Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
In Windows XP we could access the ‘Run’ box directly from the Start Menu, but for some unknown reason Microsoft chose to hide this indispensable tool beginning with the release of Windows Vista.
You can always display the ‘Run’ box by pressing the Windows+R key combination, but most Windows users would prefer to have it right on the Start Menu like it was in XP. If you’re one of them, here’s how to put it on there: [Read more…]
If you have ever used Windows 7 you probably remember creating a System Repair Disc soon after setting up your new PC just in case it ever failed to boot up properly. You can create one for your Windows 8 PC as well, but you also have the option of creating a bootable USB Flash Recovery Drive instead.
You can use either a System Repair Disc or USB Recovery Flash Drive to boot a PC that fails to start up properly into an emergency troubleshooting and repair mode. They both do the job equally well, but I prefer the USB flash drive option for a number of reasons. If you do as well, here’s how to create one in Windows 8: [Read more…]
When Microsoft designed Windows 8/8.1 they optimized the boot process in order to make Windows load faster.
While this was a welcome change from previous Windows versions, the faster boot time made it impossible to use the F8 key to load the Boot Menu for booting into Safe Mode.
If you prefer the convenience of being able to boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8 by pressing the F8 key at startup over the faster boot process, you can re-enable the F8 key and have it work just like it always has. Here’s how: [Read more…]
Most of us are used to refreshing the current web page in our browser by either clicking the Refresh icon or pressing the F5 key, but there is a better way to refresh a page: Press the Ctrl+F5 key combination.
Why is pressing Ctrl+F5 to refresh the current page better than the other two options? Because it clears the browser cache for the page before reloading it into the browser. [Read more…]
There are a number of programs and apps available for creating paintings from digital photos,and one of my favorites just happens to be completely free. It also runs entirely within your web browser so there is nothing to download or install.
It’s called Psykopaint, and here’s how to use it: [Read more…]