Computer Hardware – Daves Computer Tips

How To Care For Your Laptop The Right Way

Marc Thomas — Mon, 11 May 2026 05:08:46 +0000

I’ve had numerous laptops over the years, mainly because they were shiny and I wanted them at the time. But I’m not a huge fan for numerous reasons, not least battery life, cooling, and how easily they break. Writing this today, I’m reminded of the times customers bring their laptops to me for repair in nothing but a plastic supermarket bag or similar flimsy material.

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The Correct Way To Use PrivaZer On SSDs

Jim Hillier — Fri, 08 May 2026 04:40:35 +0000

PrivaZer is a popular junk file cleaner that includes additional privacy measures, such as secure deletion of files and securely wiping free space on drives. PrivaZer is my junk file cleaner of choice. However, if you’re running an SSD, there are a couple of PrivaZer settings you should be aware of. By way of explanation, I reckon you’d be aware by now that excessive writes to SSDs shorten…

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How To Check Your SSD’s Health

Jim Hillier — Tue, 05 May 2026 05:49:32 +0000

Unlike HDDs, SSDs give little to no warning that they are about to fail, so it’s important to periodically check your SSD’s health status. Some manufacturers provide a dedicated tool that supports their own brand – e.g., Samsung Magician – but if you don’t have such a tool, there are alternatives. CrystalDiskInfo is portable freeware that provides a comprehensive report of your drive’s health…

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How To Correctly Diagnose RAM Problems

Marc Thomas — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:10:58 +0000

RAM stands for random access memory, and to you and me, it’s the memory modules we have in our computers. Unfortunately, most laymen who are not familiar with RAM confuse PC memory with hard disk space, and I could write a book about the number of times I’ve heard my customers say “My PC is running out of memory”, when what they really mean is that they are running out of disk space.

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Which PC Brands Rate Best For Customer Satisfaction

Jim Hillier — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:11:13 +0000

ASCI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) has completed a study to ascertain which PC brands rate best for customer satisfaction. ASCI incorporated a variety of factors to come up with an overall customer satisfaction rating, including: Acer came out as the worst brand for customer satisfaction, with HP coming out on top as the best: (Credit: ASCI) A score of 81 is the median…

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How To View Your Daily Workouts On Your Apple Watch

Carol Bratt — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:10:53 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I really do try to keep myself in shape. Not gonna say I like it, but I do it nonetheless! If there is nothing else I have learned while on this earth, it is that if you do NOT try to keep yourself in decent shape, you will most definitely not BE in decent shape, and it is a lot harder to get back where you want to be when you slack off. But I digress. I try to start…

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My Struggles Setting Up A Windows 11 Home Network – Part Two

Marc Thomas — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 04:01:42 +0000

I’ve spent far too long struggling with home networking in Windows, so after a brief sojourn and more extensive research, I discovered that a Windows Update in 24H2 had broken this feature. I don’t know exactly which update it was, so along with thousands of other users, we’ve had to revert to what I term as ‘ghetto mods’ for home networking to function correctly. But this is not simply isolated…

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Canon Printer Error 1485

Terry Hollett — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:01:59 +0000

I recently bought some ink for my printer. I insert the cartridges and get Error 1485. I removed them and then reinserted them a couple of times. I still get the same error. An online search indicates the cartridges may be unsupported. They are original Canons, and I buy them from the same online source. I’ve never had an issue with them. I eventually realized what happened. I currently have a…

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My Struggles Setting Up A Windows 11 Home Network – Part One

Marc Thomas — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 04:05:46 +0000

I’ve been struggling with Windows home networking for longer than I can remember, with most results being hit and miss, which is not how I usually experience computing. It either works or it doesn’t, and when it fails, it’s usually due to a user setting. But lately it could be down to Windows updates, at least according to my research. So many times I’ve thrown my arms in the air with home…

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How Many Computers Do You Own?

Marc Thomas — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 04:48:51 +0000

First, let me make it clear that I’m not being braggadocious here, but I am curious about how many computers people use in their households, be they Windows, Linux, or Apple-based. In my recent experience, I’ve found a shift to more mobile use, and many of my customers are moving away from laptops and desktop computers. Even the younger generation, for whom I’ve built gaming PCs…

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Fixed – Printer Only Prints Test Page And Nothing Else

Marc Thomas — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 06:01:30 +0000

Yesterday I went to a customer’s house to fix a printing problem, which initially had me scratching my head. Her PC had recently been upgraded by her nephew to a Ryzen 5 32GB of RAM, NVMe, and an RTX GPU, which struck me as unusual at first, being a household PC. She then told me that her hobby is photography, so that made sense. Neither her nephew nor her son, who both work in technology and PCs…

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RAM Prices Set To Rise A Further 50% This Year

Marc Thomas — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 05:02:30 +0000

Back in August 2025, you could pick up a 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 kit for around $95. Today, that same kit will cost you over $400. That’s more than the cost of a PlayStation 5 Pro and is an indication of how the rise of AI and the surge in demand from data centres for memory chips has hit the market with a bang. Not only that, but production of DDR4 RAM is predictably in decline…

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2025 – My Year In Tech

Marc Thomas — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 05:10:59 +0000

As 2025 has now come to a close, I’m reminded of the tech I acquired during that year, along with PC upgrades and mods I carried out. For me, it was both a challenging and exciting year in tech, so here’s how it turned out. With laptop manufacturers continuing to con unwary buyers with measly amounts of memory (RAM) and many of my customers still struggling away with ancient HDD spinners and…

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Can’t Right-Click? It’s On Your Keyboard!

Marc Thomas — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 05:05:08 +0000

The other day, I dropped my Corsair Iron Claw wireless gaming mouse, with the end result being that right-click ceased to function. I’m not normally a clumsy person, and at the time, it was sitting on my Asus gaming laptop as I was moving both to the next room. Of course, it could have been much worse – dropping the laptop would have been a disaster. Anyway, I soon realised how often I use…

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