Rick's Daily Tips

How to disable the ads on your Windows 10 Lock Screen

Posted on January 14, 2022

If your PC is running Windows 10 you might have noticed ads for apps and various other things on the Lock Screen.

Microsoft has started running these ads as a way of making a few extra bucks to help replace the millions of dollars they are forfeiting by making Windows 10 basically free.

I’ve spoken to lots of folks who don’t mind the ads or begrudge Microsoft trying to recoup some of their lost revenue, but I’ve also heard from plenty of others who find the ads annoying.

If you happen to dislike the Windows 10 Lock Screen ads, you can easily disable them. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Q&A: Do we still need to ‘eject’ USB flash drives before removing them?

Posted on January 13, 2022

Question from Keith: I always ‘eject’ my USB flash drives before removing them from the computer because I heard that not doing that could cause the drive to get corrupted.

Someone saw me eject a drive the other day and said we don’t have to do that anymore.

My question is, can we now just pull the drive out of its socket or do we still need to eject it first? [Read more…]

Scam alert: Don’t click links in emails or on social media about the Olympics!

Posted on January 12, 2022

The Olympic Games are a worldwide spectacle that attract the attention of billions of people around the globe during the two week period when the games are underway.

Unfortunately, that two week period is also one of the most lucrative times for hackers and scammers to practice their dirty deeds.

Chances are you’ve already received emails and seen social media posts with links to Olympics related web pages and videos. If so, I hope you haven’t clicked on the links because virtually all of those emails and web pages are fraudulent and dangerous. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why can’t my daughter use her own router in her dorm room?

Posted on January 8, 2022

Question from Gretchen.: My daughter started college this fall and she’s living on campus.

When she received her dorm assignment they also gave her a list of rules that she must follow.

One of those rules is she cannot use her own router in her dorm room. They told her she has to use the campus Wi-Fi network instead because a private router could cause problems with the school’s network.

Why is that? [Read more…]

See an aerial view of your house with Google Earth

Posted on January 7, 2022

Have you ever wondered what your house and property look like from the air?

Well, it’s easy to find out using Google Earth.

All you need to do is enter your street address into the Google Earth search box to see an aerial view of your home.

Just follow the steps below for the device you’re using.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer: [Read more…]