Trackballs Require Simple Routine Cleaning From some of the very first mice back in the 1960s well into the present, the most common type of mouse has been a roller-style mechanical computer mouse. This kind of mouse required routine cleaning because you were dragging them (and the weighted coated steel ball in the bottom of the mouse) across your desk constantly. Eventually, dust, stray hairs, and other lightweight debris would end up inside and wrapped around the tiny rollers that tracked the movement of the steel ball....

Converting color photos to black and white images that harken to the golden age of black and white photography is an art form. Read on as we show you how to capture the crisp contrast and mood of vintage photographs with today’s digital tools. Why Do I Want to Do This? Black and white photography is a really enjoyable genre of photography that gives you an opportunity to showcase a subject, scene, or other elements of your photo in a, proverbially speaking, new light....

You can always set up another conditional formatting rule in Google Sheets for one set of cells exactly the same as another. But why do the extra work? Here are a few ways you can copy your conditional formatting. Use the Format Painter By using the Format Painter in Google Sheets, you can easily copy your formatting in the same sheet or a different one in your workbook. Keep in mind that this method copies all of the formatting, not just the conditional rule....

It’s really easy to cast things like YouTube and Netflix videos from your Android phone to your Chromecast but what about video stored on your phone or even on your home network? Read on as we help a curious reader cast files from his phone to the big screen. You certainly picked the right time to want to expand your Chromecast horizons. Our favorite Android file explorer app ES File Explorer just recently updated and released a Chromecast plugin....

How to Enable Subtitles Under “Shop by Category,” click “Prime Video.” When the next menu populates, select “Prime Video” again. Once you’re on the main Prime Video page, select the show or movie you want to watch. After the show’s info populates, select “Watch Now.” After your movie or show has started, select the icon that looks like a chat bubble in the top-right corner. This will generate a drop-down menu that shows the content’s subtitles and audio settings....

Windows 10 sometimes uses encryption by default, and sometimes doesn’t—it’s complicated. Here’s how to check if your Windows 10 PC’s storage is encrypted and how to encrypt it if it isn’t. Encryption isn’t just about stopping the NSA—it’s about protecting your sensitive data in case you ever lose your PC, which is something everyone needs. Unlike all other modern consumer operating systems—macOS, Chrome OS, iOS, and Android—Windows 10 still doesn’t offer integrated encryption tools to everyone....

By default, Google Chrome automatically updates itself to make sure you’re running the safest and best optimized version of Chrome. Sometimes the auto-update process hiccups, however, and you need to manually adjust it. The process is more complicated than it should be, but don’t worry: we’re here to walk you through it. In case you can’t see the picture above, the full text of this error message is “Google Chrome or Google Chrome Frame cannot be updated due to inconsistent Google Update Policy settings....

The screen on your Android device switches between portrait and landscape mode in response to the way you hold the device when you run certain apps. Some devices, such as Google Nexus devices, the home screen switches screen orientation automatically by default. If you don’t want the screen to switch between portrait and landscape when you move the device, you can lock the screen orientation. To do this, swipe down from the right side of the top panel....

If you don’t want to turn on the A/C in your house, but want to at least keep the air flowing for a bit to reduce any stuffiness, here’s how to use the Nest Thermostat to manually run the fan from your HVAC system. RELATED: How to Install and Set Up the Nest Thermostat Most thermostats have a setting where you can run the HVAC fan only, but the customizations are rather limited, and you likely can only turn it on and off....

The Mission Control virtual desktops feature built into OS X is really nice, but the one annoyance is that moving windows to a different Space is a little tedious. You can right-click on the icon in the dock, but that’s hardly a solution. Here’s how to do it the easy way. RELATED: Mission Control 101: How to Use Multiple Desktops on a Mac Just so we’re all on the same page, normally you would use the three or four finger swipe up on the trackpad to activate Mission Control, and then drag a window to a new desktop....

If you often lose your tiny Windows 10 mouse pointer in your football-field-resolution display, there’s a way to quickly locate the wayward arrow by pressing the Ctrl key. Here’s how to turn it on. First, open the Start menu and type “mouse.” Then click the “Mouse settings” shortcut that appears. In Mouse settings, locate the “Related settings” section and click the “Additional mouse options” link. When the “Mouse Properties” window opens, click the “Pointer Options” tab and place a checkmark beside “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key....

Need to replace a word with another word, or quickly remove bits of text from a document? Just use search-and-replace — whatever application or browser you’re using, you already have an easy find-and-replace tool available to you. Copy-paste the text into one of the below applications and then copy-paste it into your original application later. You can usually step through the replacements one-by-one or click a “Replace All” button....

Want a more lightweight Steam experience than doesn’t use 400 MB of RAM just to display your game library? We’ll show you how to cut that RAM usage down to a cool 60 MB and get a more minimal Steam client. What Is Steam Client WebHelper? Steam, like many other modern applications, has a built-in web browser. This built-in web browser is named “Steam Client WebHelper” (steamwebhelper.exe). When you launch Steam, it normally launches multiple WebHelper processes in the background—we counted seven....

Whether you no longer have the HomeKit accessory in question or simply need to remove a phantom entry in your HomeKit home, it’s simple to do so—if you know where to look. Let’s remove a HomeKit device now and guide you through the process. In our case, we were having an issue with our Schlage Sense smart lock and decided to simply factory reset it before adding it back to our HomeKit home....

Windows can create “system image backups,” which are essentially complete images of your hard drive and all the files on it. Once you’ve got a system image backup, you can restore your system exactly as it was when you backed up, even if your installation is badly corrupted or completely gone. Windows contains many different backup tools. Most people won’t want to use this feature at all, and should just back up files with File History or another file-backup tool....

Netflix knows that you aren’t the only person using your account. The company has turned a mostly blind eye to password sharing, but you may still want to know who’s been logging into your account—especially if you think someone got access without your approval. Here’s how to find out who has logged in using your credentials. Open Netflix in your browser, hover over your profile icon in the top right corner, and click Account....

Starting with version 69, Chrome OS users can use Linux applications. This is a game changer for Chrome OS, as it opens a massive catalog of available software. Here’s how to get started. Before we get into the details, it’s worth mentioning that Linux apps aren’t yet available for every Chromebook that’s running version 69 or higher. There isn’t a definitive list available, so your mileage may vary. How to Enable Linux Apps on Chrome OS To get started, jump into your device’s Settings menu by clicking the system tray and then the “Settings” button....

Your operating system provides each user account with its own folders when you set up several different user accounts on the same computer. Shared folders allow you to share files between user accounts. This process works similarly on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. These are all powerful multi-user operating systems with similar folder and file permission systems. Windows RELATED: Why Every User On Your Computer Should Have Their Own User Account...

Bluetooth gives you the freedom to use devices like keyboards and headphones wirelessly, but it isn’t always reliable. If you run into any issues with Bluetooth in macOS, you can follow these steps to troubleshoot them. Basic First Steps Before you head to the Apple Store or start thinking about replacements, follow some of these more common troubleshooting steps first. Many times, the most basic steps can resolve a Bluetooth connectivity issue....

Sound engineers take really sterile tracks and make them sound natural through audio effects. The most common tools to do this are delay/echo and reverb, and with some know-how you can tweak your own tracks for the better. All of these effects work to help make audio sound better, deeper, and more natural. They’re also used as aesthetic effects, too, and understanding how they work will help you use them to their utmost potential....