Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Betty: I have an Acer laptop that came with Windows 8.1.
I updated it to Windows 10 and now I’m having a problem with it.
When I finish using the laptop I can click the Shutdown icon and it shuts down just fine.
The problem is if I close the lid it doesn’t shut the laptop down like it did when it had Windows 8.1. It goes into Sleep mode instead.
Is there a way to force this my laptop to shut down automatically when I close the lid? [Read more…]
Question from William: Every time I check for new Windows Updates on my Windows 10 Lenovo laptop it tells me there are a couple of driver updates available as “optional” updates.
Should I go ahead and let Windows Update install those optional updates or should I just skip them?
I’ve been confused by this for a long time.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Charley: Before I ask my question I want to thank you for everything you do to keep us informed and help us use our computers better.
You really are such a great help to people who are clueless like I am.
Now, I have a problem I hope you can help me with.
I recently bought my first Windows 10 computer (an HP laptop). I like it ok except for all the notifications that pop up in the lower right corner of the screen.
Is there a way to limit the notifications to just the ones that I really need to see? [Read more…]
Like Windows 7 and 8 before it, Windows 10 has a Taskbar Preview feature that is enabled by default.
As with most every other Windows feature, some folks love having a small preview of a window’s contents pop up when the mouse is hovered over a Taskbar button.
Others, myself included, find it a bit irritating.
If you find it irritating as well, you can ditch Taskbar Previews in Windows 10 by following the instructions below. But first, I must ask you to read my semi-standard disclaimer: [Read more…]
Question from Paul: I have a custom built gaming PC that I bought in January 2014. It came with Windows 8.1 on it.
I then updated the machine to Windows 10 while Microsoft was allowing the upgrade for free.
Now I’d like to upgrade the machine itself by installing a new, more powerful motherboard.
My question is will I be able to reinstall Windows 10 and have it activate after replacing the motherboard? [Read more…]