Computing for Seniors: a reader asks… I’m trying to help my 85+ yo parents use modern technology. They want to use computers and got one, but are finding it too complicated to use. I’m ok to set them up with whatever, but can’t devote hours and hours to teach them how to use all the features. What would you suggest? I’ve found that giving our senior citizens a computer can be fraught with ongoing problems. In particular, you might have […]
Gmail on iPhone: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I use Gmail on my computer (using Google Chrome). I just got a new iPhone and want to access that account. What should I do? You have two choices that are easy to setup on the iPhone. First, you can use the Gmail app that comes from Google. This app will give you the closest experience to using Gmail that you’re used to. Get it from the App Store (here’s a link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-by-google/id422689480?mt=8) […]
Hacker Armor: a reader asks… Hi Chris, every day I read about hackers stealing computer records and I’m worried that my identity and personal files are at risk. Can you give me some tips on how to protect myself from hackers? As more and more of our lives have grown out of the physical world into the digital world, security has had to evolve to fit new threats. At home, you make sure your doors and windows have good locks, you […]
Phone Scam: a reader asks… Hello Digital Life Coach, this morning I got a call from someone at Microsoft saying their servers had detected that my computer was sending them a virus and they needed to clean my computer. I wasn’t sure what to do, but after asking them where they were calling from, they hung up. Was that a scam? Short answer, yes it was a scam. I get these on average once or twice a month myself. At […]
iPhone Passcode: A reader asks… I have my iPhone set with a 4-digit passcode. Someone told me that it’s too easy for someone to crack it if my iPhone got stolen. I want to protect my data on the iPhone, but putting in a complicated passcode looks hard (with the full alpha-numeric keypad). Yes, a 4-digit code is less secure, but your iPhone does come with a 10-attempt bomb feature – after 10 missed attempts to log in, it will auto-wipe […]
Unread iPhone Mail: a reader asks… I have an iPhone and use the Mail app to handle my email. Is there a quick and easy way to mark email’s I’ve read as unread? I like to mark them that way so I can know to look at them again (and answer them) later on my phone or computer. You’re not alone, lots of folks use the read/unread status to remind them when they need to do something else with an […]
Your Email Password: a reader asks… It looks like my email account was hacked. Several friends tell me they got emails from me that had just a link in them (taking them to someplace bad I assume). I didn’t send those. What should I do? I’ve included a screenshot of an example email someone sent me. The email screenshot you included shows that while the name in the From box matched your name, the actual email address was not yours. […]
Mac Root Bug: a reader asks… I just read a story about how the super-safe Mac operating system has a super-serious vulnerability that would let anyone take over my Mac. What should I do? Apple is aware of the issue and issued a fix already, so just apply the update immediately and you don’t have to worry about it. It took Apple about 20 hours from the time the bug was reported till they issued a fix. Compared to Microsoft’s […]
Shop Safely: A reader asks… Can you tell me what I should do to be safe whilst shopping this holiday season? Happy to! This advice applies year-round, not just during the holidays. Let me first say that you don’t need to stress over your holiday shopping, this time of year is stressful enough. As long as you stick to well-known and established merchants (either brick-and-mortar or online), your risk is reasonably low. Not to say that none of them will […]
Me, Spammer? A member asks… Hey what gives? I tried to send out an email to my kids’ classmates and got a warning from my email service provider. It said that I was approaching the ‘limit’ on emails I could send. I’ve never heard of that before – can you tell me what’s going on? In two words, ‘combating spam’. Internet/email service providers all are working very hard to reduce the spam that’s generated. Perhaps 80% (some say 90%) or […]
Malwarebytes Hates Chrome: a reader asks… I have a Windows 10 computer (Dell) with Malwarebytes Premium (version 3.3.1) installed and running to protect me. I also use Google Chrome and am using the current version (62.0.3202.94). For about the last 2 weeks or so, Malwarebytes has been scanning my system and finding Google Chrome’s “Secure Preferences” as a potentially unwanted program (PUP). The first time it came up I quarantined as suggested, and restarted my PC. It keeps coming back […]
No Cheap Cables: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve got an external USB 3.0 storage drive that I use to backup my Macbook. I plug it in about once a week and run Time Machine to backup, then unplug it and put it away. It’s been working fine for over a year, but over the last week it’s started acting funny. Sometimes when I plug it in, my Mac doesn’t see it, and sometimes it does for awhile, but if […]
Laptop Battery Sippy Cup: a reader asks… Hello Coach, can you give me some tips on how to make my laptop’s new battery last longer? I have a 2-year old Dell laptop running Windows 10, and the original battery never gave me much time before needing a recharge. And here only 3 years later the actual time I got on battery was so short that I just gave up using it without being plugged in. Not great for a supposedly […]
Too Much Tech: a reader asks… Hi Chris, this whole digital life thing is overloading me! And I have little free time to spend on getting better organized. Have any quick tech tips you can give me? Absolutely! My first tip is to have you read these two articles: Drowning in Paper? and Use your smartphone’s camera as a memory aid! which will get you started. You’ll read about Evernote, a great program for organizing all the stuff in your life. So here’s my […]
Email hacked: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m worried about my email account. Some folks have told me that they received weird emails from me. What should I do and how can I stop this? The first thing you should do is change your email password. I have some instructions on doing that in this article. Do this right away! Click the link (or picture) which will open the article in a new window, follow the instructions, and then come […]
