Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 209 of 211

Q&A: Should I buy a PC with a stand-alone graphics card?

Posted on February 22, 2013

Question from Kim F.: Hi Rick! I really love your daily tech tips, especially the questions and answers. Now I have one of my own…

I’m in the process of shopping around for a new desktop computer and I’m pretty much up to speed on the advantages of more memory and faster CPUs, but there’s one thing I’m unclear about.

Does it really pay to spend more for a computer with a stand-alone graphics card rather than one with integrated graphics? Thanks in advance for your reply!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why does Chrome take forever to start loading a page?

Posted on February 17, 2013

Question from Judy L: I’ve been using Google Chrome as my primary web browser for about 3 months now and I really like it. But a couple of days ago it started taking forever to begin loading a web page. What could be causing this?

Rick’s answer: Judy, when you try loading a page, does it say “Resolving proxy” in the lower left-hand corner of the browser? If so (and I’m sure it probably does), something or someone has configured Chrome to access websites through a web proxy.

If you’re the only person that uses this computer I’m guessing that your system has malware on it that initiated the change without your knowledge. The first thing you need to do is adjust the settings in Chrome to prevent it from using a web proxy. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I buy an external hard drive that works with both my PC and Mac?

Posted on February 17, 2013

Question from Chad: I’m in desperate need of a USB external hard drive that I can plug in to my Mac when I’m at home and then take it to work with me to plug into the Windows 7 PC I use there. The larger the better, but 2TB or larger will suffice.

I’ll be using this drive to transfer large video files that are several gigabytes each. Can you tell me where I can find a drive that meets this requirement? I’ve checked all over the web with no luck. Thanks! [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I remove optional Windows updates that I don’t plan to install?

Posted on February 15, 2013

Question from Tina F.: Every time Windows Update tells me I have updates available it lists an optional update for Bing Desktop. I don’t use Bing Desktop and I probably never will. Is there any way to delete it so it’ll stop showing up on the Windows Update list?

Rick’s answer: Tina, there are a couple of unwanted optional updates that are always available for my computer too, and I agree that it’s rather annoying. While you can’t actually delete them, you an easily hide them to keep them from showing up along with other available updates. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Q&A: How much memory can my Dell Inspiron 620 hold?

Posted on February 14, 2013

Question from Renita: Rick, I have a Dell Inspiron 620 desktop computer with 4GB of RAM in it. It’s running Windows 7.

A friend told me that I should upgrade the memory to the maximum that it’ll hold because it’ll speed up my computer. I actually have two questions:

1 – Is he right?

2 – If he is, how much memory will this computer hold? [Read more…]