Latest Articles
Why Do x86 CPUs Only Use Two Out of Four "Rings"?
When learning more about how operating systems and the hardware they run on work and interact with each other, you may be surprised to see what appears to be oddities or under-utilization of "resources" occurring.
How Do You Find a Router Set Up in an Unknown Location in a House?
Altering or expanding the capabilities of a Wi-Fi network that you have set up in your own home is one thing, but what do you do when someone else performed the installation and did an exceptional job of "hiding" the router in a discreet, out-of-the-way location? Today's SuperUser Q&A post has some useful suggestions to help a frustrated reader find an elusive router.
Why Do Similar Devices Use Cross-Over Cables Instead of Straight-Through Ones?
When linking similar devices to one another, you may wonder why one specific type of cable is used rather than another one.
How Do You Reset a Keyboard's Mapping After an April Fool's Prank Wrecks It?
A few small harmless pranks between friends is one thing, but what do you do when you are the victim of a prank that turns the key mapping for your keyboard into a complete train wreck? Today's SuperUser Q&A post has the answers that a frustrated reader needs to deal with his keyboard woes.
Does a Hard Drive Remember Bad Sectors After Formatting?
If you start encountering bad sectors on your hard drive and decide to format it, will it "remember" those bad sectors afterward or not? Today's SuperUser Q&A post helps answer a curious reader's question about bad sectors and formatting.
Why Are Smaller SSDs Slower?
If you happen to be researching specific computer hardware like SSDs, for instance, you might expect the smaller ones to be faster than the larger ones.
Is It Possible for Different People to Have the Same Public IP Address?
For the most part, all of us are used to having a unique public IP address, but what do you do when that is actually not the case? What exactly is going on? With that in mind, today's SuperUser Q&A post helps a confused reader solve an IP address mystery.
Why Are Hex Editors Called Binary Editors?
Sometimes names and terms are pretty interchangeable and everyone understands what is being referred to without confusion, but then there are times when things are not so clear and leave you with more questions than answers.
What is the Longest Cat6 Cable You Can Run Between a PC and a Switch?
When preparing to run some new cable for your computer, it pays to know what the limitations are so that you do not experience any problems afterwards.
What Prevents DVD+R Discs From Being Reformatted?
While it is well known that DVD+R and CD+R discs are made to be recorded on only once, you may wonder why that is as opposed to the rewritable nature of "RW" discs.
Why Does "dir C:" Return Such Different Results From "dir C:"?
As you learn about using the command line and what the various commands can do, you may wonder why you get such different results for what appears to be nearly identical commands.
Why Do Operating Systems Have a Shut Down Option?
Most of us use an operating system's built-in "shut down function" to turn our computers off, but what if you are considering using a computer's power switch instead? Does it really matter which method you use or will it lead to problems if you use the power switch? Today's SuperUser Q&A post has some answers to a curious reader's questions.
Is It Possible to Completely Disable the Bookmarks Bar in Google Chrome?
While you can easily deactivate the bookmarks bar in Google Chrome and not see it during normal browsing, it does reappear regardless of your settings when opening new tab pages.
Can Using the Wrong Power Supply Slow Down a Laptop?
Sometimes, through no fault of our own, we may lose the charging cable for our laptop and have to make do with a "less than optimal" substitute.
What Do Different Types of LAN IP Addresses Represent?
When you start learning about IP addresses, it may be a bit confusing at first when it comes to knowing what specific addresses represent and why they do so.
Why Are There Different Contact Lengths on SATA Connectors?
Have you ever looked closely at the length of the plugin contacts on a SATA connector and wondered why they were different lengths instead of identical? Why is that? Today's SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a curious reader's question.
Does Windows Retain Cached Copies of Files on USB Drives?
Most of us never give much thought to what is happening in the background when copying files from one location to another, we simply complete the task and move on.
Why Do Some Download Connections Dominate Others?
If you often download multiple items at the same time, then you have likely noticed that one download connection tends to dominate over the others until it is finished.
Is a Computer's CPU Active When an Operating System Is in Sleep Mode?
When you put your operating system into sleep mode, just how much activity is still actually occurring "under the hood" with your computer's hardware? Today's SuperUser Q&A post has a great explanation to help a curious reader learn more about how his system and computer works.
Why Do I Have IPv4 and IPv6 Public Addresses Assigned to My Home Network?
While you expect to have an IPv4 address assigned to your location, you may be surprised to find an IPv6 address assigned to you as well.