11 +0000

Windows Vista computers have several enhancements over previous versions of the Windows operating system. However after a few months of use Vista might take a long time to boot up. This is caused by several different problems. Most commonly it happens when too many programs try to load up simultaneously when you start your computer. So you need to pick and choose which programs are important and that you absolutely need to start up when your computer boots up. Other can be easily disabled.

To disable any program from automatically starting up, go to Start – Control Panel.

In the Control Panel look for Change Startup Programs under Programs. Click on change startup programs.

This will load up Windows Defender – Software Explorer. The category should be Startup Programs. This will give you a list of all the programs that load when your computer powers on.

In the Windows Defender window, the right column gives you details what any program is about. Select any program on the left to look for details on the right. If there are any programs that you don’t need to startup then simply disable it. You will see a confirmation screen (seen below). Click Yes to continue and that particular will no longer load with your computer.

February 6, 2008 -- Windows 7: Next Generation Of Vista
January 2, 2008 -- Windows Vista Slideshow Coming To Mobile Devices
January 1, 2008 -- Windows Vista & Live YouTube Channel Getting Hammered By Comments
November 19, 2007 -- Is Vista That Bad?
November 15, 2007 -- Poweroff Vista from Start Menu

Review: Mozy – Simple & Affordable Online Backup Solution

Shamim — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:10:11 +0000

Over time computers have become fast, efficient and a storehouse of knowledge, documents, pictures and media. In fact if something were to happen to our computers we generally pay hundreds of dollars to recover the data that was on it. Physical hard drives crash all too often and when you need it the most. That is why all IT professionals understand the need for backups. But most backup software is expensive; require some knowledge and experience to set up and also requires additional hardware (such as an external hard drive) to backup computer data. In most cases people with limited computer experience give up due to the complexities of setting up a backup. Out of this necessity Mozy has carved out a market for themselves.

Mozy online backup hits all the right buttons – it has a web based intuitive interface to control your account, simple and easy to use software and a free version with 2GB space. In case you have more than 2GB backup data then they also have an affordable subscription. It is this combination of features and affordable pricing that exploded Mozy’s growth. Just ask the million customers that have already signed up. And many more are enjoying the peace of mind.

How Does Mozy Work?

Mozy has a simple process to backup your data. There is a small program that you download and runs on your computer with an easy to use interface. This is used to select which files and folders you would like to backup. The program then encrypts all files and backs them up over your internet connection. This process is secure and painless. The backup process can even be automatically scheduled to run at specific times (such as 4AM everyday) so as not to interrupt your work.

Security: For the technical crowd, the data is transferred over the internet over SSL which is the same encryption used to protect your credit card information when buying something online. On Mozy’s servers your data is protected by 448-bit blowfish encryption to prevent unauthorized access.
Bandwidth: The Mozy application can be configured to use only a certain amount of bandwidth without affecting your computer’s performance. It will also give you an estimate of the amount of data you have selected to backup and how long it will take with each setting. You can also configure Mozy to only use very little bandwidth between 9AM and 5PM and use more after 5PM.
Advanced Settings: There are a few very advanced settings in the application which allow you to define only certain sets of files in a folder to be backed up. Such as all files with the word “Alice” or all pictures with the name “Birthday” in it should be backed up.
Virtual Drive: Another very nice feature is the ability to add Mozy as a virtual drive on your computer. This basically means you can copy (or cut) and paste any files or folders directly on to the Mozy virtual drive and it will be copied over to Mozy’s servers. This is especially helpful if you do not prefer to use the backup utility.
Restore Files: In order to restore files from Mozy to your computer simply select which files and folders you would like to restore and where you would like to save them on your computer. Mozy does the rest. It will instantly start downloading all your files securely to your computer. If you would like to restore a single file to a previous version simply right click on the file and click Restore to bring up more options. All changes to files backed up with Mozy will be automatically saved for the past 30days. This means, if you writing a new chapter for your book every week then all the changes are chronologically saved and can be recovered independent of each other. In case you lost your computer Mozy has a step-by-step utility which will restore all files as it appears on the Mozy backups on to your new computer.

How Do You Know Mozy Is Safe?

Mozy is trusted by more than a million customers who use it to store their most important documents, pictures, financial papers and anything else that you can store on your computer. It is used by individuals and businesses alike to save their most important files. To give you an idea of the amount of data already being backed up by Mozy take a look at the comparison with the Library of Congress.

What if you backup a lot of data with Mozy and then decide it is not the best fit for you? Well, Mozy is one of the few places which let you delete your account online without any hassle with a couple of clicks. There are no long queues and no one will try to persuade you on the phone to upgrade your plan. Within 24 hours all your data will be completely deleted from Mozy.

Home Users VS. Business Customers

There is a difference between MozyHome and MozyPro subscriptions. The Home is overall designed for laptops and desktops at home. The Pro plan is mainly for servers, databases, file shares, centralized backup management for multiple servers and 24hour phone support. This is a very logical distinction between the Home and Business customers and should not have any confusion.

The pricing is also different for MozyPro. Unlike the flat $4.95 for MozyHome, the Pro version costs $3.95 + $0.50/GB per month for workstations and $6.95 + $0.50/GB per month for servers.

