Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How do you reset the password on a Mac?

Posted on July 13, 2023

Question from Charlotte: Rick, my family is dealing with some issues right now, and I’m hoping you can help me resolve one of them.

My daughter loaned her Macbook Air to her cousin a few weeks ago. When she finally got it back she discovered that it now has a password on it.

I won’t mention any details, but the cousin is upset with my daughter and she refuses to give her the password.

I really need your help with resetting the password on my daughter’s Macbook Air. Can you tell me what I need to do? [Read more…]

Q&A: Do WiFi cameras still work when the Internet is down?

Posted on July 12, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Carl: I’m thinking about hiring someone to install some WiFi security cameras around my house.

The way I understand it they’ll communicate with my PC via my router’s WiFi connection.

What I’d like to know is will the cameras still work when my Charter Internet is down?

[Read more…]

Get detailed information about your PC’s hardware with HWiNFO

Posted on July 11, 2023

There are several handy free utilities out there that will tell you what hardware is inside your PC.

One of the best I’ve ever used is HWiNFO.

Like Speccy, HWiNFO is a free program that provides tons of details about your system’s CPU, motherboard, memory and such.

But HWiNFO also provides a live snapshot of the CPU temperature and various system voltages, great information to have if you’re a computer tech or system builder. [Read more…]

Review: Timeusb 12V 100Ah Pro LiFePO4 Battery

Posted on July 11, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

About a year ago I decided to put together a basic solar power system to power my home office so I could keep working during our somewhat frequent short-term power outages.

Being new to the world of solar power, I spent quite some time researching how it all worked and what types of components are needed to build a basic off-grid solar power setup.

It actually ended up being quite simple as there are only a few parts that are really needed to make it work. [Read more…]

Q&A: Should I buy an ‘All-in-One’ computer or a regular desktop PC?

Posted on July 10, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Wilma: My 6 year old desktop computer died and I’m in the process of shopping for a new one.

I really like the look of some of the All-in-One computers that I’ve seen.

And I also like the idea of not having to deal with a tower box or a bunch of extra cables, but I really don’t want a laptop.

I’d love to hear your honest opinion of All-in-One computers. [Read more…]