Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Prior to Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows included a handy tool that computed something called the Windows Experience Index, a rudimentary calculation of the relative speeds of a particular PC’s various hardware components.
While the WEI wasn’t perfect, it was in fact quite useful. And it was also 100% free. [Read more…]
Question from Sheila S.: I have accepted a great new job as a customer service representative for a major corporation and I’ll be working from home. One of the prerequisites for getting the job was owning a computer that can run the company’s proprietary C.S. software.
I ordered one of the laptops from the list they provided, but after I received it I found out that it has to run Windows 8.1 Pro instead of the standard Windows 8.1 that came with it. None of our local electronics retailers sell Windows 8.1 upgrade discs and I need to have it running on my laptop by January 2!
Do you know where I can buy a Windows 8.1 Pro upgrade disc ASAP? Please help me!!!
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
As many of you may have already noticed, Google recently changed the way Gmail displays images that are attached to the emails in your inbox.
In the past, the email would contain a short notification that the message contains an attachment, along with a link to click to display it. But now images are displayed by default, whether you want to see them or not.
There are several scenarios in which you might not want the messages in your emails to be displayed by default: [Read more…]
Question from Julie T.: I bought a Lenovo computer with Windows 8 on it in August and finally got around to upgrading it to Windows 8.1 just a few days ago.
After 8.1 was installed I noticed that the apps I had downloaded before I did the upgrade were all missing. I downloaded all of them again but they still aren’t showing up on the Start Screen.
What am I doing wrong? Are the apps not being installed even though it says they are?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
On January 1, 2014 it will become illegal to manufacture incandescent light bulbs in the U.S. or import them from other countries. This means if you use either 40 watt or 60 watt incandescent bulbs you won’t be able to buy any more of them once current retailer inventories run out.
This is all due to the passage of a 2007 bill that set minimum energy efficiency standards for light bulbs.
While the law doesn’t actually outlaw incandescent bulbs directly, it sets the standard for energy efficiency for each class of bulb so low that it would be impossible to design and make an incandescent bulb that meets them – which of course effectively makes it illegal to make them. [Read more…]