Find the IP address of the sender in Gmail, Yahoo! mail or Hotmail

When you receive an email, you receive more than just the message. The email comes with headers that carry important information that can tell where the email was sent from and possibly who sent it. For that, you would need to find the IP address of the sender. The tutorial below can help you find the IP address of the sender. Note that this will not work if the sender uses anonymous proxy servers.

Finding IP address in Gmail
1. Log into your Gmail account with your username and password.

2. Open the mail.

3. To display the headers,
* Click on More options corresponding to that thread. You should get a bunch of links.
* Click on Show original.

4. You should get headers like this:
Gmail headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by a few hostnames and an IP address between square brackets. In this case, it is - 65.119.112.245. That is be the IP address of the sender!

5. Track the IP address of the sender.


Finding IP address in Yahoo! Mail
1. Log into your Yahoo! mail with your username and password.

2. Click on Inbox or whichever folder you have stored your mail.

3. Open the mail.

4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
* Click on Options on the top-right corner.
* In the Mail Options page, click on General Preferences.
* Scroll down to Messages where you have the Headers option.
* Make sure that Show all headers on incoming messages is selected.
* Click on the Save button.
* Go back to the mails and open that mail.

5. You should see similar headers like this:
Yahoo! headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ]. Here, it is 202.65.138.109. That is be the IP address of the sender!

6. Track the IP address of the sender.


Finding IP address in Hotmail
1. Log into your Hotmail account with your username and password.

2. Click on the Mail tab on the top.

3. Open the mail.

4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
* Click on Options on the top-right corner.
* In the Mail Options page, click on Mail Display Settings.
* In Message Headers, make sure Advanced option is checked.
* Click on Ok button.
* Go back to the mails and open that mail.

5. If you find a header with X-Originating-IP: followed by an IP address, that is the sender's IP address Hotmail headers : name, In this case the IP address of the sender is [68.34.60.59]. Jump to step 9.

6. If you find a header with Received: from followed by a Gmail proxy like this
Hotmail headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
In this case, the IP address of the sender is [69.140.7.58]. Jump to step 9.

7. Or else if you have headers like this
Hotmail headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
In this case, the IP address of the sender is [61.83.145.129] (Spam mail). Jump to step 9.

8. * If you have multiple Received: from headers, eliminate the ones that have proxy.anyknownserver.com.

9. Track the IP address of the sender.

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Speed up your internet by 20%

Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc.

You can get it back:

Click Start then Run and type "gpedit.msc" without quotes. This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:

Local Computer Policy>Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Network>QOS Packet Scheduler>Limit Reservable Bandwidth.

Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab i.e."By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.It works on Win 2000 as well.

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Speed up Vista Start Menu Search By Limiting Results

The Windows Vista start menu search box is one of my favorite features in Vista, but searching can be pretty slow if you have a lot of personal files, because by default the start menu search also searches files, windows contacts, windows mail, history, and favorites.

You can customize the search results returned in the Start menu search box to only return the results that you want. I personally only want to use the start menu search to pull up applications, so I disabled everything else.

To configure this setting, right click on the Start button and select Properties. Click the Customize button, and you can scroll down to the Search checkboxes. Here's the screen with my settings:

For best results, change the Search files radio button to "Don't search for files". The start menu is too small to find files anyway. This will speed up searching immensely.

Here's the details on what the other options do:

• Search - Should disable the search entirely, but doesn't seem to remove the search box. I left this enabled.
  
• Search communications - Disables searching through emails and contacts. As far as I can tell, it's only Windows Mail and Windows Contacts right now. I assume other applications will eventually be included here. I disabled this since I don't use either product.
  
• Search favorites and history - Searches through your IE favorites and history. Perhaps it will also search a future version of firefox. I disabled this since I use Firefox.
  
• Search Files - You can change this to search all files, or just your home directory. Or disable entirely for speed.
  
• Search Programs - Searches through the start menu and applications.
  

You can customize to your liking.

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Use Hotmail from Microsoft Outlook

If you are still using Hotmail but would prefer to access your email from a desktop client, then you might be interested to know that Microsoft has released a connector that will allow you to send and receive Hotmail or Office Live Mail through Outlook 2003 or 2007.

