How-To Geek

While I’ve got a pretty solid gaming desktop, my partner is still rocking an ancient Windows desktop that I used for gaming for a few years before I built a new gaming PC in 2020. It’s powered by what was once an excellent budget gaming CPU, the dual-core Intel Pentium G4560, along with an AMD Radeon R9 270 GPU, and only 4GB of RAM. The machine originally had 8GB of DDR4 RAM running in dual-channel mode, but one of the sticks died a few years ago.

I miss the days of binging one show over the course of several months. It’s how I completed shows like The Wire and Friday Night Lights. I must admit that I streamed the shows in college when I had significantly more free time on my hands. Since I write about entertainment for a living, I have less spare time to watch long-running shows that take weeks. Occasionally, I just need a show that I can finish on a Saturday night or Sunday afternoon.

Before I made the jump to a unified mesh Wi-Fi network, I was confronted with the conundrum of moving into a bigger house, and suddenly having no Wi-Fi signal in my office or in our bedroom.

Google Play Store might be the default app store on Android, but the good thing about Android is that it gives you a choice. That includes the choice of the software store. Here are some alternatives to the Google Play Store worth checking out.

Sometimes you can spend hours creating a Home Assistant automation that saves you about 30 seconds. On rare occasions, however, it's the other way round. I set up an automation in just a few minutes that saves me far more time each day.

Switching on "private DNS" feels like flipping the privacy switch. The name alone makes it sound like a one-click solution to keep your browsing habits to yourself, hidden from your ISP, your network admin, and anyone else who might be peeking at your traffic.

Before smartphones, most people’s experience with operating systems was from computers. Naturally, many of those desktop habits carried over, and malicious Android developers were more than happy to take advantage.

Not so long ago, running a Windows PC without some kind of special antivirus would have all but ensured that your PC got infected with malware. Now, however, the situation is different. Microsoft has made huge improvements to the operating system, and you probably don't need to pay up for antivirus.

While it can be subtle, Windows 11 is filled with lots of little animations and details that give the OS an overall impression of being shiny and modern. Of course, this is only skin-deep, but setting aside whether Windows 11 actually is shiny and modern under the hood, these aesthetic effects aren't free.

Car theft in the United States hit a decades-long low in 2025, a 23% drop from 2024, according to the latest data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

When I first started setting up my smart home, I focused on Wi-Fi devices. They were easy to set up, and I didn't need any equipment other than the router I already owned. If I had my time over again, I'd do things very differently.

Most online Excel tutorials are obsessed with flashy new functions, complex formulas, or clever hacks that solve simple problems in overly complicated ways. But the real upgrade isn't new or exciting at all. Excel tables are old, unglamorous, and one of the most powerful features in the ribbon—and they'll transform how you work.

At this point in time, if your PC still has certain ports, it's officially too old. But that doesn't mean that those ports (and your PC by extension) weren't genius in their own right, or that they weren't (in some ways) better than USB.

When Lexus launched its LS 400 sedan in 1989, it introduced a new car with a new philosophy: deliver levels of refinement normally reserved for European luxury manufacturers, beat them on price, and back it with a level of quality the industry hadn't seen before. That philosophy underscores every Lexus product to this day, including the LX, the brand's full-size flagship SUV.

Most Excel users never look beyond the ribbon, which means they miss some of the app's most powerful workflow tools. From live-updating dashboard snapshots to hidden shortcuts that prevent data-entry mistakes, these four off-ribbon features will completely change how you use Excel.

I have a cloud-synced calendar on my phone and computer, which I use to track work, plans, and reminders. I figured Home Assistant's built-in calendar was surplus to my requirements.

As someone who has watched a lot of television over her twenty-something years, I’ve noticed a trend in the industry: many comedic actors, who were primarily known for sitcoms, sketches, or other hilarious work, have shifted into dramatic roles. While this isn’t necessarily a new thing, it’s still intriguing to see the difference in the actors' style — and just be in complete awe of their talents.

Homelabbing is a great way to escape an ever-increasing number of subscription services, and there are dozens of great free and open-source self-hosted alternatives out there. However, there is some software that is worth paying a one-time fee for, especially if you're looking for a setup that minimizes tinkering.

The ESP32 is a cheap microcontroller that powers sensors, toys, communication devices, and all manner of low-power electronics. It’s a favorite among hobbyists thanks to its versatility, price, and excellent software and hardware support.

Adobe has had a stranglehold on photo editing for a long time, and for most people, that means paying a monthly subscription for tools they may not fully use. The alternatives that exist tend to either cap out at basic adjustments or fall apart once your files get large enough. DaVinci Resolve was already the best free video editing software, but now it has got an upgrade.