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Q: If I get a GMail account, must I accept the tool bar too?  Can I decline it when setting up the account? 

– Larry T.
Navarre, FL

A: You are not required to use the Google Toolbar if you obtain a GMail account, Larry.  In fact, unless Google has changed something, I don’t think you’ll even have to decline it, since nothing gets downloaded to your computer while setting up Gmail – it’s strictly a web-based setup.  To install the toolbar, you have to visit toolbar.google.com.

I hope you’re not letting the warnings in my column stop you from using Google Toolbar.  I have it installed on every computer that I use or maintain, and I find it to be an invaluable resource, and a real time saver.

Q: How do I make Internet Explorer prompt me to remember usernames/passwords after I have clicked on “don’t ask me again” on an individual site?  I have considered using the “Delete Passwords” button on Internet Explorer’s “Delete Browsing History” dialog, but I don’t want to delete them all – just reset the ones where I said “Don’t ask me again.” 

– Pete
Navarre, FL

A: Readers, Pete actually asked this question at the NWFACUG Computer Expo at NWF State College a few weeks ago.  He and I discussed this issue via e-mail, and between the two of us, we finally came up with a (full and correct) answer.

What Pete remembered as a dialog saying “Don’t ask me again” is actually a dialog that asks if you want to store IE to remember the password (Yes/No), but has a little checkbox that says “Don’t offer to remember any more passwords.”  Enabling the checkbox does not mean stop offering for THIS site – it means stop offering for ALL sites.  You can undo that selection by going to Tools->Internet Options and clicking the “Content” tab.  Under “AutoComplete” click on the “Settings” button, and re-enable the “Prompt me to save passwords” checkbox.

That will re-enable the prompts for all sites, but if you have previously said “No” on a site, IE will have remembered your username, but not the password, and it won’t offer to store the password even after doing the above steps.  You can tell if IE is storing the username by entering the first character of it in the field.  If you get a dropdown containing your username, then IE is storing it.  To force it to ask for a password again, simply point at the entry on the list and hit the “Delete” button on your keyboard.  The entry will disappear from the dropdown, and you can now enter your username and password.  Assuming you re-enabled prompting to save passwords, IE will now prompt whether to remember it.

IE’s “Autocomplete” feature stores data for many form fields – not just passwords.  This feature is useful, but it can also save unwanted data.  For example, I’ve accidentally mistyped my e-mail address in a form field, then, on similar forms that ask for an e-mail address IE offers the mistyped address as an option.  When this happens, you can use the above technique to point at the unwanted entry on the dropdown and permanently delete it.