Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter – Friday, July 9, 2021
Hello, and welcome...
This is your Rick's Daily Tips Tech Update for Friday, July 9, 2021.
Topics covered in this issue...
--How to prepare a computer with an SSD for recycling
--Q&A: Will my phone’s battery charge faster if it’s turned off?
--Q&A: Where can I get an old roll of 110 film developed?
--How to clear the contents of the Windows Clipboard
--Check out these weird names of real places.
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Today's Quick Tip....
How to prepare a computer with an SSD for recycling
You probably know how important it is to either securely wipe an unwanted computer's hard drive or remove it completely before taking the machine to a recycling center.
Well, it's just as important to do the same to a computer's solid state drive (SSD).
These days more and more computers are coming with SSDs instead of spinning hard drives, and just as with hard drives you need to render the data on an SSD completely unreadable and non-recoverable before recycling the machine.
One option is to use a software tool to encrypt the contents of the SSD and then intentionally "forget" the encryption key. (Security experts recommend against trying to "wipe" an SSD because that doesn't always work as well as it does with hard drives.)
If the computer is a Mac and it's still working, you can use macOS' native FileVault utility to encrypt the contents of the SSD.
If it's a working Windows machine you can use a third-party encryption tool such as VeraCrypt to encrypt the drive.
If the computer won't boot up into the installed operating system your best course of action is to physically destroy the flash memory chips on the SSD.
All you really need to do is remove the SSD from the machine, cover it with a towel and then smash it to bits with a hammer.
Note: I strongly recommend that you wear eye protection while you're doing this. Just sayin'.
If the flash memory chips are soldered directly onto the computer's mainboard you can open up the case and smash the chips right where they are.
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From the blog...
Q&A: Will my phone’s battery charge faster if it’s turned off?
A reader wants to know if turning her phone off while it's charging will make it charge any faster. This post has the answer.
Q&A: Where can I get an old roll of 110 film developed?
A reader has a really old roll of 110 film that she'd like to get developed and she wants to know where she can have it done. This post offers a couple of great options.
How to clear the contents of the Windows Clipboard
Leaving sensitive information stored in the Windows Clipboard is a potential security risk. This post explains how to clear it out.
Click here to see today's 'Picture of the Day'.
Every morning I post a new photo that I find inspiring, intriguing, or just plain beautiful to look at. Jumpstart your day by checking it out.
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Rick's Daily Pick...
Every day I feature a tech item that I’ve hand-picked to be among the best of the best.
Click here to see what I’m loving today.
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Today's inspirational post from 'My Daily Smile'...
Check out these weird names of real places.
There are some places with really strange names in the United States, and virtually every other country on the planet as well. This post lists some of the most intriguing ones.
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Rick's Photo / File Recovery Service...
Do you have precious photos and/or other irreplaceable files that you'd like to recover from a non-working computer?
Chances are I'll be able to recover them for you, even if the machine won't turn on or start up correctly.
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Thanks so much, and have an amazing day.
Your tech buddy,
Rick Rouse https://www.RicksDailyTips.com