Read it, or write it down, or take your chances

outlook dot comThe classic line: “Something came on, and I pushed it, and I didn’t read it, and now I don’t know what’s going on.”

What was going on in this case was a user dealing with Microsoft changing Hotmail to Outlook.com. He may have been a little less thrown if he’d read the message about the change.

When you see a message appear on your screen, read it. Think about writing it down, since you may not understand it, and after you click a button, you probably won’t remember what it said.

Whether you either (or neither) of these things, if you find yourself stuck, I’m happy to help get you unstuck.

Nip it in the bud

errorA word of advice, folks: when you have a problem with your computer, nip it in the bud! Don’t let it fester and get worse and worse, because the worse it gets, the harder the problem is to solve. Promise me, okay? I love helping you, and I like to spare you the unnecessary heartbreak of a fouled-up system that can’t get fixed.  –Eileen

The mailer daemon is not out to get you

mailer-daemonWe all have to deal with them at times: the “mailer daemon” (or “mail administrator” or “mail delivery subsystem”) messages that show up in our inbox to let us know an email message we sent did not make it to its destination. Sometimes the reason is obvious—we spot a typo in the email address we used for the recipient—but often we can’t see what the message is trying to tell us. I hope this helps demystify things a bit.

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