computer

Infopackets Reader Janie T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I wanted to know if I should use a VPN (virtual private network) to connect to my bank website. A service I came across called saferweb.com claims that they will encrypt my connection, but I don't ... know if they can be trusted or not. What do you think? PS: I love your daily infopackets letters - they are very informative. " My response: This is a good question. When visiting saferweb.com I noted the following statements on their site: "Safer Web gives you an extra layer of security against Internet hackers. By hiding your IP, we keep your ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Perry F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have two laptops with Windows 7 that I would like to upgrade to Windows 10. From what I understand, I can use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to download Windows 10 in an .ISO file format. When ... that is done downloading, I would then burn the .ISO disc image file onto a DVD, then use the DVD to install Windows 10 onto my machines. The problem however is that I don't have a DVD drive on either laptop - so how can I use the .ISO format to install Windows 10? " My response: In a nutshell, an ISO file is an exact copy of an entire CD or DVD, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Fred L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own an HP computer with Windows 7 and many of my programs keep crashing for no apparent reason. One of the biggest problems I have is that Windows Explorer crashes, then my desktop is reset; this ... happens over and over again, making it impossible to use the computer. I've scanned for viruses and malware and nothing as turned up. As such, I would like to reset the computer to factory settings and wipe out the entire hard drive, similar to when I first purchased the computer. There is something called HP Recovery Manager, but I don't fully ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Guy P. writes: " Dear Dennis, A few days ago I turned my PC on and instead of booting into Windows, it went directly into Windows Startup Repair. It scanned the drive but then reported that 'Startup Repair cannot repair this ... computer automatically'. I restarted the system and tried to boot Windows normally, but again it went into the Startup Repair, and with the same results. I backed up my system previously from within Windows but there was no way for me to restore the backup (since the backup program runs inside of Windows). Long story short, I decided to format my hard ... (view more)

Windows 10 "phones home" thousands of times each day even with the most restrictive privacy settings, according to a newly published article. While the precise figures are in question, it highlights ongoing concerns about Microsoft monitoring. The ... experiment was carried out by a message board poster using the somewhat unlikely name of CheesesCrust. He decided to find out exactly what happens if Windows 10 is run with all tracking supposedly disabled. (Source: voat.co ) To do this, he used a virtual machine tool on a laptop to simulate installing Windows on a completely new machine. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Howard R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have some really old family Quattro Pro spreadsheets from 1994-98. I would like to be able to view these spreadsheets on my Windows 10 system, and if possible, convert the Quattro Pro files to ... Excel files. The Quattro Pro files are using the .WB1 file extension. While the current version of Open Office can read .WB2 files, it won't read these .WB1 files. Do you know of a program that can read and convert the .WB1 files to Excel? I look forward to hearing from you. " My response: After researching Howard's question, I suggested he try ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed it automatically uploads Windows 10 disk encryption keys to its servers. The company says it was a deliberate decision based on weighing up the worst case scenarios. The encryption key in question is not related to logging ... into and running Windows itself. Instead its an encryption of the entire hard drive of the device running Windows 10. This means that if somebody physically steals your computer, they can't make any sense of the data, even if it's been copied to another device (using a disk image backup, for example). Encryption Key Would Help Computer Thieves ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steven B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a small issue, and hope you have some insight. I am using Outlook 2016; when I respond to an email, I can no longer attach a file to my email reply. This seems to have happened all the ... sudden, whereas previously it worked without any problems. I have tried to drag and drop a file into the email, and have also clicked on the Attach File icon (paper clip) button without any luck. The strange thing is that this issue only affects my email replies - but not when I compose a new email. I have searched online the Internet but can't find ... (view more)

A newly-identified piece of malware has achieved arguably the ultimate goal of cybercriminals. "Nemesis" is able to infect a Windows computer before the operating system is loaded. The malware is a particularly nasty form of a rootkit . That's ... software which is able to inappropriately access some of the core components of a computer (both hardware and software), often disguising its actions. A rootkit is a serious problem because it's often completely undetectable, which means that it can easily override antivirus software to carry out malicious tasks. In this case, the Nemesis ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tom H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm currently running Windows 7 and would like to upgrade to Windows 10. However, the one thing I'm greatly concerned about is how Windows 10 will track and share my information online. In your ... opinion is Windows 10 worth it or should I stick with Windows 7? " My response: That's a good question, and there a number of things to consider. Updates for the Life of the Machine In my opinion, it's definitely worth the upgrade to go from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 simply for the fact that you will be running the latest operating system from ... (view more)