Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 174 of 258

Q&A: How’s the best way to wire four rooms in my house with wired Ethernet connections?

Posted on November 14, 2018

Question from Carla: I recently purchased an 80 year old farm house and it’s currently being renovated with pretty much a complete overhaul.

I’ve hired an electrician to completely rewire the house and install a new service panel in the basement. He’s supposed to start the job next week.

He told me I should also let him wire the three bedrooms and the den with wired Ethernet connections because it’ll be really easy and relatively inexpensive since he’ll be running wires for the electrical service to those rooms anyway (the walls and ceilings will be bare at that point).

That sounds like a great idea because I’ll have desktop computers in two of those bedrooms (I’ll be using one as my office).

The thing is I’m not sure he’s planning to wire up the Ethernet connections correctly. I really need your advice on that.

[Read more…]

Q&A: How much should I spend on a set of headphones for my laptop?

Posted on November 10, 2018

Question from Denise R.: I just bought a new Dell laptop because my old Acer stopped working. The Acer came with a great pair of headphones bundled with it, and I’d like to get a new pair that’ll work equally well with the Dell.

I’ve seen headphones priced anywhere from $5 to $400, and I don’t really know how much I need to spend to get a good pair. I’ll be using them mainly to watch Netflix in my dorm room. I’d appreciate your advice. Thanks.

Rick’s answer: Hi Denise. If you like the headphones that came with your old laptop, you can always just use those with your new laptop instead of buying a new set. That’s assuming they still work well of course. [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I uninstall Internet Explorer from my Windows 10 PC?

Posted on November 7, 2018

Question from Nolan R.: I just bought a new laptop with Windows 10 to replace my old one that had Windows 7 on it.

The new laptop came with Internet Explorer 11 installed but I don’t need (or want) IE because I use Chrome all the time.

The problem is IE doesn’t come up in the list of programs to be uninstalled. If it’s there, I can’t find it.

I’d really like to uninstall it if I possibly can because I’ve heard that it’s a security risk and a drag on system performance.

Can you tell me how to remove IE 11 from my PC? Thank you.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can you recommend a good, but relatively inexpensive DSLR camera kit for a student?

Posted on November 4, 2018

Question from Helen C.: My son is going to be taking a photography class next semester with an eye towards eventually become a professional photographer.

He needs a DSLR camera to get him through this class, and hopefully beyond. I’m planning to buy him one for Christmas and I need some advice.

I really don’t know that much about cameras in general, and virtually nothing at all about the DSLRs that are currently on the market.

Can you recommend a good, but relatively inexpensive DSLR that would be a good choice for a photography student?

If possible, I’d like to get something for around $600 or less, and a few included accessories would be nice (yeah, I’m a dreamer lol).

Thanks for your help in advance. (Love your site by the way!!!)

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]