Hardware

Bonnie isn't happy about Microsoft closing all stores because she bought the extended "Assure Plan." Leo says that Microsoft will provide the same services through Microsoft.com, but Bonnie says it doesn't allow her to see what's going on with the computer one on one. Leo says that by deciding to not reopen all 86 stores, Microsoft is taking a loss of a half-billion dollars. Leo says to contact Microsoft directly and demand a refund. They should definitely give Bonnie one.

Dwight wants to know if he should install the latest 2004 Windows 10 update or wait. Leo says that 2004 is like 1909 and 1903 before it: a FEATURE update. There's nothing in there you absolutely have to have. And since many people are complaining that many things get "broken" with 2004, it's perfectly OK to wait. But Leo also thinks it's largely safe to update if there are a few features you have to have.

Tom has a Lenovo Yoga 910, but he's getting a boot-up failure message. After trying a few times, it will boot up. Leo suspects that the hard drive is starting to fail. It's a typical problem with spinning drives. It could be that the head is sticking, a power supply problem, or that when the hard drive heats up, it starts to work as usual. Leo advises backing up your data, just in case. Easy fi: replace the hard drive.

John is working from home and needs to get a  new computer. Would a Chromebox work? He already has a Chromebook, but it's too small for daily use. Leo says that you can get Chromebooks in just about any price and performance level. It just depends on how much John wants to spend and what he needs. John's budget is $500. Leo says that the ASUS Chromebox 3 is a good option starting at $300. It's an i3 processor and 4K graphics. But you can upgrade to an i7. But that's almost $1000. If you want a Chromebox, that's the brand Leo would go with. What about Linux? Can he buy a Linux machine?