Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
Are your “experts” selling antivirus software, perhaps? The fact is: The price of a thing does not necessarily correspond to its overall quality or true value. For antivirus apps (free or paid), check the tests results posted by independent agencies such as AV-Test.org. You’ll see that several free apps are among the top-ranked tools. (Of…
(Answer requested by Jane Clark) The range is so wide there’s no useful “average” to quote. For example, the https://ssd.userbenchmark.com/ site lists current real-world SSD write times from 26MB/sec to 3366MB/sec — more than a two orders of magnitude difference! But by checking out that site, and others such as PassMark.com SSD ratings, you can…
Keyboards are mechanically complex, with *lots* of little parts —- usually its own multi-layer circuit board containing its own logic chips and firmware, plus wiring and connectors and over 100 separate electromechanical switches, each one itself a little multi-part precision subassembly with a spring, plunger, contact points, a base, stabilizers, a keycap…. (info). Laptop keyboards…
No drive — SSD, HDD, magnetic tape, wire spool, paper tape, whatever — no drive can make that guarantee! But the data on any kind of drive should survive the drive’s careful removal, proper storage, and re-installation. Mostly, it depends on how you handle the drive. SSDs should be handled the same as an HDD…
Sounds like driver trouble. Something in your regular Win7 drivers isn’t working with the new update; but when your PC falls back to generic drivers (as in Safe Mode), things apparently work OK again. Option 1) Go to your laptop maker’s support site; download (but don’t yet install) the correct Win7 drivers for your exact…
(Answer requested by Jack Swenson) Probably not. The 7200 RPM drive is designed for 7200 RPM. The 5400 RPM drive is designed for 5400 RPM. Both should deliver their statistically-normal full service life at their rated speeds. Now, if you somehow took a 5400 RPM drive up to 7200 RPM, and if it didn’t die…
If a PC is running slow despite having reasonably current and otherwise-healthy hardware, then too-little RAM is for sure a prime suspect — especially if the PC was originally configured at the low end of the OS’s RAM recommendations. Of course, if your PC is old, or has an underpowered CPU, or an old spinning-platter…
I recently wrote about my still-working, antique, “made-for-XP” netbook as part of a fun PC-vs-Mac discussion here. Apparently — judging from the popularity of the post — there are a lot of other people out there maintaining seriously old PCs, too! For example, correspondent “twinmustangranchdressing” asks: “What upgrades and modifications have you made to this…
The newest AskWoody Plus newsletter — including a new LangaList item — is now posted on the AskWoody site. You can read it for free. This issue: ASKWOODY.COM EVOLUTION: Coming soon: Windows Secrets archives! BEST OF THE LOUNGE: Upgrade leads to lost disk space LANGALIST: A ‘tip of the iceberg’ problem with RPV DROLL TALES: LABS: Meet the Quantum…
(Answer requested by Aditya Verma) If you really mean “authenticity,” that’s a programmatic question, and I can’t help you: You’ll need to hire someone (or learn yourself) to compare whatever password you’re trying to authenticate to whatever database or algorithm or other authentication-source you specify. But if you mean you want to check how good,…