EWS for PC: a reader asks… I’ve been noticing lately that my Windows 10 computer slows down to a crawl after a few days of running. Restarting it seems to fix the problem, but temporarily. Is there something I can do about it? I too have noticed that since the latest update to Windows 10 (version 1709) was installed, that my PCs have been experiencing similar problems. A look at task manager shows that sometimes the disk usage pegs out […]
My New PC: a reader asks… I just received a new Windows 10 PC as a gift. It’s a Dell Inspiron, and is set to replace my old computer (also a Dell desktop). I already have a nice LCD screen, keyboard and mouse and speakers which I can reuse. I’m a student btw. I have an MS Office 365 subscription, and I have a Microsoft account already (tied to that subscription). I use Gmail for email and such, and a […]
Google Drive now Backup & Sync: a reader asks… I’ve been using Google drive for awhile now, but noticed that Google changed the app, it’s now called “Backup & Sync”. I’ve been storing files in the Google Drive folder for a long time now and that’s been a great way for me to keep my important files backed up. Does the new app change things? If you were previously using Google Drive and upgraded to Backup & Sync, then you […]
Spectre & Meltdown Updates: a reader asks… I’ve been reading about two serious-sounding hardware vulnerabilities, Spectre and Meltdown. Just the other day I read about Microsoft issuing a new patch that undoes the patch they issued on January 3rd. What gives, and what should I do? It’s an understatement to say this situation is all fouled up. I last wrote about this on January 3rd in my article Your Processor Leaks, so consider this an update to that. Intel ‘fessed […]
Easy Backup with Cloud Storage: A reader asks… I’m planning on using Dropbox with expanded storage on my Windows 10 PC. Is there a way I can do this and make things easy so everything is backed up? Dropbox works very simply, it creates a folder on your hard drive, in your user directory, called Dropbox. Anything you put in there gets synchronized with an online set. That’s files and folders. When you change a file or folder on your […]
Windows 10 using DISM: a reader asks… I have a Windows 10 computer that’s running a little wonky these days. I have your recommended security protection, keep up-to-date on Windows Updates and such, so I’m not sure what’s going on. I read online about using a program called “DISM”, can you tell me what that is and how to use it? Per Microsoft, DISM stands for Deployment Image Servicing and Management and is an old-style DOS command-line tool that is used […]
Lost my Shortcut Arrow: a reader asks… I’ve been using Windows 10 for awhile now and just noticed that icons on my desktop no longer show the little arrow that indicates they are shortcuts. I don’t know what happened, but is there a way I can get that indicator back? Microsoft windows uses icons – small pictures that represent files or programs. Sometimes the actual file is located in one place on your hard drive and a shortcut is shown […]
Auto-renew Unasked: a reader asks… I’m perplexed, my subscription to Bitdefender Total Security renewed automatically, but I didn’t click any buttons or make any changes. Not sure how that happened but, oh well. I read your latest recommendation on Windows 10 security (at https://positek.net/windows-10-protection/) but my subscription to Bitdefender is currently active. Should I switch or wait till the subscription ends? The answer to your question (switch now or later) isn’t for me to say. If you’re a frugal sort, then […]
Word 2016 Mail Merge – Categories: a reader asks… I use Office 365 and have Outlook and Word 2016 installed. I have all my contacts organized by category. What I’d like to do is a mail merge in Word using just one category of contacts (I’m making a holiday letter). Using the Mail Merge function in Word doesn’t show me a way to filter contacts by category. So how do I do this? Unfortunately, filtering by categories wasn’t included in […]
iPhone X Shortcut: a reader asks… I got a new iPhone X a few weeks ago. I transferred over everything from my old iPhone to the new one, and have figured out how to use FaceID. I’m slowly getting used to all the new ways of doing things. One thing has me mystified though: how do I quickly switch between apps? The iPhone X has lots of new gestures that may take a little practice for you to get familiar […]
Outlook Contacts: a reader asks… I use Outlook (part of Office 365) for my email, calendar and address book. I see that some contacts have an image of the person and some don’t, but I don’t remember how I got those pictures added to Outlook. Can you tell me how to do this? The first thing you should do is collect good pictures as many of your contacts as you can. I suggest you store all those pictures in a […]
LastPass Quirks: a reader asks… I’m ready to take your advice on using a password manager. Is there anything I need to know about LastPass before I pull the trigger? The LastPass website has a number of tutorials that you should spend the time to watch. Watch the basic tutorial at at https://lastpass.com/basic.php. You may also want to watch at least some of the screencasts at https://lastpass.com/support_screencasts.php. And the main manual is at https://helpdesk.lastpass.com/. If you’re new to password managers, you need to […]
Webcam Security: a reader asks… I am looking at adding a wireless webcam or two to help monitor my home when I’m away. I’m worried about security, but also about the security of the webcams I get. I hear they’re not very secure. Do you have any recommendations? I’ve been looking at the Insteon cameras (and their other home automation gear). Unfortunately, most webcams (also called IP Cameras) on the market come from China, and are horribly insecure. In order […]
Your Passwords: a reader asks… So what’s your current guidance on passwords? It’s a simple 3-prong strategy. First, make your passwords long (the more characters the better, even more than 20). Second, make them unique (don’t use the same password in multiple places), third, use a password manager (software program to help you manage your passwords). The only thing left to account for is any password requirements that specific online destinations have. Some websites require old-fashioned password complexity – meaning […]
Where did Airdrop Go? a reader asks… I updated my iPhone 6s to iOS 11 and everything is working great. Except for one thing. I can’t find Airdrop anymore! Did Apple discontinue that feature? No, they just did a nice job of hiding the control for Airdrop. When you have the Airdrop menu open, you can choose to either have Airdrop off, open for only your contacts, or open for anyone in range of your iPhone’s Bluetooth connection. Those choices […]
