Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Why won’t my external USB hard drive work with my laptop?

Posted on November 27, 2015

Question from Carol K.: I have an older 120GB external USB hard drive that I’ve used for years with my Dell desktop PC.

The Dell bit the dust a couple of weeks ago and I replaced it with a 3 year old Acer laptop that my son gave me after he bought a new one.

The problem I’m having is the old external drive has a bunch of files on it that I really need to access with the laptop, but I can’t get the drive to show up in Windows Explorer.

I know the drive itself is still working because it works fine when I plug it into my computer at work. I’m hoping you can tell me what I need to do to get my old USB hard drive to work with the Acer laptop?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 26, 2015

Today is Thanksgiving, the one day each year that we set aside to give special thanks to our Creator for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us throughout the past year.

This is a day to fellowship with family and friends – an opportunity to reminisce about the joys we have shared and treasure the memories of those who have passed on. [Read more…]

Review: Unlocking WordPress – Easy Steps For Getting a Hosted Blog Up and Running Fast

Posted on November 25, 2015

WordPress is by far the most used blogging platform available today thanks to its ease of use and amazing configurability. Millions of blogs and websites are currently running on WordPress, including some of the world’s largest and most visited websites.

A wonderful new Kindle ebook called Unlocking WordPress – Easy Steps For Getting a Hosted Blog Up and Running Fast will help you start blogging right away by walking you through the process of creating your own self-hosted WordPress blog, step-by-step.

With the help of this easy to follow illustrated guide, you’ll have your very own self-hosted WordPress blog up and running on your own domain in minutes. You’ll then learn how to properly configure your new blog and customize it to suit your needs and preferences. [Read more…]

This laptop is faster than most desktop PCs!

Posted on November 25, 2015

msi-gt80-titan-sli-009 In the world of computing, it’s pretty much a given that the fastest desktops will out-perform the fastest laptops, but there’s a new laptop from the folks at MSI that beats most desktops in head-to-head tests.

The MSI GT80 Titan SLI-258 is a veritable beast of a machine that features a blazing fast Intel 2.7 GHz Core i7 CPU and an NVIDIA Geforce GTX970M SLI graphics co-processor with 12GB of dedicated video RAM to create a truly awesome user experience. [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I install the free Windows 10 upgrade using just a Windows 7 product key?

Posted on November 25, 2015

Question from Todd J.: My company has just informed us that they’re going to replace all of the 3 year old Dell XPS 15 laptops in our division with new machines by the end of the year.

They’re going to remove the hard drives from all the old laptops and destroy them, then give the laptops to us to keep.

I’ve been told that computers running Windows 7 qualify for a free Windows 10 upgrade, but only if Windows 7 is currently installed on the hard drive. The problem is our IT guys are going to remove the hard drives before they transfer ownership of the laptops to us employees.

My question is will I be able to install a replacement hard drive and then download Windows 10 and activate it using the Windows 7 product key that’s printed on the bottom of the machine?

From what I’ve heard it sounds like I’m going to have to buy a copy of Windows too, but I’d like to know for sure so I’ll know what all I need to do in order to get the laptop back up and running again.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]