Category Archives: How-To

Q: What should I check first if my computer lost internet access?

Posted on December 19, 2019 by quill

The first rule of support is: Check the cables. The second rule of support is: Check the cables again! Is everything powered on? Once you have done that, you need to isolate where the internet access is being interrupted. Was … Continue reading →

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Q: Can I use compressed air to clean out dust from inside my computer?

Posted on December 18, 2019 by quill

Yes, you can. ‘Canned air’ is a common, if environmentally dubious, method of blowing dust out of computers. Although chlorinated fluorocarbon propellants have been banned, the replacement propellants, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and hydrocarbons, are still not good for the atmosphere, and … Continue reading →

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QNAP NAS storage owners – time to update your units

Posted on November 6, 2019 by quill

There is a security vulnerability that affects the QNAP NAS storage devices, and their QTS operating system. It has been fixed with a firmware update from QNAP in February, but the catch is — you need to manually install the … Continue reading →

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What ports do I have on my device? Sorting out cables, USB, Thunderbolt and Firewire

Posted on October 28, 2019 by quill

USB Host ports A host is a computer or another device with an operating system, that has the ports and the OS support (and drivers) to control a USB device. Where are the ports? If it is a desktop computer, … Continue reading →

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Can I build a gaming computer under $1000? Sept 2019 edition

Posted on September 11, 2019 by quill

Posted on March 15, 2018 by quill It’s September 2019 and we are revisiting our exercise in budget computing: Can we build a computer that will give acceptable gaming performance for under $1000 Canadian? There’s a whole lot of new to look at … Continue reading →

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Can I build a gaming computer under $1000 March 2018 edition

Posted on March 15, 2018 by quill

It’s March 2018 and we are revisiting our exercise in budget computing: Can we build a computer that will give acceptable gaming performance for under $1000 Canadian? Here’s what’s new: DDR4 RAM has doubled in price, and dragged SSD pricing higher along … Continue reading →

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I have lousy WiFi reception – what can I do?

Posted on May 1, 2015 by quill

I can’t get good WiFi reception in my living room, my router is in the basement on the opposite side of the house In order to achieve reliable WiFi performance, you have to get a strong radio signal from the router … Continue reading →

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Q. How do you organize emails on an iPad?

Posted on September 1, 2014 by quill

How do you organize emails on an iPad or iPhone? You have a gazillion mail messages in your Inbox and you want get them sorted into folders. Background: The iPad and iPhone operating system iOS does not have a user-accessible … Continue reading →

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What are your pictures doing still on your SD card?

Posted on July 17, 2014 by quill

Every week it seems I read about someone who lost their camera, bungled an OS upgrade on their tablet, or had a phone stolen, and they are lamenting “There’s three years of irreplaceable family photos on it, of great sentimental … Continue reading →

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Can I build a gaming computer for under $1000 (Feb. 2014 edition)

Posted on February 21, 2014 by quill

Feb. 2014 An exercise in budget computing is to build a computer that will give acceptable gaming performance for under $1000.  In the past year we have seen hard drive prices skyrocket, then come back down to near normal pricing, … Continue reading →

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Installing hard drives in an Apple iMac

Posted on August 14, 2012 by quill

Note: Installing hard drives in an iMac requires disassembling the machine and should be attempted only if you have experience. If you are not confident, please refer the work to a competent technician. Intel iMacs  require the glass LCD screen … Continue reading →

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Keeping clean is cool

Posted on July 26, 2012 by quill

Enemy #1 The number one enemy of computers is heat. Excess heat can damage components outright, or cause accelerated wear over time. Especially with laptops and all in one machines, a great deal of engineering goes into conducting heat away … Continue reading →

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Q. Should I upgrade the power supply in my computer?

Posted on July 21, 2012 by quill

If you are installing a new graphics card, you may be considering upgrading the Power Supply Unit (PSU) of your computer to support the card. Graphic card manufacturers provide recommended minimum power supplies. These minimums already include their assumption of … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a small drive, can iPhoto & iTunes go on an external?

Posted on July 21, 2012 by quill

While the programs themselves should remain in the Applications folder of your internal startup drive, the Libraries for iTunes and iPhoto can be placed on an external hard drive to save space on the internal drive.  Keep in mind that … Continue reading →

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Add an SSD drive to a MacPro for fast booting and loading times

Posted on July 12, 2012 by quill

The MacPro Xeon tower machines are incredibly fast workstations. You can make yours even faster by adding a Solid State Drive (SSD) as a boot drive and/or as a scratch file drive.  An SSD equipped machine boots very quickly and … Continue reading →

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