Rick's Daily Tips

AOL Instant Messenger to shut down in December

Posted on October 6, 2017

AOL Instant Messenger (aka AIM) is probably the oldest Internet instant messaging service still in existence today, but that will soon change.

If you’re one of the millions of people worldwide who still use AIM to chat with friends and relatives you’ll need to migrate to something else before the end of the year.

I’ve had a feeling this day was coming for some time now since so many AIM users have switched to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and SnapChat in recent years.

For what it’s worth, AIM outlasted both the once hugely-popular Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger services, but now AOL has succumbed to the Facebook/WhatsApp/ShapChat steamroller as well.

AOL released a new help article this morning with the details of the impending shutdown. Here are the five most important takeaways from that article: [Read more…]

How to adjust the volume for individual programs and apps on your PC

Posted on October 5, 2017

Sometimes it can seem like your PC’s volume control has a mind of its own.

For example, have you ever turned the volume up to a comfortable level while listening to music only to have your ears blasted to oblivion the next time an ad started playing in your web browser?

That’s happened to me more than once, and I almost jumped out of my skin of every time!

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can take control of the sounds emanating from your computer’s speakers and avoid unpleasant surprises. [Read more…]

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…]