Category Archives: Computer Questions and Answers

Questions and answers on a broad range of computer related topics

Can I build a gaming computer under $1000? (Apr 2015 edition)

Posted on April 25, 2015 by quill

It’s April 2015 and we are revisiting our exercise in budget computing: Can we build a computer that will give acceptable gaming performance for under $1000 (In our 80 pound weakling Canadian dollars)? In the past year we have seen DDR3 … Continue reading →

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News: Apple admits 2011/12/13 MacBook Pro flaws, starts repair program

Posted on February 22, 2015 by quill

Apple finally has admitted that the graphic chips in the 2011 MacBook Pro machines are prone to failure, and have created an extended warranty program for owners who are experiencing black screens, garbled screens and unexpected shutdowns. The program covers … Continue reading →

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Superfish malware installed on new machines exposes HTTPS browsing

Posted on February 21, 2015 by quill

If you have a new Lenovo laptop, do this today: Check for Superfish and eliminate it Software called Superfish, a “Visual Search enhancer” product pre-installed on new consumer laptops from Lenovo among other brands, has been revealed to have severe … Continue reading →

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Ventir: New Mac malware, Trojan Horse

Posted on October 20, 2014 by quill

As reported by The Safe Mac here, and Kapersky Labs here, a new trojan horse “Ventir” has been discovered which infects Macintosh OSX.  The vector for infection has not been determined, but the Ventir installer must be run, either as … Continue reading →

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Memory for the new late Apple 2014 5K iMac, Mac Mini

Posted on October 19, 2014 by quill

Apple has released a 2014 model of the iMac, with a stunning new “5K” 27 inch Retina screen.  Happily, unlike the previous Retina iMac models, Apple included upgradeable memory in this configuration. It can go to a maximum of 32 … Continue reading →

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What is the state of Thunderbolt drives? (October 2014 edition)

Posted on October 17, 2014 by quill

Thunderbolt drive news (Note 4/2020, many of the products introduced in 2014 are now out of date in 2020) Apple has left Firewire and adopted Thunderbolt as their recommended high speed connection for external hard drives (and monitors and other … Continue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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Another Phishing Email – “Your iTunes is frozen”

Posted on August 3, 2014 by quill

Online criminals continue with phishing expeditions. Phishing is sending phony emails that mimic legitimate emails from reputable sources, hoping to get you to click on them to download malware, or to steal your login and password when you arrive at … 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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CryptoWall and Cryptolocker – what you need to know

Posted on July 2, 2014 by quill

Where did my data go? You might remember a series of viruses (or trojan horses) which “deleted” your data files and charged a ransom to get them back. These were frightening, but not fatal because they only hid files and with … Continue reading →

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NoScript with Firefox gives a higher level of security to web browsing

Posted on April 30, 2014 by quill

Web browsing is full of hazards. Even reputable websites can have poisoned banner ads from third parties, which can attempt to hack your machine or browser settings. You don’t even have to click on a “bad” website to be the … Continue reading →

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Internet Explorer Zero-day vulnerability – time to change

Posted on April 28, 2014 by quill

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser has been exposed to have a vulnerability that hackers have been exploiting — before Microsoft has had a chance to respond with a patch. (this is the meaning of the term Zero Day, a hole … Continue reading →

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Q. What is a NAS drive and how would I use it?

Posted on March 19, 2014 by quill

NAS stands for Network Attached Storage.  It means any stand-alone hard drive or storage unit that is connected to an Ethernet network, and can be shared by the devices on that network. This is distinct from a USB or Firewire … Continue reading →

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Routers – home and small business router vulnerabilities

Posted on March 18, 2014 by quill

We think (a lot) about keeping our computers up to date, virus free and protected with passwords. But stop and consider this: the wireless router that sits in the corner of the office and quietly handles all your WiFi and … Continue reading →

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Q. Where did OCZ Technologies go? What happens to my warranty?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by quill

OCZ Technologies (OCZ Technology Group) was a leading edge producer of performance computer products – at first RAM memory and power supplies for gaming and overclocking, then they took on SSD solid state drives and abandoned the RAM and power supply … Continue reading →

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