Rick's Daily Tips

How to log into any Windows 10 PC with your fingerprint

Posted on August 16, 2021

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Would you enjoy the convenience of logging into your Windows 10 laptop or desktop computer with a quick touch of your finger?

Windows 10 now has a feature called Windows 10 Hello that adds fingerprint login capability to any computer it’s running on.

But there’s a problem: Not every computer running Windows 10 has a fingerprint reader.

Well, now you can get an inexpensive fingerprint reader that adds fingerprint recognition and login capability to any PC running the latest versions of Windows 10. [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I remove the taskbar from one of the screens when using dual displays?

Posted on August 16, 2021

Click here to sign up for my free Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!

Question from Penny N.: I have a laptop with a 23 inch external monitor attached to it. The laptop is a Lenovo IdeaPad with Windows 10 on it.

I use the laptop’s built-in screen to display my Gmail and the larger external monitor for everything else.

I never use the taskbar on the laptop’s screen so I’d like to disable it and have the taskbar displayed on the external monitor only. That would give me a little extra usable screen space on the smaller screen.

Is it possible to disable the taskbar on the laptop’s screen even though that’s the primary display? [Read more…]

How to use the ‘Troubleshoot’ tool to fix issues with Windows 10

Posted on August 14, 2021

Click here to sign up for my free Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!

As you probably know, Windows 10 is a large and very complicated operating system with tons of options and settings available for you to tweak to your liking.

Windows also has to interact with hardware devices and all types of third party software to enable your computer to do everything you need for it to do.

Unfortunately, all of these complex interactions pretty much ensure that things can (and will) go wrong on occasion.

Many issues are caused by third party apps, drivers and installed software, but plenty of others are caused when something goes haywire with Windows itself.

Luckily, Windows 10 includes a handy tool called “Troubleshoot” that can (possibly) diagnose and (possibly) fix some of the problems and glitches that arise with your PC.

[Read more…]

Q&A: How can I tell when my blog is loading from the new server after I switch hosting companies?

Posted on August 14, 2021

Click here to sign up for my free Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!

Question from Jay: I have a WordPress blog and it started going down on me at random times a couple of months ago.

I’ve signed up for a better hosting account with a different company and they’ll move the blog to the new server for me at no cost.

I’m planning to put in the request for the move when I get back to the office on Monday, but I’d like to ask you a question in the meantime.

I’ve been told that it could take quite a while for my blog to start loading from the new server after they make the switch. How will I be able to tell when my blog starts loading from the new server instead of the old one? [Read more…]

How to show hidden files and folders in Windows 10

Posted on August 13, 2021

Click here to sign up for my free Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!

Every now and then it helps to be able to view your system’s hidden files and folders, especially when troubleshooting a sticky Windows issue or trying to track down a stubborn malware infection.

A while back I wrote a post explaining how to show the hidden files and folders in Windows 8.1, and it turns out that viewing them is just as easy in Windows 10. Here’s how: [Read more…]