How the Netflix Scam Works This scam is pretty simple. You receive a text message claiming to be from Netflix and threatening to suspend your account. It says something like, “We will suspend your Netflix account today because you failed to pay,” along with a link. If you tap the link, you might end up on a fake Netflix page that asks for your Netflix username and password or your credit card number....

The Advantages of a Lens Adapter The biggest advantage of lens adapters is pretty clear: they enable you to use your existing collection of lenses on your new camera. With many mirrorless cameras starting at over $1,000, anything that offsets the cost of switching is much appreciated. After all, mirrorless lenses cost as much as the new camera body. For most photographers, simultaneously switching systems and replacing all their DSLR lenses with their mirrorless equivalents would cost more than they can justify spending....

Some of the best TV models use full-array local dimming to dim parts of the screen that are supposed to be dark. This can vastly improve the contrast ratio, giving you a vivid, color-rich picture. An excellent 4K TV will also provide a fast response time, so you don’t see lag or stuttering in your video. It will also offer you enough HDMI and USB ports to plug in your cable or satellite box, gaming console, and whatever other media devices you might want to enjoy....

Most of the How-To Geek team is at CES 2015, and we’re doing a group photo “live blog” of sorts, which just means that we’ll be posting pictures of everything we’re looking at in Vegas, as we’re looking at it (assuming we have a decent Internet connection). View the HTG CES 2015 Live Blog Now (and Bookmark to Check Back) Note: This is a new and experimental thing that we’re going to be enabling, so there might be bugs....

With Windows XP reaching the end of its long support life, many businesses and individuals are avoiding Windows 8 and upgrading to Windows 7 instead. If you’re a latecomer to Windows 7, here are the basics you need to know. Sure, Windows 7 is different — and, after 13 years of Windows XP, anything different will be a huge change. But it’s a worthy successor to Windows XP and is more secure, polished, powerful, and modern....

If you use Windows 10, you’ve no doubt seen the phrase “Run as administrator” at some point. But what does it mean? Here’s why it’s important, how it works, and when to use it. Administrators Have Full System Access There are two types of accounts in Windows: Standard user accounts and Administrator user accounts. Administrator accounts can configure system settings and access normally restricted parts of the operating system. (There’s also a hidden account named “Administrator,” but any account can be an administrator....

Both types of formatting will get you on your way to setting up a new operating system, but is one version of formatting preferable to, or better than, the other? What is the difference between the two? We explore the answer to those questions in today’s SuperUser Q&A post. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

Windows gets so mad when you don’t safely eject USB media, but does it really matter? What’s the worst that could happen if you never safely ejected your USB drive and other flash-based media? Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites. The Question SuperUser reader Simon is really curious what fate might befall him if he never safely ejects his media:...

It Looks Spectacular We all know that one friend or streamer who loves RGB lighting. They have it on their mouse, keyboard, microphone, headset, graphics card, and RAM. You name it. They probably have a room that’s completely filled with lights. Behind the computer desk, monitors, on the walls, underneath the bed, and behind the television. But let’s be honest, it’s pretty amazing to see color-coordinated lights in someone’s room and on all their gaming gear....

Microsoft started rolling out Windows 11 Preview Build 25158 to the Windows Insider Dev Channel this week, which includes three new designs for the search button in the taskbar — each one is being tested with a random group of people. One of them is simply a more colorful version of the current search, with a blue color instead of the current dark grey, while the other two options are larger search bars that look close to the default design on Windows 10....

The general point of this update is to make connecting your Quest or Quest 2 headset SteamVR a smoother process. In the patch notes, Valve said: Basically, SteamVR will notify you that you need to turn on Oculus Link before they can use SteamVR. Additionally, if the Oculus service isn’t running on the PC, Steam will let you know. It takes the guesswork out of the process. These changes won’t revolutionize playing virtual reality games on your Quest or Quest 2 headset, but it will make getting started more straightforward, which is excellent for new users looking to jump outside of the Oculus ecosystem and into SteamVR....

The Developer Options menu in Android is a hidden menu with a variety of advanced options. These options are intended for developers, but many of them will be interesting to geeks. You’ll have to perform a secret handshake to enable the Developer Options menu in the Settings screen, as it’s hidden from Android users by default. Follow the simple steps to quickly enable Developer Options. Enable USB Debugging “USB debugging” sounds like an option only an Android developer would need, but it’s probably the most widely used hidden option in Android....

You’ll see badges like “Norton Secured,” “Microsoft Certified Partner,” and “BBB Accredited Business” all over the web — especially when downloading software. You shouldn’t blindly trust a website that displays such badges — they’re just images anyone can copy and paste. Advice like, “If you see a McAfee SECURE seal on a website, you know it’s safe,” is wrong-headed and potentially dangerous. It’s convenient for the companies selling these certifications, but it’s bad advice that could get people in trouble....

The new MacBook Air has a blockier design than its predecessor, matching the look of recent iPad models, complete with a larger 13.6-inch screen and spacious keyboard. There’s a MagSafe connector for charging the MacBook (not to be confused with the wireless charging tech in the iPhone), but you can also power the laptop with either of the two USB Type-C ports. Powering the whole machine is the Apple M2 chip, which is still efficient enough to not require active cooling, while offering more than enough power for productivity work, lightweight video editing, and even some gaming (if your favorite games are available on macOS)....

Netbooks — small, cheap, slow laptops — were once very popular. They fell out of favor — people bought them because they seemed cheap and portable, but the actual experience was lackluster. Most netbooks now sit unused. Windows netbooks have vanished from stores today, but there’s a new super-cheap laptop — the Chromebook. Chromebook sales numbers are impressive, but their usage statistics tell a different story. Are Chromebooks just the new netbook?...

When you sign up for cable Internet service, you need a modem. You’re often asked to choose between renting the modem from your Internet service provider for a monthly fee or buying it outright. If you’re already signed up for cable Internet service, you may see a “modem rental” fee on your monthly bill. You can eliminate this fee by buying a modem outright. Note: we originally wrote this article a while ago, but we’re updating and republishing it today after Comcast decided to increase their modem rental fee to $10 per month....

If you’ve got loads of icons cluttering up your desktop, you might want a quick way to turn them off without using the context menu; here’s a quick and easy way to make a shortcut key to turn them on or off. Note: this article was originally written a couple of years ago, but we tested it out on Windows 8, 8.1, and even Windows 10 to verify that it works and figured that we’d update and publish it again....

Your computer consumes a large amount of power just idling there awaiting your command, so does charging a smartphone or tablet off one of the USB ports impose much of a demand on it? Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites. Image available as wallpaper at WallpapersWide. The Question SuperUser reader Arnehehe is curious if charging a USB device imposes an additional load on his computer:...

Google recently launched a new tool in the fight against crapware and spyware, and it’s an excellent start to helping clean up a computer that has been infected with nonsense like the Ask Toolbar. All you need to do is navigate to www.google.com/chrome/srt/ and click the Download now button. Even if the tool doesn’t find any badware on your computer, it’s going to trigger a reset of all your settings, which can be really useful....

Firefox has a problem. It has fallen behind, with development stalled on the most crucial, most difficult problems. Many of the most significant improvements in Firefox over the past few years have simply been copying changes made in Chrome. We wish Firefox was better, but the reality is that it’s still not as good as Chrome. With so many former Firefox developers now working on Chrome at Google, perhaps it makes sense that the innovation has been happening in Chrome, not Firefox....