Rick's Daily Tips

Rick’s Daily Pick: 8TB WD Elements External USB 3.0 Hard Drive

Posted on September 24, 2026

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

My “Pick” for today is this fantastic 8TB WD Elements External USB 3.0 Hard Drive.

Looking for a backup drive with enough capacity to store multiple backups?

Or perhaps you’re looking for a way to archive the thousands of photos and videos you’ve taken over the years?

Either way, this drive is an excellent choice. Western Digital has been making outstanding hard drives for decades and this is a really good one.

Click here to check out the 8TB WD Elements External USB 3.0 Hard Drive at Amazon.

Did you miss (or want to revisit) one of my earlier picks? You might find it right here.

Picture of the Day: “Autumn in East Tennessee”

Posted on September 24, 2026

Today’s POTD features a beautiful country scene from rural Greene County, Tennessee. It’s an oldie, but goodie (Autumn 1998). I hope you like it.

Have lots of treasured photos of your own that you’d love to display in your home but you have limited wall space? A digital picture frame (#ad) is an excellent solution. Check them out!

Enjoy these Pictures of the Day? Sign up for my free Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter and you’ll never miss one (or any of my tech tips either)!

Monthly Tech Giveaway – September 2026

Posted on July 31, 2026

Note: The links on this page are affiliate links.

September’s winner will receive a fantastic CyberPower 1500VA/1000W Sinewave UPS Battery Backup / Surge Protector.

This will keep your computer, modem and router online for a full hour after your power goes out, preventing a dangerous instant shutdown that could damage your computer gear and cause you to lose any unsaved data that’s currently in the machine’s RAM.

All subscribers to the Standard edition of my Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter have an equal chance to win.

Premium subscribers have two chances to win (their email addresses are added to the “pot” twice).

Not a subscriber? Just enter your email address in the sign-up form on this page.

Once subscribed you’ll be eligible to win each month’s drawing – starting with this month. Better yet, opt for a Premium subscription for double the chance to win!

The drawing for this month’s prize will be held on September 30 and the winner will be notified by email. The winner will be selected at random.

Good luck!

Q&A: Does a laptop need a surge protector?

Posted on September 23, 2026

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Question from Della: I just bought my son a new laptop at our local big box store.

As we were walking up to the register to pay, I asked the salesman if he could recommend a good surge protector for it.

He said laptops don’t need surge protectors because they aren’t connected to the power grid while you’re using them and the chargers that come with them have surge protection built into them.

That just didn’t sound right to me. Was he right or do I need to go ahead and buy a surge protector for my son’s new laptop? [Read more…]

Why you need to lock down your email account tight

Posted on September 22, 2026

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Have you ever stopped to consider just how important your email account is?

Like most people you probably use email to send messages to friends and family members and receive updates from the various services you’ve signed up for.

But did you know your email account is one of the most import online accounts you’ll ever use?

In fact, after your online banking and other financial accounts, your email account is probably THE most important account you have. [Read more…]

How (and why) to run Windows’ Disk Cleanup tool

Posted on September 21, 2026

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Over time Windows PCs can gather a lot of clutter, and all that junk takes up valuable disk space.

And on rare occasions it can cause the Windows installation itself to slow down and become unstable.

As you can see, it’s very important to keep your machine as free of clutter as possible.

Luckily, all recent versions of Windows come with a handy tool called Disk Cleanup that will quickly and easily remove most of the accumulated digital clutter for you. All you have to do is run it. Here’s how: [Read more…]