"My computer sometimes shuts down at random times. A friend said it's probably overheating. How can I find out for sure, and what can be done about overheating?"...
"When I start my computer, I always get some sort of 'error in registry' message. Things seem to work okay after that, but it makes me wonder if there is a problem that should be corrected. Will a registry cleaner...
How long will your hard drive last? Is it giving you subtle signs that a data disaster is looming? How will you know when it's time to buy a new hard drive? Here are some things you can look for......
So you were working on that big presentation for the boss, when suddenly the power went out and your computer shut down. And when you restarted the computer and ran your software it said "Cannot open file; file corrupt" or...
"I'm thinking of switching to VOIP phone service with Vonage or my cable provider. But I'm not sure if I can send a fax over a VOIP connection. Does faxing with VOIP work well?"...
"I tried to run System Restore and got this error message: 'System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's files and settings were not changed.' Uggh. Why does this happen, and what can I do about it?"...
"I keep getting an error that says 'Data Execution Prevention - To help protect your computer, Windows has closed this program.' What is Data Execution Prevention, and why is it suddenly blocking programs that I've been using for years?"...
Here's your Geekly Update for the week of August 17th, presented in small bytes. Get the scoop on gadgets & hardware, security patches, browser news, social networking, web tech and search engines. Read on......
Here's your Geekly Update for the week of August 10th, presented in small bytes. Get the scoop on gadgets & hardware, security patches, browser news, social networking, web tech and search engines. Read on......
"Sometimes my computer acts weird when it's been running for several days. I've heard about something called 'electron buildup' but I'm not sure I should take it seriously. Can electronic devices really suffer from fatigue if they're on too long?"...
I've had nothing but trouble with my TomTom GO 720 GPS. And the TomTom customer service rep basically told me to go buy a Garmin. Read on!...
"Everyone seems to recommend a different free antispyware program. Which is the best for protecting me against spyware?"...
"I've heard of software, shareware, freeware and malware. And I think I know what all those things are. But what exactly is scareware?"...
There is almost nothing worse than losing important files when you experience a finger fumble, brain freeze, or computer crash. But never fear, there are tools that can help you recover those lost files, and some of the best ones...
"What exactly is OpenDNS? I've heard that it can be used to make your Internet access faster, but I'm a little fuzzy on how it works, and if there are any gotchas I should know about."...
Hackers, black hats, cyber-criminals, identity thieves, and spam kings -- these are some of the Bad Guys in the online world. And because of them, we've had to invent a whole new vocabulary to describe the dastardly deeds they do....
Every few months I go through the Ask Bob logs and see which articles were the most popular. Here is the current Top Twenty, ranked by readership volume......
"I've heard conflicting stories on the effectiveness of registry cleaners. Do they really help? If so, which registry cleaner do you recommend?"...
Google recently added some nifty new features to Gmail, their free web-based email service. Here's a look a what's new in Gmail......
Recently, a few organizations have begun offering an alternative to paper documentation of health records. Would you trust your personal health records to an online company?...
"My hard drive failed last week, and my latest backup was a year old. So I lost pretty much ALL of my important files. Can you recommend an AUTOMATIC backup that just works?"...
"Windows is giving me a warning that says 'You are running out of disk space on Local Disk (C:).' My friend told me this is not important and offered to disable the warning popup for me, but I'm not sure....
"I've gotten some forwarded emails claiming that the Internet is doomed to collapse very soon, unless some big changes are made to the infrastructure. Is it true… is the Internet going to go "poof" and vanish in a cloud of...
"I've heard that Joost offers free online TV, but I'm afraid it's either a scam, or something illegal that will get me in trouble. I don't want to end up like the woman in Minnesota who was fined $200,000 for...
"I've heard that a RAID hard drive is the best solution for automatic backups. What exactly is a RAID, and what are the pros and cons of RAID systems?"...
"Our computer is three years old, and my teenager says it's obsolete. He wants us to buy a new computer with more speed, more memory, etc. Can you give me some pointers on how to determine if I really need...
If it hasn't happened yet, be sure that it will... you're working away on an important project and the computer freezes. You reboot, but instead of the familiar startup screen, you black screen with one of these ominous messages: DISK...
Videoconferencing, once primarily used for long distance business meetings, is becoming more accessible. Got a webcam? Here's how you can start videoconferencing on the web......
"I got a note from my bank about phishing scams, but I'm still not sure what it means. Can you explain in simple terms what phishing is all about?"...
"I understand that RFID involves some sort of computer chip that can identify objects and their locations. What exactly can be tracked with RFID and are there any privacy concerns I should know about?"...
