Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How can I mute the ads in ‘Microsoft Solitaire Collection’ but still hear my YouTube videos?

Posted on December 12, 2019

Question from Mary: I have a Lenovo laptop with Windows 10 that I use for both work and pleasure.

During my downtime I enjoy playing Solitaire with the “Microsoft Solitaire Collection” app while also listening to music videos on YouTube.

The problem is every time an ad comes on in the Solitaire app the audio from the ad blasts through the music from YouTube.

I searched the settings in the app up and down and I can’t find a way to mute the ads. Do you know of a way to do it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Heads-Up: Microsoft will soon stop providing support for MS Office 2010

Posted on December 11, 2019

As you probably know, Microsoft eventually stops supporting older versions of their software, and that always leaves the users of those abandoned products with a serious decision to make.

Well, that time will soon arrive for millions of users of Microsoft Office 2010.

[Read more…]

Q&A: The background on my screen has turned all white. How can I get it back to normal?

Posted on December 5, 2019

Question from Paula K.: I let my daughter play some games on my laptop last a couple of nights ago.

When I turned it on yesterday morning the entire background on the screen was completely white with bold, black text.

I asked her what she did to make it change like that and she said she doesn’t know.

I can use it this way but I absolutely hate it because it’s ugly!

Can you tell me how to get the screen back to normal? My laptop has Windows 10.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do you fix a flash drive that constantly needs to be ‘scanned and fixed’?

Posted on December 3, 2019

Question from Julie: I have a 64GB USB flash drive that I use to transfer files back and forth between my work computer and my home computer.

Both of these computers have Windows 10 on them.

I’ve been using this flash drive every day for about two years with no problems at all.

Starting last week every time I insert the drive into either computer I get a message saying the drive has a problem and needs to be scanned and fixed.

I’ve clicked the button to scan drive and fix the drive several times but I always get the same message the next time I plug it into a computer.

Is there any way to fix this problem or do I need to just replace the drive? I really like this one because it’s small and it attaches to my key ring.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]