Windows Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How can I stop my PC’s hard drive from shutting down?

Posted on November 20, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Amber: After my Windows computer has been sitting idle for a few minutes the hard drive just shuts down.

When I get back on the computer and press a key or move my mouse I can hear the drive starting back up again and I have to wait several seconds before I can do anything.

This is extremely irritating. I guess I’m just impatient and want my computer to respond as quickly as possible. [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I put more than one System Image Backup on the same drive?

Posted on November 18, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Julienne: Hello, Rick. I’m a long time reader of your blog and I’ve read your posts about making System Image backups with Windows.

Your instructions are very good and easy to follow.

I’ve made three backups so far for my laptop but I just noticed that there’s only one backup on my external hard drive. I’m assuming it’s the last one I made?

My question is can I store more than one backup on the same drive? [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I quickly see what time it is in a foreign country?

Posted on November 7, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Question from Glenda: My son accepted a job in Brisbane, Australia and he now lives there.

My problem is I seem to wake him up every time I call him. I guess I’m horrible with time zones.

Is there an easy way to quickly see what time it is over there so I can avoid disturbing him when he’s sleeping? Maybe an app I an install on my computer? [Read more…]

How to undo an ‘Undo’ when there’s no ‘Redo’ option available

Posted on November 2, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Most every computer user is familiar with the “Undo” and “Redo” options on program menus.

If you’re unfamiliar with them, clicking “Undo” will reverse the last change you made to a text file, a Word document, a photo or most anything else that you can edit.

Clicking “Redo” will reverse the “Undo” and make the change you “undid” active once again.

As you can imagine, these are two of the most useful options you have at your disposal while you’re doing something with your computer.

But there’s a problem…

[Read more…]

3 ways to quickly identify your PC’s CPU type

Posted on September 8, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Most computer users have no idea what type of CPU is inside their machine, and that’s fine.

As long as your computer works properly and gets the job done, its CPU type is rarely a concern.

That being said, there might well come a time when you’ll need to know what kind of CPU is inside your PC.

Here are three ways to discover the CPU type in a Windows PC without having to open the case: [Read more…]