Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Caroline E.: I just bought a new computer with Windows 8 on it and the salesman told me it comes with a free anti-virus program that’s actually a part of Windows.
Is that true? And if it is, do I have to turn it on or is it already enabled? I’d really like to use it if at all possible because it’s free! lol
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
HP laptops have served me well over the years, and I’m always eager to check out the new models when they become available.
Today I’m going to be discussing the HP Pavilion 17-e079nr
The Pavilion 17-e079nr comes with a stunning 17.3 inch color display and an AMD A8 Quad Core CPU, which together make for an excellent user experience even when watching DVDs and playing games. You’ll also find the large screen quite enjoyable when surfing the Internet, checking email, and performing most any visually challenging task. [Read more…]
Question from Shannon W.: I bought a brand new Gateway laptop with Windows 8 based on the promise that I could upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free. But when I go to the Windows App Store I don’t see any way to download the upgrade.
I called Microsoft Tech Support and they’re apparently unable to help me. I’d just return the laptop and buy a different one, but the return period has expired.
Can you tell me what I need to do in order to upgrade my laptop from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Target has announced that approximately 40 million customers who shopped at one of their brick and mortar retail stores between November 27 and December 15 have had their credit card or debit card information stolen during one of the most successful hacking attempts in history.
If you shopped at Target during that time frame and paid for your purchases with a credit or debit card, you are quite possibly one of the victims.
If you think this might apply to you, I recommend that you do the following ASAP: [Read more…]
Some say that there is something of an art to troubleshooting and repairing computers, but coming to a quick and accurate conclusion really boils down to knowing which checks to make for a given issue, and in what order.
Most experienced computer technicians know how to go about finding and fixing most any problem in a timely, efficient manner, but those just starting out are likely to rely on the “shotgun” approach to troubleshooting which results in lots of wasted time and wasted parts.
Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts: Troubleshooting PC Hardware Problems from Boot Failure to Poor Performance is an excellent troubleshooting guide that contains a collection of simple-to-follow flowcharts for efficiently diagnosing and repairing virtually any computer problem that you’re likely to encounter.
Virtually everything you need to know is included in this handy guide, including all of the following, and more: [Read more…]