Newsletter Archives

• Gifts for your computer

  Posted on December 11, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Technology is one of those purchases best done personally.

  It’s often hard to know how people like their technology, but for gift-giving it’s important to know whether they are firmly entrenched in the ecosystems of Microsoft, Apple, Android, or Kindle.

  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat yourself. And your treat shouldn’t be limited to purchasing something new — this may be the time you want to upgrade the technology you already have. Even a Windows 10 PC might benefit from Santa’s visit.

  Your best gift to yourself is to take stock of your daily drivers. Know how much RAM and hard-drive space they have, determine how well your most important apps run, and decide how reliable and dependable the devices are. Do it once a year — the holidays are a great time for it!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.50.0, 2023-12-11).

  On Security Backup, Buying a new PC, Buying PCs, Hardware Upgrades, Internet connectivity, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Refurbished Equipment, Security

• Does an old personal computer become useless?

  Posted on November 14, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.46 • 2022-11-14

  HARDWARE

  

  By Ben Myers

  Come take a ride in my souped-up DeLorean for an adventure in the days before Windows.

  You see an old computer and ask, “Why hasn’t it been scrapped?” But don’t look at just the PC — look at what it does within some total system. That’s what this story is about.

  The ride takes many twists and turns on the path to where we are today. Progress over the last 20-plus years is hard to believe.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.46.0, 2022-11-14).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Hardware Drivers, Hardware Upgrades, Industrial Control, MS-DOS, Newsletters, Repair

• Make a laptop run perfectly!

  Posted on September 5, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Ben Myers

  With a little work, the right laptop can look and run almost like new, but its upgrade possibilities are far more limited than a desktop’s.

  Numerous brands and models of laptops dot the landscape, each model designed according to different principles by different design teams. Different sizes of laptops carrying the same brand and model follow a similar (but not identical) design, even from generation to generation, as the design team works through model after model.

  Business-class brands such as Acer TravelMate, Dell Latitude, Hewlett Packard Elitebook, and Lenovo ThinkPad vary widely from one another in design, construction, and quality of materials. Then, too, there is a plethora of models intended for consumer use, causing us to roll our eyes.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.36.0, 2022-09-05).

  Hardware Hardware, Hardware Upgrades, Newsletters

• Desktop computers: Re-use!

  Posted on July 11, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Ben Myers

  Make sure the most critical hardware works right before you go ahead.

  Previously, I described the most basic steps to get a computer dirt-free and bootable, with a working power supply. These tasks established a baseline for additional work to assure that the computer is in very good operating condition for whoever is going to use it.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.28.0, 2022-07-11).

  Hardware Graphics, Hardware, Hardware Upgrades, HDD, Newsletters, RAM, SSD

• Desktop computers: Scrap, repair, upgrade, or replace?

  Posted on June 6, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

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  HARDWARE

  

  By Ben Myers

  Here is a practical guide to care for a computer and to help you decide what to do with one that is not brand-new.

  Computers show up on my doorstep, their owners asking whether their trusty and beloved box full of circuit boards needs to be scrapped, repaired, upgraded, or replaced. The desktop computer category includes PCs that are neither laptops nor servers, two very different projects indeed.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.23.0, 2022-06-06).

  Hardware Hardware, Hardware Upgrades, Newsletters, Repairs