user concerns

So, phone link shut down/disabled! But not on my win 11, 23H2, OS build 22631.4317. Plus (Oct. 15th), I found this Microsoft Removes Phone Link Companion from Windows 11: What You Need to Know Most days I just kiss off MS foibles, but UH! WTF

In a recent development for Windows 11 users, Microsoft confirmed that the new ‘Recall’ feature cannot be uninstalled due to a bug in the system. This revelation comes as a detractor from the initial expectations surrounding the feature, which had been touted as a useful tool for managing user...

Hi guys, I need some help! I have win 8.1. I was watching a 14 sec video on BBC, with Facebook and a handful of other windows open when I got a screen (picture attached) that said Aptio setup utility. I wasn't sure what it was so I powered off my computer. I turned it back on and rather than...

Long story short, a while ago, I bought and returned a hard drive that still had sensitive information on it including social security number, passwords to online accounts, etc. At the time, I thought that I removed all the information on the hard drive because I quick formatted it a few times...

I just returned my 2009 win7 Toshiba Laptop HDD back to its factory defaults from the OEM hidden restore partition. With the final security patches for win7 due out next month in January 2020, I want to have a clean fresh out-of-box 2020 win7 install with all the service packs and security...

What do to protect your identity online? What's your threat model? How did you come up with your threat model? What are your primary concerns with your information being online and the online services and apps you use? How do you protect yourself online? Do you use Gmail or Protonmail? Do you...

Can I delete Windows10Upgrade folder? I am looking for stuff to delete, so I can have more space. This folder is 3.26GB. I don't think it does anything other than taking space.

My situation is this. I have an 11 year old laptop. This is now ONLY used as a display for a weather station, using a proprietary Windows XP application, so I am not interested in any new Windows features that 1803 might bring. Nevertheless up until now I have let all upgrades proceed. Now...

I need help, I have W10 installed Update 1709 and have not had any problems with updates until 1803 came out the update from Hell. It has downloaded 32 times and every time it failed. I contacted Microsoft Desk and they told me that I needed to do a clean install. I went and backed up...

Hello: I am trying to sell a computer to someone else, and want to more or less sanitize my personal info from the computer. I secure-deleted the files with sensitive info, uninstalled my financial software, and then ran a program like Eraser that claimed to effectively wipe all free space. I...

I have an older laptop that I try to keep secure with windows updates. Especially In the wake of all these ransom ware attacks. When new updates are issued on my desktop, I check the laptop to see if it will be getting same. Never happens. When I go to my security menu and ask for windows...

Backing up on ssd would be safer than hdd because no moving parts correct? So ssd failure rate is lower so just wondering how is it possible to lose data on ssd?

Two weeks ago I made a clean install from Windows XP 32-bit to Windows 7 32-bit. Was worried that new OS won't work properly because my PC is 7 years old and may not have the best specs, has survived a virus and hard drive crash twice. So far it works flawlessly. Now I'm been bugged with "Get...

Windows Edge is becoming a joke. Half the time it 'cannot find the page your are looking for. It also prints 'gobbledygook. in IE and in Google e.g. random characters are printed when attempting to enter a web address. It seems to be pushing you towards using Edge and nothing else. I never had...

Hey guys, a close friend of min installed Roboscan free version about a week ago. Well I told him that the site and program hasn't been updated since 2013. He told me that he knows that the program has not updated but the virus definitions are updating. It uses the Bitdefender engine and its own...

I'm a bit confused about Cortana and it's use of a Microsoft Account and I was wondering if someone can shed a little light on this issue? I have 2 accounts with Microsoft. One is a Hotmail.com account and the other is an Outlook.com account. I use my Outlook.com account for email and I use...

I'm worried about installing the downloaded Windows 10 and having it overwrite my existing os. Is there a way to install the downloaded W10 in a dual boot with the existing W8.1? I have updated the 8.1 system but I heard that the W10 install deletes the W 8.1 registration so that restoring from...

My hard drive got full with just about 400mb of space left. I started the back up process and when the backup was done going onto the external hard drive, windows told me it will be installing updates (I have Windows 7). I postponed the updates and closed my laptop and have not used my laptop...

I tend to keep some of my flash drives connected, simply because it is a convenient way to keep track of them. However a thought just crossed my mind, that since I have noticed that sometimes the activity light on my external SATA drives flash when they are not in use, perhaps that is because...

Hello I keep getting a reminder that protected mode is on and to click to disable it if I want. it pops up in my Outlook.com and some other sites. I can see in internet options under advanced where I can uncheck it but the increase risk is a concern. It also appears under MSIE 11 'security' both...