Question from Elian: Every time I open the Microsoft Store and try to search for an app it freezes up on me.
The only way it will close is if I kill it with the Task Manager.
How can I fix this? [Read more…]
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Question from Elian: Every time I open the Microsoft Store and try to search for an app it freezes up on me.
The only way it will close is if I kill it with the Task Manager.
How can I fix this? [Read more…]
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Question from Harley: I own a small business with six employees.
I just bought brand new Windows desktop computers for every desk. They were close-outs and I got a really good deal.
The fellow who delivered the machines and set them up gave all of them names that are little more than random strings of characters.
How do I change the ‘Device Names’ on these computers to something that’s more descriptive? [Read more…]
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Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter
A while back I wrote a post explaining how hackers are using rogue apps and other forms of malware to spy on folks via their computers’ webcams.
That post also explains how to prevent it from happening.
As it turns out, some miscreants have been spying on us via our machines’ microphones as well. And in some ways that’s just as bad as having them spy on us via webcam. [Read more…]
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If you have a WiFi-enabled Windows PC there might come a time when you’ll need to switch your connection to a different WiFi network than the one your machine is currently connected to.
For example, your laptop might automatically connect to a network with a weak signal when you know there’s another network available with a much stronger signal.
Or perhaps it automatically connected to an insecure unencrypted network instead of the secure network you intended to use.
Whatever the reason, you can easily switch your PC’s Wi-Fi connection from one network to another one with just a few clicks of your mouse. [Read more…]
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Question from Keith: I updated my Windows 7 computer to Windows 10 a while back, and like a dummy I didn’t write down the license key for it.
The hard drive in this machine went bad and I replaced it with a 1TB SSD. The bad drive appears to be completely dead because it doesn’t make any noise at all.
I have already installed the SSD I and downloaded the Windows 10 files onto a thumb drive with the instructions they provided.
The thing is, I’ll need the license key to activate Windows 10 after I install it, right? [Read more…]