Page 9 - 2006

Computer Tune-ups, Anti-virus, Software, and Voice Assistants

By Bob DeLaurentis

Q. What is an effective way to keep my laptop Windows 10 is excellent. It provides a good balance
running like new? of safety, security, and ease of use. And consider-
There is a powerful technique that can work ing that it is kept up to date automatically as part of
miracles, but it also requires great care - reinstall Windows, I think that makes it the best option for
the operating sys-tem. This is not the best option nearly everyone.
for everyone, but done properly it can keep your My advice is to use Defender, and enjoy your new
computing life nearly trou-ble-free. System resets laptop. Windows 10 is a fantastic product.
are known by different names, the most common Q. The correct spelling of my name has silent let-
are "Reset this PC" (Windows), "Reinstall ma- ters that confuse Siri. Is there a way to teach her
cOS" (Macintosh), and "Powerwash" (ChromeOS). how to say my name properly?
Unless you have experience backing up and restor- Both Apple's Siri and Google Assistant can
ing data, a reset is best left to the professionals. take elocution lessons for pronouncing names. De-
Backup protection is where the cloud can be your pending on the name, the results can range from
best friend. The more you take advantage of cloud almost perfect to rather poor. The easi-est method
services, the easier it becomes to keep your data is to ask Siri to say your name. When she responds,
and system files separate. ChromeOS is almost you say, "That is not how to pronounce my name."
entirely cloud based. Apple's iCloud can be config- She should reply by asking how to say it properly.
ured to protect all your data as well. Windows is Speak your name clearly. In response, she should
more complex but using cloud services for data is a offer several choices for you to choose from.
good start. There is also a way to add pronunciation instruc-
When all your data is backed up in the cloud, re- tions with you address book. Special phonetic
installing the operating system is much easier. spelling fields can be added to a contact that shape
Here are the basics: Siri’s pronunciations. To add one or more of these
fields, open Contact on our iPhone, select a name,
Performing a fresh installation is dif-ferent for and tap the Edit button at the top right. Scroll to the
every operating system. You will need to spend bottom of the screen and tap “Add Field: A list of
some time with Google, searching for guidance that potential new filed, including phonetic options, will
fits your computer. appear.
Early on during the reset process you will have a Google Assistant has a similar feature to add
choice between reinstalling "on top" of your current phonetic spellings to entries in Android’s contact list.
install or eras-ing everything. Reinstalling provides For amazon’s Alexa, the options are limited. Adding
a fresh copy of all the system files while preserving a new Skill can help but overall performance is so
everything else. uneven I suggest that living with Alexa version until
Erasing everything is the nuclear option. It will better options are available.
wipe out every bit of data and reset the computer A tech enthusiast his entire life. Bob is currently
as if it was brand new. Once complete, any per- developing an educational software project. When
sonal data will have to be restored from a backup. not writing, he is in the kitchen cooking up some-
The bottom line is that storing per-sonal data in thing unusual, or outside with a camera. He can be
the cloud combined with yearly system rebuilds will contacted at techtalk@bobodel.com
keep your computer in first class shape.
I finally replaced my aging com-puter with a
new Windows 10 laptop. Do I need to buy a new
anti-virus util-ity as well?
This answer may surprise you: no. But as
always, the details matter. For years, the general
advice was that free version of something like
Kaspersky AntiVirus was good enough for many
situations. For high-risk users, third-party, paid anti
-virus utili-ties were best.
Microsoft Windows Defender has had a troubled
history and a less than stellar reputation. But that is
no longer the case. The version that comes with

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