Credit Card Cost: a reader asks… This might not be a true tech question but I’ll ask it anyway. My credit card was stolen recently and my bank cancelled the stolen card and sent me a new one right away. I didn’t have to pay for whatever the card was used for, nor for my new credit card. So who’s stuck paying for those costs? Collectively, us consumers. The way this works is that your bank (or any credit card […]
Quick Keyboard Fix: a reader asks… I have a Lenovo all-in-one computer with Windows 10. It came with a wireless keyboard and mouse, and has a little stub (labeled Lenovo) that fits into a USB port on the backside. I am having a problem in that my mouse and keyboard suddenly stopped working and I can’t get them working again, even after restarting the computer several times. What should I do next? If you haven’t already, check out my article […]
Avoid and Prevent Infection: a reader asks… I have an almost-new Windows 10 laptop computer. Everything I’ve read about computer viruses and such say that it’s better to not get infected than to have to clean up an infection. Is this true and why? Yes, it’s true. Let me use an analogy: If your body contracts a virus, you get sick. The virus can attack healthy cells or organs in your body and cause irreparable damage. Some viruses can kill […]
Stolen iPhone: a member asks: My daughter’s iPhone was stolen (she’s vacationing in London). I got her a replacement from insurance and sent it to her. The phone is set up for calls and is active again through AT&T. How does she get her email, music and apps back on the new iPhone? She would like to have her music for the flight back! Thanks so much. It’s unfortunate that iPhones have become a prime target for thieves, who find creative […]
Remote not working: a reader asks… I have a remote control that came with my cable TV service (Verizon FIOS). It’s been working fine for years, but recently stopped working. What should I do? The first thing you should do is put fresh batteries in it, if you haven’t already. I know this sounds obvious to some, but remote controls work for a very long time on just a pair of AA or AAA batteries, so many folks forget about […]
Upgrade Malwarebytes: a reader asks… I saw your note last week (News of the Week and on Facebook and LinkedIn) about a new version of Malwarebytes being available. My installation hasn’t prompted me to get the new version. Should I wait for the prompt or what? I have the Premium subscription. Don’t wait for a prompt from your installed version. Go to https://www.malwarebytes.com and click the Free Download link. This will update both Premium and free versions to the current […]
Sneakernet: a reader asks… I have a problem in that I work in an office that doesn’t have a server or anything to share files between us users. We are all on the same network, but there’s no security on it so I’m afraid to turn on file sharing on my Windows PC. What should I do? If you can’t convince your employer that network security is important, then you’re left with doing your best to protect your own computer, […]
Android Facetime? a reader asks… I just got a brand new Google Pixel 2, switching over from the iPhone. On the iPhone I used Facetime, but I get that it’s not available on an Android-powered smartphone. Can you tell me what I can do instead to get the same capability? There are a tons of video-calling apps (aka Video Chat). Only one (Facetime) is limited to one platform (Apple’s Mac, iPad and iPhone). The rest can be used on either […]
Clean, Quick Charge: a reader asks… I have a small problem and need your advice. I have a number of battery-powered devices that I have to plug in to recharge every night. My iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, my wife’s Samsung Galaxy, a Verizon MiFi, and an older iPhone I use as an alarm clock (so it’s always plugged in). Each of these uses their own charger, so I have them all lined up on a power strip with cables […]
Apple Ecosphere: a reader asks… Bit by bit I’ve been sucked into the Apple world. It started with the iPhone 6, then I got into Apple Music (subscription as well as my huge library), then a pair of Airpods, then an Apple Watch, an iPad Pro and finally a 12″ Macbook. Gotta say I’m pretty happy, they all work pretty well together once I bumped up the iCloud storage space. Yep, I’m paying Apple monthly both for Apple Music and […]
LastPass Oops: a reader asks… I was following your advice to set up LastPass as a PW manager. But the free app never downloaded and I set up an account and now cannot get in – it does not recognize my PW and won’t let me reset because it states it cannot locate LastPass on the browser. So I went to delete my account but got the message below. What data will this permanently delete? It has me very concerned […]
Time Capsule Woes: a reader asks… I have a Time Capsule on my home network, and two Macbook Pro’s. I run Time Machine on both to back them up. Recently I upgraded both Macs to MacOS High Sierra and now my Time Machine app won’t backup to the Time Capsule. What should I do? Most likely it’s a case of your Time Capsule has older firmware which needs to be updated as well in order to work with the updated […]
Teeny Outlook: a reader asks… I use Microsoft Outlook (2010) and somehow all the fonts on my window have shrunk down to teeny-tiny sizes. I can’t read it! How can I fix this? If you use Outlook, you may have accidentally encountered a situation where all the text in messages changes to larger or smaller size. This happens when you accidentally activate a “keyboard shortcut” but didn’t mean to (or even know you were doing so). Outlook in particular, and […]
Quick Password Tip: a reader asks… In light of all the hacking, and our 21st century busy lifestyle, can you give me the short and sweet version of good password management? Short and sweet it is: Use only long and unique passwords. Too short? Let’s unpack that just a bit. How long is long? These days, any password 13 characters or less are going to be at risk of being cracked using brute force methods. Hackers have built specialized computers […]
iPhone X? a reader asks… I’m struggling with the decision on my iPhone upgrade – should I get the 8 or the X? What do you think? I have an iPhone 6s and am not interested in the plus size phones. I usually upgrade every 2 years so it’s about time. I think you should do a small bit of navel-gazing. Are you an “early adopter”? Do you like having the latest and greatest tech? Are you willing to live […]
"I'm all about helping you deal with our 21st century high-tech digital world so you can enjoy a healthy and secure digital life!"
Hi! I'm Chris Gardner, Your Tech Coach giving you Practical Help for Your Digital Life® since 1996. My job is to translate geek-speak into clear and concise advice and give you easy-to-understand how-to's and instructions about your consumer technology products and services.
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