Ask the Tech Guy |
| In this weekly column, our resident "tech guy" answers reader's tech questions. |
Printer Problem |
Dear Tech Guy, When I use my printer, it leaves streaks of ink on my paper, especially near the edges. Is there anything I can do to fix this? |
| Submitted by: Ellie Craft |
| Answer: Printers can accumulate an ink build-up which makes streaks or blotches on the paper. Sometimes this can be corrected with a cleaning. Take a thick piece of matte paper and lightly spray it with a cleaner like Windex® until it is slightly damp. Don’t let it get saturated where it will shred in the printer. Run it through the printer several times using the load/eject button. Be sure to flip the paper over several times, and moisten it again if it starts to dry out. Follow this by feeding through some normal bond paper to help dry things out. This usually takes care of the problem. |
| USB 1.1 or USB 2.0? |
Dear Tech Guy, I recently purchased a new digital camera, and it says that it utilizes USB 2.0, but is also backward-compatible with USB 1.1. I have a fairly new computer, but how can I confirm if I have USB 2.0? |
| Submitted by: Brian Bowman |
| Answer: USB 1.1 (Universal Serial Bus) is basically obsolete due to the much faster USB 2.0. To verify if your computer supports USB 2.0, check it through the Device Manager. One way to access this is to right-click My Computer, select Properties, select the Hardware tab, and finally click the Device Manager button. Then expand the Universal Serial Bus section. You should see an “Enhanced” USB host controller present. |
Airline X-Ray Equipment and Laptop Computers |
Dear Tech Guy, In the near future, I am traveling on a flight, and I am going to take along my laptop computer. My neighbor told me that they will x-ray my laptop before I am allowed to take it on the plane. Is this true, and if so, will this harm my laptop or my files? |
| Submitted by: Karen Ofling |
| Answer: Generally, most airport Security/Customs will x-ray your laptop computer before you are allowed to take it on the plane with you. This will not harm it, as the magnetic field is not strong enough to damage your hard drive or your data. However, metal detectors can cause damage, so you should request that they do a hand check instead. This is where they visually check to see that it is indeed a real functioning computer. To save time, you may want to have your computer in suspend mode to expedite this process. |
Do you have a question about computers or other types of technology? the tech guy with your question. |
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