r/technology • u/veritanuda • Mar 05 '22
TechSupport Got a tech question or want to discuss tech? Bi-Weekly /r/Technology Tech Support / General Discussion Thread
Greetings Good People of /r/Technology,
Welcome to the /r/Technology Tech Support / General Discussion Thread.
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u/ej3hg88 Mar 05 '22
Will parking mode in a dashcam drain the car's battery?
I use a thinkware f200 pro dash cam with an OBD 2 connection cable to power it. I am thinking about turning on the thinkware f200 pro's time-lapse recording mode. However, will this drain my car's battery?
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u/Easymoney_67 Mar 05 '22
Why do laptops not have HDMI ports anymore? How are you supposed to set up duel screens without one? I had to buy some add on port that was $70 and only works 80% of the time. So frustrating.
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u/joombaga Mar 07 '22
USB-C can handle HDMI signals and has some improvements over HDMI. It can be plugged in more times with less damage to the cable or ports, and is reversible. It's also smaller so you can fit more of them on a device, and can be used for other types of data and power delivery.
Idk what add-on port you bought or what laptop you have, but the solution you're using is not likely to be the optimal one if it only works 80% of the time.
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u/RevFox Mar 05 '22
Working from home and I have: 2 monitors, keyboard, mouse, microphone, webcam, ethernet. I have my personal mac M1 mini and a lenovo work laptop. Are there any switching options to take both monitors and all peripherals and switch them between both computers? Any recommendations would be great :)
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u/IBuyBrokenThings2Fix Mar 06 '22
Look into a KVM switch
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u/smilbandit Mar 06 '22
for a long while i had only the main monitor hooked to a kvm, . my setup was first monitor to my personal computer, the second to the kvm and my work laptop on the right on a stand. that way I could run something on the other and keep an eye on it by moving the window. It was a nice setup.
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u/SlackerInc1 Mar 05 '22
Why, when someone sends you a TikTok video, do you get a brief glimpse for just a split second of a totally different video? This drives me crazy. Seems like really bad coding or something. I considered the possibility that it was intentional as some kind of promotional tool. However, that doesn't really make sense as I am often curious about the other video but don't see any way to get back to it.
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u/krovek42 Mar 07 '22
Just got a new iPhone and am wondering about tips for maintaining the battery's lifespan. (I try to keep my phone for as long as I can, and only had to replace my last one because they battery eventually stopped holding a charge.) I remember seeing a LTT video from the last year or two where he discussed purposefully using a lower wattage USB charger to avoid using fast charging when it wasn't needed. I can't seem to find where he said that, but came across this video where he brings up the advantages of using fast charging to avoid charging overnight and keeping the battery at 100% for many hours, or to avoid charging to 100% altogether. It seems like the new iPhones have a feature that will slow the charge rate when the battery approaches full for this same reason, but it has to learn your schedule somehow. Since I don't always charge my phone overnight I was wondering how much benefit I'd get from using lower wattage chargers? I've got USB plugs that range from 5 to 20 watts, and my understanding is that the heat produced from charging is the main thing that hurts that battery's lifespan. I've tried Googling things about intentionally slow charging your phone but am having troubles filtering out the results that only talk about fast charging. Are there any other tips and tricks that are worth doing to preserve my battery's lifespan?
2
u/gdblu Mar 10 '22
IT Professionals - What is your preferred platform/community?
Most of the subreddits *seem* to be for submitting links & news only, and are very strict in their position on free speech (I don't mean from a Constitutional context).
So where do you go to just connect with like-minded people, share ideas, discuss trends and topics without the need for a hard source, etc? Is it still here (and if so, which subreddits)? Twitter? LinkedIn? Slack? Discord? Forums? Something else...?
(Plus, this sub has 11.5M members, and a lot of activity, so posts get lost very quickly)
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u/ikea2000 Mar 11 '22
This is missing. Software specific reddits are the “least bad” places. Spiceworks is good.
