Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Do you really have to fully charge a new laptop or phone before using it?

Posted on July 28, 2026

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Question from Brenda: I just ordered this new laptop for my son for his birthday. A friend of mine told me I need to charge the battery to 100% before I give him the laptop and let him start using use it.

In the past I have always just unboxed my new laptops and plugged them in and started using them immediately, and as far as I know there was never any problem. The same way with every new phone I have ever bought. [Read more…]

How to tell if someone unfollowed you on Instagram

Posted on July 28, 2026

Your Instagram follower count drops by one. Someone unfollowed you, but Instagram will never tell you who. The platform shows your current follower list and a number, and when someone leaves they simply vanish from the list with no notification and no record.

For a lot of people that quiet drop is more annoying than it should be, because the obvious question, who was it, has no built-in answer. Here is why, and what actually works.

[Read more…]

Q&A: If I replace Windows with Linux will I need to replace the hard drive too?

Posted on July 27, 2026

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Question from Marla: I have an older HP desktop PC that got really slow over the years so I bought a new laptop and put the old desktop in a closet. Well, the laptop’s screen just went bad and I don’t have the money to buy a new computer right now.

I took the old desktop out of the closet and hooked it up, and to my great surprise it still works. The problem is it has Windows 7 on it and I know it’s unsafe to use now. [Read more…]

Review: SentrySafe Black Fireproof Document Box with Key Lock

Posted on July 27, 2026

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You probably know by now that I’m constantly driving home the importance of creating regular backups of your computer’s hard drive or SSD.

But truth be told, how you store your backup drive is just as important as creating backups in the first place because a backup that ends up getting destroyed in a fire or some other disaster cannot be used to recover your files onto a new computer. [Read more…]

How to get instant help with Windows CMD Commands

Posted on July 26, 2026

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These days most everyone is familiar with Windows’ sleek Graphical User Interface (i.e. GUI) and how it allows us to do most anything with a click or two of the mouse.

But those who started using computers back in the early days of home computing know that using a PC wasn’t always that easy.

Back then there was no such thing as a “GUI” interface. The “DOS” operating system that was in common use back then didn’t support the use of a mouse except for a short period before Windows 1.0 was released.

[Read more…]