Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Can you switch back to Windows 10 after installing Windows 11?

Posted on May 5, 2023

Question from Melanie: For some time now Windows Update has been prompting me to update my PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

I’ve been putting this off because I’ve heard that lots of people who switch to Windows 11 end up hating it but they’re stuck with it because you can’t go back to Windows 10.

I was talking to a friend about this and she said that’s not true because you can actually go back to Windows 10 if you end up not liking Windows 11.

At this point I don’t know what to believe. I’d like to give Windows 11 a try but only if I’ll have the option to revert back to Windows 10 if I end up not liking it.

Can you clear this up for me? [Read more…]

How to create a System Image Backup with Windows 11

Posted on May 5, 2023

If you’ve been using computers for a while you probably know that a hard drive or SSD failure, a horrible virus infection or some other catastrophic event can result in data loss.

If that ever happens you, you’ll need to be able to restore the drive’s contents from a backup.

The question is, which backup software should you use to create your backups? [Read more…]

How (and why) to hide your Friends List on Facebook

Posted on May 4, 2023

By default, any Facebook user who can see your profile can view your friend list as well.

With Facebook privacy being talked about in the news almost daily, many users are now hiding their Facebook Friend Lists from the public in order to protect the privacy of everyone on the list.

Hiding your Friends List will also provide another huge benefit: Scammers won’t be tempted to clone your account and use the fake account to scam your friends!

If you’d like to hide your friend list from prying eyes, just follow the steps below that apply to your device. [Read more…]

Q&A: How do you switch Windows out of S mode?

Posted on May 4, 2023

Question from Karla: I bought a closeout Acer laptop a couple of months ago and I didn’t realize it had Windows 10 S on it. I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

I just found out that some of the software I really need to run won’t work with Windows 10 S. It needs Windows 10 Home instead.

I’d just return the laptop and get a different one but it was a closeout and I can’t return it.

I heard that you can convert Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Home for free but I don’t know how to do it. Can you tell me? [Read more…]

Two ways to quickly view the Desktop in Windows 11

Posted on May 3, 2023

If you’ve recently switched to Windows 11 from a previous Windows version you’ve probably noticed that the little “Show Desktop” icon that used to be located beside the Start button is no longer there.

The folks at Microsoft really love making changes just for the sake of making changes, and this one is a real head scratcher.

The thing is, Windows 11 still has a “Show Desktop” icon. They’ve simply moved it to the far right-hand side of the Taskbar and changed its appearance a bit. And depending on your settings, it could actually be hidden from view.

Here’s how make sure the “Show Desktop” icon is enabled on your Windows 11 PC… [Read more…]