Ask-A-Techie, Where you can have all of your questions answered.

Our Top 4 Recommended VPN Services - Get Your Privacy On with these Trusted Providers

Posted by Jackson Barker-Fornal on Mon, Dec 17, 2018

There's a lot of talk these days about using VPN services to protect your privacy on an increasingly hostile internet. Do you use public Wi-Fi at the coffee shop? Are you a little nervous about entering your credit card info when you don't know who may be watching your internet traffic? Well, these days, you should be.

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Tags: privacy, VPN, NordVPN, ExpressVPN,, ProtonVPN, #infosec, Private Internet Access,

You May Have A Corrupted Master Boot Record

Posted by Chris Allard on Thu, Jan 18, 2018

Hi,

I downloaded a .exe file and a blue screen came up saying that the pc is having trouble operating. A few seconds after that, my screen turned black with white text saying "No bootable devices found" "Press F1 key to retry boot." "Press F2 key for setup utility." "Press F5 key to run onboard diagnostics."

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Tags: Windows 10, AskATechie, .exe, MBR, Dell

Help! My Android Smartphone May Have Been Stolen! Can I Find It Myself?

Posted by Jackson Barker-Fornal on Thu, Jan 04, 2018

My Android Smartphone was recently lost--maybe even stolen. I need to know if it’s possible to find it myself. The police said there is absolutely nothing they can do

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Tags: smartphone, android, AskATechie, phone

Can someone get my phone's IP address from Facebook? Then be able to track my phone and my location ?

Posted by Chris Allard on Thu, Dec 28, 2017

Hi , and thanks for the question!

For some reason this is the most asked question here, and I’m starting to think people on Facebook are claiming this is possible and are threatening other users that they have this power.

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Tags: privacy, Facebook, IP, location, AskATechie

Help! I just spilled my drink on my laptop!

Posted by Caitlin G on Sat, Sep 02, 2017

Don't Panic!

We've all been there at least once, and it doesn't feel good. Mistakes get made, drinks come too close to electronics, stray elbows go where they shouldn't, and your laptop gets soaked. So what do you do now? It's time to act quickly, and stay calm.

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Intel's Active Management Technology: a "We Told You So" Moment

Posted by Caitlin G on Thu, Jun 01, 2017

While the world has been rushing to deal with the Wannacry ransomware attack, a recent vulnerability in Intel's AMT software, (CVE-2017-5869) has been making equally significant waves, although it is somewhat less widely reported. We're here to explain what AMT is, why it makes you vulnerable to hackers, and how you can mitigate this risk.

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Tags: Network Security, Hackers, Security, Intel, Active Management Technology, firmware, exploits

Am I on the Internet? Probably... And so is NSA

Posted by Chris Allard on Tue, Jun 16, 2015

 

Are you on the internet? For about 87% of Americans at any given time, YES ! I had a great conversation with a new customer today. His wife's computer is in our shop for a diagnostic and they called in today to add a service request and a question about this.

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Tags: Network Security, IT, router, Internet, The cloud

Do you really need to "Eject" a USB device?

Posted by Timothy Wenz on Tue, Apr 14, 2015

 
Do you really need to "Eject" a USB device ?
 
                 
                      - Alice in Wonderland
 

The simple and safest answer is YES!

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Tags: eject USB, UDB drive, Data loss, removable backup, remove USB

Did my wireless network get hacked?

Posted by Chris Allard on Mon, Jul 07, 2014

Dear Techie,

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Tags: Hacking, Network Security, wireless security, wifi security, router security, network, online safety, Hackers, Ask-a-techie, encrypted passwords, Computer Protection, Security

Could Somebody Track My Location Using My Cell Phone's IP Address?

Posted by Chris Allard on Thu, Oct 24, 2013

Dear Techie,

Is it possible for someone to track my location if they had my cell phone's IP address? Someone I know asked me for it recently and I thought it was odd.

 

- Unsure in Idaho

 

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Tags: mobile security, spyware, Anonymity, Anonymous, cell phone, smartphone, online safety, privacy, internet service provider, Ask-a-techie, Safe Practices, Security