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March 29th, 2024

Tech Q&A

When two devices such as a PC and an iPod share a single Web-based e-mail account; more

Steve Alexander

By Steve Alexander

Published Jan. 26, 2015

Q: I was wondering why some of my Yahoo e-mails show up on either my home laptop or my iPod Touch, but not on both. For example, I recently received some e-mails on my iPod that I deleted. But they never showed up on my laptop. Why?

Gary Wedl, Anoka

A: There's nothing wrong. It's just a matter of understanding what happens when two devices such as a PC and an iPod share a single Web-based e-mail account.

In free Web-based e-mail systems, such as Yahoo Mail, Google's Gmail and Microsoft's Outlook.com, your account resides on an Internet server. You log on to that server to receive, send or delete e-mail. But the e-mail is never stored on your PC, iPod or other device. It's only stored online.

Now, suppose you read an e-mail from me on your iPod, then delete the message. That doesn't delete the e-mail from your iPod, because it was never stored there. Instead, it deletes the e-mail from the Yahoo server. As a result, the next time you log in to Yahoo Mail with your PC, you won't find the e-mail from me in your Inbox. (Recently deleted e-mail may be in the Trash folder.)

Remember, there is one, and only one, copy of every Yahoo e-mail you receive. If you delete that e-mail with either device, it's gone for both of them.

Q: You suggested running the Malwarebytes program (available at tinyurl.com/dx3u46y) to check for malicious software. I already have Norton Security Suite on my computer. Will this malware checker conflict with Norton?

Mike Shamblin, Edina


A: Not as long as you use the free version of Malwarebytes that I recommended. Why? The free version runs only when you click on it, and removes malicious software that may have accumulated since the program was last used. The premium version of Malwarebyes, which you have to buy, runs constantly and might interfere with the Norton software.

Q: The screen on my six-month-old HP Envy 700 PC turned blue. A message said that there was an error on the hard drive, and that the automatic fix for it could take more than an hour. About 30 minutes later, I got a message saying the hard drive couldn't be fixed. Any suggestions?

Rein Ohmann, Bloomington

A: Your computer is still within HP's two-year limited warranty for hardware, and that should cover a premature hard drive failure. You can confirm the details of your HP warranty at tinyurl.com/2clbjb5. To contact HP, call the company's "Support after you buy" number for consumer products, 800-474-6836 (for more information, see tinyurl.com/cwdgcoj.)

Steve Alexander Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
(TNS)

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