ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: Based on your comments about Vista and how TurboTax will not support Vista next year I am changing my home desktop computer.  So, I am in the process of upgrading my old desk top system with Vista to Windows 10.  I used Avast to protect my old system from viruses and all the other dangerous programs on the internet.  I am not a power user and only use my computer for emails and purchasing items on Amazon.  I am looking for a free or low cost option that will run in the background.

– David P.
Mary Esther, Florida

A:  David, I searched my archive over at ItsGeekToMe.co, and I could not find any issue in which I ever said that TurboTax will not support Vista next year.  Nevertheless, I put my awesome powers of Google-Fu to work, and sure enough, it looks like tax year 2016 is the last year that TurboTax will support Vista.  So, for all you hanger-onners out there, here’s one more reason to switch.

Beyond your helpful and very welcome comment, I didn’t really see a question in your e-mail.  I’m guessing you want a recommendation for a virus scanner?  If that’s the case, I can assure you that Avast runs perfectly fine under Windows 10.  It is active on the computer that I’m typing on right now, as well as several others that I manage for Spouse Peripheral and myself.  So, if you like Avast, there’s no reason to not continue using it.  Congratulations on the upgrade, by the way.

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Q: When you answered my question about Snipping Tool and why I am not able to send snips via e-mail (I.G.T.M. #501, February 26, 2017) you said to go to: (Programs), Control Panel, Set your default programs, Locate your e-mail client.  I see two choices in the default program list which might deal with mail.  These are “Mail” and “Mail and Calendar Accts.”  I tried “set this program as default” on first and then the other, exited to Snipping Tool, tired to email a snip and got the same “There is no email program associated…”  What am I missing here?

– Marvin R.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A:  The “Mail” that you see in your list is the Microsoft Mail that comes with Windows 10.  I do not think that the “Mail and Calendar Accounts” entry is actually a program, but is more of a placeholder for those functionalities that are provided as a part of Windows if you don’t have dedicated mail and/or calendar applications.  For example, I don’t have a Calendar application on my PC, but I have provided Windows with the credentials for my Google calendar, and Windows accesses it and displays my appointments, as if the PC is managing the calendar.  This is one of the cool things about the cloud, by the way, as this same calendar data appears on my smartphone, my tablet, my wife’s devices, and in the browser of any computer that I use, so it is always available.

Do you use an e-mail client, or do you use webmail?  If you use a client, which one? Outlook?  Thunderbird?  Whatever it is, that is the application that needs to be associated.  You should find it by its actual name in the list of programs, and you would perform the association there.  It sounds more like you are looking for a mail category, which, if it even existed, would not be what you want, because associations are application-specific. I should mention that the e-mail client you’re trying to associate must be MAPI compatible. I don’t really want to go in-depth into what that means, because it’s way more technical than most people want to know.  Suffice it to say MAPI compatibility means that the e-mail program provides a system interface for other application programs to send e-mails through it.  

So, your first task is to decide what e-mail client you’re using.  Then, go find it in the list of program defaults.  Once you’ve located it, enable the application to be the system’s MAPI default.  Remember, if you just cannot get this to work, or if you use webmail, or if your client isn’t MAPI compatible, you can always save your snip to a file, then manually attach that file to an e-mail.  It isn’t as convenient, but it’s only a few more steps, and it doesn’t require any associations.