Windows 10 Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How do I make Desktop icons open with one click?

Posted on February 15, 2026

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Question from Marie: I have a neurological disorder that makes it hard for me to double-click because my hands shake so bad.

When I bought my computer they set it up for me so that I could click on a desktop icon and it would open with a single click.

Ever since the last Windows update was installed I have to click on an icon twice to get it to open. That’s very difficult for me.

How can I get the single click to start working again?

[Read more…]

How (and when) to boot Windows 10 and Windows 11 into Safe Mode

Posted on February 7, 2026

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If you’ve been a Windows user for any length of time you probably know that there are times when it helps to boot Windows into Safe Mode.

In a nutshell, booting into Safe Mode forces Windows to load just the most basic Windows files and hardware drivers.

This helps a great deal when trying to remove stubborn viruses, track down faulty hardware drivers and resolve a wide range of software issues.

[Read more…]

How to make your sluggish Windows PC run like new again

Posted on February 5, 2026

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I frequently receive questions about speeding up computers that have become sluggish over time or fixing problems that prevent Windows from working as it should.

There are a number of different responses that I usually have for those questions, and the one I give depends on the actual issues they are experiencing with their machines.

[Read more…]

Q&A: How do I prevent a folder from freezing up while I’m trying to open it?

Posted on February 3, 2026

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Question from Paula: My computer is a Dell desktop running Windows 11 (which was recently upgraded from Windows 10) and I’m having an irritating problem with it.

I have a folder that I’ve been using for months and after I updated to Windows 11 it started getting stuck when I try to open it. It just freezes up for a while.

If I wait long enough the folder will eventually open and I can use it like I always have, but it seems to take longer and longer every day. It took well over a minute to open a little while ago.

How can I stop this folder from freezing up on me? All the other folders on my computer open just fine. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I quickly rename all the files in a folder on Windows?

Posted on January 27, 2026

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Question from Marge: I’ve recently begun dabbling in photography with an eye towards going pro at some point. I have a question for you if you don’t mind.

Is there a way to rename all the files in a certain folder to a common base name?

My camera always names the pictures with the same base filename but just changes the numbers on the end. That makes it hard to know what the pictures in a folder are of without looking at the pictures.

[Read more…]