A USB Wi-Fi Adapter is an Easy and Inexpensive Fix for Many Wi-Fi Problems 
Windows 10 & Windows 11

We receive several emails every month from folks who say they are having problems connecting to their wireless network (Wi-Fi)or that sometimes their computer connects to Wi-Fi and other times does not or that their connection is not stable. Sometimes you can browse the web with no problems and other times websites won’t load.

If your computer’s wireless adapter is starting to fail and you’re having problems connecting or staying connected to the internet your first step should be to call your internet service provider (ISP). Your ISP can check your modem/router and the lines in/out of your home. If your ISP tells you that your modem/router is working fine and they find no problems, then the problem is most likely your computer’s Wi-Fi adapter is not working correctly. At this point,  you have 2 choices

A. You can buy a new wireless adapter. If you chose this solution, you’ll have to buy the wireless adapter, disassemble your computer’s case, remove the old wireless adapter, install the new wireless adapter, and then put your laptop or desktop back together. Or else pay someone else to put in the wireless card. If you choose to buy a wireless network adapter and have someone else install it for you, this option may cost you $100 or more.

B. Buy a USB Wi-Fi adapter. This is the easiest, most cost-effective way to upgrade an older computer’s Wi-Fi wireless adapter. And choosing a USB Wi-Fi adapter, you can upgrade your older computer’s wireless capabilities, and that can make a big difference in your Internet connection. And a USB Wi-Fi adapter is the most cost effective and easiest way to fix your Wi-Fi woes caused by an older wireless card.

What Does a USB Wi-Fi adapter do?

A USB Wi-Fi adapter overrides the computer’s built-in wireless card. If you’re using an older laptop, a USB Wi-Fi adapter can give you a faster, more reliable, updated Wi-Fi connection. Most USB Wi-Fi adapters are plug-and-play which means you plug the USB Wi-Fi adapter into a USB port and install the software that comes with it (if any), connect to your wireless network and you’re done.

What kind of USB Wi-Fi adapter do you need & how much will it cost?

If you do a lot of streaming (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.) or online gaming, you should choose a Wireless USB adapter with a data transfer rate of 500 Mbps or more. And be sure to select a dual-band adapter since they work on both the 2.4GHz band as well as the 5GHz band. The 5GHz band offers a faster, more reliable connection with less susceptibility to interference.

Prices vary greatly, but you should be able to find a good 500+ Mbps, dual-band USB wireless adapter in the $15-$30 price range.

Above:  TP-Link Nano AC600 USB Wifi Adapter(Archer T2U Nano)- 2.4G/5G Dual Band Wireless Network Transceiver Adapter (Windows 10 and Windows 11)… $12.99 from Amazon. Read more…

Above:  Dual Band USB wifi Adapter, 600 Mbps 5GHz/2.4GHz WIFI USB Adapter 802.11ac w/ Antenna Wireless Network Dongle for PC (Windows 10 and Windows 11)… $11.99 from Walmart. Read more…

You can spend a lot more but remember spending more doesn’t ensure that you’ll get a better adapter.

Most adapters are plug & play. Some have software built into the USB adapter so when you plug it in the first time, it automatically installs the necessary software.  

So… if you have an older desktop or laptop and are having problems connecting to, finding, or staying connected to your wireless network, a USB Wireless Adapter may be all you need to upgrade your computer’s Wi-Fi capability and end your Wi-Fi woes without spending a lot of money. 

Scam Update: Current Scams and How to Spot Them
For everyone who uses a computer or smartphone

Today, we’re going to update you on the most popular current scams floating around out there. As you probably already know, scammers are always looking for new ways to get their hands in your pockets and steal your money, or even worse — your identity.

VPNs and identity theft protection companies cannot protect you from identity theft – regardless of their sometimes outrageous promises. The best way to protect your money and your identity is by keeping up-to-date with all the latest scams and by using common sense while you’re using your phone or while you’re on the Web. Don’t let your guard down, stay informed, and stay safe.

Here are some of the current most common scams making the rounds right now

Impersonation Scams – Hackers can spoof numbers for government agencies, like the IRS, debt collectors, your local bank, or even people you know, asking for sensitive information.

Reactivation Scams – Scammers may send text messages asking you to reactivate your account by clicking on a link or calling a number.

Delivery Notification Scams – You may receive a text message or email saying that you have a package waiting for you and to click on the link to track it.

Prize Scams – Scammers claim that you’ve won a large prize or lottery and are required to pay an ‘administrative fee’ in order to claim it.

Family Emergency Scams – You may receive a call from someone pretending to be a loved one in distress and asking for money to help them out with an emergency.

And Here are some tips on how to spot scams

Understand that scammers often pretend to be from trusted organizations. They may utilize technology to impersonate names and phone numbers. So what you see on your device may not be real. They can also create counterfeit websites that look very much like the trusted website they’re counterfeiting.

Criminals may include high pressure, urgent requests — citing a problem or prize that needs your immediate attention.

Many phishing emails or texts will contain grammatical errors in the message or sender’s email address.

Scammers very often request a specific payment method that you must use to remedy the situation. Most often they’ll ask you to pay with gift cards or cryptocurrency.

They may send you a check. Really! That’s right, they may send you a check to deposit, asking you to send back a portion of the money. When it’s discovered the check is fake you’ll be out the funds.

Our dual missions are to help you with your PC and to keep you safe on the web. Stay informed as to what the latest scams are, always be alert, always use common sense, and be wary. We hope this helps you stay safe. 

