computer

Fri
02
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Bootable Prime95 to Stress Test Hardware

Infopackets Reader Peter M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a very strange issue. I recently put together a new computer build and installed Windows 10. Everything was working fine for the past month or so, then all the sudden, Windows 10 won't boot ... into the login screen - it simply freezes at the swirling dots. Surprisingly, I can remote desktop into the problematic machine from another, but the system stability doesn't last and eventually it freezes up on me. I suspect I have a hardware problem - perhaps the video card. I've managed to run 'msconfig' and specified Safe Mode with Networking, ... (view more)

Wed
17
May
John Lister's picture

Researchers to Fit Computer Chips in Human Brains

A computer processor manufacturer is working on chips to implant into human brains. It could dramatically improve life for people with spinal or brain injuries, but is years from becoming a reality. The project is a partnership between the ... University of Washington's Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering and ARM, a company which dominates the market for processors in mobile devices. It will build on existing technologies which can read signals in the brain and then wirelessly transmit them to nerve stimulators, allowing people to control their hands and arms despite suffering from ... (view more)

Fri
28
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Can't Access Mapped Network Drive via Administrative Command Prompt

Infopackets Reader Neil S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to access a mapped network drive via an administrative command prompt in Windows 10, but I keep receiving the error that 'The system cannot find the drive specified.' The strange thing is ... that if I run a regular command prompt, I can access the mapped network drive. I am trying to write a batch script to perform maintenance on the network drive, and I need administrative access to be able to do it. Can you help? " My response: I have run into this problem a number of times. There are two ways to get around this issue: one is to try ... (view more)

Mon
24
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: 'Your Yahoo account settings are out of date' Error

Infopackets Reader Marion L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been using my Yahoo email with Windows Mail for quite a while, but now it keeps telling me 'Your Yahoo account settings are out of date' near the top of the screen. The options 'Fix Account' ... or 'Dismiss' don't work. If I click 'Fix Account' it says 'Something went wrong. We're sorry but we weren't able to do that. Error code: 80070422'. I cannot send or receive emails using my Yahoo account. Can you please help? " My response: As I mentioned in last week's post, the ' Your account settings are out of date ' is a very generic error ... (view more)

Mon
17
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: "Windows has detected your computer's performance is slow" (color scheme) Error

Infopackets Reader Judy G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm running Windows 7. Throughout the day, I often receive a message from Windows that says: 'Windows has detected your computer's performance is slow ... To improve performance, try changing the ... color scheme to Windows 7 Basic.' I click the option to 'Keep the current color scheme, and don't show this message again', but the error message 'Windows has detected your computer's performance is slow...' returns about 5 minutes later. I don't understand why this message appears, and I can't stop it from reappearing! It's incredibly annoying! Can ... (view more)

Fri
14
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Explained: New Motherboard, CPU. Do I need a new license / reinstall Windows?

Infopackets Reader Steve F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I will be upgrading my computer to the new AMD Ryzen 1700 CPU (which has 8 cores and 16 threads!) at a fraction of the price of Intel CPUs. I have searched online but I can't seem to find the answer ... - can you please tell me: after I install the new motherboard and CPU, can I continue to use my existing Windows installation or do I need to install Windows again? Also is my Windows 10 license still valid or do I need to purchase Windows 10 for my new motherboard and CPU? " My response: Short answer: It depends on the type of Windows you own and ... (view more)

Thu
16
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Report: You can be Tracked Online, even without IP or Cookies

Researchers have found a way to track web users even if they switch web browsers. It could improve security but also weaken online privacy. The researchers at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania were trying to find ways of improving fingerprinting. ... That's a way to attempt to identify an individual user (or at least their computer) without relying on single identifiers such as login details, browser cookies, or an IP address. Instead, fingerprinting involves taking multiple pieces of information provided by a user's browser such as the browser name, it's version, whether they have an ad blocker ... (view more)

Wed
15
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

IBM's Watson to Tackle Computer Security, Threats

IBM's artificial intelligence system Watson is to lend its hand to security. It will help scour millions of reports to try to learn more about current online threats. The Watson system was originally designed to see if a computer could compete on ... Jeopardy!, the show where contestants are given an answer and have to try to figure out the question. It was considered a challenge for computers because, although they can store a lot of information and process it quickly, they don't always have the human ability to decipher meaning and context. In the event, Watson prevailed against two human ... (view more)

Thu
02
Feb
John Lister's picture

Computer AI Masters Poker

An artificial intelligence program has beaten professional poker players for the first time. It may sound trivial but marks a major advance in technology that could have practical benefits. Computers beat human experts at chess many years ago, and ... last year a computer beat the world champion at the far more complex board game "Go" for the first time. That was significant because the sheer number of possible moves available in Go means ever the most powerful computer can't assess every possible move. Instead the program had to learn to use human tactics such as heuristics (in ... (view more)

Fri
27
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

Explained: How to Defrag a Network Drive (NAS or Remote PC)

Infopackets Reader Ron C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have several drives on my network that I'd like to defrag, but none of the defrag software programs I've tried allow me to defrag a network drive. Any suggestions on how to defrag a network drive, ... or a program that can provide this functionality? " My response: The reason you can't find a program to defrag a network drive is because this is not possible - the easiest way to explain "why" is that the remote drives are owned by another operating system. Simply put: your system does not have permission to move these files around. With ... (view more)

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - computer