Folder based password protection is one of the best ways to protect your files from unwanted viewers, guests, and prying eyes. If you concerned about the safety and security of some of your files and folders in Windows 7, here are a few utilities that you can use to protect yourself:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/230946/how_to_passwordprotect_a_folder_in_windows_7.html
When fall and winter arrive, and the temperatures drop, it is a good idea to consider the impact that cold weather can have on your laptop. We know heat can damage our equipment, but too often we forget about the effects that can result from extreme cold, which can damage your battery, corrupt your hard drive, prevent your screen from displaying correctly, and even cause your screen to shatter.
Here, with the compliments of your friends at LaptopMD, are four ways you can keep your laptop safe in cold weather.
Also Check out: Crypto Mining Rig Assembly Repair
Avoid using your laptop in extremely cold weather
Most laptops are built to operate between 50 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 35 C). Some laptops can operate below freezing, but many will be damaged if you attempt to do so. Clearly, you should avoid using the laptop in an area where the temperature has dropped below freezing.
Move into a car or a sheltered area where the temperature is higher before turning it on.
Protect your laptop when traveling in cold weather.
Exposure to cold comes most often when traveling. Protect your computer by keeping it in a well padded and insulated case when moving around, particularly when the temperature drops below freezing and when the wind can lower the effective temperature even further.
Should the bag become wet, your laptop could be exposed to moisture damage. Avoid turning it on until you are sure the laptop is dry.
Avoid storing your laptop in an extremely cold place.
Even should you have a case that keeps the laptop well protected, avoid leaving the laptop in an exposed space, such as a trunk, for an extended period of time during extremely cold weather. If exposed to extreme cold for an hour, your laptop could freeze and you could lose all your data. Freezing can also damage your battery and cause the screen to die.
Allow time for your laptop to warm up.
When you move your laptop from exposure to extreme cold temperatures outside to room temperature inside, let the laptop warm up for about a quarter of an hour and become accustomed to the warmer temperature before turning it on. Should you turn on your laptop too early, the screen and inside hardware might be damaged to such an extent that it cannot be repaired.
Avoid using an artificial means of heating the computer, such as a space heater or hair drier. Bringing the machine into a warm area quickly could also cause condensation to build up. Be aware of that and give the computer time to dry out and recover.
Hope this helped!
We at LaptopMD hope that these measures help you to avoid the problems that overcooling could cause your computer.
School is back in session – and you’re already exhausted. Chances are, your laptop or desktop is too. Even if you’ve invested in a MacBook 15” Pro with a packed RAM of 16 GB, that space fills up quickly with Zoom Meetings, study guides, and PowerPoint slides. And when you’re not running out of storage, you’re dealing with a slowed-down hard drive, maybe even apps that keep quitting on you. So what do you do when you’ve already poured your life savings into textbooks and getting the laptop in the first place? What are your most inexpensive options?
With so many Apple and other brand stores closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be challenging to find a reliable laptop repair shop to handle your repairs. However, several computer repair shops, such as LaptopMD, are still open and serving their communities as essential businesses. So when you’re looking for “MacBook Pro repair near me,” your local computer or PC repair store will likely have some prime solutions for you.
Keys fall out or lose small parts underneath – it happens. These kinds of repairs can sometimes be simple fixes requiring more determination and patience than tech skill. If you purchased your laptop new from the manufacturer, it should come with a service manual detailing how to replace keyboard keys. Before unscrewing everything and possibly losing small pieces, be sure to gather the parts and tools you’ll need for the repair. You’ll also want to set up a workspace in which to operate on your device.
If you’ve taken a crack at it – or have decided that’s not for you! – and couldn’t quite figure out a solution, drop by LaptopMD’s store for professional and timely help you can count on.
Your hard drive is the warehouse of all your precious photos, files, and information. What happens when yours malfunctions? You take it to your local computer repair shop, that’s what. Whether it’s an HDD or an SSD, the drive also stores the operating system code, instructions for your internet browsers, and much more.
A variety of mistakes can land you in need of a screen repair, or even screen replacement. For this type of repair, you’ll want to find the best local computer repair shop near you. Once you’ve had the experts fix your screen, consider investing in some screen protection. Phone cases won’t cut it; we suggest buying a screen protector as well.
