Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Why won’t my TV work with my laptop?

Posted on June 18, 2017

Question from Ari G.: Hi Rick. I hope you can help me solve a problem I’m having with getting a new TV to work with my laptop.

I read Chad W’s question about whether he could connect a TV to his laptop to use when he’s watching Netflix. You said he could do it and I’d love to do the same thing.

I bought a brand new Sceptre U508CV-UMK 49″ 4K Ultra HD LED TV and plugged it into my Dell laptop’s HDMI port.

The problem is the laptop won’t boot up when the TV is connected to it. It just hangs on the POST screen and then shuts down after a few seconds.

I’ve tried using three different HDMI cables and it does the same thing with all of them. The other two laptops in our house boot up just fine with the TV attached and everything works perfectly.

Is there a setting on either the laptop or the TV that could be causing this problem? Or maybe this TV is simply incompatible with this laptop?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Simple guide to installing a self-hosted WordPress blog

Posted on June 17, 2017

In my opinion, WordPress is the most powerful blogging platform out there, and it’s completely free. Some of the largest and busiest websites on the Internet are powered by WordPress, and many of them bear no external resemblance whatsoever to a typical “blog”.

It’s easy to open a free account at WordPress.com and be blogging in 5 minutes, but there are several important advantages of installing WordPress on your own hosting account with your own domain name. And it’s really pretty easy to do! [Read more…]

How to create a Desktop Shortcut for quickly launching the OnScreen Keyboard

Posted on June 16, 2017

Every now and then I receive messages asking me how to launch the OnScreen Keyboard on Windows machines that don’t have a touch screen.

There are several ways to activate the OnScreen Keyboard, but my favorite method is by simply clicking a desktop shortcut.

If you’d like to create a shortcut to the OnScreen Keyboard on your own computer, just follow the steps below: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is it normal for a laptop’s screen to dim when you unplug the charger?

Posted on June 15, 2017

Question from Charlene: My friend bought a new Dell laptop a couple of months ago but she hates it because she can’t get used to Windows 10.

She went and found another laptop with Windows 8.1 on it and she offered to sell me the one with Windows 10 for half what she paid for it.

The problem is the screen dims every time you unplug the charger and I’m afraid something might be wrong with it. She says it’s normal for a laptop to dim the screen when the charger is unplugged, but my old laptop never did that.

I have two questions for you. First, do you think something’s wrong with this laptop, or is this normal?

And second, if there’s something wrong with it, will Dell fix it for me under the warranty even though I’m not the person that bought it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Is your iPhone about to be orphaned by Apple?

Posted on June 12, 2017

If you have an iPhone you probably know that Apple is expected to release the update to iOS 11 in September.

What’s more, you probably also know that some of your favorite apps might no longer work after you update your device to the new version.

Well, there’s more to this story that just might impact you as well. [Read more…]