Rick's Daily Tips

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

Posted on August 14, 2021

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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

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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

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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…]

Q&A: I installed a plugin and it broke my blog. How can I fix it?

Posted on August 13, 2021

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Question from Cara G: I installed a new plugin on my WordPress blog and now my pages won’t load at all.

All I get is a white screen with an error message.

To make matters worse I can’t even get to the control panel to delete the plugin.

I’m in a panic here. How can I fix this?

Rick’s answer: This is a fairly common issue, Cara. Unfortunately, it happens a lot. And as you have discovered, when it happens it can cause one to panic.

Luckily, there’s a very easy fix for this issue that almost always works. All you have to do is use an FTP utility to delete the problem plugin from your WordPress installation. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is there a way to silence a noisy mouse?

Posted on August 12, 2021

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Question from Maggie: My computer is in our bedroom and my mouse makes a loud clicking sound that drives my husband up the wall when he’s trying to sleep.

I tried the instructions from several articles I found online about silencing the mouse in the Control Panel, but nothing works.

I believe it’s the mouse itself that’s generating the clicking sound.

Do you know of any way to make it stop making that irritating clicking noise?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]