Rick Broida - Author - PC World Australia

Stories by Rick Broida

Article | 19/05/2009 Three ways to install Windows 7 on a netbook

By now you know that you can download the Windows 7 Release Candidate free of charge from Microsoft and use it for nearly a year.

Article | 13/11/2008 Save ink and paper every time you print

Here's a quick trick to cut down on printer consumables: downsize your output so that two pages fit on single sheet of paper.("Honey, I shrunk the Wor...

Article | 14/05/2009 Check the strength of your password

A good password can mean the difference between identity safety and identity theft. Unfortunately, too many otherwise intelligent people rely on ridic...

Article | 13/05/2009 Fast-and-easy Linux

Want to resurrect an old PC that's collecting dust? Wish you could insta-boot your laptop or netbook for a quick peek at your e-mail or a Web page? Pr...

Article | 13/05/2009 Turn photos into wall-size posters

Looking for a dirt-cheap way to add art to a wall? Rasterbator is a free tool that turns any image into mammoth, "rasterized" posters.

Article | 29/04/2009 Cheap printing: 5 ways to save bucks on ink and paper

Nobody likes buying more printer ink. Follow these tips and you won't have to do it nearly so often.

Article | 28/04/2009 Turn your caps-lock key into a mute button

Ever wish you could mute your PC's speakers an in instant, like when the phone rings and you need to silence your iTunes tunes? Granted, some keyboard...

Article | 28/04/2009 Four online alternatives to Microsoft Encarta

As you may have heard, Microsoft plans to pull the plug on the Encarta Web sites and software later this year. Bummer! I can't say I used the service ...

Article | 15/04/2009 Disk Defrag Help From Hassle-Free PC

For the last couple months I've been troubleshooting a vexing problem on my new quad-core HP desktop: Roughly once per week, the machine would start r...

Article | 17/04/2009 Automatically restore open folders after a reboot

Windows doesn't have a very good memory. I mean, when I reboot my system, it doesn't even remember the folders I had open!

Article | 14/04/2009 Turning off disk defragmenter may solve a sluggish PC (Part 2)

When we last left our intrepid blogger (way back on Friday), he'd pointed the finger at Vista's Disk Defragmenter and cried, "J'accuse!"

Article | 11/04/2009 Turning off disk defragmenter may solve a sluggish PC

For the last couple months I've been troubleshooting a vexing problem on my new quad-core HP desktop: Roughly once per week, the machine would start r...

Article | 15/04/2009 Solve Common PC Problems with Microsoft 'Fix Its'

Microsoft's Knowledge Base</a> is a treasure trove of helpful information regarding common hardware and software problems.

Article | 26/03/2009 Cheap HDTV and home theater tricks

Entertainment doesn't have to be expensive, even with a large HDTV and great content.

Article | 20/03/2009 Make paper documents digital without a scanner

Drowning in paper? Don't have time to feed hundreds of documents into your scanner? A Web service called Pixily will turn your hard copies into electr...