Saturday Bonus Questions and Answers – 051323
Happy Mother’s Day to you all moms, grandmoms, great grandmoms out there. We hope you enjoy Mother’s Day Weekend and your special day tomorrow as well. And tt’s Saturday and time for another edition of Saturday Bonus Questions & Answers.
Sometimes, the best tips and tricks are hidden in the published questions and answers. And rarely do we post questions and answers on this website. Today, we’re featuring some of the questions and answers from past issues of our InfoAve Weekly newsletters.
These questions & answers were selected at random from past InfoAve Weekly newsletters.
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Saturday Bonus Questions and Answers – 051323
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Janet has laptop battery troubles
Every so often my computer says my internal battery is very low. I’ve researched buying a new one but it would be difficult to replace (not like I did on my old computer) and the tec. at the store said they didn’t replace them. Then someone told me that their computer has said that for a long time but it keeps working and not to worry about it. Why is this happening and do I need to be concerned? I keep it plugged in all the time.
Our answer
Hi Janet. Since your battery is hard to remove, try this:
1. Unplug the power cord.
2. Turn off your PC (power it off)
3. Leave it off for 5 minutes.
4. Leave it unplugged and turn it back on. Leave it on for 2 or 3 minutes.
5. Turn it off again (power it off).
6. Wait five minutes, plug the power cord in and turn the PC back on.
Now see if the battery shows that it’s charging. You can also try running a battery health report. This should show you how healthy your laptop battery is See our article here.
I hope this helps you, Janet.
Eileen asks about LastPass and BitWarden
A while ago, you had an article about password managers. TC had been using Last Pass for a while but found a new one called Bitwarden, I was not happy with LastPass, apparently, they have stopped the free one. Do you think Bitwarden will work well with different devices? I have Windows 10 computer an iPad and now an Android phone. Do you think it would connect with all three?
Our answer
Hi Eileen. LastPass still has a free version and you can use it on more than one Windows computer – you just can’t use it on Windows and other non-Windows devices (like Android or Apple smartphones or tablets). BitWarden has free versions for all of your devices.
For Windows, see our article here. The article shows you how to move from LastPass to BitWarden. I suggest you do this first as once you have your passwords imported from LastPass, then you’ll be able to log in to BitWarden on your other devices and all your passwords will be available to you.
Download BitWarden Password Manager and use it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. … This app is available only on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. See this page.
BitWarden for Android is available from the Google Play Store here.
We hope this helps you, Eileen.
Carol had a pretty shut-down screen and now it’s ugly
I am using Windows 10 and I used to have a picture on my shut-down screen. When I updated “Edge” it went away and now shows an ugly blue screen. How can I get it back? I love all your tips and tricks. Thank you, Carol
Our answer
Hi Carol. Thanks for your nice comments.
On that screen, I think you are referring to the lock screen. If so, try this, and tell us if it fixes the ugly!
Next to the start button, in the search area (taskbar search), type Lock Screen, then press Enter. You can change the background picture there.
We hope that helps solve the problem of the ugly screen!
———
Carol wrote back: “Wow, you guys are quick in responding!!! Problem solved with your help. Thank you, Thank you, Carol”
Bonnie wants to change the password on her modem/router
I got a new modem/router last week and I would like to change the password if I can. Also, when the tech set it up, I didn’t get it put on my Galaxy watch. I may have to have you do it if I can’t get it done alone. So sorry to have to bother you two kids again, I know, I’m a pain or completely computer illiterate. God’s blessings, Bonnie
Our answer
Hi Bonnie. No problem…we’re here to help if we can.
I don’t what brand of modem/router you’re using but generally, you can log in to your router’s control panel by opening a browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) and typing 192.168. 1.1 in the address bar and press Enter. However, some brands don’t work that way. Here’s a page showing how to access most brands of routers’ control panels – from there you can change the router’s password.
Changing the router’s password does not affect your WiFi password though so you don’t have to change it on any of your connected devices.
Did you mean you want to change your WiFi password? If that’s what you meant, let me know and we’ll send the instructions on how to do that.
As far as your Galaxy watch goes, that’s something we can’t help you with.
——–
Bonnie wrote back…“Thank you so much, TC. You’re always so willing to help me and others. Have a great weekend. God Bless, Bonnie.”
