Most Recent Entries

Be sure to also check out the Best Articles page!

Why Your Computer Has Probably Not Been Hacked I regularly hear from people who believe their computer has been hacked and is under someone else's control. It's very rarely the case. 2024-11-30

My Downloaded Files are Missing. How Do I Get Them Back? The Downloads folder isn't meant for long-term storage. Here's how to avoid losing files you downloaded and want to keep. 2024-11-29

Think 2FA Is Bulletproof? Here’s Why You’re Still Vulnerable Two-factor authentication is one of the most important ways you can secure your online accounts. But that doesn't mean you're done. 2024-11-28

So You Want to Work a Helpdesk What's most important when trying to help people struggling with technology? 2024-11-27

Why Am I Getting a “Delivery Status Notification (Delay)” on an Email I Sent? Delays happen for many reasons; it's the nature of the email infrastructure. If you get a "Delivery Status Notification (Delay)" message, your options are limited. 2024-11-25

How AI is Revolutionizing Scams: Can We No Longer Trust Our Eyes or Ears? Scams are bad enough. Throw AI into the mix, and things only get worse. 2024-11-23

Let’s Talk About Macrium Reflect X Macrium Reflect X is the successor to version 8. It includes a few new features and a controversial change to the licensing model. 2024-11-22

Why Encryption Backdoors Are a Horrific Idea A phrase we’ve heard more and more often in recent years is encryption backdoor. The concept is simple: government agencies want to be able to monitor otherwise encrypted communications. The concept is flawed. 2024-11-21

In Search of Perfect Security Perfect security is a myth. What's important is to pay attention to the trade-offs you make. 2024-11-20

The Deep, Dark Secret Behind Ask Leo! Not long ago, I came up with the words to describe part of what I do. It was kind of a secret... until now. 2024-11-18

How to Add Two-Factor Authentication to Your Google Account Adding the most common and secure form of two-factor authentication to your account. 2024-11-16

Can Using the Wrong Charger Damage My Device? Will a specific power supply or charger damage a device? I'll look at what's safe and what's not. 2024-11-15

You Should Probably Back Up Your Facebook Account Losing access to your Facebook account means losing everything within it forever. Make sure the important stuff is saved elsewhere. 2024-11-14

Should I Be Concerned About Microsoft’s Recall Feature? Initial panic about the Microsoft Recall feature is overblown. If you're worried about that, you're worried about the wrong thing. 2024-11-13

Why Can’t the Poor Just Pirate Software? Commercial software can be expensive. Can you just pirate software if you can't afford it? You can guess my answer, but even better: theft isn't necessary. 2024-11-11

What Does “CHKDSK Is Not Available for RAW Drives” Mean? CHKDSK can't check an empty drive, and Windows considers RAW to mean empty. 2024-11-09

Will Formatting a Disk Erase All Data? If your format happened quickly, it's unlikely your data was actually erased. I'll show you the difference. 2024-11-08

Is Automatic Sign-in Safe for My Email? Having your email automatically or continually signed in to can be a security risk in some situations, but very convenient in others. 2024-11-07

Going Passwordless Without Going Passwordless Passwords are dying. On some services, you can start playing with the process by creating a secure password... and then forgetting it. 2024-11-06

What Security Software Do You Recommend? (2024 Q4 update) Here are my latest recommendations for specific security software and techniques. 2024-11-04

Why Do I Need Another Email Address to Access My Account? This is a system designed to help you recover your email account if something should go wrong... and things go wrong more often than you would like to think. 2024-11-02

Can My School See My Email and Other Messages? Numerous people and programs can track your internet activities. But are you really that interesting? 2024-11-01

How Do I Tell Which Program Is Using So Much Memory? When Windows tells you it's out of memory, what does it mean and what can you do about it? 2024-10-31

Why I Keep Saying You’re Just Not That Interesting Many people are concerned that they are specifically targeted by hackers, advertisers, and others. Nope. 2024-10-30

Testing Your Backups Is Critical Testing your backups is an easy step to overlook but an important one to take. Make sure your backups will be there when you need them. 2024-10-28

