Tech Questions & Answers Archives

Q&A: How do you copy and paste text without the formatting?

Posted on February 22, 2026

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Question from Amber: Hi, Rick. I hope you can help me with something.

I write a blog about contests and giveaways, and I’m always copying and pasting snippets from other websites into my own blog posts.

The problem I’m having is when I copy a snippet of text with Ctrl+C and then paste it with Ctrl+V, any formatting (bold, italics, web links, etc.) are pasted into the document along with the text.

To get around that I’ve been pasting the snippet first into Notepad, then copying it again from there and pasting it into my WordPress editor window. Is there a better way? [Read more…]

Q&A: Is a 6 digit PIN really all that much more secure than 4 digits?

Posted on February 20, 2026

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Question from Andy: My girlfriend and I have a bet that’s riding on your answer to this question:

Is a six digit PIN really all that more secure than a four digit PIN?

It don’t seem like just two digits could make that much of a difference. She says it makes a big difference if someone ever tries to break into my phone.

So who’s right? [Read more…]

Q&A: Are SSDs just as reliable as hard drives?

Posted on February 19, 2026

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Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Wesley: Hi, Rick. I hope you’re doing well.

I recently read that you can speed up your computer by replacing the hard drive with a much faster solid state drive (SSD).

I’m leaning towards doing this but I have one concern that’s holding me back.

I’m worried that an SSD might not be as reliable as a hard drive, and I really can’t afford to lose my files if it were to crash on me.

What’s your opinion on this? Are SSDs as reliable as hard drives? [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I make Desktop icons open with one click?

Posted on February 15, 2026

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Question from Marie: I have a neurological disorder that makes it hard for me to double-click because my hands shake so bad.

When I bought my computer they set it up for me so that I could click on a desktop icon and it would open with a single click.

Ever since the last Windows update was installed I have to click on an icon twice to get it to open. That’s very difficult for me.

How can I get the single click to start working again?

[Read more…]

Q&A: How do I choose where an embedded YouTube video starts playing?

Posted on February 11, 2026

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Question from Brandie: I recently started embedding YouTube videos in some of my blog posts and I have a question about it.

Sometimes I want a video to start playing at a specific place instead of at the beginning. I know you can do this because I’ve seen it.

How do I choose where the video starts playing? [Read more…]