Rick's Daily Tips

How to enable the Hibernate option in Windows 8/8.1

Posted on January 11, 2013

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Microsoft made some pretty drastic changes when they designed the look and feel of Window 8.

In this post I’ll show you how to activate another popular feature they decided to “hide” by default: The option to place the computer into Hibernation mode at shutdown.

First of all, I’ll spend a few moments explaining what Hibernate mode is and when you might want to use it instead of Sleep mode or simply clicking Shutdown. There are three primary ways of powering down your PC: [Read more…]

Seagate Seatools – Free utility to test your hard drive for problems

Posted on January 10, 2013

seatools Maintaining a healthy hard drive is essential for protecting your valuable photos, documents and other precious data.

While a having a current backup on hand in case of disaster is an absolute must, performing a thorough diagnostic test of your PC’s hard drive on a regular basis is a great way to find out when (not if) the drive is about to bite the dust and take your data with it.

A great way to keep tabs on your hard drive’s health is to periodically run a high quality diagnostic test on it. The one I use and recommend is Seatools, a free program available directly from the hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technologies. [Read more…]

How to install Windows 8…and keep Windows 7 too!

Posted on January 9, 2013

dual-boot Do you want to install Windows 8 and still keep your existing Windows 7 installation too? Well, you can by setting up a dual boot system. Here’s how:

1 – Purchase a copy of your preferred version of Windows 8. In order to set up a dual boot system you’ll need to spring for a full retail copy, not a Windows 8 upgrade package.

If you buy Windows 8 in a brick and mortar store (say from Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc.) you’ll be all set to proceed once you get home with it. But if you buy it online and download the Windows 8 ISO file you’ll need to burn it onto a blank DVD. Either way, once you have a Windows 8 installation disc at the ready, proceed to step 2. [Read more…]

How to create a Wi-Fi hotspot with your Android phone

Posted on January 9, 2013

tethering-screenshot Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to use your laptop, tablet or other Wi-Fi enabled device at any place where there is a decent 3G or 4G signal available?

Well, if you have a smart phone running Android 2.2 or later you have everything you need to create a Wi-Fi hotspot that can provide Internet service for up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices!

The Android feature for creating a hotspot is called Tethering, and here are the steps for turning it on in your phone:

1 – From your Android phone’s Home screen, tap the Menu button or screen location to go to the Settings screen.

2 – Tap Settings.

3 – Tap Wireless & networks. [Read more…]

How to disable the Windows 8 Lock Screen

Posted on January 8, 2013

If you find the new “Lock Screen” that Microsoft decided to add to Windows 8 annoying, you can easily disable it. Here’s how:

1 – Type gpedit.msc on any blank section of the Start Screen.

2 – Click Computer Configuration

3 – Click Administrative Templates

4 – Click Control Panel

5 – Click Personalization

6 – Double-click on the policy labeled Do not display the lock screen

7 – Select the option Enabled

8 – Click OK

There you go! Now you won’t have to go through the hassle of “unlocking” your computer every time you want to use it.