Michael Melder

Joanne Corrigan Doyle’s six-month-old laptop reboots every few minutes. “Is there anything I can change…to fix this?”

Yes and maybe. There’s a setting you can change that will give you at least a hint of the problem. But the hard part starts after you get that hint.

So let’s get you to a point where your crashes contain some useful information.

[Have a tech question? Ask PCWorld Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector. Send your query to answer@pcworld.com.]

1. Go to the Search tool in your version of Windows, type sysdm.cpl, and select the program of the same name.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery (as opposed to the dialog box’s other two Settings buttons).
4. Uncheck Automatically restart.
5. You might also want to check Write an event to the system log if it’s not already checked.

From now on, your system won’t simply reboot when it can’t keep going. Assuming you’re not yet running Windows 10, you’ll get a blue screen filled with intimidating text. Microsoft calls this a Stop Error, but everyone else prefers a more descriptive term: The Blue Screen of Death (BSoD).

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Google has done a good job at keeping data-stealing Trojan apps out of Google Play, but attackers still find ways to monetize rogue apps through the store.

Avast Software researchers recently found three apps on Google Play with hidden adware functionality that was designed to activate days after the apps were installed. The rogue applications—a game called Durak, an IQ test and a history app—had been downloaded millions of times.

When people first install Durak, it looks and acts like a normal gaming app, Avast researcher Filip Chytry said in a blog post Tuesday. “This impression remains until you reboot your device and wait for a couple of days. After a week, you might start to feel there is something wrong with your device.”

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When you're cleaning around the house or workshop, a good paper towel can make all the difference. After some extensive testing and research comparisons done by Lifehacker alum Kevin Purdy, these are the best out there.

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What does your son or daughter want to be when they grow up? A doctor? A lawyer? An actor?

According to a new study by Raytheon, far too few are interested in a career in cyber security. And when you consider the exploding growth of malware, the threat of cyber warfare, and the fact that even major players like Adobe get hacked from time to time, you have to recognize that cyber security is a growing market.

Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, worries about a coming shortage of skilled technicians: "Given that we need to add thousands of cyber security professionals to the workforce in the coming years, the data shows we have a long way to go in engaging young people in the idea of a career path in cyber security."

At first glance, the numbers don't sound too frightening. The survey revealed that 24 percent of millennials show interest in cyber security as a profession. But showing interest is not the same as choosing it for a career, and many young people are rightfully considering several possibilities. By comparison, 40 percent showed interest in the entertainment business. Of the 14 career choices listed on the study, only two received less interest than cyber security: Elected Official (18%) and Wall Street Analyst (17%).  That may reflect a lack of practicality among youngsters (hey, maybe they’re entitled to it for a little while), and certainly reflects the glorification of celebrity that pervades the media.

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