What to Do in Case You Can’t Find a Wi-Fi Connection After a Windows 10 Upgrade

There are actually 2 main reasons why Wi-Fi becomes unavailable after upgrading to Windows 10:

1.      The Wi-Fi or wireless adapter driver is not updated and is therefore not compatible with Windows 10. In most cases, the Wi-Fi driver is missing after the Windows 10 update.

2.      The problem may also be because of the triggering of unsupported VPN software present during the Windows 10 upgrade. If the PC is still using an old VPN client, specifically Cisco VPN client or Sonic Global client, it’s certain that this piece of software is what is causing the no Internet connection issue. Thus, uninstall the VPN software.

There are 2 major solutions to fix Windows 10 if Wi-Fi is not available:

1. Update Wi-Fi Adapter Drivers on Windows 10

To resolve the Windows 10 Wi-Fi availability issue, the first method should go to the wireless driver to match with Windows 10. The driver for the previous Windows 8.1 or 7 is not compatible with Windows 10 and it may have removed the driver during update. Therefore, fix the Wi-Fi driver with a Driver Talent tool. It can help to check if the Wi-Fi driver causes the problem and then update the driver either by repairing it or downloading the latest one to match the wireless adapter for Windows 10.

You can also try the network version: Driver Talent for Network Card. This version can help to fix the driver without Internet connection. You should install this tool before updating to Windows 10. Alternatively, download it with an available computer that has Internet connection and move it to your computer to install network driver offline.

Some users may have installed the Wi-Fi driver but the Windows 10 Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting. This is because the driver you installed can’t work properly on your computer. Try Driver Talent to install the Windows 10 Wi-Fi driver to work so that it can work properly.

Download and install Driver Talent on your laptop or desktop computer to solve your Windows 10 Wi-Fi issue.

2. Uninstall the network adapter driver and restart

If the above didn’t work, try to uninstall the network adapter driver, and then restart your computer and have Windows automatically install the latest driver. Consider this approach if your network connection stopped working properly after the recent update.

Before uninstalling, make sure you have drivers available as a backup. Visit the PC manufacturer’s website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. If your PC can’t connect to the Internet, you’ll need to download a driver on a different PC and save it to a USB flash drive, so you can install the driver on your PC. You’ll need to know the PC manufacturer and model name or number.

In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select Device Manager from the list of results.

In Device Manager, select Network adapters > the network adapter name.

Press and hold (or right-click) the network adapter, and then select Uninstall > Delete the driver software for this device check box > OK to confirm you want to uninstall it.

After uninstalling the driver, select the Start button > Power > Restart.

After your PC restarts, Windows will automatically look for and install the network adapter driver. Check to see if that fixes your connection problem. If Windows doesn’t automatically install a driver, try to install the backup driver you saved before uninstalling.

And if all else fails, you can always call your friendly tech support company.

What Should You Do In Case Your Brand New Computer is Running Slow?

Oftentimes, it’s rare for a brand new computer – be it a desktop or laptop – to run slow since it’s still new and fresh from its factory settings. This is because it hasn’t been used yet except when it was tested and adjusted to its factory settings. However, if this problem hits you, you can check out the following, just in case, but truthfully, if the problem persists, either return it to the manufacturer or call your friendly local tech support company.

Reboot

Sometimes, any computer just needs a rebooting to kick in the system and get the kinks out of it. This is rare with desktops but may happen with laptops due to the small parts. A laptop may take several boot ups to get the kinks out.

Not enough hard drive space

Did you check the specs of your hard drive before purchasing it? Verify that there is at least 200-500MB of free hard drive space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files. Most new computers today now have a minimum hard drive space of 1 terabyte. Anything lower than this means you may be buying an old model, perhaps at a bargain price.

Make sure hard drive is not corrupted or fragmented

Run Scan Disk to verify there is nothing physically wrong with the computer’s hard drive. Then run Defragmentation to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.

Hardware conflicts    

Verify that the Device Manager has no conflicts. If any exist, resolve these issues as they could be the cause of your problem. This may entail you calling your tech support company or bringing the computer back to the manufacturer.

Update Windows

Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates installed in the computer. If your computer is slow when you are on the Internet, also make sure all browser plugins are up-to-date.

