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I am going through a divorce and my husband has found a way to enter into my email and manipulate it so that is looks like I uploaded a photo on an international website as a call girl. Also the dates seem to have been changed on some old emails that make it look like I was talking to someone while we were married. I need help. I had no idea that this could be done and it looks bad for me. HELP!

E-mail Hacking

This is a tough one and emotionally difficult. For the time being, let’s look at e-mail hacking in general and consider the possibility that a random hacker or virus was involved. For example, many users have had their e-mail accounts hacked. When this happens, the hacker often sends offensive and malicious emails from the victim’s e-mail account without the victim’s knowledge. This has embarrassed many innocent users and can be the result of hackers or viruses. Below are a few Filetonic blog posts addressing various e-mail hacking scenarios:

Hotmail Account Hacked

My E-mail has been Hijacked

Someone Hacked My MSN

Malicious E-mail Tampering

There have been cases where e-mail tampering has occurred. We are not legal experts by any means, so this is not legal advice but rather advice to seek legal advice. Computer forensics methods are available to analyze a computer’s history. For example, if someone used a personal computer to upload a photo of someone else to a site such as a call girl site, Web tracks may remain on that person’s computer showing that the photo was uploaded from that particular computer. An attorney may be able to get a subpoena or warrant to search the computer in question or even find out the IP address from which the upload originated. In addition, it may be possible to compare tampered emails between the sender and the recipient’s computers to show that the dates do not match. Again, this would involve a bit of coordination and legal maneuvering.

Below is an interesting article about e-mail tampering to give you an idea of a past e-mail tampering case:

E-mail Tampering: This Time the Good Guys Won

Steps to Take Now

I highly recommend that you discuss these concerns with your attorney. Depending on your e-mail provider, you may be able to get e-mail log files but you’ll likely need an attorney’s help in doing so. In addition to working with legal counsel, you’ll need to secure your accounts and possibly the computer.

Change your e-mail password right away if you haven’t already. Go with a random, hard-to-crack password and change it from a friend’s computer rather than your own. Why? Because, it’s possible that your computer has been compromised - not just your e-mail account. Monitoring software is available that can be installed without your knowledge and even without physical access to the computer. This software secretly records screenshots or keystrokes and then reports back to whomever initially installed it. One such product even features a “remote install” where the person simply sends an e-mail and the software secretly installs on the recipient’s computer.

If your computer were equipped with such a product, changing your password wouldn’t do any good because the changes would be submitted to the person monitoring the PC. Use a friend’s computer to be on the safe side and then read this Filetonic article about surveillance software.

This is one case where I’m hoping it’s a simple computer virus.

How do I hide my IP address when I send email to somebody?

When I get questions like this, I always wonder what you are sending that you don’t want to be identified with. I’m going to continue with my answer assuming that you are not going to use the information for anything illegal, immoral or would otherwise make your mother unhappy were she to learn about it.

When you send an email, even if you don’t have your name in the send line, your IP address is still traceable. If you want to be completely anonymous, you need to take some extra steps to hide your identity.

Disposable Email Account

There are several levels of anonymous emails. For example, if you wanted to report your neighbor for overwatering his lawn during a drought but don’t want to cause hard feelings should the e-mail circulate, the easiest way is to just set up a “disposable” email account. Rather than use your personal account, you just set up another one, using any user name you want without putting your true personal information in as you set it up.

Remailers

If you want to send an email that is more anonymous than simply using a different account, you need to turn to a third-party remailer. When you use a remailer, you send an email to the remail service, they strip it of the header and IP information and send it on to the recipient. Again there are different levels of anonymity depending on the service you use and what you need the service to do for you. Keep in mind that these services track your IP address and report any illegal activity.

GnuPG

For ultimate anonymity, you will probably need to use PGP, which stands for Pretty Good Privacy, or the newest incarnation GnuPG. This uses public-key cryptography that hides the public key to a username and/or email address. The new programs use a combination of this and a hierarchal approach based on certificate authenticity.

We understand that privacy is a concern which is why we also recommend ParetoLogic Privacy Controls. While it’s not an IP cloaker, this tool does clean up your Web history files and offer a variety of controls valuable to any computer user, anonymous or not. Hopefully this information was helpful to you. Use it wisely.

I have Windows Vista and I can’t make MSN my default mail. Windows Live has just taken over.

Windows Live and MSN

Microsoft has been tweaking and integrating their e-mail products over the last few years with Windows Live being the latest incarnation. MSN Hotmail has been rebranded and revamped into Windows Live Hotmail which is a little different than Windows Live Mail which is a little different than Windows Mail. It’s confusing, isn’t it?

