Computer Tips Archives - Page 163 of 226

ReactOS – Another alternative for replacing Windows on an older PC

Posted on July 26, 2018

A while back I wrote this post about how replacing the now-abandoned older versions of Windows (such as XP and Vista) with Linux can give an older Windows PC a new lease on life.

I’ve received a lot of great feedback from that post from readers who have given Linux a try. Most of them seem to be happy with it, but many others not so much.

Several folks from the “not so much” group have asked me if there’s a non-Linux alternative to Windows that will actually run Windows programs instead of generic Linux-based alternatives.

Well, as it turns out the answer is yes. [Read more…]

Review: Azulle Byte 3 Fanless Mini PC with Windows 10 Pro

Posted on July 21, 2018

As technology advances,manufacturers keep on packing more and more power into ever-smaller packages.

Truth be told, even the cheapest mobile devices on the market today are several times more powerful than the original IBM PC was back when it was introduced.

In case you haven’t noticed, this incredible “smaller but more powerful” dynamic is now beginning to reshape the desktop computer market as well.

Every generation of desktop computers shrinks the size/power ratio even more, and now we actually have smaller than brick-sized PCs that rival their much larger counterparts.

A perfect case-in-point is the tiny, yet surprisingly capable Azulle Byte 3 Fanless Mini PC. (#ad)

As this photo shows, I can literally hold the Byte 3 in the palm of my hand: [Read more…]

How to install a Solid State Drive (SSD) in your laptop

Posted on July 18, 2018

A while back I wrote a post explaining the benefits of replacing your hard drive with a Solid State Drive (aka SSD).

Of course the greatest benefit is the amazing speed increase you’ll gain by replacing your hard drive’s spinning platters and read/write heads with an SSD’s lightning-fast memory chips.

You might recall that in that post I recommended paying a PC Tech to swap out the drives for you, but since then I’ve had a couple of emails from folks who really wanted to try upgrading their laptops themselves, prompting me to decide to write this post explaining the procedure.

But before we get to that, if your laptop was made in such a way that the entire case has to be partially disassembled in order to access the hard drive, I still strongly recommend that you hire a qualified PC tech to remove the hard drive and install the SSD for you. Just sayin’.

On the other hand, if your laptop’s drive bay is easily accessible via a small removable cover you can swap out the drives out yourself. Just follow the instructions below.

[Read more…]

How to restore the ‘View Image’ button on Google Images

Posted on July 13, 2018

A while back Google removed the “View Image” button from the photos they display on Google Images due to some kind of deal they made with Getty Images.

I don’t know about you but I really liked being able to view an image directly from Google’s own server instead of having to visit the original website just to check it out.

Why is this is important? Because it’s easy to download malware to your computer simply by visiting an untrusted website, even if it’s just to display an image that’s contained on one of the site’s pages.

Well, apparently lots of other folks really miss the “View Image” button as well because there’s now a fantastic browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that restores the missing button.

The extension is called “View Image” and it works like a champ. If you’d like to give it a try just follow the steps below that match your preferred web browser. [Read more…]

How to install a PDF printer on your Windows 10 PC

Posted on June 26, 2018

Did you know that Windows 10 includes a native PDF printer?

Well, it does, and it’s typically installed by default when the Windows installation is created.

To save a document in most any program/app as a PDF file you would simply select Print to PDF (or something similar) from the Print dialog.

However, for whatever reason the default Microsoft PDF printer isn’t installed along with Windows 10 on every PC.

You’ll know that’s the case with your computer if you don’t see the “Print to PDF” option when you click File>Print or press Ctrl–P.

Luckily, it’s very easy to install the default Microsoft PDF Printer on your Windows 10 machine if wasn’t installed along with Windows. Just follow these steps: [Read more…]