How-To Geek

What can you do with an ancient laptop? Well, in my case, most of them just sit in a drawer and collect dust. I'm not one to throw stuff away. For instance, I've used an old Windows 10 PC for a NAS, and I also routinely repurpose even the most useless-looking SSDs.

The usual AI productivity advice I come across boils down to a handful of low-stakes use cases: writing emails, writing resumes, planning meals, drafting cover letters, creating Ghibli-style art, writing essays — you get the picture. There's nothing wrong with any of that, but on the other end of the spectrum, you have power users claiming to use chatbots to "apparently" build million-dollar software businesses or land high-profile clients.

A while ago, I heard about wireless Android Auto users experiencing unusual battery drain. I was skeptical at first, as I’ve never experienced it with my phone. However, recently, I used a newer vehicle with built-in wireless Android Auto and a different Android phone. As soon as I did, I noticed the problem and decided to investigate.

Flock cameras have been in the news a lot in 2026, for all of the wrong reasons. This recently came to a head when the cameras were described as “indiscriminate mass surveillance” by a federal judge.

Linux has no shortage of distros, and keeping track of which ones are worth trying can be difficult. Some distros focus on making Linux easier for newcomers, while others experiment with different desktop environments, system components, or specialized tools. Every year, a few distros manage to attract more attention than usual, and 2026 has been an interesting year for several of them.

While other platforms, like Netflix, might have the edge when it comes to series and documentaries, there are few platforms that can hold a candle to Paramount+ when it comes to their collection of movies. From cinematic classics to modern blockbusters, it has something for just about everyone.

Here's a problem you maybe didn't even know was a problem: turning on your PC. If your desktop sits atop your desk (as it should—please get it away from that carpet), you probably don't have far to reach. But if it's tucked underneath it, or you want to connect to it remotely, then you're out of luck.

Chrome is the preferred browser for most people, but it can sometimes become a performance nightmare. Talking of performance, the problem might extend far beyond just having too many tabs open. Even on my ASUS TUF Gaming laptop, which has 16GB of RAM, I noticed Chrome's baseline RAM usage was high when I checked it in Windows Task Manager.

Everybody loves a good smart home dashboard. There are a million different ways to make one, but they typically involve large, rectangular displays. I decided to go in an opposite direction and use an old Pixel Watch.

Netflix is getting a head start on the holidays this November, with a couple of Christmas movies joining its catalog. There’s a lot to look forward to this month, but before you dive into everything streaming in November, there are a few exciting releases to keep your eye on this week.

Search online for ways to speed up Windows 11's File Explorer, and you'll find plenty of familiar advice: disable thumbnails, clear File Explorer history, switch to This PC, and turn off the Preview Pane. The same handful of recommendations kept appearing in troubleshooting guides, support articles, and forum discussions, so I decided to test them. What surprised me wasn't which tweak worked best. It was how little difference most of them made.

The right tools are critical to any project, and work gets done faster and more efficiently when everyone works in a comfortable, fun environment. This is where power tool accessories, like Milwaukee's Rover Triple Light Panel and M18 Jobsite Radio, hold their own. The Rover Triple Light Panel illuminates your workspace so you can work safely and comfortably, while the Jobsite Radio delivers excellent sound quality and volume for your favorite songs on the job. Get both at 65% off with these Home Depot Deals.

Microsoft has been pushing Windows users to shift to OneDrive after canning its old PC migration tool. Windows 11 had a better option for a while, allowing people to send files directly from one computer to another without the need to use cloud storage. But that choice is gone now with a cloud-first replacement that only offers 5GB of free storage.

Editing your PC's environment variables can save you time in Command Prompt and make your scripts more concise. It also lets you customize where Windows stores certain files. This is what you need to know about getting started adding, editing, or removing entries from your Environment Variables on Windows.

Samsung is my baby, but I don’t feel the same way about every app that comes preinstalled on it. Bixby, Samsung Shop, Samsung News, and a few others rarely make it into my daily routine. I already have alternatives that do their jobs better, so keeping both versions feels unnecessary.

I broke the cardinal rule of homelabbing—open ports and reverse proxies without properly locking things down. This led to not just one, but two of my servers being compromised over the period of a few months. I’ve locked things down now, but here’s how you can tell if your homelab has been hijacked by a cryptominer.

Bose is one of the most trusted audio brands, and you can't go wrong with its high-quality products. They aren't cheap, but you don't have to pay full price for Bose headphones and Bluetooth speakers if you take advantage of these limited-time Amazon deals. Now's the time to upgrade your sound with the Bose SoundLink Plus Bluetooth speaker and QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) going at massive markdowns.

I was so excited when it came time for me to buy my first TV, and I unfortunately let that excitement get away from me a little bit. I ended up with the opportunity to get a fairly new curved Samsung TV for an absolute bargain. Back then, the technology was still new, and I got swept up in all the marketing jargon. I didn't know that it would end up making watching TV in my living room so incredibly frustrating.

Cloud-based LLMs such as Claude and ChatGPT may be impressive, but your prompts are all processed on someone else's servers. Local LLMs offer privacy, but the more capable models require powerful hardware to run. Even if you can only run small LLMs at home, you can make them much more accurate by giving them offline access to Wikipedia and other data.