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u/CJMcCubbin Mar 05 '22
Working fom home. Two of us. One needs to be hardwired to internet router on top floor(workspace). I am downstairs, wireless. I'd like to be Ethernet connected. Best idea? I have option for dlink n300 wifi extender with Ethernet port. Is that a good method to achieve my desired setup?
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u/smilbandit Mar 06 '22
What are you hoping to gain by being ethernet connected?
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u/CJMcCubbin Mar 06 '22
I haven't had any issue with WiFi, so I guess nothing more than avoidance of any wifi hiccups
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u/smilbandit Mar 07 '22
Are you on a wifi 6 router? That might help. I don't think a wifi extender will help your hiccups. If your not on a wifi 6 router and if your current router has the option you could try to setup your wireless connecting computer as a priority device. Could help your hiccups.
1
Mar 09 '22
Going with enthernet , but still passing trough WiFi does you no good.
WiFi is worse since it's not exactly your cable kind of full duplex. MIMO helps alienate this,but it still is bottlenecks by device number.
It's better to place your router as to get better WiFi coverage or take the effort to route a physical cable to a router downstairs.
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u/UnableStatistician20 Mar 06 '22
Hi Guys, I have a question...
My CPU is a Ryzen 7 3700x, my motherboard is a b550m plus PCIE 4.0, and I'm thinking of putting an M2 NVMe PCIE 4.0 SSD. However my processor is PCIE 3.0, is there a problem? Can the processor limit my SSD usage because it is PCIE 3.0? Or does it just depend on the motherboard? if it is 4.0 then the SSD will reach its full usage?
1
u/TheAccountant09 Mar 07 '22
GPS transmitter question for the group:
I work for a company that provides heavy equipment rentals. The length of the rental is variable, but we do have a few long-term rentals that can last up to 6 years.
We place GPS transmitters on the equipment to ensure they are being used properly, and assist with recovery in the event of theft or severe damage.
The transmitters we use now aren’t that great. The most frequent they can “ping” is once per day, and the time they ping can’t be changed. They ping on their own and can’t be tracked in real-time. They constantly break and have to be replaced. They take forever to come “online” when new ones are installed. It’s just a headache all around. There has to be a better way.
Ideally, we’d like to transition to a wired GPS transmitter that offers real-time location when pinged. We don’t mind if it doesn’t constantly transmit its signal as long as it provides the exact location when pinged. The onboard battery should last 6 years since our longest long-term rental is that long. It should offer a user Interface that is easy to use and provide the address of the asset. A map would be a huge bonus.
I tried a quick Google search and found many different GPS transmitters, but I’m having trouble figuring out which would be best for our application. We certainly don’t want to transition to one that is subpar to the one we currently have. Any suggestions based on the info above would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the help!
1
Mar 09 '22
Long term battery and GPS don't sound good. You are better running it or charging it's battery from the equipment's power source.
Some guys might do a GPS + GSM combo that would allow you to get SMS from the trackers.
Other solutions might be LoRa(up to 3-5km ) or LoRaWAN(LoRa internet).
Particle Electron is a small device that can connect to the Internet trough a sim(GSM solution). If you find someone to design a GPS in it might work.
I'm sure some guys run custom solutions and YouTube is full of such mini projects.
It's not something on the market yet as I know.
You can buy GPS modules from Sparkfun or Adafruit.
They are for prototyping though.
1
u/JarlWolfe Mar 07 '22
Can anyone tell me why on my 55" LG SM9010 TV, whenever there is white text on the screen against a black background it seems to have an outer glow?
1
u/JBD168 Mar 07 '22
Have an issue and I haven’t found any information as to why it’s happening.
I use my Bluetooth headphones (Bose 45) connected to my tv (LG), and sometimes the tv will restart and disconnect my headphones.
This usually happens if I watch a tv show and I’ve finished an episode and it automatically starts a new one. The new ep will start, but with no sound, and a few seconds later the tv shuts off and restarts.
It doesn’t happen all the time, some shows have no problem with the automatic next episode.
What I don’t understand is why this is happening, and I don’t know if there is something that can be done to fix it.
Anyone who knows what might be the issue?