When you knock your coffee over on your laptop screen, quick action is in order. First, unplug the power cord and pull out any other cords. Sending juice to a wet laptop is the last kind of problem you want on your hands. Lightly dab at the moisture on the computer, making sure none has seeped into the vent holes at the top of the keyboard. Finally, flip the laptop over and prop it up, screen facing down.
Whether you decide to handle your repair on your own or you head to a local repair shop right away, consider stopping by LaptopMD. We’ve got the expert tech resources to fix whatever laptop issue you may have, but we’re also here to offer you quality customer service. You shouldn’t have to wait forever to get your precious device back, especially in the midst of the school semester! Drop by or give us a call today to start your essential repair.
At LaptopMd we’ve covered security in depth on our blog. Today we want to talk about a hot topic – Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs. Once upon a time VPNs were only for businesses or security experts.
Nowadays, with the rise of censorship, tracking, and internet hacking, VPNs are something casual users are considering, and that’s probably a good idea.
It’s pretty easy to get a VPN app from the Microsoft, Google, or Apple store and install it with a few clicks on a button. Typically only basic configuration is needed. You no longer have to be a security expert to protect your right to privacy.
As you can see from this popular VPN website, VPNs aren’t extremely expensive either. In fact, you can get a pretty robust VPN with strong encryption for as low as the cost of two coffees a month.
Here are five reasons why you probably should be using a VPN:
Device Protection
How many times have you logged onto wi-fi at a coffee shop, store, or airport to take advantage of the free connection? It’s easier than you think for a malicious hacker to sniff out your information, or even fool you into connecting to a fake site, giving them the ability to download malware straight to your computer or phone.
VPN tunnels send data from a server straight to your phone; all data is encrypted. That means that even if you are on an unsafe network, hackers won’t be able to interfere, or even see what you’re doing.
Evade Tracking
VPNs direct all of your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel. You have the option to choose a server in any location, and choose a different IP. This can be useful if you need to access sites at work or school when the network is severely restricted, blocking various sites, but accessing these sites will enhance your studies or work.
Avoid Being a Commodity
Did you know that internet service providers can now collect and sell your data as they would like? Every time you log online, every move you make is tracked, and monetized. Congratulations, to advertisers, you, as a person are now a product.
Advertisers buy your internet history so they can analyze what sites you visit, where you currently shop, what your interests are and more so that they can make their advertisements more appealing to you.
Actually, more people may be interested in what you are doing online than you think – social media sites, and yes, hackers. A VPN protects you from becoming a product that can be sold.
Access Geoblocked Content
Unfortunately, not all countries are afforded the same privileges as we have in the US. Some countries in the world are subject to censorship or a government controlling what you see online. If you are visiting one of these countries, a VPN will bypass content restrictions so you can access simple streaming services like Netflix and YouTube or your religious or political readings.
Privacy is a Right, not a Privilege
New Yorkers can’t go anywhere without being caught on surveillance camera. We’re followed and watched by advertisers, cell networks and tracked by social media sites and our ISPs. If you believe that privacy is a right, not a privilege, look into a VPN. You don’t have to be doing anything wrong to be spied on.
Your life is not for sale, so you should stop companies from profiting off of it without your permission.
If you’re interested in network security, or internet security, talk to one of our techs today and we’ll be happy to help. We remove Viruses, Malware, do data recovery and love to talk tech in general.
As a computer repair shop, we’ve seen our fair share of viruses. And when our CEO asked everyone what we all personally believed to be the best way to protect yourself from malware and viruses in general, the answer was pretty one-sided. Common sense.
More than anything else, the best way to protect yourself online is by using common sense. Be careful what you’re clicking on, what attachments you’re opening, what you’re downloading, and who you’re trusting. Common sense is a really ambiguous term though, so here are some specific tips to help you out.
Browsing with caution doesn’t necessarily mean being afraid to open up Yahoo or CNBC, but if you think a website or email looks sketchy or out-of-place, maybe skip it. Phishing can take many forms: a Nigerian prince asking for money is obviously a ploy – but “Well’s Fargo” sending you an email saying you need to verify your information in the next 24 hours or they’ll close your account isn’t quite as obvious. When in doubt, look for ways to verify the email is legitimate, such as a phone number or contact information at the bottom of the email and verify that it matches with Wells Fargo’s actual number.
