If you use a Windows Live email address, that being any address that ends in @hotmail.com, @msn.com or @live.com, you can access the account right now in the Windows Live Mail client.

The immediate advantages of using WL Mail:

• No ads anywhere in the client
• No ads sent on outgoing mail
• Allows for local caching of mail for faster access and being able to read your mail offline
• Easier to attach files
• Faster than using the web interface

There are more but those are the biggies.

The way a Hotmail account is configured in WL Mail by default is to download a copy of every mail in your account (and no that does not mean once downloaded it deletes from the web version.) This unfortunately includes the Junk and Deleted folders, so every time your perform a mail check, anything in those folders is downloaded as well.

You can easily configure Hotmail to download only the headers by simply right-clicking on the folder and choosing the appropriate option.

It’s as simple as this:

Pictured above is done by doing the following:

1. Right-click the Junk e-mail folder.
2. Hover over Synchronization settings.
3. Click Headers only.

What this will do is download just the header and not the actual message. You will see the subject line but the mail will not be downloaded unless you actually open it.

I suggest doing this for both the Junk and the Deleted Items folder, because when you delete something you obviously don’t want it locally cached. Don’t worry, your deleted mail will still be there on a server level for 30 days unless you specifically choose to empty the Deleted Items folder.

Any folder in your Windows Live mail account can be set to Headers Only. This may prove to be an advantage for those that have bandwidth caps imposed by their ISP, or a slow internet connection. Headers are nothing but very small files and download almost instantly.

The WL mail client has no ads anywhere in it. Using it in combination with the headers only option makes it one of the speediest mail systems you can use.

Quick questions answered

Does the Windows Live Mail client use IMAP for Windows Live accounts?

No. Windows Live mail uses a proprietary protocol by Microsoft called DeltaSync. It allows for two-way synchronization of mail/contacts/calendar/notes, so it in fact does a whole lot more than just mail.

If I have a folder set to headers only and I delete a mail, does it get moved to the Deleted Items folder even though I don’t have to re-download it?

Yes. The way in which it works is that the WL Mail client has seamless synchronization with the web-based version. When you delete a mail and then click the Sync button (or just wait until the client performs another mail check), what you do on a local level will be reflected exactly in the web-based version, and can be loaded the same way on either platform. Even if you did not read the mail and deleted it, it will still be moved to the appropriate location.

Is there any way I can turn off the reading pane so I don’t automatically download an email when I click on it?

Yes, you can turn off the reading pane. First it should be noted that the reading pane is by design disabled whenever viewing the Junk e-mail folder. So even if you have it enabled and go inside the Junk e-mail folder, it will turn itself off when in there. However if you want it off all the time, press ALT+V to bring up the View menu, then click Layout.

You will see this:

Simply uncheck the box for Show the reading pane, then click Apply then OK.

Will adjusting synchronization settings for my Windows Live account affect any other Live or other POP/IMAP accounts I have in WL Mail?

No. Whatever you adjust for sync settings will only affect that specific account. It does not "carry over" to others.

Are headers re-downloaded every time I start the WL Mail client?

Yes. WL Mail ordinarily performs a mail check (what it called a "Sync") on startup unless you configured it otherwise. Being that headers are so small in size this will not be a cause for concern.

Will choosing headers only for specific folders affect the way I search mail in WL Mail?

Yes. Any search performed in a folder you have set to headers only will only search to/from addresses and subject line, but not the body of the message since it isn’t downloaded locally at that point. To perform full searches that include the body of the message, you will have to have full synchronization or use the web-based version.

If I currently have a folder set to full synchronization and switch to headers only, are the local copies removed for the mail in that folder?

No. If you want to configure a Live account with headers only for everything, remove the account from WL Mail and re-add it. On first check of mail, stop the process (click "Sync" twice to see the window and hit the stop button), set all folders to headers only, then perform another sync.

Got another question about Live mail and the WL Mail client? Leave a comment and ask.