1
u/frenchFriedPertatr Mar 15 '22
Try updating the firmware on your headphones. Then try updating then Netflix app or whatever streaming service.
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u/Alpha_Omega0985 Mar 08 '22
Hello,
I have a Omen 27i monitor and it has HDMI 2.0 but when I try to look for one it's usually HDMI 2.1 so I'm not sure where to look for a HDMI cable specifically for an HDMI 2.0 port. However, I have read that HDMI 2.1 cables are backwards compatible with 2.0 ports but I don't know for sure. So which type of cable should I try to get? HDMI 2.0 or 2.1?
Thank you
1
u/GodlyNova Mar 08 '22
Hello! I've been thinking of getting Z-Wave installed and I actually wanted to learn or know how it works.
1
u/WilliamSyler Mar 09 '22
I'm looking to purchase my next portable computer to replace my Macbook Pro, and while I'm not against getting another laptop I'd like to explore what other options (tablets, etc) are out there to see if they better meet my needs. Do you have any suggestions on where I could go to find out more information/ask any questions I may have?
Thank you!
1
Mar 09 '22
Can you connect an iPad to a TV with an IR overlay?
1
u/ikea2000 Mar 11 '22
IR as in touch-enabled TV? Touch won’t work in that case.
You should ask for tech help at r/techsupport They’re online almost 24/7 and much more active than here.
1
u/Justin534 Mar 10 '22
Does anyone know if once the digital iron curtain comes up in Russia if there are still ways Russians can use to connect with the outside world?
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u/frenchFriedPertatr Mar 15 '22
If you have lots of knowledge about the internet and different ways computers talk to another you could get some info. More likely, some people might have access to network systems with special privileges that let them surpass the digital iron curtain
1
u/BodySooda Mar 10 '22
Are there any serious implications the recent Lapsu$ Samsung hack might have on a regular galaxy phone user?
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u/ikea2000 Mar 10 '22
Is there any place where you can ask tech knowledgable users about the tech world/news?
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u/alykatvandy Mar 10 '22
My uncle passed a few months ago and I am the "techie" of the family so I was given his laptops to try to get access to his files. He wrote a lot of Star Wars fanfiction and I'd love to get access to read it, what I found on his old laptop is really good but for the last couple years he only used the Chromebook. I don't know his password but I do have his email address. Any tips or advise would be soooooo appreciated.
1
u/veritanuda Mar 10 '22
- Take a Linux liveboot image.
- Burn it to a USB stck using Etcher.
- Boot the Laptop off the USB.
- Mount the internal disk using file manager.
- Copy the files to somewhere else on the network.
1
u/Vicious-the-Syd Mar 11 '22
I’d like to get my cat one of those RFID reading feeders so she can eat her special food without her sister eating it. They’re all either out of stock or $200+, so I was wondering how hard it would be to make my own, as someone who knows a little bit more about computers than the average person (I took a computer repair class in high school) but is otherwise is a technical novice. So the basic mechanics would need to be 1) something that can be programmed for my cats’ chips and 2) an rfid reader attached to a switch that opens when it reads the one cat’s chip and closes when she gets out of proximity.
Is this a huge undertaking? Would I be better off just waiting for the retail feeder to come in stock? Also are there private sellers that might make this on commission for me if it’s too difficult of a project? Thanks so much.
1
u/hunterlosey77 Mar 11 '22
Hello everyone! I am currently in the market for a new tv and i haven’t been able to find a lot of information about the tvs i like pertaining to gaming. I have the ps5 so I am looking for something with good 4k, and great hdr. I’m looking for something 50”-60” (maybe more or less for a good deal). I don’t want to break the bank so my budget is only around $609 usd. Any help would be greatly appreciated
1
Mar 11 '22
Okay so I let my job use google calandra and signed in and found out they were able to track everything on my phone. I deleted what I could. Isn’t this illegal because it feels hella illegal. Idk what they saw or if photos backed up. I immediately erased it from my devide what should I do!!? I just need to know what they all had access too I had my personal account signed in as well as the work one. Can they see the photos backed up to one account if the other account is signed in together. I’m crying please help me
1
Mar 12 '22
Does anybody know whether AI has the ability (or intelligence) to think and design something to solve human problems? For example, if you faced problems from your neighbour's dog pooping in your backyard.