Take a quick look at a website’s domain to make sure you’re on the correct site before you submit personal information or download anything. If you’re going to download Microsoft Office, make sure you’re on Microsoft.com, not Microsftoff.com. It’s a small detail, but that’s exactly how people get malicious software.
An additional security measure on websites is having an SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer). That’s the little lock next to the website’s name:
It essentially just means that any information sent to or from that website will be encrypted and is therefore much harder to access for any 3rd party.
If you’re going to websites to illegally stream your favorite shows or sports, you should probably be cautious, use an adblocker, and don’t click the ads you DO see on the page. But if you’re the type of person to go to those websites, you probably know that already.
When all else fails: use your common sense. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
Windows Defender is a program that comes on every Windows computer with Windows 8 or newer (also called Microsoft Security Essentials ) and it does a pretty decent job. It’s downloadable for all Windows computers with older operating systems as well.
Besides using common sense, you still need an antivirus. But that doesn’t mean you need a paid antivirus.
Essentially, many of those common “big” antivirus programs do exactly what you want to prevent: slow down your computer. They often force bloatware onto your computer or make you download extensions that make your browser slow and clunky. It’s pretty ironic that the programs you’re downloading to STOP your computer from slowing down/having pop-ups will have the opposite effect. If you don’t want to be constantly pestered by your antivirus your best bet is to just stick with the security your computer came with, because it’s definitely good enough.
How to Geek says it caught 99.9% of all “widespread and prevalent” malware. According to them, it may not hit quite as many benchmarks as some paid options but it’s good enough. Frankly, you won’t notice any difference in protection between Windows Defender and Norton/AVG/McAfee. What you WILL notice though, is how annoying that paid antivirus program is.
Windows Defender is smooth and runs in the background while it does its job. It will give you the rare notification that isn’t invasive or distracting, but that’s how you know it’s working. Plus it’s free. And unless you really feel like financially supporting the antivirus community, free is better.
Now that DOESN’T mean that you’re 100% protected all the time. Viruses and malware are persistent and you are always at risk of being infected – whether you have an additional antivirus program or not. You should still be careful (see section on common sense).
If you really want to double down and cover all of your bases, you can use a malware scanner once a month (or once every few months) to ensure that you haven’t picked up any malicious software. Malwarebytes has developed a good reputation for routine malware scanning, and they have both free and paid versions.
If you go with a scanner that is manually controlled – which we would recommend since you are already running Windows Defender in the background – just remember to use it. It’s not helping you if the icon is just sitting on your desktop. Make sure to run it every now and then!
These suggestions are for the average user for their personal computer. Large and medium businesses are obviously at more risk and will require more layers of protection for their network, because they have more to lose and attackers have more to gain. However, for personal use, most paid anti-viruses hurt more than they help and you just shouldn’t worry about it too much. Browse with common sense and stick with the basics.
Worst case scenario: a virus removal from a computer repair shop just like us is always an option. If that doesn’t do the trick, a system reinstall will cure your sick computer and have it back up to speed in no time.
In our society where the technology landscape is constantly moving and shifting, people are always concerned with having the best new thing on the market. So when people are talking about a new form of storage on your computer and replacing your hard-drive, it’s easy to be skeptical. However, if you are interested in having a better experience using your computer, then an upgrade to an SSD (or Solid State Drive) may be for you. Computers used to rely on HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) as the main storage device, but SSDs are becoming more and more prevalent. 
So what exactly are SSDs and HDDs?
A Solid State Drive is a storage device containing nonvolatile flash memory, and it is used in place of a Hard Disk Drive because of its speed. A normal SSD offers the largest jump in performance for a regular PC. Most people are familiar with a standard USB drive, so think of the SSD as a larger USB. An HDD, is the mechanism that controls the positioning, reading, and writing of the hard disk. So while an SSD is like a large USB, an HDD is more like a larger floppy disk.
That comparison might be a little harsh, but still. An SSD can perform all of the functions as an HDD, but SSDs store their memory on flash chips that retain data even if there is no power on. As mentioned before, the SSD is nonvolatile, which means that the disk can be turned off and it won’t forget what was stored on it. By storing data in microchips, this prevents the SSD from requiring moving parts, which makes it more reliable. An HDD does have several moving parts, which causes it to be slower and also gives it a higher failure rate because moving parts are susceptible to wear and tear over time.
