Home Office guides
Keeping a home office secure and working: Windows updates and encryption, backups, Wi-Fi, power protection, ergonomics, and how to spot common scams. Built from Microsoft, Apple, FTC, FCC, FBI and other official sources.
- How to Size a UPS Battery Backup for Your Home Office (VA vs. Watts, Explained)
A step-by-step method for choosing a UPS battery backup: add up watts, understand VA and power factor, leave headroom, and read runtime charts.
- Surge Protectors Explained: What UL 1449, Joules and Voltage Ratings Really Mean
How to read a surge protector's label, why joule ratings can mislead, what UL 1449 and the voltage protection rating tell you, and when a power strip isn't a…
- The 3-2-1 Backup Rule for Home Offices and Small Businesses: A Practical Setup
What the 3-2-1 backup rule means, how to set it up on a Mac or Windows PC with an external drive and an offsite copy, why sync is not the same as backup, and how…
- Home Office Ergonomics Checklist: Monitor, Chair and Keyboard Setup (OSHA-Based)
A practical home office setup checklist based on OSHA's computer workstation guidance: monitor distance and height, chair support, and keyboard position.
- Home Office Wi-Fi Setup: Wi-Fi 7 Basics and the Security Settings That Matter
What Wi-Fi 6, 6E and 7 actually change, when a wired connection is still better, and CISA's router security settings for a home office.
- How to Wipe a Computer or Phone Before You Sell, Donate or Recycle It
The official reset steps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, what NIST's clear, purge and destroy categories mean, and how to recycle the hardware afterward.
- Digital Eye Strain at Your Desk: The 20-20-20 Rule and Other Ophthalmologist Tips
What the American Academy of Ophthalmology says about screen eye strain: why it happens, the 20-20-20 rule, screen distance and brightness, and what it says about…
- Still on Windows 10? Your Options After End of Support (ESU Now Runs to Oct. 2027)
Windows 10 support ended October 14, 2025. What that means, how to check whether your PC can take the free Windows 11 upgrade, how consumer Extended Security…
- Passkeys Explained: How They Work and How to Set Them Up
What a passkey is, why Apple, Google and Microsoft call passkeys phishing-resistant, how syncing and device requirements work, and how to add passkeys to your…
- Is Your Router End of Life? How to Check, and Why the FBI Says to Replace It
Routers that no longer get security updates are being hijacked by malware like TheMoon.
- Is Your Laptop Encrypted? Turn On Device Encryption, BitLocker or FileVault (and Save the Recovery Key)
How to check whether a Windows PC or Mac encrypts its drive, how to turn on Windows Device Encryption, BitLocker or FileVault using Microsoft's and Apple's…
- Fake Package Delivery Texts: How to Spot USPS Smishing and Where to Report It
Why texts about a USPS package that 'needs your response' are usually scams, the USPS rule that real tracking texts only come after you ask and never contain a…
- How to Back Up an iPhone or Android Phone (and Check That It Worked)
Step-by-step iPhone backup with iCloud or a Mac/PC, Android backup to your Google Account, what each backup leaves out, encrypted computer backups, and how to…
- Find a Lost Phone or Laptop: Set Up Find My and Find Hub Before You Need Them
How to turn on Apple's Find My (iPhone, iPad, Mac) and check Google's Find Hub on Android, Android's Remote Lock, and what to do in the first hour after a device…
- Holiday Online Shopping: An FTC-Based Checklist Before You Click Buy
A holiday-season checklist based on the FTC's online shopping advice: checking sellers and reviews, the 30-day shipping rule, return and refund policies on sale…
- Gift Card Scams: The One Rule That Spots Them, and What to Do If You Already Paid
How the FTC says gift card scams work: urgency, being told which card to buy and where, and requests for the number and PIN.
- Windows 11 Says Your PC Isn't Ready? How to Check and Turn On TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot
Microsoft's steps for checking whether a PC has TPM 2.0 (Windows Security or tpm.msc), finding the TPM and UEFI settings in firmware (Intel PTT, AMD fTPM and…
- Tech Support Scams: Fake Pop-Ups, Renewal Invoices and the Two Rules That Stop Them
How the FTC says tech support scams work: fake virus pop-ups with a phone number, calls from 'Microsoft' or 'Apple', fake Geek Squad, McAfee or Norton renewal…
- Giving This Season? How to Check a Charity and Avoid Donation Scams
The FTC's checklist for giving safely: research the charity, pay by credit card or check (never cash, gift card or wire), watch for fake thank-yous, sound-alike…
- Government Impersonation Scams: Fake IRS, Social Security, Medicare and FTC Calls, and How to Check
What the FTC, the Social Security Administration and the IRS say real agencies will and won't do, the four signs of a scam, the newest scripts (fake call…
- 'You Missed Jury Duty': How the Arrest-Warrant Scam Works and What Courts Really Do
The FTC and the federal courts on jury duty scams: a caller posing as a U.S. Marshal or local officer, a texted 'warrant,' a fine payable by app or crypto.
- Secure Boot Certificates Expired in 2026: How to Check Your Windows PC Got the Update
Microsoft's 2011 Secure Boot certificates expired on June 24, June 27 and October 19, 2026.
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