COMPUTER TIPS

If you've ever fried a CPU because you didn't clean your fan, lost a decade of your digital life to a hard drive crash, or spent four hours trying to remove a nasty virus, you've probably already learned a valuable lesson about the need to maintain your computer. Medical experts remind us that "prevention is the best medicine" so as your personal computer support expert, I'm going to strongly advise that you apply the same logic to your computer! While the three areas I talk about below are anything but exhaustive, they're the most important things to consider and, if you act on them, should keep you from suffering from some of the more serious, and expensive, issues you might otherwise run in to. Keep Important Files Backed Up The most important thing you can do as a computer owner is to consistently and reliably back up the data stored on your hard drive. Hardware used to be the most valuable part of a computer but those bits and bytes are no...

How To Stay Safe While Working On Your Computer In addition to being an afternoon of great fun (seriously!), computer repair can save you loads of time and money. No amount of fun, money or time is enough, though, to compromise your safety. Keep these important tips in mind as you work inside your computer: Remember to Flip the Switch Always, always, always remember to turn the power off before servicing anything. This should always be your first step. Do not even open the computer case unless the power is turned off. Many computers have a number of lights inside that serve certain functions so check to see that no lights are on. If any are still on then the power is probably not completely off. Many power supply units have a switch on the back, killing power to the device and ultimately the rest of your PC. If your PC has one, be sure to turn it to the off position. If you're working on a laptop, notebook, or tablet, be sure to remove the battery, as well as dis...

Change a Different User's Password in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP The biggest reason you might want to change another user's password is if the other user has forgotten theirs. It happens to the best of us so try not to make your family member, roommate, or other partner on your computer feel too badly about it. There are plenty of ways to get around a lost Windows password but one of the easier ones, assuming of course that there's more than one user on the computer, is to just change the password from within another account. You'll be happy to know that changing the password on another user's account is really easy, no matter which version of Windows you have. See What Version of Windows Do I Have? if you're not sure which of those several versions of Windows is installed on your computer. Warning: When you change a Windows password from outside the account, which is what you're doing when you change another user's password, the user y...

Reinstall Windows XP Without Formatting Your Hard Drive Sometimes, it's just not an option to reformat a hard drive before reinstalling Windows XP. Most of the time this is because you have important files that you haven't backed up and erasing them is simply not something you're OK with doing. While newer versions of Windows have more extensive repair and recovery options, it seems that just about every major problem with Windows XP requires a brand new, destructive reinstallation process. If you have data that you can't back up, or programs that you can't later reinstall, reinstalling Windows XP without reformatting is a must. How Do I Reinstall Windows XP Without Reformatting? The most effective way to reinstall Windows XP without reformatting your hard drive is to perform a repair installation of Windows XP. A repair installation will install Windows XP again, over top of the existing installation that you're currently having problems with. ...

Why Fragmentation Occurs, How Defragging Helps, & If Defragging an SSD is Smart Fragmentation occurs on a hard drive, a memory module, or other media when data is not written closely enough physically on the drive. Those fragmented, individual pieces of data are referred to generally as fragments. Defragmentation, then, is the process of un-fragmenting or piecing together, those fragmented files so they sit closer - physically - on the drive or other media, potentially speeding up the drive's ability to access the file. What Are File Fragments? Fragments, like I mentioned above, are simply pieces of files that aren't placed next to each other on the drive. That might be kind of strange to think about, and nothing you would ever notice, but it's true. For example, when you create a new Microsoft Word file, you see the whole file in one place, like on the Desktop or in your Documents folder. You can open it, edit it, remove it, rename it - whatever you want...

Fix Problems with Start up Repair, a Repair Install or Reset This PC Depending on the version of Windows you're using, there are several different ways to automatically repair major Windows  operating system  problems without resorting to a destructive process, like a Reset Your PC or a  Windows Clean Install . The newest versions of Windows have really easy, automated ways of repairing problems that you might have tried to fix manually but were unsuccessful at, like random error messages, overall slowness, even problems that prevent Windows from starting at all. It's a mixed bag with older versions of Windows, with some automatic repairs for certain types of issues or all-or-nothing repair processes that, while sometimes might seem like overkill, are certainly welcome when you need them. How Do I Automatically Repair Windows Problems? Most of the time, especially when a major problem is occurring, the best way to automatically repair Window...

So, the screen display on your Windows desktop PC or laptop is suddenly sideways or upside down and you have no idea what to do. Don't panic! You won't need to crane your neck or physically flip your monitor over. This is a much more common situation than you might think, and can usually be resolved with just a keyboard shortcut or a few mouse clicks. The most likely reason that you find yourself in this predicament is because you have accidentally pressed the wrong keys, incorrectly adjusted a display setting or connected an external monitor or other viewing device. Here's how to fix a sideways or upside screen on Windows 7, 8, and 10. Keyboard Shortcuts In some scenarios, the following keyboard shortcuts may be used to rotate your display. Whether or not these shortcuts are available is dependent on several factors including what video card is in your system as well as what software you have installed. It is also possible that your particular configuratio...

6 tips to speed up your laptop so it runs like new again! Is your laptop running slow? No matter whether it's old or new, a Windows PC or a MacBook, using a slow laptop isn't an enjoyable experience. If you're looking for ways to make your laptop run faster by upgrading it with faster storage and RAM, or by removing items that could be slowing you down, such as malware, viruses, and even anti-virus apps, or you just want to streamline your laptop for optimum performance, then this is the place to start. We've gathered six laptop performance-related tips that can breathe new life into your old laptop, or make your new one really take off: Malware slowing things down. Precious resources being used by open apps.​ Too many startup items. Limited free space on your startup drive. Visual gimmicks slowing down your computer.​ Malware, Virus, and Anti-Virus Whether it's adware, spyware, or a virus, malware can be a leading c...