usb

Windows users will soon be able to access files on their Android phone or tablet without a USB cable. The feature is already available in test editions of Windows 11. The feature, first reported back in June, has now arrived for members of the ... Windows Insider Program, which gives early access to in-development and test features. They will also need to install the "Cross device experience host" tool from the Microsoft store. Windows does already offer some wireless connectivity with Android phones such as using it as a webcam or getting on-screen notifications from the phone replicated on the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'ltb223' writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a Windows 7 Pro computer which I haven't used for a long time. Now I want to use it, but I cannot remember my password. It has only one user account, so I believe I need to reset the admin ... password. Is there anyway to recover the lost password or am I stuck with reinstalling Windows and losing all previous data and programs? " My response: It's possible to reset the admin password, or any user password using a special password reset 'trick', known as the 'utilman' and 'sticky keys' exploit. This exploit ... (view more)

The man who co-created the USB plug says its greatest annoyance was simply a matter of cost. Ajay Bhatt says that in the original design of the USB-A cable, the plugs were not reversible in order to keep costs down, which would then help get the ... format established. Bhatt discussed his work in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR). He talked about the often baffling experience in which users would try to plug a USB cable in, find that it would not fit, flip it over, find it didn't fit (again), then flip it back to its original orientation and find that inexplicably it now fit. It's a ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned that having a USB device or memory card in a computer could block a major Windows 10 update. It's a simple problem that's made far worse by a resulting error message, which is incredibly confusing. The issue is likely to do with ... the new policy that no longer requires users to 'eject' a USB device before removing it from the system . The problem is with computers trying to install the latest Windows 10 May 2019 Update. It's the first of the two major updates this year (and every year after) that introduces new features rather than simply fixing bugs. The "May 2019 update" ... (view more)

Google says it's suffered zero phishing attacks since it started making staff use a physical key to log in to work accounts. Of course, it's possible it's been hit with attacks it doesn't know about. The measures were taken to prevent against ... phishing attacks in which scammers try to trick victims into following a link and opening a bogus website that appears to be from a legitimate organization. The idea is that they then type in login details which the scammers can use to access their account on the real website. This can be particularly problematic with business accounts that may house ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Georges A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an old HP Laserjet 1200 series printer (from 2001). This printer has worked great over the years, however I can't seem to get my new Windows 10 PC to recognize the printer. If I look in ... Device Manager, the printer isn't under the correct heading - it shows up under 'usb device'. If I go to Control Panel -> Devices and Printers, I see the HP Laserjet 1200 series printer listed, but if I right click to try and print a test page, that option isn't available. Also when I try and print something from MS Word, the printer does not show ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Greeshma N. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an external hard drive that has worked fine for years. Now the hard drive won't show up in My Computer, though it shows up under Devices and Printers - very strange! I have tried ... initializing the disk from Disk Management, but it won't format and I keep getting ' The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error '. I have tried cleaning up the disk by deleting items but it shows 0 bytes free and keeps giving me 'The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error'. What can I do to make this work? " My ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jenna R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I installed Google Drive on my system a while ago but it stopped working; I reinstalled the program only to find that Google Drive has been replaced with ' Google Backup and Sync '. Now when I plug ... in a USB thumb drive to my computer, I see this annoying popup message in the lower right hand corner of my screen asking if I want to backup my photos. This also happens when I plug in my smartphone. Despite clicking ' Remember my choice for this device' and 'Not now' (pic), it never remembers that I don't want to use this feature. It's incredibly ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sarah H. writes: " Dear Dennis, A few days ago, my PC got stuck updating Windows 10 (for over 30 minutes), so I pulled the power cord out. After that, Windows wouldn't boot to the desktop. It would give me blue screen of death ... (BSOD), then reboot, then BSOD, ad infinitum. I knew it was stuck in a reboot loop, so I decided to install Windows 10 again. During the Windows 10 setup, it asks me to select where to install Windows. I selected the C drive, but I get an error message that says: ' Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Beth R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am using Windows 7 and the USB 'Safely remove hardware' icon in my tray bar seems to have disappeared. I understand that USB drives need to be 'safely removed' or they can corrupt, which I would ... like to avoid. What can I do to fix the USB 'Safely remove hardware' so it comes back? " My response: There are a few things you can try in order to fix the USB "Safely remove hardware" icon - I'll explain a few approaches below. The fix below will work on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10 . How to Fix: USB 'Safely remove hardware' icon missing The ... (view more)