Windows 10 Protection: a reader asks… Ok, one more time, what protection should I use for my Windows 10 computer? Short answer: the built-in Windows Defender supplemented by a subscription to Malwarebytes Premium. Sure, Norton, Bitdefender, ESET, McAfee and others will attempt to convince you that you need their protection, but the truth is that for many/most consumers, Windows Defender does an adequate job. To add another strong layer of protection I recommend you add on a premium subscription to […]
Fake Email: a reader asks… I received an email in my Outlook inbox that I’m not sure what to do with. I’ve attached a screenshot of it and forwarded you a copy of the email. Any advice? First things first, do not open the file attachment! Unless you are already doing business with JMA Architects (supposedly the sender of the email based on the From address) and expecting them to send you something, this is 100% a scam. Your best […]
Browser Search Change: a reader asks… For some reason, as of yesterday, when I’m in Safari (on my Macbook), searches are now going through us.search.yahoo.com. Might you know how I can stop that. Annoying! You might have been victim of a drive-by search engine change. What happens is you visit a website and it (sometimes if you click on something) changes your default search engine. These can also add extensions or toolbars to your browser. For Safari, it’s easy to […]
Streaming Movies: a reader asks… Yesterday a friend told me I needed to get a Firestick…that it would connect me to the internet and allow me to watch first run movies currently in the theaters. I read about Firestick but I didn’t see anything that says I can watch movies currently running in theaters. Do you know if that’s true? The TV I’d connect it to doesn’t have embedded Wi-Fi and I’m not ready to replace it yet. I do have FIOS triple-play with […]
Your Processor Leaks: a reader asks… I just read about the security bug in Intel processors. Can you give me a quick rundown on what’s going on and what I should do about it? The start of 2018 brought us a new computer security worry. Google’s Project Zero team (and teams at Graz University and Cyberus Technology) discovered a huge security vulnerability with virtually all Intel (and probably AMD and ARM) processors. The vulnerabilities are called “Meltdown” and “Spectre” (there […]
Why not Windows XP? A reader asks… I have a Windows XP computer that’s still working, and I’m not convinced that I need to upgrade to a new computer. All I do is email and surf the internet. No online shopping, banking or social networking, and I don’t have anything on my computer that I consider personal. My computer is slow and a bit cumbersome, but I don’t see why I can’t just keep using it until it no longer […]
New Year Purge: a reader asks… One of my New Year’s resolutions is to clean up my digital life, as you call it. I have a bunch of old cell phones, computers and other stuff that has collected in the basement. None of it is worth anything, so how do I get rid of it? Also, I’d like to go through my files and emails and purge old stuff. Is there an easy way to do that? Your best bet […]
Over the course of writing Practical Help for Your Digital Life®, we wrote an ongoing article with snippets called “News of the Week”, discontinued in 2018. Rather than just delete all those, here is the column in one very long archive. . The News of the Week was organized along the lines of titles such as: Hot Flash Senior Moment Apps We Like Hardware We Like Hot Tips Click any title below to expand or close the topic [accordion openfirst=”false” […]
I got Airpods! A reader asks… My Christmas stocking had a set of Airpods in them, I’m ecstatic! I have an iPhone 7 and am ready to start using them. Do you have a quick instruction for how to set them up on my iPhone? It couldn’t be simpler! Open the box and unwrap your Airpods. Likely they already have a decent battery charge, but if you want to make sure, plug them into your lightning cable/charger for an hour […]
A Christmas Netflix: a reader asks… I got a gift membership to Netflix for Christmas, yay! It came in an email, so now what do I do? I have a Firestick connected to my TV, and an iPhone and I’d like to use it on either. So the first thing is to open that email and follow the instructions. That will have you create a user account on Netflix.com with a username (likely your email address) and a password (you […]
My Laptop Present: a reader asks… This Christmas my daughter got me a new Microsoft Surface Pro laptop. She was nice enough to ‘set it up for me’, but I’m not sure what to do with it. I’m in my 80’s and don’t do much besides email, facebook (pics of my grandkids!) and occasional surfing the internet. This new laptop has Microsoft Office 2016 on it, and she loaded Adobe Reader and a protection program you recommended (Malwarebytes Premium). Can […]
New Roku with Old Gear: a reader asks… I would like to have the ability to use a Roku Express + on my old TV which is hooked up to a home theater system & DirecTV. My TV is a Samsung: Model LTN1735 S which does not have HDMI only RCA video in, S Video, & RCA component (480i). My home theatre system is a Sony DAV-HDX265 which does have HDMI And the DirecTV box is model HR24-100 this also […]
Ho, Ho Ho-hum iPhone Slowdown: a reader asks… I heard on the news that apple is intentionally slowing down older iPhones. Needless to say this seems to be like planning for obsolescence. Argh. I’d like to learn if apple now being discovered might stop this practice, and which phone models are affected. I notice with the 11.0 upgrade and since my iPhone 6plus has been slower opening any app, and even voice activation like Siri and texting. The story you’re […]
Last Minute Gift: a reader asks… I always put off my Christmas shopping till the last minute. Now I’m late and need to find something for my significant other. She’s into tech but already has all the toys. Any suggestions? Hmm, not much info on her to go on, but let me try. Here are just a few suggestions in no particular order, probably things she wouldn’t buy for herself but might secretly pine for. Amazon Echo Spot ($130). This […]
Present for Son: a reader asks… I have a son about to graduate high school and go off to college. I want to get him a present that will be useful to him at college. He already has a laptop and a cell phone. What would you suggest from a tech toys perspective? He might enjoy wireless earbuds, to free him from the cord connecting him to his phone – I’m assuming it’s a smartphone with access to Spotify, Pandora […]
"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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