Recuva – Remarkable

What a day. In front of me was a computer that was booting to nowhere. It was just a continual loop back to the statement that there were not boot files available. Then, as I got closer, I heard the tell-tale clicking of the hard drive. The good news was that it was still spinning. [...]

Mozy vs Carbonite – Off-site Backup Thoughts

In the past, I’ve recommended options for backing up your important files, since we all know that at some point in time, your computer or hard drive is going to die. One of the options I’ve mentioned is backing up your data to an off-site location. The reason for this is that in the event of [...]

The Proper Care and Feeding of Your HDTV, Phone, and Camera

One of the things I’m asked quite frequently is how to clean the screens of computers and laptops. There are specials cleaning materials you can purchase at office supply stores that will clean both your computer screens and your TV screens. You can also make your own cleaning solution by mixing distilled water (make sure [...]

Many Microsoft Products Going Off Support Soon – Security Watch

In the coming months Microsoft will be ending support—including security updates—for a number of important products. If you’ve avoided updating so far, you might want to get moving. The first event will be April 13, 2010 (like all end-of-support days, a patch Tuesday), when support will end for 2 important configurations: Windows Vista with no [...]

Lesson Learned

I went against a few of my computer “thou-shalt-not” rules the other day and, well, I remembered why they are rules. I was reading a newsletter from a very trusted security site and came across an ad they had posted from a company that claims it’s software can: Clear malware. Fix PC errors. Restore speed [...]

Never forget to back up your files ever again. Now it’s easy and automatic.

Seagate® Replica™ * Back up your entire computer automatically. * Take the work and maintenance out of backup. * Have easy, instant access to accidentally deleted files. * Effortless, automatic backup for everything on your PC, including the operating system, programs, and settings. * No tedious installation, nothing to configure. * Up to 250GB capacity [...]

Apple voids warranties over cigarette smoke, users say • The Register

Apple voids warranties over cigarette smoke, users say No repairs for “biohazard” Macs By Cade Metz in San Francisco Posted in PCs & Chips, 22nd November 2009 06:13 GMT A Mac user claims that Apple voided her warranty and refused to repair her machine because it was “contaminated” with cigarette smoke. The claim mirrors a [...]

So What Is It Good For? Flash Drives v. External HD

I had someone call me the other day saying that they had plugged their USB thumb drive into their computer and it wasn’t recognized. When they plugged it into another computer, it came back saying that it wasn’t formatted and need to be. They had been storing files on it and it had failed. I [...]

Exposed: the PC repair shops that rifle through your photos and passwords

Although this took place in the U.K., it happens in the U.S.  as well. It’s very important that before you take your computer to a repair facility, always back up sensitive data and remove it from your laptop before taking it to be repaired (if you can). Clear the cache of log-in details and passwords [...]

Windows Updates – Were They Installed Without Permission?

I’ve been reading recently that on some computers Microsoft’s updates are happening automatically, even though the user has  set the update settings to download but notify before updating, or even set to check for updates but not download or install without prompting.  Microsoft has mentioned on their blog “Update Notifications and Install-at-Shutdown Behavior” that they [...]

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