Tech Questions & Answers Archives

Q&A: Why does Windows 10 use more RAM on my new PC than it did on my old one?

Posted on October 24, 2021

Question from Bill: I have an Acer desktop PC with 4 GB of RAM that I updated to Windows 10 back when the update was free.

When I have all the programs and browser tabs that I normally use open at the same time the Task Manager says there is approximately 1.2 GB of RAM not being used.

I recently bought a brand new Dell desktop with 8 GB of RAM and Windows 10.

When I have the same exact configuration of programs and browser tabs open on the new machine it says there is still less than 2 GB of RAM that’s not being used.

How can this be? [Read more…]

Q&A: Should I let my neighbor piggyback off my WiFi network?

Posted on October 22, 2021

Question from Mallorie: I need some advice Rick, and it’s sort of a touchy situation.

We live in a duplex and our neighbor has a 14 year old son who bought a Straight Talk phone from my daughter.

The thing is she didn’t reset the phone before she sold it to him because he said he’d like to just take over her phone number, and she said that would be fine.

This phone still automatically connects to our WiFi network, and I know for a fact that he uses our WiFi a lot because he told my daughter that he does.

My question is do you think he could cause us any problems by piggybacking off of our wireless network? [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I get my Taskbar back to where it belongs?

Posted on October 21, 2021

Question from Sherry: Hi, Rick. I was typing a homework assignment in Microsoft Word when the doorbell rang.

It was the pizza delivery guy with the pizza I had ordered for dinner.

Anyway, I was away from the computer for maybe 2 minutes but when I got back my 2 year old was playing with it.

I about freaked out when I saw her playing with the mouse, but as it turned out my Word document was just fine.

The thing is she somehow managed to move the Taskbar from its usual place at the bottom of the screen all the way to the top.

She’s only 2 years old! How in the world could she have done that?

Can you tell me how to move it back to where it belongs? [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I retrieve my files from a damaged ultrabook?

Posted on October 21, 2021

Question from Shruti: Hi, Rick. I have a Dell XPS 13 9370 Ultrabook. Everything was fine until this morning when my screen just turned grey-ish black.

I had dropped my laptop and slightly cracked the top right edge of the screen along with one of the hinges a few months back but everything seemed to still be working fine.

I don’t know why this suddenly happened.

I have important data on this machine so I’d like to know if there is any way to retrieve the data without fixing the screen? [Read more…]

Q&A: Will counterfeit RAM damage my laptop?

Posted on October 20, 2021

Question from Hailey: Rick, I think I’ve gotten myself into a mess and I need your advice.

I recently purchased two RAM modules on Ebay to go in my laptop. They were listed and sold as Kingston brand but I just found out that the seller was busted for selling counterfeit computer parts.

The new RAM seems to be working fine in my laptop, but I was wondering if it might cause problems down the road.

I’d just remove it and reinstall the old memory but I gave it to my nephew in exchange for doing the upgrade for me. It’s already in his computer and I won’t ask for it back.

What do you think I should do? [Read more…]