How-To Geek

Windows ships with familiar graphical tools, but they aren't always the quickest way to get things done. If you know your way around a terminal, these three small command-line utilities can replace File Explorer navigation, Task Manager, and Notepad for many everyday jobs, and all three install in seconds through winget.

Laptops are getting more expensive, making it increasingly difficult to find one that delivers a genuinely premium experience without crossing the $1,000 mark. The new Dell XPS 13 changes that, bringing premium hardware to a laptop that starts at just $699.

Mobile web browsers have come a long way. Chrome for Android started with simple tabs and sync, but now it has many of the features you'll find in the desktop version. In fact, if you know where to look, there's an extra feature that not many people take advantage of.

If you install Windows 11 on your machine and don't activate it, you'll be locked out of surprisingly few features. While most of the regular stuff will keep working indefinitely, you will miss out on a handful of customization options. Aside from missing features, you'll also get a few bonus "features," such as the permanent "Activate Windows" watermark in the corner of the desktop.

There might soon be a time when seeing "no service" on your phone is a thing of the past. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are forming a joint venture that aims to eliminate U.S. cellular dead zones.

Some of my favorite 3D prints serve no practical purpose and yet are entirely captivating. Optical illusions fall firmly into this category, challenging your perception, inspiring wonder, and hopefully teaching you a few things in the process.

HDDs are generally seen as super reliable. Their external variants are perceived as both reliable and optimal for cold storage. Fair—both of those things are generally true. But the problem is that when something goes wrong, it goes majorly wrong, and shockingly fast.

October's barely off the starting line and Netflix has already got a dozen new documentaries and docuseries on the grid for U.S. subscribers. If you caught those Formula 1 racing references, then there's something particularly great in store for you below.

Home hubs are essential in a modern home, and it makes sense to get a current model with the latest features. Amazon's latest Echo Show 11 is one of the best choices because it has a vivid display, amazing sound quality, and access to the latest AI-powered Alexa+ voice assistant. It's also available at an unbeatable price with 40% off with a limited-time Amazon deal.

Nvidia might have released the Shield TV Pro in 2019, but even that device isn't immune to market pressure. The company has raised the price of the Shield TV Pro to $300, a $100 hike.

Aside from being the family tech support guy, my job also has me testing a lot of software and operating systems. I end up installing a new OS every couple of weeks, whether I'm testing Linux, troubleshooting a PC, or working on one of my articles. That means I have to rely on a bootable USB tool pretty regularly.

The Star Trek universe is huge and full of different media. I've watched the shows, played the video games, read a ton of the novels (Star Trek: Titan is a personal favorite), and have even written about Trek-related songs. Since this year is the series' 60th Anniversary, I thought I'd celebrate with these tech-related StarTrek hobbies.

For over three months, I have been running 12 speed tests per day every single day. It's added up to over 1,200 tests spanning over 100 days, using nearly 2.5TB of data. What did I learn from this endeavor? Actually, way more than I imagined I would.

Losing cell service mid-drive is a big deal because it can mess with your maps, music, and a whole lot of other things, and then you're stuck looking at the screen instead of the road. Most people don't notice how much Android Auto leans on the internet until they're staring at a frozen screen somewhere outside coverage. The good news is that you can prepare and use your apps in places where you have no reception, as long as you know where to look.

Welcome to October. It's spooky season, and we have a new Halloween-themed show for you to watch this weekend. It's a dramedy involving teenage witches coming to Disney+ and Hulu. As for the non-spooky shows to watch this weekend, a new thriller starring an Academy Award-winning actress premieres on AMC+.

Mac minis with Apple Silicon are some of the best compact desktop computers on the market, but their Intel-based predecessors aren't ready for the landfill just yet. While they're too old to get new versions of macOS and too feeble to use as your main PC, they still have enough fuel in their tanks to work as home servers. Put Linux on one, start self-hosting, and you'll be able to save wads of cash you're now spending on various subscriptions.

If you've been staring at Excel all week at work, the last thing you probably want to do this weekend is open another spreadsheet. Except Excel gets surprisingly interesting when you connect it to other things. This weekend, put that idea to the test with three projects that take Excel somewhere a little different.

If smartwatches have one weakness compared to regular watches, it's their short lifespan. Most have promised only a few years of software support, and they're dependent on companion apps that can stop working at any time. But there are alternative companion apps out there that can keep your watches running longer and safeguard your privacy in the process.

Thermal printers are mostly used in retail to produce receipts, since they don’t need to be super high quality, don’t consume ink, and can print quickly. But it turns out you can adapt them for use in your own projects with a little time and an ESP32.

Samsung has a reputation for packing its Galaxy phones with a deluge of features, arguably more than any other Android phone maker, and many of them don't get the spotlight they deserve. As a result, a lot of people overlook a good chunk of their Samsung phone's features just because they aren't talked about, which is a shame because some of them can be super useful in a variety of situations. Here are five One UI features that most owners end up ignoring, but if you own a Galaxy phone, you really shouldn't.