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How-To
The absurdly simple guide to backing up your PC
Backing up isn't difficult, it's getting around to backing up that's the challenge for most users. Here are the backup basics made so easy you'll have no excuse for not creating a safety copy of your data.How-To
Printer buying guide: How to find the best model for your home or office
The best printers today have mobile apps and wireless connectivity, and inkjets are looking as good as lasers. Learn what to look for here.Answer Line
How to make room on your Windows partition
Acharya1987's C: drive is running out of space. I offer my suggestions, as does the Answer Line forum.How-To
How to live large on every battery charge
These handy tips will help you wring every watt-minute out of your laptop and other mobile devices.How-To
Let go of that laptop: the ultimate guide to making a tablet your main computer
Done with heavy hardware? With these apps, peripherals, and cloud services, you can leave that notebook behind for good.Answer Line
Recover files from a dead external drive
Xolelwa Mzili's PC no longer sees her external hard drive. Can she recover the files?Hassle-Free PC
How to choose a USB hub
Need more USB ports for your PC? There are tons of hub options out there, but make sure you get this one particular feature.
How-To
Benchmarks don’t lie: SSD upgrades deliver huge performance gains
An SSD can breathe new life into an old PC, but exactly how much performance do you gain? PCWorld ran the tests. Here are the results.How-To
The unreal deal: How to ID phony phones, counterfeit CPUs, and other tech traps
Fake tech products are a multimillion-dollar business, and you’re the intended victim. Here’s how to protect yourself.Hassle-Free PC
How to add a third monitor to your laptop
What's better than a two-screen setup? A three-screener, of course. Here's how to work around the video-output limitation.Hassle-Free PC
How to sidestep accidental mouse clicks
Clicking the wrong place at the wrong time can have disastrous results. But if you catch yourself in time, there's a fix.
Answer Line
Print all the files, or a list of all the files, in a folder
Mikecool asked the Printers forum how to print all of the files in a folder. I'm expanding the question to include printing a list of files.How-To
The power user’s guide to picking the perfect keyboard
You spend hours with your keyboard—pick a good one. Here's how.Answer Line
How to make good use of an old hard drive
Carol Hart has an extra hard drive hanging around. She asked me what she can do with it.How-To
Desktop land grab: Essential tips for multimonitor productivity
Two or more monitors can enhance your computing experience for work—and play. Here's how to set them up for the best possible viewing experience.Answer Line
How to change drive letters–even when the letter you want isn’t available
Jack McCabe wants Windows to identify his data drive as D:, but D: is already taken.Answer Line
Simplify browser use with keyboard shortcuts
The mouse may be the most intuitive way to control a browser, but it's not the most efficient. As MLStrand56 learned on the Answer Line forum, browser shortcuts can be valuable.Hassle-Free PC
How to add USB 3.0 to your desktop PC
The latest external hard drives offer USB 3.0 connectivity, but older desktops don't. Here's an easy and inexpensive remedy.Answer Line
How to safely remove a USB drive even when Windows says it isn’t safe to do so
Windows doesn't always allow you to safely remove a flash drive or external hard drive. Klaatu asked the Answer Line forum for advice.Answer Line
Add an external drive to your WMP or iTunes music collection
Kat Korsmo asked how to play music off an external hard in Windows Media Player library. (My answer covers iTunes, as well.)How-To
Five surefire ways to maximize your laptop’s battery life
Laptops are awesome—until your battery gives up the ghost, instantly killing your productivity. Follow these tips to avoid the problem.Hassle-Free PC
How to fix Web pages that print too small
When pages look right onscreen but end up tiny on the printed page, try these fixes.Updated
How to securely wipe sensitive files–or your entire hard drive
Rommel asked the Utilities forum for advice on cleaning files off a hard drive so that they can never be restoredHassle-Free PC
Add a hard drive-activity LED to a laptop that lacks one
Free utility Activity Indicator adds an HDD status light to your System Tray.How-To
My car, my office: Essential gadgets for the road warrior
Discover how to stay productive when you spend more time behind a steering wheel than behind a desk.Hassle-Free PC
With an SSD, backups are more important than ever
It's a lot harder to recover data from a dead solid-state drive, so plan accordingly.Hassle-Free PC
How to upgrade your external hard drive to USB 3.0
If your PC has USB 3.0 ports, you can get a big speed boost by relocating your external drive to a faster enclosure.Answer Line
Improve performance with a hard drive upgrade
Alloystory asked the Laptops forum about speeding up a PC by replacing the hard drive with something faster.How-To
The proper care and feeding of SSD storage
Treat a solid-state drive like its mechanical cousin and you could end up in a world of pain. Here's how to handle these exotic beasts.Answer Line
Keep your laptop battery healthy: Use it sparingly
Sibi Marcos asked about removing a laptop's battery to increase it's life.Hassle-Free PC
Why it’s a good idea to own a USB-to-SATA adapter
When the time comes to replace or upgrade your hard drive, you'll be glad to have one of these inexpensive tools.How-To
12 easy PC tasks you should be doing (but aren’t)
The excuses end here! Get your PC into tip-top shape by performing these 12 simple tweaks.Answer Line
Should you leave a hard drive running when it’s not in use?
Mike Bell asked if he should shut down his hard drive when he doesn't need it. "Will that constant powering up [and down] add wear and tear…?"Answer Line
Backing up your entire drive: Cloning vs. imaging
Felix Luke needs to back up his entire hard drive. He asked me to explain the differences between cloning and imaging.Hassle-Free PC
Open any folder with the Windows-E keyboard shortcut
With a little AutoHotkey scripting, you can make Windows Explorer open something other than My Computer.
How-To
How to print from Android
Ninthchamber asked the Printers forum about printing from an Android device.Hassle-Free PC
How to print an individual email in Gmail
This seemingly simple function can be difficult to find if you don't know where to look.Answer Line
Multiple hard drives working together: All about RAID setups
Stevey, admittedly confused regarding the benefits of RAID arrays, asked the Answer Line forum to explain these hard-drive groups.Hassle-Free PC
The one keyboard key you should be using in your browser—but aren’t
Web forms are a fact of Internet life, but if you're not using this particular keyboard shortcut, you're wasting considerable time.Answer Line
Answer Line: My PC doesn’t see the new, second hard drive
Elsullo2 installed a new, second hard drive into a desktop PC. But Windows doesn't see it.Hassle-Free PC
How to improve mouse scrolling in Google Chrome
Tired of jerky mouse-wheel movements in your browser? Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller can help.
How-To
Move data files from an SSD to a hard drive
PoloTiger has both a solid state drive and a hard drive, and the SSD is almost full. What's the best way to both move data files to the hard drive and make Windows understand that that's where they belong?Simply Business
How to choose a mobile charger
Shopping for a juice box for your travel gear? Make sure you do the right math before choosing one.
Hassle-Free PC
How to make your own wrist-rest
You can use a variety of household objects to keep your mouse hand warm and comfy and your wrist supported.Hassle-Free PC
One possible fix for a printer that won’t print
Once you've exhausted all the usual troubleshooting steps, check your printer's ink cartridge. It could be faulty.How-To