Gail has been getting mail that appears to be from her friend but it’s not
I have been receiving emails that appear to be from a dear friend but that I know are not. I have informed her about it & have suggested that she change her anti-malware program to Emsisoft because I think someone has gained access to her contact list & sending out fraudulent emails. My questions are: once I determine the real email account from which these emails come, will a reply to it actually be received by that sender? Is there a way to block them? The sender’s real account is always different each time I receive their email disguised as coming from my friend. It’s not so much a big deal as it is annoying. Thanks for any help with this. Gail
Our answer
Hi Gail. If the sender is an amateur and does not know what he or she is doing, you can find the IP address of the sender and where he or she is located, but that’s not going to do you a lot of good. Spammers don’t send from real email addresses (they send from forged email addresses) and they use thousands of email addresses so it’s impossible to block them. It’d highly unlikely someone has gained access to her contact list, but very likely that she or someone she sends to has put everyone’s email address in the CC line (instead of the BCC) line. We have seen it hundreds of times where people put dozens and dozens of peoples’ email addresses in the CC line and thus expose all those addresses to spammers.
The best way to control spam is not to block senders, it doesn’t work. The best we have ever found is to use Gmail to filter your mail. See this page to learn how to get a free Gmail account to block spam.
We get hundreds of emails each week and rarely do we ever see a spam email in our inbox. We’ve been controlling spam this way for many years and we love it because it works.
——————
Gail wrote back: “Hi TC. Thanks for being so sweet & taking the time to reply. I suspect, based on your information, that the culprit is someone to whom she emails because I don’t think my dear friend even knows what the Cc or Bcc is, much less how to properly use it… Anyway, thanks again. I sincerely appreciate it. Best wishes to you as well, Gail,
Don’t have a Cloudeight SeniorPass? It’s a great deal. Learn more here.
Our Cloudeight SeniorPass is a great deal. You get unlimited support for one full year from the date you first use your SeniorPass. We can help keep your computer running well, fix all kinds of computer problems, clean up malware, and a whole lot more. Our SeniorPass is like having insurance for your computer. And it’s only $99 for an entire year.
To learn more about our SeniorPass, please see this page.
Debbie wants to know how to extend the time to go back to a previous version of Windows
I know you’ve addressed this before, but I can’t find it anywhere, I apologize. When I do a Windows update or install a new version of Windows 10, 21H2 for example, how do I extend the time that I can reverse it?
Our answer
Hi Debbie. Here’s our article on extending the amount of time you have to back to the previous version of Windows 10. You can extend the time you have to go back to the previous version from 10 days to as many as 60 days.
We hope this helps you, Debbie.
Colin just can’t get rid of all those pesky temporary files
When trying to clear my temporary files on drive c after using the run command %temp% I found I could not as there were “mat-debug” files present and in use by Microsoft Teams. I tried the net for clues as to how to get rid of these files and found what I thought was a solution but that didn’t work when I tried it. It suggested that after using Safe Boot I use disc cleanup which I did on drive c only to find those annoying mat debug files still there. It also suggested that if the files were still there that I close them individually. I couldn’t find a way of doing this, however. Can you help me in this regard?
Our answer
Hi Colin. You can never clear all temp files using %Temp% as long as Windows is running. We cover that in our article here. In that article, you’ll find this…”You can never delete all temporary files because as long as Windows is running, temporary files are constantly being created…”
If you’re expecting the %temp% command to clear all temp files, that’s never going to happen as long as Windows is running.
I think if you look at Task Manager/Processes or Services.msc you’ll find some MS Team processes and/or services running in the background. But even if you end all of those processes, you still won’t be able to delete every single temporary file.
We hope this helps you, Colin.
Robert wants a good free photo-editing site
You advised a good free site for the best photo editing – I am interested in a free photo editing service. Is that something you can provide for me?
Our answer
Hi Robert. There are several online photo editors we have tested in the past. We have not tested any recently. But here are several we have tested:
Pixlr
Be Funky
https://www.befunky.com/ (Good for beginners, not a lot of advanced features)
PhotoPea
https://www.photopea.com/ (Advanced online photo editor – with features like Photoshop)
We hope you find one that meets your needs.
Gloria asks about special characters
A while back you gave some “special characters” using the alt key and 4 numbers to activate characters. Of course, my Windows 11 isn’t cooperating and I can no longer do the alt thing plus numbers. Can you help, please?
Our answer
Hi Gloria. We have not written a specific article on special characters since 2012 and as far as ALT key+ 4 digits, we once featured Microsoft special characters using the ALT key from this Microsoft page. You’ll find quite a few ALT+ numbers to access Windows special characters on that page.
