Rick's Daily Tips

Make sure Windows 8.1 is up to date by May 13 or you won’t receive any more Windows Updates!

Posted on April 17, 2014

windows-8-1 If you have a PC running Windows 8.1, make sure you have all the current Windows Updates installed by May 13 or you’ll no longer receive new updates after that date.

Microsoft has decided that it’s so important to keep Windows up to date that they’re going to make it mandatory if you want to keep your Windows 8.1 installation protected from future security threats as they arise. My advice: Do it, and ASAP.

All you really need to do is make sure your Windows 8.1 installation is set to install updates automatically. Here’s how: [Read more…]

How to change a VistaPrint order even when they say you can’t

Posted on April 17, 2014

As one of the world’s largest printing companies, VistaPrint offers thousands of items that can be customized to your liking. And they do a great job at it.

The folks at VistaPrint are very easy to work with, but if your order includes customized items you’ll receive a message stating that the order cannot be canceled or changed after it has been placed.

This is not always true however, even when they say it is. The key to getting your VistaPrint order changed is to contact their customer service department as soon as possible after placing the order. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Galaxy S5’s ‘Download Booster’ feature disabled by Sprint, Verizon and AT&T

Posted on April 15, 2014

galaxy-s5-download-booster The awesome Samsung Galaxy S5 smart phone comes with an equally awesome feature called “Download Booster”.

In a nutshell, Download Booster does just as its name implies by using a cellular signal and Wi-Fi connection simultaneously to speed up large file downloads to your phone.

Sounds great, right? Well, it is. But don’t count on using it if your cellular provider is either Sprint, Verizon or AT&T.

Those spoil-sports have apparently instructed Samsung to disable the Download Booster feature on Galaxy S5 phones that will be used on their networks and completely remove the option from the phones’ settings menus. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why won’t my Acer laptop boot into Windows?

Posted on April 14, 2014

Question from Daniel W.: I have a 2 year old Acer laptop with Windows 7. I can’t get it to boot up anymore. When I turn it on it beeps and displays this message:

“No Bootable Device — Please Restart System”

What could be causing this? I hope it’s not a bad hard drive but I suspect that it is. This just started last night and it’s very aggravating.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Find out instantly if the site you’re visiting is affected by the Heartbleed bug

Posted on April 14, 2014

By now you probably know about the dangerous Heartbleed bug that’s affecting millions of secure websites. It’s a pretty nasty vulnerability that must be avoided at all costs.

A few days ago I wrote about a great tool developed by the folks at LastPass that lets you check to see if a particular website is affected by Heartbleed. Well, now there’s another tool that’s even faster and easier to use. [Read more…]