Generally, I have been happy with the service (especially when you consider the Standard Edition is free and isn’t a noticeably inferior product to the Premium Edition) although I do acknowledge it has a few quirks, not to mention horrendous support from Google should you require assistance.  Of course aside from push email support via my Android handset, the Google Apps service also includes plain and simple IMAP support; it’s here that I encountered one of the quirks.

Ever since configuring the account on my machine, whenever sending an email using Outlook two copies of the mail appear shortly after in my Gmail sent items folder (although only one copy is actually sent to the recipient).  Now this may not seem such a big deal but it has a couple of issues; firstly over time it will fill up my quota a lot quicker, perhaps not a major issue for most people but if let’s say you are sending a 1Mb file attachment, you’re going to be using 2Mb of space.  Secondly, perhaps more importantly is that when you use the Gmail web client instead of Outlook, it’s going to really mess up your conversation thread as there will be 2 copies which can be a little confusing.

So how do you solve getting two copies of sent mails while using IMAP in Outlook?

It’s important first to understand why the two copies appear and not just accept that they do.  When you send an email through Outlook, Outlook saves a copy of the sent mail and transmits it to the server (in this case smtp.gmail.com).  When the email is sent from the server to its destination, Google save another copy of the sent mail automatically which is then of course – as you’re using an IMAP connection – synced back to your machine hence the two copies.

Of course Google should be smart enough to know that the mail is being sent from a dedicated client such as Outlook and check to see if a copy has already been saved before saving it again, but alas not.  So the solution is to change where Outlook saves its local copy of the sent mail; it’s not an ideal situation but it does stop your Gmail folder from becoming full of duplicates!

To make the change, go to Tools>Account Settings>Email and select the email account in question and then Change.  This will open a window titled Change Email Account.  Click the More Settings option at the bottom.

Click the Folders tab which will enable you to choose where to store a copy of all outgoing messages (remembering that Google is going to automatically store one for you in your Gmail sent items) and change the default choice to Save sent mail in the Outlook Sent Items Folder, this will save the duplicated copy in a local unused folder instead which of course can be cleaned up when required.

Of course there are a few ways of doing this; I’d normally only run a dual boot configuration on a test machine so wouldn’t be too perturbed by having to rebuild and start over, but this machine already had a lot of data and customisation and I didn’t want to start again and rebuild from the OS up.  So how else do you set about removing Linux and GRUB?  Well, the answer is actually quite simple.

Caveat:  I cannot stress the importance of ensuring you have a full backup of all the data on the machine before proceeding.  If you don’t have one, stop now.

Before going any further, you’ll need to dig out your original Windows 7 installation media as you’ll need this in the following steps, then once you are ready do the following:

• Restart your machine and enter the BIOS
• Somewhere in the BIOS menu you’ll find a setting to change the boot order of your machine, enter this and ensure that you have the DVD drive set at the top of the boot order
• Enter your Windows 7 DVD into the drive and restart
• Press any key on your keyboard when prompted to enter setup
• Select the appropriate language, time, currency and keyboard layout and click Next
• Click Repair your computer
• Click the option highlighting the operating system that you want to repair, in my case Windows 7 and then click Next
• On the following screen, System Recovery Options, click Command Prompt
• Once the command prompt opens on your screen type the following followed by Enter:
  Bootrec.exe /FixMbr
• You should now see ‘operation completed successfully’
• Restart your machine and enter the BIOS once again to change the boot order back to its original setting
• Now, restart your machine and you should notice that GRUB has been replaced with the stock windows boot loader and Windows starts to load without prompt
• Once back in the GUI, right click My Computer followed by Manage and Disk Management
• Right click the Linux partitions and remove them (simplified, you will have to click a few buttons here to acknowledge the steps)
• Right click the Windows partition and extend it into the space created by removing the Linux partitions (again simplified, just acknowledge the prompts as they appear)
• Job done

You should now find that GRUB and Linux are no more and you have a dedicated Windows machine once again, the whole process should take no more than around 5 minutes; far preferable to the hours it would have taken to rebuild the machine from scratch.

Note: the same method also applies for other distributions of Linux

For ‘non-techies’, simply telling someone to go install something is often a lot harder than it sounds.  In the case of AVG Free Edition this confusion is compounded by Grisoft trying their very best throughout the whole installation process to tempt you into buying one of their premium solutions, and this makes it easy to become confused whilst negotiating the various pages you have to navigate just to find the download link.

Depending on your specific needs, and only you know the kind of browsing you are likely to be doing, a basic antivirus solution is more than ample.  Of course if you are likely to be exposed to multiple threats, a more sophisticated internet security solution may be required.  For most however, AVG Free Edition will be more than adequate and provide sufficient protection for day-to-day internet use.

Caveat: I am in no way offering security advice in this post, I am assuming that you have already sought advice if necessary, and have decided to install AVG Free Edition being aware of its features and limitations.  Remember also that in accordance with its EULA, AVG Free Edition is for home use only and must not be used for business purposes.  If in doubt, check.

