Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: What’s the best way to run Linux without installing it on my hard drive?

Posted on February 24, 2015

Question from Evan L.: Hi Rick. First of all, I love your site and all the great info you post here. Thanks so much!

And now on to my question. I just finished reading your post about replacing Windows with Linux to speed up an older computer, and I’d love to give Ubuntu a whirl on my Acer S3-391-6046 Ultrabook.

I don’t want to install Ubuntu on my hard drive because the drive is so small (and full) that I’d have to wipe out Windows 8.1 to make room for it, and I don’t even know if I’ll like using Linux or not.

I know that you can run Ubuntu from either a CD or a USB Flash Drive, but I have no idea which way to go on that. What do you recommend?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I uninstall the YouTube app from my Motorola Droid?

Posted on February 23, 2015

Question from Jimmy A.: I was looking at the list of installed apps on my Droid and I saw that there’s a YouTube app on there. I never installed it, and I don’t want it, but I can’t figure out how to remove it.

Can you tell me what I need to do to uninstall this stubborn app from my Droid? Thanks in advance for your help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Scam Alert: Beware the insidious fake AdwCleaner look-alike that’s going around (it’s actually malware)

Posted on February 23, 2015

scam A few months ago I wrote about an awesome anti-malware program called AdwCleaner.

This free utility will quickly scan for and remove virtually every type of unwanted toolbar, adware and browser hijacker that’s out there from your computer.

As I explained in the post, AdwCleaner works great, and since it’s free I highly recommend that everyone download it and run it on occasion.

Well, now the scammers have turned the tables on AdwCleaner by creating a fake look-alike program that claims to be the real AdwCleaner, but is actually malware.

This is how the scam works: [Read more…]

Why you should avoid buying Sony’s new ‘Premium Sound’ memory card

Posted on February 23, 2015

sony-premium-sound-memory-card Would you willingly pay an extra $100+ for a memory card that promises to deliver “Premium Sound” from your audio device?

I wouldn’t, even if it worked as promised. But that’s just me because I’m not an audiophile who only enjoys listening to music when it’s reproduced in its purest form.

That being said, lots of folks are audiophiles, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But even if you happen to be an audiophile of the first order, I would still recommend taking a pass on Sony’s new $160 “Premium Sound” micro SDXC card. Why? Because it’s a total waste of money in my opinion. Read on and I’ll explain why… [Read more…]

Guess what? Your brand new computer might have come from the factory with malware on it.

Posted on February 22, 2015

Picking up a malware infection with your PC is almost as easy as counting to 1 these days, but if you bought a Lenovo machine recently it quite possibly was infected with adware before it ever left the factory!

It has recently come to light that some Lenovo desktop, laptop and Windows tablet PCs were shipped with the Superfish adware app already pre-installed. This takes the concept of junkware to an entirely new level! [Read more…]