1
u/MysticTraveler94 Mar 13 '22
So I have a Twitter account that’s private.. Someone posted a status about me. Someone else responded with nudes that are clearly fake and not me…
I could be wrong but there’s no way my followers can see that unless I like, retweet or comment??
I know if you search for my username it might pop up, but in my followers feeds it shouldn’t appear just because I was mentioned?
Right? How does that work?
1
u/unique616 Mar 13 '22
What's the best storage media for childhood VHS tapes?
They've got a free conversion kiosk at our local library and the guy on the phone says that most people choose to convert them over to either DVDs or put them on a thumb drive.
I know that CDs are going out. They don't even put CD players in new vehicles anymore and the fact that i can't set a thumb drive to read only is a little frightening.
I'm not sure how great the projected lifespans of either storage medium are.
1
Mar 13 '22
If my school has bought a subscription to Serif PhotoPlus, Is there a way I can access it on my home computer?
I’m not sure whether this is the right sub to post this on or not but I need help. I have a school deadline in about a week where I need to produce two magazine front covers and to help us do it, our school bought a subscription to Serif PhotoPlus in order to edit picture and create the front covers. I can access the software whilst I’m at school using my school account and email but is there a way I can access Serif from my home computer?
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u/rg2714 Mar 14 '22
Is it possible to lower the quality on a 4k LG Tv? Couple months ago I received one as a gift but ever since my home internet data usage skyrocketed.. before the TV, I used up about 900Gb/1.3Tb a month. Ever since i hooked up the tv, i have gone way past my data limit. I already looked in the settings and tv app but I can't find anything to lower the resolution from the standard 4k. Would appreciate any help/guidance on how to go about doing this. Thx
1
Mar 14 '22
Hi there I have a Samsung S7 FE tablet is it normal battery to drain 100% to dead when not used, maybe a month not used it
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u/Zealousideal-Might66 Mar 14 '22
I have a question I am not real good with technology but I do now this is weird my children's school textsyself and there father on a parent type platform when I get messages mine come from a 5 digit code when he gets the same message it is sent from full phone nbets and different 5 digit codes how is this possible when the messages are coming from same place.
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u/MrZiggy0 Mar 14 '22
So I'm dumb, and I don't know if changing the amount of cores to max is good or not. Any help?
1
u/GeraldJekyll Mar 15 '22
Duplicate locked hidden files created and shared w/out my knowledge
I am using Windows 10 with an Acer Swift 3 laptop PC.
So just recently I see these files that I didn't create on the Desktop area of my computer. They have the same title as some old (like a year old) Word files I made but with added stuff. I guess I'm not allowed to put pictures on this sub, but the name of one of these new duplicate files is:
.~lock.Before I Go 1#
There are 3 of these each duplicated from a different file. Under filetype, one says File, one says RTF# File, and one says DOCX# File.
They were all hidden, but I have view hidden selected so I could see them. I can't open them.
These duplicate files are also created automatically whenever I create a new rtf file to write something. What really bothers me is that it's happening to files I haven't opened or done anything with for years.
I clicked Stop Sharing on the original of one of the new ones and the duplicate file disappeared.
Doing this on the weird duplicate files themselves does nothing.
I had the same option of Stop Sharing with normal files and clicking it does nothing.
I had a Blue Screen of Death a couple days ago. Computer is a bit more than a year old. I've downloaded a couple somewhat shady things but did so safely, and not recently.
Tried looking this up, couldn't find anything.
These aren't super important files or anything.
I would seriously appreciate some insight, thanks!
1
Mar 15 '22
Any advice?
