Calling all geeks: Now Including Tech-o-Wienies!

[logan82]

Macs have built in anti-malware protection called XProtect that runs silently in the background. I don't think that it's possible to shut it off, so you're likely covered there. It's going to cover online threats rather than dodgy software installations, though. As an example, it shuts down the ability to use old versions of Java and Flash. It's actually even shut down the current version of Java a couple of times.

 

Still, I think you're covered by running Malwarebytes now and then. A full-time anti-malware app running in the background may make things slower than they already are.

It sounds like there is already antivirus running by default in the background.

 

Having two antivirus actively scanning at the same time can cause a lot of issues. They will but heads and may tell you the other one is a virus in addition to using more system resources. That is why you will see so many recommendations for Malwarebytes. I would recommend Malwayrebytes in addition to active antivirus. It is on demand and will catch some things normal antivirus will not. Even the best antivirus isn't going to really protect you 100%. They are still pretty reactionary and any new exploit is going to be tested against antivirus software. The best way to protect yourself is to be careful what you download and where you go on the web.

[patrickgpe]

thanks casey for the advice, i cleaned up my desktop, removed some junk programs, disabled java and it seems to be working much better. going to run malware bytes ever week to make sure its catching malware and hopefully it will be good to go.

[pitchleague]

So, I'm trying to decide on going to Windows 10 before the "free" period ends in July. I updated back in October, liked it, but rolled back to Windows 7 because a few programs didn't work. I decided to give it these 7 months for them to fix bugs and stuff.

 

So my question is, for those of you that upgraded, what do you think now? I read that itunes still does not work with 10 (although that's a minor quibble, overall). What other issues are out there? So many articles that I find online are still from last year regarding reviews and problems so I'm looking for more up-to-date thoughts on the OS.

 

Does anybody else have any thoughts, both for and against the upgrade?

 

Thank you in advance!

[Invader3K]

I have a laptop and a desktop both running Windows 10, and everything is working fine for me. No complaints here.

[zurch1818]

I've been on 10 since August and the issues I've had have been fixed.

 

Here's another crazy option to think about if you are savvy enough and happen to have a spare HD laying around...clone your HD and upgrade the clone to 10. Then you can upgrade to 10 whenever you want.

 

Sent from my XT1093 using Tapatalk

[logan82]

Ran across this today. I like How To Geek.

 

I have used Macrium Reflect to clone hard drives and it works pretty well.

[logan82]

I learned a lot about SSD's today and I would not resell one I used for my home PC. It is tough to guarantee you wiped them.

[LouisEly]

Please elaborate. What is "recoverable" and what is not?

 

I just dumped my old laptop. It was always a second computer, kept hardly anything important on it, just school stuff mostly but there may have been legal forms (W-4, etc.) in PDF form that were on it. Didn't wipe the hard drive (don't have the original Windows disk, bought refurbed off of eBay), but I uninstalled most of the non-Office software including Firefox and I deleted my Windows profile and created a new one instead.

[logan82]

When you delete a file on a hard disk drive all Windows does is remove the information that points to where that file was found and what kind of file it is. It frees that space so that it can be used again. The file is still there and recoverable until something else is saved over it. To wipe a hard disk drive you need to use software that will write random numbers across the whole unused portion of the disk. You can even recover files after formatting a hard drive.

 

SSD's are a little tougher since they don't let you have access to the whole drive. They reserve a portion which the drive controller uses to extend the life of the drive and other functions. Even if you write over the whole drive, there are portions that may not be written to. To securely wipe them you need to use software from the manufacturer that can access the drive controller. Newer SSD's have something called TRIM which erases data on unused portions of the drive. The problem with TRIM is that it is hard to tell how soon the erase takes place. Could be minutes, could be days.

 

If you just want to wipe the unused parts of the disk you can use something like KillDisk or CCleaner. I actually use CCleaner often on computers that are having issues with startup programs and malware.

 

I am not saying it is easy to recover files that Windows has deleted or that most people know about this. I am just saying to be aware that deleted means "not easy for Windows to access without special software." It doesn't mean the files are gone.

