That undelivered e-mail notice for mail you didn't send is spam

Q: I received Gmail notifications from the "mailer-daemon" that an e-mail message I sent couldn't be delivered. But I never sent that message. So far, I've changed my Gmail password and switched to using my Yahoo Mail account instead. But the "mailer-daemon" notifications are now showing up in my Yahoo e-mail (the "alternate e-mail address" for my Gmail account.) What should I do? Block the sender?

Michael Kehoe, Minneapolis

A: The real "mailer-daemon" software notifies you when a legitimate e-mail you sent can't be delivered. But when the notification is for an e-mail you didn't send, you are getting spam.

You could have gotten it for a couple of reasons. Someone online may have taken over your Gmail account and used it to send spam. When the spam couldn't be delivered, it bounced back to you. Alternatively, a spammer may be trying to provoke you into responding, "But I never sent that e-mail!" If you respond to or block the sender, you're telling the spammer that a) your e-mail address works and b) you may be inclined to respond to other bogus e-mail in the future.

Do two things. Download the free version of the Malwarebytes (see tinyurl.com/y5c375y8) security program, which will eliminate any PC malware that might be generating the warnings. Then delete the mailer-daemon messages or send them to your Gmail and Yahoo spam filters. The latter will help Gmail and Yahoo filter out this type of spam before it reaches you.

Q: How can I turn off automatic webpage refreshes in Windows 10? I often lose the spot where I was reading when a new version of the webpage appears.

Dave Houg, Eagan

A: It isn't a Windows 10 issue; it's a web-browser problem.

If you view websites that refresh their content regularly (as news websites often do), your browser automatically loads the latest version of the webpage — whether or not you were finished reading the old version.

You can turn off these automatic webpage updates if you use the Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers (see tinyurl.com/y4tbsay6). You can't turn off the automatic updates if you use the Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browsers. (Note: There's a way to turn off Chrome updates included in the tinyurl above, but it no longer works.)

Q: I made the leap from Windows 7 to Windows 10. How can I move my programs and data to the new PC?

Tim Murphy, Edina

A: Data can be moved via flash drive. But programs must be reinstalled on the new PC.

If you have an original copy of a program on a disc, or a copy of a downloaded program that you can put on a flash drive, you should be able to install it on the new computer. If you don't have a disc or flash-drive copy of a program, you may have to buy a new copy of the software.

Microsoft Office is a special case. Most copies of Office 2010, 2013 and 2016 and the online Office 365 can be transferred by switching the software license from the old PC to the new one. But you have to go through a lot of steps to do it (see tinyurl.com/y4n6nq25).

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.