E-mail Settings and Information

You can view mail in your SPAM folder by clicking here or enter mail.alluretech.net in the address bar to login.  It is a good idea to check it at least once a week.  If you're getting a message saying your box is almost full, it could be because your SPAM folder is near full.  You can always access your mailbox using Internet Explorer, Netscape or other web browser.  This is convenient if traveling or at work with limited access using someone else's PC.  

E-Mail Settings:  Use mail.alluretech.net for incoming, outgoing, SMTP or POP3 mail servers.  In fact, use mail.alluretech.net for ANY requested mail server when setting up Outlook, Eudora, etc.  We set up all accounts using lower case for login names and passwords unless requested otherwise.  Most post offices do not permit relaying from addresses outside their domain.  If you are getting mail from your company domain, you can setup your outgoing as mail.alluretech.net and it should work fine.  

Be very careful opening up any attachments, especially from someone you do not know, they can contain viruses.  You may also receive messages from banks, credit card companies, brokerage firms, Paypal, etc that appear very official.  They will request that you update your information online.  These are fraudulent attempts to gain access to your money and bank accounts and is known commonly as phishing.  We have seen some addressed from the Alluretech Technical Team that contain virus infected attachments.  Please check before clicking on any suspicious links.   All banks and other financial institutions have instituted policies where they will never contact you via email to request login or other personal information.  These schemes used to be easy to spot but they are definitely getting more sophisticated.  

E-mail messages older than 180 days are deleted from the main folder.  All SPAM is deleted after 5 days.  This is just for messages remaining on our server and will impact only those that primarily use the web browser to access their e-mail.  If you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora or other e-mail program, they almost always download mail to your PC by default.  It will remain on your hard drive until and if you decide to delete messages.  

  Securing Your PC

Be afraid, be very afraid.  It is a nasty world out there and the thugs have arrived in Cyberspace.  Even if you heed all the best advice out there, your pc is still vulnerable.  On a scale of 1-10, about the best you can achieve is a 6.  Current expert estimates are that 25% of the online  PC's in the US are currently infected. Your best investment, by far, is a hardware router/firewall for the most comprehensive protection.  If you're running Win95, Win98, WinME, 2000 or XP pre-SP2 - without a firewall, your computer is almost certainly infected and long ago hijacked by a bot herder for his evil purposes.   We used to allow single computers to be connected without a router/firewall but no longer.  There are many tremendous resources available on the Internet but, alas, plenty of risks too.  

Here are some software suggestions in keeping your pc running fast and smooth.  All are free  programs (some restrictions) and links are included to download and install directly on your pc.   First, I strongly believe it's a good idea to steer clear of mainstream software which the bad guys exploit more and more all the time.  If you're running a PC with Windows, Symantec/Norton/McAfee, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express - you might as well wear a t-shirt with a big, red target on the chest.  Put some variety in your life and make it a bit tougher for the black hats to take over your computer.     The benefits to moving away from the culturally homogeneous software are many - break out of the crowd and gain some security.   Buy a Mac or consider running Linux instead of Windows. 

Firefox is an alternative to MS Internet Explorer.  It has lots of features built in and many more that are optional add-ons.  It also loads quicker and brings up web pages faster.  As an alternative to Outlook and Outlook Express, I recommend Eudora for an email client.   

Ad-Aware - this program kills spy ware and spy bots on your pc.  Many are similar to viruses and they can gunk up your PC.  If your PC is running slow and doing weird things, install this program. I heartily recommend this program and wouldn't run a PC today without it.  Another is Spybot Search and Destroy.  Be very careful that you get the legitimate version of this freebie.  If you Google it, you will get many bogus imitations, some pretty prominently mentioned.  It's getting nastier out there every day.   

It is a good idea to have a virus protector on your pc, though they are not as effective a tool as most believe.  Viruses are a cat and mouse game and the antivirus companies are way behind.  Don't trust any antivirus to offer any real time protection against the newest strains.  That being said, AVG is a good one AND it doesn't bog down a PC's performance as much as Norton/Symantec or MacAfee.  An excellent, free online scanner can be found at Trendmicro.  It finds infections that many others miss.  For a link to other free online scanners, Click Here.  If you want a good commercial security center suite, look at Trendmicro's PC-cillin to install on your PC.  It can be found for $50 or less and is good for 3 different PC's.  I've seen it free with rebates at times. 

Google has a great tool bar you can down load and it also is a POP UP BLOCKER.   Not such a big deal anymore but still nice to have.  If you have some strange toolbars on your web browser, they're probably malware.  Get rid of them!  Check the lower right corner icons on your taskbar.  If you see Zango or others you don't recognize, Google them and see if they are listed as malware.  Chances are that one of the above programs will ID it and remove but ultimately the computer security is your responsibility. 

Microsoft's Windows Updates  -works with any version of Windows - Update at least once a month.  Includes bug fixes, patches and security updates.  Note: most of this is done automatically once enabled.  It's still a good idea to check to ensure you are protected.  Vista takes some getting used to but it is worth it.  Lots more security built in but you are still very vulnerable.

If you already have a virus scanner, please remember to keep it updated!  If your license has lapsed, you might as well have nothing installed - the protection is about the same!  We've observed inconsistent problems using Norton's Security Suite.  Sometimes it works great and other times, lots of issues.  Try a different computer on your network to see if you have access on it.  

Finally, hardware.  You can check how much RAM you have installed by looking at properties under my computer.  If you're running Vista with a 1gig or less, an upgrade would help.  Same thing for XP though it will work ok with a gig.  Upgrading is usually cheap and pretty easy to do.  You should be able to buy a gig of RAM easily under $100, usually around $50-$60.  For Vista, I'd recommend 2gig and 1gig for XP.  Most XP vintage machines use DDR and 2007 models usually use DDR2.  If you don't want to tackle this yourself, I recommend Videotronics at 237-5254.  Birdy will take good care of your baby.  For removing viruses and spyware help, Birdy is your man. 

Wireless Tips

If your system is down or erratic:

If you have another PC available, check and see if it has Internet access.  If it does, the issue is on the PC itself.  Try rebooting the PC or router to clear the issue.  If no access on either:

1. unplug the power (small black wire & plug) from the radio (usually a small white device about the size of the palm of your hand) for 20 seconds or so.  This will fix 95% of problems. 

2. Try unplugging the black power wire from your router.  Sometimes they lock up and need to be rebooted.  Note: Never press the small reset button on the router and/or radio, this resets back to factory defaults which will require us to reconfigure the unit!  

3. Try rebooting your PC too, that is always a good thing to try when problems pop up.  

Interference: Another consideration is 2.4Ghz cordless telephones and other wireless devices that utilize the 2.4Ghz frequency.  That is the frequency used by the system and use of those types of cordless phones will cause interference, slowing down or blocking the data transfer.  Phones using 900mhz or 5.8 are ok.  If you have a wireless router, check with us about which channel to use.  Your signal to the Internet comes over the same frequency and if they are on the same channel, it will impact your system performance and speed.  While a wireless connection is convenient, you are much better off with a hardwired connection to your router.  Try moving closer to the router to see if that helps.  Check and see if you have access with a different PC.  Microwave ovens are another source of potential interference.  Make sure you have clear line of site to our tower.  Trees and shrubs will impact service or new construction can spring up in the way.