Rick's Daily Tips

Rick’s Daily Pick: Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA Dual Bay External Hard Drive Docking Station

Posted on September 6, 2025

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

My “Pick” for today is this super-handy Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA Dual Bay External Hard Drive Docking Station.

Looking for the easiest way to clone the contents of one SATA hard drive or SSD onto another 3.5″ or 2.5″ SATA drive? This little gem will do it literally at the push of a button.

Or perhaps you have a couple of drives that you pulled from an older PC that you’d like to connect to your current PC as external drives? Just slide the drives into the slots, then connect the device to your PC. It really is that easy.

This really is an awesome device. I’ve been using mine for almost three years now and it’s still working great.

Click here to check out the Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA Dual Bay External Hard Drive Docking Station at Amazon.

Picture of the Day: “Northern Lights over Lofoten”

Posted on September 6, 2025

Today’s POTD features a very colorful display of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) over Lofoten, Norway. 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 2025

Posted on August 31, 2025

Note: The links on this page are affiliate links.

September’s winner will receive a 15.6″ Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Student Laptop.

This laptop is perfect for junior high and high school students. It’s plenty capable of doing most anything that might be required for class, yet it’s very affordable.

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 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!

How to quickly find the warranty status for any Apple device

Posted on September 6, 2025

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I frequently receive messages from readers asking how they can find out if their Mac, iPhone or other Apple device is still under warranty before they contact Apple Support to request a needed repair.

These warranty-related questions are usually spread out over time, but sometimes they come in spurts.

This past week was a one of those “spurt weeks”, which prompted me to write up this short post explaining how to quickly find the warranty status of any Apple device. [Read more…]

How to make sure a downloaded file is safe before opening it (updated)

Posted on September 5, 2025

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Have you ever downloaded a file from the Internet and worried that it might be infected with malware?

That’s a real concern these days with all the malware that’s floating around the web.

It’s getting harder by the day to know exactly which sites to trust since malicious files are even making their way onto legitimate download sites.

Luckily, it’s pretty easy to determine whether any file on your computer is malware-free or not by running a couple of simple scans. [Read more…]

How SPF Flattening protects your domain reputation and prevents spoofing cyber threats

Posted on September 5, 2025

The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is essential for email verification, as it determines which mail servers have permission to send emails for your domain.

However, when companies utilize various third-party services such as customer relationship management systems, marketing applications, or cloud solutions, their SPF records can grow excessively long and surpass DNS lookup limitations. This can result in authentication failures that not only hinder email delivery but also expose your domain to potential misuse by cybercriminals aiming to execute spoofing attacks. [Read more…]