Character Typing: a reader asks… Hi Chris, when I get or see emails, documents, news articles and other online publications, they sometimes have special characters in them that aren’t on a standard keyboard. Can you tell me how to type those things in please? There are a ton of special characters that you can display, such as the registered symbol ®, copyright symbol ©, and the inverted question mark ¿. Characters like this are part of the extended ASCII character […]
Undisclosed Recipients: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I get these emails that are addressed to “Undisclosed Recipients”. They’re mostly newsletters and blast emails that go out to lots of people. Is there a way I can send email like this? I’d like to email everybody in my addressbook with a new phone number. First let me warn you that this method of sending email is a popular way that spammers send out their junk email, so you should use it carefully. […]
Your resume in 2016: While technically not a consumer technology subject, I often get asked to look at someone’s resume. Students, seasoned professionals, and even executives have had me give their resume a once-over or a more extensive fix-up job. Over the years I’ve refined a tight set of tips for how to make your resume sing to that recruiter or potential boss. Without further ado, here’s my top 10 list for the new year: Brevity is King/Queen: No matter how […]
Fix my Windows 7! A reader asks… Hi Chris, my Windows 7 computer suffered a hard drive failure. Before the system failed, I followed your advice and created a system image of my drive, and also created a System Repair Disc. I replaced the hard drive, booted to the repair disc and used the system image to bring my computer back up to what it was before. It worked! Windows and my installed programs and my personal files all came […]
Mac OS X El Capitan: A reader asks… Coach, my 2011 Macbook Pro has been working fine with OS X 10.9 (Mavericks). I see that the current version is 10.11 (El Capitan), so I’m now a few versions behind – apparently I missed 10.10 (Yosemite). Do I need to upgrade to the latest version or can I just update to 10.10? Should I even bother since my Mac is working fine? One thing about Apple, they have been diligent about […]
Slow Internet Fix: a reader asks… Hi Chris, my Windows 7 computer seems to be having a problem – the internet is really slow. I have a Cox/Cisco cablemodem and a Linksys router with an ethernet cable running from the router to my computer. Do you have a quick fix? It’s easy to attribute slow internet to your service provider (in this case Cox), and it may very well be that their service is having problems. But before you give […]
iPhone Battery Life: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I have an iPhone that’s less than a year old, but won’t last a day – my battery life sucks. Can you tell me what I can do to get more life out of my battery? Regardless of which model iPhone you have, the problem of battery life is going to rear its ugly head from time to time. For many people, the answer is to plug it in every chance they […]
Windows 10 Go/No-go: a reader asks… Hi Chris, my Windows 7 desktop computer is working, but not well. I had a hard drive that was failing, so I followed your instructions to swap it out for a new SSD. My computer boots up a lot faster and programs do load quicker, but I’m still getting lots of errors, things like ‘script‘ errors, low virtual memory, the computer crashes with a blue screen, and slow operation sometimes. What should I do? […]
Wireless keyboard fix: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I’ve got a desktop computer and have a wireless keyboard and mouse. Everything’s been working great for awhile, but all the sudden the keyboard stopped working. The mouse is still working though. What can I do to fix this? Let me first suggest that you replace the batteries on the keyboard, since that’s the most likely reason why it stopped working. Some wireless keyboards have a physical power switch that can be […]
No Conversation View: A reader asks… I recently dumped my Blackberry for an iPhone (not my choice, my employer’s). It’s been a pain getting used to all the differences, but one thing really bugs me – the email display of messages. All the related emails show up on the list just as one item. You tap that and see another list of emails. I hate this, both on my iPhone and in Gmail! Can I turn that off and see […]
App Picker Android: a reader asks.. Hi Coach, I have a Droid Turbo smartphone and really like using Android. But my friends with iPhones have a quick way to find an app on their phone by searching, whilst I have to swipe across screen after screen to get to an app I want to run. Heck, they can even use the same search feature for contacts, emails, and the web! Is there something I’m missing with Android to more quickly […]
Pricy SSDs: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m planning on upgrading my 2+ year-old Lenovo Thinkpad T440. It has a tiny 160gb SSD in it now, and I want to upgrade to a terabyte SSD now that the prices have come down. Can you give me a recommendation? I’ve been looking at the Samsung 850 EVO, do you think that’s a good choice? Probably the biggest factor affecting your choice of an SSD is the drive controller hardware in your older […]
Camera USB Cable: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I have a digital camera and want to get the pictures I’ve taken from it to my Windows computer. I’ve got several cables and am not sure which one I should use. Can you give me some help? Digital cameras often come with software designed for unloading pictures, but that’s generally not necessary. All you need to do is connect your camera to the computer with a USB cable and you should […]
Chrome Process Hog? a reader asks… Hi Coach, when I look at my Windows Task Manager I see well over a dozen processes running, even if I only have one or two tabs open in Google Chrome. What gives, is Chrome just a memory hog, is it malfunctioning, or what? When you take a look at your Windows Task Manager, you can see the list of processes that are running on your PC at any point. Click on the title […]
Small Biz Email: a reader asks… I own a small business and have been using my gmail account for email services. Someone told me that’s a bad thing. I just do local plumbing services – I don’t even have a website. Do you think it matters? These days not having an online presence (even a simple one) can be hard on a small business. Think about it: when someone wants to find a plumber, they used to look in the […]
