Recent Comments
Comment by Gary on Time to Switch from Windows to Linux? (October 7, 2025 01:27 AM)
I don't understand all of the drama about Win 10 support ending! I have pcs and laptops with Win 95, XP, Vista, Win7, Win7 Pro, Win10 Pro, Win 11 and...
Comment by Catherine on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 5, 2025 01:14 AM)
On the subject of security software, I used Avast happily for several years until its increasing nagging became intolerable. Then I found that AVG cam...
Comment by Wolf! on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 4, 2025 11:42 PM)
Great article! Yes! Security software is important, and I like how the article emphasizes removing the McAfee and other bloatware. This is exactly wha...
Comment by peter on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 4, 2025 01:15 PM)
bob, you did not say anything about windows 11 S mode...
Comment by AstridR on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 4, 2025 06:08 AM)
As Mac user and long term Bob Rankin subscriber, I never cease to marvel at the Windows/Microsoft etc machinations that you reveal. Currently am usin...
Comment by Jeri on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 3, 2025 07:42 PM)
Enable System Protection by typing CREATE A RESTORE POINT in the search box on the Taskbar, Configure: choose how much of the hard drive to devote. Th...
Comment by Jon on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 3, 2025 06:50 PM)
Thank you yet again Bob! Just downsized my computer after a critical crash - physical dropped to hard floor.... I've been trying to remember which c...
Comment by hill on New PC? Do These 12 Things Now... (October 3, 2025 06:06 PM)
Also turn off Bitlocker encryption. I've seen it cause frequent problems and even total data loss whenever there are login password issues. If you don...
Comment by cropduster on Your Computer's Worst Enemy (Cows, Bees, or...?) (September 26, 2025 12:18 AM)
Tried Fanny for my Mac. The app didn't open, so absolutely nothing! Plus, there is no way to contact the developer....
Comment by Wolf on Hey, Are You Spamming In Your Sleep? (September 25, 2025 05:08 PM)
Lots of great information presented here! I know that some public areas, such as when I was working at a university, had the employee email addresses ...
File-Sharing Articles
Is Bittorrent Downloading Illegal?
A reader asks: 'I have been told that I can download music, 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?' Here's the scoop, and my advice...
...Can You Really Get Kicked Off the Internet?
After several years of negotiations and rumors, the music and film lobbyists have finally reached an agreement with Internet service providers to crack down on copyright violators. Effective March 1st 2013, the so-called 'six strikes program' went into effect. What is it, and what does it mean to you?
...Skydrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox?
Online storage and sync services solve a lot of problems for users who work and play on multiple devices. The premise is simple: store all your data in one place that can be accessed from wherever you are, using whatever device you have with you. But which one of the big three cloud storage players is best for you?
...Google Drive: Stash Your Stuff in the Cloud?
Google launched its long-awaited cloud storage service on April 24, 2012. Dubbed Google Drive, it competes with the likes of Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive, and Apple's iDrive. It's also going to change the way users interact with Google Docs, Google Apps, and other Google products. Here's what you need to know about Google Drive...
...Free Online Storage With Box.net
I'm looking for free online storage recommendations. I need to share some large files with a work group, and emailing files back and forth is a big hassle. We're dealing with videos, Word documents and presentations, so a collaboration feature would be ideal. Is Box.net a good solution, or should I look at others?
...The Copyright Police Are Coming!
The online theft of copyrighted movies and music is an ever-growing problem, according to movie and music industry moguls. Their latest effort to curb piracy recruits some of the largest ISPs in the world. Read on to learn how the copyright police are watching, and what might happen if you're caught illegally downloading from file-sharing sites...
...Free Online File Sharing With Dropbox
Dropbox is a Web-based file storage and sharing service that debuted in 2008. It had over 25 million users as of April, 2011, making Dropbox the leader in file sharing services. Here are some reasons why Dropbox has become so popular, and a few words of caution as well...
...File Sharing Student Fined $675K
Joel Tenenbaum is a grad student at Boston University who was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for activities on file sharing sites. Tenenbaum was found guilty and has been ordered to pay damages to RIAA in the amount of $675,000. That's $22,500 for each of the 30 songs that he illegally downloaded and distributed via peer to peer networks. Is Tenenbaum a marytr for Fair Use, or a common criminal? Here's the full story...
...Free Online Storage
I'm running out of storage space on my hard drive. On a tight budget, I'm considering using a free online storage tool to offload some files. But which ones do you recommend?
...Is Pirate Bay Sinking?
Pirate Bay is one of world's largest facilitators of illegal downloading. But now the owners are facing the prospect of huge fines and jail time. Is this the end of the line for online video, music and software pirates?
...What is Scribd?
Scribd is a type of a social networking website that allows you to publish all kinds of documents and images to the web. It's great for people who have something to share with the world but don't have a website, technical skills or the patience to publish things in the traditional way. Here's how it works...
...Sued for Searching?
I hear from readers often who are worried about the possible repercussions of downloading music and movies from file-sharing sites or P2P services such as LimeWire and Bittorrent. Now there's something new to worry about for users of P2P search services such as TorrentSpy... can you get sued for searching?
...Sued For Downloading?
More and more, people are asking me if they can get sued by the entertainment industry for downloading, music, movies, games or television shows. The answer is YES, maybe. Read on and learn how to download safely, and avoid the snares of the RIAA, MPAA and copyright lawyers...
...LimeWire - File Sharing
My kids are using something called LimeWire to download music and videos. They call it a a P2P file sharing program. Can you explain what that means, and how safe it is to use?
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