Device recycling in age of COVID
Q: I had to replace my printer recently, and didn't want to put the old one out for garbage pickup if there was a place you knew of that took electronics for recycling. Given the current pandemic situation, that may not be possible at the moment, but if there is, I can put it in the garage until things reopen.
A: It is never a good idea to simply throw out electronics such as computers and printers with your regular curbside pickup. It is always recommended that they be disposed of properly, via city-approved recycling centers.
If you find yourself with computer hardware that you need to dispose of, I recommend the Westpark Consumer Recycling Center, as they have a drive through which makes it possible to have a contactless experience.
For more information about disposing of electronic waste, visit www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/electronics_recycling.
Q: My Apple computer was recently infected with something called lkysearch. I was able to remove the virus, but my Chrome browser is still not acting right. I have done everything I can think of to fix it, including resetting and even reinstalling Chrome, but to no avail. Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do?
A: This virus/malware is of a new breed that actually edits your user profile to maintain a browser hijack, even after the malware has been removed.
Usually, just running a program like Malwarebytes will take care of it, but if you are seeing continued disruption when using Chrome there is another step to take.
First, close Chrome. Then click on the Apple menu and select Preferences. Look for a Profiles button and click it. Please note, if you don’t have profiles set up on your Mac or you are not being affected by this malware you will not see this button.
Once you click that button, look for any suspicious profiles and remove them.
Reboot and then reset Chrome one more time.