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Tech News & Commentary
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Andy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee listens on SuperTalk WTN 99.7 – Calling in via the App asked us: “I have two hard drives from old PCs and I have music on there that I would like to get off of there. How would I go about accessing these hard drives that I pulled out of my old PCs?”
Andy, The easiest way is probably to buy a USB hard drive enclosure, you can find them online for around $5, sometimes they’re even sold in pairs.
You’d have to put your hard drive inside the enclosure, which involves little more than plugging in a connector, and connect the enclosure’s 
USB plug to your current computer. Windows should load that drive as it would any other USB external hard drive and you should have access to all your files again.
From there you can copy the files to the new computer or just decide to keep using the external drive as extra storage.
Do bear in mind that not all enclosures are created equal. Depending on exactly HOW old that PC was, you might have SATA drives, which are the more modern standard, or you might have IDE drives (also called PATA). If you buy the wrong enclosure, your drives will not work in them, so verify the type of drive interface you have, first.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Paul from Saucier, Mississippi asked us: “Tired of AT&T DSL. I don’t have or want cable. I have Verizon and direct tv. Money is an object,want to lower my bill,or get better service for the same money.I understand that at&t speeds are not what advertised.”
Paul, It’s hard to tell what may work for you without knowing what’s not meeting your needs now, but Cable One is offering internet-only services in your area (no cable TV required) starting at $35/month for 50mbps down 3mbps up, that should be enough for most people.
If that doesn’t work for you, DirectTV offers bundles that include deals with Verizon, you may be able to merge your satellite and phone bills and be able to add internet for a lower price. DSL can be cheaper sometimes because it tends to be slower, so don’t be surprised if better options cost you more.
As for AT&T’s speeds not being what’s advertised, you are correct in this aspect–they are distance sensitive. The speed is “up to” a certain rate, depending on the distance you are from their network centers. So it’s not accurate to say they never deliver the speed, but it is accurate to say that they often don’t deliver what’s promoted in the ads. The worst part is, they don’t apologize for it either.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Peggy Caruso, Author & Executive Coach – Revolutionize Your Child’s Life
A Simple Guide to the Health, Wealth and Welfare of Your Child
Jerry in Detroit, Michigan listening on AM800 CKLW asked us: “How can I play some of the app that are available for phones on my regular computer. I’ve used sendbackies, and other apps. I know I have to change my operation from Windows 8.1 to an android base system. But has someone finally come out with an android base operation that will work with Windows 8.1?”
Jerry, There are a couple of ways to run Android apps on Windows right now, but they’re all pretty terrible, the only one we can really recommend is BlueStacks.
BlueStacks will open Android apps in a window for you to use, but remember that these apps are not built for computers, and even if you have a touch screen the buttons may not be in the most comfortable places, even if you have an accelerometer a computer may not be that easy or safe to tilt. BlueStacks has been out for about 4 years, it hasn’t caught on more because computers can usually run much better software than mobile apps, you may be better off looking for programs that use the power your computer offers.
Although it only supports older versions of Android, YouWave is another Android emulator for Windows. The one advantage that YouWave has over BlueStacks is that it tries to faithfully recreate the Android home screen so things might LOOK more normal.
But as we said, BlueStacks is the #1 choice because of its popularity. Whichever way you go, you will need to create a Google Account, just as you would with an Android phone, in order to use Android apps from the Google Play store.
Good luck with your attempts! We wish we could tell you this will be easy and work well, but we’re bound by the “Laws of Tech Pals” to not lie.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Education.Com: Several “Brainzy” 12-month codes for online early-learning programs for math and reading. If you’ve got Kids … you WANT one of these!
TurboTax: Several online codes good for one free federal and state Tax Return and e-file for Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business via TurboTax.com
The Grommet: iRoller liquid-free touchscreen display cleaners to remove smudges, fingermarks & dirt from your Smartphones, Tablets and other electronic devices.
G-Technology: Several 500GB 7200 RPM Touro S High performance portable Hard drives with easy & local Cloud Backup and in a variety of colors!
NanoTech: Several UltraFlix Gift Cards for 4K Content, like movies and a ton of other cool stuff. Let us know if you have a 4K Ultra HD TV!