Leo Notenboom

Leo A. Notenboom is the owner of Puget Sound Software, LLC and the Leo in Ask Leo!. Leo has been in the personal computer and software industry since 1979, as a software engineer, a manager of software engineers, and as a consultant. In 1983 Leo joined what was then a medium sized local company called Microsoft and spent the next 18 years in a wide variety of groups working on a wide variety of software. If you're running Microsoft Windows, if you've used a Microsoft development tool or Microsoft Money, or if you've ever purchased a ticket through Expedia, there's a good chance you've been touched by some of his work. And of course, since 2003, Leo has been answering your tech questions on Ask Leo!

Ask Leo: Can I remove Internet Explorer if I never use it?

Leo Notenboom / December 8, 2011

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It’s not uncommon to use a web browser other than Internet Explorer. What you may not realize is that you’re still using IE for other things.

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Ask Leo: How do I safely backup an infected drive?

Leo Notenboom / November 30, 2011

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Once your machine is infected, system backups are likely to include the infection as well. I’ll look at what steps to take when that happens.

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Ask Leo: How do I recover from a bad virus infection?

Leo Notenboom / November 25, 2011

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Recovering from a bad virus infection isn’t always easy, but there are some things to try before drastic measures need to be taken.

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Leo: How to Protect Your Email Address Book

Leo Notenboom / November 17, 2011

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With email account hacking on the rise, it’s important to understand what it takes to keep your account and its address book safe from compromise.

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Ask Leo: Think hard before hitting ‘Forward’. Then think again.

Leo Notenboom / November 4, 2011

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By forwarding email that includes previously-forwarded email addresses, you’re exposing all of those people to a couple of risks and annoyances.

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Ask Leo: What’s a “super cookie”?

Leo Notenboom / October 26, 2011

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So-called “super cookies” are techniques that track the websites that you visit, even if you regularly disable or flush normal cookies.

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Ask Leo: Why you need different passwords on different accounts?

Leo Notenboom / October 21, 2011

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Using a different password for every login is an important part of overall security and doesn’t have to be difficult.

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Ask Leo: Why didn’t Microsoft fix this horrible bug?

Leo Notenboom / October 11, 2011

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Not all bugs will be fixed – or fixed quickly. Not all bugs are even actually bugs. I’ll look at why some bugs might never get fixed.

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Ask Leo: Does keeping an unencrypted copy of encrypted data make sense?

Leo Notenboom / October 5, 2011

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It sounds counter-intuitive, but keeping an unencrypted copy of encrypted data not only makes sense, but it can protect it from certain types of loss.

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Ask Leo: How to protect your PC from natural disasters?

Leo Notenboom / September 28, 2011

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Natural disasters remind us that are computers, among other things, are at risk. I’ll look at protecting your computer and more importantly, your data.

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