Printing Problems: a reader asks… Hi Chris, My HP inkjet printer (it’s a Photosmart model C5580) is acting up. When I switched the ink cartridges I must have done something wrong because it’s not printing correctly – black isn’t printing at all, and the only color that prints is green. What should I do? We all have problems with printers, so don’t feel like you’re the only one. Unlike the computers they’re attached to, printers have a lot of fragile moving […]
What is Ghosting? a reader asks… Hi Chris, my teenage grand-daughter mystifies me! The other day she was crying and I asked her what was the matter. She mumbled something about being “ghosted’ and refused to tell me more. I’m sure these days kids are all doing stuff online, so I’m guessing this is an online thing. Can you tell me what it is? Comfort your grand-daughter, her plight is very 21st century and very real. Ghosting is when someone […]
Printer recommendation: a reader asks… Hi Chris, after weeks of becoming less and less reliable, the paper feed mechanism of our old HP PSC 1610 has finally become so worthless that the printer needs to be replaced. I was wondering if you had any brand or even specific model recommendations for a new printer/scanner/copier? It seems like new printer models come out every few months, so I’m always looking at printers! The quick answer to your question is that my […]
Missing Person: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve been trying to locate a long-lost elder relative with no luck so far. I’ve looked on Facebook, done a bunch of google searches – nothing. I’m not ready to hire a skip-tracing firm. Do you know of any online ways to find someone’s whereabouts? Without spending money, you are pretty limited. I imagine with the google searches you’ve done variations on the person’s name, as well as linking their name with any […]
Windows 10 now?: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I reserved my Windows 10 free upgrade, and followed your advice about waiting to upgrade. It’s now been a few months, should I take the plunge now? I currently have Windows 8.1 on my Asus laptop – a model Q200E ultrabook, and everything works. Let me warn you about laptops – a lot of the hardware inside is customized to fit into the small space of a laptop. So even if the […]
Mini-CD in Macbook Pro: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I recently purchased a USB-connected turntable so I can import my old vinyl records (300+) into my digital music library. I have a Macbook Pro with a CD/DVD slot in the side. Here’s the problem: the turntable came with the driver installation on a mini-CD. I know my slot-loading drive can’t handle those easily. My wife has a PC with a tray-loading CD drive, but I want to install the program […]
Gmail Mail Merge: a reader asks… Hi Chris, can you tell me how I can avoid being labeled as a spammer? I routinely use my Gmail account to send emails to my softball team. I’ve been getting complaints that my emails are getting blocked as spam, especially when someone replies to everybody instead of just me. So I’m guessing that you’re putting all those email addresses into the To: box of your outgoing email. So everybody who gets the email […]
Windows 10 Start Secrets: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I recently upgraded to Windows 10 (from Windows 7) and am really lost. Microsoft done me wrong and changed so much. Now I don’t know how to do all the stuff that I was so used to being able to do in Windows. I’m most disappointed in the new Start menu, which doesn’t do nearly what the old reliable Windows 7 start menu did. Got any tips? Sure do! The first […]
Multi-screen PC: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have a Windows 7 desktop PC, and I was wondering how difficult it would be to outfit it with two display screens? I can use a screwdriver but am not a techie by any stretch of the imagination. Right now I have an old 15″ display (not the wide-screen type), and I’m ok with spending a couple hundred dollars to upgrade my system for dual-screen. You should have no trouble adding a […]
Don’t sound like a spammer: Here’s a quick PSA for you – every week I look down a list of over 8,000 junk email messages that my anti-spam service caught. I’ll only peruse it very quickly and then select all and delete. Very occasionally I’ll see a message that really isn’t spam, usually because it’s from someone I recognize, and the subject line is meaningful to me. Among all the blatant spam that’s easy to spot, I see a number […]
Quick iPad Fix: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have an iPad Air 2 and I’m finding that sometimes the darn thing works really slowly. The only way I have to fix that problem is to shut it off and turn it back on (that’s your 80% rule, right?). That works for awhile, but sometime in the next few days it happens again. Is there a faster way to fix it? Actually, yes there is and it’s pretty simple to […]
Changing MacBook Pro’s Hard Drive: a reader asks… I have a MacBook Pro (3rd gen) and did order that solid state drive to double my nearly full stock drive. I’d like to get the best solution to be time efficient in swapping drives out (There was some mention of putting some iOS drive swapping software on a thumb drive that would help the process along). In any event, I’d like to hear your approach to this task. Since you have a 3rd […]
Password management: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve read what you say and recommend about password managers, but I’m not convinced. We don’t do online shopping, banking or social networking. We visit websites but almost never create a user account. So we really only have three passwords to remember, our email account password, our Apple ID and our Macbook’s login password. Do you think we qualify for an exemption? You might, but only if you are really good about what […]
Help for Senior – Echo: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m trying to help my mother who’s a senior citizen and has vision issues. I’m giving serious consideration to buying her an Amazon Echo so she can use it to get information, like the time and weather, and to play music. Can you give me some advice on the pros and cons, and if there are any other devices out there you think might be helpful? Thanks! The first thing […]
Windows 10 Fall Update Fail: a reader asks… Hi Chris, over the summer I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10. So far things have been relatively ok, had to re-install a few programs and it took some fiddling to get my printer to work. Things have been ok up to now. Microsoft released a fall update to Windows 10 (version 10586), but I can’t get my computer to download and install that update. I’ve tried cleaning out my Windows Update […]
"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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