Mac Pinwheel – what to do: a reader asks… Hi Chris, my Macbook Pro is stuck – the pinwheel (beach ball?) has been spinning around for hours now. What should I do? When your Mac boots up and shows the pinwheel and never moves on, longtime Mac users call that the dreaded Spinning Pinwheel of Death (SPOD)! Windows users will immediately relate (they’ve got the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ aka BSOD). I’ve seen this problem before, and there are a number […]
What’s IPV6 and should I worry? A member asks… My company IT guys said that IPV6 is being activated today, and they are going to be upgrading equipment to work with it. That’s fine for my office, but do I need to do anything about this for my home network? The short answer is that you don’t need to worry about it. At some point in the future, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may require you to get an IPV6-compatible […]
Print a web page? a reader asks… Hi Chris, I love your articles, they are really helpful! The only problem is that when I print out the pages, they look all funny and it’s really hard to read the article. Do you have any tips that can help me? Thanks for the compliment! Printing web pages is seen by some in this day and age as redundant, since a) web pages by their nature change often, and b) full-time internet […]
Sharing Pictures – not with Email: a reader asks… good morning. i’m running into trouble sharing photos with my family and friends. my email service won’t let me attach more than one or two photos to an email and won’t let me send emails to a lot of people. i have alot of family and friends. what can i do to share my photos? Emailing pictures has never been a very efficient way to share your memories with others. Easy […]
What’s a PDF and why do I care? a reader asks… I’m running across files on the internet, like manual.pdf. Can you tell me how I can open this type of file? Is it safe? Quick answer: go to https://get.adobe.com/reader/, download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, which can view and print this type of file. As to whether it’s safe or not, you need to consider the source, since PDFs can be constructed to carry computer viruses or […]
Malware Attack Response: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I just opened a FedEx email on my tablet with a zip file. I clicked on the file to extract but no further. Obviously I just messed up! I shut it down immediately. I’m usually so cautious — Can’t believe I was so dumb & careless today!! Did I do the right thing and is there anything else I should do? I did receive another email from the same “FEDEX” Aruba (!) email […]
Drowning in Paper? a reader asks… Hi Chris, here it is the 21st century and with so much automated, I find I’m still buried in paper! Receipts, bills, notes, advisories, it just keeps filling my mailbox. I shovel all the junk mail right into the recycle bin, don’t even open it or read anything (all those wasted advertising dollars!) but the paper still piles up. Do you have any fairly easy way to deal with all this? Absolutely. First let […]
Old gadgets don’t last: a reader asks… My Windows 7 laptop computer is starting to make funny noises, but it’s only about 4 years old. How long are all these gadgets supposed to last anyway? The short answer is, unfortunately, not long enough for many (most?). Today’s PC’s are made as cheaply as possible so you pay the lowest cost. For the most part, that market has driven down to the lowest cost, and you end up paying for it […]
Internet down? a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have Verizon FIOS internet service and this morning I opened Chrome up and got this screen that says my webpage isn’t available. I looked at my (almost new) router and all the lights are green. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and it usually fixes itself after a few hours, but I’d like to keep this problem from happening at all. Any help? Based on the image you sent, you […]
Apple Music Tips: a reader asks… I just updated my iPhone to iOS 8.4, and the Music app is all changed. It’s offering me a 3-month trial and looks different than the old app. Can you please give me some tips on this new app? The last day of June 2015 saw a new update for iOS as well as an update to the iTunes program for computers. Apple Music is a new music subscription service that competes with Spotify, […]
Small Biz SEO Marketing: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’m a one-person consulting business and have a website that I setup from an online firm that caters to my profession. Recently I received an email telling me about “SEO”. Should I invest money in this? Small businesses generally don’t have large marketing budgets, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a marketing effort. Likely a very small part. You can certainly spend money with any one of the hundreds of firms trying […]
Who ya gonna trust? a reader asks… Hi Chris, I keep getting this little ad as to whether I want to install a new version of Malwarebytes anti-Malware….before I accept, I wanted to be sure this is ok and not some virus..Thanks! I’m assuming you’ve taken my advice and installed Malwarebytes Anti-malware on your Microsoft Windows computer, great! So quick answer, if the ‘little ad’ is a popup that appears near the bottom-right of your desktop screen, then yes, you […]
Apple Macbook Problems: a reader asks… Hi Chris, my 3 year old Macbook Air is acting really slow! I use Google Drive and it says that my “startup disk is full” and that I do not have space. I deleted files on my Google Docs account and even though it says that there is 0 out of 15 GB being used, the notification will not go away. And I had to start copying photos to my desktop because iPhoto stopped […]
Don’t just toss that old hard drive: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I took your advice a few years ago and got a computer with an SSD. Unfortunately, it seems to be dying (the SSD, not the computer). I read your guide about replacing it, and am ready to handle that (I have a screwdriver!). My question is, to dispose of that old SSD when I’m done – should I do the same as if it was a regular hard […]
Not getting Email: a reader asks… For some reason, some people who send me email to my work address aren’t getting through. They are getting reject notices that include a code “550 5.7.1”, and I don’t see anything, not in my inbox nor my junk mail folder. Any advice? After getting a little more information, this turns out to be a case of an overly-aggressive anti-spam service employed by your work. Your work email is handled by Microsoft Exchange Server, […]
