Rich Hein
Florida
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Articles by Rich Hein
Windows won't let you fix these 3 annoyances without PowerShell
Windows 11 is still my go-to operating system, but using it sometimes feels like a constant tug of war between how I want to work and how Microsoft thinks I should work. I like Windows, I know my way around it, and it fits my workflow better than the alternatives. What frustrates me is how often Microsoft gives me plenty of ways to customize the little things while making some of the bigger annoyances much harder to change.
These 3 Windows settings made my old PC feel new again
Windows is the OS I use every day, even though it does plenty of things I don't like. I've tried switching to Linux more than once, and I keep finding reasons to give it another shot, but I always end up back on Windows. For all its faults, it still works best with the apps, hardware, and workflow that I rely on every day. What frustrates me most, however, is when my Windows PC starts feeling sluggish. I spend most of my day at my computer, and small delays add up quickly.
Why you shouldn't use Roku, Tubi, and Pluto TV the exact same way
I pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime, but I still spend most of my time watching free streaming services. We keep Netflix largely because my wife despises commercials, while I use the other benefits of Amazon Prime throughout the year and treat Prime Video as a bonus. The bottom line, however, is that when I’m choosing something for myself, I usually end up opening Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, or Tubi.
I asked Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini to build a password generator—one outperformed the others
Price $20 Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic. It can assist with a wide range of tasks—writing, coding, analysis, research, and more. Unlike a search engine, Claude reasons through problems conversationally, making it useful as a thinking partner rather than just an information retrieval tool. Expand Collapse
4 free tools I keep on my USB drive to fix any Windows PC
I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit diagnosing stubborn Windows problems: sluggish laptops, desktop crashes, weird startup behavior, you name it. Over the years, I’ve used plenty of different tools, from flashy “PC optimizers” that promise too much, to hidden system utilities that actually deliver. What I’ve learned is that many of the best ones are lightweight, reliable, and give you a clear view of what’s really happening under the hood, so to speak.
Linux doesn't force me to use the terminal—these 3 tools prove it
I'm still a novice Linux user, but the more time I spend with it, the more I like it. What started as a way to keep an older PC useful has turned into something I genuinely enjoy using. Linux feels faster, more flexible, and far less intimidating than I expected, especially now that I've found applications that make the desktop experience feel more complete. That said, I'm still not a fan of opening the terminal for everyday tasks.
Microsoft killed my OptiPlex with Windows 11, so I gave it a better job instead
I grew up in the arcade era, when the best games weren't sitting on a TV stand or buried in a digital library. They were in pizza shops, bowling alleys, mall arcades, and movie theater lobbies. I spent a lot of time around those machines, and over the years I've owned more than a few arcade games and pinball machines myself. So when I had an aging Dell OptiPlex 9020 sitting around, I didn't see a useless old office PC. I saw the heart of an old-school arcade cabinet.
GitHub is no longer the best place to host your code
For years, GitHub was the default place to host code. If you were starting a new project, contributing to open source, or just needed somewhere to keep a repository, GitHub was usually the obvious choice. It had an enormous community, the strongest network effect, and most of the tools developers expected were already built around it. That's no longer the whole story.
I fired Claude after forcing it to build a private, self-hosted replacement
Paying for Claude feels fine until you start doing real work with it. The per-token costs through the API climb faster than most people expect, rate limits cut you off at the worst moments, and every prompt you write travels through infrastructure you don't control. You should take the time to learn how to replace that setup entirely with a local, self-hosted alternative. It runs on your own hardware, costs nothing per query, and keeps everything on your machine.
Searching PDF manuals is miserable. I turned AI into an expert on my gear
Price $20 Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic. It can assist with a wide range of tasks—writing, coding, analysis, research, and more. Unlike a search engine, Claude reasons through problems conversationally, making it useful as a thinking partner rather than just an information retrieval tool. Expand Collapse
I gave Ubuntu another chance, and now I'm tempted to leave Zorin OS behind
Early this year, I installed Zorin OS on a couple of older PCs that originally ran Windows 10, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed. The desktop felt familiar enough that I could start using Linux without feeling like I had to relearn everything. Before long, it stopped feeling like an experiment and became something I actually enjoy using. As I got more comfortable with Linux, though, I started wondering what I might be missing.
