Browse Files on Your Computer Using Your Favorite Browser
Windows 7, Windows 8x and Windows 10

Did you know that you can use your favorite browser (Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Internet Explorer, etc.) as a file explorer? Yes you can. Open your favorite browser right now. Open a new, blank tab and press the Ctrl key plus the O key (that's an O not a zero). You will see a Windows Explorer (File Explorer) window open in your browser. We use this trick all the time. It's sometimes quicker than opening Windows Explorer/File Explorer if your browser is already open. Even if it's not, at least now you know you can to it. Try it. Maybe you'll like it.

Rebooting is the First Step in Troubleshooting
Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10

Whether you’re using Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or any version of Windows 10 one thing remains constant: If you suddenly start having problems with your Windows computer, no matter what they are, the first thing you should try is rebooting.

Whether you’re having problems with installing a program, running a program, opening a folder, opening a file, or your computer is running like Granny Gertrude in a senior potato sack race, rebooting is the first thing you should try.

Why? Because, you might spend hours trying to figure out what is wrong and never find a thing. Before you waste time looking through tips, tricks or Googling for the answer, you might find that rebooting will fix whatever ails your computer.

Rebooting flushes your memory cache, reloads all Windows system files and gives your computer a fresh start. Everything’s reloaded, memory is cleared, and that, my friends, can make a world of difference.

So before you waste hours of time trying to figure out a problem, save your time and the frustration of trying to find a solution to a problem that may be solved by something as simple as restarting your computer. We’ve learned this lesson the hard way, many times. We’ve wasted time looking for solutions to problems that seemed to disappear after we rebooted. And, often, in the frustration of the moment, when you’re computer seems destined for oblivion, simply restarting it might take care of whatever was wrong. Of course, if it the problem keeps recurring, even after you restart your computer, you’re going to have to dig down and find the source of the problem and fix it. But save all that work for later. The first step in troubleshooting is rebooting.

The Right Way to Update Windows Drivers
Windows 10 (all versions)

 We've been telling folks for years that some of the worst things you can install on your computer are driver updater programs. Not only are some of them bundled with badware, some of them are the badware that is bundled with some freeware. Driver updaters are not only useless, but having a program on your computer that continually scans for updated drivers unnecessarily uses bandwidth and system resources, driver updater software programs can often be right up there with malware when it comes to causing big time computer problems.

Here's our golden rule about drivers: If all your devices are working properly, you don’t need to worry about updating your drivers. That’s not to say that you will never ever need to update a driver or two. But if it's not broke, it doesn't need fixing.

You should never install a driver updater program. They are, more often than not, trouble. If you have a device that is not working correctly, you can check with the device manufacturer’s Web site for updated drivers. And Windows has a program built in that will safely allow you to check for updated drivers for a device (or devices) not working correctly, It’s called Device Manager and it’s been around since Windows 95. Of course, it’s been vastly improved since them. In Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, Device Manager makes it easy to check for updated drivers for any device that is not working correctly.

In Windows 7 and Windows 8x, you’ll find Device Manager in Control Panel. Windows 10 users, can open Device Manager by right-clicking the start button and clicking on Device Manager – or by pressing Windows key + X and clicking Device Manager.

Once Device Manager is open, right-click on the device that’s not working as it should and click “Search automatically for updated driver software”.

If Device Manager finds updated drivers for your hardware device, you will be able to download and install them. If it checks for new updated drivers and does not find any, you’ll see this:

If you see “The best drivers for your device are already installed” you can be pretty sure there are not new updated drivers available. If you still want to double- check click on “Search for updated drivers on Windows Update” or, better yet, open your browser and take a trip to the device manufacturer’s Web site.

WARNING: If you decide to go to the device manufacturer’s web site, DO NOT search for the site using a s search engine – or you’ll end up with dozens of fake sites and driver updater programs and worse. Type in the Web site address – like www.realtek.com, www.intel.com, www.hp.com , www.nvidia.com, and so on. If you’re not sure of the Web site address be very  careful if you have to search for it. See screenshot below for a big safety hint!

