Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Max R.: I’m planning to build my first home-built computer using an Intel Core i7 CPU and two Corsair 8GB DDR3 RAM sticks (all gifts from my uncle).
I don’t have a lot of money to spend so I need a recommendation for a good, but cheap motherboard that will work with that CPU and RAM. What do you suggest?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Comcast has just announced that their servers have been hacked. They say they have found no evidence that any sensitive customer data has been stolen, but if you have a Comcast account I suggest changing your password ASAP as a precaution.
The hackers apparently gained access to Comcast’s webmail servers, not the servers containing their customers’ personal and financial data. But how do they know for sure? I say better safe than sorry. [Read more…]
Microsoft went all out with their integration of SkyDrive into Windows 8.1, and some people don’t like it. I happen to be one of them.
I can understand why they would want us all to use SkyDrive with their recent push into the realm of mobile devices and all, but I have no desire to use it with my desktop and notebook computers (personally, I prefer DropBox).
If you feel the same way, you can easily disable Skydrive in Windows 8.1. Here’s how: [Read more…]
Question from Angelia C.: Hi Rick! Thanks so much for your tips, but I’m having a problem with one of them. I took your advice about enabling two factor authentication on my Google account but now I can’t log into Google Play on my Samsung phone.
It keeps telling me my password isn’t right even though I know it is. Can you tell me how to fix this? I really need to get into Google Play to update my apps! Thanks!!!
Rick’s answer: Hi Angelia. The problem you’re having is happening to lots of folks. I even ran into it myself after enabling two factor authentication on my own account.
It seems that some Android devices aren’t capable of dealing effectively with two factor authentication. But luckily, there’s an easy fix. All you have to do is create an Application Specific Password. Here’s how: [Read more…]
Question from Mark C.: I upgraded the RAM in my computer from 2GB to 8GB but Belarc Advisor says it only has 3.49GB installed.
Do you think I might have bought the wrong kind of RAM? I bought what the Memory Advisor at Crucial recommended for my laptop. Or maybe they just sent me some bad memory? How do I find out what the problem is?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]