I gave Ubuntu another chance, and now I'm tempted to leave Zorin OS behind
Gaming 1 hour ago Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced reviews show remake fatigue has well and truly set in Polygon - Oli Welsh • 1h Critics are unanimous: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, first released in 2013, is a great game, one of the very best in Ubisoft's massively popular series. And most of them are happy to have it back in a new remake, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Pluto TV brought back something I didn't realize I missed from cable
I spend most of my workday in front of a screen. I'm developing projects, reading, editing, writing, and making decisions for hours at a time. Since I work from home and my wife doesn't, the end of my workday usually means feeding and walking the dogs, making dinner, and getting things ready for the next morning. We have a little 12-inch screen in the kitchen that can access just about every streaming platform, but I'm rarely looking for something new to watch.
The Slate Truck changed what I want from my next vehicle
I've been a gearhead for as long as I can remember, with a particular weakness for muscle cars, motorcycles, trucks, and anything that feels a little different. The problem is that most of the new vehicles I find exciting today, including Rivians, Corvettes, Teslas, and Hemi-powered vehicles, cost far more than I'm willing to spend. That is one reason I've held on to my 2003 Suburban for more than a decade.
Ollama is the open-source app that finally made free local AI useful on my PC
I recently wrote about buying a mini-PC for under $300 and using it to run a local LLM. I expected that process to be interesting, but I also expected it to feel a little rough around the edges. Local AI has always sounded useful in theory, but it also carried a lot of baggage. You had to think about system requirements, model sizes, command-line tools, and whether your computer was actually powerful enough to do anything meaningful. What surprised me was how approachable it had become.
Don't buy a new car until you've asked these 4 tech questions
A new car is already a big enough decision before you start thinking about apps, subscriptions, software updates, and trial features. I was reminded of that recently when my mother-in-law needed to replace her car. She had bought a hybrid a year earlier, and unfortunately, it gave her enough problems that she was ready to move on. So I was enlisted to help with the search.
Google's Gemma AI runs locally on my $300 mini PC, and it replaced ChatGPT for more than I expected
AI tools can be useful, but the costs add up quickly once you start looking beyond the free versions. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other platforms all have their strengths, but paying for multiple subscriptions just to get the best parts of each one isn't something most people are going to do casually. There’s also the privacy side of it.
I asked Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini to build the same browser extension, and one outperformed the others
AI tools have become a normal part of my daily workflow, but I’ve noticed one small problem that keeps coming up: some prompts are worth saving. I reuse certain prompts for data analysis, research, formatting, brainstorming, and internal work tools. Digging through old chats to find them isn’t exactly efficient. So I decided to build something I’d actually use: a simple Chrome extension for saving, organizing, and reusing prompts from the browser.
PowerToys replaced tools I used to install on every Windows PC
I've been using Raycast for Windows since shortly after the public beta launched last November, and I still think it's a good program. It gave Windows the kind of fast app launcher and command bar experience I'd been missing, especially when I wanted to open apps, jump into actions, or avoid digging through menus. For a while, it felt like one of those small utilities I'd automatically install on every Windows PC I used.
This Linux distro finally makes switching from Windows feel natural
We’ve all heard plenty about the end of Windows 10 support, but that deadline feels a lot more real when you look around your own house and realize you still have a perfectly usable PC or two that can’t make the jump to Windows 11. That was the spot I found myself in. These weren’t dead computers, but they also weren’t machines I wanted to leave stranded on an unsupported version of Windows forever. I’ve dual-booted Linux before, and I’ve used it for specific tasks when it made sense.