Apple ID Reset Snafu: a reader asks… Good morning Chris, I made a mistake and inadvertently sent a reply to a dummy apple account fraud notice that said someone made a purchase of music and wanted to verify I made the purchase. When I got to the website, I’d forgotten my Apple ID password, so I did the password reset thing. That sent me an email with a different Apple ID so I stopped there, deleted all the messages and ran a Norton full […]
iPhone Battery Life Tips: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have an iPhone 6 and love it – except for how little use I get out of the battery. It doesn’t even last a day! I haven’t done anything weird with it, just installed some apps and use it (ok, alot). I don’t watch videos at all, but do listen to music, surf the web and run my favorite apps. I heard that closing down apps (with the double-press of […]
MS Office – 365 or 2013? a reader asks… I’m confused, I went to go buy the latest version of Microsoft Office for my computer (to upgrade from Office 2007), and I’ve got no idea which to buy! Can you tell me what’s the difference between all the flavors? Microsoft is changing the way they sell software, moving away from regular purchasing to a subscription model. The latter is Office 365 – a subscription-based software license for which you must […]
Windows 10 Advice: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I’ve been reading about Windows 10 coming out soon, and that upgrading will be free. Can you give me some advice on whether I should do the upgrade? Windows 10 officially hits in just a few weeks on July 29th, and yes, upgrading your Windows 7 or 8/8.1 computer system is free, provided you take the upgrade within 1 year (so by July 29th, 2016). There are some caveats: Your current Windows […]
Bigger font on smartphone: a reader asks… Hey Chris, I hope you have a quick and easy solution to my problem. I have a smartphone with a fairly big screen, but I still have trouble reading what’s on it. I should mention that I’m in my 40’s and recently had to start wearing reading glasses for close work. I hate having to drag those out just to see my smartphone. Any ideas? As any optometrist will tell you, after about […]
FIOS Remote hack? a reader asks… My Proscan is hooked directly via coax cable. I do not need a set top box or digital converter from verizon since i only have the local tv package. The Proscan remote is too small and the buttons do not light. I spoke with verizon and was told that their remote will only turn the tv off and on and have no other functionality since it is programmed to work with the box/converter. I […]
Diagnose my Internet: a reader asks… Hello, I’m at Starbucks writing this because the internet doesn’t work in my house today. Before I go crazy, can you help me figure out what’s wrong? I have Verizon FIOS internet with their router, and a few laptops, tablets and smartphones. Everything was working just fine till this morning, when my laptop couldn’t go to any web pages. I hope this is enough information, any help you can give me would be much […]
Windows PC Fixes: a reader asks… Hi Chris, I see you have tons of advice for specific problems with Windows computers, and I don’t have a real problem right now. But I want to be prepared for the next one, when it comes! Besides your website, do you have any good go-to places to look for solutions online? Absolutely! I use a number of tried-and-true sources to look for answers to problems as I get questions. After all, I don’t […]
Pretty Pictures? a reader asks… Hi Chris, everything I see online these days is pictures and videos. Can I use photos I find online when I post status updates on Facebook? Take a little care here, copyright issues can easily trip you up. Your best bet is to avoid the Google image search to find pictures you can use, and look for them at specific sites online. Here’s a short list of places you can go to find free images […]
A Case of Conficker – a reader asks… Hi Chris, I guess I should have worried about computer safety more than I’ve been. My computer started acting up lately, and a friend pointed me to your website. Have you heard of a computer virus called “Conficker”? I seem to have contracted it. Can you tell me how to get rid of it? Welcome! I hope you’ll take some steps to shore up your computer security. Conficker is a ‘worm’ that’s […]
BlackBerry Locked Up, can I fix this? a member asks… I really messed up here. On my Blackberry, I forgot my unlock code and tried a bunch of times to guess it. I guess I tried once too many, because now the Blackberry is locked up and nothing I can do will get it unlocked. Can you give me some options to fix this? Hmm, the 10th time you tried you should have seen a warning on the screen that […]
Your Photos – managed! a reader asks… Hi Chris, I have to admit, I’ve got a heckuva lot of digital photos! I jumped in with a digital camera years ago, and now use my new Galaxy S6’s camera a lot. I’m at the point where I (sheepishly) admit to having over 60 thousand digital pictures on my PC. So my pain is how to manage all that, everytime I think about trying to organize them, I just get sick – […]
iPhone Upgrade Problem: a reader asks… Hello Chris, I’ve got a stinky problem, can you help? I have an iPhone 5 and bought a new iPhone 6. They transferred the phone service over, but told me to use iCloud backup or a computer to get everything else. I don’t have a computer to backup my old iPhone, and I have too much stuff on my old iPhone to backup to iCloud. What can I do? This is the 2nd annoyance […]
Home Automation – a reader asks… Hi Chris, I was wondering if you knew anything about home automation? I’m thinking of getting some smarter lighting options, like LED, and maybe some ways to cut down on my home’s electricity usage? I’ve been playing around with home automation for over 15 years, so yes I’m a bit familiar. If you’re an Apple home (iPhone, Apple TV, iPad, Mac), then you’re probably looking at Apple’s HomeKit with great anticipation. You can already […]
DPC Watchdog Violation? a reader asks… Hi Chris, My Windows 8.1 computer is giving me fits! I’m getting an error and the dreaded blue screen of death, with something about a ‘watchdog violation’. It seems to be happening several times a day. My computer is protected by Norton Internet Security and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, so I don’t think it’s an infection. Can you help? The error notification (DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION) usually refers to problems with device drivers. For every major […]
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