The Computer Tutor

You know I’m always talking about having an automated, consistent backup process in place.  This is partly because I have people bring me computers just about every week with a crashed drive, and they’re in a panic because they need the files and folders that are on that drive.  But it’s also from first-hand experience [...] Read more »

Are you someone that would rather talk than type?  Personally, I would rather type out words on the keyboard because then I can make sure that the message that is transmitted is exactly what I want to say.  The downside of typing is that it usually takes longer since most people can speak much faster [...] Read more »

My favorite kind of computer tips are those that address a particularly common and annoying problem, and solve that problem with a quick solution that’s easy to implement.  And preferably free.  Today is a great example of this kind of computer tip.   It’s a common complaint among laptop users.  The cursor seems to [...] Read more »

What if I told you I would give you an email account, and it’s all yours to use.  You can use it for personal or business email or whatever you want.  There’s only one catch: you can only have it temporarily.  At some undetermined point in the future, your access to that email account would [...] Read more »

It’s a question that I get asked all the time: Should I leave my computer on all the time, or should I turn it off at night?  There are valid reasons for both options, so I’ll present you with the pros and cons and you can decide what’s best for your situation.   Why [...] Read more »

Last Monday I posted about how to handle a couple of specific computer emergencies (a spilled drink on your laptop, and a failing hard drive).  This week in Part 2, we’ll cover two more emergency situations that require to you take action right away.     Computer emergency #3: Thunderstorm You’re working at your computer, and [...] Read more »

Do you know how you react when suddenly you find yourself in an emergency situation?  Some people can think calmly and do what needs to be done in spite of the chaos that may be all around them.  Other people freeze up or panic and don’t really know what they should be doing – and [...] Read more »

Sometimes things happen during the routine course of the week, and suddenly I realize – that’s a good topic for a blog post.  That’s what happened this past week. If you’re on Facebook, you know there is a high volume of pure garbage that gets “Liked” and shared.  I’m not necessarily talking about content [...] Read more »

Have you ever gotten a PDF file by email, and you had to sign it and send it back by email?  For most people, that process is a real hassle.  You have to print the PDF file, then you sign the printed copy, then you have to scan that paper back into a new PDF [...] Read more »

If you use Windows 8, you have probably become familiar with the thing called the Charms Bar.  Or at least you know what it is and where it resides (the right side of your screen).  When you put your cursor in the top right corner of the screen, the Charms Bar slides out from the [...] Read more »