Update your drivers

Make sure you’ve got the latest drivers for your computer, especially video drivers. Having out-of-date drivers can cause an assortment of issues.

Computer or processor is overheating

Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating. Excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance since most processors automatically bring the speed of the processor down to help compensate for the heat-related issues. This shouldn’t be happening to a brand new computer, but if it’s doing it, then there’s a hardware problem that needs to be fixed or replaced by a professional.

Hardware issues

If your computer continues to be slow after going over each of the aforementioned recommendations, it’s possible that your computer is experiencing a more serious hardware-related issue such as a failing component in the computer. This could be a failing or bad hard drive, CPU, RAM, motherboard, or other component. Again, this may entail the help of a professional or you need to invoke your new computer’s warranty.

Tech Tips: A Few Good Ways to Protect Your Laptop from Dust

There are several things you can do to prevent the buildup of dust in your laptop since this can affect cooling and performance. Even in the cleanest surroundings and environments, you’ll still need to clean the inside of your computer on a regular basis, though it will be far less if you follow the prevention below.

Don’t work on or near the floor

The floor is the first place where dust builds up, and if you love sitting on or near the floor with your laptop, then you might as well put a welcome sign for all the dust entering your laptop. The higher your laptop is from the floor, the lesser dust gets in, so why not just work on your desk. On your desk, it’s also advisable to use a tower shelf to raise the laptop slightly above the desk since this also gathers up dust.

Clean your floors regularly

The more dust you clean off, the less it accumulates anywhere. Sweep or vacuum your floor and carpets on a regular basis to prevent dust from accumulating.

Dust your nearby shelves and cabinets

Like keeping the floors clean, make sure all your shelves and cabinets including their nook and crannies are kept regularly clean in order to keep dust away from your computer.

Move your computer away from doors and windows

Doors and windows tend to draw dust towards them and is therefore the entry point of all dust. Windows have a way of attracting dust even if they’re not always open and if poorly insulated. Try to situate your work desk and laptop away from windows and doors.

Install an air filter

Putting an air filter in your work room is a fairly inexpensive method to keep dust from accumulating. A single room filter is more than enough for positive results, however if you’re working in the living room, you may need to get a more complex filtration system since the area is bigger.

Avoid smoking indoors and near your laptop

Cigarette ash will increase dust buildup and too much smoke can damage laptop components. Avoid smoking indoors or near your laptop to prevent this accumulation.

Perform regular cleaning

A laptop is far easier to clean than a desktop. You don’t even need to open it up, but if you do, be extra careful since its components are very sensitive. Use compressed air to blow out dust from the inside and from the keyboard area. Use a soft brush and cleaning cloth (the type usually used to clean out eye glasses, or those sold for monitors) to clean out the keyboard and monitor. Clean out your laptop at least once a week.

Top Mobile Apps to Help You Organize Your 2017 Schedules

Now that 2017 is here, some professionals or small business owners are looking into shifting from paper-based tasking to becoming organized using applications that act like personal assistants to handle important tasks like schedules and getting organized. Seeing as there are a host of mobile apps up to this task out there to help get the work tasks together.

Wunderlist

Wunderlist manages your to-do list. This free app for iOS will keep you organized in the most basic way possible, organizing your daily tasks and lists. The Smart Lists hide what doesn’t need to be shown and recurring tasks and sub-tasks are simple to create. You can be even more organized by assigning your tasks to others and then getting a message when they are complete.

Google Now

You probably never knew that Google has a personal assistant app except for Siri. Oh sure, you could ask Siri just about anything, but you may be looking for a virtual version of an office secretary instead of a British butler. If that’s the case, it may be time to download Google Now, the “intelligent personal assistant” available for iOS and Android, as well as your desktop. The app organizes just about everything you can think of, giving assistance around the clock. Information is organized into cards that provide all the info you need without you having to spend time searching. The cards are customizable so you see what’s important to you like traffic, weather, relevant websites or sports scores. The latest update includes barcode scanning, song recognition, and the ability to store your boarding pass.

YouSendIt

YouSendIt lets you share, store, and sign files. If you need to share with a little more strength, this latest free iOS app provides a comprehensive and enhanced mobile service for accessing documents, presentations, video, and more from anywhere. Beyond sending files, you can also store files to shared folders and sign documents. Any changes are securely synced and instantly available for other devices and people. A mobile suite of services is also available for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Android.

