Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 168 of 258

Q&A: Can I run old DOS games on my Windows 7 PC?

Posted on May 16, 2019

Question from Darren S.: I have several old DOS-based games that I bought at a yard sale and I’d love to be able to play some of them on my Windows 7 laptop. Will they run on that computer? If not, is it possible to install DOS in a dual-boot configuration and run them that way?

Rick’s Answer: Darren, it is possible to run some DOS games under Windows 7 (as well as XP, Vista and Windows 8), but due to major differences in the way DOS and Windows handle memory and I/O you’ll need to run them within a DOS emulator.

There are several DOS emulators for Windows available, but I would recommend trying one called DOSBox first. DOSBox has been around for a long time and they seem to have a lot of the kinks in the emulation process worked out. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I get the Klondike game in Microsoft Solitaire Collection off of Random?

Posted on May 16, 2019

Question from Vivian: My Internet went off last night and just to have something to do I opened the Klondike game in the Microsoft Solitaire Collection app.

The game loaded fine but a message popped up saying I could only play the game in Random mode since there was no Internet connection.

The Internet was back on when I woke up this morning so I tried to take the game off of Random so I could play it the way I usually do. But I can’t find a setting to change it.

Can you tell me how to get my Klondike game back off of Random mode?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is it ok to hold my laptop on my lap while I’m using it?

Posted on May 9, 2019

Question from Keenan D.: Hi Rick. I hope you can answer a question I have about using my computer.

I have a 15.6″ Acer Aspire laptop and I usually rest it on my lap when I’m using it because it’s more convenient that way.

My roommate is constantly harping on me to stop holding the laptop on my lap because (according to him) it can cause serious health problems. Is he right?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is Firefox still finding insecure content on my SSL encrypted WordPress blog?

Posted on May 2, 2019

Question from Patty J.: I recently found out about the free certificates from Let’s Encrypt. I asked my web host to install it for me so I can make my WordPress blog secure.

I installed the Really Simple SSL plugin and that took care of the redirects from http to https as well as most of the mixed content issues.

But Firefox is still blocking parts of my pages that it claims are still trying to load from insecure sources.

I’ve looked my pages over and I can’t find anything that appears to be loading from an insecure location. Everything on the page appears to be loading from URLs starting with https instead of http.

When I load the pages in Chrome it shows the green padlock with no warnings. It’s only Firefox that’s not cooperating.

I’m pulling my hair out here. How can I find out what Firefox is blocking for being insecure so I can fix it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can the RAM be upgraded on a Mac mini?

Posted on April 27, 2019

Question from Tom L.: I bought bought my daughter a Mac mini in November 2014 hoping she could use it when she started college in January.

The salesman told me that the only Mac minis they had in stock came with 4GB of RAM but I could always upgrade the RAM to a greater amount later if it turned out that 4GB wasn’t enough.

Well, it turns out that she does need more RAM now in order to run a program she’ll be using for one of her classes next semester.

The problem is she took the computer into Best Buy for a RAM upgrade and they told her that her model of the Mac mini can’t be upgraded. Is that true? She loves this computer and wants to keep using it if she can.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]