Want more computer tips & tricks?

Big Changes on the Way for Your Gmail Account

Quick Access to Your Important Folders

We have thousands of Windows tips, tricks and more on our InfoAve web site.  Come see for yourself! 

 

We Need Your Help! If you don't need anything right now, please consider helping us with a gift.

When you support us with small gift, you help us continue our mission to keep you informed, separate the truth from the hyperbole, and help you stay safer online. Plus, our computer tips make your computer easier to use.

Did you know that  we provide support to thousands of people? Every week we help dozens of people via email at no charge. Thanks to your gifts, we do a lot more than provide this free newsletter. We help you recognize online threats, fight for your online privacy, provide you with the knowledge you need to navigate the Web safely, and help you get more out of your PC.

Help us keep up the good fight with a small gift.

After giving your gift, you will receive an invitation to become a Cloudeight Booster.

Interested in making a automatic monthly gift? Visit this page. Help us keep helping you... and helping you stay safe on the Web.

LibreOffice Portable

One of the most often asked questions is "What do you recommend for a free office program?". There are several great free office programs. But we're featuring this one today because it's a full-featured office program that you can take with you. You can install it on a USB flash drive an use it on any Windows computer. Those of you who have Microsoft Office know what a long and arduous process installing it can be. It makes hundreds of changes to your registry and it can be a pain to uninstall. Yet most people agree it’s the best full-featured office program, and certainly the most popular – even though it’s not free and remains - even with all of the new purchase options - rather pricey.

If you need a full-featured office program – one you don’t even have to install to your hard drive, one you can take with you, and one that is totally free, we think you'll love the portable version of LibreOffice. It includes all of the programs of most other full-feature office suites, but this one you can put on an external hard drive or USB flash drive and can take it with you wherever you go.

The program comes as a standalone exe file you click to extract its programs and features. If you extract it to a USB Flash Drive you can use it on any Windows computer. Yes - an office suite you can take with you - pretty sweet, eh EB?

Just click on the LibrePortable exe file and it extract to a USB flash drive, external drive, or your hard drive. If you ever need to remove it from you computer, just delete the LibreOfficePortable folder and it's gone. It makes no changes to your registry or your system. .

Above: Libre Office Portable  on an external drive - it creates one folder and everything you need - all of its programs - are in that folder. We installed it on an external hard drive (Drive E:)

Above: A Microsoft Word document open for editing in Libre Office Writer.

 

Above: This newsletter (HTML document) open for editing in Libre Office Portable. 

Above: You can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, databases, HTML (web page) documents and more using Libre Office Portable.

Above: Presentation backgrounds. Libre Office Portable can create and work with Windows PowerPoint presentations.

Finally, not only can you open most Microsoft documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases etc., but you can save in most Microsoft formats as well:

Above: We created a text document and we can save it as Microsoft Word (docx) or any of the other formats you see in the screenshot above.

Now a word from the developers who have obviously toiled long and hard making this exceptional program:

LibreOffice Portable is a full-featured portable version of LibreOffice – including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database – packaged as a portable app, so you can take all your documents and everything you need to work with them wherever you go. It is packaged in PortableApps.com format so it can work with the PortableApps.com platform and its automatic updater and app store, work with other portable menus, or work by itself from a USB, cloud or local drive. And it is open source and completely free.

OK - This is one fine free office suite. Is it as good as Microsoft Office - nope...but it is very good and really cheap (free in fact). If you don't want to give Microsoft any more of your hard earned money but want to be able to open and create Microsoft Office documents, we think you'll be very happy with Libre Office Portable - the office suite you can put on a flash drive and take it with you. Or just put in on your hard drive if you want. It works where you put it.

Now, go forth and read more about and/or download LibreOfficePortable.

If you have a slow internet connection you might want to plan on watching a movie while this downloads - it's about 168 MB. Just sayin'.

We tested it on April 26, 2018 and found it to be a very nice free office suite. And being portable, you can take it with you.

EB thinks she is my office sweet, but she is not I tells ya!