Computer questions you'd be embarrassed to ask any where else!

🤣 Dont work hard work smart. Hes going places!

Most (but not all) software will let you choose install path after download / unpacking install files. E.g. change from C:\Program Files\ to D:\Program Files\. Some suggestions.

1. Uninstall software from C: and reinstall on D: EDIT: Amending this. Id keep programs you use daily / regularly on SSD as they will run faster. E.g. internet browsers, MS Office etc. Depends what you want to prioritise to run faster on SSD.
2. Clear all browsing data (Edit: I usually dont delete saved logins / passwords) and caches. Change browser cache directories to D: in browser settings. The cache directory is where your browser saves files off to re-use while you browse. It can build up.
3. Change all browser download directories to D: in browser settings. This is where your browser stores files you download using the browser.
4. Download ccleaner. Do as deep of a clean as you can. Ccleaner also handy for uninstalling software.
5. Install TreeSize. Free software to see where exactly space is being used on your drives.
6. How big is your SSD? You need at least 120gb these days in my opinion for a windows install. 240gb would be better. You can clone from an ssd to a bigger ssd easily enough. Then just swap the drives in your laptop.

Definitely with games you can specify D: drive for install. If its Epic Games, Steam etc save data is kept in the cloud so uninstall / reinstall from C to D and specify in epic / steam settings to use D: from now on...

I’d like to know an easy way to gather all photos from my laptop. It’s dying and I’d like to get them all before it goes kaput. Is there a simple way to search to find them all so I can download them all to an external hard drive. Thanks.

You can search for multiple extensions using:

Ext: jpg OR Ext: bmp

(The 'OR' must be upper case)

Rather then just searching for files with specific extension(s) you can search for all images using:

kind:=picture

(Learned something myself …It seems the '=' is optional - Ext:=JPG or EXT:BMP)

I've a very nice vista only a few hundred metres from my house and have taken 5 pictures with different weather conditions .

Rotate as appropriate

Any time you go to install something it should give an installation path.

Most times the default to a C location and we all generally just OK over the screen. You can manually browse to the HDD drive and select that. Sometimes you need to select "Custom" or "Advanced" installation as opposed to "express" to show this option.

For games you will need to follow a few simple prerequisites and then, at install time you select which drive to use in a simple drop down

Perhaps someone can advise on this problem. We have a few computers at home. The desktop computer I personally use in one particular room keeps dropping the internet!! No problems on other devices in the rest of the house. I asked himself what can I do, and he said do this:

Network & Internet Settings / Change Adapter options / Ethernet / Disable this Network Device / Enable this Network Device.

Then I'm back on the internet, until perhaps 10/15/20 minutes later and I do it all again. The problem is I have to do this so many times every day I'm just sick of it. Remember please, I'm not very tech savvy so tech language means little to me. Anything I can do to improve things?

Just one or two basic questions, do you have an Ethernet cable connecting your WiFi to your router? Have you used wireless? Where does your internet come in through the wall, location of router (the box thingy relaying it)? Location of tricky connecting pc?

I used to work in tech support. This was practically famous as a way to fix frequent connection drops.

A foible of windows is it has an agressive power management policy and sometimes, turns off some devices "to save power". Which makes sense on laptops, it should be completely disabled on desktops.

OP, follow the instructions on this page:

https://support.windwardsoftware.com/support/solutions/articles/66000487622-disable-power-saving-and-power-options-in-windows#:~:text=To%20Disable%20Power%20Saving&text=Choose%20your%20connection%20and%20Right,turn%20off%20to%20save%20power%E2%80%9D.

Another little query or actually Im looking for a recommendation. Can anyone recommend a free PDF editor?

I just need it for completing forms occasionally by adding text to a PDF document. I have one at the moment and its not bad - pdfgear. The only real issue is you have to drag a text box and place it between lines in the document and then stretch said box out depending on what amount of text has to be entered. Id like to get something (if its freely available) whereby you can just click on the spaces in the document and type away.

Anyone?

Think you’re asking for too much from free software.

PDFGear I've been using lately. It's free and can edit most stuff including existing PDFs.