You should save your computer from

Tip: If you're a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscriber, you get Microsoft Defender included with your subscription at no extra charge. It helps protect all your devices - Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. For more information see • Make sure your passwords are well-chosen and protected To learn how, see • Don’t open suspicious attachments or click unusual links in messages. They can appear in email, tweets, posts, online ads, messages, or attachments, and sometimes disguise themselves as known and trusted sources. • Browse the web safely Avoid visiting sites that offer potentially illicit content. Many of these sites install malware on the fly or offer downloads that contain malware. Use a modern browser like • Stay away from pirated material Avoid streaming or downloading movies, music, books, or applications that do not come from trusted sources. They may contain malware. • Don't use USBs or other external devices unless you own them To avoid infection by malware and viruses, ensure that all external devices either belong to you or come from a reliable source. Protect your personal information online Your privacy on the internet depends on your ability to control both the amount of personal information that you provide and who has access to that information. Find out how to Protect yourself from scams When you read email, use social media, or browse the web, you should be wary of scams that try to steal your personal information (also known as Prevent and remove malw...

Also: Since that incident, I've depended on external drives to house my Final Cut Pro video libraries. By doing this, I can be certain the drive containing the macOS operating system won't have problems because of a lack of storage space. In fact, I spread my video libraries out between two external SSD drives now. The SSD drives I've chosen are a pair of SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD. They are small, fast, rugged, and have the write speeds necessary to allow Final Cut Pro to render videos without problems. Since adopting these drives, I haven't had a single issue with Final Cut Pro (at least with regard to library storage). The carabiner loop makes it easy to carry these drives around. Jack Wallen/ZDNET My experience with the drives Since I purchased two 2TB SanDisk SSDs (you can also get them in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB), I've found video rendering isn't quite as fast as it is when rendering to the iMac internal storage (as those drives have much faster read/write speeds), but it is more reliable. The drives can be easily formatted to use with any operating system (using built-in tools), so they can be used with Linux, macOS, or Windows. And with the Sandisk SSDs, I no longer have to worry about filling up internal storage and I can even remove a drive, connect it to my MacBook Pro, fire up Final Cut Pro and open the library on the SanDisk. Also: And even with the slower read/write speeds, videos still render quickly enough and never have any problems. Given the relat...

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag. I run several special projects including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys, and yearly coverage of the Fastest ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs. I work from my home, and did it long before pandemics made it cool. We all know we're supposed to back up our data; it's essential for peace of mind. But one copy of a file on your computer does not a backup make. Redundancy, people, redundancy! As the organizers of (Opens in a new window) note, people produce quadrillions of files every year, but so many fail to take adequate steps to preserve their data. Computers can become infected, and accidents happen—but even after losing important documents, irreplaceable photos, or entire sets of financial records, most of us still don't back up. The most likely reason is that backing up takes some effort. At least one in five people have never backed up their data (according to the World Backup Day website). But the process is easier than ever. Here's a quick look at the types of backup available, as well as the tools you'll need to pull it off with as little work as possible. Types of PC Backup Backing up can be as simple as copying a file from one spot to another—from a hard drive to a removableUSB flash drive, for example. But your needs for redundancy, security, and access dictate what kind of backup you should use. Select Files and Folders If yo...

Save your document to OneDrive so you can get to it from anywhere – at work, at home, or on the go. Or save to another location, like your desktop. • Go to File> Save As (or Save a Copy). • Select OneDrive so you can get to your document from anywhere. Save personal files to OneDrive - Personal, and work files to your company OneDrive or SharePoint site. You can also save to another location in the list like This PC > Documents. Or select Browse to pick any location including the Desktop. • Enter a name, and select Save.

Harvard Extension School's Computer Science E-1: Understand Hygiene is important! Most of us have it under control for ourselves, but for a lot of our technology, it's a bit messier under the hood. Just like keeping your house clean or brushing your teeth addresses problems before they can start, a little prevention of common computer problems can save you hours and dollars down the road. And, as with any intimidating situation, even a little foreknowledge and preparation can be vastly empowering. For complicated machines like our cars, ©Jupiter Images/ Most of us understand that computers need to stay cool, theoretically. But the convenience of a First, you want to ensure that there's plenty of airflow around all sides of the computer, especially the back on a desktop and often the bottom and sides for a laptop. While it's easy to declutter your desk or work area, it's also important to remember this tip if your tower lives under your desk, or in a special cubby, because the hot air in those situations can build up and recycle itself, getting hotter and hotter inside the space. Keep the cabinet doors open, for example, or take off the cubby's back panel to ensure proper flow. You might have heard, or intuited, that taking the case off your computer is a good idea in cases of overheating. That's actually incorrect, because the case around your computer's guts is there to protect it from dirt and fuzz, which is one of the most common causes of overheating. Dust, pet hair, a...

