Question: My son emails me photos from his iPhone, but sometimes the photos are sideways in the email and I don’t see any way to correct it. (When this happens with emails from other people, I can correct it.) I’m using Windows 7 (I’m not having any problems with it). What should I do? — D.G., Nisswa, Minn.
Answer: When the iPhone takes a photo, it includes orientation information about how the picture should be displayed. This information (called metadata) is stored with the photo, and travels along with the picture when the photo is emailed. So, in theory, the email recipient should always see the photo right side up.
But three things can go wrong: The orientation information can be lost when the photo is emailed. The photo’s orientation information might have been wrong in the first place. Or the recipient’s email software might not be able to read the orientation information.
The only one of these factors you can control is your email software. If you download your Charter Communications email to a PC-based email program such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird, check to see if there are any updates for the PC software. (See tinyurl.com/e42dy3hk for Outlook, and see tinyurl.com/hrb5w7nw for Thunderbird.) If you have Outlook 2013 or newer, you should be able to rotate a sideways photo in an e-mail you receive (see tinyurl.com/pws4r52b).
The ultimate solution is to download the emailed photo to your PC, then use the Windows 7 Paint program to rotate it (see tinyurl.com/8h3ubfvu).
I doubt that this problem is related to your use of Windows 7. But you are taking a big security risk by continuing to use an operating system that no longer gets Microsoft security updates.
Question: When my LG phone got upgraded to the Android 11 operating system, its ability to connect to my car’s Android Auto software changed — the sound became hard to hear or inaudible.
I understand that this is a known software compatibility problem between Android 11 and Android Auto, but Google hasn’t fixed it and I can’t find a workaround. What can I do? — J.F., Burnsville, Minn.
Answer: Google says it’s working on the problem. In the meantime, the only available workaround is to disconnect your phone from your car software, then connect them again.
To do that, open your phone’s Settings and in the search window type Android Auto. In the resulting menu, click Android Auto, then click “Previously connected cars.” Click the three dots on the upper right corner of the screen, then click “Forget all cars.” Then set up your phone-to-car connection again.
Danny Anthony of Plymouth, Minn., disagreed with my warning last week that unsolicited emails that appear to be from computer firms should be treated as scams. He said he receives useful unsolicited corporate emails containing privacy-policy updates. To be clear, privacy-related emails aren’t unsolicited. Customers agree to receive them when they sign up to use computer services. I was warning about unsolicited emails that seem to come from legitimate computer companies but contain malware warnings, bills for services or offers of technical help — legitimate firms don’t send emails like that.