Tech Help and Discussions

Today is when retail sales of consumer editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 stops. From today, original equipment manufacturers will no longer be able to bundle Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate editions as well as Windows 8 with PCs. You will still find computers on sale in the channel running these OSes but they are likely to be clearance or end-of-line stock. Windows 7 Pro however will still be available from OEMs for at least another year, targeting mostly businesses rather than consumers. The law of demand and supply means that some Windows 7 devices are likely to go up in price over the next few months even as Microsoft prepares for the launch of …

Verizon Wireless has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. It emerged last week that the cellular provider has been adding a unique identifier to its cell phone customers’ web traffic – the identifier can be used to track a user’s actions in exactly the same way as a cookie can but, unlike a cookie, it can’t be deleted. An HTTP header containing a device-specific ID is tacked onto outgoing web traffic as it passes through Verizon’s network, after it has left their users’ phones and before it hits the internet. The identifier is part of Verizon’s Relevant Mobile Advertising program but, as annoying as targeted ads can be, that’s not the reason …

Just wondering how my boot up times in Windows7 compare to you Guys. I downloaded BootRacer to check an accurate boot time. http://www.greatis.com/bootracer/download.htm What are your Boot Times?

I run dual boot on a desktop system (home build) and this is my Windows 7 RC1 desktop Click on image to enlarge .

September AV-Comparatives are out for those interested. http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php

I searched google for computer tech support this is where I ended up.... my issue is i have a computer that was donated to me from a local source that helps those in need. I haven't had my own computer i always used a friend or family computers before, Being disabled I'm now in front of the computer a lot this is basically how i keep in touch with everyone, but i don't know much of anything about security. It is a slightly older Hewlett Packard system with 4 gigabytes of system ram, and I believe and intel based processor core duo and I'm happy to have it. It's having windows vista on it but the security program that is on it is out of date and asking me to pay for a rene…

I have about fifty black & white negatives. Can i make 4X6 prints from them at walmart? I'm not looking for works of art photographs.

For those who enjoy songs by celtic women, here is one of many beautiful voices on youtube.

Hello, my Son has bought a solid state drive at a Best Buy for our PC but the system seems to have no place to put it in the older PC case we have tried several times. Is there a simple solution for this? any help will be super appreciated thanks in advance!

I am really getting frustrated. After isuue after issue with pdfs on Pale Moon I decided to go back to Chrome and while everything works well I am noticing something I never saw before that is becoming increasingly irritating. I notice on forums if I sit for more than 30 seconds on a post I cannot go back on my Dell All-in-One with Windows 8.1. At first I thought it was just a single issue but now I see it happens all the time where the only way I can leave a post if I don't respond quickly is to close and re-open the thread which makes it difficult to use "New Threads". Same thing is happening on my Windows 7 desktop and now I see it is not only forums as the same thing…

Hello I found this site with a google search. I have an HD 5770 card that seems to struggle with the newest games like battlefield 4 and crysis 3. It's a great card is has served me well for 4 years now but I only have a 350W power supply not sure of the brand it came with the PC. I was wondering if I could get some advice about a better card for my new monitor which is a asus 1080p. I see lots of reviews but I can't afford too much I just need playable framerates. Thanks for any help in advance!

I am not understand the info on the net, on a pc your files are physically written on a disk in the HDD, where are files physically stored in a cloud?

If you've read some of my recent articles, then you know that when Windows 10 Technical Preview came out, I was extremely excited about the return of a real Start Menu. And I have to tell you, I haven't been disappointed in what I've found so far. The new Start Menu / Start Screen amalgamation in Windows 10 is really great. To get a primer on this great comeback, take a look at Tony Bradley's recent TechRepublic article, "How to customize the Windows 10 Start Menu (or Screen)." Despite all of the fancy stuff in the Windows GUI, I still like working from the Command Prompt, as you can probably tell from some of my recent posts. So, when I heard that -- in addition…

Ad-Muncher is now free. http://www.admuncher.com/free

Android users are a constant target for cybercrooks, who have released a new scareware with ransomware capabilities that locks the mobile phone completely. The fresh piece poses as a legitimate app that can be downloaded from third-party Android software repositories, and asks for administrator privileges. Once the elevated permissions are obtained, it automatically blocks the phone with a ransom message purporting to be from the FBI. Access to data or any function of the device is restricted, making it inoperable. Researchers at Lookout security firm say that navigating to a different app is not possible because the malicious app, which they named ScarePakage, u…

Here is an area enacted by congress where cell phones etc are not allowed. http://herculodge.typepad.com/

An anonymous hacker is claiming to have leaked a few hundred usernames and passwords for Dropbox accounts. It's unclear where they actually came from (and if they really are Dropbox credentials), but either way: it's time to change your passwords. The leak, which contains hundreds of accounts with email addresses starting with the letter "b", come from an anonymous user taking Bitcoin donations for the full leak, which they claim consists of millions of accounts, according to The Next Web. We're not sure how old these credentials are or which third party apps they came from, but no matter what, it's time to do the same old song and dance we're pretty used to by now. …

Windows 10 is here! Well, an early beta, anyway, in the form of the Windows 10 Technical Preview. As noted in "Where, when and how to get Windows 10," Microsoft made the OS available for download as of today. Ready to take it for a spin? You have a couple options. If you're savvy with virtualization tools like VirtualBox and have sufficient space on your hard drive, you could install the OS on your current PC as a virtual machine. If, on the other hand, you're more of a novice user and/or want something closer to a real-world Windows 10 experience, consider a full installation (with one important caveat -- you won't be able to revert to your previous version of Wind…

I am trying to get used to IE 11.0 and am using Outlook 2013. Unfortunately when you do that, it means that damn special version of IE opens whenever you click on an html link in Outlook and there is no way to close the thing I can see without Alt/Cont/Del ...now way to move forward and I can see no way to get the regular IE 11.0 to work. How does anyone deal with this stupid version of IE? Am I missing something as I just had to put default back to Chrome so I can move on in email it was taking me all night.

Check out your Windows Defender folks as I noticed after 2 days mine had failed to update and was sitting over a month old in updates. I am hoping once I manually start it, it will continue on its own or that could be an issue going forward.

And over 200,000 unique pieces of feedback have been submitted. Over the weekend, the one-millionth person registered to sign-up for the Windows Insider Program and download and install the Windows Technical Preview, Microsoft says, and unprecedented level of pre-release involvement for Windows. That this comes less than two weeks into the availability of the preview is a positive sign for the future success of Windows 10. "This is going to be a different Windows," Microsoft's Joe Belfiore notes in a post celebrating this milestone. "We're going to share our plans and progress with you earlier and more often as we want to build a Windows that everyone will love and …