Also: Since that incident, I've depended on external drives to house my Final Cut Pro video libraries. By doing this, I can be certain the drive containing the macOS operating system won't have problems because of a lack of storage space. In fact, I spread my video libraries out between two external SSD drives now. The SSD drives I've chosen are a pair of SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD. They are small, fast, rugged, and have the write speeds necessary to allow Final Cut Pro to render videos without problems. Since adopting these drives, I haven't had a single issue with Final Cut Pro (at least with regard to library storage). The carabiner loop makes it easy to carry these drives around. Jack Wallen/ZDNET My experience with the drives Since I purchased two 2TB SanDisk SSDs (you can also get them in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB), I've found video rendering isn't quite as fast as it is when rendering to the iMac internal storage (as those drives have much faster read/write speeds), but it is more reliable. The drives can be easily formatted to use with any operating system (using built-in tools), so they can be used with Linux, macOS, or Windows. And with the Sandisk SSDs, I no longer have to worry about filling up internal storage and I can even remove a drive, connect it to my MacBook Pro, fire up Final Cut Pro and open the library on the SanDisk. Also: And even with the slower read/write speeds, videos still render quickly enough and never have any problems. Given the relat...

Tip: If you're a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscriber, you get Microsoft Defender included with your subscription at no extra charge. It helps protect all your devices - Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. For more information see • Make sure your passwords are well-chosen and protected To learn how, see • Don’t open suspicious attachments or click unusual links in messages. They can appear in email, tweets, posts, online ads, messages, or attachments, and sometimes disguise themselves as known and trusted sources. • Browse the web safely Avoid visiting sites that offer potentially illicit content. Many of these sites install malware on the fly or offer downloads that contain malware. Use a modern browser like • Stay away from pirated material Avoid streaming or downloading movies, music, books, or applications that do not come from trusted sources. They may contain malware. • Don't use USBs or other external devices unless you own them To avoid infection by malware and viruses, ensure that all external devices either belong to you or come from a reliable source. Protect your personal information online Your privacy on the internet depends on your ability to control both the amount of personal information that you provide and who has access to that information. Find out how to Protect yourself from scams When you read email, use social media, or browse the web, you should be wary of scams that try to steal your personal information (also known as Prevent and remove malw...

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag. I run several special projects including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys, and yearly coverage of the Fastest ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs. I work from my home, and did it long before pandemics made it cool. We all know we're supposed to back up our data; it's essential for peace of mind. But one copy of a file on your computer does not a backup make. Redundancy, people, redundancy! As the organizers of (Opens in a new window) note, people produce quadrillions of files every year, but so many fail to take adequate steps to preserve their data. Computers can become infected, and accidents happen—but even after losing important documents, irreplaceable photos, or entire sets of financial records, most of us still don't back up. The most likely reason is that backing up takes some effort. At least one in five people have never backed up their data (according to the World Backup Day website). But the process is easier than ever. Here's a quick look at the types of backup available, as well as the tools you'll need to pull it off with as little work as possible. Types of PC Backup Backing up can be as simple as copying a file from one spot to another—from a hard drive to a removableUSB flash drive, for example. But your needs for redundancy, security, and access dictate what kind of backup you should use. Select Files and Folders If yo...

Harvard Extension School's Computer Science E-1: Understand Hygiene is important! Most of us have it under control for ourselves, but for a lot of our technology, it's a bit messier under the hood. Just like keeping your house clean or brushing your teeth addresses problems before they can start, a little prevention of common computer problems can save you hours and dollars down the road. And, as with any intimidating situation, even a little foreknowledge and preparation can be vastly empowering. For complicated machines like our cars, ©Jupiter Images/ Most of us understand that computers need to stay cool, theoretically. But the convenience of a First, you want to ensure that there's plenty of airflow around all sides of the computer, especially the back on a desktop and often the bottom and sides for a laptop. While it's easy to declutter your desk or work area, it's also important to remember this tip if your tower lives under your desk, or in a special cubby, because the hot air in those situations can build up and recycle itself, getting hotter and hotter inside the space. Keep the cabinet doors open, for example, or take off the cubby's back panel to ensure proper flow. You might have heard, or intuited, that taking the case off your computer is a good idea in cases of overheating. That's actually incorrect, because the case around your computer's guts is there to protect it from dirt and fuzz, which is one of the most common causes of overheating. Dust, pet hair, a...

Save your document to OneDrive so you can get to it from anywhere – at work, at home, or on the go. Or save to another location, like your desktop. • Go to File> Save As (or Save a Copy). • Select OneDrive so you can get to your document from anywhere. Save personal files to OneDrive - Personal, and work files to your company OneDrive or SharePoint site. You can also save to another location in the list like This PC > Documents. Or select Browse to pick any location including the Desktop. • Enter a name, and select Save.