Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Why are the keys on my numeric keypad not working?

Posted on December 7, 2013

Question from Marc E.: Hi Rick. I hope you can help me with a keyboard issue that I’m struggling with on my Lenovo ThinkCentre 3493GPU desktop computer with Windows 7 Pro.

It all started when I downloaded a game on to the desktop PC for my 5 year old to play while I’m working on my laptop. Now the number keys on the numeric keypad won’t work. When I press a key the mouse cursor will move just a tiny bit, but nothing shows up on the screen. The rest of the keyboard works fine.

Whatever happened seems to have just affected the numeric keypad and nothing else. Even the number keys located above the letter keys are working.

Uninstalling the game didn’t help, and neither did a System Restore. Do you have any ideas about what I can do to fix this? Thanks in advance for your help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I disable Auto-Correction on my Nexus 7?

Posted on December 6, 2013

Question from Belinda C: Rick, I have a Nexus 7 that I absolutely LOVE except for the stupid, diabolical Auto-Correction that constantly slows me down and messes up my writing. Can you please, please, please tell me how to turn it off? Thanks!!!!!

By the way, I LOVE your blog!! It’s the first thing I look at when I get home from work every evening. Thanks for taking the time to help so many of us with our computer problems!

Rick’s answer: Thanks for the kind words about my tips Belinda. I truly enjoy doing whatever I can to help folks when they’re having trouble with their digital devices.

To answer your question, auto-correction is one of those features that most users either love to death or hate with a passion. It’s easy to see that you fall into the latter group. As luck would have it, it’s quite easy to disable auto-correction on the Nexus 7. Here’s how: [Read more…]

USB 3.1 to make USB cables standard for all devices

Posted on December 6, 2013

The Universal Serial Bus (commonly referred to simply as USB) is one of the great innovations of modern technology. The proliferation of USB ports has made interconnecting most common devices with one another far easier than deciding what to have for lunch.

But even with all the wonderful advantages of connecting devices via USB, there has always been one headache associated with it: the plethora of different cables used by different devices. While the small USB Micro-B connector has helped standardize the cables used to connect most smart phones in recent years, there are still a number of other non-compatible cables in use today.

Now for the good news: [Read more…]

How to prevent the iOS 7 Control Center from popping up while you’re using an app

Posted on December 5, 2013

Have you ever been playing a game or using an app in iOS 7 and had the Control Center pop up at a very inconvenient time? I’m guessing that you probably have.

Unfortunately, it’s very easy to cause the iOS 7 Control Center to pop up when you don’t mean for it to simply by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. And usually when it does happen, it interrupts the flow of your game and/or breaks your concentration.

If you find this behavior irritating, here’s how to prevent it from happening again: [Read more…]

How to close an app in iOS 7

Posted on December 4, 2013

If you have recently updated your Apple device(s) to iOS 7 you might be confused about the new procedure for closing a running app. It really isn’t that difficult a task, but it also isn’t one that can easily be “figured out” by trial and error.

Follow these steps to close an app in iOS 7:

1 – Double-tap the Home button to display a horizontal row of icons representing all of the currently running apps.

2 – Swipe to either the left or right until you find the app you wish to close.

3 – Tap and hold the icon of the app you wish to close, then swipe upward towards the top of the screen. You should see the icon “fly” off the screen to indicate that the app is now closed.