This will be the last blog post on cloud computing for now but feel free to ask me any related questions - either in the comment section below or via email. Be sure to read my word of caution at the end of this post. You might wonder how I keep my files organized if …
Author: John Grubb
I've been working on computers since 1983! I love helping people resolve their computing issues and sharing preventative measures, as well.
Multiple Clouds
Picking up from the last blog post: Of the four cloud file-sharing services I mentioned (OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive), which should you use? Or can you use a combination? all? On my computers, I use all four of these services. Actually, because I'm running a business, I use more than just these four, But, …
Clouds At Home
For customers using cloud services on their home or personal computers, there are a number of well-known providers. However, I need to explain some terminology when it comes to how you use these services. The cloud services that many home users would recognize include: OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox and Google Drive. Technically, these services are known …
“The Cloud” – What Is It?
When you open your computing device's browser and go to any website - let's say https://www.4kcc.com, for instance - the webpage which appears is stored on a server on the Internet. A server, by the way, is just a computer. It works a little differently and it's a bit more complicated than the computers you …
Just Like Joni Mitchell
https://youtu.be/2o8HSRQbr98 Before you go any further reading, please click on the short video above. You're not cheating, are you? You DID click on the video of Joni Mitchell, right? Now that you've seen and heard Joni, here are my questions: are you just like her? Do you really not know clouds at all? Of course, …
Explore The World From Your Home
There are so many places to see and events to attend in this world! For most of us, we aren't in a position (often it's the cost that holds us back) to explore and get to personally see all that we wish we could. Just when it seemed like we might be trapped inside our …
Mounds of Paper
If you own a smartphone or a tablet (if not, time to get one!), I'm going to suggest a Microsoft app to help you cut down on those piles of paper in your home or office. It's called "Office Lens" and it's available in the Apple and the Android stores. Here's some good news upfront …
Multiple Browsers – Why?
Whether you own an Apple, Microsoft or Linux product, you should be interested in knowing why it's a good idea to have multiple browsers installed on your devices. (Don't know what a browser is or what it does? See our previous post - What????) Before we talk about multiple browsers, let's explain what constitutes the …
What Do You Mean I Can’t Edit?
In yesterday's blog post (Portable What?), I said I'd share the second primary reason that PDFs are often used instead of plain documents: Creators of the document don't want you to be able to change it! This is the reason lawyers and manufacturers use PDFs instead of Word or WordPerfect documents. Think about it, would …
Portable What?
It's unlikely that anyone reading this blog hasn't heard of a PDF file. In fact, I'm 99% sure that just about every user has at least one PDF file on their device. But, just because you have PDF files doesn't mean you actually understand what they are or how they are used. PDF stands for …
Taskbar Pins
If you're a Windows 10 user, you should know how to pin a program or app to the taskbar. Why? Two reasons, actually! Programs and apps pinned to the taskbar require only one click to open. Many programs and apps pinned to the taskbar support jump lists. As for reason #1, of course, you can …
Disappearing Icons?
My Desktop without icons. My apologies to my Mac customers as this post is strictly a Windows thing! It's only Tuesday and already I've had two customers call me this week because, when they turned their computers on, there were no icons showing. Although both of these customer's computers are running Windows 10, this issue …
Fighting Spam
At our seminar this past Saturday, one of the subjects we discussed was ways to fight spam email, a.k.a. junk email. As I mentioned then, you will not eliminate spam but you can fight it and lower the number of junk emails you receive in your Inbox. In this post, I'm going to review the …
Optane – Not To Be Confused With Octane!
Just last week, one of my customers asked me about buying a new computer and they wanted to know if I could price them one with Intel's Optane Memory. I was surprised they asked as it seems that few of my customers have even heard of Optane let alone know enough about it to request …
What’s That Small Port On My New Computer?
Recently, when I've sold and delivered a new computer to a customer, I explain to them that their new device has a small port called a USB-C. As you can see in the picture above, the port and cable are rounded unlike the traditional USB which is more rectangular in shape. Also unlike the old …
Change Is Not Always Bad!
