Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
USB flash drives have made the process of transferring files between one PC and another the easiest that it has ever been. Simply plug the drive into one PC, copy the desired files to it, then plug it into the 2nd PC and copy the files to the hard drive. It’s a fast and easy process.
But this convenience comes at a high potential cost. Plug a thumb drive into a computer that’s infected with a virus and that virus can hitch a free ride right onto your own PC’s hard drive. [Read more…]
If you live in an area plagued by frequent power outages, keeping your cell phone and other mobile devices charged can be a real challenge.
I wrote a post a while back explaining how a spare battery backup unit is a great tool for keeping your devices charged up.
But if you’d rather not have to deal with keeping another battery backup charged and at the ready, there is a great alternative available: a solar powered USB charger
One major advantage of solar chargers is the obvious: As long as the sun shines you can keep a charge on your devices’ batteries. Of course that’s also the main disadvantage – no sun, no charging. But most models have a built-in backup battery for charging your devices during times of darkness or heavy cloud cover. [Read more…]
Question from Sierra F.: Rick, I’m in trouble and I need your help!
My computer was installing Windows Updates when the power flickered off and back on. It happened so quickly that the computer didn’t even shut down, but it somehow aborted the update process and an error on the screen said the update wasn’t successful.
I tried to install the updates again, but it said no updates were available. I then tried to restart the PC, but it hangs up about half way through the boot process. Please, please, please tell me how to fix this without reinstalling Windows 7? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
If you use the Facebook App on your mobile device (which I don’t recommend as explained in this post), you have probably noticed that a recent update has caused it to start chirping and making other weird noises when you take certain actions.
If you’re one of the many users who find these new sound effects irritating, you can easily turn them off with just a few taps.
Follow the directions below to disable sounds in your Facebook App: [Read more…]
Do you find the Charms Bar in Windows 8.1 to be almost as irritating as an itchy rash? If so, you definitely aren’t alone.
Apparently Microsoft received so many complaints about the Charms Bar that they decided to virtually eliminate it from the new Windows 10 for Desktop users.
Why they ever included it in the first place is a mystery to me. It always seems to pop up when you don’t need it, and many of the tasks that I believe would be best suited for it aren’t on it!
Which reminds me… [Read more…]