Microsoft Windows Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

How to open the System Info screen on your PC with a keystroke

Posted on May 12, 2025

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As most long-time Windows users know, the System Information screen lists several important details about your PC’s Windows installation and its key hardware components.

Chances are you take a peek at it every now and then.

I’m also sure you probably know that right-clicking on the This PC desktop icon and then clicking Properties will open it as well.

But there is an even faster way to launch this valuable tool, especially if you don’t keep the “This PC” icon sitting on your computer’s Desktop… [Read more…]

How to force a Windows program to always ‘Run as Administrator’

Posted on April 20, 2025

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One of the most irritating things about Windows is how you are frequently prompted to run some programs as “Administrator” even when YOU are the administrator.

This makes sense if you have multiple users on the same PC, but not if you are the only person who ever uses it.

If this irritates you as well, it’s easy to coax Windows into running any program as Administrator by default. Just follow these simple steps: [Read more…]

This awesome tool will quickly uninstall any program and remove all its traces

Posted on April 18, 2025

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Windows’ native “Uninstall a program” utility is an extremely inefficient and cumbersome tool for removing programs from your machine.

In addition to being slow to display a list of installed applications and remove the ones selected, the removal process sometimes fails and almost always leaves behind traces of uninstalled programs which clutter up the Windows registry and slow your system down.

As luck would have it, there are several excellent third-party alternatives to Windows’ Uninstaller utility. [Read more…]

Clear out junk with Windows 11’s Cleanup Recommendations tool

Posted on April 5, 2025

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As you probably know, Windows PCs tend to accumulate tons of “junk” that takes up valuable storage space on your machine’s hard drive or SSD.

There are numerous “system cleanup” apps that will clear this junk out for you, but Windows 11 now has it’s own native tool for this. It’s called “Cleanup Recommendations” and it’s very easy to use. [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I hide the Desktop icons on my computer screen?

Posted on April 1, 2025

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Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Andie: I have a gorgeous photo of a sunrise over Lake Michigan as my desktop background.

The problem I’m having is all the icons scattered around the screen make it hard to enjoy the photo.

Is there an easy way to hide those icons when I don’t need them and then make them reappear when I do? [Read more…]