Passwords – they keep our digital lives secure, and at the File Genie blog we have spoken about good Password creation on a few occasions, but how do you keep your passwords secure?
 
Do you trust to your memory? How many different passwords do you have to remember? If you count them all up, chances are there are far more than you might think.
 
What about writing them all down – keeping a special notebook for them? Well that’s risky. Most of all, will you remember to write each and every password down?
 
Password Managers are another way. In fact, they can be really helpful, taking the trial and error out of thinking up and recalling at will a new, complex password. For most of them, all you need to do is to remember one ‘Master’ password. Most are installed into your browser directly, then every time you need a new password the manager will generate one for you, then remember it. It will also pick up any existing passwords and store them securely. All this means you are less likely to need to reset passwords after forgetting them.
 
There are several FREE Password Managers on the market, and many you pay for. Paid solutions will usually have a few extra bells and whistles, but the best of the free options are very good too. Some of the premium options will offer a free trial period so you can try before you buy, which is a good idea, allowing you to make sure you are happy with the way they work.
 
A quick internet search will have you tumbling over dozens of them, but these are some we are happy to tell you about:

Dashlane
www.dashlane.com
 
LastPass Premium
www.lastpass.com
 
Sticky
www.stickypassword.com
 
Keeper
www.keepersecurity.com

Free and Paid for Password Managers - written for File Genie by Freelance Writer Ruth Raymer @WritingWalking

These days, we take lots of photographs on our phones, or tablets. It’s great to sit and flick through them, or show them to family and friends BUT what happens when you have so many pictures, the memory is full. You don’t want to lose them, so the best thing to do is to transfer those photos to your computer which is likely to have more storage, or to the cloud. Your precious images will then be in a good place for editing, sharing, and saving.

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There are lots of combinations of devices, so this blog will point you to some excellent resources on YouTube – videos to show you how to transfer pictures to your computer or the cloud, step by step.
 
There are three types of phone on the UK market at the moment: Android, Windows and iPhone. Each have their own operating system, and will work in a particular fashion. Most Windows phones are Nokia branded. iPhones all use iOS software. Android phones are sold by many brands, e.g. Samsung, Sony, LG, HTC, Nokia, Motorola… and several others. They all work in a very similar way.
 
Android, Windows and iPhone phones
Transferring to a Windows 10 computer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsYelI4cevk
 
Iphones
Transferring to a Windows computer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBgkiszP88Y
 
Transferring to a Mac computer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nFgWC-MmI
 
Windows Phone
Transferring to a Mac computer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14NXr_Q2yXo 
(You might want to skip to 2mins 50 secs through this video, where the real info begins.)
 
Once you have transferred to your computer, don’t forget to back up the computer too. You can find some ideas about backing up here:

​If you missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday or you didn’t get anything in the sale but still want to save some money this Christmas, here are 5 money saving tech tips from File Genie.





   

1. Understand what you are looking for before you go into the shop. It’s a bit like doing your food shopping on an empty stomach. You will come out with a lot of things you don’t need!
2. Bundle deals e.g. computer game systems or TV and surround systems - make a comparison and shop around, bundle deals are available in many stores and offer different options and specifications depending where you go.
3. Don’t get sucked in to buying any unnecessary add-ons, they may seem great at the time but are often things you don’t need or want.
4.  Open box and refurbished electronic items are a great way of saving extra money, they still have the 1 year warranty that new tech has.
5.  When it comes to mobile or other tech insurance at the point of sale… check it, you may have this already covered under your home Insurance. With extended warranties, think about the longevity of the device or appliance and its existing warranty, do you really need it?

 
Save the File Genie number in your phone: 07872 052 751. If you have seen something whilst out shopping (a great bit of tech for what looks like a good price) and you are unsure about buying it… give File Genie a call, our trusted Geek will help you decide if it is the right tech for you with some impartial advice.