Replies

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try whois and tracing the headers.

We’ve changed the email password a few times, Cox has invalidated the old one repeatedly so we had to.

I’m waiting to hear back from my friend, so we can talk to Cox some more.

Thanks

One of the main advantages of SpamCop, is that is traces the real source of the message, plus identifies the hosting service of any web link within the email. It’s free, or by donation. If any source ISP refuses to accept SpamCop reports, I’ll usually usually forward the entire message directly to them. I also always copy spam@uce.gov on every report.

I would also recommend communicating with Cox about the problem, but my experience with Cox is extremely poor. For any SPAM I always use SpamCop the results of which you might be able to forward to Cox with a note. One of the numerous problems I have with Cox is that I cannot forward SPAM email through their servers.

Two simple rules
If an email is from your bank or microsoft or another big tech company (apple etc) delete it
If a phone call is from the same people or the tax office or whatever and you do not know the actual caller put the phone down beside you and walk away for ten minutes – on some phone systems their phone is blocked from making calls for several minutes if you do not hang up on them

I used to walk away from an open phone line until I signed up for Nomorobo. As for Spam emails, I always report them via SpamCop. I sometimes copy the spamcop report to the US government where applicable.

Thanks for a great article, I’ve had my ups and downs with VB. I thought I’d mention that under a Linux environment (Kubuntu), resizing virtual drives is a bit more extensive. I had to use:

VBoxManage clonehd XP3b-disk1.vmdk XP3.vdi –format vdi
VBoxManage modifyhd XP3.vdi –resize 16384
VBoxManage clonehd XP3.vdi XP3.vmdk –format vmdk

I’ve even managed to get USB 3.0 support in XP guests using the following trick:

https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=74575

The greatest challenge though is often getting the VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) loaded, fixing permission problems, or running special commands to reconfigure and set things up properly.

The one thing that was not clear to me initially, and delayed my use of it, was that essentially no hardware drivers are needed in the guest system–except as in the case for USB3. Now that I finally have the CD/DVD working and USB’s, I no longer need to dual boot.

jbgreter
That’s why I used LXLE on old laptops, because I could not install 14.04 (KDE, Mint, Peppermint), or it ran too slow and had wireless issues. I even tried some of the other “lite” distros without much success. I even had to revert to KDE 12.04 on my I-7 desktop.

You can run itunes on Linux Mint:
http://www.ossdoc.com/2013/01/how-to-install-itune-on-linux-mint-and.html

I have not tried this, as I use XP in a VirtualBox

terrabill – Centos is well-thought of but it’s not the Linux distro I would recommend to someone new to Linux.

Have a look at The Best Linux Distribution for New Users article for some comparisons by Linux.com.

Another 2 articles to have a look at:

The Best Linux Distributions (which mentions Centos but not in the ‘suitable for new users section’).

Top 5 Linux Distros for beginners – 2014

Also, have a look at newlinuxuser.net for more info and links.

Hope this helps…

The links do not mention LXLE, which is a must to consider if installing on an old laptop with Broadcom wireless. It’s the only distro I’ve installed that I have not had to tweak or install special drivers, especially after header updates.

If you are migrating from XP, there will be a significant learning curve depending on how much you get into the system. I realize Linux Mint is quite popular here but it does not cut it for me on an old laptop, particularly for a lot of wireless adapters. I found LXLE (Linux) worked best on several old laptops. This seems to be the best distro for just install and go. Quite fast. No broadcom wireless setup! Connection is just like any modern device. Includes some great utilities. The only downside is Claws mail! but that can be replaced with Thunderbird.

It’s possible that XP could also be installed either as a dual boot or in virtual memory, but might require some assistance to do so, but would retain some familiarity until you get used to the new environment.

I recommend you consider giving Linux Mint a whirl. It’s totally free, very similar to a Win XP/Win7 desktop – usually needs no third-party drivers, no AV required and does everything most people use a computer for.

I recently installed LXLE (Linux) on several old laptops. This seems to be the best distro for just install and go. Quite fast. No broadcom wireless setup! Connection is just like any modern device. Includes some great utilities. The only downside is Claws mail! but that can be replaced with Thunderbird.

No-one ever seems to mention PhotoFilter, it’s a great editing program if you do not need to use layers. Download the zip version to avoid the Ask toolbar.

My perception is that Microsoft has taken the route of listening far too much to novice users, and in some way sort of emulating the Mac’ user experience. This has clearly alienated the power/long time users who feel insulted by this approach. As John259 stated, “Microsoft could make a lot more users happy if they offered a choice of menu and ribbon”. I still use Office 97 on XP, and to keep up to date, Libre Office on Kubuntu (dual boot system – i7-2600K CPU). So my choice of not using the ribbon is to stay away completely.