Not being familiar with Win8, I would suggest opening Control panel, look for firewall, help and support for the operating system used to be in XP and Vista, not sure if Win8 has it. It looks like you will have to open an Outlook account . There might be a user manual on your pad, but you may have to look online. I hope this helps, I'm going to get one soon too. So I hope I've been of some assistance at least with ideas of where to look.

Windows 8.1 (and others) comes with a firewall installed, already turned on. Read about it here...

Here is a link that might be useful: Windows Firewall

Whoz Online:

I opted out of that B4 they redid the Yahoo (last year?) so that option remained in affect after the change. Perhaps yours will too.

You might look or scroll down below the inbox and all your folders to Messenger. Open that and you should find an option for offline or online.

You can also click on Applications to open that and see what else is stored for you.

First of all you do not need McAfee trial, first thing I get rid of is all trial crap, you downloaded Avast so you do not need 2, they will conflict.You should also download malewarebytes however. I use only IE and it is very much improved and fast on W8. Yes, you login or start with what once was hotmail, then windows live and now outlook e-mail addy. You can increase your font and or icons etc. in control panel/settings. Go to Lenova online to get your manual, you need your model number etc. or serial #

Thank you all for your help. I figured some things out last night before I upgraded to Win 8.1 - that download took hours to complete

To get the verification code I needed to sign into my Sympatico account and I could not do it using my iPod. I had the right password and user name but I could not log on. I called Bell this morning at 7 am and was on the phone with them for more than 2 hours. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with my email because they had a hard time signing in too. After 2 hours they reset my password to the same one and after I hung up I still could not access my email. I finally had to call a friend to log in and get the Windows verification code for me so I could complete the installation.

I switched to IE instead of using Mozilla. My laptop was always dimming after 5 minutes so I found the way to reset that. I will get rid of the trial McAfee. I will also download Malewarebytes and CC Cleaner which I used on my other laptop. haha I think I will buy that Dummies book for Windows

One other question I use a wireless mouse to play FB games but I am finding it lagging, is there any way I can speed it up to move quicker. Also I have a WIFI Pixma Cannon Printer, this computer does not have CD reader so I can't download the dsiks. I should be able to still use the printer by plugging the printer into my USB port? Thank you again

Anne

No do not download CCleaner you only need one AVI=Avast and one maleware=Malewarebytes, anymore is over kill and may conflict, why do folks do this?? I will never understand! stop downloading multibles of the same type protection

This post was edited by Aputernut on Tue, Apr 15, 14 at 9:59

Yes getting and using that verification code can be very irritating, I got it sorted out eventually but the blood pressure rose somewhat.

I will disagree about downloading Ccleaner, I think it is a great program for cleaning the hard drive. Of course it is possible the disk cleaning capabilities of Widows 8 is far superior to that provided with XP.

Regarding the printer I suspect once you connect via the USB cable the drivers will automatically be installed and very likely you'll be offered the option to go online to find the latest, greatest drivers for it. Then you could remove the cable and test out you WiFi connection.

You might not need a Dummies book, there are some great tutorials here plus Google is you friend in these cases.

Go ahead and download CCleaner and use it as you wish. CC is not a prophylaxis or a malware detection application. It is just as it says, a system cleaner. It is configurable and cleans much more effectively than Windows Disk Cleanup. It does not run in realtime nor does it conflict with anything else.

DA

I use Ccleaner and have for years with no problems. I like because it lets me save cookies for THS and GW. I don't recommend using the registry part of it. I do it when the list is long, but I know how to fix it if need be.

" I will get rid of the trial McAfee."

Be sure to use the appropriate manufacturer's removal tool. Also, consider a follow up with the registry tool in CC as it would not be unusual to have an orphaned entry or two. When using the tool only select entries on the report pertaining to McAfee.

DA

Re your Canon wi fi printer. I also have one that originally needed discs for setup etc. However, when I started looking at networking and setting up a homegroup for my new win8.1 netbook, I found that after following directions (and some confusion about the homegroup settings) the printer was connected without doing anything more than accepting that it was the printer I wanted to use. My memory is fading and I no longer recall the steps. Lookup homegroup.

I think the Windows operating systems come with a firewall and it may be automatically activated when first installed. If you install another application that has a firewall such as Norton 360 and you want to use that firewall, turnoff the Windows firewall. You should not try to run 2 firewalls, but by all means, do run a firewall.

Thank you again for the advice and tips and link to the Windows forum. I will look for the McAfee removal tool. I am starting to get more familiar with this computer as I use it. I just have to learn how to not hit the mouse pad with my wrists or thumb which I do often

If you want to go back to using Firefox, download the current version, not the beta. Also, there's an add-on that lets you customize the size of the font in your toolbars. Works with Thunderbird too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Theme Font & Size Changer