How-To Geek

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We explain technology. Learn more with our articles, reviews, tips, and the best answers to your most pressing tech questions.
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Stop chasing 'Ultra' settings: Why buying a flagship GPU is a trap

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 23:30

A new GPU is the most thrilling thing when you're a PC gamer. After all, it's often the single most impactful component in a PC, and upgrading your graphics card can give you a major performance boost in all your games.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I cooked my last SSD: Here is the stress test I use to save the new one

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 22:30

I recently lost my gaming laptop's secondary SSD, and the most likely cause was sustained overheating and throttling. Which means that I was now in the market for a new drive, and unlike before, I was now keenly aware of the thermal situation when it came to my SSDs.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop wasting your security camera's potential with these 5 tricks

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 22:00

Smart security cameras can be a great way to monitor what's going on in and around your home. Used well, they can play an important role in keeping your home safe, but you may not be using them to their full potential.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The '1,000-year' disc that failed: The weird history of M-Disc

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 21:00

Cold storage is all about keeping your files and making them last for years, just in case you ever need to retrieve them to look at old memories. Improper methods of storage can cause those memories to be lost forever, which is why some formats are better than others for storing stuff over the long term.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How IKEA became my favorite tech company

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 20:30

I cover many tech companies, with Samsung phones and accessories currently serving as my center of gravity, but there’s one brand primarily associated with furniture and home decor that has come out of nowhere to become the tech company I’m most interested in.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 things you can do on Linux but not on Windows

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 20:00

Windows may be the most popular desktop OS, but it's not the most capable one. Linux outshines Windows in a number of areas—from full control over how your desktop looks to reviving decade-old hardware abandoned by Microsoft’s OS. To prove my point, here are five things Linux can do, but Windows can't!

Categories: IT General, Technology

The stuff taking up Android storage nobody tells you about

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 20:00

When Android storage starts running low, we usually point fingers at apps, videos, and other large files and start deleting them. While that can help, there are many overlooked storage hogs that take up more space than you’d expect. Let’s look at what they are and how you can clear out that clutter.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Nostalgia vs. reality: 5 reasons you don’t actually want a CRT TV in 2026

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 19:30

If you're nostalgic for the era of CRT TVs and think you might want to use one to watch shows and movies, you might want to think about what you're getting yourself into.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The one tool that makes every homelab easier to manage

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 19:00

Have you heard people talking about Docker but have no idea what it is or if you need it? Docker is a fantastic tool that I think belongs in every homelab—here’s what Docker is, and why it is the one tool that makes my homelab easy to manage.

Categories: IT General, Technology

You can buy the Porsche that towed a plane for the price of a budget Hyundai

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 18:30

The average American now must spend over $50,000 for that new car smell, with luxury buyers paying even more. However, in the pre-owned market, you can bring home a premium luxury SUV that will exceed most expectations and will cost only about $20,000. And we are not talking about an SUV with 300,000 miles that has been sitting at the bottom of a lake for six months.

Categories: IT General, Technology

6 smartphone habits that are quietly draining your wallet (and how to break them)

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 18:15

Modern smartphones are expensive devices, and if you're not careful, the costs can spiral even further. There are some common smartphone habits that could be costing you a significant amount of money.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 reasons physical media still beats streaming

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 18:00

It's fair to say that streaming has completely revolutionized the way that many of us consume media. While streaming offers convenience, there are some key reasons why owning physical media is still superior.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I finally found out how much Facebook thinks my privacy is worth

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 17:30

This week, a message popped up on my wife's Facebook page. It asked her if she wanted to continue seeing ads on Facebook and Instagram, or whether she would prefer to remove ads by paying a monthly fee. I was intrigued by how much Meta was charging for the ad-free service.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Winter is here: 8 easy ways to prep your car for snowfall

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 17:16

Winter is tough on your car. Snow and ice make driving more challenging, cold temperatures can cause starting issues, and, more often than not, frozen doors leave you scrambling to find another way to get to work in the early morning hours.

Categories: IT General, Technology

8 unique things you can do with the Amazon Kindle Scribe

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 17:00

Own a Kindle Scribe and looking for avenues to use it beyond reading and jotting down notes? Here are eight things you can do with it that go beyond its battle-tested use cases.

Categories: IT General, Technology

You don't need to pay for third-party antivirus software to protect your PC anymore

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 16:45

Do you still pay for third-party antivirus software like Norton or McAfee? You may be surprised to learn that there’s no real benefit to doing so. Software like this is mostly obsolete today.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 new Excel features to master this February

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 16:30

In recent weeks, Microsoft has focused on improving Excel's end-to-end efficiency. Whether you're looking to create complex files more efficiently, import data via formulas and clean it in the cloud, get help to fix errors, or send your analysis as PDF reports, these updates are set to transform your February workflow.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I invited hackers to attack my home server, and the results were a wake-up call

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 16:15

Self-hosting is both an entertaining hobby if you like computers, and a reasonable way to save a few dollars if you swap out your subscription services for something you host yourself. It does come with a bit of risk, however, if you put your self-hosted services online so they're accessible from the internet. I was curious about what kind of attacks my server was getting, so I set up a honeypot to see what happened.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The most common Home Assistant smart home terms you need to know

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 16:00

Home Assistant can feel intimidating, especially when there are a whole bunch of extra terms that you need to understand. Here’s a cheat sheet so that you can quickly get up to speed.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop treating your daily driver Linux PC like a science experiment

Sun, 02/01/2026 - 15:30

Linux has a somewhat contradictory reputation. On the one hand, it's known as a rock-solid operating system that never goes wrong and offers countless hours of uptime. On the other hand, it's also known for being easy to break in the wrong hands when you start digging around under the hood.

Categories: IT General, Technology

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