Microsoft Windows Archives - Page 15 of 32

Q&A: Will Windows 7 still work after Windows 10 is released?

Posted on May 27, 2015

Question from Millie H.: I heard that Windows 10 is supposed to be released pretty soon. Will the Windows 7 that’s on my computer still work after that or will I need to buy Windows 10?

Rick’s answer: Millie, you have nothing whatsoever to worry about. Your computer’s Windows 7 installation will work just fine for the foreseeable future. In fact, Microsoft has committed to supporting Windows 7 with regular security updates until the year 2020.

But that being said, you might want to consider upgrading your computer to Windows 10 when it is released anyway. Here’s why… [Read more…]

Q&A: Will using ReadyBoost really speed up my computer?

Posted on May 18, 2015

Question from Beverly W.: I recently read an article that said using ReadyBoost with a flash drive will speed up your computer. My laptop is pretty slow so I decided I wanted to try it.

But now I’m confused because when I asked a friend of mine how to set it up he told me not to bother because it doesn’t really help.

I hope you can clear this up for me. Does ReadyBoost work or not? I don’t want to buy a flash drive to use with it if it won’t really do me any good.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is Windows 8 not using all of my RAM?

Posted on April 3, 2015

Question from Rodney T: I have an Acer Aspire 5552G-7641 with 8GB of RAM. It came with Windows 7 which always showed the entire 8GB on the System Information screen.

My employer paid for a copy of Windows 8 so I backed up my data and wiped the hard drive, then installed Windows 8 (that was an ordeal in itself but I won’t go into it here lol).

Long story short, after installing Windows 8 the System Information screen is only showing 3GB of RAM even though the BIOS screen shows the full 8GB. Did I do something wrong? [Read more…]

Display the ‘Computer’ icon on the Desktop in Windows 8

Posted on March 23, 2015

If you prefer using the Desktop instead of the Metro Start Screen in Windows 8, you might be wishing you had a shortcut to the ‘Computer’ dialog sitting right on the Desktop. Well, you can. and it’s very easy to set up. Here’s how:

1 – Right-click on the Windows 8 Desktop.

2 – Click Personalize.

3 – Click Change desktop icons.

4 – Check the box beside Computer and click Apply.

5 – Click Ok.

There are icons for several other familiar Windows features there as well. Feel free to check or uncheck the boxes as desired.

Q&A: Can I install Windows 10 without having to open a Microsoft account?

Posted on March 20, 2015

Question from Cale G.: Rick, I read your post about installing the Windows 10 Preview and I’d like to try it out on my old Acer laptop that’s currently running Windows Vista.

I checked and the machine seems to meet all the hardware requirements, so I figured why not install it and check it out?

The problem is I heard you have to have a Microsoft account in order to install the Windows 10 Preview, and sure enough when I went to install it I was prompted to either log in to an existing account or create a new one.

If I can possibly avoid it, I don’t want a Microsoft account, and I definitely don’t want to have to log into Windows on my laptop through one! Hence my question: Can you tell me if there’s a way to install Windows 10 without having to open a Microsoft account first?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]