Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
The newest AskWoody Plus newsletter is now available to members. In this issue: EDITOR’S NOTE: Taking an end-of-the-year break WINDOWS 7: Hunting for an elusive Win7 ESU license FROM THE PUBLISHER: A big year for AskWoody — and a bigger one to come BEST OF THE LOUNGE: Maintenance for a home-based UPS? LANGALIST: “Battery-limiting” apps help enforce the 80/20 rule…
Win10’s built-in Windows Defender has matured into a top-ranked anti-malware tool, based on independent testing (e.g. AV-test.org info). But several of its default behaviors can be downright irritating. Here’s how to tweak Windows Defender with a few buried settings and a Task Scheduler change. Plus: Does Adobe Flash Player really need as many updates as it claims?…
(Answer requested by Oskar Jackowiak) His full question: “Say I’m charging my Galaxy S10 with my portable powerbank, if I was to drop the phone whilst connected into water will I possibly die and/or will the phone be damaged?” I’d be more worried about the powerbank than the phone, or you. Top-brand phones have been…
Those are really two different questions. “Does a USB hub add latency?” Yes. A USB hub isn’t passive wiring: It receives a signal from a source (PC or peripheral), decodes the embedded address information, and then actively retransmits that signal to its destination (peripheral or PC). That process takes a small, but measurable amount of…
Exactly 28 days from today — on January 14, 2020 — Microsoft will end 10 years of support for Windows 7. Win7 will continue to boot and run after that date, but will no longer receive security updates, making it vulnerable to new hacks. If you’re still using Windows 7, it’s way past time to…
The newest AskWoody Plus newsletter is now available to members. In this issue: GOOGLE CHROME OS: The Chrome OS FAQ, Part III: You’ve got a Chromebook. Now what? BEST OF THE LOUNGE: Phishing with a browser’s security icon as bait LANGALIST: New laptops prompt new concerns PATCH WATCH: Closing out the patching year … CLOUD SERVICES: When moving to the…
A subscriber (requesting anonymity) wrote a very succinct note asking for help with a nonfunctioning file-recovery tool. “My PC’s ‘Restore previous versions’ is always empty, and it has been since I bought this Dell laptop two years ago. How do I get it turned on?” An RPV failure is annoying in itself, but also and…
(Answer requested by Tiamiy Olawale) If you’re sure it’s the power bank (external battery pack) that’s the problem (i.e. if the phone charges normally from other sources), here’s what to do: Take the defective power bank to a lithium-ion device recycling center or receptacle. Leave it there. Buy a new power bank. (Sorry. There’s no…
(Answer requested by Rosario Mezzatesta) If the cables are designed properly, yes. However, if either cable’s internal conductors are too thin, energy will be lost as resistive heat along the way; this can make the charging time longer. And: The longer the wire, the greater the thin-wire-resistance effect. Very long power cables need substantially thicker…
(Answer requested by Dan Hopper) Chilly temps (below room temp, but above freezing) will temporarily reduce the amount of power available from a given battery charge, but won’t permanently hurt anything. Freezing cold may render a phone completely, but temporarily, inert. However attempting to recharge a below-freezing battery can cause permanent damage. Extreme cold by…