Featured Articles - The Best of How-To Geek

The How-To Geek Guide to Buying an HDTV

The HDTV market is loaded with high prices, jargon, and more than a few pitfalls for the uneducated consumer. Save your money, spare yourself a headache, and get the best bang for your buck with our detailed HDTV buying guide...

How to Use Offline Files in Windows to Cache Your Networked Files Offline

The problem with storing all your files on a file server or networked machine is that when you leave the network, how are you going to access your files? Instead of using a VPN or Dropbox, you can use the Offline Files featur...

Taylor Gibb Nov 29th, 2011

30 Great Photoshop Tips and Tricks to Help Your Computer Graphic Skills

Photoshop is a powerful, but complex, graphics program that can be difficult to learn and frustrating to use. We have published many articles about tips and tricks for using Photoshop and how to fix annoying issues you may en...

Lori Kaufman Nov 19th, 2011

How to Make the Kindle Fire Silk Browser Actually Fast!

Not that long ago, we reviewed the Kindle Fire, and one of our biggest complaints was how lousy the browser is—but we’ve discovered the trick to making it actually fast. Here’s how to fix it.

Lowell Heddings Nov 17th, 2011

How to Reset Your Windows Password Without an Install CD

If you’ve forgotten your Windows password and you don’t have an install CD laying around, there’s no need to worry. Not only are there half a dozen complicated ways to reset the password, you can do it easily with the O...

How to Rename Internet Explorer to Firefox/Chrome Downloader

Now that Internet Explorer has officially dropped below 50% market share, it’s high time that we rename it to a more fitting title: Google Chrome Downloader, or if you prefer, Firefox Downloader.

The Painless Way to Ditch Your Old Windows XP for a More Secure Linux

Windows XP just isn’t secure anymore! If the expense of the new Windows operating systems is too great, here’s an easy and painless way to get a completely free Linux, keep your old Windows XP installation, and start surf...

Online Safety: Why You Should Give Up Windows XP For Good (Updated)

Most geeks will tell you it’s well past time to get rid of XP and upgrade to newer, safer operating systems. It can be tough to explain, so keep reading this list of real world reasons to let XP go.

The 20 Best Windows 7 Start Menu and Taskbar Tips and Tricks

If you have moved from Windows XP to Windows 7, it might take some time to get used to the new Start menu and Taskbar. Here is a list of useful tips to help you make the most of each.

Lori Kaufman Oct 23rd, 2011

How to Reinstall Windows Without Having to Reactivate

Note: we aren’t going to cover how to reinstall Windows, since you should know how to do that already. This article just covers backing up and restoring your activation.

Taylor Gibb Oct 21st, 2011

How To Make Ghosts In Photoshop or GIMP

Halloween is fast approaching, so why not use this how-to and haunt your friends? A few minutes Photoshop or GIMP handiwork, and you can be making scary pictures to send to everybody you know. Keep reading!...

Eric Z Goodnight Oct 19th, 2011

The 20 Best Registry Hacks to Improve Windows

Hacking the registry allows you to tweak many things in Windows, such as the adding and removing items from the context menu, enabling and disabling Windows features, customizing the Control Panel, and many other items....

Lori Kaufman Oct 15th, 2011

How to Install Android on Your HP Touchpad

What’s better than a $100 tablet? A $100 tablet that can run two operating systems! The TouchPad was a great bargain and now that you’ve figured out webOS, try Android. Here’s how to install it in 3 easy st...

Justin Garrison Oct 14th, 2011

Online Safety: Who Says Macs Don’t Get Viruses?

Lots of people say “ Don’t worry about viruses, just get a Mac.” Is this advice on the level? Let’s take a look at the history of Macintosh security, and learn what we can from the Mac.

Eric Z Goodnight Oct 12th, 2011

How To Anonymize and Encrypt Your BitTorrent Traffic

Whether you’re trying to dodge an angry government, a connection throttling ISP, or the watchful gaze of media conglomerates, anonymizing and encrypting your BitTorrent traffic can help. Read on to learn how....

Jason Fitzpatrick Oct 11th, 2011

3 Easy Tips to Fix Ugly Edges When Removing Backgrounds

If you cut out a lot of objects from photographs, chances are you’ve run across a few rough, ugly looking edges. They can be easy fixes, and here’s three great (GIMP friendly) tips to help in three different scenarios....

Eric Z Goodnight Oct 10th, 2011

Best Windows 7 Explorer Tips and Tricks

Windows Explorer in Windows 7 has been significantly changed and improved since the days of Vista and XP. This article provides some of the more useful tips and tricks for getting the most out of Explorer....

Lori Kaufman Oct 8th, 2011

How to Uninstall or Remove Windows 8 From Your Dual-Boot Setup

So far we have shown you how to setup a classic dual-boot for Windows 8, and we even showed you how to do it without creating a new partition. If you still aren’t sold on the new version of Windows, here’s how to ...

Taylor Gibb Oct 4th, 2011

What is Arduino? Learn About This Open-Source Electronics Platform

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. Today we will help you get started by showing you some of the options available and how easy it is to get starte...

Justin Garrison Oct 3rd, 2011

Online Safety: Understanding Hackers, Phishers, and Cybercriminals

Have you ever been the victim of identity theft? Ever been hacked? Here’s the first in a series of critical information to help you arm yourself against the surprisingly frightening world of hackers, phishers, and cybercrim...

Eric Z Goodnight Sep 28th, 2011

How to Enable the Hidden Windows 7 Admin Account Using the Registry

Imagine you have a Windows PC with a single user account, and you just lost your password. Here’s how to enable the hidden Administrator account with nothing more than the install CD and some registry hacking magic so you c...

Omar Hafiz Sep 28th, 2011

Ask HTG: Enabling Aero in VirtualBox, RAID Array Disk Overhead, and RAW Processing Without Photoshop

Once a week we round up some of the interesting questions you guys mail in, answer them, and share them with the greater readership. This week we’re looking at how to enable Aero in VirtualBox, figuring out how much overhea...

Jason Fitzpatrick Sep 26th, 2011

How to Dual Boot Windows 7 and 8 Without Re-Partitioning (Using VHD)

We’ve already shown you the classic method of dual booting Windows 8, but that requires tweaking your partitions. If that’s something you’re not ready for, here’s how to use a virtual hard drive (VHD)...

Taylor Gibb Sep 26th, 2011

How To Monitor and Log Your Bandwidth Usage with Tomato

Enforcement of broadband caps is on the rise. Whether you’ve received a warning letter from your ISP or you just curious and want to keep an eye on things, this tutorial will show you how you can monitor, log, and save your...

Jason Fitzpatrick Sep 20th, 2011

Hardware Upgrade: How To Install A New Hard Drive, Pt 2, Troubleshooting

Last week we took a look at some of the basics to installing and upgrading a hard disk in your PC. This week, we’re going to look at the many problems that pop up when install a new drive.

Eric Z Goodnight Sep 20th, 2011