Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is a loose power connector on a brand new laptop a problem?

Posted on July 31, 2018

Question from Darla: I bought a new laptop from Best Buy a couple of days ago. It cost a little over $800.

The laptop seems to work fine but there’s one problem. Well at least I think it might be a problem and I need your advice/opinion about it.

The power cable doesn’t seem to fit into the laptop’s power connector very well. It just seems to be “loose”.

When I wiggle the connector around it moves quite a bit but the laptop never shuts down or blinks or anything.

Every other laptop I’ve ever owned had a well-fitting power connection. Do you think this one is defective or is that normal for some laptops now?

I would just return it but I know that Best Buy charges a 15% restocking fee, which in this case would be $120! That’s why I’d rather not return it unless you really think I need to.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to easily determine the numeric value of any color on the screen

Posted on July 29, 2018

If you engage in web design, graphic design, photography or any other endeavor requiring the use of colors, you probably need to determine the numeric value of various colors on a regular basis.

I used to use good ole trial and error in order to match the hex value of colors displayed on the screen as closely as possible, but I have long since found a fast and simple way to determine the exact numeric value of any color with just a few clicks of my mouse. [Read more…]

ReactOS – Another alternative for replacing Windows on an older PC

Posted on July 26, 2018

A while back I wrote this post about how replacing the now-abandoned older versions of Windows (such as XP and Vista) with Linux can give an older Windows PC a new lease on life.

I’ve received a lot of great feedback from that post from readers who have given Linux a try. Most of them seem to be happy with it, but many others not so much.

Several folks from the “not so much” group have asked me if there’s a non-Linux alternative to Windows that will actually run Windows programs instead of generic Linux-based alternatives.

Well, as it turns out the answer is yes. [Read more…]

Review: Azulle Byte 3 Fanless Mini PC with Windows 10 Pro

Posted on July 21, 2018

As technology advances,manufacturers keep on packing more and more power into ever-smaller packages.

Truth be told, even the cheapest mobile devices on the market today are several times more powerful than the original IBM PC was back when it was introduced.

In case you haven’t noticed, this incredible “smaller but more powerful” dynamic is now beginning to reshape the desktop computer market as well.

Every generation of desktop computers shrinks the size/power ratio even more, and now we actually have smaller than brick-sized PCs that rival their much larger counterparts.

A perfect case-in-point is the tiny, yet surprisingly capable Azulle Byte 3 Fanless Mini PC. (#ad)

As this photo shows, I can literally hold the Byte 3 in the palm of my hand: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I download the Windows 10 Lock Screen images to my hard drive?

Posted on July 18, 2018

Question from Rhonda A.: Hi Rick. I have a question for you.

I recently bought a new computer and I just love the pictures that Windows 10 puts on the Lock Screen.

Is there any way to copy those pictures to my hard drive so I can use them as background images? I tried right-clicking on them and that doesn’t bring up a menu or anything.

If you don’t know of a way to do this it’s ok. Thanks for your help.

Rick’s answer: I love those Lock Screen images too, Rhonda. And yes, there is indeed a way to copy them to your hard drive.

There’s a neat little free app in the Windows Store that was designed specifically to download Windows Spotlight photos to your hard drive.

It’s called SpotBright, and here’s how to install and use it: [Read more…]