Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
A reader asks: “Why is my Android phone crying for memory just after a factory reset?” That’s not much to go on, but here are some ideas: 1. Resetting a phone will remove temporary files and random junk files that may have accumulated, but doesn’t otherwise free space or shrink your files. Unless you’ve done…
Windows 1.0 was released 33 years ago, in November 1985. It wasn’t much: Just a standard DOS setup (on a single 5.25″ floppy disk) wrapped in a simple point-and-click interface and displayed in CGA 640×200px resolution or Hercules monochrome green or amber. This combination of OS and “shell” was primitive, but it could run and display…
Q: My new keyboard keeps on typing the same letter. I tried it on another PC, but there, it worked fine. I also tried formatting my PC, but it’s still an issue. How can I fix this? (via Quora) A: I assume you mean it’s doing something like thisssssssssssssss? I think we can fix that! …
Q: How do I remove a hard disk bad sector? (via Quora) A: Try chkdsk (Windows) or fsck (Linux); both can detect and repair some kinds of damage to a hard drive. But have a care: Although some software can restore some bad sectors to service, it may be best not to! Tools like fsck…
Q: Did your hand writing go for a toss after using electronic keyboards? (via Quora) A: Well, any skill that’s not regularly practiced will atrophy. But in my case, there was little to lose; and I can’t blame keyboards! My handwriting was hard for others to read from grade school on. Formal penmanship was too…
Why on earth would Microsoft give two entirely different functions the same name? It’s a baffling user-interface mistake: When Microsoft spliced some functions from the classic Disk Cleanup app into Win10’s “Storage sense,” they created silliness like this: There are now two separate on-demand disk-cleanup functions, both called Free up space now, both just one…
Reader Liz G asks (via the CONTACT link) how much open space a drive really needs: I know installed hard drives need 15% breathing room. How about portable external hard drives? I have 7 Western Digital drives ranging in size from 500GB to 2TB and the only thing on them are images of the seven…
Part One: At first, the email subject line was only mildly alarming: It said, “Security alert for your linked Google account.” That usually signals some minor event, such as a new login from an unrecognized device. But this was different: The body of the email began, “Your Google Account has been deleted due to Terms…
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: 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…