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.
Dr. Dave identifies calm as the first rule during a technological problem because irritation and anger take away the clear thinking needed to solve it. He immediately admits how difficult that advice is to follow when the failing computer is his own.
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While helping caller Ron with an unpredictable restart loop, Dr. Dave weighs deep troubleshooting against a system restore. He says the simpler recommendation is kinder to the caller’s time and frustration, while openly acknowledging uncertainty and the possibility of a larger repair.
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Kyle adds a practical observation about a power adapter causing interference while recording the radio, and Dr. Dave expands it into advice about separating power and audio cables. In the act of helping Kyle, Dr. Dave realizes the same layout may explain noise in his own office and thanks the callers for helping him.
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A caller asks about leaving Internet Explorer, and Dr. Dave explains why he tries to avoid reflexive brand criticism while recognizing that improved alternatives can change his recommendation.
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A confusing phone bill leaves Dr. Dave irritated, but he makes clear that he does not blame the representative personally. Her patient response turns the call into a customer-service experience worth praising.
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After helping a caller with a Word document, Dr. Dave turns the problem into a lesson in digital courtesy. Senders should avoid unnecessarily large files and explain what the attachment is and which program opens it rather than making the recipient guess.
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Keeping an old printer alive gets Dr. Dave talking about repairing useful equipment. Evil Steve points out that persistence can cost more than the repair is worth, and his brother readily admits he has trouble knowing when to stop.
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A fountain pen search lets Dr. Dave joke about online listings where everything is called mint until the description reveals a broken nib, teeth marks and missing trim. Beneath the joke is a lasting warning to read past the headline and remember which sellers earn distrust.
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Caller Annette solves a stubborn boot problem by unplugging an external USB card reader. Dr. Dave admits that experienced troubleshooters can descend the diagnostic tree too quickly, explains why it helps to stop and take a few steps back and remembers rare machines that failed to boot because of something as simple as a keyboard.
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With hail roaring outside like a technical failure, Dr. Dave says his years of usefulness come not from brilliance but from the enormous number of errors he has already made, and that daily change makes a big head incompatible with responsible technical work.
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Dr. Dave reflects that long experience can sharpen judgment only when a person pays attention, looks back honestly and learns from what actually happened; there is no shortcut around living through the work.
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After a caller encounters redirects and blocked security updates, Dr. Dave explains why excellent protective software cannot eliminate human judgment. Criminals imitate legitimate warnings, create fear and persuade a user to authorize the very action that installs the problem—sometimes even charging for it.
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Dr. Dave says he has kept nearly every email since about 1999, but draws a sharp distinction between an archive and an inbox. Once a message has been read, it should be deleted, filed or archived because an orderly inbox makes an important psychological difference and email can otherwise degrade productivity.
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A small-business caller asks for security that requires no thought. Dr. Dave resists the recommendation he is being forced toward, compares the wish to avoiding all back pain and reaches the broader lesson that being good with computers includes knowing what to ignore instead of obsessing over every warning.
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When Ray asks whether he can return to Vista after replacing it, Dr. Dave tells him to create the manufacturer's restore media immediately. The durable principle is simple: before a major change, preserve a way back if something goes catastrophically wrong.
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A caller says even computer books for beginners feel too difficult. Dr. Dave tells him that asking for help is exactly why the show exists, acknowledges real online risks and uses simple home-security and bear analogies to explain that basic precautions can reduce exposure.
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Dr. Dave says he learned by fiddling beyond the point of breakage and investing hundreds or thousands of stubborn hands-on hours. When published browser benchmarks conflict with the way Linux, Opera and Chrome behave during his actual live-show workflow, he keeps testing different systems and asks what the clean-room measurements may have missed.
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A caller’s cloning question lets Dr. Dave explain why recovery work first captures a failing drive onto stable media and performs repeated recovery attempts on the copy rather than risking the original.
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Mark wants an image small enough to email but detailed enough to enlarge. Dr. Dave explains why the large original must remain intact while separate copies are optimized for email, web display and printing, a principle directly relevant to the memorial archive.
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Dr. Dave says his advice comes from making mistakes and fighting through the same problems listeners encounter, only more often because it is his work. The concise passage captures both humility and the experience behind his consulting voice.
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Dr. Dave and Evil Steve praise their local hardware store for stocking unusual parts unavailable at big-box chains and explain that specialized inventory and full service are how an independent business competes.
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Dr. Dave praises engineer Larry for making a new computer’s recovery discs immediately instead of ignoring repeated warnings. He turns the small task into a wider lesson about preparing while recovery is still easy rather than blaming a manufacturer after the opportunity has passed.
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Dr. Dave remembers spending a year and a half pressing Dell and its finance company to honor rebates owed to a consulting client, showing his willingness to stand up for the customer.
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Caller Susan describes a computer damaged by two competing antivirus programs. Dr. Dave turns the example into a broader lesson that conscientious users can make matters worse by assuming that bigger and more automatically mean better.
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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.
