Computer Tips Archives - Page 2 of 232

How (and why) to make sure System Restore is turned on in Windows

Posted on January 14, 2026

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Have you updated your PC to Windows 11 at some time in the past?

If so, there’s a very good chance that the System Restore utility was turned off during the update process.

What’s more, I’ve seen plenty of PCs that came from the factory with Windows 11 that had the System Restore utility disabled.

As you probably know, System Restore is a powerful tool that can help you get your Windows machine back into working order if something ever goes haywire with your Windows installation.

When turned on, System Restore (usually) makes it easy to roll your Windows installation back to a previous (working) state if something ever goes wrong during a program installation or some other serious issue arises.

In other words, this awesome tool can really can get you out of rather serious jams. [Read more…]

How to charge any laptop (or most any other gadget) with your car

Posted on January 9, 2026

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

These days it’s hard to imagine taking a long drive without having a car charger on board to keep the battery in your cell phone topped off.

But what about your laptop?

While some modern laptops can be charged with a standard USB-type car charger and a compatible cable, there are plenty of others that can only be charged using the AC power brick that came with the laptop. [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I create a Desktop icon for putting my PC to sleep?

Posted on January 8, 2026

Question from Alan: I know there are several ways to put a Windows PC to sleep but what I’d really like to have is a desktop icon I can click on to put it to sleep with just a double-click. Is there any way to created one?

Rick’s answer: The answer to your question is yes, Alan. And it’s very easy to do. [Read more…]

Did you know the Windows Clipboard can store multiple items?

Posted on January 5, 2026

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One of the biggest frustrations for Windows users has always been how the Clipboard will only store the last item that was “Copied” or “Cut”.

In other words, when you copy or cut an item to the Clipboard, the data that was previously stored in the Clipboard was over-written by the newly-copied or cut data.

There are several great third-party Clipboard tools that will force the Clipboard to store multiple items, and some of them are quite good.

However, Windows 10 and Windows 11 have a “Clipboard History” tool that allows the Clipboard to store multiple items that can be “pasted” at any time with a simple keystroke combination.

[Read more…]