The main advantage of an SSD is the speed, because the flash memory chips used in SSD are much faster at reading data. When an HDD is crowded with data, sometimes it becomes fragmented across multiple sections. This will cause the HDD to take longer to read the data. Unlike the HDD, the SSD is able to read files simultaneously across multiple sections, which prevents fragmentation. If you are looking to improve the speed of your system, once again we can consider this a win for SSD.
The one advantage HDD does have is that it is cheaper and is still able to store lots of data. However, unless you need to store a large amount of data (and you’ll probably know who you are, if that is the case) a standard 240 GB is probably enough. Also, people may argue that the SSD is significantly more expensive. This is the case if someone wants a huge SSD, because an HDD with 1 TB of data will probably remain notably cheaper than an SSD of that size. However, the price of the standard SSD has declined in recent years, making the price difference not a major issue anymore for the average consumer who likely only needs between 120 and 480GB of storage. With an SSD, you are sacrificing a few bucks for a much more efficient and reliable system.
Comparing the two side by side, the HDD requires much more power and time to operate as opposed to the SSD. The failure rate is higher, and the price of the SSD is continuing to decline, making the price difference a non-factor compared to the past. Given all these factors, we can see how the SSD is a clear improvement over the HDD. When it comes to finding a new computer that is “better, faster, stronger”, the Solid State Drive will turn your old computer into the new one you have been looking for.
Tax season is almost here, and it’s time for you to start thinking about how you will be submitting your income tax declaration. There are several ways for you to prepare and give your documents to the IRS, from having a professional accountant do it for you to completing and submitting the documents yourself or using special software.
Before you choose this route, you need to consider the security status of your computer system. How do you know if it’s safe to share your private and sensitive financial information with a software program? Let us help educate you on the signs of a compromised computer.
Check your device
Firstly, before you install any tax software on your computer, you need to make sure that the computer is not infected with viruses, malware or spyware. Here is a list of behaviors that may indicate your computer is compromised with spyware:
And the last one
Now that you’re alert to what kind of suspicious activities can affect your laptop during tax season, let us know if you’re experiencing any of these issues. We here at LaptopMD are happy to help you safely submit your taxes this tax season.
The 21st century is a busy, modern age when time seems at a premium. There are few things more frustrating than having to sit and look at your laptop how it -so-slowly loads a program or webpage.
There are numbers of reasons, however, why your laptop may be running slowly and some of them can be simple, easy or quick fixes. Here are 5 reasons why your laptop may run slowly.
Hardware
Upgrading your hardware can be a relatively inexpensive way to create an enormous boost in horsepower. Switching to a Solid State Drive (SSD) from a spinning hard drive can give your aging machine a major performance boost. As an added bonus, by changing out your hard drive you might gain extra storage in addition to the extra performance.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
Another cheap and easy solution for laptop laze is to upgrade your RAM. Your laptop’s CPU accesses data faster from its RAM than its hard drive or SSD.
The more more RAM your laptop has available, the more data it can store there for quick and easy access, which speeds up performance.
Your laptop is not designed for what you want to use it for!
Laptops in general are not the best for gaming, as they require such high CPU and GPU loads. Other laptops don’t have the performance requirements to do high load tasks like video editing. Not only will your laptop slow down while attempting to perform these tasks, but it may even overheat and shut down.
Viruses, Spyware and Malware
These days there are all kinds of viruses, spyware and other malware running amok on the internet that you can pick up almost anywhere. They also perform a wide variety of tasks, such as pushing advertising or phishing sites.
All of these can slow down your computer and create a number of other problems ranging from hijacking your browser to crashing your computer.
Multi-tasking
Sometimes, your performance issues have nothing to do with hardware, spyware or a lack of available RAM, but are just a matter of asking your laptop to do too much at once. Every app and every browser tab you have open decreases the functionality of your laptop. If you have a dozen or more apps running and browser tabs open, try shutting down the ones you are not currently using.
Save your precious time
Now that you have some idea of the issues that can be causing major delays on your device, we’d love to help you get it running up to speed. You can try solving an issue on your own, but why not let us give you a free estimate on the spot?
In addition, if you print this newsletter and bring it in with your laptop or any other devices you will get 10% off (excluding parts).
