Rick's Daily Tips - Tech Tips, Tricks and Tutorials

Q&A: Which external USB hard drive enclosure do you recommend?

Posted on August 16, 2018

Question from Elizabeth W.: I just finished reading your post about converting an internal hard drive into an external drive. I never dreamed that it would be so easy!

I have a 1GB hard drive that came out of my old laptop when it died on me. The guy at the shop tested it and said it’s working fine.

I’d like to put that drive into an external enclosure and connect it to my new laptop that has Windows 10 and USB 3.0 ports.

When I clicked the link you posted to Amazon it listed a bunch of external USB enclosures and I have no clue which one I should buy. Can you recommend a good one that doesn’t cost a lot?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I embed a Youtube video in a blog post and make it start playing at a specified place?

Posted on August 16, 2018

Question from Brandie G.: 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.

Is there a way to make that happen? I know if there is you’ll be able to tell me.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Thank you for reading and sharing my tech tips!

Posted on August 16, 2018

I began writing my Rick’s Daily Tips tech blog back in 2012 with the hope of sharing what I have learned about technology over the years with my friends and anyone else who might find my tips useful.

This morning I logged into my blog to begin writing a new post and noticed the total number of posts I’ve written to date: 2,619!

That’s a lot of tips, and it has been my pleasure and a great honor to share them with you.

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe this endeavor would turn out to be as successful as it has become since that time. And I owe it all to you, my friends and loyal readers.

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my posts, “Like” them and share them on social media.

I can’t promise you that I’ll “always get it right”, but I do promise to do my very best to bring you the most accurate and useful tech tips and info possible.

Thanks again,

Rick

P.S. Every “Share” helps more people (hopefully) benefit from the tips I share. Thanks so much for sharing them with your friends!

Q&A: How do I install WordPress on my local PC?

Posted on August 16, 2018

Question from Clara F.: I’ve been writing a WordPress blog that discusses a variety of family issues for over two years now.

I recently installed an update to a plugin that completely broke my blog, and since I couldn’t log in to my WordPress account I couldn’t remove the bad plugin.

I searched for a solution on Google for three days and I finally found your excellent blog post explaining how to disable the bad plugin using an FTP program, and it saved me. Thank you for that!!

Now, my question: I heard that it’s possible to install WordPress on my local PC so I can test new plugins and updates without having to chance breaking my real blog again. Can you tell me how to do that?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to convert a bare hard drive or SSD into an external USB-C 3.1 drive

Posted on August 16, 2018

A while back I wrote this post that explains how to convert an unused internal hard drive into an external USB 3.0 drive.

That has turned out to be one of the most popular posts I have ever written, but a lot has changed since then.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are quickly replacing traditional hard drives in many newer desktop computers and laptops.

What’s more, the newest MacBooks and many of the latest tablets and smartphones now come with the much smaller USB-C 3.1 ports.

If you own a computer or mobile device that supports USB-C 3.1, it makes sense to use an external drive enclosure that also supports this modern connection type.

Luckily, the awesome new USB-C external drive enclosures don’t cost any more than their USB 3.0 predecessors and they work perfectly with both traditional 2.5 inch hard drives and SSDs! [Read more…]