We've initiated three new blog-related changes. First, our entire blog is now secured with our SSL certificate. No matter what page of our blog you are on, you will see the locked padlock and the "s" as part of the https//. What this means is more security while you're on our site. Speaking of security, …
It Can Happen To Anyone!
Yes, even to computer companies! Yesterday, around 2:00 p.m., our Internet went down. This will happen from time to time and it usually comes back up in 5 minutes or so. Not yesterday! We were down, down, down! As you can see from the picture above, we had to resort to doing things without the …
You’re In A Deep, Deep Sleep
This blog post applies to you if you meet the following two conditions: 1) you have already read our last post, "Defrag Your RAM" and 2) you are using a computer with Windows 10. If these two scenarios don't relate to you, read this blog anyway just so you can increase your personal knowledge! As …
Defrag Your RAM
A Common Question And Its Answer It's only Tuesday and two different customers have already asked me the following question: "Do I have to turn off my computer every day?" The answer is "No. You do not have to turn your computer off every day." It's okay to put your computer to sleep instead. HOWEVER …
Traffic Alert!
In my post entitled, "In The Driver's Seat," I mentioned that Joyce and I had used Google Maps to get around an accident while driving to New Orleans. Several readers asked us how that works. Here's their answer: In order to see where there's a traffic problem in Google Maps, you need to have the …
Windows License Key Expiring?
Lately, we've been getting an abundance of calls from customers saying that they've received a phone call telling them that their Windows license is about to expire. Let's see if we can set the record straight. Versions of the Windows Operating System (OS), if they have been activated, do not expire. Notice I stated "if …
In The Driver’s Seat
As you might know, last week Joyce and I (and Gus) made a quick trip to New Orleans so Joyce could play for the choirs from Lincoln Park Academy. As we traveled 1632 miles and drove 23 hours out of 43, I had plenty of time to think how automobile travel has changed in my …
Feature/Favor
Today, we're introducing another new feature on our blog. In the right-hand column, where you see things like "Recent Posts," "Recent Comments," and "Subscribe To Blog Via Email," we now have "Upcoming Events." Here you'll see a list of seminars and webinars and other events when we schedule them. We're adding this feature because people …
Desktop Mystery
One of the things we hear from customers, especially on the phone, is that they can't easily get back to their computer's desktop to log in to us. (www.4kcc.com/rts) They'll tell us that if they close the browser or software they need help with in order for them to get to our icon, they'll lose …
Dirty Screen?
As the computing world becomes more and more a touch-screen society, we are often asked "How should I clean my touchscreen? It has tons of fingerprints." Let me first respond by saying, don't use household window cleaner. These types of cleaners can damage the screen. Instead, you need to use a product specifically made to …
Two Blog Email Items Of Interest
Last week, I told you about the edition of our chat box. (Mr. Watson, Come Here) In this post, I want to talk about two items related to our blog email. The first is a new feature that we've added - a blog post email signup in the right-hand column of our blog pages and …
Amex Scam Email
Just wanted to give you a warning regarding a scam email which purports to be from American Express. It includes an attachment with a .html extension. You should NOT open the attachment and you should NOT respond to the email. Simply delete it. I have already forwarded a copy to American Express. If you'd like …
Gus In The Backyard
If you live on Florida's Treasure Coast and have ever come to one of our live seminars, you probably recognize the Cairn Terrier in the picture above. He's Gus and he's a character! Gus is going to help us with our blog post today! One of the questions we get asked often is, "What photo …
Eject – A How 2
In yesterday's post (Old Wives' Tale), I explained the importance of properly ejecting USB drives and memory cards. I promised I'd explain how to do that in today's blog post. We actually have tutorials covering this procedure on our help page (4kcc.com/help) under Computer Hardware Issues. If you have Windows computing devices, learn how to …
Old Wives’ Tale?
For some of you, today's post will be new information. For others, it will be a friendly reminder! If you perform a Bing or a Google search on today's topic, you'll find varying opinions. But, I'm asking you to forget searching and, instead, rely on my almost thirty-six years of experience working on computers. USB …