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Modem
& Connection Problems |
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|
Personal
Websites & Domains |
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|
| ACCOUNT
DETAILS |
| |
| How
do I open an account with Hwy? [top] |
| First
make sure that you have all the basics - computer, modem and a phone
line near the computer. If your computer is running Windows 95/98
or higher, you'll find that it already has all the internet software
that you'll require. Now all you need to do is to complete an Application
Form and fax it back to us on 02 6372 0963. If not paying by credit
card, payment must be received before the account can be opened. |
| What
is my Username? [top] |
| Your
username or account name can be no longer than 8 characters and is
always in lowercase. It is what you'll use to connect up to the Internet
with and will also make up the start of your email address, username@hwy.com.au.
It's a good idea to choose a username which encompasses everybody
who'll be using the account; eg. you wouldn't want to have a username
of tedjones if Mrs Jones and the kids were to be using the account
and email as well. Remember that a username can't include spaces or
symbols like ampersands (&) or dashes (-). |
| What
is my Password? [top] |
| Your
password keeps your account secure so it should not be disclosed to
anyone whom you do not want accessing your Internet account. We recommend
that it should be between 6-8 characters long and contain a combination
of both letters and numbers (at least 2 numbers). If you have forgotten
your password, please contact our Support
Desk. |
| How
do I change my Password? [top] |
As
long as you know what it already is, you can change your password
which you use to log on to the Internet with. You can change your
password by going to the Members section found on the Hwy home page.
Should you wish to change your email password, please contact our
Support Desk.
To change your login password, please click
here. |
| How
much time have I used? [top] |
|
You can view your usage through the Timecheck feature found in the
Members section of our home page. This will give you a detailed record
of how many hours you've used, as well as a history of your logins
to date. To get a Timecheck, please click
here. |
| How
do I change my current access Plan? [top] |
| Written
notification must given before the end of the month. If it
is already into the new month, the plan will only be changed as at
the 1st of the following month. To view our available plans, please
click here. To email
our Accounts Department, please click
here. |
| EMAIL
& NEWSGROUPS |
| |
| Can
I have an another E-mail address? [top] |
| You
can have another email address which is actually an alias. An alias
is not a mailbox but simply an extra email address which points back
to your main email account/mailbox. Should you wish to have an alias
created for you, please click
here to email your request to our office. |
| Why
does it stop downloading halfway through receiving my E-mail? [top] |
| A
faulty or incomplete mail header on an email message that has been
sent to you can sometimes cause your email to jam up. As soon as the
offending email is removed, you'll be able to download your email
again. To delete the email off the mail server, please click
here. |
| Why
do I get multiple copies of the same E-mail messages? [top] |
| There
is probably an email which is jamming up your mailbox. The messages
you receive over and over again are the emails that your email programme
can download successfully, until it reaches the blockage. Your emails
only get taken off the mail server once you have successfully downloaded
all of them. To delete the email causing the blockage, please click
here. |
| How
can I check my mail from another computer? [top] |
| Hwy's
Webmail feature allows you to view the contents of your mailbox through
the Browser of any online computer without having to actually download
the email. It also allows you to create new messages as well as reply
to and delete any emails. Click here for Webmail. |
| What
are Newsgroups? [top] |
| Newsgroups,
or forums, are where people get together to discuss subjects of mutual
interest. Similar to a bulletin board, questions and answers are emailed
and can be read by anyone in the world who is subscribed to that newsgroup.
The range of topics is endless - think of a subject and you'll find
a newgroup that covers it! |
| What
is spam email and how do I avoid it? [top] |
SPAM
is the Internet term for junk mail. For most people spam is one of
the Internet's little annoyances. For some people, it is a major problem.
The most common ways of getting spam are:
• The first part of your email address is a common name,
ie. your username is joe, sandy, nurse etc.
• Your email address is on a web page
• Your email address is used in a news group
• Your email address is used to enter a contest, newsletter
or on a form
• You send or receive an electronic greetings card.
• Your email address is used in an open chat room
The following points
may help in avoiding spam.
• Use
an Email address that is complex.
If you use a common name such as "joe", "sandy",
"nurse", etc. as an email address, you are automatically
on spammers lists. Spammers know people like to use common names and
always include them. So, try to make your email address a little more
complex, by adding 3 digit numbers, misspelling or running words together
• Don't list your email address on your webpage.
