Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
All current Windows, including Win10 20H2, contain an old, sneaky workaround that lets you log in to a PC even if the usernames and passwords are scrambled, unknown, or forgotten. You can even use this method to create a new administrator account on a PC that doesn’t have one and then use that new account…
Drivers are the software ‘glue’ that connects your PC’s hardware to its operating system. Without drivers, nothing works. Once a PC is no longer supported by the manufacturer, its abandoned drivers can become incompatible as new versions of Windows roll out. Here’s one known-good way to track down a still-working driver for an older PC:…
A subscriber’s new system experiences erratic mouse and touchpad problems almost from the very first startup. Unwanted pauses, hesitations, and stutters can afflict any PC of any age, potentially causing problems with numerous subsystems: mouse, keyboard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, disks and memory, screen operations, and more! Here are the likely causes, and fixes. Plus: Taming CCleaner’s Smart Cleaning feature. Read the…
When a PC bogs down to the point where it takes a full 10 minutes just to fully wake up, you know something’s seriously wrong! The PC’s owner thinks his startup apps are to blame, and asks how to analyze the PC’s boot process. Win10’s free, built-in startup analyzer is part of the answer — but only after trying…
One reader-submitted email asks for the fastest, easiest way to print or save-as-PDF only limited portions of AskWoody Plus — or any other email or web page! The second details a reader’s first-hand experience with the destructive power of a too heavy-duty PC maintenance tool. Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.6.0 (2021-02-15). Also in this issue LINUX: Trying Linux…
Wow! What a flood of mail this week! Many, many of you jumped at the opportunity to try Win10’s admittedly funky, off-by-default, Ransomware protection. (See “Have you enabled Win10’s ransomware protection?” — AskWoody Plus 2021-02-01 Alas, many of you also ran into unexpected snags! One note, from subscriber Dal Ferneyhough, stands in for many: “I am trying…
This free, optional feature is disabled by default but, if enabled, can help protect and recover your PC from a ransomware takeover! It’s easy to enable the ransomware protection, but you should know about its quirks and drawbacks before doing so. Here’s how to decide whether this optional protection is for you and, if so,…
A reader is concerned: His laptop’s CPU temperature rises during battery-charging sessions. Why would the CPU heat up from battery charging? Relatedly, what are normal CPU temperatures, anyway? What’s a safe temperature rise? Plus: A tiny freeware app that prevents PC overheating! Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.3.0 (2021-01-25). Also in this issue: LEGAL BRIEF: Schrödinger’s Bill BEST OF…
A long-stable Win10 PC with 12GB of RAM suddenly crashes after losing track of a full third of its memory — only to have the missing RAM later reappear and work fine! The other symptoms seem to rule out simple RAM-chip failures or software-caused glitches. What the heck is going on here? Read the full…
Win10’s built-in security tools offer excellent protection but can be annoying with frequent update cycles and tons of notifications. In fact, the amount of activity made one reader wonder whether his security setup was actually broken! Here’s how to tell, and how to make it behave better. Plus: More on Win10’s 30 built-in Troubleshooters. Read the full…
