Why (and When) You Need to Replace Your Surge Protector

Surge protectors aren’t like diamonds. They have a definite lifespan. At some point, your surge protector will stop protecting your gear from power surges and become a dumb power strip.

It’s difficult to tell exactly when a surge protector loses those protective powers and just functions as a power strip. But, if you’re still using an old surge protector you purchased ten years ago, it’s probably long past time to replace it.

Why You Need a Surge Protector

Do you have your PC, television, or other expensive electronics plugged directly into a power outlet? You shouldn’t. You should plug your gadgets into a surge protector, which isn’t necessarily the same thing as a power strip.

Sure, we all might forget about surge protection because everything seems to be going fine, but it only takes one power surge or spike and your expensive electronics could become useless.

How to Open Zip Files on an iPhone or iPad

If you use an iOS device then you know it’s a pretty complete system and works very well. But, you may have had problems opening compressed zip files, so we’ll talk today about how to best handle zip files on your iPhone or iPad.

Recover Missing Or Unallocated Space on USB Drive Using Windows Diskpart Commands

If you’ve ever tried to burn an ISO image on your USB drive, you might end up with some missing or unallocated space on your removable USB drive.

Some other day, I was preparing a Linux Live USB disk from the Linux terminal. I burnt the image on my USB and converted it into a live USB disk successfully. That is not what I am going to discuss here. However, when I checked the remaining volume of my 4 GB pen drive, I was stunned – only 752 MB out of 753 was free.

How to Enable Face Recognition Login With Windows

The face recognition is a good authentication system which makes your confidential files or folders more secured. Having the face recognition login system with the Windows computerensures that no one can break into your system without you as there is no chance of stealing your log-in password. In the earlier of this decade, this was a myth for the general computer users since the use of webcams or any security camera with compute was rare.

How to Check if Your Facebook or Gmail Account is Hacked

We often read about someone’s Gmail account or Facebook account getting hacked and think this cannot happen to us as we access these accounts only on our personal laptop or smartphone. This assumption is wrong and you will be surprised to know that your information on such accounts is pretty vulnerable to attacks from hackers. It is easy to be over-confident if you weren’t one of the many whose Ebay account got hacked or whose Yahoo mail account was infected in recent years. If your information has been safe so far without any precautionary measures taken, then, it doesn’t mean that it will remain so forever.

How to Remove Passwords From PDF Files

Adding password to PDF files makes it secure and prevents any unauthorized access. Many organizations like national banks send the monthly statements in the form of password protected PDF files to your registered email account. If you want to save them for later reading, you need to enter the password every time you re-open the locked PDF file. It is better you disable the password lock from the PDF file before saving and avoid putting the password again-and-again. Here is how to remove passwords from PDF files.

Best Voice Changers for Android and iOS

Want to call your boyfriend pretending to be Sarah the girl next door or your mum disguised as Jim Iyke? Meet the best voice-altering apps for Android and iOS

Doesn't it seem boring to be stuck with the same old voice? Or doesn't it unnerve you to hear a recording of yourself speaking? I bet it does. Still, there's no reason you can't change it, even for a little while. Whether you want to call your boyfriend pretending to be Sarah the girl next door or your mum disguised as Jim Iyke – there are tons of voice-altering apps available for both Android and iOS. Some of them record your voice first and send it to a recipient afterwards. Others can transform your voice in real time, while you're speaking. So, go through the list of voice changers I've rounded up for you and pick up the one you'll like the most.

Find Out What's Taking Up Space On Your Disk

 

 

Today's hard-disks are pretty huge, especially when you compare them to the ones that were available just five or ten years ago. But somehow, no matter how big they are, we always find all kinds of stuff filling them to the top and then wonder why we have no more room to store things that we actually need. If you are looking for the best ways to find out what's occupying so much space on your drive, here are some of the best solutions that I know of.

How to Restore Previous Versions of a File on Any Operating System

Every operating system backs up previous versions of files and offers an easy way to go back in time. If you use a cloud storage service, it also keeps previous versions of your files.

This is often useful when dealing with some sort of office document. But, any time you’ve modified any type of file and want to go back, it’ll work.

The Best Alternative File Managers for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Most people use their operating system’s included file manager, but many geeks prefer third-party file managers. After all, Windows Explorer doesn’t offer tabs, a dual-pane interface, batch file-renaming tools, and more advanced features.

Secure your WIFI connection wherever you are, with ‘WIFI Protector’

Do you worry that your WIFI borne personal information will be intercepted? Are you concerned with the security of unsecured WIFI networks that you use at coffee shops and other ‘public’ venues? If so, WIFI Protector may be the answer to your paranoia prompted prayer for protection.

How to Record Your Desktop to a File or Stream It Over the Internet with VLC

VLC is full of powerful features, including the ability to record your desktop. VLC is great for quick captures, although it doesn’t necessarily have the more advanced features of a dedicated screencasting application.

How to Make Any Computer Boot Up or Shut Down on a Schedule

Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux all allow you to schedule boot-ups, shut-downs, and wake-ups. You can have your computer automatically power up in the morning and automatically shut down at night, if you’d like.

This is less necessary than ever thanks to sleep mode — a typical laptop just enters low-power sleep mode it can quickly resume from when it’s not being used — but may still be useful for desktop PCs.

How To Monitor File And Folder Changes in Windows

If someone else is using your computer or if you need to see what changes were made to your files and folders during a specific time, you can use Nirsoft’s handy FolderChangesView application. Nirsoft is a great freeware provider that produces amazing little tools for your PC, and the best part is that they never bundle crapware with their programs like so many other software vendors do.

5 Ways to Type Faster on Your Smartphone’s Touch Keyboard

For those of us who didn’t grow up with smartphones, typing on a touch keyboard can feel awfully slow. But there are tricks you can use to speed up typing on a touch keyboard, just like a physical one.

These tips apply to any smartphone with a touch keyboard, from iPhones and Android phones to Windows phones and BlackBerries. They all work in a fairly similar way.

Most Ugly People In The World

This is just for your weekend laugh, check out these amazing people around the world

How Can I Tell What is Listening on a TCP/IP Port in Windows?

Whenever an application wants to make itself accessible over the network, it claims a TCP/IP port, which means that port can’t be used by anything else. So if you need to use an in-use port, how do you tell what application is holding it?

There’s a number of ways to tell what application has the port locked, but we’ll walk through the built-in way using the command line and Task Manager, and then a great freeware application that does it all in one utility.

Set up your own wireless hotspot

Public Wi-Fi is something people are coming to expect. Cafés and restaurants offer wireless internet access for customers; offices provide a connection for visitors, so that guests can check their email while they’re on-site.
If you manage IT for any business, it’s worth considering running your own hotspot – either as a commercial venture, which people pay to use, or as a complimentary service to visitors. Even within your own home, hosting a hotspot can be a useful service for neighbours and guests. There are, however, numerous technical and legal issues to consider.

How to Connect Your Android Phone to Your TV

A decade ago the idea that you’d want to mirror the screen of your mobile phone to your television would seem silly but now that there is so much content on our mobile devices from games to HD video, it’s downright useful to blow up your phone’s tiny display to television size. Read on as we show you how.