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I'm one of today's best-selling computer book writers, with more than 15 million books in print.

This website keeps you up-to-date on my books, and your computers. Each week, I answer a reader's question on-line.

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Archive for 'Hardware'

Creating a Recovery Drive in Windows 8

Windows 8: How to create a Recovery Drive on a flash drive, DVD or CD. Be prepared for when your Windows 8 PC, laptop or tablet refuses to load.

Will Windows 8 be too difficult to learn?

Q: I am considering purchasing a Windows 8 laptop. Being a senior and not as savvy as these young whippersnappers, do you think it’ll be too difficult to learn? I’m presently using Windows XP, and I have used a computer for the last ten years.  But I understand that Windows 8 is a different animal […]

What’s a Hi-Speed USB controller, and how do I add one?

Q: When I plug something into the USB port on my ancient Dell Inspiron 8000 laptop, I sometimes see a message that says, “There are no Hi-Speed USB host controllers installed on this computer.”  At the bottom of the notice is another note saying, “The US Composite Device will function at reduced speed.  You must add […]

Can I use a System Image on a different PC?

Q: You said earlier that there may be trouble when putting a System Image onto a different PC. I always thought that when my PC finally goes kaput, I could put the old PC’s System Image onto the new one. That way I’d be right where I started. What should I do? A: First, a […]

My laptop keeps opening windows and menus by itself!

Q: When I leave my laptop’s mouse pointer hovering over certain places on the screen, it opens and closes items by itself. This happens throughout Windows 7, even when I inadvertently leave the pointer resting over something. Is there any way I can make Windows only open things when I click them? A: Laptops and […]