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.

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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.

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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.

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Dear Geek,

I bought a new computer for home. I sometimes take some work home, but mostly I want to write some Star Trek poems-from Spock’s perspective. My Mom says because it’s in her house, she has partial ownership too. I don’t want her messing up my poems while looking for new spaghetti sauce recipes, which by the way mom, the last one is still good.

Is there a way to keep her stuff separate from mine?

Sincerely,
SpockLovezSpaghetti

Dear SpockLovesPoetry,

The best way to do this would be to make her a user on your computer. This way, she has her own place for her recipes, and she can’t mess around with your stuff unless she really tries.

This can be done pretty easily. First, you open the Windows control panel. Then click on “add or remove user accounts”. It will then ask you what you’d like the user account to be named, so something like “Mom” would work. It will also ask you what sort of account you’d like this account to be. Most people stick with making additional accounts as “standard users”. This is so the additional accounts cannot make a bunch of administrator changes to the system. Last step is to click “create account”.

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

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Dear Geek,

I got a phone call from Microsoft Support. They told me I have a virus! They were going to help me remove it, but I told them I didn’t have time. They said they would call back. Is there a way to get this virus off without them tonight?

Sincerely,
Support

Dear Scammed

Microsoft Support, Facebook, Windows Support, Norton, Dell, ect, will NOT call you. This is a phishing scam, hoping to take over your computer and or get some of your important information.

They will give you a website to “allow them to have remote access to your computer so they can remove the virus”. When you go to this website, it will either download a virus or malware to your computer, give them remote access to your system, or lead to a landing page asking for information such as credit card numbers or usernames and passwords. All three can be bad for your information.

In downloading a virus, the hacker do things such as open back doors to allow access to your system at any time and log your keystrokes (getting them all the information you type in). Remote access to your system can allow them to get this onto your system as well. Some fake error messages may pop up on your computer, having nothing to do with what they are actually doing.

You may have a virus, but it has nothing to do with what they are telling you, guaranteed. Best thing to do is to run virus scans regularly, or have a company such as Technology by Design monitor your system for viruses.

Got a question for the Geek?  Email:  geek@tbyd.ca

Got Cyber-Bugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!