I’m still seeing a LOT of these showing up, and clients still contact me to see if they are legitimate. Here’s how to identify this scam. There’s a good chance you’ve gotten one of these emails at some point over the past several months. The scammers have been sending out a LOT of them – sometimes over 200,000 in a single day. They tend to follow a predictable format. They are supposedly being sent from Norton or McAfee, and the basic message is that your credit card will be charged $199, $299, ...
Nov 22, 2021•8 min
Do you have all your photos automatically saved to your Google Photos account? What if you want to download all those photos and save them to your computer? Here’s how. Storing all of your photos on Google Photos is a good thing. It’s kind of like an automatic backup for the photos you take on your phone, and it’s free. But over time, you can accumulate a LOT of photos on there. And if that’s the only place where those photos are saved, it would make me a little nervous. What if your Google acco...
Nov 08, 2021•8 min
If your computer is currently running Windows 10, like most Windows computers currently are, there’s a new major update that’s just been released – it’s Windows 11 . It’s not something you want yet. For quite some time, Microsoft said that the last version of Windows would be Windows 10. They said they would just continue to update it, as they’ve always done. But as they have done in the past, what Microsoft said they would do turned out to be different from what they actually did . Windows 11 w...
Oct 25, 2021•9 min
If your hard drive starts to show signs of failure, you want to know that as soon as possible. Here’s how to get that alert nice and early. When someone says to you, “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” what do you say? For me, I am a “bad news first” kind of person. Get it out of the way and on to the good stuff. And if it pertains to my computer, even more so. If my computer’s hard drive is having a problem, I want to know about it as soon as possible. The earlier it can b...
Oct 11, 2021•7 min
Did you know that Google Chrome can run a quick Safety Check on your computer? Here’s how to do it. Open Chrome, and click the 3 dots in the top right, and choose Settings. Then, scroll down to the Safety Check session and click on “Check now”. Chrome will take a few seconds and check for: Is Chrome up to date? Are there unsafe passwords stored in Chrome? (My recommendation is that you don’t store ANY passwords in Chrome or any other browser.) Is browsing protection enabled? Is Chrome running an...
Sep 27, 2021•6 min
There are some people who use computers, but don’t do text messages. That sometimes presents a problem for them, but there’s a way to get around it. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. When you go to set up a new Microsoft account, one of the things they will want you to provide is a phone number – and they assume this will be a cell phone that receives text messages. Microsoft is not asking for your phone number so that they can text you all the time with spam messages. They want to ha...
Sep 13, 2021•7 min
When you’re online, do you find yourself constantly having to manually type in your name and address when creating a new account? Here’s how to do that with one click. You know what I’m talking about. You see something on the internet you want to purchase, and it’s for sale on some website where you haven’t bought anything in the past. So you need to create an account. That means you have to type in your full name, your street address, your city and state, your zip or postal code, your phone num...
Aug 30, 2021•7 min
Your Windows computer has a clipboard feature that you are probably not even aware of! Before I tell you today’s tip, a little background or “setup” information so that everyone is on the same page. One of the most useful features of a computer is the ability to Cut and Paste or Copy and Paste. If you don’t use this, you should learn how to do it. It’s really easy and comes in very handy all the time. Here’s how it works in a basic example – let’s say you have a Word document that has five parag...
Aug 16, 2021•8 min
One of the most common things I hear from people is still this: “My computer is too slow!” The problem is, they could be talking about two different things. This leads me to ask a clarifying question, so we know exactly what we are dealing with. I ask, “When you say it’s slow, are you talking about when you go to a website, it takes a long time for the website to load? Or, do you mean for example you click on Microsoft Word and it takes a long time for Word to come up on the screen?” Do you see ...
Aug 02, 2021•8 min
You probably heard the announcement recently from Microsoft – Windows 11 is coming . Here’s what you need to do. For quite some time, Microsoft held to their position that Windows 10 would be the last one. They would just keep doing updates to Windows 10, and there wouldn’t be any “new” named versions of Windows. So much for that idea. They announced recently that Windows 11 would be released as the next big version, starting later this year and extending the rollout into 2022. And with that ann...
