Posts by alan

Here in North Carolina we experienced the direct effects of the dangers of ransomware after it hit Colonial Pipeline and caused our gas supply to temporarily dry up.   Ransomware works by encrypting files on computers so they can no longer be read.   In order to use your files, you must pay the hackers a fee…

Laptop battery life can vary wildly depending on how you use your PC.  Here are a few tips you can use to make your battery last as long as possible. Adjust the brightness on the screen.  In Windows 10 you can do this by right clicking on the desktop and selecting Display Settings.  Use the…

The National Security Agency has issues an advisory warning users to update their systems to protect against Bluekeep.  This vulnerability is present in Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows.   It is a remotely exploitable bug that puts any computer connected to the internet at risk.  To protect against it users should run Windows update…

Recently I had someone call me in a panic because the flash drive containing years of files had become corrupted. Of course no one panics if they have another copy handy, but I had to ask anyway. “I don’t suppose you keep a backup anywhere?” The answer after a short sigh, “No, I know I…

Microsoft Windows 7 end of life is coming in just a few months. If you are still using Windows 7, it’s a good time to start thinking about what you will do. First of all, what does end of life even mean? Every operating system released by Microsoft has a life cycle during which Microsoft…

If your new Windows 10 computer takes a long time to boot up, that’s likely because it runs on a regular hard drive. This is also the case of most older computers. Do you know that replacing that hard drive with a solid-state drive (SSD) will make the machine run much faster? It’s true, a…

Your outdated router is slowing down your internet connection. Just like computers, routers have become faster and more robust over time. Technically speaking, a router is really just a computer designed to perform a specific task. That task is directing network traffic across the various clients that are attached to it. A client includes any…

Cybercrime is criminal activity undertaken using computers and the Internet.  The most prevalent type  of cybercrime is identity theft.  This involves criminals using the Internet to steal personal information.  Two of the most common ways this is done is through phishing and pharming.  Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details,…

Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid.  It most often spreads through phishing emails or by unknowingly visiting an infected website.  This can affect any computer for either individuals or in a business/organization. Ransomware has affected in some way…

Sometimes it’s nice to have a fresh start.  Just like your home, Windows needs a bit of tidying up from time to time.  If things aren’t in too much of a disarray, you may opt to give your home a good spring cleaning (or use the build in Disk Cleanup utility in Windows).   You can…