[RobDeer 45]

What are my options for creating a hot spot at a cabin with no internet? I think some cell service will work but others could be spotty.

[Baldkin]

What are my options for creating a hot spot at a cabin with no internet? I think some cell service will work but others could be spotty.

 

It's not too tough to create a hotspot using your phone, if that's the route you wanted to go. You could also discuss this with your provider (eg, if you're considering changing services) most will let you test out if you can get a signal and you may also be able to convince them to give you (or discount you) an actual mobile hotspot, such as this:

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2423113,00.asp

[Invader3K]

*bump*

 

Does anyone here know much about PC graphics cards? I have a computer I use mostly for arcade (MAME) gaming, but I'd like to be able to occasionally play some newer stuff. Current card is an Nvidia Geforce FX 430...pretty old and outdated now. Is there an easy way to determine if I can upgrade, and which card I can upgrade to? PC has 8 GB memory and Windows 10.

[logan82]

Hard to say without knowing what processor and motherboard you have.

[logan82]

Seriously we need to know what your motherboard is so we know what slots you have to plug a card into. The CPU would help also. I have this one. It will run everything except maybe VR.

[Invader3K]

Hard to say without knowing what processor and motherboard you have.

Thanks guys. I knew more info would be needed, but wasn't sure what.

 

Processor is AMD Phenom II X4 810, 2.6 GHz.

 

Motherboard is Foxconn ALOE 1.01

[nate82]

Any kind of PCIX Card. But check your power supply and the cards recommended wattage.

 

I suggest any of the 600 or 700 Nvidia cards.

 

Anything more than what is here would cause a bottleneck.

 

http://m.newegg.com/ProductList?canPowerSearch=True&powerSearchParams=%7B%22CategoryId%22%3A38%2C%22StoreId%22%3A1%2C%22SubcategoryId%22%3A48%7D&isFirstin=false&description=YdkjcamblBCokl7WloNqkxbxKEXCayCmn02jJagM4s4%253d&storeid=1&categoryid=-1&nodeid=7709&storetype=2&subcategoryid=48&brandid=-1&nvalue=100007709&showseealldeals=False&itemcount=0&issubcategory=true&level=3&Interface%7C%7CPCI%20Express%202.0%20x16=%7C%7C0%3A600007855%7C%7CPower&Interface%7C%7CPCI%20Express%202.1%20x16=%7C%7C0%3A600007856%7C%7CPower&sortField=RATING

[reillymcshane]

*bump*

 

Does anyone here know much about PC graphics cards? I have a computer I use mostly for arcade (MAME) gaming, but I'd like to be able to occasionally play some newer stuff. Current card is an Nvidia Geforce FX 430...pretty old and outdated now. Is there an easy way to determine if I can upgrade, and which card I can upgrade to? PC has 8 GB memory and Windows 10.

I'm going to suggest going to Toms Hardware - http://www.tomshardware.com

 

My son recently wanted to upgrade his graphics card, and he went there, posted all the info (processor, memory, OS, etc.), and he had a bunch of people reply within hours with suggestions.

 

I went through the same thing when I had to get a new processor for my other computer - people were great and helpful. It saved me a lot of pain.

[logan82]

Definitely do not want the Nvidia 970 like I have. Like Nate said, check your powers supply. I am guessing you have a prebuilt computer from HP or Dell.

 

Tom's hardware is really good. Check out this link. Reading through the thread, you may have issues with a newer card.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, it is an HP. Originally had Windows 7.

 

Is there an easy way to figure out what power supply I have? I believe I did upgrade it from the original maybe 3 or 4 years ago.

[reillymcshane]

 

Is there an easy way to figure out what power supply I have? I believe I did upgrade it from the original maybe 3 or 4 years ago.

Just have to open up the computer and see what it is. The power supply isn't connected to the computer system in any way that you can 'read' what it is or anything like that. Hopefully, it will be viewable. You'll see the '500W' or maybe the white sticker with the model and serial #. You can look it up from there online.

[Invader3K]

 

Is there an easy way to figure out what power supply I have? I believe I did upgrade it from the original maybe 3 or 4 years ago.