Jul 19, 2021•9 min
Recently, Western Digital had a problem with a couple of their external drives. This caused a huge disaster for some users, who ended up losing all of their data. Here’s what happened, and why those who follow my backup process had no problems. First, let’s clear up some terminology. A portable drive usually is slightly smaller than a smartphone. It will only have one cable – a USB cable that you connect to the computer when you want to have the computer do a backup. An external hard drive is us...
Jul 05, 2021•12 min
A recent Windows update probably added a new icon to the lower right corner of your screen. If you don’t want it there, here’s the easy way to get rid of it. Microsoft really loves to put things on your computer screen even though you didn’t request it. Last week (June 8, 2021, to be exact) was the monthly time that Microsoft sends out their regular updates to Windows. It’s always the second Tuesday of the month, and is called Patch Tuesday (because many of the updates “patch” security holes tha...
Jun 21, 2021•8 min
Are you thinking about buying a laptop? Here are some things to consider before handing over your money. Manufacturer When someone is asking me about which brand(s) I recommend, my first response is to say that who makes the laptop is not as important as what’s inside. In other words, it’s more important to consider the specs of a computer and make sure it’s going to work for your needs, rather than just who manufactures it. That being said, the brands that I prefer are Lenovo, Dell and HP (in t...
Jun 07, 2021•13 min
Have you ever created a Word document and included a link to a YouTube video? Today I’ll show you how to put that video right into the document! Most people don’t even know this is possible so it’s a great trick to show your friends. First, you need to determine what video you want to use for this. Let’s say we’re writing an article about the TV show The Office. I’ve been a big fan of that show for a long time and highly recommend it. Anyway, there’s a YouTube video that has a few minutes of blo...
May 24, 2021•8 min
You should not save your passwords in Chrome. But before you delete them from Chrome, you need to save them so that you can refer to them. I’ve said it many times – don’t store your passwords in your web browser. Yes, it makes things easy. You go to a website, and Chrome just automatically inserts your login information (email address and password) for that account, and you’re in. That’s fine, until your laptop gets lost or stolen, or someone hacks into your computer. If anyone ever gets control...
May 10, 2021•11 min
Is there something you want to learn? The internet has what you need. If you have the time and the incentive, there are resources online that will help you learn just about anything you can imagine. Online courses: Coursera – Coursera.org – build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online from world-class universities and companies. Udacity – udacity.com – discover the fastest, most effective way to gain job-ready expertise for the careers of the future. Great place to learn tech skil...
Apr 26, 2021•11 min
You know I love writing about illegal scams, how they work, and how to avoid them. Recently I was approached by something that seems to have all the characteristics of a scam, but it’s most likely legal. Just this past week, I received this message, which was submitted via the Contact form on my website: The subject is 2021 City’s Best Award Nomination . The text of the message is: Hello! I wasn’t sure which email to send this to. I’m happy to let you know that you won the 2021 City’s Best Award...
Apr 12, 2021•12 min
There are different versions of Windows 10, and you might not be running the most current one. Here’s how to check. Windows 10 is the most current Windows operating system. If you’re still running Windows 7, you NEED to upgrade to Windows 10 now (you actually needed to do this over a year ago). If you’re still running Windows 8.1, you SHOULD upgrade, but it’s not critical that you do so immediately. The primary reason for upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 is because Windows 8.1 is really ...
Mar 29, 2021•8 min
Have you ever started typing up a Word document, and gotten quite a bit of text entered, then accidentally closed it without saving? Today’s lifesaving tip will show you how it’s possible to get that document back. A friend of mine used to create Word documents very dangerously. He was a pastor of a church. And he would always create his Sunday sermon in a Word document. He would just open Word, open a new blank document, and start writing. He might write for hours, filling that document up with...
Mar 15, 2021•11 min
Is there a particular program that you want to run automatically, every time you turn on your computer? Here’s how to make that happen. What we’re talking about today is usually the OPPOSITE of how we discuss this topic. So many programs want to insert themselves into the “startup” process when they have no business being there. I’m constantly removing programs from automatically starting up every time the computer boots up, on client computers and even my own primary PC. But what about if you a...