Most web sites will work with no issue using Firefox 3 or Internet Explorer 8. But there will be times you encounter a web page that will instantly crash your browser. One such example is crappy MySpace pages. It is very common to find pages with the following junk in it:

• Animated background graphic
• Animated Flash graphics
• Auto-play music player
• Other graphics pulled in from many different web sites (from the "comments" section on such pages)

It’s awful. And even if you have an absolutely default browser with no add-ons/plugins installed, pages like this can still crash your browser.

A way around this is to use the "No-Style" option which effectively kills almost all the crap on pages like this and keeps the browser from crashing.

In Firefox and IE: View / Page Style / No Style

In IE, if you don’t see the "View" on the menubar, just press ALT to see the menu.

Using No-Style will make web pages look Web 1.0-like. It reverts the style to the default font and makes otherwise "heavy" pages easy to scroll and read.

In addition, you can whiz thru the pages much faster. Granted, it may be "ugly", but it’s much faster than with everything loaded.

I do use this feature periodically because there are some web designs out there that are simply awful. And while (on Windows) Times New Roman 16-pixel size in black on a white background may be not-so stylish, it sure is easy to read.

Also remember that selecting "Basic Page Style" or "Default Style" puts the browser back in normal viewing mode, which it’s in by default.

For those of you out there who choose to use a traditional email client with IMAP to connect to Gmail (of which there are many of you), you may have noticed that checking your Gmail can at times be a bit on the slow side. A reason for this may be because you’re subscribed to all IMAP folders in "full download" mode.

If you unsubscribe from specific folders and/or set them to download headers only, this makes checking mail and overall use of the system much speedier.

For this article I’ll show you how to do this with the Windows Live Mail client. Remember, this app is not just for Hotmail. It can easily do POP and IMAP as well.

The default view in Windows Live Mail is that the menu bar is hidden. Show it by clicking the icon to the far right next to the blue help icon and select Show Menu Bar, like this:

When you do this you will see File, Edit, View, Go, Tools, Actions and Help appear at the top of the mail client.

Select your Gmail email account on the left (clicking Inbox is fine). You should see a button labeled IMAP Folders, like this:

If you do not see this button, make sure your Gmail account is selected.

If it is and you still don’t see it, click View then Customize Toolbar.

Looks like this:

Make sure IMAP Folders is listed under Current buttons as shown above. If not, select it from the left and place it on the right.

When done, click the IMAP Folders button. This will show your currently subscribed list.

Looks like this:

I suggest double-clicking the Starred folder so you can unsubscribe from it. There’s no reason to have it there when using an email client (unless you specifically want it there). On double-click the folder next to the word will disappear, meaning it is unsubscribed. If you want to subscribe again, double click again. Click OK when finished.

Setting a folder to download headers only or not download at all

With IMAP there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to fully download spam, so that’s the example I’ll use here.

Right-click the Spam folder, select Synchronization settings and choose Don’t synchronize or Headers only, like this:

All spams that on mail check from now on will now download just the header and not the body of the message. This will significantly speed up overall use just from doing this alone.

Bear in mind this can be done with any IMAP folder – even the inbox.

In addition, if you encounter Gmail IMAP server timeouts even if only a semi-regular basis, setting folders for headers-only should cure that ill in short order.

I received some CD-RW (that’s Read/Write by the way) blank discs because I ran out of my standard CD-R’s and needed to burn some traditional audio CDs (yes, some people still do this). These happened to be Memorex CD-RWs.

I pop in the disc and no matter what burner program I use (Nero, WinAMP, etc.), the maximum write speed is 4x. I’m not kidding. 4x.

To give you an indication of how slow that is, if you push a full CD of music (traditional audio, not MP3 files), it takes close to 30 minutes for the job to complete.

I was informed that the discs were bought in a 50-pack bulk and they were dirt cheap. Well, yeah, now I know why they were so cheap. 4x max write? Jeez!

To note: CD-RW discs typically do have slower max-write speeds, but I was expecting 10x for a RW, not 4x. Yes, 10x is still dirt slow but at least tolerable (somewhat).

Earlier today I bought a 30-pack of good ol’ Memorex CD-Rs. Those have a max-write speed of 40x.

Much better.

The moral of this story: Watch yourself when you buy those big 50-packs of optical media. If the maximum write speed is slow, all the savings are gone in wasted time waiting for the @#*&! disc to finish a write.