Expensify

You can photograph receipts with Expensify. There is nothing like a bunch of receipts to make you feel unorganized. This free app is available for virtually every platform and makes it easy to track all kinds of expenses. Perhaps best of all, it lets you snap a photo of receipts and categorize expenses, and can sync to QuickBooks online. It’s a great app for the pain and mess of expense reports.

24me

If you are forgetful, then you need a virtual personal assistant that works like a second brain. 24me auto-generates reminders so you will never miss an important meeting or event, or forget to pay a bill. 24me combines your calendar, to-do lists, and notes all in one easy-to-use, clutter-free app. It syncs with other apps, like Facebook, to send messages to your friends on their birthday in case it slipped your mind, and lets you share notes with coworkers or friends. The app is free to download and is now available for Android.

The Best and Most Efficient Ways to Learn Computer Troubleshooting

There’s nothing wrong with learning some computer troubleshooting if you need to occasionally check on your computer to know what’s going wrong and, hopefully, try to fix things. However, remember that troubleshooting computers can be complicated, tricky, and sometimes frustrating. With so many working parts and software installed, a number of things can go wrong. Still, there’s nothing wrong with learning some fundamentals in troubleshooting, and nothing beats experience as well.

In today’s digital age, there are certainly a lot of avenues of learning compared to the last decade. Aside from on-the-job and hands-on experience that can take time, learners now are more exposed to online video tutorials and articles that give step-by-step instructions and tutorials on how to troubleshoot specific problems without really resorting to actual repairs.

The most common examples of these are the YouTube videos on computer tutorials. Online technical support companies also offer many articles on their blogs and knowledge base pages.

Before you even start learning, you need to remember one important tip: When learning to troubleshoot computers, always start with the simple stuff. The tendency with learners is that whenever something happens, they tend to think that it is a major problem, when all it could be is a loose cable or something else minor. Always learn by checking the easy things first.  

While in the process of learning, one of the real challenges is deciding whether a symptom is hardware or software related. A lot of times this comes through trial and error. But again, the advantage of technology today is that you don’t need to go through so much hands-on trial and error because you can study this in blogs, articles, and video tutorials.

Oh, and all this learning comes free, courtesy of technology and the Internet.

When learning basic computer troubleshooting, you also need to learn about the computer you’re troubleshooting. You need to be familiar with whatever platform and operating system the computer has, be it Windows or iOS, and whatever type it is. Then, you also need to be familiar with every single program installed in the computer.

If you want to go further and you have some spare cash to spare, there are DVD tutorials available on the market that teaches about basic troubleshooting. Do take note that whether watching the free video online tutorials or buying instructional DVD’s, always take note of the hardware in a computer, and the difference of this hardware in desktops and laptops. The latter is more complicated so it is more advisable that, in spite of your learned knowledge in basic troubleshooting, it may be a better idea to call tech support just in case the trouble is complicated.

Lastly, if you know a computer technician or tech support person who has time to spare for you, a hands-on personal tutorial wouldn’t hurt. It’s always best to learn from the experts firsthand. Learning personally from a tech support person may often be better for some people than just studying articles or watching videos.

Free Malware Removal Tools to Assist You in Removing Malware from an Infected Computer

Unfortunately for some of us (especially for those who are somewhat careless), the Internet will never be a buffet of secure open-source software and Bollywood musicals that we can all just simply download. There are individuals and even organizations who want nothing better than delight in stealing your personal data and money or hijacking your computer using malicious software. So, for your protection, let’s highlight some of the best free tools for removing malware from your PC.

Spybot Search and Destroy

Spybot Search and Destroy has made quite a name for itself over the years, earning accolades from both general and computer-focused publications. Spybot Search and Destroy is the highest ranked freeware tool at 2Spyware.com, a website that ranks malware removal tools. In addition to scanning for malware, Spybot Search and Destroy also has a variety of additional functionality, including a botnet scanner, hosts-file modification (to keep malware from calling home), a secure file shredder, and a dummy code feature, replacing malicious or questionable adware modules with inert code so the dependent program will keep functioning. As an added bonus, Spybot Search and Destroy is compatible with every version of Windows.

