Maintenance & Optimization Articles

12 Family Tech Support Tips for the Holidays

The only certainties in life are death, taxes, and having to provide tech support for your relatives over the holidays because you “know computers.” Save yourself some time, and follow our 12-step plan to clean and secure eve…

Rob Woodgate Dec 13th, 2019

10 Quick Steps to Increase Mac Performance

Whether your Mac is running slow or you just want to squeeze some extra performance from your system, we have some quick solutions. Buying a shiny new Mac or upgrading your current Mac’s RAM aren’t the only options….

How to Migrate a Windows User to Different Windows 10 PC

Microsoft removed Easy Transfer from Windows 10, but you can still move user profiles between PCs. Microsoft accounts are easy to transfer; you can move files manually. Transwiz (free) and PCmover (paid) also do a good job….

Josh Hendrickson May 30th, 2019

How To Get the Most Out of Your Chromebook’s RAM

Chrome OS manages RAM differently than Windows or Mac computers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your workflow to make the most of your system’s potentially limited RAM. Here are some tips to help make your Chromeboo…

How to Update Your Chromebook

Chrome OS gets major updates every six weeks, with security patches coming more frequently. Updates are usually downloaded and installed automatically in the background, but here’s how to make sure your Chromebook is always …

Brady Gavin May 16th, 2019

Should You Clear the System Cache on Your Android Phone?

Some Android phones store temporary files used for things like OS updates in a cache partition. You may have seen recommendations across the web suggesting that you clear this partition from time to time—but is that a good …

Adam Doud May 16th, 2019

How to Kill Processes From the Linux Terminal

Killing a process is sometimes the only way to get rid of it. Despite the harsh name, “killing” a process just means “forcing it to quit.” Here’s how to do it from the Linux or macOS command line.

Dave McKay May 8th, 2019

How to Reboot or Shut Down Linux Using the Command Line

Feel like starting over? This tutorial will show you how to cleanly and safely reboot or shut down your Linux or macOS computer from the command line.

Dave McKay Apr 26th, 2019

How to Optimize USB Storage for Better Performance on Windows 10

According to Microsoft, Windows 10 no longer optimizes external storage devices for “better performance” as of the October 2018 Update. Instead, it optimizes them for “quick removal.” Here’s what that means—and how to chang…

Chris Hoffman Apr 8th, 2019

Windows Task Manager: The Complete Guide

The Windows Task Manager is a powerful tool packed with useful information, from your system’s overall resource usage to detailed statistics about each process. This guide explains every feature and technical term in the Task…

Chris Hoffman Mar 28th, 2019

Which Processes Can You Safely Quit in Activity Monitor on a Mac?

MacOS’s Activity Monitor will give you a list of all the apps you’re running, which is useful for closing down CPU-hungry processes. But it also throws in a bunch of system process, some of which may not be safe to quit. Here…

Anthony Heddings Mar 20th, 2019

How to Disable the Windows 10 Startup Delay

After Windows starts up, it waits about ten seconds before opening your startup programs. This “startup delay” lets your desktop and Windows services finish loading, making everything run a bit smoother. If you have apps you’…

Brady Gavin Feb 11th, 2019

How to Check the Status of AppleCare on your Apple Devices

No matter whether your Apple device is in its initial AppleCare warranty period or covered by AppleCare+, checking its current coverage can be the first step in getting a repair. Here’s how to check what’s covered, and what i…

Oliver Haslam Feb 7th, 2019

How to Roll Back a Driver in Windows

Updating a driver on your PC doesn’t always work out well. Sometimes, they introduce bugs or simply don’t run as well as the version they replaced. Luckily, Windows makes it easy to roll back to a previous driver in Windows …

Brady Gavin Feb 5th, 2019

How to Prevent Storage Sense From Deleting Your Downloaded Files on Windows 10

Storage Sense is the Disk Cleanup replacement for the modern world. It frees up space on your computer by deleting things like recycle bin contents, temporary internet files, and app temporary files. This also includes the Do…

Brady Gavin Jan 31st, 2019

How to Declutter Your Web Browser Bookmarks

Browser bookmarks can become a mess over time. Do you need bookmarks to hundreds of web pages you never visit? Here’s how to back up your bookmarks, purge them efficiently, and keep a more organized browser going forward….

Chris Hoffman Jan 31st, 2019

Looking for a Microsoft Signature Edition PC? Here’s What to Do Instead

Microsoft’s Signature Edition PCs were one of the Microsoft Store’s best offerings since Microsoft used a clean copy of Windows with no bloatware on these PCs. Microsoft no longer makes Signature Edition PCs, but you can turn…

Josh Hendrickson Jan 29th, 2019

How to Check Your iPhone’s Battery Health

iOS includes several useful tools for displaying how much battery life your iPhone has left, as well as which apps are consuming the most of your battery. However, none of these tools actually tell you anything about your b…

HTG Explains: What Are All Those Advanced Power Settings in Windows?

Windows has many “advanced power settings” you can adjust. These options let you choose between performance and battery life, control what Windows does when you have a critical battery level, and tweak what pressing the powe…

How to Use Mailbox Cleanup to Purge Your Outlook Folders of Rubbish

Mailbox Cleanup in Outlook is a set of tools designed to get rid of rubbish from your mailbox. You can use it to review the size of your mailbox, clean out items automatically by size and date, and perform a few other functio…

Rob Woodgate Oct 23rd, 2018

Don’t Upgrade to the Latest Operating Systems on Day One

Gone are the days of using the same unchanging operating system for years. Windows 10 is getting a significant upgrade every six months, and those updates break things. Even Apple keeps messing up with iPhone updates….