If you have a personal or business web page, use a "mailto"
link rather than listing your email address in full view. Spammers
use programs to scan web pages for Email addresses. So instead of
having fredsmith@hwy.com.au,
call the link EMAIL ME and
then link it to the same address. Use the HTML:
<a href="mailto:fredsmith@hwy.com.au">EMAIL ME</a>
• Don't post your email address to public forums such
as Newsgroups or Chatrooms.
Again, spammers have programs that scan the newsgroups and chatrooms
for any addresses they can add to their list. Once again, don't use
your Hwy email address; always use a disposable address (eg. Hotmail
- see below). An added security with using a disposable address in
a Chatroom is that you can remain anonymous and not be easily traced
by unsavoury characters.
• Don't enter your email address on web pages that request
you do so.
Most contests, newsletters and product registrations require you enter
a valid Email address on their form. Be aware, almost all contest
companies and newsletters sell the addresses they collect to spammers.
It is how they make their money. If you really have to enter a contest/get
a newsletter/register a product, always enter a disposable address.
• Never send an electronic greetings card with your Hwy
email address. If you receive an electronic greetings card from
a friend/relative/loved-one and they sent it to your Hwy email address,
inform the person who sent it to you about Spam. Getting that card
has probably put you on a spammers lists. Use disposable Email addresses
for these types of things.
• Never reply to spam or click on the link to visit them.
Clicking on a link, or replying to the email verifies to the spammer
that yours is an active email address. However, if there is a legitimate
Unsubscribe option, try it.
Disposable Email Addresses:
A disposable email address is one that you own, but never use for
real correspondence. For example, you can get a free address from
Hotmail that
you use when filling out forms, chatting, registering products or
entering contests. When this address starts collecting tremendous
amounts of spam, you simply get rid of it and get another free email
address. This way, you keep your real email address free of junk.
But I Get
More Spam Than I Can Stand!!!
Unfortunately, there is no way to fix the problem aside from changing
your Email address. You'll need to contact
our office to do this (An
$11 admin fee applies). Once this is done, you'll
have to notify everyone you want to have email contact with that
your address has changed. Follow the rules above and you should
not get spam to your new address.
Highway does have a spam filter automatically filtering incoming
spam however no spam filter can stop 100% of spam. Ours stops a
high majority of incoming spam but unfortunately, spammers are getting
smarter at finding ways to slip through spam filters. A spam filter
detects spam in 2 ways - 1) it refers to a universal spam database
or blocking list, eg. spamcop.net and 2) it does a quick search
of the headers of incoming email to search for characteristics common
to spam, eg. bulk receipients or cetain syntaxes. A filter doesn't
read individual emails to determine what is & isn't spam. To
do this, it would require a HUGE amount of resources and place a
major strain on the mailserver which would make downloading a simple
text email a very long & tiresome task. As you can imagine,
spammers are very aware of how filters work & are always on
the lookout for ways around this.
Unfortunately,
there's not much one can do about those that do slip through. If
you like, you could try an email program which has automatic junk
filters, like Mozilla
Thunderbird.
*Please note that Highway simply
recommends Mozilla Thunderbird as its preferred choice of email
programs. Should you have any problems or require any assistance
in using the program, please refer to the Thunderbird
Help homepage.
[top]
|
| |
| MODEM
& CONNECTION PROBLEMS |
If you're experiencing
problems connecting, the first thing you should always try is to REBOOT
YOUR COMPUTER. If you use an external modem, restart it as well.
| I
get a busy signal or a message that the computer I am dialing is not
answering or to check the number and try again. [top] |
| First
pick up your telephone and dial Hwy (0198333499) as you would a normal
phone call. If you get a definite engaged signal, it could mean the
lines are busy. Try again after a few minutes and you should connect.
Another common cause is that the number you are dialing is not correct.
