Tag Archives: Troubleshoot

How to test a hard drive (Windows)

First. last and always – Back up There is no substitute for having regular and verified backups of your data. If you don’t have a backup routine, you need to establish one, ASAP. How do I know a drive is … Continue reading

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

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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I have lousy WiFi reception – what can I do?

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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How can I make a bootable OSX USB installer?

Reinstalling OSX on a Macintosh is sometimes necessary, whether you are upgrading or whether you need to repair a problem. The problem is that after Snow Leopard, Apple abandoned DVD media and gone exclusively to downloadable installers.  And, many recent … Continue reading

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CryptoWall and Cryptolocker – what you need to know

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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Q. How do I get rid of ib.adnxs.com

ib.adnxs is browser redirect malware that installs into your browser, and sends your web searches to different sites instead of where you want to go. It will persistently popup its own addresses in your browser.  It will change your home … Continue reading

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Q. How do I get rid of Babylon search in my browser?

Babylon is a search “aid” for web browsers and a toolbar; it is a rogue search engine redirector.  It resists attempts to uninstall it.  Do NOT go to the Babylon site and use their uninstaller, it leaves code on your … Continue reading

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OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion information

Apple released OSX 10.8 “Mountain Lion” on July 25. It is available from the Apple App Store as a download for $19.95.  When you purchase one Mountain Lion, you can install it on as many Macs as you own.  (if … Continue reading

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

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

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

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?

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?

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?

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

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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