Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
You probably know that mobile phones routinely collect and store location data and share that data with apps and third parties.
But did you know your Windows 10/11 PC does it as well?
Just like your smartphone, your Windows PC is constantly determining your current location and storing that location data in a database.
Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter
As you probably already know, scams and hoaxes are everywhere these days, and some of them are quite believable and compelling.
It’s very easy to fall for some of these scams because they mimic actions that are taken by legitimate programs and online services.
One of the most dangerous scams that’s making the rounds right now is the insidious “Your computer has a virus!” scam. There are several variations of this scam, but they typically work something like this… [Read more…]
If you use Gmail you’ve probably noticed how Google provides suggestions for how to complete your sentences as you’re typing out your emails.
This feature is called “Smart Compose”, and Google’s stated reason for providing it is to help you write your emails faster by providing suggested text snippets based upon your past writings.
As with all things, some folks love the Smart Compose feature, while others detest it. [Read more…]
You’ve probably noticed that the built-in search tools on most websites often do a horrible job at helping you find the exact content you’re looking for on those sites.
For example, if you make even the slightest of a misspelling of a single word in your search term, the search will usually come up empty.
What’s more, most site search tools won’t suggest posts/pages from the site that are closely related to, but slightly different from the actual search term.
Google excels in situations like those, and that’s why I almost always use Google instead of a website’s native search tool.
Question from Jenna: I need your help, Rick.
I turned my computer on this morning and it booted up into Safe Mode instead of the normal mode.
I tried restarting the computer several times and it always boots into Safe Mode.
It’s an HP laptop with Windows 10. How can I make it boot up normally like it should? [Read more…]