Microsoft Windows – Daves Computer Tips

How To Check Your PC’s Reliability Score

Jim Hillier — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 06:26:48 +0000

Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 include a “Reliability Monitor” feature that will present a system stability rating from 1 to 10, and also help diagnose problematic apps/processes. However, the Reliability Monitor is tucked away and not easy to locate… unless you know how. Here is a screenshot of my Reliability Monitor in Windows 10 (click the image to enlarge): As you can see from the…

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2015- 2025: Microsoft’s Dismal Decade

Jim Hillier — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 06:45:07 +0000

I am not a Microsoft basher by nature, but in all my years of working with Windows, I cannot recall a more infamous period. Microsoft’s introduction of the Insider program not only reinforced the company’s lack of regard for the average home user but also signified the beginning of the rot. It’s no coincidence that when Microsoft sacked the team of professional coders, who were tasked with…

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AI – Too Much Too Soon?

Jim Hillier — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 05:16:02 +0000

Like it or loathe it, AI is permeating every aspect of the PC. Microsoft, Google, software developers, etc., are all pushing AI at every opportunity. But, the critical question here is… is AI truly ready for prime time? In my opinion, AI has been pushed down our throats ahead of its time, and I’ll explain my thinking. There are two hardware components that are essential for AI to function…

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Patch My PC

Terry Hollett — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 05:15:50 +0000

I recently ran WinGet to update the apps on my computer. It ran OK with one small snag. WinGet Breaks 4K Downloader Plus I was made aware of a program called “Patch My PC”. Thanks, Mindblower. A search shows it’s been covered before in past articles. Read: Top Notch Free Software Updater How To Patch My PC So I decided to try out the latest version. I downloaded the portable…

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Windows 11 Supported CPUs Is Now Even More Confusing

Marc Thomas — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 06:07:41 +0000

Microsoft recently ‘updated’ its lists of Windows 11 supported processors, but for Intel CPUs, the company chose to list CPU series as opposed to each processor, which is very confusing. For example, it lists the Celeron series being supported when in fact only one out of ten of that series is supported – the Celeron 3867U. What baffles most people is that CPUs such as the mighty Intel 10th Gen…

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Windows 11’s Adoption Not Going Well?

Jim Hillier — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:02:07 +0000

Tech sites are at it again, posting ridiculous articles with sensationalist headlines announcing the shocking news that Windows 11 adoption has been underwhelming. These headlines are predicated solely on a report from Dell stating that 1 billion users are still on Windows 10; 500 million with PCs that meet Windows 11 requirements but are still running Windows 10, and 500 million Windows 10 PCs…

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Winget Breaks 4K Downloader Plus

Terry Hollett — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:01:45 +0000

I used PowerShell to update all the programs I have installed. I had one problem with it. It broke my video downloader called “4K Downloader Plus“. Download 4K Downloader Plus. It would not open. I purchased a license for this and was concerned that this might have screwed it up. I figured I would have to get in touch with 4K tech support, but I didn’t. What I did was visit the 4K site and…

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What Has Been The Greatest Advancement In PC Specs?

Jim Hillier — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 08:05:31 +0000

When you get to my age, looking back at the history of PCs owned, it’s amazing just how much PC specs have advanced over the years. My very first PC was a TRS-80, which loaded programs via tape cassettes. The programs were written in BASIC, a language I eventually mastered, and each was volume-sensitive. So I kept a list of programs, each marked with the optimal volume for loading successfully.

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BitLocker Encrypted My Laptop Drive Without Warning

Marc Thomas — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 05:01:26 +0000

I was having some problems with AMD Radeon Adrenalin settings on my Asus TUF Gaming A16 laptop and decided to roll back the GPU drivers. But before doing that, I needed to use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) in safe mode to remove the current software. To reboot Windows in safe mode, I always hit Win+R, then type msconfig, select the Boot tab, and then Safe Boot. As I was about to hit…

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ASCOMP PC Internals Overview & Giveaway

Richard Pedersen — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 07:51:15 +0000

This contest has now expired. Winners will be notified by email. Congratulations to the Winners and Thank You to everyone who participated! ASCOMP has kindly offered our DCT readers a chance to win one of five licenses for their PC Internals program. These licenses are currently each valued at $24.90 (US). A limited free version is also available for personal use and evaluation.

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How To Quickly “End Task” In Windows 11

Jim Hillier — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 05:01:23 +0000

Normally, when an application becomes unresponsive and hangs, we’d need to bring up Task Manager, locate the process, and then end that task. However, in Windows 11, there is a setting that adds an “End task” option to the right-click context menu. The option in my Windows 11 25H2 was enabled by default. To make sure the option is enabled for you: If an application becomes…

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6 Must Have Freeware For Windows

Jim Hillier — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 05:01:21 +0000

Very recently, we published an article from my mate and fellow author, Marc Thomas, in which he listed the freeware he adds to Windows: The Free Programs I always Add To Windows. It’s a great topic and, inspired by Marc’s article, one that I’m unashamedly going to expand on. It’s been quite some time since I’ve clean-installed Windows, but if I were to, these are the very first freeware titles I…

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Settings Crashing When I Click On Privacy Settings

Terry Hollett — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:50:57 +0000

I previously wrote about the “Activity History,” but it wasn’t the original article I planned to write. I was originally going to write about “how to delete the activitiescache.db file manually”, but I had some issues with it on one of my computers. When I manually deleted the file on my CyberPowerPC, I had no issues. On my Asus computer, that was another story. Everything worked except when I…

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Warning: Windows 11 23H2 Now Unsupported!

Jim Hillier — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 07:33:34 +0000

With all the hoo-hah surrounding Windows 10’s end-of-support, the fact that Windows 11 23H2 reached its end-of-support date on November 11th has gone by pretty much unnoticed. So, this is a reminder that Windows 11 23H2 is no longer receiving security updates, and you need to update to a newer version ASAP. Unlike Windows 10, Microsoft is not providing ESU (Extended Security Updates) for Windows…

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