Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Can I disable a forgotten BIOS password on my old Dell PC?

Posted on February 4, 2020

Question from Charlene R.: I have an old Dell OptiPlex GX280 desktop computer that I used for several years before I bought the one I have now.

I recently found out that I need to copy a couple of very important files off of that computer so I brought it up from the basement and hooked it up.

My problem is it has a BIOS password on it and I can’t remember it!

I tried every possible password I could think of that I’ve used in the past and nothing works.

I REALLY need to get to those files if there’s any way possible. Do you know of a way to disable the BIOS password so the computer will boot up into Windows?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I prevent notifications from popping up in the lower-right corner of the screen in Windows 10?

Posted on January 22, 2020

Question from Edwin: My old Windows XP computer that I really love finally died and I had no choice but to buy a new computer.

I’d been dreading having to switch to Windows 10 but after using it for a while I’ve found out I actually like it.

But one thing about it really irritates me. I hate having all those notification messages pop up at random times in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Is there any way to turn those notifications off?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

‘Windows Timeline’ is a handy ‘history’ feature for your Windows 10 computer!

Posted on January 20, 2020

You’re probably familiar with your web browser’s “History” feature that allows you to go back in time and quickly load web pages that you visited in the past.

But did you know that Windows 10 has it’s own “History” feature that works a lot better than your browser’s (and is a lot easier to use)?

It’s called Windows Timeline, and it works like a charm!

[Read more…]

Q&A: How can I prevent URLs left in comments on my blog posts from automatically becoming active links?

Posted on January 20, 2020

Question from Kim W.: I have a WordPress blog and lots of people are leaving comments on my posts that contain links.

How can I prevent the URLs in those comments from automatically becoming active links?

I really don’t want hackers leaving links to malicious websites via comments on my blog posts!

Thanks for your help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]