Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 207 of 258

Q&A: Why won’t my external USB hard drive work with my laptop?

Posted on November 27, 2015

Question from Carol K.: I have an older 120GB external USB hard drive that I’ve used for years with my Dell desktop PC.

The Dell bit the dust a couple of weeks ago and I replaced it with a 3 year old Acer laptop that my son gave me after he bought a new one.

The problem I’m having is the old external drive has a bunch of files on it that I really need to access with the laptop, but I can’t get the drive to show up in Windows Explorer.

I know the drive itself is still working because it works fine when I plug it into my computer at work. I’m hoping you can tell me what I need to do to get my old USB hard drive to work with the Acer laptop?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I install the free Windows 10 upgrade using just a Windows 7 product key?

Posted on November 25, 2015

Question from Todd J.: My company has just informed us that they’re going to replace all of the 3 year old Dell XPS 15 laptops in our division with new machines by the end of the year.

They’re going to remove the hard drives from all the old laptops and destroy them, then give the laptops to us to keep.

I’ve been told that computers running Windows 7 qualify for a free Windows 10 upgrade, but only if Windows 7 is currently installed on the hard drive. The problem is our IT guys are going to remove the hard drives before they transfer ownership of the laptops to us employees.

My question is will I be able to install a replacement hard drive and then download Windows 10 and activate it using the Windows 7 product key that’s printed on the bottom of the machine?

From what I’ve heard it sounds like I’m going to have to buy a copy of Windows too, but I’d like to know for sure so I’ll know what all I need to do in order to get the laptop back up and running again.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why do some Windows Updates require a system restart but others don’t?

Posted on November 6, 2015

Question from Leonard G.: Rick, I have a question about one of my biggest pet peeves. After all these years, why does a computer still have to be restarted after many Windows updates are installed, but other updates install just fine without requiring a restart?

You’d think by now that Microsoft would have figured out a safe and dependable way to install ALL Windows updates in the background with us never even having to know they were installed. I hate having to stop what I’m doing on my computer just so Windows can shut down and “finish” installing an update!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is it true that Avast Antivirus snoops on our browsing habits?

Posted on November 6, 2015

Question from Mandy G.: I’ve been using Avast Antivirus for several months after reading how you recommend it, and so far I really like it. Something has me worried though.

A friend of mine told me that Avast uses their software to snoop on our browsing habits. Is that true? And if it is, why do you recommend it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Windows Update isn’t finding new updates. How can I fix it?

Posted on October 19, 2015

Question from Larry Y.: Hi Rick. I read your post explaining how to avoid the automatic update to Windows 10, but I have a different problem.

I upgraded my Dell Desktop computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10 a couple of months ago and ever since then I can’t get Windows Update to work correctly. When I click “Check for updates” it goes through the motions but it never finds any updates.

I’ve read every forum post I can find relating to Windows Update but nothing I’ve tried has worked. Any suggestions on what I should try next?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]