Rick's Daily Tips

The Charms Bar (as we know it) won’t be included in Windows 10

Posted on February 16, 2015

windows-10 Do you find the Charms Bar in Windows 8.1 to be almost as irritating as an itchy rash? If so, you definitely aren’t alone.

Apparently Microsoft received so many complaints about the Charms Bar that they decided to virtually eliminate it from the new Windows 10 for Desktop users.

Why they ever included it in the first place is a mystery to me. It always seems to pop up when you don’t need it, and many of the tasks that I believe would be best suited for it aren’t on it!

Which reminds me… [Read more…]

How I added 4 wired Ethernet ports to my garage for only $21

Posted on February 15, 2015

A while back I found myself needing a wired Ethernet connection in my garage. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the project, but I knew it would some work.

The problem is the garage is on one end of my long ranch-style house while my cable modem and wireless router are located in my office near the other end of the house.

After a bit of reflection, this is the solution that I came up with: [Read more…]

Q&A: Will I need to reinstall Windows if I upgrade my PC’s motherboard and CPU?

Posted on February 14, 2015

Question from Andy T.: A few years ago one of my co-workers helped me build a computer from scratch and we installed a full retail copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on it. I recently tried to upgrade the memory but found out that I have already maxed out the RAM for this motherboard & CPU combo.

Since I really want to add an additional 8GB of RAM and run USB 3.0 natively, I’m planning to upgrade the motherboard and CPU. I’m just wondering if I’ll need to reinstall Windows.

Will I? Or should I, even if I don’t have to?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to disable Voice Recognition on your Samsung Smart TV

Posted on February 14, 2015

samsung-smart-tv You’ve probably heard by now that Samsung Smart TVs are capable of eavesdropping on the private conversations that take place in your home via their Voice Recognition circuitry.

There are conflicting opinions on just how big a deal this might turn out to be before all is said and done, but being a little on the paranoid side, I don’t much like the idea of my TV being able to spy on me.

If you own one of these TVs and feel the same way I do about the privacy thing, it’s easy enough to disable your Samsung Smart TV’s Voice Recognition feature. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Review: Samsung 840 EVO-Series 250GB Solid State Drive

Posted on February 12, 2015

samsung-840-evo-series-250gb-ssd — (#ad)

Of all the upgrades you can make to a modern PC, the one that will provide the most bang for the buck, by far, is replacing your existing hard drive with a Solid State Drive (SSD).

If you’ve never used a computer that has an SSD, you’ll be absolutely amazed at how much faster your PC will boot into the operating system and load your programs.

Samsung’s 840 EVO-Series 250GB SSD (#ad) is one of the best SSD deals on the market. Thanks to its excellent price/performance ratio it is now the number one selling Solid State Drive on Amazon. [Read more…]