Downloads Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Process Explorer – A powerful free replacement for the Windows Task Manager

Posted on June 20, 2018

The native Windows Task Manager has long been the go-to utility when we need to see which programs are running on our PC or kill a “hung” process.

While Microsoft has really expanded the features and power of Task Manager in recent years, it still has some serious limitations.

Luckily, Microsoft also offers a free program called Process Explorer that takes the concept of the Task Manager to a whole new level.

Process Explorer displays every process currently running on your PC in an easy to visualize “tree” structure. [Read more…]

Why I recommend replacing Notepad with Notepad++

Posted on June 12, 2018

The Windows Notepad utility is one of the handiest little programs there is, but it comes with a number of frustrating limitations.

But even with those limitations I found myself using it several times a day simply because it’s so convenient.

But no more. I long ago switched to a wonderful free Notepad replacement app called Notepad++.

Notepad++ does everything the standard Windows Notepad does, only better. I won’t list all the great features here, but there are three features that really made it worth the switch for me: [Read more…]

Netgear WiFi Analytics – Tune your WiFi network for better performance with this fantastic free app

Posted on June 9, 2018

Does your WiFi network seem slower than it should be?

Do you struggle with poor, unstable connections?

Are you unable to use your devices at all in a distant room?

Many wireless networking issues can be fixed simply by making a tweak or two to your router, but the trick is knowing exactly what’s causing the issue and what you need to tweak.

Our friends at Netgear have developed an awesome free app for your Android devices that can help take some of the guesswork out of diagnosing and fixing many WiFi networking issues. [Read more…]

Discover tons of technical info about your Android device with CPU-Z

Posted on June 7, 2018

A while back I told you about a great free program called Speccy that lists pretty much every technical detail there is about your PC.

If you have even a passing interest in what hardware and software is inside your computer’s case, you need to download Speccy today.

If you have that same curiosity about what’s inside your Android phone or tablet, a wonderful free app called CPU-Z will tell you. [Read more…]

Q&A: Is there a way to rename all the files in a certain folder in Windows 10?

Posted on May 29, 2018

Question from Marge L.: I’ve recently begun dabbling in photography and I have a question for you.

Is there a way to rename all the files in a certain folder to a common base name?

My camera always names the pictures with the same base filename but just changes the numbers on the end. That makes it hard to know what the pictures in a folder are of without looking at the pictures.

It would be great if I could have the filenames actually represent what the pictures are of.

For example, if I take pictures at a birthday party for someone named Jane Doe the filenames could be renamed to something like this:

JaneDoeBirthday0001.jpg
JaneDoeBirthday0002.jpg
JaneDoeBirthday0003.jpg
etc…

Is there an easy way to do that in Windows 10 without having to change all the filenames individually, one by one?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]