Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
If you have an Android device you probably already know about the countless apps and games that you can download for free from the Google Play Store.
The thing is, many of those “free” apps and games aren’t really free at all since they come with ads and/or require in-app purchases to unlock some of the best features. [Read more…]
Over time your computer’s fans will almost certainly draw enough dust inside the case to partially or completely cover the components and block air from flowing around the various parts.
This is not good as it allows heat to build up inside the components, and heat leads to both intermittent program errors and eventual hardware failure.
It’s important to remove any built-up dust from the inside of your computer on a regular basis, and the best way to do it is to blow it out with forced air.
Simply remove the side panel, carry the PC outdoors and have at it. Some folks use an air compressor to blow out the dust, but I think that is very bad idea for two very important reasons: [Read more…]
I use lots of awesome free programs and apps, and whenever I recommend them on my blog I try my best to warn you when the download page has deceptive ads on it.
If you’ve ever visited one of the major free download sites, you surely know the type of ads I’m taking about. They usually include a big honking “DOWNLOAD” button that tricks folks into downloading an entirely different program than the one they came looking for.
Unfortunately, those fake download buttons are both annoying and dangerous because some of the programs they link to are actually malware! [Read more…]
Question from Ellen R.: I used Microsoft Office 2003 on my old computer but the hard drive died and I had to replace it.
I still have my Office 2003 installation discs but I can’t get it installed on the new laptop. I’m guessing that it’s just not compatible with Windows 10.
My brother has a copy of MS Office 2010 Professional that’s still in the box and it’s never been opened or registered. He said he would ship it to me from Scotland if it’ll work with my system, but he doesn’t want to waste money to ship it to me if it won’t work.
My question is will Microsoft Office 2010 run on Windows 10? If it will it’ll save me from having to buy a copy of MS Office that I really can’t afford right now.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Did you upgrade your computer from an older version of Windows to Windows 10?
If so, your computer’s hard drive or SSD contains a Windows.old folder that contains the files from the previous Windows installation.
The storage space taken up by this now-unused folder is wasted space, but with today’s massive hard drives that isn’t really an issue for most users.
But that being said, it can be a very serious issue if your PC has a small hard drive or SSD that’s running out of available storage space. [Read more…]