MSN mail is not an actual software application, but rather a Web-based e-mail service. Therefore, if you want to view MSN messages locally on your computer, even when offline, you would set up your MSN account in a client such as Outlook Express or one of the Windows Mail/Windows Live Mail clients.

Windows Vista E-mail Clients

As a Windows Vista user, your computer came preinstalled with Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail. These programs are essentially updated versions of the older Outlook Express e-mail client. In addition, if you’ve downloaded Windows Live Essentials from Microsoft, or if Microsoft Update did it on your behalf, then your computer now has the Windows Live Mail client installed.

If you’ve recently downloaded Windows Live Mail, your older Windows Mail software should still be installed on your computer. If so, you can set that client as your default if you prefer it over the newer Live version.

Setting a Default E-Mail Client in Vista

The easiest way to set the default e-mail client is to launch the e-mail client that you want to be the default. Once launched, a screen will appear notifying you that the application is not the current default and asking if you’d like it to be. Click Yes.

If the screen doesn’t appear, go to Tools > Options and click the Make Default button under Default Messaging Programs.

Another way to set a specific e-mail client as the default program in Vista is to go to the Start button and type “Default Programs” in the Search bar. Click the Default Programs icon followed by the Set Your Default Programs link. Find your desired e-mail client in the list and click “Set this program as default.”

Setting up an E-mail Client to Work with MSN Hotmail

MSN Hotmail can be accessed either through the Web interface or via a locally installed e-mail client. You will need to configure your e-mail client to access the MSN service before you can begin sending and receiving e-mail in it. However, keep in mind that Windows Mail does NOT support MSN Hotmail accounts while Windows Live Mail does. So, unless you have a different e-mail client in mind with MSN support, you might have to live with Windows Live Mail. Setting up access is easy, though. Simply go to Tools > Accounts > Add and then follow the prompts to add your MSN mail credentials.

When I send an email that has pictures, people only get a box with an X in the corner. Some say if you scroll way to the bottom they can find the pictures.

Part of this may be how you are sending pictures while the other part may involve the settings on the other person’s e-mail account. Let’s take a look at both sides of the equation.

E-mail Image Blocking

Because of computer viruses and now “beacons” (which are tiny image files that spammers embed in their messages in order to determine if you’ve read the message), many e-mail programs are set to block images. This results in an e-mail message with an empty square with a red X in place of the image. When images are blocked, there’s usually a small message bar that the users can click to unblock the image.

For example, in Windows Live Mail, the Tools menu contains a link to the Safety Options dialog box. Under the Security tab, there’s a section for blocking images. When enabled, images are blocked. In Outlook Express, this option is found in Tools > Options > Security. In addition, some users have settings enabled that restrict the opening or saving of potentially harmful attachments which is also found under the Tools > Options > Security section.

E-mail Image Sending

Did you know that there are several ways to send an image in an e-mail? For example, you can  forward existing emails containing photos, create an e-mail with a photo attached, and insert an image directly into the body of the text without attaching it.

Forwarding images can lead to issues such as you’re describing because not all ISPs are completely compatible with each other. Rather than forwarding a message, try creating a brand new message and then copying and pasting the message into your new message. Use the Edit > Select All, Edit > Copy, and Edit > Paste commands to do this.

Make sure to double check the Format menu (in Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail) to be sure the “Send Pictures with Message” option is enabled.

Attaching the photos is the most reliable method. By attaching the photos, the actual file is sent to your recipients. However, if the file is too large, it may be blocked by your ISP or your recipient’s ISP due to file size restrictions. Use the Attach command rather than the Insert command.

Inserting is different than attaching. When you choose Insert, you have several choices. You can insert a “File as an attachment” or insert the image inline. Inserting an image inline will insert the photo wherever you have the cursor. For example, if you want to describe each photo, you would type the text and then insert the image after the text.

Since you can’t really control how your recipients choose to set their security settings, the best thing to do is experiment with the different sending options. Try teaming up with one of your friends to see what works and what doesn’t work. You can even send emails to yourself to see if one technique works better than another. If all else fails, consider using a photo sharing Web site and then sending a link. That way, your friends can click the link and see your images online without the annoying red X.

How do I stop the window pop up notifying an email comes to my inbox? If not, then how can I stop the email so it doesn’t pop up the sender’s name?

Some people like receiving an e-mail notification whenever a new email arrives. However, other people find it annoying. In fact, many people would prefer to disable this feature of e-mail notification because it tempts them to stop working just to read the e-mail. Fortunately, it is simple enough to disable this feature once you find out how to do so.

