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Episode 993 July 6, 2013

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Audience Questions

Audience QuestionsHour 1

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

How can I clean out a laptop that's infested with roaches?

Watch Walter from Land O' Lakes, FL Comments

Walter's friend has a laptop that's been in storage needs to be cleaned out…because there's roaches in it! Leo says that's a strange issue. His first thought is to turn the laptop on and let the heat of the laptop force them out. He tried using some industrial strength bug spray in a ziplock, but it didn't work.

Doctor Mom in the chatroom suggests using dry ice, as that will push out all the oxygen and replace it with carbon dioxide, killing them. Leo says while that's a great option, if they don't have a way to get out, they'll be stuck and dead inside. But then he could open up the laptop and remove the carcasses.

Leo says that he'll have to make sure he has a way to pool any condensation so it doesn't collect on the laptop itself. He could use a sealed box with the dry ice above it. The C02 will settle and kill them. He'll want to look for eggs as well.

Mark in California says using a vaccum seal bag will kill them.

How can I free up space on my iPhone?

Watch George from Venice, FL Comments

George has a lot of audio recordings and photos on his iPhone, and it has run out of space. Leo says to backup the images with iTunes or back them up to iCloud. He can do the same with iTunes and the music.

George says his audio recordings don't show up in iTunes, however. Leo says if he looks under the "device" option for the iPhone, he should see it there. It's possible that because he records to a third party app, that he needs to go into the settings for that app to see if it will sync. He should at least be able to delete them in the app.

What could I do with a Sony Dash "personal internet viewer"?

Watch Mike from Portland, ME Comments

Mike got a gift the other day called the Sony Dash "personal internet viewer." Leo says it's kinda like a chumby. It's a tablet/media player/clock radio designed to sit next to the bed.

Leo says Sony doesn't make it anymore, but they may support it. Mike may be able to hack it. He could even hack it with Android.

What can I do if my Android tablet gets infected?

Watch Mike from San Bernadino, CA Comments

Mike got a Nook Android tablet and wants to know if he needs to worry about virus protection. Leo says not yet, and he doesn't know why tablets aren't getting more attention from hackers. Just in case, Leo suggests an app called Lookout.

Lookout will scan apps he installs to see if there's any malware associated with it. There is an Android exploit out there that was found this week, and there is concern that it could be used to corrupt 99% of devices out there. So he should install Lookout and only buy his apps from verified dealers like the Google Play Store, Amazon's Android Store, or Nook's App store. Even if he does get bit, Google can remote kill any app should an infection occur.

How can I fix a stuck Windows update?

Watch Phil from Van Nuys, CA Comments

Phil's laptop has a problem with Windows update, and he's been told the only way to fix it is to reinstall Windows. Leo says that's probably the best bet since sometimes updates get stuck and if an update fails, Windows can't skip over it and it can't continue.

He can try to use Microsoft FixIt, or go into Microsoft Support and search for "stuck update" for how to solve it. Here's another option on how to reset Windows Update.

The chatroom says to go to Eset and run their Services fixer.

(Disclaimer: ESET is a sponsor).

Do I need 64 bit Windows 7?

Watch Steve from Ohio Comments

Steve bought a new laptop with 32 bit Windows 7, but he can't see all of his RAM. Leo says that's because 32 bit will only see 4GB of RAM, so if he has more than that, he'll need to go with 64 bit Windows 7. Can he install it over the 32 bit? Leo says it's better to format the hard drive and start over. The chatroom says that he doesn't need to buy another copy, just download it from Microsoft and use the same License key.

Audience QuestionsHour 2

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

How can I backup and sync my contacts?

Watch Chris from Frankfort, KY Comments

Chris is having problems with iCloud and his contacts. Leo says he's not a fan of iCloud and prefers Google for that. It can be a bit painful to move to it, but once he does, he'll be better off. Leo advises backing up his contacts, and then exporting them as CSV or VCard format. Then he can import them into Google Contacts. He may end up with duplicates, however, so be ready to clear them and backup every step of the way. Once done, don't sync from multiple sources, just stick with Google.

How can I fix my iPad's Wi-Fi problems?

Watch Sandra from Anaheim Hills, CA Comments

Sandy's iPad is having Wi-Fi issues. Leo says that Apple products tend to have issues with this, and there was a generation of Apple iPads that were very problematic. She went to Apple and they sent her to AT&T. Leo says to go back to Apple and tell them to fix the problem. It has nothing to do with AT&T.

How can I reassign my keyboard keys back to default?

Watch Diane from Riverside, CA Comments

Diane was assigning shortcuts to her Apple keyboard, and accidentally reassigned CMD+C so now she can't copy.

All she needs to do is go into System Preferences> Keyboard> Shortcuts> Restore Defaults. She can also use Option + 4 to get the cents (¢) symbol.

What camera would be best for taking photos of quarter scale RC cars?

