Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is there a way to password protect a file in Windows?

Posted on October 5, 2017

Question from Vicky J:. Rick, I share my computer with my two kids and I have a couple of files that I really don’t want them to see. Nothing inappropriate, just files containing sensitive personal information.

Is there any way to put a password on a file in Windows so that it becomes inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t know the password?

I’ve Googled this every way I could possibly think of and I just could’t find a way to do it. But surely there is?

I really appreciate your help!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Will this CPU and Motherboard combo make a good gaming PC?

Posted on September 28, 2017

Question from Travis: I’ve been wanting to build a gaming PC for a while and I’ve finally saved enough money to build one as long as I can keep the cost of the CPU and motherboard to around $400 total.

I’ve found several combos in that price range but I’m most interested in this Intel Core i5 CPU and ASUS ROG motherboard.

Do you think these will make a good gaming computer if I install 16GB of RAM and a good video card?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Scam alert: Sonic has been hacked and YOUR credit card info might have been stolen.

Posted on September 27, 2017

Well, another week, and yet another major successful hack.

This time the victim is Sonic Drive-In Restaurants (or more accurately, their customers).

Sonic has now confirmed a recent Krebs on Security report that their restaurants’ credit card processing system has been hacked and potentially millions of customers’ credit and debit card information has been stolen.

What’s more, it’s already been confirmed that the stolen credit/debit card info is actively being sold on the black market as we speak. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is a Thumbs.db file being created on my Desktop every time I download a photo?

Posted on September 26, 2017

Question from Ariela F: I read your post that explains how to download pictures from a website by clicking them and dragging them to the desktop.

I love that trick. It worked perfectly for the first few days but now I’m having a problem with it.

All of a sudden my computer has started creating a new file on the desktop called Thumbs.db every time I download a picture onto it. I always delete it but it just comes right back the next time I download another picture.

How can I prevent that Thumbs.db file from coming back every time I download a picture? I hate seeing it there because it’s really distracting!

My laptop has Windows 10 on it if that makes any difference. I hope you can help me.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]