This Linux distro finally makes switching from Windows feel natural
11 hours ago Everyone is familiar with the necessary system restart after a software update, but how often do you actually restart something outside of those events or when you experience notable performance issues? For most people, probably not often. With Phones, laptops, and game consoles, it's easier to put …
I used Windows 11 exactly the way Microsoft wanted, and it drove me crazy
I've spent years pushing back against the way Microsoft wants me to use Windows. I usually change the default browser, clean up the Start menu, keep OneDrive from taking over my files, work around Windows Search, and generally try to make Windows feel like my computer instead of another doorway into Microsoft's services. On my main work machine, I even run MSEdgeRedirect because I'm tired of Windows sending certain system links to Edge after I've already chosen a different browser.
I tried 3 free apps to see what was using my internet connection, but only one let me take control
I started looking at network-monitoring tools because my home network has become more crowded than I realized. This isn't just one desktop plugged into a router anymore. I have multiple Roku TVs, an Xbox, an Alexa speaker, a Fire TV Stick, several iPads and phones, and around four PCs online at any given time. I also have a Mac I use for music production that can download updates and content in the background.
I stopped paying for creator apps after finding these 4 open-source tools
I've been creating content for more than 20 years, and the tools have changed a lot in that time. In many ways, they're better than ever. It's easier to record a screen, capture video, clean up a rough audio track, cut together a simple edit, and get a file into the format I need. The problem is that many of the tools built for that work have also gotten more expensive, especially as more companies have moved toward subscriptions.
NVIDIA's ARM chipset and early Wi-Fi 8 routers: How-To Geek's favorite tech of Computex 2026
Unlike CES or MWC, which are fairly consumer-focused trade shows, the annual Computex Taipei event is traditionally a "B2B" affair. Boring! Still, we made a point to attend, and it's a good thing we did. Some of the greatest tech innovations of 2026 (or maybe even the decade) made their debut during Computex, including a few surprises that may completely change how the average person interacts with computers at a fundamental level.
Your Logitech keyboard has a hidden automation tool, and it can save you time every day
I have many PCs in my home. Most run Windows, some run macOS, and a few run Linux, but the common thread across them all is that I typically end up on a Logitech wireless keyboard. The exception is when I'm sitting down for a longer writing session, where I prefer to use a mechanical keyboard. That's not because it's the fanciest keyboard I own. It's because it's easy, familiar, and already sitting where I need it.
This Bluetooth speaker was e-waste until I fixed it for $20
Beach season comes early in Florida, and when I started taking inventory of our usual beach gear, I realized we were missing something we use all the time: a decent portable Bluetooth speaker. I could have just bought a new Bluetooth speaker and been done with it, but I wasn't in a rush. I figured I'd keep an eye out and see what turned up. That weekend, my wife and I were making our usual rounds through a few local consignment stores when I spotted an old ION Tailgater Flash Bluetooth speaker.
These free, open source Linux apps made expensive creative software harder to justify
I'm primarily a Windows user, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But like a lot of people, I had a few perfectly good Windows machines that couldn't officially upgrade to Windows 11 despite having no obvious performance problems. They weren't broken, slow, or useless. They had just fallen on the wrong side of Microsoft's requirements. So I installed Zorin OS on a couple of them, mostly as a way to keep decent hardware from becoming e-waste. The result was better than I expected.
This $60 multimeter has saved me from so many bad repair guesses
I've always been the kind of DIYer who ends up with a lot of weird problems to solve. Between cars, motorcycles, vintage arcade games, pinball machines, guitars, and the endless list of things that break when you own a home with a small farm, there's always something that needs attention. The real value of a multimeter isn't that it fixes anything by itself. It doesn't. What it does is stop me from guessing.
Don't pay for another AI app until you try these free alternatives
I have subscription fatigue, and if you're like most people, you probably do too. It feels like every useful AI feature now comes with a price tag attached to it, and those costs add up fast. I've paid for more than a few AI platforms, but I'm much less likely to do that now. Before I subscribe to anything, I try to figure out whether I've actually outgrown the free tools I already have access to. In some cases, I have. Most of the time, I haven't.
