Phone Medics

As parents, it’s important that we train and guide our children in all sorts of ways, and that where possible, we protect them from the things they aren’t ready for yet. When it comes to technology that can be a particularly tricky challenge to navigate. In our previous two posts, we’ve talked about some of the ways you can do that on iPhone and Android devices. Today, we’ll wrap up the series with a look at some of the things you can do on your PC. User Accounts: Windows 10 One of the first things you should do if your child is going to be using a computer is creating a separate user account for them. This allows you to implement various parental controls including browser content filtering, screen time limits, app restrictions, and more. It also prevents your child from accessing or modifying important system settings. Giving a child access to a user account that has administrator privileges is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, both Windows 10 and macOS make it pretty easy

Anybody who’s ever suffered a data loss knows the importance of keeping your stuff backed up. In a previous post, we gave you a basic guide to keeping your computer backed up using a combination of on-site backups and cloud-based backups. Today we’re going to go a little more in-depth on the cloud backup piece of the equation. There are a lot of cloud backup services out there, so today we’re going to take a look at some of the best options. What To Look For The two main factors to consider when you’re looking for an online backup service are storage capacity and price. The first thing to do is figure out how much data you want to backup and decide how much (if any) more space you might need in the future. Once you’ve done that, you can start looking at prices for the amount of storage you need. Of course, there are other factors to consider. You want to make sure that the service offers a software client for your operating system, and look into how they plan to get your data

As more and more of our everyday life is lived online, passwords are becoming more and more important. You need a password for just about everything you do online, and a lot of things you do offline, too: social media, email, banking, shopping, logging into wifi, logging into your personal computer, logging into your work computer, and even unlocking your phone, if you’ve got a passcode lock. All these things require their own password. It can all be very difficult and confusing to manage. In today’s post we’re going to give you some tips and tools for creating strong passwords, keeping track of your passwords, and what to do if you forget a password. Good Password Practices First things first, we’re going to talk about some tips for creating and using strong passwords. The first and most important tip is pretty simple: don’t pick something that’s easy to guess. “Password” is a lousy password. Variations on your or your family members’ names aren’t great either. Those are all th

We’ve talked a lot in previous posts about some of the tools and habits you need to keep yourself safe on the internet. We’ve told you how to avoid malware , what to do if you get malware , how to keep yourself safe from phishing emails  and phone scams . Most recently, we talked about securing your cell phone . Today, we’re going to talk about some basic tools and practices you can use to protect your privacy online. Software Updates One thing that we touched on when we talked about protecting yourself from malware was the importance of keeping your software updated. That tip bears repeating here. By keeping your web browser updated to the most recent version, you make sure that you’re getting the latest its developers have to offer in terms of built-in privacy protection. For example, in the aftermath of Facebook’s recent privacy scandal, Mozilla updated the Firefox browser so that certain privacy protection features are now turned on by default. Keeping your browser updated

In previous articles we’ve talked a lot about ways to keep your computer “clean” in a metaphorical sense: clean from malware , clean from junk files that will slow down your computer , etc. Today, we’re going to talk about the importance of keeping your computer clean in a literal sense, as in, clean from dust and dirt and debris. Before we get started it’s worth noting that most of this article applies to desktop PCs a lot more than it does to laptops. Laptops can get plenty dusty on the outside, but on the inside they’re typically sealed up a lot tighter than desktops, so they don’t tend to have as much problems with dust as desktops. Why Dust Is Bad So, you might be wondering why keeping your computer clean is a big deal. Well, it turns out that dust on your computer isn’t just unsightly, it can actually impact your computer’s performance. As dust builds up inside a computer’s case, it can act as an insulator, causing components to overheat. This is especially true for

In our last few articles, we’ve given you information on what you need to do before selling (or donating ) your electronics. We’ve covered iPhones and iPads , computers , and Android devices . Today, we’re wrapping up the series with some information on what you should do when it comes time to part company with your Mac. Backup Your Data Step one of getting your Mac ready to sell is the same as step one for the other devices we’ve covered: back everything up. There are a few ways to go about this, but the simplest is to use an external hard drive and Apple’s built-in Time Machine software. Plug in your drive, set Time Machine to perform a backup, and then all you have to do is wait. And if you’ve already been using Time Machine, then you’re in even better shape, since all you need to do is make sure your backup is current. Sign Out of Your Accounts Once the backup is done, it’s time to start signing out of your accounts. You’ll need to sign out of iTunes, iCloud, and (if yo

There comes a time in the life of every PC when you find that you want or need to move on. Whether your computer needs a repair that’s too costly, or it’s getting older and outdated, or a shiny new model just catches your eye, eventually you’ll find yourself with a computer that needs a new home. At Phone Medics Plus , we want to give you the tools and knowledge you need to make the transition to your new PC as smooth and painless as possible. That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to the things you need to do before selling your computer. Backup Your Stuff The first thing you need to do before selling your computer is backup your stuff. There are a few different methods for doing this, but for the purposes of selling a computer, the best and simplest way to backup your data is to simply transfer it to an external hard drive. Make sure you have a drive large enough to store the files you want to save, plug it into your computer, then you can just copy the files and folders you

Here at Phone Medics Plus, we’re not just committed to repairing your phone or PC when something goes wrong. We want to help you keep your devices running smoothly and keep yourself safe from some of the technology-based threats out there. In our last post, we gave you some tools for identifying email-based phishing scams . Today we’re going to talk about ways to recognize the same kind of scam when it comes via phone call instead of email. Phone scams generally follow the same basic script as phishing via email: a scammer claiming to be from a trusted organization contacts you and says there’s a problem, then tricks you into surrendering sensitive information. The most common format for phishing phone calls is the tech support scam. In the tech support scam, the scammer claims to work for a company like Microsoft or Apple. They tell you that they’ve detected a problem with your computer, and try to convince you to give them remote access to your system so they can "fix"

At Phone Medics Plus, we’re committed to helping you keep yourself safe as you experience all the awesome things the internet has to offer. In previous posts we’ve talked about how to avoid getting malware  and what to do if you think your computer has become infected . Today we’re going to change gears a little and talk about a threat that doesn’t typically attack your computer directly, but uses your computer as a platform for scamming you: phishing. Not that kind of fishing. What is Phishing? Phishing is social engineering scam that tries to trick you into surrendering sensitive information. With a typical phishing scam you receive a legitimate-looking email that appears to be from your bank, your credit card company, PayPal, etc. The message claims there’s a problem with your account, and provides you a link so you can sign in and fix it. But when you click the link, it doesn’t take you to your bank or credit card company’s actual website. Instead it takes you to a fake

At Phone Medics Plus, we aren’t just committed to fixing your phone or PC when something goes wrong, we also want to give you the tools to keep your devices running well, and to help you minimize the inconvenience when something does go wrong. That’s why we’re going to spend our next few blog posts talking to you about how to keep your data backed up. Today we’ll cover backing up the data on your computer. In our next couple of posts, we’ll discuss backup options for the data on your iOS and Android device. Data Loss: Not If, But When The unfortunate reality of life in the electronic age is that it isn’t a question of if you’re going to suffer a data loss on your PC or mobile phone, it’s when. Data loss happens to all of us sooner or later - a hard drive fails, important files accidentally get deleted, a laptop gets misplaced or stolen or damaged, and suddenly all the family photos, important documents, and other data on your device are gone. If you don’t have backups, the l