How-To Geek

Most people don’t realize this, but when your PC gets infected from browsing a web site, it’s not usually because of your browser—it’s because of your plugins, like Flash, Java, and others. They are sadly insecure, but Google Chrome has a built-in option to make your PC much safer.

Windows 7 has a ton of great features, most of which are really obvious—but there’s also some great features hidden away that you might not know even exist. One of these is that Windows 7 can automatically change your default printer based on which network you’re connected to.

When reader Artem wrote in with this tip, I was pretty surprised—turns out you can paste images from the clipboard directly into Gmail with Ctrl+V or the context menu… but only in Firefox 4 at the moment. In Google Chrome, it works a little differently.

The best thing about Firefox is that it’s incredibly customizable, but have you ever wondered how much of a price all those add-ons take? Here’s how to see which add-ons slow down Firefox startup time the most.

If your PC is infected with the Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 malware or something similar, you’ve come to the right place, because we’re going to show you how to get rid of it, and free your PC from the awful clutches of this insidious malware (and many others)

Everybody loves a good prank… unless you are the one on the receiving end of the fun. It’s time to hone your pranking skills, not just to make sure you are the best, but so you can avoid being pranked by others.

The upcoming version of OS X, also known as “Lion”, has a new feature that many people hate—scrolling on the trackpad is reversed, just like an iPad or iPhone. If you want this feature in Windows, it’s as simple as can be.

Everybody always tells you to make sure that you are backing up your PC, but what does that really mean? And what files do you actually need to backup? Today we’ll walk you through the basics of backing up your PC, what you should back up, and why.

A few months ago, we sent our ubergeeky writer Justin down to a Samsung event to check out their new line of Smart TVs, where he also created a video showing off how their search feature works. It’s worth watching, if for no other reason than to see how well he did.

If you’re a fan of the great American author H.P. Lovecraft, this is a must-download. And if you’ve never read his work, here’s your chance—there’s versions that should work on almost every e-reader device.

Firefox 4 has finally been released, and while it looks an awful lot like Opera, there’s no question that it’s faster, better, and an all-around great upgrade from 3.6. Here’s a couple of highlights.

Hopefully you’ve got some automated backups for your PC. If not, you should really start doing so.

You might not realize this, but there’s actually another icon hidden inside the Google Chrome executable file—and it’s a high-quality version of the same logo, but golden. Here’s how to use it.

Everybody’s got that family member… the one that wants to jump in and help fix a PC, but screws it up every time.

From the “It’s about time” department: Twitter has finally joined Facebook and Gmail with a new “Always Use HTTPS” option in the preferences. If you use the twitter.com site, you should enable it right now.

Microsoft has released the final version of Internet Explorer 9, and there’s just one question you should be asking yourself: Should I bother installing it? Here’s everything you need to know about the latest release of Microsoft’s infamous browser.

Clearly they should have switched their servers to Linux.

Have you ever had to work on a PC from somebody who smokes? Open it up, and it’s just covered in dust. Very important to bring some compressed air with you.

By the end of the year, this is going to be me.

There should really be an app for that.

Want to rip a DVD to your hard drive, but don’t have a software package to do it? How-To Geek readers can get the normally non-free MacX DVD Ripper Pro for free, but only if you download your copy and install it before Saturday. Here’s how to get it.