Tech Questions & Answers Archives

Q&A: Did I just completely fry my PC?

Posted on July 17, 2026

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Question from Theresa: Hi, Rick. I’m really upset this morning because my desktop computer was damaged due to a bad electrical outlet.

What happened was I hired an electrician to install an electrical outlet in my new sunroom so I could move my computer out there.

As soon as I plugged the computer in and turned it on I heard a loud POP and now I can’t get either the computer or monitor to come on.

My brother stopped by and checked the outlet and found that it has 238 volts on it instead of 120.

I have two questions: [Read more…]

Q&A: Windows is showing my WiFi network as Public. Isn’t that dangerous?

Posted on July 12, 2026

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Question from Kellie: I was messing around with the network settings on my Windows 11 laptop last night.

While I was in there I noticed that my WiFi network is set to “Public” instead of “Private”.

I’ve always heard that public networks are dangerous.

Is that true? And if it is, how can I change it to private? [Read more…]

Q&A: What’s the difference between System Updates and Software Updates?

Posted on July 10, 2026

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Question from Mike: Can you explain the difference between ‘System Updates’ and ‘Software Updates’?

Rick’s answer: I’ll be happy to do my best, Mike. Thanks for asking.

In a macro sense, both of those types of updates are ‘software updates’ since it’s code to some body of software that’s being updated.

However, there are indeed differences between the two from a general usage perspective. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I straighten a crooked photo with Windows 11?

Posted on July 9, 2026

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Question from Eileen: I took some pictures with my new phone and downloaded them to my computer (HP desktop with Windows 11).

All the photos look fine when I view them on the phone, but on the computer several of my favorites are crooked.

Is there a way to straighten them without installing an extra program? [Read more…]

Q&A: Why does Microsoft sell Office for Macs even though Apple is a competitor?

Posted on July 9, 2026

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Question from Claude: I was looking at the various options for buying Microsoft Office on Amazon the other day and I saw they’re selling Microsoft Office that runs on Macs.

That really surprised me since Microsoft and Apple are direct competitors of each other.

Why do they make a Mac version of Office when that obviously encourages people who would buy a Windows computer to run MS Office on to buy a Mac instead? [Read more…]