Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How can I remove the ‘Boot Menu’ from my computer?

Posted on January 9, 2017

Question from Kevin B.: When Windows 10 was released I installed it, but I also decided to also keep Windows 8.1 so I could boot into either version at any time.

I had been booting into Windows 8.1 every now and then to access some files I have on there, but I recently discovered that the Windows 8.1 installation is no longer activated because its product key was transferred to Windows 10.

I guess that means I won’t be using Windows 8.1 any longer.

How can I have my computer skip the Boot Menu and boot directly into Windows 10? I’d just delete the Window 8.1 partition but I have a bunch of files in there that I don’t want to lose.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to adjust the brightness of your screen with just two mouse clicks

Posted on January 9, 2017

Do you wish there was a faster and easier way to adjust the brightness of your computer screen?

Well, there is, and it’s a real time-saver!

A nifty free utility called ClickMonitorDDC lets you adjust your screen brightness by simply clicking an icon in the Windows notification area and selecting a new value.

Alternatively, you can save even more time by hovering your mouse over the icon and rolling the mouse wheel to change the brightness level. Either way is fine – whatever works best for you.

ClickMonitor DDC is a tiny portable utility that doesn’t have to be installed, and it couldn’t be easier to use. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Microsoft to stop supporting Windows Vista in April

Posted on January 3, 2017

Do you still have a laptop or desktop PC that’s running Windows Vista? If so, you’ll soon have to decide whether want to keep using it or not.

Microsoft officially ended support for Windows XP about a year ago, and Vista is scheduled to get the boot on April 11 of this year.

What does this change mean for Vista users?

Well, your PC won’t simply stop working on April 11. In fact, you won’t notice any change at all from your perspective as a user. But there’s a problem… [Read more…]

Add super-secure Two-Factor Authentication to your WordPress blog in 5 minutes!

Posted on December 28, 2016

Update: Although it is absolutely awesome, I can no longer recommend installing the Clef Security plugin described in this post.

The company has just announced that they will be shutting the Clef service down in June 2017.

I have switched all of my WordPress blogs over to the fantastic Google Authenticator plugin/mobile app and I recommend that you install it on your blogs as well.

The original post continues below…

If you own and/or maintain a blog built on the popular WordPress platform you probably worry that a hacker could break into your blog’s admin section and take over your blog at any time.

And with hackers attacking blogs right and left these days, you are definitely right to be worried about the security of your blog!

A while back I wrote a post explaining how to set up Two-Factor Authentication on WordPress by installing the popular Duo Security plugin, but I stopped recommending that method after I was unable to resolve several serious issues I was having with it.

After removing the Duo plugin I started looking around for an alternative. I quickly found a plugin/service called Clef Security that turned out to be nothing short of amazing. [Read more…]