Tech Tips, Tricks and Tutorials
Question from Joyce N.: I’m constantly taking pictures of my grandkids and copying them onto my computer. And since I don’t want to lose them I keep my computer backed up with Carbonite.
But a nagging question has been bugging me for a while now. Since Carbonite backs up my files automatically, how can I prevent it from backing up a virus too should I ever get one on my PC?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Cal: I’ve had the same Internet service through Charter for 4 years with no problems whatsoever.
But a few days ago the strangest thing started happening.
I’ll start playing a game and after exactly 3 minutes (I timed it) the Internet will disconnect and it’ll say “Attempting to reconnect”.
Every time this happens I always have to restart my computer in order to re-establish the connection.
It only does this when I’m playing a game, but it does it with every game I play. It doesn’t disconnect at all when I’m using the Internet for other things or watching Hulu.
Any idea what could be causing this?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Rose W.: I’ve somehow managed to lose the charger to my Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ tablet and I need to buy a new one.
I know that you test and review chargers all the time and I was wondering if you could recommend a good charger to replace the one I lost.
I really love my Kindle tablet and I don’t want to damage it by using the wrong charger.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Danita.: I bought a used laptop from a friend a while back and it had a copy of Microsoft Word on it that he had downloaded from a website that offers programs for free.
The hard drive stopped working a few days ago and I had to have it replaced.
Can you give me the link to the page where I can download MS Word for free? The link my friend gave me doesn’t work and he’s stopped answering my messages.
Thanks for your help.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Barry: I have a really old (circa mid-1990s) HP Laserjet 5 mono laser printer that I really love.
I haven’t used this printer in many years. I replaced it with a new one the last time it ran out of toner because replacement HP toner cartridges were very expensive back then.
I was rummaging around Amazon last night and saw that I can get an off-brand toner cartridge for this printer for around $30!
Since the printer was working fine when I stopped using it I’m thinking it’s probably still in working order now. I believe it’s worth spending $30 to find out.
The problem I have is the Laserjet 5 has a Centronics parallel port on it but my HP desktop computer doesn’t have a parallel printer port.
Do you know of any way I can connect this old printer to this computer?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Click here to check out the Newsletter archives.