Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Elaine H.: Rick, I’ve been writing a blog on the topic of women’s health and wellness for almost 3 years and it seems like it’s going absolutely nowhere.
I did some research and I’ve learned that switching my blog from Blogger.com to WordPress will make it easier to grow my blog.
I know that you write several popular WordPress blogs and I was wondering if you can recommend a good web host to move my blog to?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from John G.: I’ve been reading your blog posts for a long time Rick, and several of them discuss the difference between retail versions of Windows and OEM versions.
Thanks to you, I now know the difference between the two. What I’m not sure about is whether the Windows 10 on my own computer is retail or OEM.
I know it used to be OEM because Windows 8 came pre-installed when I bought the computer. But I recently installed the free Windows 10 update and I was told that updating to Windows 10 automatically converts your Windows installation to a retail version. Is that correct? [Read more…]
Question from Carl B.: As the youth minister for my church, I’m in charge of our computer-based Bible training program. I need your help with a networking question.
We have a classroom that’s set up to allow 5 students at a time to use a popular Bible study software package and collaborate with the class in virtual discussions. The kids also take computer-based quizzes and tests.
We currently have 6 desktop computers connected to the network via two wired routers. All the computers can access the Internet, but we only connect the router to the DSL modem when we need to download Windows updates. The students are never allowed to use the Internet so that needn’t factor into your recommendation.
We want to add an additional 7 computers so that 12 students plus the teacher can be connected to the network at the same time. In order to do this, can we add extra routers to the network to connect the extra computers? Or perhaps you have a better setup that you can recommend?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Donna R.: I know this is probably an unusual question Rick, but is there a router that can be set up using just a smart phone?
I remember setting up all the routers I’ve had before by connecting them to a computer. But my family no longer uses computers, only smart phones and a couple of iPads.
If you don’t know of a router that can be set up without a computer I can always borrow my sister’s laptop, but she lives over 2 hours away!
I’ll be grateful for any advice you can give me. Thanks for your help!
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Carl: I’m a photographer and I often edit hundreds of images in a single day. To make thing simple, I have always kept Photoshop set as the default image viewer on my PC.
The problem is, something changed when I upgraded my computer to Windows 10.
Now every time I set Photoshop as the default image viewer, Windows changes it back to the Windows 10 Photo app every time it installs new Windows Updates.
This is very annoying to say the least. How can I stop it from happening?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]