Rick's Daily Tips

Unhappy with your Windows 10 upgrade? Here’s how to go back to Windows 7 or 8.1.

Posted on August 13, 2015

Microsoft released Windows 10 on July 29, and millions of users have taken the plunge and installed the free Windows 10 upgrade onto their Windows 7 or 8.1 PCs.

As one might expect, some folks love Windows 10 while others would prefer to go back to their old Windows version.

If you happen to be among those who wish you could ditch Windows 10 and go back to Windows 7 or 8.1, I have good news: You can! But you’ll have to act fast because you’ll only have the option to go back to your previous version of Windows for 30 days! After that you’ll be stuck with Window 10.

Follow the steps below to roll back your Windows 10 upgrade and restore your previous version of Windows: [Read more…]

Verizon customers: Be prepared to pay full price for a new phone after August 13

Posted on August 10, 2015

Many of are used to upgrading to a new mobile phone every couple of years and receiving the new phone either for free or at a greatly reduced price. But if you are a Verizon customer, that perk is about to come to an end.

The major cell carriers have traditionally offered their customers a selection of subsidized phones in exchange for having them sign on to two year contracts. If a customer subsequently canceled their contract before the two years was up, they would have to pay for the phone by coughing up a huge Early Termination Fee. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why does my camera say the battery is low immediately after it finishes charging?

Posted on August 10, 2015

Question from Roger T.: I have a Canon Powershot SD630 digital camera that I’ve had for several years. When I bought the camera I also bought an extra battery because at that time I was taking a lot of pictures on a regular basis.

The camera was working fine when I stopped using it about 8 months ago (I bought a Canon DSLR), but I recently pulled it out of the drawer to take a few snapshots.

Well, long story short, it didn’t work. It tells me the battery is low every time I turn it on. It does this even after the battery finishes charging to 100%, and it makes no difference which battery is installed.

It seems unlikely to me that both batteries would have gone bad at the same time. Do you think the problem is with the camera? And if it is, do you think it’s worth repairing?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Get notified by email when the Amazon Associates stats have been updated

Posted on August 8, 2015

If you’re a blogger who participates in the hugely popular Amazon Associates program, you probably log in to your Associates Dashboard every morning to check your stats from the previous day.

If so, I’m sure you’ve noticed that Amazon updates the stats at a different time each morning, making it difficult to know exactly when you can log in and check your stats. [Read more…]

How to avoid installing extra unwanted ‘add-on’ programs when downloading free software

Posted on August 7, 2015

microsoft-windows Regular readers of RicksDailyTips know that I’m a huge fan of free software. If I run across a freeware program that looks interesting and useful, I’ll often download and install it, try it out, then tell you readers about it if it appears to be worthwhile.

One thing that I learned early on is to be wary about downloading and installing extra add-ons that are often bundled with free software downloads. Most free download sites earn money by helping distribute third-party programs that most people don’t want or need.

If you aren’t careful you’ll quickly find your web browser and your computer collapsing under the weight of a dozen different add-on programs that you never even realized you had downloaded! And these unwanted programs are responsible for countless trips to the PC repair shop year after year!

There are a couple of things you need to watch out for when downloading and installing free software. First, we’ll cover the download part… [Read more…]