Tech Teach for December 20, 2022

 Hello everyone!

It's been way too long since one of these went out.  Sorry.  Been a few changes in my life lately, still a few more to come.  No worries, not planning on going anywhere yet.

Next Sunday is Christmas Day!  Hope everyone is having a good time with decoration, wrapping gifts, and spending time with friends and family.  Oh, my, it seems like it went so quickly this year.

I know many people are out shopping, both in person and online.  Keep a close eye on your statements.  Scams can happen at any time, this time of year the most.  If anyone calls saying they are from your financial institutions, your stores, or from some technology company ("Hi, this is Microsoft, your computer is sending viruses!"), hang up on them.  Or use some of your "loquatius" words on them!  I've had two people nearly get taken for multiple thousands of dollars.  They'll ask you to transfer funds, get gift cards, or make some kind of transaction to move money from you to them.  Please, if it sounds funky, it probably is funky.

Better yet, let your answering machine answer the phone.  Then block the numbers.

Call your bank, credit union credit card or other financial institutions immediately.  You'll be spending days, if not weeks, changing account numbers, passwords, and other information to get things straightened out.

Gentle reminder to run your computer's anti-virus and anti-malware software.  Windows Defender, Avast, Avira, Norton, whatever's installed.  Malwarebytes AntiMalware if you have it.  If not, go to ninite.com, click the box and follow the instructions.  All the software there is free for downloading and use.  (If you have Windows 10, do not install Windows Security Essentials, you already have it as Windows Defender.)  If you choose another security software, Windows Defender will be disabled in favor of your choice.

Also, with the end of the year, deals for technology are everywhere.  If you're looking at a new computer, 8GB (gigabyte) of memory is a must.  If you are a casual user, you might be able to get away with 250GB of storage.  Like taking pictures or creating documents?  Go for 1TB (terabyte) / 1000GB for all those moments!

I'd also try to avoid "entry-level" processors, like Pentium or Athlon.  Try to go for at least a Core i3 or Ryzen 3.

Unless you are playing games (something more graphically stressful than Solitaire), the onboard video is fine.  If you want to play games (like my favorite game, Elite Dangerous), or edit photos and videos, then you want a dedicated video card.  You might see these being called "nVidia GeForce" or "AMD Radeon" with differing levels of performance.  Higher numbers are usually better.  So an RTX 3080 is better than an RTX 3050, while an RX6400 is the entry level, and an RX 6700 is better.

If you look around and don't find something that meets your needs, let me know.  I'll do my best to help.  If it's a desktop, buying parts and building a computer is a great option.  Then you get exactly the parts for what you want to do.  (And I really enjoy building computers.)

I don't think you can go too wrong with any of the manufacturers right now.  Though, I do have my favorites.  Dell, Asus, Acer are ones I tend toward, with HP still being toward the bottom.  Your experience may differ.  I've had some HP's last years and years, while some Dells have been long gone to the recyclers.

If the budget is tight (I know how that is), Dell usually has some awesome deals on their refurbished computers.  Plus, Dell keeps a list of current coupons for use.  Some items are on sale for as much as 55% off for some workstation class machines.

If you have lots of files, make a backup of the data.  Easy way is just a flash drive of some size, I'd say at least 64GB USB flash drive, for as little as $5.50.  If you want to make a larger backup, then you are looking at a USB external hard drive.  They come in two forms now: Solid State Drive (SSD) and Hard Drive (HD).  The big difference is that SSDs have no moving parts (using chips like memory to store data), while HDs use a spinning disk to store data. 

HDs start about $50 for 1TB / 1000GB, SSDs are about the same for 256GB.

Thank you for your time and allowing me to help with your computer needs.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know.  I'll always do my best to help.  And if you know someone that might be helped by this email, please forward it along.

And on that, let me wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone!

All my best to everyone!