Tech Questions & Answers Archives

Q&A: How can I delete unused images in WordPress?

Posted on May 22, 2019

Question from Dan J.: Hi Rick. I recently made the switch from Blogger to my own self-hosted WordPress blog with the help of your step-by-step guide to installing WordPress. I can honestly say it’s the best move I’ve ever made.

I need your help with one issue though. I have a habit of changing my mind about the images I use with my posts, sometimes more than once. The unused images always pop up in the Media Library when I go back to choose an image for a post.

How can I remove the images that I don’t ever plan to use from the media library?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is Cleanmgr.exe a virus, or it safe for me to run it?

Posted on May 20, 2019

Question from Melinda A: Hi Rick. I have a computer question about my Windows 10 Acer laptop.

Yesterday morning I asked a computer-savvy friend on Facebook a computer question and his reply was that I need to run a file called Cleanmgr.exe.

I’m a little leery about running .exe files because I remember reading that they can be dangerous.

Here’s my question: Is Cleanmgr.exe a virus or is it safe for me to run? And if it’s safe, do you think I should run it?

I’ve been reading your columns for a while and I trust your judgement.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I retrieve my Windows 10 license key from a bad hard drive?

Posted on May 20, 2019

Question from Keith: I upgraded my Windows 7 computer to Windows 10 shortly after it was released, and like a dummy I didn’t write down the license key for it.

The hard drive in this machine went bad and I replaced it with a 500GB SSD. The bad drive appears to be completely dead because it doesn’t make any noise at all.

After I installed the new drive I downloaded the Windows 10 files and put them on a CD. I know I’ll need the license key to activate Windows 10 after I install it, but I don’t have it.

I read that you can sometimes retrieve files from a dead hard drive. Is there any way to retrieve the Windows license key from a hard drive when Windows won’t even recognize the drive when its plugged into a different computer?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Should I install Linux to dual-boot with Windows or install it on a different drive?

Posted on May 19, 2019

Question from Jackie D.: Rick, I read your post about replacing Windows with Linux and I’d really like to give Ubuntu Linux a try. The thing is I don’t want to get rid of Windows.

I read that you have a choice of either installing Ubuntu to dual-boot with Windows or placing it on a separate hard drive. I’d like to know which way you think I should go.

My computer is a Gateway desktop PC with an Intel Core i3 CPU and 8 Gigs of RAM.

This machine originally had a 750 GB hard drive with Windows 7 on it, but a while back I installed a 240GB SSD as the boot drive and left the hard drive connected as a secondary drive. I have also upgraded the Windows 7 to Windows 10.

My question is should I install Ubuntu on the SSD to dual-boot with Windows 10 or install it on the hard drive? And if I install it on the hard drive how will I tell the machine whether I want to boot into Windows or Ubuntu?

I know this is a long, drawn out question and I really appreciate you taking the time to help me decide which way I should go with this. Thanks a bunch!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is there an easy way to copy and paste as plain text?

Posted on May 18, 2019

Question from Amber H.: Hi Rick. I write a blog about contests and giveaways, and I’m always copying and pasting snippets from other websites into my own blog posts.

The problem I’m having is when I copy a snippet of text with Ctrl+C and then paste it with Ctrl+V, any formatting (bold, italics, web links, etc.) are pasted into the document along with the text.

To get around that I’ve been pasting the snippet first into Notepad, then copying it again from there and pasting it into my WordPress editor window.

My question is can you tell me a simpler (hopefully one step) way to paste something that was copied to the clipboard as just plain text? Thanks for your help!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]