Computer Tips Archives - Page 3 of 230

How to quickly find out if your Internet service is down (without calling your ISP)

Posted on October 30, 2025

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Unfortunately, Internet outages are to be expected from time to time.

Storms knock down transmission lines, backbone cables get cut via construction mishaps, routing and switching gear go belly up… the reasons for Internet outages are many.

The thing is, when your Internet stops working it can be hard to determine whether the problem is an actual Internet outage or an issue you’re having with your own modem, your router and/or your connected devices. [Read more…]

How (and why) to make the Print Screen key always open the Snipping Tool on Windows

Posted on October 28, 2025

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If you’re a Windows user you probably know you can press either the Print Screen key or the PrtScn key (whichever spelling your keyboard uses) to immediately capture the contents of the entire screen as a screenshot.

And you might also know that you can press Alt+Print Screen to take a screenshot of just the currently active window.

But what if you want to manually select a specific portion of the screen to capture for a screenshot? [Read more…]

Q&A: Can you use a portable power station as a UPS for your computer?

Posted on October 23, 2025

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Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Roland: I’m hoping you can answer some questions for me about portable power stations.

The power went off on my street and stayed off for over 7 hours. My almost new 1,000 watt UPS only kept my computer and monitor running for about an hour.

My cousin (who is also my neighbor) has a 500 watt Jackery portable power station and he said it kept his computer running for over 5 hours, and his computer has a bigger monitor.

Like I said before, I have three questions: [Read more…]

The more security tools you buy, the weaker you might become

Posted on October 21, 2025

It’s a paradox that keeps IT directors up at night and leaves executives questioning their cybersecurity budgets…

You invest in best-in-class tools for endpoint protection, cloud security, and network monitoring, expecting to build an impenetrable fortress. Yet, with every new solution you add, your organization’s actual security posture can begin to crumble.

This counter-intuitive reality stems from a critical problem known as “alert fatigue.” Your security team, tasked with protecting your most valuable assets, becomes so overwhelmed by a constant flood of notifications that they lose the ability to distinguish real threats from background noise. In this chaos, the most dangerous attacks are the ones that slip through unnoticed. [Read more…]

What happens after the “Oops” click? The anatomy of a phishing attack

Posted on October 21, 2025

You open an email. Maybe it’s from “IT Support” requesting you verify your login, or a “shipping notification” for a package you don’t recall ordering. You click the link, and for a fleeting second, a pit forms in your stomach. Was that… real?

That moment of uncertainty is something countless employees face every day. You might think a suspicious click is a rare mistake, but phishing simulations show that when users do click, a staggering 60% proceed to enter their credentials. The door to your business network is suddenly wide open. [Read more…]