Here's what you should do

Mouse not responding! Yahoo hacked! Here’s what to do.

My mouse doesn’t work! What should I do?

Everyone has this question at some point. If your mouse is unresponsive try these fixes until you find the one that works.

For a wireless mouse:

• Check that it is turned on.
• Check that the transceiver is all the way plugged in to a USB port.
• Try it in a different port.
• Replace the mouse batteries.
• Turn the computer completely off and turn it on again. 
• Replace the mouse.

For a mouse that plugs into the computer:

• Plug it into a different USB port.
• Turn the computer completely off and turn it on again.
• Replace the mouse.

If your mouse works, but it’s too quick or slow or jerky, go to the Control Panel settings for Mouse and adjust the settings. If you have a Logitech mouse or a Microsoft mouse, there is software to give you more control over your mouse.

My Yahoo account was hacked! What should I do?

Last September, Yahoo disclosed roughly 500,000 accounts had been hacked in 2014. That’s a lot of accounts!

But wait… there’s more.

Mid-December, Yahoo announced in the just learned that in 2013 over one billion accounts were hacked.

If you still have a Yahoo account, you received an email from Yahoo with the notice of the data breach and some instructions on how you can secure your account. Find more detailed information here.

To summarize, Yahoo recommends:

Change your passwords, security questions and answers for any other accounts on which you used the same or similar information used for Yahoo

• Review all your accounts for suspicious activity.
• Be cautious of unsolicited communications asking for personal information or referring you to a web page asking for personal information.
• Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails.
• Consider using Yahoo Account Key which eliminates the need to use a password on Yahoo.

Two announcements of huge problems within three months was too much for some people.

If you want out of Yahoo completely, take some comfort in knowing that it’s easy to migrate your contacts and even your email messages to a (Google) Gmail account.

First, create a Gmail account if you don’t already have one. And for heaven’s sake, don’t use the same password you’ve been using for Yahoo.

Once your Gmail account is up and running, you can start moving your information out of Yahoo Mail and into Gmail.

• Open your Gmail account in any browser
• Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner
• Click on Settings | Accounts and Import | Import from another address
• Enter your Yahoo email address and choose what you wish to import
• Click on Start import

You’ll see a notice near the top of your Gmail window saying the Import process is underway and that it might take a long time.

It might, if you have a lot of mail and/or contacts. When the Import completes, you’ll see a notice informing you of that.

You’ll also see that Gmail created a nice label for you with your Yahoo email address. You’ll find all your imported messages there. How awesome is that?

There are a few things you should do before you delete your Yahoo account completely:

Notify the contacts you actually want to hear from of your new Gmail address.

If you receive any bills or newsletters at your Yahoo address, notify the senders of your new address, and make sure you’re getting the information in your Gmail.

If you’re doing any online banking or looking at credit card information tied to your Yahoo email, change to your Gmail there.

If you’re using your Yahoo email as your Microsoft Account, make completely sure you’ve changed that to your Gmail.

That’s tedious and moderately complicated. Follow the steps outlined here.

When you’re ready to delete your account, follow the instructions here.

Happy 2017! Stay safe!

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.