ComboFix

ComboFix is every bit as Spartan once you open it and see it. You download ComboFix, run it, and it takes care of the rest. The basic ComboFix process looks like this: It backs up your registry, checks to see if you have Windows Recovery Console installed, and then it does the job on your system scanning away through 40+ stages. When it’s done, ComboFix spits out a log file and lists all the malware it found, which ones it was able to remove, and which ones you’ll have to use Google to look up how to remove manually. It isn’t fancy, but it gets the job done and gives you a detailed report at the end to take to security forums for help if you need it.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

At least the free version, since the Anti-Malware Pro sells for $25, Malwarebytes’ flagship application Anti-Malware is a shareware malware-removal tool. The principle difference between the free and premium version of the application is real-time monitoring. If you don’t need active scanning against threats, the free version uses the same database and does an admirable job ferreting out infections. Anti-Malware was, for example, one of the few malware removal tools that could detect and remove the Antivirus XP 2008, a spyware application that masqueraded as an antivirus app. The Anti-Malware installation includes another application from Malwarebytes called FileASSASSIN, a helpful tool for deleting files locked by Windows.

There are other malware removal tools you can check out on the Internet, but just make sure to check out the reviews first before downloading anything. A few malware tools tend to be unbiased and will register even legal operating files as tampered by malware, and you may delete these by mistake. But in the end, the best malware tool is always “prevention” and to err on the side of caution and not always click on everything, especially if looking suspicious.

Tech trends That Need to Bid Farewell This 2017

Technology is constantly moving, either on a fast forward pace or backwards, but never still. The rapid advances in technology, coupled with accelerating innovation, are transforming our lives every day. And as we entered 2017, expect that existing trends such as the AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), and AI (Artificial Intelligence) will step up to the next level. We've become increasingly connected to our devices, smart machines getting smarter, and a new IT reality has surfaced.

The thing about trends, whether tech or otherwise, is that you might be able to start one, but you can't end one. They are a reflection of society's growing needs and desires. Still, that doesn't keep us from trying to get rid of a few trends every year that we think need to die. Here are some of them:

Insecure Internet of Things

One of the most disastrous cyberattacks in the US happened September of last year, when a vast network of infected baby monitors and other IoT devices took down a DNS provider, knocking dozens of major websites offline for a few hours, including Spotify and Twitter. According to security experts, the devices' poor security is as much to blame as the hackers who target them. There's not much you can do but to make sure that you create a very strong password for your next router or wireless baby camera.

Default Location Tracking

Apple's iOS offers app developers the power to decide how frequently they'll track your location. You, the smartphone owner, can completely turn off location tracking anytime, but it's up to the developer whether or not you see the option to only share your location when the app is running. This year, Uber stirred quite a bit of controversy when it announced it would track locations until five minutes after a trip ends. The privacy implications of allowing dozens of apps track your current location whenever they want to is quite worrisome, and we're all for giving device owners more control over how their location is shared.

Dangerous AR Gaming

Don't get the wrong impression -- Augmented Reality is a promising new horizon for the video game industry. The problem is that people frequently try to multitask when they shouldn't. For instance is the Pokemon Go. After recent multiple reports about traffic accidents this past summer, some of which were fatal, Niantic, the game's creator, added a pop-up message that warns players when the app detects it's being used in a moving car. Texting while driving is illegal in most states, but no state bans all mobile phone usage for all drivers, so it's mostly up to AR gamers to regulate themselves. There's also the risk that people will walk into lamp posts, fountains, and traffic. So see to it that you stay safe while you're enjoying your AR game.

Unsecured Websites

The unencrypted Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) needs to go away. Major tech companies, such as Google, agree with this idea that even next year they are planning to make it obvious if you're visiting a website that's not switched over to HTTPS. Most commerce sites already use HTTPS to secure credit card information and other sensitive data of its users. Even Netflix and Wikipedia are encrypted now. However, other major sites like the New York Times are still 'encryption-free' so be cautious about that.

Online Harassment

Can Twitter finally get itself together and do something about all the trolls firing tweets with reckless abandon? There's also that YouTube comments section, which is a good breeding ground for negative and bashful comments. To compound the problem, much of the most trolling activities come from bots, including pro-Donald Trump fake accounts that spent much of the 2016 US presidential election spreading lies. Trolls even transformed Microsoft's artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot Tay into a racist monster that eventually had to be turned off.