How-to Tech

Spyware can track what you do on your computer and can even steal your passwords. But you can avoid it -- the trick is knowing how spyware programmers think.

By Peter May

Spyware may follow your every move on the Internet. Or it may record your passwords as you type them in to steal your identity. So how do you stop it?

By Jonathan Strickland

Leaving your home network unsecure is like leaving your front door unlocked. How long will it be before someone finds that it's open and walks right in?

By Jonathan Strickland

Finding your parking spot, playing your music and calling your buddies isn't enough? There's another use for your precious iPhone, but don't blame us when it's stolen.

By Robert Lamb

So you have a shiny new iPhone and loads of applications available through Apple. But the apps you really want aren't there. Can you jailbreak your phone?

By Maria Trimarchi

Your computer's hard drive has all your stored music, pictures and everything you've worked on for the past few years. What would you do if your hard drive crashed?

By Josh Briggs

Your computer is running slowly. You've checked it for viruses and spyware, but other than a few cookies, it's clean. So what's the problem and what can you do about it?

By Peter May

So your computer got infected with a virus. It happens to the best of us. You've got to move on, but what do you need to do to get your computer back into shape?

By Jonathan Strickland

Unlocking cellphones is not the problem it used to be. Here's how it changed.

By Ed Grabianowski & Talon Homer

Installing malware on your computer could enable crackers to take it over as a zombie computer. So what happens once you find out your machine's been hijacked?

By Jonathan Strickland

You thought your home theater setup was nice until you watched TV at your friend's house. He's got it equipped with a surround sound system. How can you match his movielike audio quality?

By Jane McGrath

If you love classic video games, have an old computer lying around and some skill with power tools, you could build your own home gaming machine.

By Jonathan Strickland

There's an old adage that says if something seems too good to be true then it probably is. It's true on the Internet, too. So why are people still getting scammed?

By Jonathan Strickland

A warm laptop might feel cozy when you're working on the couch, but that heat can damage your hard drive or burn your legs. How do you keep your machine cool?

By Julia Layton

Cheaters never prosper, right? Apparently not in video games. Otherwise, developers wouldn't encode cheat codes right into the games themselves. But the easy road isn't always easy.

By Jonathan Strickland

Preventing global warming means cutting down on carbon dioxide. But how do you know what your carbon footprint is, and how can you make your footprint smaller?

By John Fuller

Nobody likes to see the blue screen of death taunt you from your computer, but will fiddling with the Windows Registry fix the problem or make you live to regret it?

By Jacob Silverman

The cables for electronics devices come in an astounding variety. Should you buy gold-plated connectors? Do expensive cables mean better quality?

By Dave Roos

Unlike desktop computers, laptops are carefully designed to be extremely compact. That makes it difficult to get inside to add more memory, right? You might be surprised how easy it is.

By John Fuller

Why build your own computer? Because you can make it to fit your needs exactly and save some money in the process. Plus, it's fun and easy to do.

By Marshall Brain & Jonathan Strickland