Q: Before I upgraded my PC to Windows 10, I could copy and paste photos into the body of an e-mail. But after the upgrade, that won't work with either my Yahoo or Gmail e-mail accounts. What can I do?
Kent Carter, Orange Park, Fla.
A: Windows 10 isn't preventing you from sending photos in your e-mails. Instead, the commands to add photos have changed, with "inserting" photos replacing copy and paste.
Windows 10 provides three ways to send Gmail and Yahoo Mail messages: Use a Web browser to access the Google or Yahoo Mail websites; use the Yahoo Mail app for Windows 10 (find it at tinyurl.com/h7ao5e6), or use the Windows 10 e-mail app to log in to either Gmail or Yahoo.
If you're sending an e-mail from the Gmail website, you can place a photo into the body of the e-mail by using the "insert photo" icon at the bottom of the e-mail, then choosing "upload" and selecting any photo stored on your PC. To attach a photo to the e-mail, use the "attach files icon," also at the bottom of the e-mail.
If you're sending an e-mail from the Yahoo Mail website or using the Yahoo Mail app, you can only attach a photo from your PC to the e-mail, using the icon at the bottom of the e-mail.
The Windows 10 e-mail app provides a common set of commands to send photos, no matter what e-mail service you're using. The app lets you include a photo in the body of the e-mail by clicking "insert" at the top of a new e-mail and then choosing "pictures" from the menu below it. You can then double-click any photo stored on your PC and it will be copied to the body of a new e-mail. (Unfortunately, Yahoo Mail won't deliver an e-mail with an inserted photo.) To attach a photo, choose the "files" icon instead of "insert."
To use the Windows 10 e-mail app with Yahoo Mail, you must first make a one-time setting change in your Yahoo account. To do that, sign into the Yahoo e-mail settings website (tinyurl.com/jjwwoto) and turn on "allow apps that use less secure sign in." To complete the process, sign into your Yahoo Mail account again with the Windows 10 e-mail app.
Note that Yahoo recommends against allowing any apps but its own to access Yahoo Mail; it claims others may be "less secure."
Q: I use Apple's Time Machine software to make backups of my MacBook Air's stored data. But lately I've been receiving a warning message that says Time Machine needs to create a new backup to improve reliability. The trouble is that it takes Time Machine nine hours to create a new backup. Is there any non-Apple backup software I can use instead?
Reed Nelson, Shoreview
A: In theory, the warning message means that the last backup you made is corrupted, and that you should make a new one. But it's unclear whether the message is accurate or there's a software conflict between the Time Machine program and the Mac operating system.
Some non-Apple backup programs that you can use in place of Time Machine are Carbon Copy Cloner 4 ($40), SuperDuper ($28), Data Backup Pro ($50), Get Backup Pro ($20) and CrashPlan ($60 a year subscription). For details, see tinyurl.com/zvmudvc.
E-mail tech questions to steve.j.alexander@gmail.com. Include name, city and telephone number.