Go to My Computer > Control Panel > Network Connections and
double click on the icon to connect to Hwy. Make sure that there are
no extra numbers in front of the dial-in number. If there is, RIGHT
click on the Hwy icon & left click on Properties. Then UNTICK
the check box to "Use Dialing Rules or Dialing Properties. Now
click OK to save and check the number again. |
| I
get a "No Dial Tone" error. [top] |
| Check
that all connections to the modem are secure. Try plugging a telephone
handset into the same line and ensure you can get a dial tone and
can dial out. If you can, then it may be that your modem cannot detect
your dial tone which is known to happen, usually with poorer quality
phone lines and/or internal modems. All you need to do is to tell
your modem not to wait for the dial tone. Go to My Computer > Control
Panel > Modems (or Phone & Modems) > Modem Properties >
Connection and untick Wait for Dial Tone Before Dialing, then click
OK. |
| I
get a "No Carrier" error. [top] |
| A
No Carrier error means that the modem is not connected to the phone
line properly. Check that all connections are secure and that the
phone line is plugged into the "Line" not "Phone"
socket at the back of the modem. |
| My
modem seems to be making the right noises (handshaking) but won't
connect. [top] |
|
If you're using
Windows XP, go to My Computer > Control Panel > Network Connections
and RIGHT click on Highway icon, then left click on Properties.
Click on 'Networking' then 'Settings' and untick LCP Extensions
& Multilink.
An incomplete handshake can also mean that your modem is not communicating
properly with our server, usually due to poor phone line quality
or if your modem needs a firmware or driver update. Most modem manufacturers
usually have a website where you can download firmware and driver
updates for most of their modems. Alternatively, contact
us and we can help you find a string or command that you can
type into your modem properties which could help the problem.
|
| I
get an Authentication error and it keeps asking for my password. [top] |
This
occurs when you enter a Username and/or Password which differs to
that recorded on our server. Make sure that your Caps Lock key is
not on and that you enter your user name only, without the @hwy.com.au.
If you have your password saved, delete it and retype it back in.
If you are sure that these details are correct, please contact our
office as you may have an outstanding invoice or expired account which
has caused the server to disable your access.
If you're running Windows XP, go to My Computer > Control Panel
> Network Connections.
RIGHT click on the icon to connect to Highway and left click on Properties.
Go to 'Networking' then 'Settings' and UNTICK Enable LCP Extensions,
then click OK to save.
|
| It
seems to be taking extra long for my username and password to be verified.
[top] |
| If
you run Windows 95/98, make sure that you do not have Log on to Network
enabled in Dial-up Networking which ultimately means that your computer
is doing a double verification, hence the long wait. Go to My Computer
> Dial-up Networking and RIGHT click on the icon to connect to
Hwy. Click on Properties then Server Types. If Log on to Network is
ticked, remove the tick and click OK to save. |
| Why
does my connection keep dropping out? [top] |
|
Usually when
you get disconnected from the Internet and need to dial back in
again, it's because something has interrupted the flow of data that
your modem was receiving hence scrambling the transmission and causing
the dropout. 99% of transmission problems are due to the user's
modem, phone line quality and/or a combination of both. Some other
factors are:-
1) Make sure
that call waiting is turned off. If it isn't, everytime you get
a call waiting beep, it scrambles the signal to your modem and drops
the connection out. The buttons on your phone to check for call
waiting are *#43#. To turn it off, hit #43# and back on again, *43#.
2) Disconnect
any other phones connected on the same phone line as the Internet.
Most phones have speed dial buttons and are set to automatically
recharge itself to maintain this memory. Each time it recharges,
it draws a current away from the modem which scambles the signal
and drops it out.
3) Make sure that your phone line connects directly to your modem.
If you use phone line extensions or a double jack in the phone socket,
sometimes these may have a short which can cause drop-outs. Basically,
you'll have to take these out of the equation. You may have to move
your computer closer to the phone socket while testing, which may
be inconvenient for the time being, but not as inconvenient as putting
up with those drop-outs!
4) If your
modem is a k56flex or a V90/56k modem, it is possible that it may
need a newer version of the firmware that was originally installed.
Firmware is the software which determines the language that your
modem talks to our server in. Some modems are shipped from their
warehouse months before customers receive the product, so it is
possible that the original firmware may be outdated. All big name
modem manufacturers have links from their website where you can
download the latest firmware, and this really does fix the problem
9 times out of 10. If the problem persists, email
us with the details of your modem (make, model, speed; external/internal?)
and we can help point you in the right direction to upgrading your
modem's firmware.
6) Lower the
speed of your communications port. Having the Com Port turned up
too high can sometimes make the modem try to communicate at speeds
that a poorer quality telephone line cannot handle in which the
data gets scrambled & results in a drop-out.
Go to My Computer, Control Panel, Modems.
