Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Can you recommend a good, but cheap external hard drive enclosure?

Posted on June 5, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Elizabeth: I just finished reading your post about converting an internal hard drive into an external drive. I never dreamed that it would be so easy!

I have a 1GB hard drive that came out of my Dell Inspiron 15 5000 laptop when it died on me. The guy at the shop tested the drive and said it’s working fine.

I’d like to put that drive into an external enclosure and connect it to my other laptop that has Windows 10 and USB 3.0 ports. [Read more…]

5 tips for keeping your web browser running fast (and secure)

Posted on June 5, 2023

These days most home computers are used primarily to visit websites and perform other Internet-related tasks such as checking email and shopping online.

Truth be told, a web browser is the only program that many users ever open in the Internet age.

If you depend on your favorite browser as much as I do, here are a few things you can do to keep it working fast and protect your online accounts from hackers: [Read more…]

Heads-Up: Microsoft is planning to remove Cortana from Windows

Posted on June 4, 2023

If you’re a Windows user you’re probably familiar with Cortana, the personal assistant that Microsoft added to Windows beginning with the initial 2015 release of Windows 10.

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Cortana and removing it has always been one of the first things I did any time I got a new PC or reinstalled Windows for some reason. [Read more…]

8 tips for searching Google like a pro!

Posted on June 4, 2023

These days you can find virtually anything you’re looking for with a Google search.

But as you’ve probably noticed, the search results pages can sometimes be confusing and cluttered with results that have little or nothing to do with the topic you’re interested in.

But by using a few tricks you can eliminate many of the distracting non-relevant listings and find the info you need in a jiffy.

With that in mind, here are eight tips for searching Google like a pro: [Read more…]

Q&A: Would using two network adapters double my Internet speed?

Posted on June 3, 2023

Question from Bill: I have Internet through Verizon (20Mbps DSL) and it seems to be getting slower every day.

I just bought a new desktop computer that has both a wired Ethernet port and a wireless WiFi card in it. That got me to thinking.

Is there any way to use both of those network adapters at once to double the effective Internet speed coming from my router? [Read more…]