So just how do you install AVG Free Edition, well all you need to do is follow these simple steps (this walk through is based on a Windows 7 installation):

• Download AVG Free Edition from the following URL and save to your desktop – http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?part=dl-10044820&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=11014801
• Double click on the file that downloaded to your desktop, it should be called ‘avg_free_stb_all_9_40_cnet .exe’
• If you have Vista or Windows 7 click ‘Yes’ at the security prompt and then when the installer loads, ensure ‘English’ is selected as the setup language and then choose ‘Next’.  If you are using XP you shouldn’t get the security prompt
• It’ll do a connectivity check, then ask you to choose either ‘Install only basic free protection’ or ‘ Recommended’, only choose the basic protection otherwise it’ll take you to a page to buy the full version.  Click ‘Next’
• It’ll now download the installation files, this will take a few minutes; time for a cup of tea depending on your connection speed
• Next you’ll be asked to accept the license agreement so tick the check box and then click ‘Yes’
• Choose ‘Custom Installation’ followed again by ‘Next’
• The next screen will have your license number which should be pre-populated so just click ‘Next’
• On the next screen is the destination folder for the installation which should be c:\program files\avg\avg9 by default, click ‘Next’, you’ll be prompted to create the folder as it does not exist so click ‘Yes’
• The next screen is the component selection, assuming you use a web based email solution (such as Gmail or Live Mail), you don’t need the email scanner so un-check EVERYTHING apart from ‘AVG for Windows’ and ‘Link Scanner’ followed by ‘Next’
• You’ll now be asked if you want to install the AVG toolbar; which you don’t.  Un-check both boxes and click ‘next’
• You’ll now be asked to set up the schedule of regular scans and updates, leave the ‘Updates’ options as they are but change the ‘Scans’ options to ‘Never’ (unless you want a daily scan of your hard disk which will slow your computer down) and click ‘Next’ followed by ‘Yes’ at the prompt checking if you are sure you want to turn off daily scans
• Click ‘Finish’
• Click ‘Wait until the first scan starts’

And that’s it.  Of course you can also choose a standard installation instead of specifying the custom options but unless you really need the extra features, there is no need as ultimately the more options which you select, the more resource hungry the application will be.  It’s a balancing act but we are trying to get decent protection without sacrificing system performance.

I hope this helps.

Now I had been thinking for a while that it was getting a little left behind in terms of technology with all the newer handsets on the market, so the obvious choice was to replace it with something newer and stereotypically of me, something totally different (what is it they say about a change?).

So that left me with a few choices, either another Android device (I’d already thought previously about a Nexus One), an iPhone, the Palm Pre or, a Windows Mobile device.  Logically knowing my love of all things Android it would have made sense to go with the Nexus One, but somehow I found myself being drawn to the sheer lushness of the HTC Leo, or as we know it in the UK market the HD2.  In terms of design, I think it’s a fantastic phone, technology wise too it ticks all the boxes with the latest Snapdragon 1Ghz processor and that huge 4.3 inch screen but, and there’s a catch, it runs on the Windows Mobile platform.  After being a very happy Android user, my head told me not to go for another Windows Mobile device after having many previously, and yet it didn’t take too long until I saw the words ‘thank you, your order has been successfully completed and should arrive shortly’ appear on my screen.

Now I’d like to take this opportunity to say I am well aware that the basic Windows Mobile platform is not a patch on the Android, however HTC have ported their very successful ‘Sense’ interface for the very first time onto a Windows Mobile device with the HD2.  In doing so they have effectively removed (visibly) the Windows Mobile interface for all but the most backend of tasks giving the platform a much needed new lease of life.  There will be those who at this stage will be cringing and telling me what a mistake I have made but there can be no arguing that of all the mobile platforms, Windows Mobile ‘just works’ when it comes to seamless office integration, by that I mean push email with Exchange and the ability to view, edit or create documents on the go; put simply, Windows Mobile is in my opinion, the best business solution for mobile users, it always has been.  Sure, Android can do all these things too, but unless you want to port all of your business needs to Google Apps (which is not as stable or reliable as they will have you believe, I know this through my own experiences), it’s a little ‘clunky’ getting things to work seamlessly as you need 3^rd party applications and workarounds.

Having said that it’s not all great, I haven’t used Windows Mobile for a few years but in terms of application support it’s not a patch on Android, or the iPhone for that matter.  Social integration and the ability to download useless applications for fun is where the money is at these days.  How I’ll miss the ability to make rude noises or hold my phone to my mouth as if it were a glass and watch the ‘beer’ level go down.  OK, perhaps not.  Still, I will have the ability to run the social networking applications I have been used to using such as Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare so all is not lost.  Also worth remembering is that what the Windows Marketplace (which let’s be honest is a joke compared with the Android Marketplace or the iPhone Apps Store) lacks in terms of applications, is somewhat made up for by the work of developers over at the XDA Developers Forum.

For my needs though, I think – indeed I hope – Windows Mobile 6.5 with Sense on the HD2 will be just fine.  I guess only time will tell; watch this space for updates over the coming weeks.