Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 57 of 258

Q&A: Is it ok to use Gmail for my business email?

Posted on July 9, 2023

Question from Gabe: I recently retired after a long career in public service and I’m planning to start a second career as a professional photographer.

I’ve already lined up a few shoots through word-of-mouth but I’m planning to put up a business page on Facebook and have some business cards printed to promote my photography services.

The question I have is do I need a private email address (something like [email protected] where example.com is my own domain name) or will a Gmail address suffice?

[Read more…]

Q&A: Why is my PC’s hard drive making a clicking sound?

Posted on July 9, 2023

Question from Nancy: Rick, my desktop PC has started making a faint, but noticeable clicking sound when I first turn it on.

It only clicks for about 8-10 seconds, then it boots up normally and runs fine until I shut it down.

It’s hard to tell for sure, but I took the cover off the side of the computer and the clicking sound seems to be coming from the hard drive.

I haven’t downloaded anything recently or made any changes to the system that I’m aware of.

This machine came with Windows 8.1 but it’s been updated to Windows 10.

Do you have any idea what I can do to stop the clicking? [Read more…]

Q&A: What does the term ‘bottleneck’ mean?

Posted on July 9, 2023

Question from Alvin: I recently retired after working for the same construction company for 43 years.

Now I’d like to take up something new to occupy all this free time that I suddenly have to fill.

I’ve always wanted to learn about computers so I’ve started reading a few tech blogs, and RicksDailyTips is one of them (thanks to my brother Keith for recommending it).

I’m not tech savvy by any stretch (I hope to change that eventually) but I do believe I’m progressing ok for an older dude who still uses a flip phone.

There’s a term that keeps popping up in the articles I read that I just can’t seem to get my head around. Can you tell me what the word “bottleneck” means in regards to computers? [Read more…]

Q&A: Do surge suppressors really work?

Posted on July 8, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Ana: I bought a new iMac from Best Buy a couple of years ago.

I also bought a surge suppressor to go with it because the salesman said it would prevent the computer from being damaged by lightning.

We had a thunderstorm last night and our power went off. It came back on a couple of hours later but now my TV, dishwasher and iMac are all dead. None of them will do anything when I turn them on.

My question is, do surge suppressors really work?

[Read more…]

Q&A: Can you use the same USB thumb drive with both Windows PCs and Macs?

Posted on July 8, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Kerrie: I have a MacBook Pro and don’t own a Windows computer.

If I copy files from my MacBook Pro onto a thumb drive will my sisters be able to copy those files from that same thumb drive onto their Windows PCs?

[Read more…]