SHOCKER: CrowdStrike global IT outage caused by… CrowdStrike!
In my earlier video, Global IT Outage: What it means for you, I discussed the outage caused by CrowdStrike's wonky update. Since the publication of that video, I've read a fair load of nonsense. It's Microsoft's fault! It's the European Union's fault! It's the fault...
How to download videos from the internet
Everybody watches videos online. I mean, who hasn't heard of YouTube, right? If you have a "less good" internet connection, or if you just want to be able to watch some vids offline when it's more convenient, it's very handy to be able to download videos from various...
Fix the grey X on shortcut icons in Windows
There you are, minding your own business, when suddenly you realize that all the shortcut icons on your desktop have changed somehow... You look closely, and finally you realize that all the little "shortcut arrows" that indicate an icon is a shortcut have been...
Optimize PNG and JPG images the easy way
So, you've got some images. You need to plop them on a web site or something. Abnormally, you'd be a Photoshop Master. By using approximately 750 secret keystroke combinations and seemingly random clicks, you'd have yourself some images that have been optimized for...
Make the Windows 10 Upgrade Notification go away
You've got Windows 7 or Windows 8, and you've decided not to upgrade to Windows 10. Carry on, then! If you have Windows 7, you will still get security updates until 2020. If you have Windows 8.1, you're safe until 2023. There's only one problem: That damn GWX (Get...
Quick Fix: Laptop ethernet doesn’t work
Most people these days use WiFi. I'm not one of them, because the idea of being bathed 24/7 in multi-gigahertz radio waves just isn't that appealing. If you're like me, then that means you're using the ethernet jack on your puter. And if your puter is a laptop, you...
A crash course in 4K UHD, or Ultra High Definition
For awhile now, the talk of the town has been "4K". We hear a lot about it, and you can even buy a 4K television. On the other hand, 4K content hasn't really hit the mainstream yet. In fact, it hardly exists at all. We do have plenty of new TVs and Blu-ray players...
Fix Firefox crashes, hangs, and other problems using Safe Mode
These days, it seems that Google's Chrome is the most popular browser out there. Worldwide, Mozilla Firefox is the second most-used web browser. There are reasons why Firefox is still fairly popular, especially the Add-on system. Add-ons let you customize your...
Fix Windows Media Player music sharing in Windows 10
So you get Windows 10. You share your media libraries so other users on your network can see and play your music from Windows Media Player on their own puters. Unfortunately, when they try to browse your music, WMP connects but quickly declares that your media library...
How to fix Windows Update errors, including in Windows 10
Update 30 March 2021: You can also watch the video! Let's say you just ran Disk Cleanup to remove old Windows files that you don't need any more. Then you notice that Windows Update keeps giving you error messages. No matter how many times you try, the updates keep...
Free up disk space after a Windows 10 upgrade
You've upgraded to Windows 10. You've survived. Congratulations! What you may not realize is that your old install of Windows 7 or 8 is still hanging around on your hard drive. These old files usually take up tons of space - as much as 20-30GB! This is especially bad...
Add to Cart doesn’t work on Amazon… Help!
It's that time of year again. You know: Black Friday, crazy people trampling each other for a TV, that kind of thing... All in the spirit of the Holiday Season, of course! 😉 If recent history is any indication, those of us who don't much care for crowds and stampedes...
Fix UEFI BIOS boot problems on a new motherboard
You know the drill: You get a new motherboard. You upgrade. And then the fun begins! Sometimes, one device or another in your system is not detected properly. Other times, you can't boot into Windows. You may even find that you can't even get into the BIOS after the...
Where is the Startup folder in Windows 10?
The Startup folder contains shortcuts to programs that run when you start up Windows. Back in the olden days of Windows 7, you could easily find the Startup folder. All you had to do was click Start, and type "Startup". Wasn't that easy? Enter Windows 8, and now...
Download Google Drive files faster
If you've ever tried to download large files from Google Drive via the web download method, you may have noticed that the downloads go really, really slowly. Typically, I'm seeing download speeds between 300kB/s and 500kB/s. And usually, I'm seeing Drive download...
Screenshots in Windows, the easy way
You may have read my earlier post, Capture Part of your Screen in Windows: Behold the Snipping Tool!. The Snipping Tool in Windows is very handy. But, sometimes you just want a quick and easy way to grab a screenshot. As I mentioned in my previous post, you can just...