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Tech Support Helpful Hints

24/7 WIN Technical Support
1-888-533-8324

NETins Tech Support
1-800-205-1110

Wild Blue Tech Support
1-888-232-6063

Here are a few things you can do before calling Tech Support to speed your problem resolution.

Please be prepared when calling tech support. Make sure that you are in front of the computer, the computer is turned on, and all relative information, such as error messages, is available. Tech Support can assist you even if you are not connected to the Internet.

Things you should know before calling tech support:

A few terms you may come across when talking with tech support or a computer repair-person:

If you can not pull up a website or download e-mail try either or both of the following before calling Tech Support:

Many of you are aware of our Web Mail and have already accessed it. This is wonderful for checking your email when away from your home or office. In addition, this could help resolve some error messages received in your email program. Once in a while, email will get "hung up" as it is trying to download into your email program. If a box keeps popping up and asks you to re-enter your username and password, the problem has been confirmed.

To access Web Mail at or away from home, go to www.win-4-u.net . Enter your username (the first half of your e-mail address) and your password. You can review all your e-mail to see if large e-mails may be holding up your e-mail program, which you can then delete.

Connection Speed

The weather can affect your connection speed. Moisture can cause slow connections or make your connection run poorly. If it is raining, water can affect the lines in the ground as well as those green boxes (pedestals) you see in your yard. When the temperature in the air starts to rise and melt the snow, lines become wet. Static on your line and slower connection speeds could be the result.

Blocking E-mail

In Outlook Express - Highlight the message you want to block - Click on Messages across the top of the window - move down to Block Sender and click on that. You will then be asked if you would like to remove all messages from this sender. Click Yes! You will then be told that Messages from selected sender have been deleted. Click on Ok. Any messages received from that sender will now be downloaded directly into your deleted items.

Frequently Asked Tech Questions

Question: Is there a way to be automatically notified by a sound from my computer when I've received an incoming e-mail?

Answer: Yes, there's an easy method to set this up. Click your cursor arrow on the Windows "Start," then on "Settings" and click on "Control Panel." Next, double click the "Sounds" icon. In the "Sounds Properties" window, scroll down the "Events" pane until you find the "New Mail Notification" item and then click the "Browse" button to locate a sound file you would like to use. Clicking on the various sound files will give you a demonstration of the "noise" made by the file. Hit "OK" when you've found the sound you'd like to use. Click "Apply" and then "OK" to exit the "Sounds Properties" window. Next time you have mail, your special e-mail sound will play.

Question: Sometimes when I am browsing I inadvertently click on a link to go to a web page but immediately realize that it's not actually the page I wanted to open up. Do I have to wait for this page to fully load before selecting the correct link or is there a shortcut?

Answer: There are actually a few solutions when this happens to you. If you've clicked on the wrong link and still have the left mouse button pressed down, simply drag the pointer off of the link to a blank spot somewhere on your computer screen and release your finger. The new page will not load. If you've already selected (clicked and released your mouse button) on a link, hit the "Stop" button located on the toolbar of your web browser. This will stop the active page from fully loading. It will not, however, prevent any pop-up windows from appearing and fully loading. Probably the quickest way to prevent a web page from loading once it's been selected is to hit the Escape Key ("esc") on your keyboard. This will prevent the inadvertently selected page from loading and will also prevent those pesky pop-up windows from appearing.

Question: I've come across a couple of websites that offer downloads, however, when I attempt to download the files, the site tells me I do not have a new enough version of web browser. How do I know what version of web browser I am using?

Answer: If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can find out what version you're using by clicking your cursor arrow on "Help," located at the right hand side of the Internet Explorer Menu bar and then selecting "About Internet Explorer" (or the name of the browser you are using) from the resulting drop down menu. A window will pop up with information about your browser including the Version.

If you're using a pretty old version (5.0 or older) of Internet Explorer, it may be time for an update. Windows users can download a free, newer version of Internet Explorer by going to:
www.microsoft.com and clicking on the "Downloads" link.
If you are using a Macintosh, download a free version at:
www.microsoft.com/mac/products/ie/ie_default.asp
Netscape provides an archive of previous versions as well as options for downloading newer versions of both Navigator and Communicator at:
http://home.netscape.com

Question: Sometimes when I download software from the Internet onto my computer and then go back to try to find a particular file at a later date, it can be difficult. Software makers use such weird acronyms or nicknames for their programs. Is there anything I can do to make my search for these archived files easier?

Answer: Yes. When saving a file onto your computer that you've downloaded from the Internet, you do not have to keep the same name the software company gave to its program. When you click on the download link and the resulting "Save As" box comes up, simply type in a name which is more descriptive or one that you'll be able to remember easily at a later date.
You may already have a bunch of these files with unusual names downloaded onto your computer, which you want to keep but wish to rename. (You may not be able to determine what some of these files are until you open them up.) If it's a file you no longer want to keep, simply throw it away by dragging it to the Recycle Bin. To rename these programs, right-click the file you want to rename and select "rename" from the resulting menu. Just make sure not to change the file extension (i.e. ".doc" to ".exe").

Question: When I open my browser I get “Page cannot be displayed” and I am also unable to get my email. What is happening?

Answer: Your Internet browser/email program are usually linked to your dialup connection. Sometimes this link can get broken, with Internet Explorer follow these steps:

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on “Tools” or “View” (depending on version)
  2. Click onto “Internet Options” or “Options” (again depending on version)
  3. Click onto the tab marked “Connection”
  4. With Internet Explorer 4.0 choose the option to “Connect to the Internet using a modem”, click the button marked “Settings”. Make sure the box marked “Use the following Dial Up Networking connection” is set to your win-4-u connection and that the username/password is correct. You do not need to enter a domain name.
  5. With Internet Explorer 5.0 and greater (still on the “Connection” tab), in the white box in the middle of the screen be sure that your win-4-u connection is selected. Beneath that box be sure the option “Always dial my default connection” is selected.
  6. Click “Apply” then “OK”, this should correct the problem.