Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 174 of 258

Q&A: Is is safe to replace a video card that literally burned up inside my computer?

Posted on December 2, 2018

Question from Telsi P.: I have a 5 year old gaming computer that came with a fairly weak video card.

About three years ago I replaced that original GPU with a MSI R9 390 GAMING 8G Graphics Card and it worked great until yesterday when it burned out on me.

And I do really mean BURNED OUT!!

This computer’s case has a see-through side panel and I literally saw the video card shooting flames.

I quickly unplugged the computer and removed the video card. One small section of the card was almost completely destroyed but there’s no damage that I can find anywhere on the motherboard.

The computer starts up fine and runs perfectly using the motherboard’s integrated video. My question is can I just replace the bad video card and everything will be ok?

I’m not all that concerned about the computer itself because I’m planning to replace it fairly soon anyway but I’d hate to burn out an expensive new video card by plugging it into a bad GPU slot.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I use my phone as a remote for my DSLR camera?

Posted on November 28, 2018

Question from Josie M.: I have a photographer friend who uses her phone as a remote for her Canon DSLR.

She said she’s been doing this for a couple of years and she doesn’t even know where her real remote is anymore.

Do you know if I can do the same thing with my LG Rebel 4 phone and Nikon D3400 DSLR?

If so, how does it work?

I really like the idea of being able to carry around one less piece of equipment. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I view a list of my active PayPal subscriptions?

Posted on November 14, 2018

Question from Andrew: I have several active PayPal subscriptions that clients use to send me a payment every month, but I can’t find them in my PayPal account.

I’ve searched my entire account from top to bottom, with no luck.

I know I have to be missing something. Can you tell me how to find them? Thanks for your help!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

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…]