What’s The Catch?

The only catch with Mozy is the 2GB limit for its free accounts. Many users will never need to go over that limit. But if you have lots of videos and tens of thousands of pictures then you will need to get the $4.95 unlimited plan. And by unlimited I really do mean unlimited – there are no restrictions for disk space or the number of files or folders.

Verdict

Backups are an essential component of the computer world. Computers and hard drives fail at an alarming rate and there are very few easy to use, affordable backup solutions for average home computer users. Mozy has the backup infrastructure and 24×7 support available to provide enterprise level data backup for the regular computer user. It is feature-rich, easy to use, affordable and free. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and preferred backup solution for anyone with a computer. Get a free account now!

Review Of Everest Free Edition

Shamim — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:32:13 +0000

As more and more features get crammed in to computers everyday it gets a difficult to keep track of all the small hardware components. Windows provides the various system information in several different places. But there is no one place which gathers the hardware, software and peripherals information in a report or a list. For getting a detailed inventory of any system I have been using Everest.

Everest Home Edition “offers the world’s most accurate system information and diagnostics capabilities, including online features, memory benchmarks, hardware monitoring, and low-level hardware information. Everest does its job as advertised packed in a tiny package ( less than 4MB).

Keep in mind that the company making this product is no longer giving away the free version. The old version is still available from Major Geeks. But I would recommend getting the new Ultimate Edition for about $40. When you first install Everest it will run a 40 point report which covers pretty much everything. It gives you a detailed list which can be saved to a file, emailed or printed.

If you wish to see this information in real time without generating the 40-point report everytime, head to the Everest Home Edition application window which has sections that you can click and see stats. It even shows you the current CPU and hard disk temperatures (depending on what sensors came prebuilt with your machine).

Everest free edition also provides a handful of benchmarking utilities memory read, write and latency. It might be useful if you are having memory leak issues or if you really want to check memory usage.

How To Turn Off Cisco Router Domain Lookups

Shamim — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:42:27 +0000

Cisco routers and switches are everywhere. It quietly handles the majority of the internet traffic hidden in closets and datacenters in the form of routers, switches, firewalls and other appliances. As intelligent as Cisco devices are there are a few annoyances that bother me from time to time. One of them is the domain lookups that routers perform.

Whenever I put in a misspelled command or some accidental key strokes such as below it locks up the computer for 30seconds to a minute depending on how long the router is looking for the server.

To turn this feature off you have to turn off domain lookups under the router configuration mode.

Commands:

R0#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R0(config)#no ip domain lookup
R0(config)#^Z
R0#

How To Get Official LinkedIn Badges

Shamim — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:25:41 +0000

LinkedIn is a very popular professional (and semi-social) networking website that has received much attention in this current economic environment when hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs. LinkedIn has been instrumental in helping people expand their professional network and aiding their job search. LinkedIn also provides a handful of badges, buttons and image links that you can put on your blog or website. The process of getting your own personalized one is a bit tedious and makes you jump through a series of links.

If you haven’t done so already head over to LinkedIn website to sign up for an account. After logging in click on Account & Settings link on the top right of the page.

This will bring you to the Settings page. Click on Public Profile.

On this page click customized buttons which will take you to a list of various designs.

Finally you are on the Promote your profile section which has all the goodness. Select which button/badge design you prefer and copy the HTML code next to it. Paste this code on your site where you wish to display your LinkedIn personalized link.

Mozilla Firefox Easter Eggs With Pictures

Shamim — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:29:07 +0000

Firefox is the second most widely used browser right after Internet Explorer. It is fast and efficient but its true strength lies in the hundreds of plugins that add to its functionality and make it indispensable. There are several hidden features of Firefox that are tucked away neatly under the hood. Here is a big long list (with screenshots) of the hidden gems for everyone curious as to what the Mozilla developers packed inside of it. To check them out for yourself open up Firefox and type about: … in the URL bar and hit enter. If you have your own set of hidden gems on Firefox leave them in the comments.

about:

about:blocked

about:buildconfig

about:cache

about:config

about:crashes

about:credits

about:license

about:logo

about:mozilla

about:neterror

about:plugins

about:rights

about:robots

TechVirgin.com

How To Set Up Gmail In Outlook 2010 With IMAP

How To Reset Microsoft Outlook To Default Settings

Is Your Computer Ready For Windows7?

Most Commented Posts

Google Affiliate Network Review

What Is An Affiliate Network?

Google Affiliate Network – The Application Dashboard

Most Commented Posts

How To Load Windows Vista Faster: Disable Unwanted Startup Programs

Review: Mozy – Simple & Affordable Online Backup Solution

How Does Mozy Work?

How Do You Know Mozy Is Safe?

Home Users VS. Business Customers

What’s The Catch?

Verdict

Most Commented Posts

Review Of Everest Free Edition

Most Commented Posts

How To Turn Off Cisco Router Domain Lookups

Most Commented Posts

How To Get Official LinkedIn Badges

Most Commented Posts

Mozilla Firefox Easter Eggs With Pictures

Most Commented Posts