Want more tips, tricks, and information?

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Everything Makes Searching Your Computer Faster 

As far as I know — or for as long as I can remember, at least — Windows has always had a search feature. It’s not always been particularly good. And it’s certainly not the fastest. In Windows XP and Vista, the Windows search feature was not very good and certainly not very fast. Windows 7 brought some improvements. Windows 10 and Windows 11 continued to improve the search feature. But Windows search is still not as fast as it should be, not as thorough as it could be, and not as fast Everything Search – a free search program for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Everything Search

Everything is not new; it’s been around for a long time. We’ve featured it before, but that was a couple of years ago. But seriously, it’s so good and so fast, it deserves mention.

Everything is made by Voidtools. The developer, David Carpenter, is so sure you’ll like Everything search, he is willing to put his name and his email address on the Everything website – and that says a lot about the program and the developer.

A few days ago we decided to check it out again. ‘And once again, we found Everything Search to be exceptional. It is an amazingly fast and thorough search engine for Windows. It makes it easy to find whatever you’re looking for on your computer.

I did a couple of quick tests. And Everything produced great search results instantly. We looked for all files on my laptop with the “white.mid” in their names in the first test. Everything found, well, everything with “white.mid” in its name in the blink of an eye.

Let’s see if Everything can find “Ice Castles”, one of my favorite midis from our stationery days. You can even change the view from Details to Icon views and more.

And in another test, I just looked for all PDF files on my laptop. I have PDF files on this old laptop going back to 2013. I have saved quite a few in the last eight years. To find them all, I used the wildcard * (that is *.PDF) to search for all PDF files. In less than 2 seconds it found every PDF file on my laptop – and there are a whole lot of them. The search results can be ordered by name, date, type, etc. Below you can see Everything showing all PDF files on my laptop (some going all the way back to 2013) by name.

So, with our tests completed successfully, it’s time to bring in David Carpenter, the developer of Everything, to answer your questions:

What is “Everything”?

“Everything” is search engine that locates files and folders by filename instantly for Windows.

Unlike Windows search “Everything” initially displays every file and folder on your computer (hence the name “Everything”).

You type in a search filter to limit what files and folders are displayed.

How long will it take to index my files?

“Everything” only indexes file and folder names and generally takes a few seconds to build its database.

A fresh install of Windows 11 (about 120,000 files) will take about 1 second to index.

1,000,000 files will take about 1 minute.

Does Everything search file contents?

Yes, “Everything” can search file content with the content: search function.

File content is not indexed, searching content is slow.

Does “Everything” hog my system resources?

No, “Everything” uses very little system resources.

A fresh install of Windows 10 (about 120,000 files) will use about 14 MB of ram and less than 9 MB of disk space.

1,000,000 files will use about 75 MB of ram and 45 MB of disk space.

Does “Everything” monitor file system changes?

Yes, “Everything” does monitor file system changes.

Your search windows will reflect changes made to the file system.

Is “Everything” free?

Yes, “Everything” is Freeware.

Please consider donating.

Does “Everything” contain any malware, spyware or adware?

No, “Everything” does not contain any malware, spyware or adware…

If you want to read more about Everything, visit this page.

Everything is available for download as a portable app or with an installer. It’s available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. If you’re looking for a faster, better way to find files on your Windows PC, give “Everything” a try. It’s fast, free, and it’s not bundled with anything else, and it contains no malware or badware. And you’ll be happy to know the author does not play whack-a-mole with the download links.

You can download Everything from this page. 

You’ll have several installation options to choose from. If you’re an advanced user you can modify these however you wish. If you’re not an advanced user or you are a minimalist like us, just install Everything as it comes. It works great right out of the box as they say. 

And should you have any questions or problems, David Carpenter puts his name and email address on the Everything website.

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Imagine

Imagine you are a snowflake and you are born on a high cloud on a bleak and colorless bitter winter day. And for the longest time, you’re borne on the lofty and majestic winds that sweep the crescents of the sky, always surrounded by others like you, all alike and all different and all traveling together, to the same and different destinations.

But it’s not the destination that matters, it is the journey- the journey on the wind, where high-born kinsmen and lost brothers and sisters float and sail together and apart, always parting and never parted. Always meeting for fleeting moments, yet never meeting, and all borne on the shrill wind of a single, unimportant, unremarkable, cold, and gray winter day.

You dance on the high winds and you mingle and meld with other snowflakes, all the same and yet all unique. The gray slate of clouds is your world and your canopy. You swirl and float and dream and live in a world of gray and other shades of black and white. It’s the only world you know, but you have heard tales of a world where there are other colors — browns and reds and yellows and greens and blues and all the shades of all the other colors…you’ve heard of rainbows and unicorns, and soft sweet spring meadows, and buildings that touch the sky -- but you realize you will never see them...

Read the rest of this essay here.

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What does it mean when my mouse pointer turns into a hand?

It probably means you've had one too many. Pointers don't turn into hands any more than dogs turn into elephants. Go easy on the sauce! Oh wait, you meant your computer pointer! Oh well, that's different!

If you see your pointer turn into a hand, it indicates that there is something there for you to drag and drop. To drag, hold the left mouse key down and drag where you want. 

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We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly. Thanks so much for your support and for being an InfoAve Weekly subscriber.

Have a great weekend... be safe!

Darcy and TC
Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly - Issue #1031
Volume 20 Number 37
July 14, 2023 

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