The first section offers general advice for turning off e-mail notification while the next two sections provide detailed instructions for disabling this feature in Thunderbird and Outlook Express, two popular e-mail applications.

Turning Off E-mail Notifications: E-mail Settings

The manner in which you change or turn off e-mail notifications varies somewhat according to the e-mail program that you are using. In general, however, you will go into the settings for your e-mail application and make one or two quick changes that will stop e-mail notifications from coming through each time that you receive a new e-mail. Typically, you need to enter the “Tools” area of your e-mail application.

Turning Off E-mail Notifications: Outlook Express

If you are using Outlook Express, follow these directions to turn off e-mail notification:

1)      Open your Outlook Express application.

2)      Select the “Tools” option on the top menu.

3)      Select “Options” in the drop down menu that appears.

4)      Select “E-mail Options” from the right-hand side of the box under “E-mail.”

5)      Select “Advanced E-mail Options” under “Message Handling.”

6)      Clear the box in front of “Display a New Mail Desktop Alert” under the section labeled “When new items arrive in my inbox” so that you no longer receive e-mail pop ups.

7)      You can also disable sounds, changes in the mouse cursor, and icon notification in this area.

Turning Off E-mail Notifications: Thunderbird

If you are using Thunderbird, follow these directions to turn off e-mail notification:

1)      Open your Thunderbird application.

2)      Navigate to and click on “Tools” in the top menu bar.

3)      Select “Options” from the drop down menu.

4)      Select “General” on the top left-hand side of the dialog box that appears.

5)      Near the bottom of the box, in the sections labeled “When new messages arrive,” clear the small boxes in front of “Show an alert” and “Play a sound.”

I am not able to send e-mails and my computer is moving slow. Help?

Looks like we have two issues: e-mail sending errors and sluggish performance. Fortunately, we can help.

Troubleshooting E-mail Sending Errors - Clogged Folders

One of the most common e-mail sending errors involves clogged folders. If you use Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail, go through your folders and delete, delete, delete. Pay special attention to the Inbox and Sent Items folders as those tend to fill up. Once you have cleaned out your folders, try sending an e-mail message. If the message goes through, then you’ll want to keep your folders from getting bogged down with messages. One way to do this is to create subfolders and place important messages in an appropriate subfolder while deleting the rest.

E-mail Send Error - Antivirus/Antispam Interference

Another common problem involves your antivirus or antispam software scanning your outgoing e-mail messages. For example, if you have Norton’s antispam plugin, this software may be taking too long to perform its scan which causes your e-mail to timeout. Either disable the antispam filter or increase the timeout limit.

E-mail Error 0×800CCC19

Another common e-mail sending error is error 0×800CCC19, which is an e-mail timeout error. This error often occurs when trying to send a large attachment. Since most ISPs restrict attachment sizes, this error is resolved by either deleting the messages (which then allows your other messages to go through) or removing the attachment and replacing it with a much smaller attachment.

These are general e-mail sending errors that may or may not be contributing to your problem. Let us know if you’re getting a specific error code as well as which e-mail client you are using and we will be happy to dig deeper.

Slow PC Performance

Your e-mail and your slow computer may be related. For example, if your computer is bogged down with too many processes running at once, it’s possible that your e-mail is timing out due to lack of resources. Either way, speeding up your PC is desirable. Start by running complete antivirus and antispyware scans. Spyware and viruses take up huge amounts of system resources and usually, if you have one infection, you have hundreds! We recommend any of the products found on our antivirus reviews page. Several are free and many take care of both viruses and spyware in one package.

If you already have a reputable computer security package, update it and run a complete scan. Anything found? If so, expect to see a boost in performance. If not, try a few more troubleshooting steps.

Disable Startup Items

How many startup programs are launching each time you boot your PC? Each program takes up system resources, so if you aren’t using it, take it out of your Startup lineup. Go to Start > Run and type in: msconfig

From there, click on the Startup Items list and remove unnecessary programs. For example, there’s no need to load Adobe Reader every time your computer starts, so remove it from the list. Use the Internet to research programs that you are unfamiliar with before removing them from the list as some may be necessary system programs.

Check Disk Space

When a hard drive is nearly full, computer performance degrades rapidly. Windows uses a portion of the hard drive for temporary memory. When this space is unavailable, the computer crawls. Check your disk space and free up as much space as possible.

Defrag the Hard Drive

Next, defrag the hard drive. This realigns bits and pieces of your files and improves performance.

We also recommend using a product such as RegCure to clean up the Windows Registry.