Rick's Daily Tips

Tech Tips, Tricks and Tutorials

Tips and information on...
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How to expand all apps and processes in the Windows ‘Task Manager’ at once

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The Task Manager utility is a very handy tool for examining and managing all the apps and processes that are currently running on your Windows machine.

But if you’re searching for a specific task it can get a little tedious having to click the arrows one at time to expand each “branch” of the “tree” until you find the task you’re searching for.

Luckily, you don’t have to.

Did you know that it only takes a couple of clicks to expand all the branches at once and display every running process at the same time?

Well, it does, and it’s very easy to do. Just follow these steps:  [Read more…]

Webopedia – The online encyclopedia for computer and Internet terms

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webopedia-logoEvery industry has a certain amount of jargon that only people involved with that industry understand, but the computer world has way more than its fair share of it.

I’ve been using computers since the early 1980s and I still encounter technical terms and phrases on on occasion that I have never heard before.

Luckily, there is a fantastic website called Webopedia that we can turn to whenever we need to find out what a new computer term means or how a certain tidbit of technology works.

[Read more…]

Why you should never keep your backup drive plugged into your computer

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Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Regular readers of this blog know I’m always mentioning how important it is to create regular backups of your Windows PC or Mac.

After all, always having a recent backup of your machine’s hard drive or SSD on hand is the very best “insurance” you can have against a catastrophic drive failure or a crippling virus infection.

But there’s one important point that I probably don’t stress nearly as much as I should…

[Read more…]

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

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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: Do I really need to put a password on my router’s Wi-Fi connection?

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wifiQuestion from Deborah P.:  I’ve been using my Dlink wireless router without a password on the Wi-Fi connection for several years.

My boyfriend told me I need to put a password on the Wi-Fi connection but I don’t think it’s necessary because I don’t have any neighbors living close by to piggyback off of it.

I like being able to let guests connect to my network without having to hassle with a password.

Do you think it’s ok if I leave it without a password, or is my boyfriend right?

Rick’s answer:   [Read more…]

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