Stop paying for antivirus software, Windows already has what most people need
I've been using Windows long enough to remember when installing antivirus software felt like one of the first things you had to do on a new PC. You set up Windows, installed your browser, and then immediately went looking for something to protect the whole thing before you did anything even slightly risky online. It wasn't paranoia, either.
Stop blaming your router, Windows is likely eating your bandwidth
There have been plenty of times when my Windows PC has felt slow online, and my first instinct is usually to blame the connection. I'll run a speed test, which is easier now that Windows can surface a speed test from search, and check whether I'm actually getting the speed that I'm paying for. If the numbers look off, the next move is obvious: reboot the PC, reset the Wi-Fi router and modem, and hope the problem clears itself up. Sometimes, that works.
I finally understand why vibe coding is pulling people into programming
I've been tinkering with development since the '90s, starting with HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and whatever else I could get running long enough to build something useful. I was never a full-time developer, but I knew enough to understand the basic logic of how things worked. The problem is that those skills atrophy when you're not using them every day. Syntax gets rusty. Tools change.
I stopped dual-booting Linux once Windows finally got the command line right
I'm mainly a Windows user, but I've always kept one foot in Linux. For years, that meant having at least one laptop set up to dual-boot Windows and Linux, just in case I needed a real Linux environment for a specific project, experiment, or troubleshooting job. I still use Linux that way in other places, too. Zorin OS and Linux Mint are great for keeping older Windows PCs useful long after Windows itself starts feeling too heavy for them.
I bought a barebones mini PC to reuse an old SSD, and it’s the smartest tech choice I've made all year
A few years ago, I bought a Beelink SEi8 mini PC, and it has turned out to be one of those pieces of hardware I appreciate more over time. It's not my main desktop, and I'm not pretending it's some tiny workstation that can chew through video edits or high-end gaming. Most of the time, it runs as a media PC and lightweight server for things like Plex and a handful of other apps. But that's exactly why I like it.
I tried replacing Google Search with Perplexity Comet. There was a clear winner
Google Search is still one of the tools I use every single day. I use it for work, for quick personal lookups, for checking sources, for finding product pages, and for answering the random questions that come up throughout the day. But over the past few years, it has started to feel a lot heavier than it used to. There are more ads to scan past, more boxes competing for attention, and now more AI-generated summaries sitting above the traditional list of links. That doesn't make Google useless.
Windows felt slow until I realized the problem wasn't my hardware
I'm the tech guy in my family, which means I regularly get asked to look at PCs that have "gotten slow." Sometimes that means an aging laptop really does need more RAM, a better SSD, or to be replaced altogether. Hardware absolutely matters, and there are plenty of cases where no amount of cleanup is going to make an old machine feel new again. But over time, I've also found that a lot of Windows PCs that feel slow aren't actually being held back by the hardware.
This $50 soldering iron saved more of my old gear than I expected
I'm lucky enough to have a handful of hobbies that all seem to leave broken gear in their wake. I'm a musician, a video gamer, a pinball enthusiast, and a homeowner. I deal with bad cables, loose wires, scratchy jacks, questionable connections, old electronics, and gear that looks dead long before it really is. Somewhere along the way, my soldering iron became one of those essential tools I reach for all the time, right up there with my multimeter.
Your PC is uploading Windows updates to strangers. Here's how to stop it
I don't think Microsoft is doing anything evil here. Windows isn't uploading my personal files, and this isn't some sketchy background process pretending to be useful. It's a real Windows feature called Delivery Optimization, and the idea is simple enough: your PC can help distribute Windows updates and Microsoft Store app updates to other PCs so everyone gets them faster. But that doesn't mean I love it. This is still my internet connection, my data, and my upload bandwidth.
Microsoft Cares About Your Privacy Microsoft killed these 3 Windows features and I still want them back
Rich Hein It's no secret that I'm a Windows user, although Linux is catching up fast in my house. I've been using Windows since the Windows for Workgroups days, so I've lived through more Start menu redesigns, control panel reshuffles, and "future of computing" experiments than I can count. I'm not someone who thinks every older version of Windows was automatically better. In a lot of ways, modern Windows is more stable, more secure, and more capable than it has ever been.
