My wife needed a new computer. The computer she had been using for 5 or 6 years was showing serious indications of failure. The hard drive had been reporting errors for months and we had replaced the cable between the motherboard and the screen. The situation became critical when the screen's back light failed.
Definitely the time for a new computer had arrived.
So we did some research, found a reasonably priced Lenovo computer at Amazon, and ordered it. The computer was advertised as new and came from an Amazon 3rd-party merchant. I was surprised when the computer arrived because it was obviously not a new computer unless Lenovo has started shipping new computers in used boxes that don't carry a Lenovo logo.
Amazon agreed to take the computer back and perhaps they have shut down the merchant who represented a used computer as new. The new-new computer to replace the used-new computer arrived two days later and obviously was new -- in a sealed Lenovo box. Then I was faced with the need to transfer all of the applications, settings, data, and files from the old computer to the new one.
The old computer was clearly sick. Text on the screen was barely visible, so I hooked up an external monitor. The disk drive in the computer was failing in a way that made it impossible to clone, but all applications still worked and all files seemed to still be available. Setting up a new computer is usually a multi-day operation because programs need to be installed and then configured. In many cases, the applications then need to be licensed or activated. I was looking for a better way when I noticed PCMover from Laplink.
Laplink has been around for decades and PCMover promised to move all settings, most applications, and all documents from an old computer to a new one. This seemed like a reasonable $40 investment. The instructions told me to be sure that the new computer was completely up to date, so that meant installing the Fall Creators Edition update.
Installing all the Windows updates on the new computer took required several hours and the remainder of the Microsoft updates ran to completion overnight.
The following morning, I ran an image backup of the pristine machine and started transferring applications and files with PCMover. The external monitor was helpful in allowing me to see progress messages on both systems.
The old computer (in the back) is hooked up to the external monitor.
PCMover did exactly what it said it would do. Nearly everything migrated perfectly. I had to reinstall a photo application and tweak the application that backs up files from Phyllis’s computer to mine, but this was by far the fastest and easiest migration I had ever experienced.
Laplink also displays prominently a phone number for assistance. Given the complete and accurate instructions provided at every step of the way, I wonder if anyone ever calls the help line. PCMover can use your own wired or wireless network or a USB connection between the two computers, but the best option is a special network cable between the Ethernet ports on the two computers. Using the cable makes the transfers at the highest possible rate and doesn't bog down your home network.
PCMover was even able to deal with the old computer's deteriorating disk drive. I consider the $40 or so that I spent to license PCMover one of the best investments I've ever made.
Quickly and easily migrate everything from one computer to another.Absolutely fool-proof instructions make transferring files, applications, and settings from one computer to another easy. In addition to detailed instructions in a file on the installation
disc, there's a quick start brochure that describes all of the critical steps. Once you launch the PCMover application, on-screen instructions cover every step. It might be possible to make a mistake, but only if you work really hard.
Additional details are available on the Laplink website.
Probably if someone approached you with an offer to take your $100 investment and return $1300 to you 40 minutes later, you would suspect a con. That, however, is what some crooks are doing with Bitcoin currency. It sounds too good to be true and, except for the crook, it is too good to be true.
As I started writing this report on Tuesday, the value of 1 Bitcoin was a little more than $7000. The value of Bitcoins has been rising dramatically in the past few months and that -- coupled with the fact that few people really understand how Bitcoin and block-chain technologies work -- make it relatively easy for scammers to take your Bitcoins and return nothing at all.
A Google search will reveal several sites that offer to multiply your Bitcoins, but visiting bitcointalk.org immediately reveals the scam for what it is. In response to "Is there any genuine Bitcoin multiplier," you'll find answers such as these:
So 13x your original "investment" in less than an hour is absurd. Let's take a less extreme example and see just how absurd it is. For the sake of example, we could assume that you start with $1 and the person running the Ponzi scheme says you'll double your money in one day. Seeing a chance of gain, you "invest" $100.
| Day | Value |
|---|---|
| Monday | $100 |
| Tuesday | $200 |
| Wednesday | $400 |
| Thursday | $800 |
| Friday | $1600 |
| Saturday | $3200 |
| Sunday | $6400 |
| Monday | $12,800 |
| Tuesday | $25,600 |
| Wednesday | $51,200 |
| Thursday | $102,400 |
| Friday | $204,800 |
| Saturday | $409,600 |
| Sunday | $819,200 |
| Monday | $1,639,400 |
On Monday, you have $100, which doubles to $200 on the following day, then to $400, and so on. At this rate, your $100 would be worth $12,800 in one week and $1,639,400 in just two weeks.
Clearly, this is impossible and yet some people will fall for it. The greedier you are, the more you'll lose. Invest $100; lose $100. Invest $1000; lose $1000. Invest $10,000; lose $10,000. That math is both linear and easy to understand.
Malwarebytes is reporting a variant of the con. A site offers a 13-times return in just 40 minutes and then asks for your email address and Bitcoin address. Once you've provided that information, you'll be taken to a new page where you'll have the opportunity to send your payment to a Bitcoin address. Do that and your money will be gone forever.
But it might be even worse. Some people report that the site loads malware onto their computer and then encrypts their files. To regain access to their files, the unfortunate user must pay a ransom.
As with all other offers that seem just too good to be true, this is one to avoid.
Operating systems -- whether Windows 10, MacOS High Sierra, or just about any version of Linux -- are far easier to customize today than they ever have been. So why do many people fail to make changes and, instead, just grumble about things they don't like?
Inertia probably explains some of it. In fact, sometimes I ignore something that annoys me even though I know that there's probably a way to change it. That works if the annoyance is something that I encounter rarely.
