Data Doctors Tech Tips

If you've ever printed anything from a website, it's very likely you wasted a bunch of ink on ads and other items that you really had no need to print. Some websites offer a 'print-friendly' version of certain pages, but even then, you can end up with unnecessary items on the page that eat up your ink. Well, from now on, you don't have to put up with all that waste by printing only what you want to print. An awesome website called https://Printwhatyoulike.com gives you total control over what you print before you print it. It's so easy to use because all you have to do is copy and paste the web address of whatever you want to print to get started. The tool gives you options for getting rid of various items or selecting a specific portion of the web page that you want to print. If you love to print out recipes to take with you to the grocery store, for instance, you no longer have to include the picture of the food or any ads on the page. https://Printwhatyoulike.comand#160; It's totally free, works in any desktop web browser and you can be using it in a matter of seconds!

Optical Character Recognition or OCR is the technology that allows you to take an image and extract the text so it can be edited. If you own a scanner, it came with an OCR program, but setting it up and using it can be overwhelming for those that aren't comfortable with unfamiliar tech. Even if you do get it setup and working, it's not of much use if you aren't in the same place as you scanner. Fortunately this thing called the Internet offers an elegant option. It's located at http://OnlineOCR.netand#160;and it makes scanning any number of image files super easy. Whether you have a PDF, JPG or any of the common image files that has text on it, http://OnlineOCR.netand#160;allows you to grab the text. It's so simple; you just upload the file you want to scan, select which language it's in, then choose the type of text file you want when it's done. It's free and easy because you no longer have to figure out how to install and configure complicated software!

They're at it again... the fake tech support scammers pretending to be from Microsoft and it's because some people still fall for their spiel. and#160; They may claim that you have a malware infection or a Windows upgrade issue now that Windows 7 has been retired. What they are trying to do is keep you on the phone long enough to convince you to run a few tests of your own to prove what they are saying is true. If they convince you to run a diagnostic program, they'll tell you to look for a specific word when the results are displayed. The problem is that the specific word or words that they are having you look for are actually part of the Windows operating system and will always show up. If that convinces you that they are legit, they'll request remote access to help you clean things up. Needless to say, if you fall for this, they'll try to get you to give them a credit card number to cover the service or worse yet, buy an annual protection plan. Here's what you need to understand about the tech world - no legit company, especially Microsoft, is ever going to call you out of the blue to tell you that you're having a problem. Now that you know what to watch for, you can avoid these silver tongue devils and just hang up. Only allow remote access to your computer when you were the one initiating the request for help.

Raise your hand if you have a mountain of paper records that you have been accumulating for a long period of time? Well, today's tip will hopefully give you the incentive to take action. Getting started begins with the first task, which is to figure out how much of the paperwork is even relevant any more. It's likely you have a lot of documents and manuals for things you don't even need anymore. Get rid of all the old, useless papers first. The second task is to shred anything you plan on tossing that has even the smallest bit of personal info for your recycling pile. The third task is to review what's available online, which you can toss. Anything that isn't online should be scanned so you can shred and discard the paper copies. The fourth task is to review all of your billing options so you can opt for paperless bills from now on with as many companies as you can. If you're a business, the final task may be to look at an online mail processing service such asand#160;https://www.earthclassmail.com. These services will scan all your incoming mail for you so that you only request the documents that you want in paper form. It's not hard to do if you'll just take the first steps to get started.

It's important to understand that the bad actors on the Internet are targeting you through your Internet activities. In order to view what's online, you must use a browser of some sort, which is why they are targeting browsers more specifically these days. With this in mind, one of the ways you can identify a browser-specific issue is by having more than one available for testing. This tip applies equally to computers and mobile devices. When you encounter an issue with your web surfing, switching to another browser on the same device is a good first step. If the issue clears up, then you know that you have a browser-specific issue like a caching issue or something that has infected your browser. When you swap browsers and the issue remains, you'll know that the problem is more connection-based. Going through this process can save you and anyone you call for help lots of time because you avoid troubleshooting the wrong side of the equation.

Most households have removed their traditional landlines for the convenience of their smartphones, but this move also means you have to give your personal cell number out to everyone. In many cases, you would rather not give them a phone number, but in some cases, you may not have a choice. Well, there's a solution for those situations in the form of an app called TextMe Up. It lets you use phone numbers more like the way you can use email - different numbers for different uses, which also allows you to keep your personal number private. You can now call or text anyone in the world with a separate phone number that allows you to track the calls based on the various numbers you setup. It's great when you are trying to buy or sell something with strangers or for avoiding annoying sales calls after you register for something. The app is free for iOS and Android devices and so is your first number at http://www.textmeup.com

Email, you can't live with it and you can't live without it! The most aggravating part of our daily routine is wading through all the nuisance messages from mailing lists. The vast majority of the lists we end up on is from sneaking ways the marketing world has created to get us to 'agree' to be on the list. Unless you've got it all under control, one of the best tools you can use to clean up your inbox is located at https://unroll.me When you first use the utility, it will burrow through all your inbox messages and list all the subscriptions you've been added to so you can choose which ones you want and which ones you want to unsubscribe from. They also allow you to add subscriptions to what they call a daily roll-up, which is a compiled list of messages that you can view in one message. This makes it so that you aren't being interrupted throughout the day with the messages that you do want. It's really a wonderful way to regain control of your mailing list messages and it's free to use:and#160;https://unroll.me

Most of us have been on Facebook for many years, which means that there's bound to be a number of companies that have access to our profile from old interactions. There are a couple of ways that a company can gain access to your profile, mainly through apps or when you use Facebook to login to another website. Even though you may not be using the app or service anymore, you actually gave them permission to continuously access your profile info. If you haven't reviewed the companies that currently have access to your profile in a while, you may be in for a surprise. Our suggestion is to review who has access on a monthly basis, so you can keep it to just the apps and services you want to use. If you navigate to the Apps and Websites section in Facebook's Settings menu, you can quickly remove anything you don't want connecting anymore. If you want the exact steps, they're posted here:and#160;https://www.facebook.com/help/170585223002660

The 3 rules of computing are backup, backup, backup. An unfortunate university student was so in need of specific files on his stolen laptop, that he offered a reward of $1000 just for those files, not the laptop itself! His entire body of work for his collegiate career was on that laptop and of course, it wasn't backed up. Even when some people think they have a backup, because they bought a 'backup drive', the reality is that they only have one copy of their critical files on that external drive. In order to have a backup, there have to be two separate copies of the file, preferably on two different storage devices. The best strategy is the 3-2-1 approach: 3 copies of your data on 2 different storage devices with one copy off-site in the cloud. Even if you make a second copy on a USB flash drive manually, do whatever you have to when you have critical files. We love putting our customers on Carbonite because it's automatic, safe from ransomware threats and bugs the user when it can't get files backed up. If you don't have a regular backup process yet, consider this another wake up call!

The ability to remotely access your computer has been around for a long time, but most of the options that used to be free are now charging to use their tools. There is still a free option that's more than enough for most people and it's from Google. There's a plugin called Chrome Remote Desktop for the Chrome browser that makes this possible. Any computer running the Chrome browser can become remotely accessible with this simple addition. With it on your computer, you can access it from any other computer, smartphone or tablet that has the Chrome browser as well. It's easy to set up, easy to use and still a completely free option for remote access! Get started with these links: Chrome Remote Desktop Add-on:and#160;https://chrome.google.com/remotedesktopand#160; iOS remote app:and#160;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chrome-remote-desktop/id944025852?mt=8 Android remote app:and#160;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.chromeremotedesktopand#160;