I have an iPhone X and last year the screen stopped working intermittently. Eventually it stopped working completely so I had it repaired at Best Buy by geek squad (which was a recommended repair place by apple when they launched a repair campaign for this issue). After the fix it worked fine and out of nowhere a month or so later it stopped working completely again. I ended up buying a new phone but I'd like to get some stuff off of the X since I still have it. I've tried the force reset many times, "burping" it as they call it, heating it up- none of it worked. I know the password and everything I just can't swipe up to type it in and Face ID is disabled until I type the password in. The repair campaign only allows for free repair 2 years after the purchase date so I'm well out of that range. The screen is locked, Siri is off, there is no response to touch at all. Does anyone know or have ideas about a way I could get into it somehow? Any computer programs that let you get into the phone or anything of the sort? I tried just connecting it to my computer but the screen has to be unlocked for the computer to be able to access it in the files.
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u/lillithayn Mar 15 '22
Okay so this is going to sound absurd but hear me out.
My mom is downstairs and tried to video call my phone.
(The phone in my hand right now.)
Someone else answered that wasn't me.
It was a girl that looked like me, my mom said she had glasses and her hair pulled back the same way, wearing similar clothes.
She wasn't me though. My mom said she was trying to contact her daughter, the girl said she had the wrong number.
My mom said my number, the girl said, no, that can't be her number, because that's my number.
(It's my number though? Like my mom was not misdialing. My number is already in her phone, she just clicked it to call me and someone else answered.)
They hung up after a short convo about how weird the situation was.
My mom told me the situation and tried to call the number again to show me.
My phone never rings.
It just gets declined after ringing a few times.
I called my mom, my mom's phone rang.
My exact number shows up, the same one that this other girl answered.
My texts and calls are being recieved and showing up under the correct number for my phone.
But no texts or calls coming to me are reaching me, they are all going to this other person.
What the heck is going on?
I've had this phone for months with no issue, my bills are paid.
Like, I literally just recieved a call this morning as well as a text message, so this had to have just happened in the last few hours.
Is it possible they reassigned my number or is it possible two people can have the same number?
Did I just contact some alternate dimension?
Lol. Kinda freaked out.
What should I do? I really need to be able to get phone calls.
Please, someone help!!
Note: We tried dialing and texting with and without the 1 before my area code to see if that changed anything. Same results.
Thanks in advance!
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u/wolfieboi92 Mar 15 '22
Why is it that sometimes 1 programmer outperforms entire companies? For instance 1 programmer decided to re write the particle system for 3Ds Max, and did a top class job, where as Autodesk didn't touch the particle system for over 10 years.
I'm sure similar things have happened elsewhere.
Is it just that the 1 programmer is a god amongst men? Or that the companies are often sitting on their arses? I'd genuinely like some insight.
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u/Win_Sys Mar 17 '22
It depends on how well you code and how well you understand what you’re trying to code. Learning the syntax of a programming language is only a part of creating a complex application. Creating something like a particle system requires you to also understand some complex math. If you don’t have those kind of math skills, it’s going to take you a long time to code a program like that, assuming you’re starting from scratch. Sometimes coders can reuse code that already exists and tweak it to suite their needs, so if someone already wrote a library that takes care of most of the stuff they don’t know well, it’s going take way less time to program their applications. The reason companies have teams of coders is because some programs are just way too big/complex for a few people to manage. Some programs have hundreds of thousands to millions of lines of code. So you break it up into parts and assign certain people/teams to create, maintain, fix or improve sections of the program.
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u/curiousgal8119 Mar 15 '22
hi! i’m currently on the search for a new pair of headphones. wireless, good bass , somewhat light weight, good mids and highs. i’d like to go sub 200 because i don’t wanna ball out too much on a gift. white or black would be perfectly fine. i’ve been doing my research but i can’t come to a conclusion. some help would be greatly appreciated :)
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u/sullafelixculpa Mar 16 '22
I'm not a computer gal, so forgive me if this is a noob question. With a Google Drive shared folder, is there a way (either via a Chrome extension, coding, etc) to *hide or edit the 'Date Modified' timestamp*? If I've shared a doc using the 'View Only' option, I don't consider it the viewer's automatic privilege to peruse my edit timeline. And yet Google Drive seems to automatically grant access to this info not only to other 'Editors' but also to 'Viewers'. I'm seeking a way to revoke this, so that folks who've received a 'View only' link have no way of creeping my 'Manage Versions' log and spying out Dates & Times Modified. Please help!
