Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 250 of 258

Q&A: Can I install 64 bit Windows on my Dell OptiPlex 775?

Posted on June 3, 2013

Question from Lars K.: Rick, I have a Dell OptiPlex 775 desktop PC that is maxed out at 4GB RAM. I bought it for practically nothing from a friend and it has Windows 7 – 32 bit installed on a 160GB hard drive. I bought a 1TB drive to replace the old drive with and I plan to do a clean install of Windows when I swap out the drives.

My question for you is can I install the 64 bit version of Windows 7 on this machine? Thanks in advance for your help!

Rick’s answer: Yes, you sure can Lars. The Optiplex 775 has a 64 bit CPU and the 4GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive are more than adequate. The only possible issue that might arise is finding 64 bit drivers for any older expansion cards and peripherals that you might plan to attach to the computer. But as far as the PC itself is concerned, you’re good to go!

Do you have a tech question of your own for Rick? Click here and send it in!

Q&A: How can I remove the toolbars from Internet Explorer?

Posted on June 2, 2013

Question from Luella S.: Hi Rick. I made a big mistake and downloaded a free game onto my PC. After I installed it my computer started running really slow and my Internet Explorer had 7 toolbars attached to it!

I was able to remove 4 of the toolbars via the “Remove a program” thingy, but the rest don’t even show up in there. I tried to do a System Restore, but there were no Restore Points! Can you please, please help?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: What happened to the icons and shortcuts on my Desktop?

Posted on May 27, 2013

Question from Ken B.: Rick, I turned my computer on this morning (Dell XPS 15 laptop w/Windows 7) and my desktop was blank. After it booted up everything on the desktop was missing, including the Recycle Bin, the Computer icon and all of my shortcuts. I don’t know what happened to make then disappear, but I desperately need them back ASAP.

Can you please tell me how to get all of my desktop icons and shortcuts back without reinstalling everything? I’ll be indebted to you for life my friend! Thanks in advance for you help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why can’t I send messages to my friend on Facebook?

Posted on May 26, 2013

Question from Karan F.: Hi Rick. I hope you can help me. I have a close friend who finally got around to creating a Facebook account after much prodding from me and a couple of her other friends. We exchanged several messages a few nights ago, then I logged off and went to bed.

When I logged back into Facebook the next day, I opened our previous conversation and tried messaging her again. I couldn’t. The previous messages were still there, but her name was in black. I tried clicking on her name so I could message her from her profile page, but it wouldn’t click.

Finally, in desperation I searched for her name in the search box and it said it couldn’t find her account. I called her to ask what was going on and she said she didn’t know but she couldn’t log in. Sorry, I know this is long but I really need to find out what’s going on? Do you have any clue as to what might have happened?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: What is red switch on back of my PC labeled 120V/240V for?

Posted on May 25, 2013

Question from Amir H.: I just bought a new computer and on the back is a switch labeled 120V/240V. What is this switch used for and do I need to change it? Thank you.

Rick’s answer: Hi Amir. The switch you’re asking about is used to select the proper input voltage for the computer’s power supply unit (PSU).

Here in North America the power that comes out of a standard wall outlet is roughly 120 volts AC, but in many places around the world it is twice that (approximately 240 volts AC). The red switch on the back of the PSU needs to be set to match the output voltage of the wall outlets where you happen to live. [Read more…]