Summary: Tech News & Commentary Wanda in Clarksville, Delaware listens on 105.9 FM NewsTalk WXDE asked: "I want to know if you (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/intotomorrow_logo.gif)wash a TV remote control in the washer, will it still work if you dry it out for a few days. That's what happened to me... I washed it and it worked. Is this normal, or was that some sort of miracle?" That’s sort of a case by case thing, Wanda. You got lucky, but it wasn’t a miracle. Remotes are lower powered devices, so whatever juice is in the batteries may not fry the electronics even if the water shorts out the batteries. Think of it this way: touching the insides of a CRT TV can kill you, touching the charged power source of a desktop computer can give you a pretty nasty shock, licking a 9V battery just makes your tongue feel funny, not all electronics are created equal, and not all power sources are created equal either. However, being immersed in water –potentially hot water– and bouncing around for a good hour is still not the greatest way to treat your electronics, so they can still definitely break. Just dropping your remote can dislodge some pieces on the inside of it, having it bounce inside a metal tube spinning at high speeds can’t be great for it. Moisture itself doesn’t kill electronics. What moisture does it make it possible for current to flow between points that aren’t designed to pass current to each other, and THAT is what kills electronics. In your case, we’d say it’s good that nothing pressed one of the buttons on your remote during the spin cycle. So that’s a top tip to anyone who spills a glass of water on their computer or drops a smartphone in the toilet, pool, or sink. Power it off immediately and do not try to turn it back on for at least 72 hours and AFTER you’ve followed steps to extract the moisture. Fight the instinct to turn it on and "see if it’s okay." If you start up the power running through it, that’s a virtual guarantee that it won’t be okay. For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast. "This Week in Tech History" Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline Albert in Three Rivers, California listens on KTIP 1450 AM asked: "What program is the best for to transfer my settings in the different programs I have on an old Windows XP Media to a new Windows 8.1?" Microsoft built a tool into Windows called Windows Easy Transfer for just this very purpose, and you MAY be able to use it… then again, you may not… Windows Easy Transfer is supposed to grab your files and your settings from an old computer and move them automatically to a new computer, you just run the software on both computers, choose a method of transfer from the options given to you (for example, a network cable). It should be easy, unfortunately it may not be. Windows Easy Transfer cannot transfer files from a 64-bit to a 32-bit operating system, most Windows 8.1 computer are 64-bit, but not all of them are, so if you happen to have bought a very cheap Windows 8.1 computer you may be out of luck and you may have to transfer everything manually. There’s another problem, though, and it got Microsoft enough bad press that they had to find a solution. Even if you can use Windows Easy Transfer, on XP they will only move files, but not settings or programs, which was unacceptable to a lot of users. Microsoft ended up cutting a deal with a company called Laplink, and is currently offering their tool called PCmover Express for free on WindowsXP.com to make it easier for people like you to move all of your files and settings. That’s the tool you probably want to try first, it will be free, and it will move everything you want to move, not just your files. However, let’s be straight here. Using a migration tool like this one only makes sense if you’re planning to use the same apps, and really the same VERSION of those apps, and not simply moving the data. How likely is that to be the case?