Highlight the installed modem & click on Properties.
Set the maximum speed to 57600, or to 38400 if your phone line quality
is low or if you're using a 33.6K modem or under.
|
| BROWSING
THE WEB
|
| |
| What
is a Browser? [top] |
| A
Browser is a programme that allows you to view webpages on the Net.
All documents on the Net are written in a script called HTML which
the browser interprets and allows you to view as a webpage. The main
browser used is Internet Explorer but others available include Mozilla
Firefox, Netscape Navigator etc; which one you choose is a matter
of personal preference. While browsing, you may come across references
to a URL. URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator which basically
is the same as a website address. |
| How
do I find websites? [top] |
| To
find a website, you have to use a Search Engine. You enter keywords
on the topic that you wish to search for and the Search Engine searches
the millions of websites that are registered with it, for the best
match. The most popular Search Engines would be Google.
Other popular ones are Alta Vista
and Yahoo. To search using these
and many other Search Engines, just use the Search The Web feature
on the Highway header at the top of this page. |
| What
is a Start page and how do I set it? [top] |
| A
Start page or Home page is the default webpage that opens as soon
as you open your Browser. You can choose any page for your Start page
but we recommend setting it as Hwy to give you easy access to Search
Engines, your Timecheck and other Hwy Member Services. To set Hwy
as your Start page, simply go to http://www.hwy.com.au and click on
the scrolling link just beneath the header, which says "Make
Highway my Homepage". |
| I
can't bring up any webpages and it tells me that the URL I've requested
is not available.[top]
|
| First
make sure that you are actually connected to Hwy - if you are, there
will be an icon of 2 little computer screens on the bottom right of
your moniter, next to your timeclock. If you are not connected, click
on My Computer > Control Panel > Network Connections (or My
Computer > Dial-up Networking) and double click on the icon to
connect to Hwy. Once you get the icon of the 2 computer screens, try
opening your Browser again. |
When
I open my Browser, the "Dial-Up Connection" box only appears
sometimes or
not at all. [top] |
This
is a fairly common Windows problem and luckily, an easy one to overcome.
Click on My Computer > Control Panel > Network Connections (or
My Computer > Dial-up Networking). RIGHT click once on the icon
to connect to Hwy then left click on Create Shortcut. When it asks
if you'd like the shortcut placed on your Desktop instead, click Yes.
Now go back to your Desktop (main screen), there will be a Shortcut
to Hwy icon. Double click on it and the Connect To box will appear.
Use this now as a starting point; ie. first use Shortcut to Hwy to
connect with and then open your Internet Browser or E-mail programme. |
Content
Advisor won't let me view any webpages and I don't know the password
to
disable it! [top] |
To
disable Content Advisor, click on Start > Run and type in regedit.
Now click on the plus signs (+) beside the following:-
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \MICROSOFT \WINDOWS \CURRENTVERSION \POLICIES
Click on the folder named Ratings in the left pane of regedit.
In the right pane, you will see a binary value named "key"
that has a hexidecimal string that represents the content advisor
password in encrypted form. Right click on this value and choose delete.
Now exit regedit and then click on My Computer > Windows > System.
If there is a file in the System folder called Ratings.pol, delete
the file.
Now reboot your computer and Internet Explorer should now allow you
to view webpages once more. |
| What
is a cookie? [top] |
| A
cookie is a nugget of information that the server of a website can
send to your Browser for it to store away for future use. The cookie
is then sent back to the originating server each time you return to
this website. This way, the server can determine info and statistics
like the last time you visited the site, favourite pages etc. Cookies
cannot be used to "steal" information about you or your
computer system. They can only be used to store information that you
have provided at some point. A simple example: if you fill out a form
giving your favorite color, a server can turn this information into
a cookie and send it to your browser. The next time you visit the
site, your browser will return the cookie, allowing the server to
alter the background color of its pages to suit your preferences.
|
| How
do I disconnect when I'm finished using the Net? [top] |
| If
your Browser doesn't prompt you to disconnect when you close it, simply
double click on the icon of the 2 little computers at the bottom right
of your screen, next to your timeclock. Then click on Disconnect.
