Search Results for: how to create system image backup

Q&A: What’s the best laptop hard drive I can buy for $100 or less?

Posted on September 18, 2018

Question from Andy: The 750GB hard drive in my laptop has started making strange noises and I’m afraid it’s about to go out on me. I need to replace it ASAP but I don’t know which drive I should buy to replace it with.

I’d really like to get an SSD to make the laptop run a lot faster, but my budget for the drive is only about $100 (or preferably less).

I checked around and the largest SSD I can get for that price is way too small for my needs. I really need something that’s at least as big as the drive that’s in the laptop right now.

Can you help me find the fastest hard drive I can get for $100 that’s at least 750GB?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is the D: drive on my refurbished computer already full?

Posted on August 20, 2018

Question from Wanda: Rick, I just bought a refurbished computer with Windows 7 Home Premium on it.

In case you’re wondering why I bought a refurbished machine, it’s because I hate Windows 8 and Windows 10 so I decided to by a refurbished PC in order to get Windows 7.

LOL You probably think I’m crazy, but that’s why.

Anyway, this machine is showing two hard drives in Windows Explorer, a C: drive and a D: drive.

When they refurbished this computer they supposedly reinstalled Windows from scratch. I haven’t put anything at all on the D: drive, yet the Windows Explorer shows it as being full with hardly any free space left.

I can’t open that D: drive to see what’s in it making be think it might have a virus.

Is it possible for the equivalent of a brand new computer to have a virus that’s filling up the hard drive? My Norton isn’t finding anything.

Any help you can provide will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to install a Solid State Drive (SSD) in your laptop

Posted on July 18, 2018

A while back I wrote a post explaining the benefits of replacing your hard drive with a Solid State Drive (aka SSD).

Of course the greatest benefit is the amazing speed increase you’ll gain by replacing your hard drive’s spinning platters and read/write heads with an SSD’s lightning-fast memory chips.

You might recall that in that post I recommended paying a PC Tech to swap out the drives for you, but since then I’ve had a couple of emails from folks who really wanted to try upgrading their laptops themselves, prompting me to decide to write this post explaining the procedure.

But before we get to that, if your laptop was made in such a way that the entire case has to be partially disassembled in order to access the hard drive, I still strongly recommend that you hire a qualified PC tech to remove the hard drive and install the SSD for you. Just sayin’.

On the other hand, if your laptop’s drive bay is easily accessible via a small removable cover you can swap out the drives out yourself. Just follow the instructions below.

[Read more…]

Three awesome (and free) diagnostic tools for your PC

Posted on June 15, 2018

Personal computers have now become commodities, and as a result their prices are now the lowest they have ever been. Even better, their speed and capabilities just keep increasing even as their prices continue to drop.

But even with the prices of computers at an all-time low, even an entry level model will likely set you back at least $200 or more.

That means you’ll probably want to do everything you can to ensure that yours continues to run at peak efficiency for as long as possible. [Read more…]

Q&A: The guy at the computer shop stole my RAM. How can I make him give it back?

Posted on May 5, 2018

Question from Nikki W.: I have a terrible problem Rick. I took my HP desktop tower to our local computer shop because it wouldn’t boot up into Windows.

Long story short, the guy told me the hard drive was bad and he would have to replace it and then reinstall Windows 7.

I got the computer back yesterday and it seems to run ok, but after I use Chrome for a while I get a message telling me the memory is running low.

I looked at the System Information screen and it said there was only 3.4GB of RAM installed. I know for a fact that it had 8GB in it when I took it to the shop. Oh, and the sound isn’t working either.

My main problem is the guy stole some of my RAM and I need to know what I can do to make him put it back in since I can’t prove how much RAM was in it when I took it to his shop. And I hope you can help me get the sound working too. Can you give me some advice?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]