TechByter Worldwide 2020-06-05: Computers Need Scheduled Maintenance, and it's Not Difficult. Short Circuits. Spare Parts.

Just like cars, trucks, airplanes, furnaces, and bicycles, hardware and software can fail even if you perform all the suggested maintenance. Maintenance does allow you to find upcoming problems and fix them before they happen, though. Routine troubleshooting is easy and doesn't take much time. In Short Circuits: Portable USB solid-state drives were once a luxury for those who needed lots of fast external storage while on the go. The drives are still a bit pricy, but they're a lot more affordable than they used to be. • Offices are reopening, but many people are still working from home, and may be for a long time. Maybe permanently. Too many companies neglected to secure equipment used for office work and now they're in danger. In Spare Parts (only on the website): You know not to open email attachments from strangers, but what if somebody you do know replies to an email from you and includes an unexpected attachment? • If you've ever wondered which antivirus application is best, the answer is easy: None of them. AV Comparatives can point out the relative strengths and weaknesses. • Twenty years ago: Plans were afoot to put Congressional hearings online. This was another groundbreaking effort that didn't quite make it.