Just have to open up the computer and see what it is. The power supply isn't connected to the computer system in any way that you can 'read' what it is or anything like that. Hopefully, it will be viewable. You'll see the '500W' or maybe the white sticker with the model and serial #. You can look it up from there online.

That's what I figured. I'll try to check it out tomorrow.

[GAME05]

I have CenturyLink internet. I was having trouble and they came out, tested the outside box, and I was getting 8 Mbps like I'm supposed to. But the speed test was still terrible, so the technician set me up with a new Zyxel C1100z router. But still the internet drops out a lot and speed bounces around between 7 Mbps to currently 0.3.

 

I have one other phone outlet in the house. Should I switch to that one? I'm not sure what the problem is.

[Patrick425]

Son is off to college in a few weeks and I have some tech questions -

 

- We purchased a laptop through the university bookstore. Of course my biggest fear is that it gets stolen while he has it on campus. I'm clueless regarding this stuff, but I'm guessing that there is some app he can download or even something already in the installed microsoft operating system that would allow him to A) lock up his computer remotely if it is lost and/or B) possibly track it's location. Am I right and can anyone give me help with this?

 

- He established a university email account earlier in the summer. It's a gmail based account. He connected it to his gmail on his phone. However, he already has one or two other gmail accounts and he gets a lot of junkmail or unwanted emails in those old accounts so he tends to ignore his email. We realized lately that he missed some semi-important emails to his university email because of this. Is there any way to "disect" a gmail account from other and make the email notification on your phone for that account different from the notification of other gmail accounts? Even if he gets a different notification, I think his university account gmails will be embedded in his other gmail emails and he would have to hunt for them once he opens gmail.

 

Again, thanks for any help that you can provide?

[Baldkin]

- He established a university email account earlier in the summer. It's a gmail based account. He connected it to his gmail on his phone. However, he already has one or two other gmail accounts and he gets a lot of junkmail or unwanted emails in those old accounts so he tends to ignore his email. We realized lately that he missed some semi-important emails to his university email because of this. Is there any way to "disect" a gmail account from other and make the email notification on your phone for that account different from the notification of other gmail accounts? Even if he gets a different notification, I think his university account gmails will be embedded in his other gmail emails and he would have to hunt for them once he opens gmail.

 

Again, thanks for any help that you can provide?

 

For gmail on the android phone at least, you can set it up to view individual accounts seprately (or view "All inboxes") in a combined view.

 

This is done by tapping the 'hamburger' in the top left, and then selecting the account & inbox.

 

Under settings on that same menu (way down at the bottom), you can turn notifications on and off for individual accounts, you could also set the school account "inbox type" to be a "Priority Inbox" which changes the notifications (I'm not sure how, exactly, though).

 

You could also turn notifications off for other accounts there if he wanted.

[nate82]

Son is off to college in a few weeks and I have some tech questions -

 

- We purchased a laptop through the university bookstore. Of course my biggest fear is that it gets stolen while he has it on campus. I'm clueless regarding this stuff, but I'm guessing that there is some app he can download or even something already in the installed microsoft operating system that would allow him to A) lock up his computer remotely if it is lost and/or B) possibly track it's location. Am I right and can anyone give me help with this?

 

 

Easiest way to lock your computer would be to set your PC to go to the lock screen when the screen saver comes on. To do this do the following assuming the Laptop is on Windows 10:

 

Personalization-->Lock Screen -->Screen Saver Settings and then select On resume, display logon screen then set the timer for idle time. This will then prompt anyone to go to the logon screen to be able to use the PC.

 

To track the device if you have Windows 10 do the following:

 

Settings --> Update & Security --> Find my Device --> Click on the Change button --> The save my device's location periodically should now be set to ON.

 

To find the device:

 

When you need to find your Windows 10 device, open a web browser on any computer and log in to account.microsoft.com/devices. Sign in with the same Microsoft account that you are using on the Windows 10 device that you want to find.

 

Then, locate your Windows 10 device in the list of devices that are registered with your Microsoft account.

 

Click the "Find my device" link for your Windows 10 device.