Laptop servicing and maintenance? Try to determine what caused the problem you are having. Think back to when the computer started having issues. Was a certain program installed, or a change made to the hardware? Was something suspicious downloaded, or installed with a program you got? Was there a power outage and now things aren’t working correctly? Narrowing down the possible cause of the problem will make it much easier to determine how to proceed. Check all of the cables. A loose power cable could be preventing your computer from booting up. A bad surge protector could be the culprit. Your keyboard or mouse may have come unplugged. Your monitor cable might be loose. Checking all of your connections will only take a moment.

As we saw from the stats above, ransomware attacks were a major attack vector of 2017 for both businesses and consumers. One of the most important cyber security tips to mitigate ransomware is patching outdated software, both operating system, and applications. This helps remove critical vulnerabilities that hackers use to access your devices. Here are a few quick tips to get you started: Turn on automatic system updates for your device; Make sure your desktop web browser uses automatic security updates; Keep your web browser plugins like Flash, Java, etc. updated.

Enable HTTPs on Your Website. HTTPs websites have an SSL/TLS Certificate installed onto their servers. This certificate will encrypt all data transmitted from browser to server, whether that’s personal or financial info that’s submitted through the site or the contents of the webpage, from eavesdroppers (e.g. malicious parties, government surveillance). SSL Certificates can also tie your brand identity to your web presence, helping visitors know that your site is actually run by your company and not an imposter (i.e. phishing site). EV SSL makes this extra clear by turning the address bar green and prominently displaying your company name.

If you usually have to use Safe Mode, you can now sign into your account with a PIN while in Safe mode. In the past, you’re required to use a password to sign in, even if you use a PIN to login into your account in normal mode. Also, in the sign-in experience, Windows 10 version 2004 ships with several improvements, including a new feature to help investigate problems with the sign-in screen. If you’re having problems signing in, you can now use the Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + L keyboard shortcut to start a recording, reproduce the issue, and then use the shortcut again to produce a reference number that you can share when reporting the problem to Microsoft. See additional details at PC service.

One of the more obvious changes is to Cortana. With a new search box in Windows 10, Cortana is being relegated to a separate app updated from the Microsoft Store. It’s getting a new focus — less for consumers, and more for business users. Currently it supports lists and reminders, assisting with email and calendars, and launching apps. Its search features are now handled by Windows, although it will soon add support for voice-driven quick searches. Microsoft showed a video of its vision for what the new Cortana could be at Build in 2019, with support for continuous conversations and deep integration with Microsoft 365 services. It’s not there yet, but it’s certainly on the way. Local search in File Explorer gets a boost too, with Windows Search providing faster access to your files. It’s now able to provide spell-checking and uses less CPU.

An even newer way to keep storage use is by enabling the Storage Sense option (see image above). This automatically frees up space by removing temporary files and Recycle Bin items. For a full rundown on how to use this feature, see How to Free Up Hard Disk Space on Windows 10. Windows 10 manages memory more efficiently than earlier versions of the OS, but more memory always can potentially speed up PC operations. For a lot of today’s Windows devices, such as the Surface Pro tablets, however, adding RAM isn’t an option. Gaming and business laptops often still allow RAM upgrades, but that’s becoming more rare. The new, slimmer ultrabooks and convertibles are usually fixed. If you still use a desktop tower, this article can show you how to add RAM. The bigger RAM makers’ (Crucial, Kingston, Corsair) websites all offer product finders that show you which type of RAM your PC takes, and prices are pretty reasonable. You can get 8GB high-performance DDR4 RAM for about $60. Read additional details on Hove laptop maintenance.