Rick's Daily Tips - Page 3 of 618 - Tech Tips, Tricks and Tutorials

Q&A: Does using two drives in RAID 1 eliminate the need to create backups?

Posted on February 26, 2021

Question from Bill K.: I recently read an article about using hard drives or SSDs in a RAID configuration.

The article said RAID 1 copies all data to every drive in the array at the same time, essentially creating a clone of the primary drive in real time.

In the comments on the article someone suggested that using two drives in RAID 1 will automatically create a backup, eliminating the need to back up the hard drive in the usual way.

That made sense to me but then someone else commented and said that’s a really bad idea. But he didn’t explain why.

What’s your opinion on using RAID 1 to create automatic backups? Is it a good idea or not?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Did you know you can play thousands of vintage DOS-era computer games, for free?

Posted on February 25, 2021

Are you old enough to remember all the classic computer games from the days of MS-DOS?

If so, you might be interested to know that you can play literally thousands of those nostalgic games for free, right in your web browser!

[Read more…]

How to connect a computer with HDMI output to a monitor with DVI input

Posted on February 25, 2021

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

If you’ve been shopping around for a new computer monitor, you’ve probably noticed that many of the most popular models have DVI inputs, but not HMDI.

Does this mean if your computer doesn’t have a DVI output connector your choice of monitors will be limited? Luckily, the answer is no.

There’s a simple and very inexpensive way to connect any monitor with a DVI input to any computer that supports HDMI, but not DVI. Just purchase a handy HDMI to DVI adapter cable and you’ll be in business! [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I change the language for one account in Windows 10?

Posted on February 25, 2021

Question from Randi F.: I’m taking French this year and I have a question about using that language with my laptop.

I’d really like to have a second Windows user account with French set as the language.

I’ve heard this can be done but I don’t know how to set it up. Can you tell me how to do it?

[Read more…]

Q&A: Can I disable the ‘Settings’ and ‘Control Panel’ in Windows 10?

Posted on February 24, 2021

Question from Kandi: I bought my 9 year old son a new laptop for his birthday last month. He loves it and uses it every day.

The problem is I have already had to take it to the Geek Squad twice to fix issues he caused by changing some system settings.

Is there a way to disable the “Settings” screen and “Control Panel” to prevent that from happening again? I really need to preserve my sanity!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]