Better lock screen: a reader asks… I have a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. Instead of a 4-digit PIN, I draw a pattern on the phone to unlock it. Is this safer? Does the shape matter? The first question I’d ask you back: do you have your phone set to wipe if the wrong unlock shape is tried too many times? Verizon calls that “Reactivation Lock Antitheft” and it should come pre-installed and configured. You can turn that off (and […]
Internet Lies: a reader asks… How can you tell if something you see on the internet is true or not? That’s a huge question, and there’s really no way I can adequately cover everything, so let me focus on the kind of information you see on the internet that’s similar to what you’ll read here at Practical Help. Finding answers to consumer tech questions can be like searching for a needle in a haystack (sorry for the tired, old metaphor, […]
Win10 File Explorer: a reader asks… I’m slowly getting used to all the new stuff in Windows 10. One thing that bugs me though, when I open File Explorer it opens to a view it calls “quick access” when almost all the time I want to go to My Computer and see my account’s personal folders as well as all the drives I can access (like a plugged in thumbdrive or my DVD drive). Is there an easy way to […]
Deleted iCloud email: a reader asks… Help! I think I accidentally deleted my email account from the mail app on my Macbook Pro. Did I just lose everything? Can I get it back? Worry not, if you are using an iCloud account for email, everything is safely stored online, so just add the account back to Mail and you’ll be back where you were. Same for if you use an MS Exchange account. And with some caveats, Google, Yahoo! and […]
Google Authenticator: a reader asks… About this 2-factor authentication. Google tells me to use their app Google Authenticator. Can you give me a quick primer on using it with a website login? Sure! First off let me applaud you for considering using 2-factor authentication. The standard username/password combo has proven itself to be inadequate for even basic security. Most folks simply won’t use strong and unique passwords to secure their online accounts. I’m not saying that 2-factor authentication is perfect, […]
iPhone App Stuck: a reader asks… I have an iPhone with the latest version of iOS installed. The problem is that an app I really need seems frozen and won’t do anything. What can I do? The first thing you should try is to kill the app and start it again. For that you use the task switcher, which you get to by double-pressing the Home button. That puts multiple apps in view, and you can move between apps by […]
LastPass vs Keychain: a reader asks… I have a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone. I use Apple’s Keychain to remember my passwords, and it works across all the devices. Is there any reason I should need to use LastPass? The fact that all the devices you use are Apple means that the Apple Keychain password manager can do almost as good a job as a true password manager like LastPass. The upside is that when you use Safari or […]
Ransomware Worry: a reader asks… I’ve been reading about the increase in “Ransomware” and am worried about my home network and equipment. I have a router, a network printer, my wife’s Mac (MacOS Sierra) and my Windows 10 PC, along with our iPhones and her iPad. Can you tell me what I need to do to make sure I’m safe from this threat? Your concern is genuine, as ransomware attacks are increasing exponentially – they’re the new ‘darlings’ of the […]
Website Hacked: a reader asks… I have a WordPress-powered website, it’s a simple blog without a lot of fancy plugins. I don’t use it much anymore, but recently noticed that I can’t log into the control panel anymore. I think I might have been hacked, although the site looks ok and I don’t see anything strange-looking on the pages. What should I do? One of the most important things you can do with your WordPress website (other than posting articles) […]
iPhone Battery: a reader asks… My 2+ year-old iPhone 6 is having real problems. The battery works ok till I get to around 60%, and then it drops down to the red almost instantly. If I don’t plug in it will shut off minutes later. When I plug it back in, the battery meter jumps back up into the green almost instantly. What’s going on? This problem started appearing in iOS 9.x and became much more widespread in iOS 10.x […]
USB Matters: a reader asks… I have a computer with USB 2.0 ports and just bought a thumbdrive that is USB 3.0. Will I have any problems using it on this computer? I am going to use it to copy all my files so I can put them on a new computer (that will have USB 3.0 ports). Does the USB version really matter? First off, it may not matter to your old computer, as the USB specification is backwards […]
Protect my Win10 Computer: a reader asks… I just bought a new Windows 10 computer and have set it up, thanks for your tips! Now before I start using it I want to make sure I have good protection. I know that Windows 10 has a firewall and antivirus protection baked in, so what else do I need? I know to surf and use email safely. Congratulations on your purchase! Windows 10 is very much more reliable and secure than […]
Used Electronics: a reader asks… I have the chance of getting a second hand Onkyo HT-R558, should I get it? What are the pitfalls? Used electronic equipment can be tricky, you never know what’s happened to it. While used cars can be examined for evidence of previous crashes/damage, most times electronic equipment can’t. Your best bet is to try before you buy. You should visit the seller and they should have the receiver hooked up to a TV, speakers […]
Scan to Computer: a reader asks… I have an HP all-in-one printer that has a scan-to-computer function. I’m not sure how to set it up on my Windows 10 computer. I’ve got the HP AIO app from the Microsoft App Store. Can you help me? If you run the AIO app and click the Scan button, you’ll see that you also need another app, “HP Scan and Capture” which you get from the Microsoft Store (it’s free). Once you download […]
Fake eFax: a reader asks… Since I’ve never gotten one of these, I am not sure if it is real or not. I don’t use eFax. So you have two clues that this is a fake (yes, it is). First, you don’t use the eFax service, and the scam message is telling you that you have a 2 page incoming fax. That should be enough to warn you to not click on any link. Second, if you hover over each […]
