Troubleshooting Articles - How-To Geek

Shutting Down Doesn’t Fully Shut Down Windows 10 (But Restarting Does)

When you click “Shut Down” on your Windows 10 PC, Windows doesn’t fully shut down. It hibernates the kernel, saving its state so it can boot faster. If you’re experiencing computer problems and need to...

Not Getting macOS Notifications? Here’s How to Fix It (Without Rebooting)

Craig Lloyd Apr 17th

What is Firmware or Microcode, and How Can I Update My Hardware?

Firmware is a type of software that runs on a hardware device, performing low-level tasks. For example, everything from a television remote control to a computer hard drive to an aerial drone runs its own firmware. And microc...

How to Get Refunds for Apps and Games

Some app and game stores offer refunds for digital purchases, and some don’t. For example, you can get refunds for Android and iPhone apps, or PC games you purchase from Steam or elsewhere.

How to Fix “The Driver Being Installed Is Not Validated For This Computer” on Intel Computers

Chris Hoffman Mar 12th

Troubleshoot Browsing Issues by Reloading the DNS Client Cache on Windows

Chris Hoffman Mar 9th

How to Disable Your iPhone’s CPU Throttling in iOS 11.3

Apple has come under fire recently for admitting that they throttle CPU speeds on iPhones with old batteries. After a fair amount of pressure from both the media and customers, the company is including a way to disable this t...

What Are All Those NVIDIA Processes Running in the Background?

If you’ve installed NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience software, you’ll see quite a few NVIDIA processes running in the background on your PC. We counted ten separate processes in our Windows Task Manager. But what...

Why Is My Internet So Slow?

There are many reasons your Internet connection might appear slow. It could be a problem with your modem or router, Wi-Fi signal, signal strength on your cable line, devices on your network saturating your bandwidth, or even ...

How to Fix a Blank White Screen When Setting Up the HomePod

Craig Lloyd Feb 10th

What Is “parentalcontrolsd”, and Why Is It Running on My Mac?

Justin Pot Feb 7th

What to Do When Your Hard Drive Fails

Like every piece of hardware, hard drives can fail. Mechanical hard drives in particular have moving parts that can (and eventually will) stop working. Even solid-state drives, which have no moving parts, can fail. Every driv...

How to Recover From a Bad GPU Driver Update

Michael Crider Feb 2nd

How to Create the Ultimate USB Key Ring to Solve Any Computer Problem

If you’re “the computer guy” (or girl) to your friends and family, you’re probably asked to diagnose and fix their problems on a regular basis. If you can’t stand to tell them to leave you alone,...

What Are “Right to Repair” Laws, and What Do They Mean for You?

Ever wonder why it’s so difficult to repair a smartphone, computer, or game console yourself? It’s no accident: companies make them that way. But thanks to “Right to Repair” legislation, it could get a...

What Is the “commerce” Process, and Why Is It Running on My Mac?

Justin Pot Jan 29th

How to Fix Android MMS Issues on Cricket Wireless

Cameron Summerson Jan 26th

What Is nsurlstoraged, and Why Is It Running on my Mac?

Justin Pot Jan 25th

How to Reset the DNS Cache on macOS

Justin Pot Jan 24th

All the Ways You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free

Windows 10’s free upgrade offer is over, according to Microsoft. But this isn’t completely true. There are a bunch of ways you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free and get a legitimate license, or just install...

What Is UserEventAgent, and Why Is It Running on My Mac?

Justin Pot Jan 17th

What Is mDNSResponder, And Why Is It Running On My Mac?

Justin Pot Jan 12th

What Is configd, and Why Is It Running On My Mac?

Justin Pot Jan 3rd

How to Fix a Stuck or Repeating Key on Your Mechanical Keyboard

Michael Crider Jan 3rd

How to Fix Blank Google Maps In Chrome

Michael Crider Jan 2nd