Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Why is the Wi-Fi connection on my new Toshiba Satellite C55-A laptop so slow?

Posted on November 28, 2013

Question from Mark V.: I bought a brand new Toshiba Satellite C55-A laptop from Best Buy a couple of months ago, then had to go out of town on business for 6 weeks before I could even open the box and try it out.

When I got back home I hooked it up and found out that the Wi-Fi connection is really SLOW!!! I know it’s not a weak signal from the router because both my 5 year old HP laptop and my iPad 4 get great wireless speeds in every part of the house.

I’ve tried everything I can think of, including resetting Windows 8 to the factory default. No luck!! Any ideas? Neither Toshiba nor Best Buy were any help at all since I had to wait so long to try it out!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Review: Western Digital Black2 Dual Drive 2.5″ 120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD Kit

Posted on November 26, 2013

Have you ever wished you could add a solid state drive (SSD) to your laptop and keep your internal hard drive too? As you probably know, that can be a bit impractical since most laptops come with just one 2.5 inch drive bay.

But now you can accomplish the same thing with an ingenious new combo drive from Western Digital. That’s right, you can now replace your laptop’s existing hard drive with both a 120GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive – and they’ll both fit into the same bay! [Read more…]

Q&A: Would it be cheaper to buy a new PC or build one from scratch?

Posted on November 26, 2013

Question from Cameron G.: Rick, I have a 7 year old HP desktop PC that’s served me very well over the years, but I decided to replace it after reading your post about Microsoft ending support for Windows XP early next year.

A good friend of mine says I can save a lot of money by buying the parts and building my new computer from scratch, and he even offered to help me. But I’m skeptical about about actually saving any money that way because I looked into it a few years ago and the numbers didn’t seem to add up.

What do you think about it? Can I really save money by building a PC from scratch instead of buying one outright? And if so, do you have any tips that might help me save a few extra bucks?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to convert the trial version of AVG Internet Security to AVG Free

Posted on November 25, 2013

AVG Antivirus is one of the most popular antivirus programs on the market. When you go to download the software from the AVG website, you have a choice between a free version and a paid version which comes with some extra bells and whistles.

Many users opt to download the trial version of AVG Internet Security, then decide to switch to the free version when the trial period ends. This is fine (it is actually what I recommend), but that means uninstalling the trial version and then installing the free version from scratch.

But now there’s a better way to “downgrade” from AVG Internet Security to AVG Free. Simply download the AVG Downgrader utility from the AVG website and run it. The fast and simple process explained below will make the conversion for you without having to jump through a bunch od complicated hoops. Just follow these directions: [Read more…]

How to create a System Image Backup in Windows 8.1

Posted on November 23, 2013

windows-8-1 Having a recent System Image Backup on hand is a great way to get your PC back up and running quickly if you have to replace your hard drive or a virus trashes your Windows installation.

But if you recently upgraded to Windows 8.1 or bought a new PC with it pre-installed, you won’t find it in the same place it was in when using a previous Windows version.

Here’s how to create a System Image Backup in Windows 8.1: [Read more…]