This is especially helpful for those of us that maintain a hotmail account but don't like to ever check it because we don't use it all that often.

Installation

Make sure that Outlook is closed, and then download and install the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector. Open Outlook and you'll immediately be prompted with the settings dialog.

Enter in your account details into this screen, and then close the dialog. You'll be prompted to restart Outlook again.

Once you've restarted, you'll now see your Hotmail account in the list of mail accounts, and you can send/receive to download your messages.

If you want to send email with the hotmail account, you'll notice a new drop-down for Account, which will let you switch the account you are sending the email as.

Hopefully this will save you some of the pain of the slow-loading hotmail website.

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Resize Picture Attachments in Outlook 2007

Those who are familiar with resizing picture attachments in Outlook 2003 might wonder where on earth they hid this feature in Outlook 2007 - at first glance, it seems like they removed it completely, when in reality they buried it in the Ribbon.

Resizing picture attachments before they go out is one way to be nice to the people you are sending files to… there's really no reason to send emails with gigantic picture files when the other person just wants to see the picture. It's also easier than resizing them before sending.

On the Ribbon select the Insert tab and click Attach File.

Windows Explorer opens up. Select and double click the picture you want to send in your email. *Note: You can also drag and drop the picture into your email message.

Now that you have the picture attached in your message click the Include Dialog Box Launcher (Yes really is the official name for this little icon). Look where the mouse is in the following screenshot… yes, you have to click that tiny little icon.

Once you click that icon, the "Attachment Options" panel will pop up on the right hand side of your window. In the Picture Options section, you can resize the attached picture automatically to one of the pre-set sizes.

Notice especially the checkbox for "Show when attaching files". If you check this, then the next time you attach a file, this side panel will show up the next time without having to do anything extra.

This comes in extremely useful when sending pictures that have not been resized, cropped, or scaled down from the original size. As picture files can get quite large this allows you to send them as a reasonable sized attachment.

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To know IP Addresses

An IP Address is 4 sets of decimal numbers, 0-255, separated by periods (for example, 192.168.255.251) which form the address of a computer on the internet or within a local network, and allow it to be referenced by other computers.

An IP address consists of two parts, a network portion and a host portion.

Within a single network, for example the one you are about to set up, all computers will have identical network portions. In order for two computers to communicate with each other directly, they must be in the same network, and thus have identical network portions of their IP addresses.

The host portion of an IP address indicates a computer's unique identifier within its network. Every computer on a given network must have a unique host portion in order to communicate with other computers in the same network.

An IP address is always accompanied by a subnet mask, which separates the network and host portions of the IP address. A subnet mask is shown in the same format as the IP address (for example 255.255.255.0). As far as this article is concerned, assume that the values of the 4 sets of numbers in the subnet mask can be either 0 or 255.

Sets with the value of 0 indicate the host portion of the IP address, and sets with the value of 255 indicate the network portion. For example, with an IP address of 192.168.3.25 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, the network portion of the address would be '192.168.3', and the host portion would be '.25'. This means the computer assigned this address is host 25 within the 192.168.3 network.

Things do get significantly more complex than this, especially when you consider that the subnet mask is not actually restricted only to values of 0 or 255, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

Now, on with the networking!!!

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Safe guard system from spyware

Spyware is the fastest growing threat on the Internet. Certain variety of spyware is becoming as dangerous as viruses and trojans, while some don't cause any major harm to the system - but still report your internet surfing habits to a remote webmaster. That's not all, but they affect the system performance as well. Here are the spyware removal and protection tools which you must have, at the very least. Before proceeding to Spyware removal, I would advice you create a System Restore point in XP (in case), considering the fact that 'sometimes' spyware removal affects the normal operation of Windows.


Spyware Prevention and Removal Tools/methods

Prevents spyware from being installed, by blocking a huge list of known spyware controls. Weekly updates available via it's Auto-Update feature. Most effective method I have ever seen. Uses the technique named Kill-Bit using which bad controls are blocked. Note that if your system is already infected with spyware, this software does not help much. This software is purely a shield. Highly recommended product!
Download Spyware Blaster or click here

Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Award-winning spyware remover, also a freeware. Updated frequently as and once new spyware variants are discovered. and web-update feature available.