Microsoft killed these 3 Windows features and I still want them back
It's no secret that I'm a Windows user, although Linux is catching up fast in my house. I've been using Windows since the Windows for Workgroups days, so I've lived through more Start menu redesigns, control panel reshuffles, and "future of computing" experiments than I can count. I'm not someone who thinks every older version of Windows was automatically better. In a lot of ways, modern Windows is more stable, more secure, and more capable than it has ever been.
I used Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude to summarize a 121-page PDF and one crushed the others
AI is already working its way into the average office worker's day, whether that means cleaning up emails, organizing notes, explaining confusing language, or making a giant document less painful to deal with. And with so many AI tools and subscription tiers out there, the real question isn't whether AI can summarize something. It's whether the summary is good enough to trust. That's what I wanted to find out.
Your Fire TV collects more than just watch history, here’s how to stop it
I'm mostly a Roku and media PC user, so my Fire TV sticks aren't my primary setup. Still, I've got two Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max devices in the house, and after digging into what my Roku boxes were collecting, it felt worth taking a closer look at what Amazon was doing on its side. What I found wasn't shocking, but it was more than I expected. It's not just what you watch. It's how you use apps, what you interact with, and how that data feeds recommendations and ads.
This Chrome feature saves your AI prompts automatically, and most people don't know it exists
Like a lot of people working in tech, I've found AI creeping into more and more of my day. I'm summarizing long articles, cleaning up drafts, pulling key points out of research, and sanity-checking ideas before I move forward. The problem is, I kept using the same prompts over and over. Not just similar ones, the exact same instructions with small tweaks depending on the situation. That repetition adds up fast. It's not hard work, but it's constant friction.
Stop using third-party cleanup apps, Windows already has better built-in tools
Rich Hein We've all been there. Your PC starts to feel sluggish, or you're staring at a "low storage" warning, and the first instinct is to reach for a third-party cleanup tool. I've done it more times than I'd like to admit. Install it, run a scan, watch a bunch of "issues" pop up, and hope it magically fixes everything. But here's the thing. Windows has gotten a lot better at handling this stuff on its own.
Stop using third-party cleanup apps, Windows already has better built-in tools
We've all been there. Your PC starts to feel sluggish, or you're staring at a "low storage" warning, and the first instinct is to reach for a third-party cleanup tool. I've done it more times than I'd like to admit. Install it, run a scan, watch a bunch of "issues" pop up, and hope it magically fixes everything. But here's the thing. Windows has gotten a lot better at handling this stuff on its own.
I ignored Windows Virtual Desktops for years, now I can't work without them
Windows Virtual Desktops have been around for years, and for most of that time, I completely ignored them. I assumed they were one of those features Microsoft added that sounded useful in theory but didn't really change how most people worked. I already had multiple monitors, plenty of screen space, and a workflow that felt good enough, so I never saw the point. That changed when I was working as a contractor juggling several projects for different clients at the same time.
I replaced PowerPoint with Canva, and I'm not going back
I originally found Canva while working on a website redesign and collaborating with people across the U.S. What started as a quick way to share visual ideas and mockups quickly turned into something I kept opening for everything else. I used it for concert posters when my band had local shows, personalized cards for my wife printed on nicer paper stock, and eventually presentations too.
Your Roku is tracking more than you think, here's how to limit it
; ; ; ; Continue reading More for You ; ; ; Continue reading More for You
Your Roku is tracking more than you think, here's how to limit it
I'm pretty deep in the Roku ecosystem at this point. Between multiple Roku TVs and a couple of media PCs, it's what I use every day for streaming. In fact, this is the second time I've written about Roku in recent weeks. Last time, I focused on features most people never touch. This time, I'm going in the opposite direction and looking at something I care about a lot more: privacy. I like Roku for how simple and reliable it is, but I'm not a fan of how much data it collects by default.
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