LastPass Free vs Premium: a reader asks… I have LastPass setup on my iPhone. Can I set this up on my wife’s iPhone, on our two iPads and on our two Macbooks as well? Or can I have it on my devices only? LastPass comes in a free version and a Premium version which costs a paltry $12 per year. The free version is limited to the type of device that originally setup the account. So in your case, you could […]
Spell-check: a reader asks… I have a laptop and a desktop; both running Win 7. I use Gmail for my email. On my desktop I suddenly cannot get auto spell check (have to now do it manually), but when I use my laptop on the same Gmail account. the auto spell check works fine. Any suggestions on how to fix it on my desktop Gmail? For spell-checking on your computers, I’m going to have to give you some guesses since you didn’t […]
Wacky Wi-Fi: a reader asks… I cannot get my wifi to work.Can i unplug the modem and just plug it in somewhere else? Which plug does it use? Currently it is using a coaxial cable which I don’t understand why they used it. Since you don’t say who your internet service provider is, and you don’t give me the brand and model number of your Wi-Fi router/cablemodem, I can only give you some guesses. The first thing I’m going to […]
Outlook on the web: a reader asks… I use email from Microsoft, Outlook.com. I have a maddening problem though, it only shows me my inbox emails grouped together. I think these are called ‘conversations’. I’d prefer to have my emails just showing by date individually, not grouped together. I can’t find the control to change that, even looking online. They all say to look at the top-right of my window and there’s nothing there. Can you help? After a little […]
Large Docs: a reader asks… I have a MS Windows 10 desktop computer with 8gb RAM, plenty of hard drive space, and an Intel i3 processor. I use MS Word 2016 (Office 365). the problem I’m having is that I deal with very large Word documents and my computer slows to a crawl when I’m editing. Is there something I can do to help this situation or is it time to switch to a Mac and Pages? Before you go […]
Citrix Barrier: a reader asks… I have a Macbook Pro at home which I use mostly for work. My office uses Citrix Winframe so I can remotely connect to the office and work – that shows my office desktop (a PC) in a window on my Mac. The problem is that I have a multi-function printer at home (HP Officejet 8600), and while that works great at scanning documents and placing the resulting PDFs on my desktop or in a […]
Between Laptop and Desktop: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I need a new computer, my old one is a behemoth HP desktop PC with Windows Vista and an old-style CRT monitor. I don’t really need a laptop, but would like something smaller yet capable and fast. My budget is to keep it well under $1,000 all-in. I’m reasonably handy and can do the setup myself. What would you suggest? For many folks, an all-in-one computer can be a great replacement. […]
Sticky Notes: a reader asks… I have a desktop PC with Windows 10, fully updated. It’s great and does pretty much what I need it to do, but there’s one thing I’d like to have, and I’d appreciate your advice on the best app to use for this: I write notes to myself (using Notepad), and leave them showing on my desktop. Is there an app that does this better? I’m guessing you haven’t discovered the simple pleasure of sticky […]
Mac Retread: a reader asks… I’m inheriting my son’s 2-year-old Macbook Pro – he transferred to a new college and they have specific requirements so he had to get a new computer. He’s already copied all his stuff off onto his new computer, but the hard drive on ‘my’ Mac is almost full of his stuff. What’s the easiest way I can clear off his stuff and make this Mac mine? I don’t want to delete the programs he’s got […]
Win10 Folder Dementia: a reader asks… My Windows 10 computer is having a problem with File Explorer. When I change the view options for a particular folder and then shut it down, the next time I open it Windows doesn’t remember those view settings. I looked online and found some registry changes, tried them and they didn’t work. Can you help? Any suggestions will be appreciated! After a few exchanges I found out you’re using ESET for computer security. Turns […]
Power Program Icons: a reader asks… I’m a coder who usually works in Linux. I recently ported over to Windows 10, and have a bunch of GNU-type programs that are simply exe files and not installed. Programs like ImgBurn.exe, gnuplot.exe, python.exe, and APT.exe. I want easy access to them. I know I can drag them down to the taskbar, but that gets cluttered up because I have too many of these. In Linux, I put these into a folder window […]
Mac Mail Mania: a reader asks… I have a macbook pro laptop and I’m using MAC Mail as my email. I’m also using OS X El Capitan version 10.11.5. Most of, although not every time, I compose and send an email, my MAC automatically puts a red follow up flag next to it and it shows up in my draft folder, although I did not mark it or flag it or save the email message to the draft folder. This […]
Windows Defender: a reader asks… I recently got a new laptop and it has Windows 10 on it. It’s also got a program called “Windows Defender”. I’d like to avoid having to pay for software if possible. Do I have to get your recommended Bitdefender? The latest version of Windows Defender is reasonably capable at protecting you from internet threats. When I say ‘reasonably’, it’s not a compliment. The problem is that the growth and maturation of malware attacks are […]
Android Zoom: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have a Moto G smartphone. Can you help me with an Android question? It appears the Moto G doesn’t have zoom for the camera. Any thoughts? Most smartphone cameras do not have any optical zoom feature, the necessary hardware (moving parts) for such a feature is nigh impossible to build into the small case of a smartphone. Two notable exceptions: iPhone 7 Plus which doesn’t exactly have a zoom feature, but does […]
Scanning HP: a reader asks… I have an HP Officejet Pro 8710 and am trying to use it to scan papers into my computer. I have about 100 pages of text to scan, and am trying to get that all into one file. I’ve used the sheetfeeder, which holds about 25 pages at a time, so now I’ve got 5 PDF documents. What I want to do is combine them into one file and convert that to Microsoft Word so […]
"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!"
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