Eventually, though, the annoyance will become a frustration and I'll look for a way to fix it. This week we'll look at a few of those and, if they bother you, too, at how to change Windows.
The Start Menu may frustrate you. Microsoft has made lots of changes since the advent of computers with touch screens. It has changed so many times that I rarely use it. Instead, I just create a two-level Task Bar and pin all of my commonly used applications there. I also remove some of the default icons from the Task Bar.
Click any of the smaller images for a full-size view. To dismiss the larger image, press ESC or tap outside the image.
There's an icon for Task View, but pressing the Windows Key and Tab displays the Task View. Space on the Task Bar is too valuable for this icon or for Cortana. Although the computer is a laptop, it stays on the desk and I hide the location icon, too. Changing to small icons for the Task Bar and hiding Task Bar labels provides room for approximately 90 program icons in addition to the Start button and some information in the Notification area.
From now on, when I need to refer to the Windows Key (the one with the Windows icon on it), I'll call it "WinKey".
If your computer has a touch pad and you use a mouse, accidentally touching the pad can place the cursor where you don't want it. Although Windows still doesn't have a control that allows users to disable the touch pad, some manufacturers (Lenovo, for example) provide a utility that can accomplish this. If not, the touch pad device in Device Manager may have such a setting. Alternatively, a Registry edit can be used, but a Registry edit is always my last choice.
Cortana continues to improve and might be helpful. You'll need to activate her and decide whether you want her to listen to you all the time or respond only when you press her hot button (so to speak). Because Cortana sometimes thinks I'm talking to her when I record the podcast, I used the hot button -- WinKey - C.
One of the most frustrating annoyances for me occurs when a new application assumes that I want it to be the default application when I click a document icon in the Windows Explorer.
Opening the Default Apps section of the Control Panel looks weak because it simply lists a few applications: Email, maps, music player, photo viewer, video player, and web browser. But scroll down a bit and you'll see "Choose default apps by file type." Click this and Windows will display a huge list of file types found on your computer (everything from .001 to .ztr in my case). Then you can specify the application that Windows will use to open that kind of file.
Every new version of Windows 10 brings finer control to the system's appearance, including the ability to change colors used on most of the interface. Now it's also possible to switch the overall default app mode from light to dark. Note that this affects only Metro/Modern/Fluent apps, not desktop applications.
Night Mode is now available. This is a feature that was first introduced in mobile devices to change the overall color from the daylight appearance of screens to a warmer incandescent look. This is not a good choice if you edit photographs on the computer, but a warmer color used in the evening seems to be more restful.
Clearly what I've covered here is just a tiny selection of the thousands of changes that can be made to ensure that Windows works the way you want it to. If something about the way Windows (or MacOS or Linux) works annoys you, a quick Google search will often lead to a satisfying solution.
Beware, though, that not all recommendations are created by equally helpful people. There is a Linux command that, if executed from the root directory by a user with sufficient permissions, will delete every file and directory on the disk. I have seen this command recommended as a way for a user to fix a problem. Other users stepped in before any serious damage could be done. Similar equally dangerous commands are possible on the MacOS and Windows, so it's a good idea to accept recommendations only from well regarded advisors on trustworthy forums. After identifying a possible solution for a problem you have, it's wise to obtain a second opinion from a second site.
Occasionally TechByter Worldwide veers off the technology track a bit. This is one of those times. In October, the retina in my right eye detached partially. This is an event that, diagnosed early, can often be successfully repaired. When the symptoms are ignored, the result can be blindness, so I thought that I'd take a little time this week to talk about it.
None of these risk factors guarantees that it will happen, but they need to be taken into account. The ophthalmologist who performed my cataract surgery warned me to be aware of these factors. A decade later, when I noticed what I thought might be an indication of retinal detachment, I called it to the attention of my ophthalmologist during my annual exam. He saw no indication of detachment.
Several weeks later, I scheduled a follow-up appointment and showed the ophthalmologist an image that I had created with Photoshop to illustrate what I was seeing. He sent me to ophthalmologists who specialize in retinal detachment. They immediately saw the problem in the right eye and also noted that the left eye showed signs of retinal detachment. They immediately performed a laser procedure on the left eye and scheduled surgery for the following week on the right eye.
This is important: If you notice a loss of peripheral vision in either eye, it's important to get it checked out right away. Detached retinas don't heal themselves, but surgical procedures can keep the detachment from worsening and often can restore vision to the affected area.
I was lucky. The detachment affects peripheral vision on the left side of my right eye, an area that's totally covered by the left eye. Additionally, I'm left-eyed. We all have dominant eyes just as we are right-handed or left-handed. So the problem affected my non-dominant eye. And finally, I'm fortunate to live where talented eye surgeons are available.
My eye surgeon explained that everything had gone as expected and that she thought my vision would return to normal.
Once again I turned to Photoshop to illustrate what I see. The left eye was normal, but the right eye was severely blurry because of a gas bubble that's intended to press the retina against the back of the eye.
Currently, vision is returning to my right eye. The gas bubble rises, so it dissipates from the bottom up. This means that my vision is beginning to clear from the top down. The bubble also acts like a magnifying glass and the edge of the bubble appears as a transparent dark area between the clearing vision and the still blurred vision. The bubble also wobbles around, which makes the view from here a bit more amusing than anticipated.
Vision should be largely restored within a couple of weeks and experts say that the retina may continue to heal for a year or more, it may take months for vision to completely stabilize after surgery, and new glasses are almost certainly in my future.
Retinal detachment: This is something to (sorry!) keep an eye out for.