SpyBot Search & Destroy
This software is equally good as Ad-Aware, in addition contains Immunize feature where-in you can block a list of known ActiveX controls (using the same Kill-Bit technique as SpywareBlaster uses). Also provides a SBHelper Browser Helper Object to plug-in to Internet Explorer. The BHO is very useful to block unwanted ActiveX controls and Cookies while surfing. Automatic Update feature available. Restricted Zones list also available.

HijackThis
Very popular diagnostic utility, which displays almost EVERY browser add-ons installed and generates a report for troubleshooting unknown problems (if the above tools fail to solve the problem). A technician, by looking at the HijackThis log can pin-point where the hijacker resides and can eliminate them easily. THIS TOOL lists all SPYWARE BROWSER EXTENSIONS and also the LEGIT ones. You require a greater skill level to diagnose this log. So, don't fix the entries yourself if you don't know what you're doing with HijackThis.

Download anti-spyware reference files locally and apply to other computers Plus, there are other methods and tools to block unwanted sites (using Hosts file, and using Restricted Zone in Internet Explorer) You need a combination of all of the above removal tools (in most cases), I repeat "ALL". And, updating the definitions is equally important. Without the updated definitions, running a spyware cleaner is almost useless. Note that anti-virus software can't remove spyware, they can only deal with viruses and trojans.

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How To Keep Kids Safe On The Web

The World Wide Web provides a wonderful resource for entertaining and educating children.

However, dangers do exist and it is important for kids and parents to be aware of these dangers and to know how to stay safe online.

This article features practical advice for both kids and parents.

Advice for Kids

The Internet is full of interesting web sites and is a great way to meet new friends across the world who share your interests. Unfortunately, not everyone you meet on the World Wide Web is friendly and some people even pretend to be someone they're not.

To make sure you have a safe time while you're surfing the Web, remember these tips:
- Avoid giving out your e-mail address to people you don't know
- Never give out your full name, telephone number, home address or the name of your school
- Don't open e-mails or attachments from people you don't know
- If you visit a web site or receive an e-mail that makes you feel uncomfortable, tell your parent or whoever looks after you
- Don't tell other people your Internet passwords
- Never agree to meet up with someone you have met on the Internet
- Try to avoid staring at the screen for too long without a break

Some interesting web sites for you to try:
www.kidscom.com - fun and games
www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies - games and fun things to do
www.yahoo.com - Yahoo! kids search engine
www.bbc.co.uk/schools - BBC Schools
www.channel4.com/learning - homework help

Advice for Parents

There are many useful sites with advice about safety for children online including:
www.kidsmart.org.uk
www.nspcc.org.uk
www.nch.org.uk
www.safekids.com
www.protectkids.org
Restricting Internet use to a PC in a family room is one way you can keep an eye on your child's browsing activities. You will be able to take an occasional glance to make sure they are safe, without them feeling like you are watching their every move.

Letting them know your concerns and educating them about the dangers of the Internet will help them understand you are not trying to stop them enjoying the Web, just making sure that they have a safe experience.

There are also various software packages available that can help you monitor your child's browsing when you are not in the room.

These programs can record browser web addresses, e-mails, and chat software, and can also filter and block certain web sites and even record what has been typed on the keyboard:
www.softwarexpress.com - The Internet Babysitter
www.cyberpatrol.com - CyberPatrol
www.riasc.net/plg.aspx - Parental Lock Guard
www.netnanny.com - Net Nanny
www.naomifilter.org - Naomi
www.surfsafe.co.uk - SurfSafe
If your kids use Google to search for things, in the Preferences next to the search box there are options under SafeSearch Filtering to block explicit images or text.

There is a plug-in available for the Firefox web browser called Gubble, which allows you to set permissions on which web sites kids can visit.

In Windows it is possible to create a separate user account that can be restricted so that the user cannot install harmful software, remove crucial files or change Windows settings.

Create a new user account for your child by clicking on the Start menu then Control Panel and clicking on User Accounts. Click Create a new account, choose a name and choose a Limited account then click Create Account.

You may also wish to put a password on your own Administrator account so that your child cannot use it to install or remove programs.

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