Older finger on keyboard: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m helping my father with his desktop PC. He’s older and has lost a lot of feeling in his fingers. He’s having trouble with the standard keyboard that came with the computer, can’t tell if he’s pushed a key or not. Any suggestions? Why don’t you go retro? The older mechanical keyboards took a lot more work to type on (think Selectric typewriters) than today’s keyboards which have micro-switches under the […]
It’s time for Windows 10: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I got hit by the Windows 10 upgrade. I didn’t really want it, but yesterday my computer was upgraded. I’m really annoyed! What should I do? In Windows Update, Microsoft recently moved the Windows 10 upgrade from optional to recommended. For many people, they have Windows Update set to automatically install both critical and recommended updates, so your computer got the upgrade. A lot of people have complained, so over […]
Malwarebytes Icon: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I took your advice (thanks!) on getting Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Premium for my Windows 7 laptop, and made the settings changes you suggested. It’s all working great, and I only have one minor little problem. The icon for the program is on my desktop and I like a clean desktop. But I can’t remove the icon, no matter how many times I try! Is there some trick to doing that? Congrats on getting one […]
Ransomware Protection: a reader asks… Hey Coach, I’ve been reading warnings about ransomware being the big threat for 2016, read about the recent and successful attack at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, and am starting to worry. What’s a regular consumer tech gal to do? Even the FBI says your best bet is to pay the ransom. I haven’t been infected yet, but am worried it’s only a matter of time. Got a hot tip for me? I use Windows 10 […]
Identity Theft Protection: a reader asks… I’ve subscribed to TrustedID which is sold through AARP. It seems quite comprehensive, and also provides access to your credit score from all three providers at any time. I’m no longer tempted to subscribe to the (expensive) individual credit card or bank id protection services. What do you think of TrustedID? My short answer is that 1) I don’t think their services are worth the cost, and 2) no automated service will give you […]
Post Win10 Upgrade: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I just finished upgrading to Windows 10. I followed your advice and am using a local account, have turned of Cortana, and set my privacy settings as private as I can. I think I’m all set except for one problem. I use Bitdefender Total Security 2016, and after the upgrade it won’t update, it won’t activate, and the antivirus feature won’t turn on. What should I do now? Despite Microsoft’s exhortations to […]
Is the Cloud Cloudy? a reader asks… I feel that my cloud access is totally out of control. Everyone–Google, Microsoft, Apple, and many other smaller vendors–make it easy to sign up, and cheap to extend the storage. Apple and Google are particularly insistent because their apps are closely tied to their cloud services. I mostly use 1TB Dropbox for most of my important files and Acronis’s unlimited cloud storage for backups. I doubt I can avoid iCloud, but there are bits […]
WhatsApp on 2 Phones: a reader asks… I have an AT&T iPhone I use in the US, but I travel a lot. My work gave me a T-Mobile smartphone for use overseas. I use WhatsApp to communicate with everyone. How can I switch my WhatsApp to the T-Mobile phone when I travel, yet still have it use the same AT&T phone number so all my contacts can still get hold of me? First off, here’s what you shouldn’t do: change the […]
Old Printer: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have a really old HP Laserjet 2100 printer that has a cable to connect it to the computer with a (gasp!) old-style 25-pin plug. The printer still works great and I’d like to keep using it as long as it lasts, but I finally replaced my old laptop with a newer one ( Windows 7) that doesn’t have that kind of port. Do you have a low-cost solution for me? Or do […]
Fingerprint Hack? a reader asks… Hi Chris, I read an article that says it’s easy to hack the fingerprint sensor on an iPhone. Do I need to be worried? Short answer, no. I read the same article from Business Insider, and it’s either a shill piece by the maker of a fingerprint sensor in a lame attempt to bolster his own product, or (in my opinion) an irresponsible piece of pseudo-journalism that seems to be so rampant these days, intended […]
Anonymous Surfing: Not just for the bad guys! You might have heard about hackers using the Dark Net, or the Deep Web to buy and sell hacking tools. That’s where anonymous surfing gets a bad rap. But for the rest of us, there can be some very good reasons to surf without leaving an identity trail behind you as you go. For instance, journalists who are researching stories or political dissidents who don’t want their government breathing down their necks. […]
Zoom & Print: a reader asks… Hi Coach, do you have an easy way for me to be able to print part of a page blown up in size? I often print Adobe PDFs that have architectural drawings, and the pages are actually very large, but when I print them they must shrink down the whole page to fit on standard size paper. Is there a way I can take just a part of the page and print that bit […]
iPhone Yellow Battery: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I noticed this evening that my battery indicator is no longer green, but kind of yellow orange. I wasn’t able to plug in anywhere today and drew my battery down to the red. When I got home I plugged it in and after awhile it turned from red to yellow orange. Did I mess up my battery by draining it too far? First off, no need to worry. The battery indicator turns […]
Simple Outlook Solution: a reader asks… Hey Coach, I’ve used Outlook for years tied to my Verizon email account. I now find myself in the situation where I use a few computers, a smartphone and a tablet. Can you give me a straightforward and simple solution so my email, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes are all kept in sync across all these devices? I’m frustrated with read versus unread messages not the same, and with having to enter contacts and […]
Instagram Photo Editing: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I use Instagram on my iPhone, and I find the editing function pretty minimal. Same for the editing tools in the iPhone’s Photos app. Is there anything better? I’m always forgetting to set my camera app for square photos, so they don’t look good on Instagram. Instagram offers quite a few editing tools in the app, but noticeably missing are such basic tools as crop, and redeye reduction. While the default Instagram view […]
