Microsoft Windows Archives - Page 29 of 32

Q&A: If I upgrade to Windows 8 will I be able to go back to Windows 7?

Posted on February 10, 2013

Question from Elizabeth A.: I’m thinking about upgrading my computer to Windows 8 but I have a question first. If I try Windows 8 for a while and don’t like it will I be able to go back to Windows 7 without losing my files?

Rick’s Answer: Elizabeth, the short answer is yes, but you’ll have to prepare for the potential downgrade from Win 8 to Win 7 before you install the upgrade by creating a System Repair Disc and Backup Image for your current Windows 7 installation (click the link for instructions).

You should create this backup set right before starting the Windows 8 upgrade process to ensure that none of your user-created data files will be lost if you end up deciding to downgrade back to Windows 7 later. [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…]

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…]

Q&A: Why is everything I click on trying to open in Notepad?

Posted on January 28, 2013

Question from Kim: Everything was working fine until this morning, but now every time I click on a file it tries to open in Notepad. I can’t open anything! Please help??? My computer has Windows 7 if that matters. Thanks!!

Rick’s answer: It sounds like your file associations have gotten messed up Kim. Your PC’s Windows installation associates virtually all common file types with a specific application that it uses to open that file by default whenever you click on it.

For example, files with the .doc extension are usually opened with Microsoft Word while .xls files typically open in Excel. There are literally dozens of other file types with different extensions, and Windows looks at the extension to decide which program it should use to open that file by default. [Read more…]

Make Process Explorer the default Task Manager in Microsoft Windows

Posted on January 27, 2013

process-explorer If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you might remember this post about Process Explorer, a powerful free replacement for the native Windows Task Manager utility. If not, I suggest you check it out because it is vastly superior to Task Manager.

If you downloaded Process Explorer and gave it a try, you might be wishing you could have it load automatically in place of the native Task Manager after pressing the Ctrl-Alt-Del keyboard combination. Well, you can, and it’s very easy to set up. Here’s how: [Read more…]