Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Why do the pictures I take with my phone turn out blurry?

Posted on February 2, 2015

Question from Rhonda F.: Rick, I have a question for you. Why do the photos I take with my phone always turn out blurry? I often have to take a dozen shots to end up with just one that’s clear.

I must be doing something wrong but I can’t figure out what it is. My phone is an Android (Samsung Galaxy S II). Thanks for your help!

Rick’s answer: Hi Rhonda. It’s impossible to know for sure without seeing how you’re taking the photos, but I have a strong hunch that you aren’t letting your phone’s camera finish focusing the shot before releasing the shutter button. [Read more…]

How to move the ‘My Documents’ folder to a USB flash drive

Posted on February 1, 2015

microsoft-windows A while back a local business owner asked me if there is a way to move the ‘My Documents’ folder from its default location on the hard drive to a USB flash drive.

His routine was simple, yet time-consuming. At the end of every workday he copied all of his data files from the ‘My Documents’ folder on his hard drive to a 64GB thumb drive so he can work on them some more at home. The next morning he copied them back onto the hard drive.

I told him how to make the change, and now his files are automatically saved directly to his thumb drive regardless of where he happens to be working. Since he is quite happy with the new setup, I thought some of you might be interested in doing the same. The instructions that follow will explain how to set it up, step-by-step, in either windows 7 or Windows 8. [Read more…]

How to create a USB Flash Recovery Drive in Windows 8.1

Posted on February 1, 2015

windows-8-1 If your PC is running Windows 8.1, your hard drive probably has a hidden recovery partition that you can use to restore your Windows installation if something ever goes wrong and Windows becomes corrupted.

But what if your hard drive fails or the recovery partition itself becomes corrupted and no longer usable? It happens, and when it does it can cause all kinds of heartache for those who don’t have a backup of some sort to restore from.

Luckily, Windows 8.1 users have a very easy way to prepare for such an emergency. All you need to do is create a USB Flash Recovery Drive. Here’s how: [Read more…]

How to ‘unpost’ an embarrassing Facebook post before anyone sees it

Posted on January 31, 2015

Have you ever published a status update, a photo, or a link on Facebook only to immediately have second thoughts about it?

If so, you probably deleted the post as quickly as possible, hoping that you got rid of it before any of your friends had a chance to see it.

Truth be told, most of us have published an embarrassing post at one time or another. It happens.

Luckily, if you use Google Chrome you can give yourself a brief moment of reflection after clicking the “Post” button before the post actually goes live, and change your mind if you end up thinking better of it. [Read more…]

Q&A: Will a new battery fix my laptop?

Posted on January 30, 2015

Question from Danielle H.: I have a 5 year old HP Envy 13 laptop that works fine when it’s plugged into the wall with the charger, but if I unplug the charger it shuts off almost immediately.

Do you think replacing the battery would fix the problem or do you think there’s something else wrong?

Rick’s answer: Yes Danielle, the problem is almost certainly a bad battery. If the charger was bad it wouldn’t run the laptop at all, and if the laptop itself was bad it wouldn’t run regardless of whether it was using battery power or AC power.

You have several options available to you for buying a replacement laptop battery for your HP Envy 13: [Read more…]