Old Windows: a reader asks… I was working on my old desktop and opened up Google Chrome and received an interesting alert. Do I have any options or just have to update Windows? Or just switch internet browsers? I only use this computer for remote office access via google chrome, surfing the Internet, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. This has less to do with your Chrome web browser than with overall computer security. This warning simply means that Google doesn’t consider either Windows […]
Senior-proof the Touchpad: a reader asks… Hi Chris, my father is 83 and uses a Windows 7 laptop with a touchpad. I’m his ‘tech support’ and am always having to help him with strange problems that happen. When I ask, he’s not giving me good intel on what was happening just before the problem surfaced. I suspect that he’s misusing the touchpad, but he doesn’t want to switch to a regular mouse – I’ve offered to buy him one, but […]
Play my iPhone on the big screen: a reader asks… I have an iPhone 6 plus, a Netflix account, and an LCD TV (currently connected to my FIOS TV box). I would really like to watch Netflix on the big screen, but I don’t want to have to buy an Apple TV. Is there a cheaper alternative? There are always alternatives! In your case, you need to check for two capabilities on your TV: If you have an unused HDMI […]
Back Online: After more than just a few days of our online presence being anything but (…online), we are back up and running with a new website hosting company and a more robust email provider. Let me tell you what happened. Over the last few years, our readership has grown – thank you! We were continuing to use Bluehost for our website hosting service, and their reliability and service have waned while our needs increased. The ‘last straw’ happened earlier […]
Windows 10 Privacy: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve upgraded to Windows 10, and things seem to be working fine. But I’m a little concerned about privacy, especially after reading some reviews online. What can I do to stop Microsoft’s built-in spying? When you first upgraded to Windows 10, Microsoft very strongly suggested you create a Microsoft account to log into your computer. That opens up a lot of doors into your computer use to the company. If you did, […]
Printer Cartridges: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I have an HP inkjet printer and it seems like I’m always buying new ink cartridges. They’re costing me more than the printer cost! Do you think I should try a refilling or non-HP brand replacement cartridge? Short answer: No. But read on. You are seeing the results of our printer and ink marketing engine in full swing. Manufacturers have reduced the price of the printers themselves to the point where they aren’t […]
Verizon Email Password: a reader asks… Hi Chris, all the sudden my Verizon email isn’t working, Outlook is showing me a box with the server, username and password. Of course I don’t remember the password, can you tell me how to reset it? I should note that Verizon’s email service is experiencing hiccups over the last few days, which may be why that box popped up on your screen. As an unfortunate side-effect in Windows, you get no warning when […]
iPhone Safari Login with LastPass: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I use LastPass on my iPhone (thanks for the tip!) and it’s great. The only problem is when I try to log into a site like Facebook using Safari. I have to open LastPass, find the entry and then copy my password to the clipboard in order to log in to the website. Is there a faster and easier way? Glad you are using a password manager for better security! […]
New Mac Setup: a reader asks… Hi Coach, I finally succumbed to the PC-to-Mac drumbeat, ditched my old Windows laptop and got myself a shiny new Macbook Air. I’m new to the Mac scene – do you have any tips on how to setup my Mac and things I should do? I also have an HP Officejet printer, an iPhone and an iPad. I use Gmail, do online surfing and shopping and use Word and Excel. Oh, and I’m a […]
Strong Wi-fi: a reader asks… Is it possible to configure a home network of two access points so that your device (in my case, it’s usually an iPad or iPhone) picks up the stronger signal as you move from one location to another? I seem to always start working with slow internet access and then notice that it’s because my iPad is still connected to the more remote and far weaker signal. Unfortunately, the kind of control you’re looking for […]
Printer Won’t: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m having a problem with my printer. It was working just fine till this morning, but I’ve sent several print jobs and nothing’s printing. I’ve checked the cable (fine), restarted the printer (looks ok), made sure there’s plenty of ink and paper (check), but nothing will print. Any advice? I have a Windows 7 PC if that helps. Take a quick look at the bottom right of your screen where all the little […]
Browser Padlock: a reader asks… Hi Chris, some websites I visit have a green padlock (like your website) and some don’t. I know it has something do do with security, but can you give me a quick primer? Sounds like you’re using the Google Chrome web browser (or perhaps Firefox). The green padlock to the left of the URL lets you know that every bit of data that passes between your computer and that website is encrypted so hackers can’t […]
Photo Resizing: a reader asks… Can I ask you a quick question and if there is a simple answer, will you tell me? I am trying to attach photos on-line to a site but they have to be 5MBs or less and everything I have seems to be way more. Is there an easy way to make them 5MBs? I use a Windows 7 PC. Let me give you the simple answer first, and then go into some detail. First, […]
Macbook Air puffed out: a reader asks… Hi Chris, my 2011 Macbook Air started developing a problem last week and it’s getting worse. Last week I noticed that the left side of the trackpad wasn’t clicking anymore. This week the lid won’t close all the way and it looks like the case is warped. What should I do? Sounds like you’ve got a case of the expanding (puffy) battery. The picture you sent doesn’t look too bad, I’ve seen expanding […]
Safari Crash Fix: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve been experiencing an intermittent problem with both my Mac and my iPhone. When I run Safari, sometimes it just crashes and shuts down for no reason I can figure out. This happens when I type in something to search for in the URL bar but doesn’t happen when I type in a website address. Do you have a quick fix for this? Apple’s default web browser on the Mac and iOS, […]
"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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