Tech Tips, Tricks and Tutorials
Question from Cindy: I got a new phone yesterday. It’s a Straight Talk and I love it. I’m having a small problem with it though.
After I got it home I installed the Facebook Messenger app on it and now my friend’s faces pop up on the home screen every time they send me a message.
I don’t like that because I don’t want just anyone who happens to glance at my phone to see who I’m talking to on Facebook.
How can I turn those picture notifications off?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
The Internet has forever changed the way we acquire new software to run on our computers and mobile devices.
Gone are the days when we had to visit a retail store and buy a disk.
Now all we have to do is perform a quick Google search to find what we’re looking for and then click “Download” and install it.
But even though it’s easier than ever to find and download useful new software, things still go wrong during the installation process on occasion.
Case in point: I received a message from a reader just yesterday explaining how she had installed the Chrome browser on her system only to receive an error message every time she tries to open it.
This nice lady asked for my help in resolving the issue, but instead of giving her a list of things to check I simply gave her one basic suggestion: [Read more…]
As you probably know, Facebook scams and hoaxes take many forms.
Whether they show up in your newsfeed or arrive in your Messenger inbox, the results are always the same…
Lots of folks either get scammed or they become very irritated due to the deluge of fraudulent messages they receive.
The latest hoax to come to my attention is being spread primarily via Facebook Messenger.
I have a friend who recently bought a Windows laptop after her MacBook went belly up on her, and she asked me if Windows would ever have a feature like that.
My answer? It already does!
Windows has a special shutdown mode that saves a copy of everything that’s in the system’s RAM to the hard drive, then uses that stored information to re-create the same exact state the system was in the next time you turn on your computer.
This special mode is called Hibernation, and if you select it instead of clicking Shutdown the next time you power down your PC you’ll be able to pick up right where you left off when you start it back up.
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.
Question from Celina Y.: I have a question about battery backup devices, Rick.
I went to Office Depot to buy one for my iMac and the man I talked to said I needed to pay extra for one that provides “Pure Sine Wave” AC current.
He said the cheaper “Modified Sine Wave” models can damage my iMac because it was designed to only accept only a pure sine wave signal.
I’m a very frugal person and I’d hate to waste money by buying a battery backup that’s more expensive than it really needs to be, but I don’t want to damage my computer either.
What’s your opinion on this? And if you don’t mind, can you recommend one that would be a great fit for my iMac?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
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