Watch Carlos from Ft Lauderdale, FL Comments

Carlos wants a camera that will be able to take photos of quarter scale RC cars that he's building. Leo says what he wants is a macro lens. This means he'll be shooting something at a 1 to 1 size, so if he's shooting something at a quarter scale, it will fill the screen. Many cameras have macro capabilities, even point-and-shoots. Lighting is tricky, and he'll want to use a mini tripod because it'll be hard to focus and hold steady in macro mode.

Carlos is wondering if the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS has a macro feature. Leo says he bets that it does, but he should go to dpreview.com. They review all the cameras and they have a nice table of capabilities. He's looking for 1 to 1 macro.

If he were to get an SLR, there are specialized macro lenses, but on Canon point-and-shoots there's a flower symbol that indicates the macro mode.

What's the best T-Mobile plan to switch to?

Watch Eleizer from Florence, CA Comments

Eleizer's iPhone contract is up and he's thinking of moving to T-Mobile. Leo says that could be a great deal if he doesn't use a lot of minutes talking. T-Mobile has a "hidden" plan that he'll have to search for that includes unlimited data and texting, plus 100 minutes calling for just $30. He can use any unlocked GSM phone with it, too.

Leo says the key is to have a phone that is HSPA+ compatible. Eleizer is wondering if the Nexus phone is capable of that. Leo thinks it is, and it's a very nice phone.

How can I prove that I didn't get an important email?

Watch Bob from La Canada Flintridge, CA Comments

Bob says that Yahoo hasn't delivered important emails to him and he needs to prove that he never received it. Leo says that people can prove they sent the emails, but they can't really prove he received them. It's a "he said, she said," situation. Leo also says that it's possible that Yahoo considered the email SPAM and placed it in the spam filter. If he checks the Yahoo spam folder, it should be there, but if he empties that regularly, then it's gone. Adding the sender to his address book may prevent it from getting put into the spam folder.

Audience QuestionsHour 3

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

Why does my laptop kill my internet connection?

Watch Greg from Riverside, CA Comments

Greg says that every time he joins a coffee shop network with his laptop, the internet dies. Leo says that there could be an issue with the Wi-Fi radio on the laptop that's causing it. It could also be an issue with the Coffee shop's DHCP.

The Chatroom suggests disabling the Wi-Fi network in control panel, rather than the "button," to see if the issue persists. Then the only thing he can do is check to see if there's another program that's running in the background that could be disrupting his connection. Leo says it's a strange interaction between the laptop and the router using DHCP. It's been a problem with Apple tablets and laptops of late.

Jim in San Diego suggests making sure he doesn't have internet connection sharing turned on. Others in the chatroom say it's an issue with the router as well.

What's the best budget laptop that could do video editing?

Watch Jesse from Thousand Oaks, CA Comments

Jesse is looking to get an Acer laptop. Leo says that Acer is a pretty good low cost option. She's looking to spend $1,000 and wants it to be scalable. Leo says that she can add memory and a larger hard drive, but that's about it. Laptops aren't usually upgradeable.

Leo says for $1,000 she could get an 11" MacBook Air, but that screen is tiny.

Leo then advises getting a laptop with the new Haswell chip because she'll get a lot of battery life with it. Leo would look at not only Acer but Asus, Dell and Lenovo. She'll want to look at business class laptops versus consumer computers. Make sure to get an i5 Chip (she won't need an i7) with 8GB memory and a solid state drive. SSD will be half as big, but twice as fast. If she's doing video editing, she can connect an external hard drive for storage.

Why is my laptop having trouble connecting to the Internet?

Watch Martin from Los Angeles, CA Comments

Martin is having trouble connecting to the Internet with Internet Explorer. It always asks him what to connect with. Leo says that IE is messed up and that using Chrome or Firefox would be a good way to eliminate that as the culprit. If that's not fixing the issue, then Leo suspects that Martin's laptop may have malware on it and that's preventing connection, or potentially a hardware problem.

How can I get my journal back?

Watch Barbara from Los Angeles, CA Comments

Barbara had a loved one who was in the hospital and she would use her computer to write his journal with Microsoft Works. Now all the data is gone and she's very upset. She was able to retrieve it up to 2011. Leo says there has to be multiple backups of the document and if she found one, there could be another. This is the reason why it's vital to backup. It may be gone forever, sadly.

She should stop using the computer immediately, and take it into an expert to look for the .bps and .wds files. Make copies of them. Leo is confident it's there somewhere, but it's vital to go to a professional to recover it.

Also, if she saved to one file, that's asking for trouble. Backup and use multiple files for multiple entries. That'll protect what was written beforehand. The chatroom says that Works won't make a backup unless it is told to. Hopefully Barbara did.

How can I improve my battery life in Android?

Watch Eric from Omaha, NB Comments

Eric has a Samsung Galaxy SII and he's not happy with the battery life. Leo says that is a common issue with today's smartphones and Leo always just buys a backup battery. There's a few things he can do, though. There are tips at XDA Developers Forums. Search for battery life and he'll find some great advice.