We’ve all accidentally sent important files to the recycle bin. It’s an annoying problem to be sure, but you can recover these files if you just go into the recycle bin itself and restore them. But what happens if you empty your recycle bin before you restore an important file?
You might think that anything deleted from your recycle bin is lost forever, but there are still ways to recover these deleted files.
Check backups
If you find that you’ve deleted an important file, the first thing you should do is check all of your backups and sync services. You should find your lost file completely intact if it was properly backed up. If you use Dropbox, you should even find multiple versions of every file waiting to be restored should you ever need them.
Windows
If you don’t have a backup of the deleted file, there are still some options available to you. Those who use Windows 8 or higher should have access to a tool called File History that can be turned on from your Control Panel. You will need an external drive to use this tool properly, but it will come in handy if you need to recover a lost file.
Users with Windows 7 have the ability to create system restore points that include “shadow copies” of important files. You normally cannot access them directly, but if you right click on the desired shadow file copy and select Properties, you should be able to get to the file’s previous versions.
Mac
Mac users have a similar tool called Time Machine at their disposal. Like the tools available to PC users, Time Machine keeps backups of important files on an external drive so they can be restored if necessary. Time Machine needs to be enabled before the necessary file is lost, however; it cannot be used after the fact.
Recovery Tools
If you have a solid-state drive and the above recovery strategies don’t work, you’re out of luck. The files you need are lost, and there’s nothing you can do to get them back. On the other hand, you might still have a chance if you have a regular magnetic platter hard drive. With these standard drives, a file isn’t actually lost until the space where it was found has been overwritten by other data. You will need some special software to recover lost data from a hard drive, but the good news is that there is plenty of programs available such as Recuva or Undelete Plus.
If you are truly at a loss when it comes to recovering your data, we at LaptopMD will be happy to help in any way we can.
Whether you use a PC or Mac, your device will slow down eventually. “Clear your browser cache” is among the first diagnostic steps you will hear from tech people. A cache is a section on your hard disk where the browser keeps files that it downloaded earlier in case they’re needed again. However, too much in your cache could be slowing your device down.
Bottom line: It is usually a good idea to clear your browser cache once in a while to ensure that things run smoothly. Here is how to go about the process.
Clearing Safari’s cache
Step One: Launch the browser then select Safari in the upper-left corner of the main menu bar. Afterward, select the “Preferences” option near the top of the drop-down menu. A new window with Safari’s settings will pop up. Navigate over to the Privacy category. In the window that appears, click the “Remove All Website Data” button. This is the easiest way to clear your browser cache.
Step One: Open the “Preferences dialog” then click the Advanced icon. Check the “Show Develop menu” in the menu bar. A new Develop drop-down menu option will appear to the left of the Window as well as Help menu options.
Step Two: Close any running Safari window then select Empty Caches on the Develop menu.
Clearing Chrome’s cache
Step one: Click on the Chrome menu in the upper-right corner, besides the address bar.
Step two: Do any of the following.
• Navigate to Tools > Clear browsing data.
• Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl + Shift + Delete combination.
– Windows or Linux – press CTRL + Shift + Delete
– Mac OS X – press Command + Shift + Delete
• Click Menu > Settings > Show advanced settings > Clear browsing data.
Step three: A pop-up will appear on your screen. In the resulting dialog, check any browsing data that you wish to delete.
Final step: Click the “Clear browsing data” button to clear your cache.
Clearing Firefox’s cache
The process is pretty much the same as clearing data in Chrome. Click CTRL + Shift + Delete to launch the “Clear Recent History dialog box.” Tick the box next to cache and choose a time range from the drop-down menu, and click “Clear Now.” If your problem persists, try these approaches.
Step One: Launch the options dialog box by either hitting the “Alt” button or clicking the hamburger menu in the upper right side of your browser. If you use the “Alt” button, you will see the pull-down menus from where you will select Tools > Options. But if you use the hamburger menu, click Options.
Step two: Select the Advanced tab on the right side of the navigation bar then select the Network sub-tab underneath. Go ahead and click the button “Clear Now” and click “OK” to proceed.
One more option!
If you are still facing the same problem even after clearing your browser cache, consider changing your HDD into SSD. Alternatively, you can scan your device for viruses or visit us for more information.