Rick's Daily Tips

Warning: Your browser could be compromising your passwords

Posted on September 19, 2022

A new report from the security firm Otto details a very serious data breach situation that’s playing out daily with millions of unsuspecting computer users, and it’s quite possible that you are affected by it.

Otto’s research discovered that both Chrome’s “Enhanced Spellcheck” feature and Microsoft’s popular “Microsoft Editor: Spelling & Grammar Checker” browser extension for Edge capture every bit of data you enter into any web form and transmit it back to Google and Microsoft’s servers. [Read more…]

How to keep your essential gear running during power outages

Posted on September 18, 2022

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

If you happen to live in an area that gets hit with frequent power outages, it pays to be prepared just in case the electricity goes off for hours, or even days at a time.

And if the power outage takes out your heat pump you’d better hope you have an HVAC service agreement template.

In my opinion, the best way to be prepared for an extended power outage is to have a portable generator at the ready. [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I watch YouTube with my Roku device?

Posted on September 17, 2022

Question from Kathleen: I recently bought a Roku device and I’m enjoying it immensely.

A co-worker told me she watches YouTube videos on her TV via the Roku but I looked through all the channels and I can’t find it.

Can you tell me how to watch YouTube with my Roku? [Read more…]

Q&A: Will a computer tech be able to see my personal photos?

Posted on September 16, 2022

Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Kristen: The hard drive in my laptop has stopped working and I need to take it somewhere to have it fixed.

I’ve been taking your advice about creating regular System Image backups and I have a fairly recent backup they can use to restore everything once the bad hard drive is replaced.

What worries me is I have a lot of really personal photos that were backed up along with everything else. Will a tech be able to see them? [Read more…]

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

Posted on September 14, 2022

Question from Bill: 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…]