How Long Should I Keep Backups? Backups are critical. But for how long? I'll look at how long you might want to keep backups, why, and how long I keep mine. 2024-10-26

Ask Leo! and Facebook Facebook holds you for ransom. Facebook doesn’t show you all the posts from pages you follow unless those pages PAY for the privilege of being seen more widely. Facebook is also now randomly and capriciously taking down legitimate posts for so-called “policy violations”. 2024-10-25

What Is Ping and What Does Its Output Tell Me? Ping is one of the oldest diagnostic tools. It validates connectivity from point A to point B and provides additional useful information. 2024-10-25

How Do I Block All Email From a Specific Domain in Gmail? It's not obvious, but there's an easy way to block all email sent to you from a single domain. Just make sure it's really what you want. 2024-10-24

Why Windows Backup Isn’t What You Think It Is For one thing, it doesn't back up Windows. For another it can make a mess of your folders. 2024-10-23

Is a Periodic Password Change a Good Thing? Conventional wisdom says to change your passwords periodically. I disagree. 2024-10-21

Why Programs Might Use All the Memory in Your Computer Programs typically don't use all available memory unless they need it or they have a problem. 2024-10-19

What Is Ultra AV, and Why Did it Show Up On My Machine? If you've suddenly found an unfamiliar antivirus program running on your computer, you're not alone. 2024-10-18

Tame Microsoft Edge: How to Customize Your Browser Like many Microsoft products, Edge is a bit pushy. We can get some of that out of your face. 2024-10-17

Is My Smartphone or Smart Device Listening In on Me? It's not uncommon to think our smart devices are listening in when advertisements seem to follow our discussions. 2024-10-16

How Do I Get My Windows Machines to Network With Each Other? Home networking can be very difficult, but I have a few tricks that work well for me. 2024-10-14

Do You Really Need to Reply? One way to reduce the amount of email you get is to reduce the amount you send. One way to do that? Think twice before replying. 2024-10-12

Five Options to Speed Up Your Older Computer Here are five common options to speed up and extend the life of an older computer. 2024-10-11

How Did I Get Accidentally Unsubscribed and How Do I Undo It? Occasionally we stop getting email we signed up for. Here are some ways that can happen and what to do next. 2024-10-10

Is a Passkey Two-Factor Authentication? Passkeys are secure, but they're not two-factor authentication in and of themselves. I'll run the scenarios that explain why that is and when 2FA might be involved as well. 2024-10-09

You’re Never Too Old! "I'm old" is a frustratingly common complaint. I talk a little about how that mindset might get in the way of the incredible opportunities technology presents. 2024-10-07

Why Am I Getting Email From Someone With the Wrong Email Address? Many people receive spam that looks like it comes from someone they know but is not from that person's email address. I'll take a look at what's going on and what you need to pay attention to. 2024-10-05

Should I Worry If Email I Send Is Marked as Spam? Don't worry if someone threatens to mark your email as spam. Here's why. 2024-10-04

How Do I Change My Telephone Number on Google? Keeping your telephone number up to date on Google is important. It's easy to do -- as long as you can sign in. 2024-10-03

Why Is My Desktop in OneDrive? OneDrive's backup feature can cause confusion and even chaos. I'll review its impact on your computer's desktop and what to do about it. 2024-10-02

Thou Art Not Too Old: Viking Edition Legendary thoughts on aging. 2024-10-01

Can I Find Out Where My Email Address Has Been Used? It'd be great to be able to locate all the places your email address has been used. Unfortunately, "great" doesn't mean "possible". 2024-09-30

Does Having a Visible Wi-Fi Password Add Security Compared to an Open Wi-Fi Hotspot? Using a password-protected WPA2/3 hotspot is a minor inconvenience for a very significant level of additional security. 2024-09-28

Why Do Things That Aren’t Broken Keep Changing? Change is inevitable. But sometimes, an online service's improvements are viewed as just the opposite by some. 2024-09-27

What If I Lose Everything When Traveling? I hear from people who are concerned that they've put so much security in place they'll keep themselves out in case of emergency. 2024-09-26

• All Entries by Date
• Newsletter Archives