What’s the catch with ThePhotoStick?

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ThePhotoStick is widely advertised online. It is a USB data stick with 8 to 128 GB capacity, depending on the version, that backs up the pictures on your computer or laptop. The low-capacity versions quickly reach their limits, but with 32 to 128 GB, the user can certainly do something. ThePhotoStick does what the product … Read more

Windows 11 now for almost all computers and laptops

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Some basic requirements must be met by a computer or laptop for Windows 11 to be installed on the device. A dual-core 1GHz processor with 64-bit support, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space for the operating system are minimum requirements. Everything else, however, can be bypassed. Install Windows 11 now from the comfort … Read more

Xtra PC: Advertising hype about ordinary Linux

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Xtra PC is the advertising name of a self-booting Linux data pen with which you can start and use your computer or laptop at lightning speed even if your operating system is shot or Microsoft Windows seems to have frozen. Such an emergency data pen is obviously useful and, purely as a precaution, is one … Read more

Windows 11 brands incompatible devices

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When buying a new computer or laptop, you should make sure that Windows 11 is preinstalled on the device and not Windows 10, because Microsoft guarantees security updates for Windows 10 only until October 2025. After that, it will be problematic to go online with Windows 10 devices. And who wants to spend money on … Read more

Reading out Windows, Office and other licence keys

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Which licence key did I use to activate the Windows version on my computer? What is my Office or Photoshop licence? This question can be answered seriously and reliably by a small, free help programme from the well-known software manufacturer Abelssoft, which you can download here: https://www.abelssoft.de/mykeyfinder.exe You have to enter your (or any) name … Read more

Problems with Windows updates

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Some Windows computers are always up-to-date, others are not. Microsoft has now investigated what the reason for this is. Many users have already guessed the result: computers that are constantly online continuously receive all the latest updates, while little time online leads to a traffic jam. If the device is not connected to the internet … Read more

Outlook search function paralysed

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The Windows update KB5008212 from December 2021 has crippled the search function in Outlook. Before Microsoft solves the problem in a later update, you can improvise to use the search anyway: Start Outlook. Then start the Windows Task Manager via the “bracket handle” by clicking [Strg] + [Shift] + [Esc] at the same time. Then … Read more

Social benefits are no longer available, nor is registering cars: encryption Trojan paralyses entire district

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The administration of the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district in Germany knows a thing or two about how much damage an encryption Trojan can cause. At 6:45 a.m. on 6 July 2021, an employee in the Office for Fire Disaster Control and Rescue Services there started his computer and was greeted with the message: “District of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, you … Read more

Evil ideas: Can we ever build a real planet killer?

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“Star Wars” is not serious science fiction, but scientifically ill-founded entertainment for the masses. Not only, but the construction of a Death Star, which plays a central role in several episodes of this narrative, may eventually be possible for humans – but it would be pointless and completely unprofitable. The Death Star is said by … Read more

Planned obsolescence: sensible or modern consumer terror?

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In the 1920s, the manufacturers of light bulbs agreed that their products should no longer have a life expectancy of 2,500 hours, but only 1,000. However, this was done more to the benefit than to the detriment of their customers. After all, the most expensive part of using incandescent lamps is the electricity consumption. And … Read more