Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
Q. Who is the “genius” who invented Windows registry? (via Quora) A. It was a group, not a single person. But from your snark, I assume you’re unhappy with the Windows Registry — you’re having some problem with it, yes? Here’s the thing: The Registry is just a special-purpose hierarchical database. Hierarchical databases have existed…
Q: What is the funniest filename you have ever seen? (via Quora) A: Funniest one I recall was actually a folder name. Back in the day, serious PC users could create small scripts to automate repetitive tasks. These scripts were actually a series of manual commands that the operating system would execute, same as if you’d…
Reader Eric Desman writes: Fred, You have always had a practical approach to layered backups. In 2018, what is your recommendation for backups? I currently backup to a local external hard drive and use Backblaze for off-site backups. I found an old version of Zipit.bat that made me think of this. :-o. — Eric Your…
Q: My Lenovo (windows 8.1, later 10) used a recovery drive from an Acer laptop with Windows 8 which it updated to 10. Len now thinks it’s an Acer? What changed? (Question sent via Quora) A: OEM recovery drives usually contain drivers and add-on software specific to that brand of PC; the Acer recovery disk…
A reader asks: How do I know if I have enough RAM? (Question sent to me via Quora) Every device (PCs, tablets, smartphones…), and every user, has a unique answer for “what’s enough RAM?” In a perfect world, RAM would you hold all of your running programs and processes in their entirety, live; letting the hard drive…
Q: If my dimension XPS Gen 4 is 64-Bit, why can it only address 4GB RAM? (Question sent via Quora) A: There’s a world of difference between what’s mathematically or theoretically possible, and what is commercially viable for desktop systems! For example, a 64-bit system is theoretically able directly access 2^64 bytes (=16 exbibytes) of…
Plus: What happened to Karen’s PowerTools? Most of this article is about some free templates that can simplify your use of Robocopy — a free, powerful (but underappreciated) command-line copy/clone/sync tool that’s built into all current Windows version. But before digging into Robocopy, please let me tell you about a related issue: The rise, fall,…
Q: What is the difference between using the activated and unactivated versions of Windows 10? (Via Quora) A: Windows will work OK without activation, but it’s not the same as the activated versions. Unactivated Windows will only download critical updates; many optional updates and some downloads, services, and apps from Microsoft (that normally are included with activated…
Q: What is the most hard drive speed-intensive task? (Via Quora) A: There are actually many, many tasks that can force a drive to work at full, no-holds-barred, flat-out, 100% read/write capacity, for an extended time. So there’s no one, single “most intensive task” — there’s actually a boatload of ’em! In addition to obvious software…
Q: Why does Android need more RAM than my full Windows 10 PC? (Question sent via Quora) A: Your PC’s RAM is usually just the working memory for the CPU; a separate hard drive (solid state or magnetic) lets you store files and data outside of RAM. But in Android, the RAM is not only the working memory for…