Answer Line

Extend Your Wireless Network

There are plenty of ways to extend a connection. Some are easier than others.

One thing you can try, especially if you're good with your hands, is to build yourself a better antenna more suited for your needs. For instance, you can build a parabolic reflector that will focus the beam in a particular direction.

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Recover Encrypted Files From An Old Hard Drive

I don't like Windows' Encrypted File System (EFS), and Jeff's story illustrates why. Although EFS provides what appears to be a convenient, completely transparent form of encryption, it can be trouble down the road.

EFS makes sense in a business, where IS professionals manage the computers and less savvy people use them. The users don't even have to know that their data is encrypted (or even what the word encrypted means). They log into Windows and they can access their files. But if someone else logs in, or boots from a live Linux CD, or removes the hard drive, the files are inaccessible. And should it be necessary, IS knows how to get back those files.

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On What Media Should I Backup My Photos?

With one exception, I don't recommend flash drives for backup. On a dollar-per-gigabyte basis, they're relatively expensive.

(The exception? Travel. Flash drives provide a convenient way to carry your backup in your pocket. If you lose your luggage and with it your laptop, you still have your files.)

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Who is the Administrator, What Does That Title Mean, and How Do I Gain That Type of Control Over My PC?

Every Windows installation has one or more user accounts--you have to log onto one when you boot your PC. At least one of those accounts must have administrator privileges. Only an administrator can install software, change some of the more dangerous settings, and remove other users' logon passwords.

If you are the sole owner of a home PC, you should have access to the administrator account, whether or not that's the account you work in on a regular basis. There are exceptions. For instance, a child should never have administrator privileges.

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Back Up a Bootable CD or DVD

Without the word bootable, the answer would be a no-brainer. You'd simply copy all of the files and folders on the disc into a .zip archive file. Then, when you needed them on disc, you'd copy them back.

The problem, of course, is that the new disc wouldn't be bootable. Not good with a Windows or Linux disc.

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Expand Your Smartphone's Battery Life

A phone battery should last--even under heavy use--for the 16 or 17 hours from when you wake up until you go to bed. (I'm assuming that you recharge your phone at night.) Unfortunately, a great many phones can't always make it through the day.

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Should I Scan an External Drive for Malware?

I see no point in scanning every external drive every time you insert it. That becomes very annoying very fast. Yes, some antivirus programs do this automatically, but if yours does, I strongly recommend you turn the feature off.

Which isn't to say that you should never scan an external drive. Of course you should--when you think it's appropriate.

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