Rick's Daily Tips

Why you should avoid apps that promise to ‘fix’ your PC with one click

Posted on July 29, 2023

I recently received a message from a reader asking if the “fix-all” programs that keeping popping up in ads on his computer will really help fix the issues he’s having with it.

Here is his message in full, followed by my response… [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I remove a virus when my antivirus app won’t open?

Posted on July 28, 2023

Question from Bailey: Hi, Rick. I have a bad problem and I need help ASAP.

I was browsing Facebook last night and clicked on a link that caught my attention. As soon as I clicked it my screen went solid blue and the computer froze up completely.

I finally just unplugged it and it booted back up into Windows, but now none of my programs will open. It’s running real slow too.

I’m sure the link I clicked probably put a virus on my system but my Norton antivirus software won’t open so I can’t run a scan.

Is there anything I can do to fix this problem besides just buying a new computer? [Read more…]

Need a 100TB SSD? Here you go.

Posted on July 27, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

A while back I wrote a post explaining how you can put your computer on steroids by replacing its hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD).

Until fairly recently upgrading to an SSD would have cost you dearly if you wanted to keep (or even increase) your system’s current amount of storage space.

Well, that changed a while back when the prices of 2TB SSDs dropped like a rock.

[Read more…]

Why I use VaultPress to back up my WordPress blogs

Posted on July 26, 2023

Do you run a WordPress blog?

If so, you’ve probably spent a lot of time thinking about what would happen if your blog got hacked or your server’s hard drive crashed?

I know I have, and it isn’t a very pleasant thing to think about.

[Read more…]

Speed up your blog (and make it more secure) with a CDN

Posted on July 24, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you might have noticed that your blog’s page load times have increased over time as you added posts and started receiving ever more traffic to them.

Every active blog slows down over time as ever-increasing numbers of visitors put an ever-increasing load on your web server’s resources.

As more pages are loaded from your server its CPU must work harder and the RAM and disk I/O eventually get maxed out. This results in sluggish page loads, and during peak times your blog can even grind to a halt.

There are several things you can do to mitigate the problems you’ll almost certainly encounter as your blog grows in size and popularity. [Read more…]