Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Did I just trash my laptop?

Posted on November 8, 2019

Question from George.: I think I might have messed up big time Rick, and I’m hoping you can help me.

I ordered new RAM for my old (but beloved) Dell Inspiron 14z laptop, and when it arrived I was so excited that I absent-mindedly tried to install it without shutting the system down.

Dummy me, I removed the battery but forgot to shut the system down or unplug the charger. As soon as I inserted the first of new RAM stick I saw a spark. My heart just sank.

Now the computer won’t turn on. No lights, no sound, and the screen stays black when I press the power button. I tried re-installing the original RAM and even tried a hard reset. Nothing works.

I know the battery and charger are working because I tried them with my wife’s laptop (they are the same exact model).

Is there something else I can try, or is my laptop toast? I’m hoping it’s a simple fix because the warranty ran out a LONG time ago.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

PC Decrapifier: The 2nd thing you should run on your new Windows PC!

Posted on November 7, 2019

Are you planning to buy a brand new Windows computer?

If so, there are a couple of things you need to do the very first time you run it:

1 – Ensure that it’s protected with an effective anti-virus program.

2 – Keep your PC malware-free!

In a perfect world, this wouldn’t even be necessary, but sadly it is. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I watch a DVD on Windows 10?

Posted on November 5, 2019

Question from Shannon: I’m a movie buff and I have a large collection of movies on DVD.

I have a DVD player in every room in my house but I also love watching them on my computer while taking short breaks from my work (I’m self-employed and I work from a home office).

The problem is I could watch a DVD with Windows Media Player on my old computer but it won’t play DVDs on my new one.

Is it not possible to watch DVDs with Windows 10? Surely you can, but how?

This is very frustrating so I hope you can help me. Thanks in advance.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

ATTN Bloggers: You need to stop using the ‘Broken Link Checker’ plugin on your WordPress blog immediately!

Posted on November 5, 2019

If you’re a blogger you probably know how important it is to keep your blog free of broken links.

And if you do, there’s a good chance that you have a plugin titled “Broken Link Checker” installed on your WordPress blog.

If so, you need to remove it right away!

It’s recently been discovered that this plugin is compromised by an extremely dangerous XSS (Cross Site Scripting) vulnerability.

I won’t go into the details of this critical security flaw here, but if you’re interested in why it’s do dangerous you can get all the info right here.

For now, suffice it to say that having this plugin installed leaves your blog wide open to hackers.

[Read more…]

Review: Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet with Alexa Hands-Free

Posted on November 4, 2019

I’ve been a huge fan of Amazon’s growing line of Fire tablets since day one. I truly believe these are the best tablets you can buy for the same money.

I recently had the opportunity to check out the new Fire HD 10 Tablet with Alexa Hands-Free , and in my opinion it’s one of the best tablet values on the market.

Although it only costs about half the price of the cheapest iPad model, this new tablet from Amazon offers as much or more in terms of features and utility.

Just take a look at the hardware: [Read more…]