Rick's Daily Tips

Rick’s Daily Pick: Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 2042Wh Portable Power Station

Posted on July 3, 2025

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

My “Pick” for today is this super-handy Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 2042Wh Portable Power Station.

Tired of battery backup devices that only keep your computer, modem and router powered up for an hour or less every time your power goes out? This little gem will them going all day long.

This is much more than a run-of-the-mill UPS device. It’s the perfect battery backup system for your computer gear and other essential gadgets.

Don’t be left in the stone ages during extended power outages. Get one of these now so you’ll have it when you need it.

Click here to check out the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 2042Wh Portable Power Station at Amazon.

Picture of the Day: “Baltic Sunrise”

Posted on July 3, 2025

Today’s POTD features a very colorful sunrise over the waters of the Baltic Sea at Heringsdorf, Germany. I hope you like it.

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Monthly Tech Giveaway – July 2025

Posted on June 30, 2025

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July’s winner will receive this fantastic Ring Battery Doorbell Plus.

This little gem will show you who is at your door before you answer it. It will also record the video!

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 July 31 and the winner will be notified by email. The winner will be selected at random.

Good luck!

Q&A: Will a ‘Modified Sine Wave’ UPS damage a computer?

Posted on July 2, 2025

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Question from Celina: I have a question about battery backup devices, Rick.

I went to our local office supply store to buy a battery backup for my iMac and the man I talked to said I needed to pay extra for one that provides “pure sine wave” AC current. The one he tried to sell me costs over $100 more than the one I had planned to buy.

He said the cheaper “modified sine wave” models can damage my iMac because it was designed to only accept only a pure sine wave signal. Is that true? [Read more…]

Q&A: Would moving the Page File to a RAM Disk make a PC run faster?

Posted on July 1, 2025

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Question from Ethan: I was reading an article last night that discussed using part of a computer’s unused RAM as a RAM Disk, and it got me to thinking.

I have a 6 year old desktop computer that’s running Windows 10. It has 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

This machine runs really slow, coming almost to a crawl at times. After doing some research I’ve determined that it’s likely sluggish because it’s doing a ton of swapping back and forth with the page file.

Do you think moving the Windows Page File to a RAM Disk would help speed it up? [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I convert an old Windows laptop into a Chromebook?

Posted on June 30, 2025

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Question from Carl: I have 2 year old laptop that had Windows 10 on it before the hard drive died.

I bought a new Windows 11 desktop machine but I’d like to replace the bad hard drive in the old laptop and experiment with a different operating system.

I read your post about installing Linux in place of Windows but I’ve been reading a lot about Chromebooks lately. I stopped by Best Buy yesterday and tried one out, and I really like it.

My question is can I install ChromeOS on that laptop and use it as a Chromebook (after I replace the hard drive of course)?

[Read more…]