DaveMason.com
ComputerTalk with Dave Mason
The official archive of all available ComputerTalk with Dave Mason radio shows. Spend some time with Dave. Listen to a full show or explore clips by topic.
3,475 unique clips. Each clip appears in one section. Historical conversations, not current advice. Full episodes remain available separately by date.
1414 clips, strongest first.
Evil Steve asks motorcycle-riding listeners to recommend an affordable Bluetooth helmet system, explaining that he wants real-user experience and trusts the show's community more than published reviews.
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A caller expects accelerated dial-up to match its advertising, and Dr. Dave explains that technology claims often come from ideal laboratory conditions or an unusually fast result. In real use, he says, a customer may see only a fraction of the promoted performance.
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When a caller reports that Dr. Dave’s Untraceable utility does not work with Internet Explorer 7, Dr. Dave admits the compatible version is unfinished and refuses to claim value it does not yet provide. He credits Microsoft’s improvement, explains his current uncertainty and recommends Firefox or Opera when those browsers better meet the user’s needs.
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Caller Tom asks whether Windows restore is enough protection. Dr. Dave distinguishes routine restoration from rescue media and compares the latter to life insurance: it exists for the rare day when normal protection is no longer enough.
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Roger praises a radio sponsor who first explained the process, then listened closely enough to understand what the clients actually wanted. Dr. Dave connects that relationship-centered service to his own responsibility for the show: advertisers keep it on the air, but he turns many away rather than promote products he does not respect.
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Caller Kevin considers replacing office phone and Internet service after a previous switch caused failed rollover and alarm functions; Dr. Dave weighs the savings against business interruption and calls the avoided frustration worth more than the modest monthly difference.
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Asked whether to replace a desktop with a laptop, Dr. Dave explains that he is deliberately more dependent on technology than most people because testing failures is his work, and that degree of reliance makes a backup computer especially valuable.
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Dr. Dave recalls a self-repairing infection that defeated every sophisticated technique and blocked ComboFix by name. In desperation he renamed the program FixItAll.exe, it ran and the computer was cleaned. Evil Steve asks whether he learned that in doctor school; Dr. Dave answers that sometimes a dying patient makes you pull something out of your hat.
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Tom's question about an inexpensive netbook lets Dr. Dave explain that people grow attached to useful tools and inevitably ask more of them than first intended, so a responsible recommendation must leave headroom rather than satisfy only the minimum stated need.
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Caller Karen has a complicated Windows file problem. Dr. Dave decides to send the repair steps by email because a long spoken sequence can be misspoken or misheard, making the original problem worse.
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A caller’s firewall question lets Dr. Dave distinguish theoretical protection from protection in practice: when warnings overwhelm ordinary users until they approve everything, a technically stronger product can leave them less safe.
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Teresa returns to report that Dr. Dave's earlier help worked. Her experience lets him explain that protection can become so interruptive that ordinary use suffers, while demanding perfect security, perfect seamlessness and total quiet at once is impossible; a workable system must find a middle path.
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Caller Charles wants a small, reliable tool rather than a complicated professional editor. Dr. Dave begins from the work the caller actually needs to accomplish and explains that free or shareware programs can perform simple tasks as well as or better than expensive retail software.
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When a home network works unpredictably, Dr. Dave gently suggests that frustration may be causing the caller to change too many things too quickly. He asks him to step back, make a list, verify each computer one at a time and restart the system in a deliberate order before drawing conclusions.
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Dr. Dave's son Nick asks why a Macintosh monitor does not simply work with a Windows computer. Dr. Dave explains that changing platforms can be more than changing brands by comparing spark plugs shared by two gasoline cars with a gasoline-to-diesel mismatch.
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Caller Todd has already been told his Internet provider may be responsible for interrupted streaming. Dr. Dave explains that he starts with a cause that is both plausible and reasonably easy to test before asking the caller to fight a harder external battle.
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A caller asks about a complicated server approach for sending email to a mobile device, and Dr. Dave reframes the problem around the desired outcome. He starts with the result the user wants and works backward, showing that a simpler path may already exist without the proprietary system under discussion.
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Dr. Dave summarizes the show's “hype-free zone”: technology offers extraordinary flexibility, education, information and communication, but no product comes without risk, cost, effort or pain. Honest consulting sometimes requires telling an angry caller that the vendor is not to blame and that the user made the mistake; his responsibility is to help people learn and deal with the truth.
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After recovering data for people who disconnected external storage in haste, Dr. Dave warns that apparent success on earlier attempts does not make the shortcut safe. He asks listeners to spend a few seconds using the system’s removal process so pending writes finish before the drive is unplugged.
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Dr. Dave remembers mocking Twitter until a caller explained how carefully chosen sources made it useful. After trying it for his own radio and consulting work, he thanks her for being right and for making him think again, while preserving his warning that technology still requires self-discipline.
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Caller Kevin’s syncing question prompts Dr. Dave to acknowledge the cloud’s usefulness while rejecting it as a universal answer, especially when a one-character account mistake forces a complete phone reset because the design assumes users will never make errors.
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Faced with a Windows activation repair requiring registry edits, searches and dozens of precise steps, Dr. Dave admits that it is solvable but cannot responsibly be walked through on live radio. Even his “incredible compulsion” to help must yield to the limits of the medium, so he offers slower follow-up and recommends local expert help.
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A dust-filter question becomes a practical maintenance explanation and one of Dr. Dave’s memorable consulting stories about working computers kept in a barn with rats inside.
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Teresa says her husband documented instructions and protected himself when his supervisor tried to have him fired. The hosts explore the other side of their email warning. Keep her clarification that he was protecting himself, not plotting retaliation.
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Browse by year, then month, to find the episodes from that month.
442 proposed broadcast dates, plus 2 undated entries. Dates are based on archive filenames and may be approximate. Some broadcasts survive as separate parts or incomplete recordings.
