Articles about PC computer hardware
Unlike HDDs, SSDs give little to no warning that they are about to fail, so it’s important to periodically check your SSD’s health status. Some manufacturers provide a dedicated tool that supports their own brand – e.g., Samsung Magician – but if you don’t have […]
RAM stands for random access memory, and to you and me, it’s the memory modules we have in our computers. Unfortunately, most laymen who are not familiar with RAM confuse PC memory with hard disk space, and I could write a book about the number
ASCI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) has completed a study to ascertain which PC brands rate best for customer satisfaction. ASCI incorporated a variety of factors to come up with an overall customer satisfaction rating, including: Availability of software/apps Design (size, visual appeal) Graphics and audio
Which PC Brands Rate Best For Customer Satisfaction Read More »
First, let me make it clear that I’m not being braggadocious here, but I am curious about how many computers people use in their households, be they Windows, Linux, or Apple-based. In my recent experience, I’ve found a shift to more mobile use, and many
Yesterday I went to a customer’s house to fix a printing problem, which initially had me scratching my head. Her PC had recently been upgraded by her nephew to a Ryzen 5 32GB of RAM, NVMe, and an RTX GPU, which struck me as unusual
Fixed – Printer Only Prints Test Page And Nothing Else Read More »
Will the day come when traditional PCs are no longer available, and Copilot+ PCs then become the only choice? This is a question that I often ponder, and with a certain amount of trepidation, I might add. While our politicians seem unable to learn from
After a winter storm, we had a power outage that lasted almost 20 hours. Not good in an apartment with only electric heat. No lights, no heat, can’t go online to complain to anyone. 🙂 I previously wrote about someone’s computer not turning on after
That Was Then When you get to my age, looking back at the history of PCs owned, it’s amazing just how much PC specs have advanced over the years. My very first PC was a TRS-80, which loaded programs via tape cassettes. The programs were
What Has Been The Greatest Advancement In PC Specs? Read More »
Following my article about BitLocker encrypting the OS drive on my Asus laptop without my consent, I began to delve deeper into what was really going on with my one-year-old Asus TUF Gaming A16 laptop. My findings will surprise you. Asus Armoury Crate Auto-Installs Having
Some Motherboard UEFIs Are Injecting Software Into Windows Read More »
Shiny Thing Syndrome (STS) is a hard condition to shake, and I’ve been collecting computer hardware since the early ’90s. Some I’ve kept and some I’ve regrettably sold. Not all my vintage hardware is in continuous daily use, except for one. Compace Rally PC Case
ASCOMP PC Internals Winners Announced! This contest has now expired. Winners will be notified by email. Congratulations to the Winners and Thank You to everyone who participated! ASCOMP has kindly offered our DCT readers a chance to win one of five licenses for their PC
Gaming is an expensive hobby, not only for the price of games but also rising costs of hardware. We are all aware of Microsoft’s questionable stance on Windows 11 requirements, and the same is happening in AAA games. For example, DOOM: The Dark Ages and
This Is Why “Gaming” Adds So Much To The Price Of Hardware Read More »
Last week, a customer brought a four-year-old Sony Vaio VJFE54F11UAR model laptop to me that wouldn’t boot to Windows and instead went directly to the BIOS. Upon further investigation, it was found that no NVMe drive was installed. I then booted from a WinPE rescue
Microsoft has added a new feature to Windows 11 that has the ability to automatically repair a non-booting system. This new feature is called “Quick machine recovery” (QMR) and, while it’s available in all Insider builds, I believe the general release is still in the