Here are some alternate ways of accessing special characters
Charmap
You can access and use special characters by typing Charmap in the taskbar search and locating the character(s) you want to use by finding them in the Character Map and clicking on them.
Windows Emoji pad
Windows Emoji pad offers an even easier way to use special characters in your emails and documents – you can read more about that here.
We hope this helps you, Gloria.
——-
Gloria wrote back…”THANK YOU. I got more than the character map and the Emoji keyboard was a plus!”
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Sandi asks about Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable
I had to go back and reinstall Windows 11 with my files and folders intact before I got eM Client back to what it should be. Thank you for all of your help in this matter. I do have one more question if it’s not too much trouble. I have a list of programs that Windows took out that weren’t originally installed. Do I have to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable again if there’s already Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 installed? Thank you again for being so good and prompt with those of us with computer problems.
Our answer
Hi Sandi. Thank you.
The Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable is a version of NET Framework. It’s included with Windows Updates. The Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package installs runtime components of Visual C++ Libraries required to run applications developed with Visual C++ on a computer that does not have Visual C++ 2008 installed. Unless you have problems running a particular program you don’t need to reinstall it. Generally, newer versions of NET include older updates. Simple answer – you don’t need it.
The list of programs that you see after a reset are programs that were removed during the reset; it’s just a guide. You don’t have to reinstall everything on that list. Just reinstall what you want/need.
We hope this helps you, Sandi.
Bob wants to clone a potentially failing hard drive
I may have an internal boot drive going bad, but it’s been more than 10 years since I cloned a hard drive. Can you give us simple step-by-step instructions on how to clone a hard drive, and what software do you recommend to clone with? Thanks!
Our answer
Hi Bob. A clone is an exact copy of your hard drive – sector by sector. The last thing you want to do with a bad hard drive is to clone it. What you need to do is back up all your files (Photos, Documents, Music, etc.) to an external drive before your hard drive becomes inaccessible. You can then copy the files back to the corresponding folders after you install Windows 10 on the new drive.
You can download Windows 10 here and make an installation DVD (or flash drive) and install it on a new hard drive. Both the installation disk and flash drive are bootable. And you won’t need a product key since you have Windows 10 installed now. Windows 10 embeds the key in your computer’s BIOS. As long as you don’t change your motherboard you’ll never need a product key.
I hope this helps you, Bob.
Frank says the taskbar icons are too small on Windows 11
Last week I bought 2 HP laptops for my wife and myself there both Windows 11. My problem is the taskbar, the icons are so very small and hard to see. I did find a program I thought would help me, but only part of the taskbar icons got larger. On the right side is where the battery, sound, internet, and cloud icons are. They might be 1/8″ tall also the clock and date are very small can you look into this problem? You have been very helpful since 1998 when I first found your website.
Our answer
Hi Frank. Thanks! Have you adjusted your screen resolution? On both of my Windows 11 PCs, the taskbar icons are quite large.
I have one small laptop (13.5″ screen) and one large laptop with a 19″ screen and on both the icons are plenty large for me.
Many tech sites show registry edits for increasing the taskbar icon size, but these do not come without risk. We don’t recommend them.
We recommend you try this:
> Right-click on an empty space on the desktop.
> Select Display settings from the contextual menu.
> Move the slider under “Change the size of text, apps, and other items” to 100%, 125%, 150%, or 175%.
> Click Apply at the bottom of the settings window.
You can try different percentages until you find the one that suits you.
If that does not give you the results you want open Settings > Display and try changing the “Scale” settings or the “Screen Resolution settings.
We hope this helps you, Frank.
Vari wants to know how to save important emails in Gmail
Hi. I am not sure if this is a suitable question for you both but I thought I would try! I would like to save some very important emails in Gmail and wonder what is the best way to do this. I would like them to be all in one folder and easily accessible. I have never done something like this before so not sure how easy it is or if it is possible. Sorry if this is a very basic question but I have not needed help with this before now so I hope you can help. Many thanks for all your wonderful newsletters and tips. Vari.
Our answer
Hi Vari. Thanks so much for your kind comments!
You can save any label (folder) in Gmail by using Google Takeout. Read our article here.
That article describes how to back up your entire Google account – but you can back up a specified Gmail label (folder) too. All of your Gmail emails are stored in the folder “All mail”.
We hope this helps you!
——–
Vari wrote back: “Thank you TC. Just what I wanted! I was sure you would have the answer! …Thanks, Vari.
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Special characters
Dont forget if you use the the Alt + number, you must use the numeric keypad to type the numbers, and not the keyboard.