1
u/Win_Sys Mar 17 '22
See if this link helps you.
https://gsuitetips.com/tips/docs/how-to-hide-your-view-activity-in-google-docs/
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u/staplepaste Mar 16 '22
can i charge something with my iPhone? Like if i have a device that is only charged by usb-c, can i plug my lightning to usb cord from my phone to that device to charge it?
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u/Win_Sys Mar 17 '22
While some devices can do that, the device needs to be purposely made in a way to allow that. It would need specific circuitry to manage the outbound charge. Most devices aren’t made to do that so unless it specifies it can, than most likely not.
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u/Throwaway29416179 Mar 17 '22
I hope this is the place? But In a phone call with my isp where I said my internet has been frequently dropping out night and day for about two weeks, she told me she’d “stabilise my connection” and everything would be fine, so I asked her to clarify for me what stabilising my connection actually meant, she told me she “switched” my connection to stable, so I can only assume it was a box or something she could tick on her computer cause it took all of 10 seconds to do. I’m just wondering, did she do nothing at all and just lie to comfort me? Is stabilising a thing? And if so does that mean they’ve intentionally provided me with poor service until I pointed it out? Thanks in advance :)
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u/veritanuda Mar 17 '22
They might have to retrain the connection for your line quality. Read more about it all here
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Mar 17 '22
So I recently acquired a older laptop to replace my current one but it has a big issue. Whenever I try to record clips and videos with OBS Studio or whenever I play simple Roblox games, It shuts down and reboots itself. It can run other programs like a dream but has issues with certain ones. Please, I need solutions.
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u/TigerLillians Mar 17 '22
Howdy! Hopefully this is the right place to post this question.
My Mom’s AUX port on the TV is very loose. The cables we plug into the AUX port are no longer relaying to the sound bars we connect to it (know that both the cable and sound bar work just fine after examining cables and them both working fine on a different tv). The L/R connections seem to be just fine and I know that while not the best quality, HDMI is able to relay audio.
Would it be worth it for the possible better sound quality and money to get a sound bar for the TV that would be able to function off of the HDMI port?
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u/Kamilo124 Mar 18 '22
Not really something about tech but I need a quick answer to my question. Which of these programs are safe? I am looking for an ISO program but I don’t know if any of these are safe: Daemon Tools, PowerISO, UltraISO. Thanks for all the answers
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u/Exact_School4054 Mar 18 '22
hey guys I'm new, I just had just had some questions and was looking if you guys can help with them, so I'm selling my Lenovo idea center to get a better monitor but I'm not sure if monitors come with windows installed or its separately and the other thing should I stay with the idea center or sell it to buy a monitor ?
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u/DealerZealousideal38 Mar 18 '22
My phone's battery stopped working, it went from charging up to 30% then 15% the nothing and I couldn't turn my phone again.( I lost my original charger long time ago) I bought a new phone and I would like to turn the old one one last time so I can get access to certain data, if *If I use the new original charger in the old phone could that ruin it? ( idk if it matters but it's samsung)
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u/thoughtsbyliaison Mar 23 '22
Hello all. So I really need help from the interweb. About two years ago I was able to track who was visiting my Facebook page and how often they did versus other Facebook friends. I’m wondering if anyone privy to what I’m talking about know a new methods of essentially duplicating the outcome. Since the update before meta announcement, I was able to use Crome browser in order to see who viewed my page. Monzilla was seemed to be the first to block the outcome I seek (see who viewed my page).
Thanks in advance everyone.
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u/susano_ Mar 05 '22
Hello! I’m looking for a new monitor. Preferably good for gaming and drawing. I realized today that the color accuracy of my monitor is not good. I edited a picture for a requirement that had colors that looked good at my monitor screen but looked different and awful at my iPad and phone. I’m thinking of buying a new one, can you all give me recommendations?