Rick's Daily Tips

Why Microsoft might soon start giving away Windows for free

Posted on February 28, 2014

windows-for-free Could Microsoft be working on plans to give away their cash-cow Windows operating system for free? According to several reliable sources, the answer could be yes.

It’s no secret that Microsoft’s share of the operating system market is dwindling by the day, and it all started way back with the release of Apple’s first iPad. The guys and gals in Redmond apparently thought users would consider tablet PCs to be toys, not suitable replacements for desktop and laptop computers.

Well, they were wrong, and by the time they realized it the genie was already out of the bottle. [Read more…]

How to close all open tabs at once in Safari on iOS 7

Posted on February 28, 2014

iOS 7 is a great operating system for your Apple device because it has simplified many common tasks and added several very useful new features.

But one task in iOS 7 isn’t simpler at all. If you happen to have several tabs open in Safari at once, it can be a real pain closing all of them one at a time. As you probably know, it requires a LOT of swiping!

But luckily there is a way to easily and quickly close ALL open tabs at the same time. Just use the simple procedure explained below: [Read more…]

Apple releases critical security patch for Mac laptops and desktops

Posted on February 27, 2014

osx-mavericks Last Sunday I told you that Apple had just announced a major security flaw in both their iOS and OS X operating systems.

They almost immediately released a patch to fix the flaw in iOS, but they said it would take a little longer for them to make a patch available for OS X.

Well, all of you Mac laptop and desktop users will be glad to know that Apple has finally gotten around to releasing a security patch for OS X as well. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is there a Floppy Disk drive showing up in Windows Explorer?

Posted on February 26, 2014

Question from Cynthia T.: Hi Rick. I have something going on with my computer that’s driving me up the wall.

Starting 3 days ago there’s a Floppy Disk A: drive showing up in Windows Explorer. I haven’t owned a computer with a floppy drive in it in years!

Why is a phantom floppy drive showing up in my drive list? And more importantly, how can I get rid of it? My computer is a Gateway desktop running Windows 7 Pro.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is my brand new 64GB USB flash drive only formatting to 2GB?

Posted on February 24, 2014

Question from Steven D.: Rick, I recently bought a brand new Kingston 64GB USB flash drive off of eBay, but it will only format to 2GB.

I’ve tried every format option there is but the result is always the same. How can I tell if the drive is bad or if I’m doing something wrong?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]