Q: I’ve used LinkedIn, the social network for business people, for years. But I’m having trouble removing myself from LinkedIn Groups I was once associated with. The instructions I’ve found online haven’t worked. What can I do?
Tom Butler, Reading, Pa.
A: You can remove your affiliation with a LinkedIn Group (typically a collection of people in the same industry or with specific shared interests) by going to the group’s LinkedIn homepage (see tinyurl.com/y2a22w3m). That, in turn, will cause your affiliation with the group to disappear from your LinkedIn page. (Note that this works on the LinkedIn website, but not in the LinkedIn app for mobile devices.)
You can also go further. While on the group’s LinkedIn homepage, you can delete any remarks you may have posted to a group’s comments or discussions (see tinyurl.com/yyv5kyrk).
Alternatively, you can remain in a group but choose to have a looser affiliation with its members by either “muting” or dropping out of group-related conversations (see the first website.)
Note that, unless you are a group’s “owner” or “manager,” you can’t change information for the group as a whole or for other individual members.
But, before altering any settings, read about the changes LinkedIn made to its groups last year in hopes of stimulating more interest in them (see tinyurl.com/y2l77j3e).
Q: I use Microsoft Word and Excel on a Mac. Previously I could attach an unsaved Word document or Excel spreadsheet to an outgoing e-mail simply by opening the “review” tab and clicking on “mail.” But, perhaps because of a recent update, that no longer works. The new e-mail opens, but nothing is attached to it. What can I do?
Keith Murray, Tucson, Ariz.
A: Microsoft doesn’t recommend using the “review” tab to attach an unsaved document or spreadsheet to an e-mail. Instead, click the “file” heading and choose “share.” Then, for Word, choose “send document.” For Excel, choose “send workbook.” In either case, you can choose to send the file in Microsoft format or as an Adobe PDF file.
When your default e-mail program automatically opens, the file will be attached to a new message (for details, see tinyurl.com/y2o8ps7b).
Q: Will I create a problem if I run 64-bit apps on a 32-bit operating system? My 64-bit Firefox browser has started to act up since a recent upgrade. I’m using Mac OS X 10.11.6.
Kenneth Wik, Minneapolis
A: Your operating system uses 64-bit computer architecture (Apple began using solely 64-bit architecture with OS X 10.7), so it should work with the 64-bit version of Firefox.
If you had a 32-bit Mac operating system, you couldn’t run the 64-bit Firefox program at all.
You can probably fix Firefox with a little troubleshooting (see tinyurl.com/cxk67zz).
Clearing the browser’s cookies (bits of code that identify you to websites) and cache memory typically solves a lot of problems. So does reinstalling the browser (you won’t lose your bookmarks.)
E-mail tech questions to steve.j.alexander@gmail.com or write to Tech Q&A, 650 3rd Av. S., Suite 1300, Minneapolis, MN 55488. Include name, city and telephone number.