"What is social bookmarking, and how is it different from a regular bookmark or favorite in my browser?"...
"I've been told that I can download movies and even popular software for free using Bittorrent. Sounds too good to be true… What exactly is Bittorrent, is it legal, and safe to use?"...
NEWS FLASH: Teacher Arrested at Airport -- A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide...
"When I go to My Computer the CDROM and DVD icons are gone. They were there yesterday, and working fine. It seems like this happened after I removed some CD burner software. Now I can't install anything from a CDROM,...
"I'm having trouble starting up my Windows XP system. A friend told me to run the Recovery Console from the bootup screen, and then enter some commands. But I don't see a Recovery Console option when I turn on the...
"I was trying to fix a spyware problem and it seems I messed up my computer. Now when I start Windows XP, I get the 'MBR Corrupt' and 'Error loading operating system' messages. What should I do?"...
"My daughter is 12 years old and I just found out she has a Myspace account with some stuff that's not appropriate. The account was deleted, but I want to make sure she has no access to Myspace in the...
"When my uncle's PC is powered up he gets message CAN'T LOAD MSMGR32.DLL -- I have to click on it three times until the message no longer displays. Is there a way to keep the message from displaying, or do...
"My PC running on Windows XP frequently restarts it self for no apparent reason. Any files or internet pages I have been working on are lost. The PC reboots to the desktop and I have to redo all my work....
"My hard drive is making a clicking sound. It started recently and seems to be getting more frequent. Sometimes I hear a repeated click-whir sound and then the computer locks up. Does this mean my hard drive is going bad?"...
"Recently I installed a game on a friend's computer and when we tried playing it, we would get a message saying 'Your system is low on virtual memory.' Can you please help us fix this problem?"...
"I am using XP home with a cable modem connection, and quite often using while online, I get the error of can't find the server. I just lose my internet connection, and it says my TCP/IP needs resetting. How do...
Recently I have had problems with the Windows Update site. I keep getting the following message: [Error number: 0x80070005] The website has encountered a problem and cannot display the page you are trying to view. I have followed all the...
"I keep getting warnings and alerts from Paypal, eBay, my bank, and various other banks and financial institutions that I don't even have accounts with, all telling me to log in and verify my account information. I've read about something...
I recently upgraded Firefox to 1.0.6 and downloaded the latest extension for the Roboform tool bar 6.4.0. Now I get error messages saying I don't have the latest extension for Roboform and specifies the one I installed. The toolbar doesn't...
"My Windows startup seems to be taking a long time, and once it finally stops churning, everything seems to run slower than it used to. Can you suggest any maintenance tips to make Windows XP start and run faster?"...
"I wonder if you know what it means when a dark blue screen comes up saying Windows has encountered an error. It shows "Bad Pool Caller" and a lot of things about reinstall. The tech info is "Stop" with lots...
I got a message from Ad-Aware saying that a program was trying to access my registry. I refused it entry; what a mistake that was! Now everytime I click on a program on my desktop or in My Programs I...
When I attempt to backup a file using the Windows XP backup utility I get the following error message: "The backup file name could not be used. "H:\10aug.bkf" Please ensure it is a valid path, and that you have sufficient...
Whenever I try to delete a file (or folder) from my CD-RW disk, I get an error message saying the file cannot be deleted because it is read-only. Changing the attribute doesn't help because the "read only" designation is automatically...
After the last big security patch on my XP system, I find that I can no longer save files with any name other than the name the file has when I open it. For example, if I open a blank...
"My computer startup seems to be taking a long time. It's sometimes three or four minutes before the hard disk stops churning and I can launch a program. I'm sure it used to boot up faster -- can you suggest...
"If I'm using my laptop away from the office and I choose to print something and select "print to file" (since I don't have a printer with me) it creates a .PRN file, but how can I print that file...
"Lately my computer has been shutting down and rebooting for no apparent reason. When it restarts, it usually says it has recovered from a serious error. It SEEMS to happen when I am using my computer to listen to music."...
"When I boot up, I get a "CMOS checksum error" message and I must press F1 to continue or DELETE to enter Setup. How can I solve this problem?"...
A reader asks "I had the SCANDISK program in Windows 98. Now I'm running Windows XP and I can't find ScanDisk. Is it under another name?" The short answer is YES......
For best results, use just ONE or TWO keywords. This search engine looks for all words in any order. To search for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in quotes. You may also use AND, OR, and NOT keywords to specify boolean expressions. For example:
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spyware OR virus
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