Little problems and annoyances pop up when you least expect it. That's why I've rounded up these five tricks. Keep them in mind and they'll get you out of the jam.
Retrieve a memory card from a CD slot. Slot-loaded CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives are easy to accidentally jam non-disc items in there.
One of the most common objects is SD memory cards. This happens frequently for iMac users. After all, the DVD and memory card slots are right next to each other.
The big question is how you get the card back out. In some cases, with the power off, tweezers work just fine. However, with a slot-loaded CD drive, you don't have the room.
Instead, use non-corrugated cardboard. Cut it into the shape of an "L" and put the short end into the slot. Rotate the L so the short end gets behind the card, and then pull.
Recover photos from a damaged card. A new, high-capacity SD card - smaller than a postage stamp - can hold thousands and thousands of photos. It's a photographer's dream.
Of course, if the card breaks, it becomes a photographer's nightmare. I recommend taking a number of smaller SD cards on a trip. If one breaks or gets lost, you haven't lost as many photos.
Then there are times when a memory card just goes haywire. You put it in the computer and it shows up blank, it's corrupt or just missing files.
If your card reader isn't broken and the card isn't externally damaged, you have a bad card. Grab a free photo recovery program. Zero Assumption Recovery and Recuva are two good ones.
Zoom in on websites quickly. Your browser has zoom shortcuts. In every major browser, pressing Control in Windows (Command for Macs) and then tapping the plus sign zooms in. Go too far? Control and the minus sign zooms out.
Want to go back to where you started? Control and zero puts it back to the default zoom level.
Use private browsing. The latest version of every major browser has a privacy mode. This stops your browser from recording things.
You can find private browsing mode in your browser's menu options. In Chrome it's called incognito mode. In most browsers, you can just use the shortcut Control + Shift + P. Again, Chrome is different, with Control + Shift + N.
Take a screenshot. In Windows, just hit the Print Screen button on the keyboard. This saves the entire screen to the Windows clipboard. You can then paste it into an email or a graphics program.
On a Mac, Command + Shift + 3 takes a screenshot of the entire screen and saves it to the desktop. Command + Shift + 4 does the same thing, but you can select what area of the screen is captured.
Once you're done, save it as an image and send it.
Feel smarter now? You should. You have the answers to common tech dilemmas.
Kim Komando hosts the nation's largest talk radio show about consumer electronics, computers and the Internet. Listen to her show from 1-4 p.m. each Sunday on KRMG am740 or fm102.3. To read more of her columns or sign up for her newsletters, go to
tulsaworld.com/komando
Original Print Headline: 5 Tricks To Solve Problems
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