Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Callie: I bought a new Windows laptop (an Acer) that has a camera built into it.
I don’t ever plan to use the camera for anything and I’d like to completely disable it.
I don’t want to just prevent apps from accessing the camera. I want to disable it completely.
Is it possible to do that? If it is, can you tell me how to do it? [Read more…]
Many of the tips I post include a step that involves pressing the Windows key on a PC’s keyboard.
Every time I post one of those tips I receive several messages from folks asking me where the Windows key is.
I guess we “geeks” tend to assume that all Windows users know about the ‘Windows’ key, but we really shouldn’t.
After all, no one knows everything about the behemoth that is the Windows operating system, and not everyone has the same level of experience with using it.
That’s why I decided it might be a good idea to write a post explaining what the Windows key is – and just as important, what it looks like and how to find it. [Read more…]
Starting with the release of Windows 8, Microsoft migrated several important system settings from the Control Panel to the new Settings app.
They also added a bunch of new settings to the Settings app that weren’t even available in previous Windows versions.
And now with Windows 10 and Windows 11 they keep placing even more important settings in there with virtually every new major update.
With the Settings app getting more important every day, I thought it would be a good idea to explain the fastest methods you can use to open it.
Question from Kandi: I bought my 9 year old son a new laptop for his birthday. He loves it and uses it every day.
The problem is I have already had to take it to the Geek Squad twice to fix issues he caused by changing some system settings.
I know that’s what he’s doing because I saw him using the Settings app.
Is there a way to disable the Settings app on his computer to prevent that from happening again? I really need to preserve my sanity! [Read more…]
Have you ever had to reinstall Windows from scratch after replacing a bad hard drive, being hit with a severe malware attack or some other digital disaster?
If so, you probably remember having to type in your Windows Product Key so Microsoft could reactivate your Windows installation.
I have always considered having to re-enter the Product Key to reactivate a machine’s Windows installation to be an irritating waste of time. [Read more…]