Alternatively, turning off your modem or shutting down your computer
will do the same. |
| PERSONAL
WEBSITES & DOMAINS |
| |
| Can
I have my own website and what will my website address be? [top] |
| With
your Hwy membership, you receive 10megs of server space to have your
own website, be it business or personal. Your website address (URL)
will then be www.hwy.com.au/~yourusername. |
| How
do I create my own website? [top] |
Creating
your own website can be rather daunting but in the long run, very
rewarding!
For instructions on how to create your own website, click
here. |
| What
is FTP? [top] |
| An
FTP programme (File Transfer Protocol) is what you use to transfer
your website files from your computer to your directory on the Hwy
server. We recommend WS_FTP LE as it is very simple to use. For instructions
on where to download WS_FTP LE freeware and how to use it, please
click here. |
| What
is HTML? [top] |
| HTML
stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. All webpages are written in
HTML code which your Browser then interprets and brings up as webpages
in the format that we are so familiar with. For HTML tutorials, please
click here. |
| What
is a domain? [top] |
| A
domain name is the same as registering a business name, but on the
Internet. Australian domains will follow the format www.yourbusinessname.com.au,
providing your website with a professional presence. You will first
have to register your domain with a Domain Registrar which costs approx
$99 renewable every 2 years. Once this is done, Hwy can delegate and
host it for you. For info on hosting your domain with Hwy, please
click here. Confused?
We'll be happy to register your preferred domain name on your behalf,
saving you any hassle, and at no extra cost. Just contact
us with your full business name, contact details and your ABN
and leave the rest to us. |
| How
do I submit my website to Search Engines? [top] |
If
you want people to find your site, you'll have to submit it to Search
Engines. There are many sites on the Net that allow you to submit
to multiple Search Engines at a time for free, one of them being http://websitesubmit.hypermart.net/freesubmit.htm.
When submitting through FreeSubmit, if you'd prefer to skip Step 1,
you may - go straight to Step 2 instead. We recommend not to enter
your Hwy email address as you will be inundated with unwanted advertising.
In cases like this, it's a good idea to open a free Hotmail
or Yahoo
address to use instead.
FreeSubmit does not include the Yahoo Search Engine, to which you
will have to submit manually. Simply go to the Yahoo
homepage and follow their simple instructions at the very bottom
of the page called How
to Suggest a Site. |
| I've
uploaded my website but all that comes up is "Error 403 - Access
Forbidden". [top] |
| This
could mean that you probably didn't name your main page as index.html.
This refers to the page which is to initially appear when going to
your website. The easiest solution would be to FTP into your home
directory on Hwy and rename the page index.html in your public_html
directory. |
| I
want to make a feedback form. Can I use Front Page extensions on my
website? [top] |
| We
do not support Front Page extensions however if you wanted to create
an order or feedback form on your website, we do support Formmail.
To find out more about Formmail, please click
here. |
| GENERAL
TROUBLESHOOTING |
| |
| My
computer freezes and I have to restart it. [top] |
| If
your internet connection gets slower and slower till it finally grinds
to a halt but comes good again as soon as you restart your computer
or modem, you may have to upgrade your modem software. If your modem
is trying to transmit data faster than what your phone line can handle,
it will keep receiving transmission errors which banks up in the modem
and slows the modem down till it stops. As soon as it is reset, the
errors are cleared and off it goes again till it receives more errors,
slows down etc etc. By upgrading the modem software, it may resolve
this problem. Alternatively, contact us
and we can help you find a string or command that you can type into
your modem properties which could help the problem. |
| I
keep getting error messages that the programme has performed an illegal
operation. [top] |
| Depending
on which programme you're in when this happens, you will need to reinstall
the programme. |
| I
get a blue screen that says "Fatal Exception Error" and
have to restart my computer. [top] |
| Unfortunately,
this usually means that you will have to reinstall your Windows operating
system. |
| How
do I protect myself against Viruses? [top] |
With
the ever increasing number of damaging viruses on the loose, it's
not advisable to continue using the Internet without any form of virus
protection. Most of the time, the owner of the infected computer isn't
even aware that he is infected, as the virus emails itself out to
everybody in his Address Book unbeknownst to him. An Antivirus programme
can be set to catch and remove viruses as they arrive via email, as
well as perform routine weekly scans and live updates of its virus
definitions and fixes.
Although Highway provides automatic Virus Email Scanning of incoming
and outgoing email as a free service for its members, we still strongly
strongly advise all clients to install and maintain Antivirus software
on their computers. |
|