One would think since the USA created internet (yes we did) we’d be top dog as far as adoption of broadband is concerned.

We’re not. In fact, we’re in 15th place. On average, the fastest download last-mile speed is 2.3mbps.

Just to give you an indication of how slow our connectivity speed is, Japan (who always kicks everyone’s ass in tech) has an average download speed of 63mbps. To us that’s nothing but a pipe dream. We think 20mbps is a godsend. Bear in mind the 63 is an average download rate in Japan – not the fastest speed.

Can you imagine the stuff you could download at an average 63mbps rate?

A very sobering thought.

In the US, the state with the best median download speed in Rhode Island at 6.8mbps. The worst is Alaska at 0.8mbps.

At the present time there is a an Act on the books the government is looking to pass called the Broadband Data Improvement Act so we can at least get enough capacity to have nationwide 10mbps download and 1mbps upload by 2010.

Unfortunately that’s the best we can look forward to – but at least it’s an improvement should the Act be put into effect (which it should).

[Source: ChannelWeb]

If you run an older computer  there are certain services you can safely disable in Windows XP. This won’t make your computer blazingly faster by any means but it will gain you a "few extra horsepower", so to speak.

To access your running services:

1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Administrative Tools icon.
3. Double-click the Services icon.

This will bring up a list of all the services in your Windows XP installation.

It should look similar to this:

To disable a service…

Double-click the one you want, click Stop then choose the Startup Type to be Disabled so it will not start again.

Remember: You can re-enable any service by doing the exact reverse.

Error Reporting Service

I have never found a solid reason to keep this service running. Any error report I’ve ever received has not served to assist me whatsoever. So I disable this.

Help and Support

Do you ever use the built-in Windows XP Help and Support section? I don’t.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Remote Assistance will not work if this service is disabled. But if you never use RA you can disable it safely.

Indexing Service

The description of this service is "Indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files".

What I’ve found is that this does nothing but slow down XP. If you’ve ever found that your hard drive seems to "think about stuff" for no reason whatsoever even when your computer is doing (seemingly) nothing, this is why.

In a networking environment this would be bad to disable (as it would make access slower). But if you’re just using one computer it’s 100% okay to disable this.

Themes Service

This is the service that gives XP its themed look, called "Luna". If you disable this service your XP will look almost identical to Windows 2000.

Of all the services you can disable, this will speed up Windows XP the most. Without the graphic overhead, screen draws and redraws occur much faster.

Important note: Some applications (albeit few) assume that you have Luna enabled. Without it running these apps may not look correct. But this does not happen often.

If you have ever noticed, almost all current network cards support 10/100/1000 ethernet, but very few routers actually support the /1000. The last /1000 is actually called gigabit networking, allowing you to transfer 1 gigabit per second – which is the same as 1000 megabits per second or 125 megabytes per second – over your network. This increase in speed is significant, especially if you need to transfer large files between computers on your network.

Gigabit routers are available, but they are usually pretty pricey. I have a solution that can work with your current setup for under $50. It can definitely be worth the extra money if you intend to do any file transfers. Time is money, you know. Here’s what I recommend:

• Check out your favorite computer warehouse – I will use Newegg for sample prices – to find a simple gigabit switch that has 4 ports or more.
• Dlink and Linksys both have switches available for under $35 at Newegg which can be used for this purpose
• When you get the switch, you will want to shut off your router and modem
• Unplug all the ethernet cables on your router except the one that goes to your modem
• Plug the switch into the router with an Ethernet cable
• Plug all computers and other networked devices directly into the switch

Using this process allows all the computers on your home network (assuming they are all wired into this switch) to communicate at gigabit speeds, without investing in a gigabit router.
In my house, I have Ethernet wired in the walls to a few different locations. All the drops lead to the furnace room where they are mounted in the wall. I have it set up so that there is a gigabit switch in the furnace room supplying signal to two of the locations, and the other lead goes to my room, where I have it go into another gigabit switch with my equipment plugged in there. Then, from there, that switch goes into the router.

My overall network speed has seen a very noticeable increase since the switch to gigabit. For me, it was well worth my time. I hope it can be worth yours too!