Category Archives: Computer Questions and Answers

Questions and answers on a broad range of computer related topics

Q. On July 9th, my machine stopped finding websites. What’s wrong?

Posted on July 7, 2012 by quill

There was a nasty piece of malware a couple of years ago called DNSChanger, which redirected your web browser to advertising sites instead of where you wanted to go. It did this by changing the DNS Server defaults of your … Continue reading →

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Q. What does it mean when a video card is bottlenecked by a CPU?

Posted on July 7, 2012 by quill

Short answer – it doesn’t mean anything.  Read on for the longer answer: What is bottlenecking? The concept of bottlenecking is that a program will only run as fast as the slowest component that it uses in the computer. When … Continue reading →

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Q. My documents are gone on my Mac and the Dock is back to default?

Posted on July 4, 2012 by quill

Just about every time that we have customers call saying that their documents, settings and Desktop on a Mac have disappeared and gone back to the Apple default, there is one cause: The user has renamed their User folder in … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I use USB2.0 peripherals on a USB3.0 port?

Posted on June 30, 2012 by quill

Yes, USB 3.0 has been designed to be backwards compatible with, and the USB 3.0 A type connectors (computer) and B type connectors (peripheral) are plug compatible with USB2.0 A type and B type cable ends. The USB 2.0 A … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I upgrade the hard drive in a Windows laptop?

Posted on June 30, 2012 by quill

Most modern notebook machines have hard drives that can be replaced with a larger, faster 2.5″ SATA hard drive or upgraded to a 2.5″ SATA Solid State (SSD) flash drive. Older notebooks may have 2.5″ IDE (Parallel ATA) hard drives, they can still … Continue reading →

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Q. What is my router’s address?

Posted on June 29, 2012 by quill

There are two addresses associated with a router, there is the external WAN (Wide Area Network) address that it  gets from the broadband modem, which is what webservers and the outside Net sees. To find your WAN IP address, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Internet and Networking | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. Can I replace the drive in my 2012 or earlier MacBook / MacBook Pro?

Posted on June 27, 2012 by quill

The MacBook and MacBook Pro Mid 2012 and earlier models (excluding all MacBook Airs and the Late 2012 and later Retina MacBook Pro) have hard drives that can be replaced with a larger, faster 2.5″ SATA hard drive or upgraded … Continue reading →

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Q. I can only get one machine to work on the Internet through my DSL modem?

Posted on June 26, 2012 by quill

A broadband account, whether it is a DSL modem or a Cable modem, usually only gives you one IP address, so only one machine can go on the internet. The answer is to get a router.  A router takes the … Continue reading →

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Q. My Win XP PC comes up with “Couldn’t find NTLDR” and won’t boot?

Posted on June 26, 2012 by quill

Your Windows XP or XP Pro machine cannot find a bootable drive to start from, or the NTLoader (NTLDR) software on your bootable drive is damaged. (for Windows Vista/7 go here) The first step is to make sure you are booting … Continue reading →

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Q. My Win7/Vista PC comes up with “Couldn’t find BOOTMGR” and won’t boot?

Posted on June 26, 2012 by quill

If your machine is stopping very early in the boot up sequence and telling you that BOOTMGR is missing, that means your Windows 7 or Windows Vista machine cannot find a bootable drive to start from, or the software on … Continue reading →

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Q. My computer won’t attach to my WiFi router?

Posted on June 23, 2012 by quill

Troubleshooting steps for WiFi connections: First of all, make sure that you know the router’s network name (SSID), and the password (WPA key). If you don’t know these, ask the owner of the router.  If you are the owner and … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a problem with my iTunes purchase, who do I contact?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by quill

If you have a problem with a download you purchased within the Apple iTunes store, such as the download didn’t work, or you were charged for multiple copies of the same item, you can address it directly in iTunes, First … Continue reading →

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Q. What Memory and Drives fit my MacBook Air?

Posted on June 12, 2012 by quill

Apple MacBook Air machines feature Intel processors and an exceedingly thin Aluminum body. None of the MacBook Airs have internal optical drives, Apple sells an external USB Superdrive (make sure to check compatibility with your MacBook Air when buying a … Continue reading →

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Q. My Macintosh is slow in all programs – what’s the problem?

Posted on June 7, 2012 by quill

There can be a variety of problems that can slow a machine down. If the performance is poor in only one program, the first approach would be to delete and reinstall that program.  For slowness across all programs and OSX, … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a file on my Windows machine and it won’t open the correct program?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by quill

What type of file is it? Most files have a file name with a three or four letter extension which tells the machine what program it belongs to. For example, a .XLSX file is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet file. This … Continue reading →

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