Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is there any way to retrieve the files from my old floppy disks?

Posted on February 4, 2013

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Anna G.: Hi Rick. I read your post the other day about playing old games on new computers and it reminded me that I have a ton of old 3.5″ floppy disks filled with stuff that I’d like to check out and possibly copy onto my hard disk.

The problem is my laptop doesn’t have a floppy disk drive. Any ideas?

Rick’s answer: You’re in luck Anna. All you need to do is buy an external USB 3.5″ floppy drive and plug it into your laptop’s USB port. You’ll be able to view the files on your floppy disks and copy them onto your PC’s hard drive, onto blank DVDs or even onto a USB thumb drive.

There are a couple of things to be aware of however: [Read more…]

How to find out if your PC will run windows 8

Posted on February 4, 2013

Now that Windows 8 has been out for a while you might be wondering if you should buy the Windows 8 upgrade package and install it on your computer. If you’re a regular reader of RicksDailyTips you already know from reading this post that I don’t really think so.

That being said, there are some valid reasons for upgrading your PC to Windows 8. If you’re considering taking the plunge, the first thing to do is determine whether or not your PC can even run Windows 8. According to Microsoft, the minimum system requirements for running it are as follows: [Read more…]

Remove the WordPress version from your blog’s pages for added security

Posted on February 3, 2013

WordPress is the most widely used self-hosted blogging platform out there which makes WordPress-based blogs especially appealing targets for hackers.

The core WordPress files are updated quite often in order to plug security holes, but it’s easy to miss an upgrade when it becomes available, or simply forget to install it. Missing an update makes your blog an open target because hackers tend to go after blogs that are still running older, insecure versions of WordPress.

And it’s extremely easy for the bad guys to find blogs running older versions of WordPress. Since the WordPress version is listed right in the blog’s source code, all they have to do is search Google for an older version number and Google will comply by listing all the blogs that are running that WordPress version. But there’s an easy way to prevent hackers from finding your blog by using this method. Simply install a great little plugin called Remove My Version! [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I restore my Windows PC to the factory default settings?

Posted on February 3, 2013

Question from Lynn: How do I restore my laptop to the factory settings before I give it to somebody else?

Rick’s answer: Lynn, there are two ways to reset a Windows PC back to its factory settings. The first one is to simply insert the Restore disc into the optical drive and boot from it. You can reinstall Windows from there.

The second option is probably the most widely used one these days since most PCs come without a set of Restore discs and few people take the time to create one. Here are step-by-step instructions for resetting a PC that’s running either Windows 7 or Windows 8… [Read more…]

Google Goggles – Get instant information on virtually anything by taking its picture!

Posted on February 1, 2013

Imagine that you’re walking through your favorite store and an item catches your eye. You pull out your smart phone and take a picture of it and a description pops up with details on the manufacturer, retail pricing and more.

Or perhaps you’re walking through Paris and you come upon an interesting looking building, statue or other landmark. You snap a picture of it with your phone and you’re immediately presented with the details of what you’re looking at.

A bit farther down the street you see a sign written in French (of course), so you photograph it and your phone provides you with the English translation.

Sound like something out of a science fiction movie? Well, it isn’t. This technology is available right now, and it’s absolutely free. Just download a free app called Google Goggles and you’ll be doing just this type of thing in minutes! You can download Google Goggles for free from the Google Play Store.