Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How can I access files on my USB thumb drive that were hidden by a virus?

Posted on May 6, 2013

Question from Mike D: Rick, a few days ago my Acer laptop running Windows 7 caught a couple of nasty viruses, but I was able to remove them by following the instructions in your great virus removal post. Thanks for the help!

Now that the viruses are gone however, I have a different, but related problem. The viruses apparently “hid” all the files on a very important USB thumb drive that was plugged into the PC when the viruses struck. These are documents that I use at school, and I really need to get them back if at all possible. I’m not really concerned about the drive itself. I just need the files back! Any ideas?

Rick‘s answer: [Read more…]

View all of your purchased Android apps together, in one place

Posted on May 5, 2013

my-purchases Do you ever find yourself needing to see a list of all the Android apps you have purchased? The Google Play Store allows you to see such a list by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and then selecting the My Orders & Settings link, but the list you’re given includes your free apps mixed in with the paid ones.

A free app called My Purchases lists just the apps you actually paid money for along with links to the apps’ pages in the Play Store, the date you purchased the apps and the amount you paid for them. Really useful stuff in my opinion.

There is a paid version of My Purchases as well, but the only difference between the free version and the paid version is the paid version is ad free. To download My Purchases to your Android device, simply visit the Google Play Store and search for it by name.

Q&A: Why won’t Chrome load some websites when they load just fine in other browsers?

Posted on May 5, 2013

Question from Kenneth O.: I started using Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer a while back, and I really like it.

But starting last night I can’t get to certain websites in Chrome even though I can get to them just fine in other web browsers.

As far as I know I haven’t changed any settings or anything. What could be the problem?

Rick’s answer: There are a number of possible causes for this problem Kenneth, but the two most common (and most likely) are having your browser set to use a proxy server or corrupted cookies on your hard drive. The following steps will eliminate both possibilities: [Read more…]

Q&A: Will a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 660 Ti video card work with my Gigabyte H77M-D3H motherboard?

Posted on May 4, 2013

Question from Lonnie K.: I paid a guy I know to build me a custom PC around a Gigabyte Intel H77M-D3H motherboard. We had a disagreement and now he won’t talk to me or give me any advice.

What I want to do is add a stand-alone video card. I found a really good deal on an “open box” ZOTAC GeForce GTX 660 Ti but before I buy it I want to make sure it’ll work with my motherboard. Will it?

Rick‘s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I exit a frozen program using just the keyboard?

Posted on May 4, 2013

Question from Anthony H: Rick, I have a favorite program that I’ve been using for many years, but they haven’t updated it since 2006 and it sometimes freezes up on me in Windows 7.

When the program freezes my mouse does too, and the only way to proceed is to unplug the power cable. I really don’t like doing that cause I’m afraid it’ll damage my PC. Is there any way to exit that program gracefully when it freezes using just the keyboard?

Rick’s answer: Hi Anthony. My first suggestion would be to ditch that old, no longer supported program and try to find a modern equivalent that won’t crash your computer when you use it. That being said, I understand completely why you’d rather not do that. In fact, I have a couple of programs on my Windows 7 PC that were released long before yours was and I won’t part with them until I absolutely have to!

To answer your question, there is indeed a way to “kill” a frozen program using just the keyboard. Follow these steps: [Read more…]