Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Darla: I have an HP Pavilion laptop with Windows 8.1 on it.
I recently started seeing this message every time I turn it on:
“A hard drive in the system reports that it may fail.”
The thing is the hard drive is working just fine.
Can you tell me what do I need to do to get the computer to stop showing me this message?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Elizabeth D.: Hi Rick. This isn’t really a tech question but it does involve the Internet so I hope you can help me.
The little plastic loop that holds the keyless remote onto my key ring broke off and now I have to carry it in my purse. The remote still works just fine, but not having it on my key ring is driving me batty since finding ANYTHING in my purse in a hurry is virtually impossible!
The problem is the dealer wants $160 for a new keyless remote for a 2006 Malibu!
Do you know of a website where I might be able to find one for less money (hopefully a LOT less)? Thanks so much for your help!
Rick‘s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Alan M.: I replaced the 320GB hard drive in my Acer Aspire desktop computer with a Crucial 512GB SSD.
I was able to clone the hard drive’s contents onto the SSD with no problem and everything works great, but when I view the drive in “Computer” it shows up as a 320GB drive instead of 512GB.
What do I need to do to make Windows 7 see the entire 512GB?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Mona: My son has been wanting a Kindle Fire tablet for a long time and I finally decided to get him one.
My problem is I can’t order one online from Amazon because I don’t have a credit card. I’ll need to pay for it with cash.
Do you know of any stores where I might be able to buy one locally? Thanks.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Neilen G.: I have a fairly small 11.6 inch laptop that I carry with me when I travel (and I travel frequently for work). I’ve found that it’s the perfect size to use when I’m on a plane.
Unfortunately, I also have an issue with my vision. Nothing major, but it’s bad enough to cause problems for me at times.
I usually don’t have a problem reading the screen when I’m using Twitter, but sometimes at night when my eyes are tired I find it hard to make out some of the text.
I tried typing Ctrl+ to make the text bigger but it ended up pushing some of the content off the sides of the screen.
I read somewhere that switching to the mobile Twitter site when my eyes are tired will make the text easier to read, but it didn’t give instructions for making the switch.
I guess my question is can you tell me how to switch to the Twitter mobile site on my laptop (and how to switch back when I need to)?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]