Dear Geek,

I had a friend come over to help me on my game because I’m stuck on a level. While he was here, he told me my mouse is slow. When I asked him what he meant, he said it was taking forever to move across the screen, and I might be able to beat the level if my mouse was faster. How do I change this? I need to beat the boss monster!

Sincerely,
World protector

Dear hero,

Yes, a faster mouse speed would allow for you to move your mouse across the screen quicker, and it’s easy to change!

First click on the start menu and go to the settings option, then control panel. In this window, there should be a mouse icon, double click the mouse icon. In this window, there will be a bunch tabs regarding your mouse settings, the one we want right now is the “pointer option” tab. Once this tab is opened, there will be a slider bar. Moving the slider bar to the right will increase the speed of the mouse, while moving it to the left will decrease the speed. Click the Ok button, and try it out for a while. Some people cannot work with mouse speeds that are super fast, and there is no use having a super fast mouse if you cannot work with it.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.

Got Cyber-Bugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

Dear Geek,

I think my laptop is haunted by the ghost of a nerd. Who else would be haunting my laptop? Even when I am not touching my touchpad, my mouse moves. Should I be calling Ghostbusters?

Sincerely,

GHOSTBUSTERS!

Dear computer user watching too many horror movies,

Ghostbusters should not be necessary for this. There are a few reasons this could be happening.

Check where your hands are on the keyboard. Because the touchpad is so close to where the palms of your hands and your thumbs rest, it could be possible that you are touching the touchpad without realizing it. Take your hands off the keyboard completely, and see if it continues to move by itself.

Is your touchpad dirty? Oils, lotions, and other substances from your fingers can cause the touchpad to not work properly. Try cleaning the touchpad by dampening a cotton cloth with water and wipe the surface of the touchpad.

Do you have any external devices plugged in? If you have a device plugged in such as an external mouse, graphics tablet, or keypad, unplug them and see if this may be your issue. Something on your desk may be nudging these devices causing your mouse to move.

Do you have all the proper drivers? Drivers control how the touchpad, and everything else, works. If the driver contains issues, it may cause some issues, such as the mouse moving improperly. Check your laptop manufacturer website to check if you have the correct driver.

If you have done all this, and you are still convinced a ghost nerd is controlling your mouse, there may be a physical hardware issue with either the touchpad or the interface connected to the touchpad.

Technology by Design can help diagnose your touchpad issues, and fix it, even if it is a hardware issue! If you are being haunted by a ghostly nerd who enjoys moving your mouse, who are you going to call?

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.

Got Cyber-Bugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

Dear Geek,

I got really excited about the new Spider-Man movie, that I spilled some pop all over my keyboard. By “some”, I mean a whole bottle of coke. I tried cleaning it out, but it’s been a few days since, and my keyboard is still so sticky that it’s almost unusable. I saw on a forum that a few people had put their keyboards through the dishwasher, can you actually do that?

Sincerely,
Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man

Dear Peter Parker,

Yes, some people have put their keyboards through the dishwasher, but there are some risks with that. When you do this, there is a chance that you may completely ruin your keyboard, and no manufacturer actually recommends you use this method. If you have warranty on your keyboard, this will completely void it. Also, your keyboard will be out of commission for about a week. It should also be said that this method of cleaning does not work for laptop keyboards, just standard, desktop keyboards.

Here’s some information if this is the road you’d like to take:
– Make sure you’ve got a spare keyboard. You must wait at least 7 days before the keyboard can be used again after it’s been washed, so unless you do not plan on using your computer for a week you’ll need a spare.
– Do not use any dish soap.
If your dishwasher has multiple settings, make sure it’s a rinse only. Do not use a heavy wash, pots, and pan setting, or any heated drying settings. Any extensive heat will destroy the keyboard.
– Wash the keyboard on the top rack only.
– Do not put anything else in the dishwasher except the keyboard.
– Only try this if your computer keyboard is plastic.
If you want a more extensive clean under the keys remove each of the keys and wash just the keyboard.

After the keyboard has been washed, shake the keyboard to allow excessive amounts of water to drain out, lay the keyboard upside down so it is laying on the keys, and let the keyboard dry for seven days.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.

Got Cyber-Bugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

Dear Geek,

I’m not sure what happened, but the date and time is off on my computer. Could it be that I have finally found a way to time travel?

Sincerely,
The Doctor

Dear ‘Who’ fan,

The chances are that you have not found a way to time travel. Your settings are probably off.

To change the time and date on Windows 7, you click on the date and time in the notification area, which is most commonly on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. When you click on this, a small window will appear with a small calendar and some different time zones. Under this, there should be an option to “change date and time settings”.

In Windows 8, there are a few ways to open up the settings. First way is to look for the “settings” tab in the Charms start menu (aka the screen that looks like a tablet). To open this up, you go to the start menu, and go to start screen. The other option is to simply press the Windows key + I.

From here, click on the “Desktop” option, then More PC Settings. The General tab is where the date and time can be changed.

If you have a question for our Resident Geek, send it to: geek@tbyd.ca.

Got Cyber-Bugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!