Maximum PC - USA (2019-10)

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WE TACKLE TOUGH READER QUESTIONS ON...

94 MAXIMUMPC OCT 2019 maximumpc.com

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Historical Gaming

I really enjoyed your article

on early computer games.

The one that got me hooked

on gaming was called

Snoopy & The Red Baron.

It ran on a Datapoint 2200

in 1971, a “microcomputer”

about the size and weight

of two toaster ovens that

utilized cassette tapes.

It was simply an X and O

chasing each other around

a cathode ray tube. My

five-year-old son used to

come in to work with me

on weekends just to play

it. I was amazed that he

learned the game in about

10 minutes and became

instantly comfortable

with the computer. I was

responsible for training

users and this gave

me the idea of loading

games on every new

device we purchased.

Users previously afraid

of computers became

instant computerphiles!

–Dave Szatkowski

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN

DEXTER, RESPONDS:It’s

often easy to discount

gaming on computers, but

for many it is an important

gateway to using them and

getting used to them. I still

have (oddly) fond memories

of tweaking the config.sys

file to load the kernel into

high memory area so that

games would actually

run. In other news, John

Knight will be revisiting the

formative years of the PC

in a forthcoming feature.

Watch this space.

Password Fox

I read your excellent article

on Dashlane. While that is

a great password manager,

what do you think about

using Mozilla Firefox with

a strong master password?

Provided one likes using

Firefox, this appears to

meet all the criteria. The

data is encrypted. Two-

factor authentication is

an available option. There

is the choice to save a

recovery key (hopefully

someplace ultra-safe).

It stores logins and

passwords locally (and,

with a Sync account, in the

cloud). It can sync on just

about any modern device.

By checking various box

options while in Windows,

Mac, or Linux, one can

also sync bookmarks,

addresses, and a whole lot

more. I realize there are

drawbacks and concerns

with various password

managers—where would

you place Firefox in the

pack on a scale of one

to 10? –Salvatore Fattoross

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN

DEXTER, RESPONDS:The

most important thing

about password managers

is that you use them, and

if you’re a fan of Firefox

already, the job is mostly

done. One thing we would

recommend is setting up

that master password (pick

a complex password), so

that it encrypts your data

using a 256-bit AES cipher.

There are some concerns

over Firefox Sync, as the

way this encrypts your data

changed back in 2014 to

a more useful, if slightly

less secure, model, which

raised alarm bells for

some. As for a score, we

don’t tend to give such

tools scores, so giving

one to Firefox when other

options don’t have one

seems odd, but we do think

it’s a system worth using.

Keep It Clean

I have been a subscriber

for over 10 years and

I really like and enjoy

your magazine. I am

currently using Auslogics

Boostspeed. However,

due to the new version’s

excessive cost, I am

considering purchasing

PC Matic instead.

For PC maintenance,

what product(s) do you

recommend or use to

accomplish things such

as: disk defragging, disk

optimization, registry

cleaning, registry

defragging, Internet

optimization, Windows

tweaks, and so on?

–Wesley M. Martin

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN

DEXTER, RESPONDS:This

is purely down to personal

preference, but I tend to

avoid suites that promise

to do everything for you,

because there have been

enough of these offerings

over the years that just

seem bloated compared to

tools that do specific tasks.

For instance, we tend to

run SSDs on our machines

these days, so disk

defragging isn’t an issue

anymore (you shouldn’t

defrag SSDs), and disk

optimization is a bit moot

as well. To this end, I’d

recommend using the likes

of CCleaner to sort out your

Gaming History

Firefox Passwords

PC Maintenance