Practical answers and advice for tech, home, and everyday life.
I’ve heard of companies finding data that people thought they had deleted from their work computer. How do they do that? Might be good information in case I accidentally delete some important files from my home computer too!
Question: My computer keeps locking up and runs quite a bit slower than it used to. Programs like Internet Explorer and MS Office freeze when I try to open them. Is it time to buy a new computer?
Answer: Before you go out and buy a new system, consider this: your computer’s hardware hasn’t changed (the processor, the memory, the hard drive, etc), so it’s not likely the cause of the performance problems you’re experiencing – which is good news because I’m sure you’d rather not shell out several hundred dollars for a new computer.
Chances are good that you have a virus that has infected your system and is slowing down performance.
How to find out if your system has been infected with a virus:
If you’re experiencing performance problems and in particular are seeing weird behavior such as programs freezing or the system locking up, then it’s time to scan your system for viruses (even if you have Norton or McAfee already installed – those programs are notorious for not knowing about the latest viruses).
I recently found a program that will scan your system and remove viruses for free. It’s called AVG Free, and here’s the download link: http://free.avg.com/
Here’s what it found when it scanned my system:
Here are the basic steps to personalize and secure your wireless home network. You don’t have to be technical to do this.
Blackberry curves let you play mp3 music just like an iPod, and you can transfer songs and videos from iTunes to your Blackberry using an SD Micro memory card and a USB card reader.