Rick's Daily Tips - Page 2 of 628 - Tech Tips, Tricks and Tutorials

Q&A: Why do new computers run slower than my ancient Gateway PC?

Posted on May 4, 2021

Question from Larry: I was digging through some junk in my basement and found my old 1990s era Gateway computer with Windows 3.1 on it.

Just out of curiosity I hooked it up and was surprised to see it come on and boot up.

I spent several minutes just fooling around with it and I noticed how fast it seemed to be running.

I have a four month old Dell laptop that has an Intel i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM but it seems to run a lot slower than that 20+ year old Gateway.

How can a modern computer with supposedly much better hardware run slower than a PC that’s over 20 years old? [Read more…]

Q&A: What’s your recommendation for securely storing passwords?

Posted on May 4, 2021

Question from John: Rick, I’ve seen multiple articles regarding the dangers of using password managers or storing passwords in browsers.

Ok, I get it, but the flip side is also very daunting.

For me, I have over 300 Internet accounts, and keeping track of all those passwords without some kind of automated manager is almost impossible.

Believe it or not, each and every password is extremely complex and UNIQUE.

Here’s an example of one password: A422A#5zkhN32B

This does not bode well for memorization.

I refuse to use any password manager that stores this information anywhere other than my local computer. Roboform used to, but now stores in the cloud.

I would be very interested in your recommendations for this situation. Thanks.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why are my Internet download speeds so slow?

Posted on May 3, 2021

Question from Kellie L.: I have Comcast Internet and the plan I’m on is for 200 Mbps download speed.

I read your post about SpeedTest.net and used it to run several speed tests yesterday and again this morning. The fastest speed I got was around 65 Mbps.

I called Comcast this afternoon and they ran some kind of test from their end and said I was getting all the speed I’m paying for.

Is there something I’m doing wrong when I run the speed test or is Comcast just blowing me off?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to boost your WiFi network’s signal to every part of your home

Posted on May 3, 2021

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Do you live in a large house?

If so, you probably struggle at times to use your WiFi connected devices in areas that are located either far away from the wireless router or on a different floor.

Dealing with a poor wireless signal can be frustrating because you’ll often have just enough signal to allow your devices to connect, but the connection speed is either horribly slow or you keep dropping the connection altogether.

[Read more…]