Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
CVS has just announced that the third-party company that runs its CVSphoto.com website has been hacked and millions of customer credit cards have potentially been compromised.
And CVS customers aren’t the only folks who need to be concerned. PNI Digital Media (the company that actually runs the CVSphoto.com website) also provides online photo services for both Costco and Wal-Mart Canada. [Read more…]
Question from Eric B.: Rick, I’m getting ready to buy a new laptop for my son to use for his schoolwork, and I need some advice on a matter that is puzzling me.
I’ve narrowed down my choices to two models: One has a 2.2 Ghz CPU and 8GB of RAM. The other has a 2.4 Ghz CPU but 4 GB of RAM. Which of these laptops do you think will offer more bang for the buck given that the cost is virtually the same?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Karren: I have a Verbatim 16GB USB flash drive that works fine with my laptop, but when I plug it into my desktop computer it displays the following error message:
“Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems.(Code 43)”
Does this mean there’s a problem with my computer or with the flash drive? And how can I fix it? My laptop is running Windows Vista and the desktop is running Windows 7.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
According to a recent Gallup poll, almost half of all Americans who use a smart phone can’t imagine life without one. Overall, a whopping 46% of the respondents agreed with this statement:
“I can’t imagine my life without my smartphone.“
51% of the women who participated in the poll agreed with that statement, along with 41% of the men. Interestingly, 9% more iPhone users agreed with the statement than did Android users. [Read more…]
With all the malware, hackers and identity thieves out there these days, it’s more important than ever to install the latest Windows Updates just as soon as they become available.
Users of Windows 8.1 will find that it’s no longer possible to simply click Windows Update on the “Start Menu”. Instead, we have to manually check for updates in a different manner.
There are several ways to check for new Windows updates in Win 8.1, but this is the method that I use and recommend: [Read more…]