Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
Ever wonder who’s really behind a certain website or online product? So did this reader — and you can apply the answer to almost any online site or product: Q: Is ‘Ad-Aware Web Companion for Windows 10’ third-party software? (via Quora) A: Yes. ‘Ad-Aware Web Companion’ is not a Microsoft product. It’s offered by a Canadian anti-malware/antivirus…
Q. Do trees change colors at the same time every Fall or do they change according to weather? (via Quora) A: Nope. It’s highly variable. Trees are living things, so a tough summer with too little or too much rain, or too high or too low temperatures, or events like the arrival of invasive insects,…
Q: When will the leaves change color in Massachusetts in 2018? (via Quora) A: Usually, mid- to late- October is the local (Boston) peak color. So, it’s already started! There’s always variability in the timing and intensity of each year’s color; and now, with climate change, there’s more variability than ever. But here’s some info…
Reader Oystein Ravner asks (via the CONTACT link): Hi Fred! I am glad you are back! Problem: W7 Disk Defragmenter. System Disk is successfully analyzed, but with result 41% fragmented. Clicking ‘Defragment Disk’ leads to nothing. System Disk has capacity 100MB, free 70%, status Healthy. Why is there no defrag action when Microsoft advises such…
Reader George asks (via the Contact link): “Fred, I have two PCs and when they are not in use I put them into ‘sleep’ mode. When I wake them up one or both of them do not connect to the internet but when I restart them they then make the connection just fine. Any thoughts…
Reader Bill Hagemeyer asks, via the Contact link: Q: I have tried to do your Win7 no-reformat reinstall several times, but the system just doesn’t ever finish. It gets lost in the middle of the process and never completes. Any advice would be welcome. A: I think we can get you going, Bill! I have…
Q: Is writing the most difficult method of communication? (via Quora) A: No, because communication is more than the transmission of information: True communication is when your message is not merely transmitted, but also received and understood — and ideally, remembered. If you only look at the first part of communication — the transmission of…
Q. Where in Boston can you meditate away from car noise but not have to pay for this quiet space? (via Quora) A: Try the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ free Japanese Garden, “Tenshin-en.” Tenshin-en, or the “Garden of the Heart of Heaven,” is a contemplative Japanese garden designed so that “One may be in…
Q. Can you see a rainbow on a black-and-white photograph? A. Yes, but the colors will appear as shades of gray, same as with any other object photographed in black-and-white. There’s nothing special about rainbow colors — often listed as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Those colors react with black and white film…
Q: How do I fix the “an operating system wasn’t found” screen, with all the words are mixed up and the screen is white and twitching? (via Quora) A: An “Operating System Not Found” or “Missing Operating System” or similar message will occur when you boot/start/restart a PC, but something prevents the hardware from seeing…