Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is it possible to be completely anonymous on the Internet?

Posted on November 4, 2022

Question from Lawrence: I have a very simple question for you Rick.

Is it possible to be completely anonymous on the Internet?

Here’s the scenario that I have in mind: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is my ‘fast’ laptop running so slow?

Posted on November 2, 2022

Question from Judy: A while back I decided that I needed a new laptop and since it was to be used for work I wanted one that was pretty fast.

Based upon the recommendation of a friend I ended up buying an almost new refurbished Dell with an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1GB hard drive and Windows 10.

For a while the new laptop was lightning fast, but then it slowed down to a crawl. And it happened virtually overnight. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why do USB-C hubs only have two USB-C ports?

Posted on November 1, 2022

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Ronnie: I have a MacBook Air that has only two USB-C ports on it, but I have four USB-C devices that I need to connect to it.

I’m looking for a USB-C hub with at least three USB-C ports on it but I can’t find one.

They all have either one or two USB-C ports and about a dozen or so other ports that I don’t need.

My question is why don’t they make USB-C hubs that have more than two USB-C ports on them? [Read more…]

How to quickly retrieve a forgotten WiFi password from your Windows PC

Posted on October 31, 2022

I receive dozens of questions every week from readers of the “Tech Q&A” section of this blog, and a question I get fairly often is “How do I retrieve my forgotten WiFi password?“.

It’s very easy to forget your WiFi password (aka Network Security Key) if your devices store it and log you into the network automatically.

Some people go months, or even years without typing in their WiFi password, only to discover they can no longer remember it when it comes time to connect a new computer or mobile device to the network.

If you’ve forgotten the password to your own WiFi network, I strongly recommend that you retrieve it from your PC and write it down for future reference.

Luckily, that’s very easy to do as long as your Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 PC is currently logged into the network. Here’s how: [Read more…]

How to change the default web browser in Windows 10

Posted on October 30, 2022

If you’re new to Windows 10 you might have noticed that your current default web browser is Microsoft Edge.

Personally, I like Edge and I use it on occasion, but like many others I prefer having a different browser (Google Chrome) set as my default browser.

If you’d like to change your default web browser from Microsoft Edge to Firefox, Chrome, Opera or any other browser that you might happen to prefer, simply follow these steps: [Read more…]