Tech Questions & Answers Archives

Q&A: Does a laptop need a surge protector?

Posted on September 23, 2026

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Question from Della: I just bought my son a new laptop at our local big box store.

As we were walking up to the register to pay, I asked the salesman if he could recommend a good surge protector for it.

He said laptops don’t need surge protectors because they aren’t connected to the power grid while you’re using them and the chargers that come with them have surge protection built into them.

That just didn’t sound right to me. Was he right or do I need to go ahead and buy a surge protector for my son’s new laptop? [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I make Windows 11 open things with one click?

Posted on September 16, 2026

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Question from Frank: Rick, I have a computer running Windows 11 and I have a question about it.

I’m 73 years old and have terribly arthritic fingers which makes it extremely difficult for me to “double-click” on things to open them.

I read somewhere that you can change a setting that’ll make Windows open things with a single click, but I can’t find it.

I’ll be much in your debt if you’d be so kind as to tell me how to set it up. Can you tell me how? [Read more…]

Q&A: Why do drive letters start with ‘C’ on Windows PCs?

Posted on September 13, 2026

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Question from Brittney: I have a question I’ve been wanting the answer to for a long time and nobody seems to know the answer.

Now that I’ve found this site I’ll ask you.

I’ve noticed that the drive letters in computers always start with “C” and go up from there?

There doesn’t seem to be an “A” drive or a “B” drive. Can you tell me why that is? [Read more…]

Q&A: Can a cell phone damage a credit card or key fob?

Posted on September 11, 2026

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Question from Cam: I’ve been wondering about the something and I’m hoping you can set me straight.

I always carry my credit cards, my debit card and the key ring with my car keys and key fob on it all in my purse right next to my cell phone.

My question is could the battery or any parts of the cellphone or the electric current in the phone (which I leave turned on) somehow damage the key fob or erase the data on my bank cards? [Read more…]

Q&A: Is it safe to plug a 300W inverter into my car’s cigarette lighter socket?

Posted on September 6, 2026

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Question from Carl: I bought this 300 watt 12VDC to 120VAC power inverter to run my coffee pot and a couple of other items while I’m camping.

While I was researching a related topic online I found a couple of articles that said not to plug an inverter larger than 200 watts into a car’s cigarette lighter because it’ll burn the inverter up.

That’s a problem because the inverter I bought only came with a cigarette lighter plug. You can’t remove it and there’s no place to plug in cables that can connect it directly to the battery.

What I need to know is will my 300W inverter really burn up if I plug it into my car’s cigarette lighter socket? [Read more…]