Mar 01, 2021•8 min
Do you have information in a Word document that you don’t want anyone else to see? Here’s how to put a password on it. Some of my clients store all of their account passwords in a Word document. Some people use a Word doc to keep track of their medical information, or perhaps their bank account details. If you have private information of any kind in a Word document, it might be a good idea to add a password to that document so that it doesn’t get seen by anyone else. And it turns out, adding a p...
Feb 15, 2021•9 min
Do you think there’s a time when a bad program requests permission to make changes to your computer, and you should allow it? This question came in from Jerry, in Minnesota – Hi Scott, I’m a long time subscriber. We’ve “talked” in the past about your laptops and a couple other things. Here’s a Computer Tutor topic for the future…I hope. I have the Slimware cookie or whatever that keeps its window popping up. The solution appears to be to uninstall it. However, one of the first steps in the unins...
Feb 01, 2021•9 min
You’ve probably heard the terms “Deep Web” and “Dark Web”. They are not the same thing. In general, there are 3 internets, or 3 “webs”. The first one is often referred to as the Clear Web . It’s also called the Surface Web. This is the internet that most people use every day – Google searches, reading blogs, watching YouTube videos, seeing what’s on a website. The Clear Web consists of the stuff that anyone can access with a regular web browser such as Chrome. It’s content that’s available to th...
Jan 18, 2021•10 min
Almost any book you can think of – available online for free. Same as your local library. If you have a library card for your local library, you probably already know you can borrow digital books. You just need to create an account using an app called Libby, and that allows you to access lots of digital books that are available right there at your local library. And of course, all of this costs you nothing since it it part of the services at the library. It’s really pretty amazing, since you can...
Jan 04, 2021•10 min
There are good reasons for hiding your list of Facebook friends on your Facebook public profile. You’ve seen those posts from your Facebook friends: “I’ve been hacked! If you get a friend request from me, it’s a fake!” But, as I’ve written before , this is not a “hack”. Their Facebook account has not been compromised. The scammer has just created a new Facebook account, using your friend’s name and profile picture, and they’re pretending to be your friend. The plan for this scam is that they wil...
Dec 21, 2020•7 min
You might see a notice pop up on your computer that Adobe Flash Player is being discontinued, and asking if you want to uninstall it from your computer. Here’s what to do. I’ve had several clients ask me recently about this message they’ve gotten on their computer: The questions that come up… What is Flash? Do I need it? Should I uninstall it? What is Flash? Flash is a programming language that used to be very common. Websites used it to display some of their content, such as animated images or ...
Dec 07, 2020•8 min
This is a trick you can do with MS Word, that very few people know about. It can be handy in certain situations. What we’re talking about is being able to select and highlight certain text in a Word document. You already know that if you double-click on a single word, that word is highlighted (selected). You might also know that if you TRIPLE click, the entire paragraph is selected. (If you didn’t know that, there’s a bonus tip for you this week.) You can click on a certain word and drag the cur...
Nov 23, 2020•7 min
Shopping online for a used car? You need to be able to identify the scam ads – and there are a lot of them. Everyone wants to score a great deal when they buy a car. If you go to a car dealer, you might be able to negotiate a fair price. But if you shop around and look for a car being sold by an individual, you might get a REALLY great bargain. Sometimes people have a car and they just want to get rid of it, and they aren’t really worried about getting the price that it’s really worth. That’s wh...
Nov 09, 2020•16 min
I used to have a routine whenever I would open Word and create a new document. I would always start by changing the font to one that I like, and also the font size. What a waste of time! The default font in Word, if you don’t change anything, is Calibri. The font size is 11. It looks like this: It’s not a bad font. Pretty clear and easy to read. But what if you want all of your documents to be in Times New Roman, size 14? It’s also a nice font, very classic style. You could type your whole docum...
Oct 26, 2020•8 min
Sometimes it’s the little things, you know? Why does Chrome, by default, only show part of a website address in the address bar? I don’t know, but here’s how to fix that. This one is pretty simple. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about here, just open Chrome and go to any website. As an example, we can visit my own website, ComputerTutorFlorida.com. The actual, full website address is this: https://ComputerTutorFlorida.com . But this is what is shown in the address bar in Chrome: Why doesn’t...
Oct 12, 2020•8 min
