The Tech Help Thread

It downloads them in an Outlook Only format, that can only be opened in Outlook.

You should be able to download/install a local, free version of Outlook to your machine, and then when you double click on that downloaded backup file, it'll use Outlook to open/view the files.

If you're trying to view or import them into another email program, like GMail, etc, then that's a bit more complicated.

 

You could also follow an online guide like this for info:

 

@GTE Also be aware of the legality of what you're trying to do. I don't know your work situation, but in most situations if I was losing access to old work emails, it would be for legal, compliance, or employment reasons - and striking out on my own to back them up could be a fire-able or otherwise legally actionable offense. And depending on how your work IT is set up, backing up emails (in any manner) could be easily flagged by their data monitoring.

 

I think this is part of him selling his company. His mandatory “stick around” period is probably coming to an end and the emails he’s looking to back up are ones he may be entitled to have copies of for various reasons.

Just a guess, of course, but Binary has a very valid point regardless.

 

I read on Glassdoor that your CTO was a bitch.

 

What is your opinion on best web hosting service for a small business?

I've established that the web domain is not being used. I've heard godaddy is just the worst. So, where do I go? How much should I expect to pay?

 

What are you trying to do?

 

Squarespace is pretty solid for small business stuff.

 

Just trying to think ahead and reserve mine for soap stuff. I probably won't set up anything for a bit.

Right now I'm starting to sell locally but I have a name in mind to operate under and want to keep everything cohesive from the start.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

So you just want domain registration, not web hosting.

@Binary might have a good suggestion for a registrar. I’m way out if touch on that stuff these days.

 

I would register an account with Cloudflare and use their domain registration services.

They cater to technical audiences, but they're generally good stewards of internet tech and don't profit off domain registration so they're unlikely to jack up domain pricing. Also they provide free email forwarding for your domain (e.g. bewildered@mycoolsoapcompany.com > bewildered@gmail.com).

Then, when you get to actual starting web hosting, they provide some free services for your domain. They are not a web host themselves, something like Squarespace would be better for that.

 

Just what I needed to know. Thank you!

 

Just to clarify some things...

Registering and "owning" a domain name is different than the hosting of a site.

You can buy/register a domain name, and you "own" it. Part of that registration of that domain is telling people where the main "name servers" are for it. That's Domain Name Servers, or DNS. That meant when people go looking for your domain because they typed it in, it hits the registrar information to see where the DNS servers live. Your DNS servers then point to where the web site is hosted.

So... if you used Cloudflare for your registration, they may also do your DNS for you... but you'd point them to your (in the future) Square web site that you'd run.

So the registrar/cloudflare does the basic pointing on the internet... tells people where to go find your web site. Square would be the service that actually hosts/runs your web site.


In my particular case, I use Google DNS for my name servers as part of my domain name registration. I use a service called Dotster, because that's who I picked in the late 90's to do my domain registration.

I've registered Google DNS as my primary/secondary name servers with Dotster, while I use Linode for hosting this site. That means I figured out the IP address of TiB on Linode and provided that to the DNS servers at Google.

When people then go look for this site by typing "http://www.theidiotboard.com", it then goes to the root registry, supplied by Dotster, which says "go ask the DNS servers at Google for the details", so your request then goes to Google who says "it's this IP that I've been set up with that points to the Linode server".

It can be complicated... but just be aware that the "ownership" of a domain name is separate from the actual hosting, with "dns servers" acting as the glue/connection between the registrar and the hosting.

 

Thanks @Nettdata for the explanation. I think I get it. At least, enough to do what I need to do.

I have begun to register my domain through cloudflare, just haven't entered payment.

Is this personal info (my name, address, phone number) in any way accessible to others? Like what kind of info could you pull from just a simple registered domain?

 

There is a global, core internet utility called "whois", which can be accessed by some web apps, that provide the public registration info for a domain. They require that you enter real, valid info, in case you need to be contacted for any issues, etc.

That being said, there are usually "privacy" services that are offered for a fee from most registrars. so that they will guard that information from the public view.

This is how TiB looks: https://www.whois.com/whois/theidiotboard.com

I'm not sure what services Cloudflare offers for that, but take a look to see if they have it. They also might do that as part of the base offering.... I don't know.

 

I couldn't remember the command, but yes that's it. Whois. I know I've used it before myself and I'm clearly not an expert.

I'll dig into their offered services. That might be something they can mask for me for a fee.

 

@Nettdata oh God. Is that your real address or phone number.

I sure don't like that.