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Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anker's Excellent Thunderbolt 5 Dock Is 15% Off Today
If you're looking for a high-end desktop dock for your laptop, then the Anker Prime TB5 Docking Station is a great deal right now. The Thunderbolt 5 hub is on sale right now for $340 from Anker's online store and Amazon, a discount of $60 (15%) from the usual price. This docking station has a whopping 15 ports, including 10 Gbps USB Type-A and USB Type-C ports, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, a headphone/microphone combo jack, Ethernet LAN, and two downstream Thunderbolt ports. It can also charge the connected PC at up to 140W, which means most laptops won't require a separate power connection while using the dock. With this dock, you can have a multi-monitor setup with a keyboard, mouse, extra storage, wired networking, and other connections all running through a single cable. Even though it's built for Thunderbolt 5, it also supports Mac and Windows laptops with Thunderbolt 4 and USB4—you'll just be limited to whatever data bandwidth your PC can handle. My review of the Anker Prime TB5 Docking Station was published a week ago here at How-To Geek, and the dock lived up to its claims in my testing. The only issues I had were the limited USB speeds on the downstream Thunderbolt ports, and the high price—this sale fixes the second problem. You can buy the Anker dock from Amazon or Anker's online store. Both listings are priced at $340, but the Anker page requires entering the WS7DV23H75OL promo code at checkout to get the discount
New York Times
27-02-2025
- New York Times
How to Make Your Old Computer Feel New Again
Rozette Rago/NYT Wirecutter Over time, dust can build up inside a computer, making it run hotter and feel slower. We have a detailed guide to cleaning laptops (and How-To Geek has one for desktops), but the gist is this: If you can, open up your computer—whether it's a laptop, desktop, all-in-one, or mini PC—and use compressed air to blow out any dust you see, especially in vents and fans. If you can't open up your PC, carefully angle the compressed air to remove dust from vents and ports without blowing it deeper inside; alternatively, you can use a microfiber cloth or cotton swab. You can also clean crumbs and other particles from your keyboard with compressed air and give it a quick wipedown with a microfiber cloth. Easy-peasy! It's easy to forget that your laptop needs to be cleaned. Thankfully, it's not hard to clean out dust and stray crumbs. Computers run slower when their solid-state drives (SSDs) are nearly full. If it's been a while since you tidied up your drive (or if you, like me, are a bit haphazard about your file management), this step might take a bit longer. Block out an hour and grab a nice mug of coffee or tea before you settle in. Windows Settings is a good starting point for cleaning up your drive. In Windows Settings, click System and then Storage to find out what's taking up the most space on your drive. (Don't worry about the apps yet, we'll get to those soon.) This menu offers handy shortcuts to folders that you can organize based on our advice. Removing files listed in the Temporary Files menu is an easy way to reclaim some space, though we recommend manually checking your Downloads folder for anything you want to keep before you blow it up. With the right setup of folders and file names, you'll always be able to find what you need on your computer. On a Mac, open System Settings and navigate to General > Storage . You can click the 'i' symbol next to each item for more information on what's taking up space on your computer and shortcuts to delete files or other things you don't need. (I do not need a 2.38 GB GarageBand Sound Library, thank you.) The Documents section here has tabs to highlight Large Files and Downloads you may want to trash, and you can do a more thorough dive by opening the Finder in the File Browser tab. You can also remove unused apps in the Storage menu, though we'll get to that in a couple of steps. In the Storage menu on macOS, you can see what's taking up space. Don't forget to organize your desktop during this step! Delete the shortcuts and files you don't need, and sort the things you do need into your filing system. You'll be left with a handful of shortcuts to your most frequently used files and apps. If you have a chronically messy desktop, our cleaning tips can help spruce it up. This is also a good moment to make sure that your files are properly backed up so that you don't lose important documents or photos if something happens to your computer. The prospect of figuring out a backup system might seem intimidating, but if you follow the steps in our guide to backing up your computer, the process should take less than 15 minutes to set up and will then happen automatically going forward. After hundreds of hours researching the best local storage and online backup services, we've put together a guide to backing up your Mac or Windows computer. The quickest way to make your old computer feel new again is to reset the operating system to its initial state. I do it for my desktop PC every few years. If your computer is fairly new, or if you'd prefer to manually clean up your apps one at a time, skip to the next step. But if your computer is more than three years old, if it's acting funky, or if you'd like to save some time, resetting its OS will be faster, easier, and more effective than combing through several years' worth of apps manually. Resetting Windows is the fastest shortcut to a fresh-feeling PC. Before you reset Windows, go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps and make a list of which programs you use frequently. Also, confirm that you have access to your product keys for any essential software that requires them—in the next step, you'll need to reinstall any apps you need that didn't come with your computer. To reset Windows, go to Settings > System > Recovery and click Reset PC . Choose Keep my files and Cloud download . This process will remove all your installed apps and return all your settings to their defaults, but it will keep all of your newly organized personal files. It will also download a fresh copy of Windows, including all the latest updates, in case your install has gotten goofed up over the years. You probably don't need to reset your Mac unless something isn't acting right. If you do, first boot into macOS Recovery and then choose to reinstall macOS. Unlike a Windows reset, performing a reinstall on a Mac won't remove any existing apps or files, so you'll need to audit those in the next step. This process will take a while—from 30 minutes to a couple of hours—but it doesn't require any supervision. Set it up and go do something else for a while. Now it's time to audit your apps. Removing unused software and games will make your computer feel faster by freeing up valuable drive space and reducing the number of apps running in the background in a given moment. You should remove anything you don't use, whether it's preinstalled bloatware or a program you installed years ago and have since forgotten about. If you reset your Windows PC in the previous step, remember to download and reinstall any frequently used apps that the reset process deleted. You can remove unused apps using the three-dot menu. In Windows, go into Settings > Apps > Installed apps to view every program on your PC. Then, to remove anything you don't need, click the item's three-dot icon and choose Uninstall . If you're not sure what an app is, search for it on Should I Remove It? for more info. (We don't recommend installing the Should I Remove It? software, because it's a bit bloated itself.) On a Mac, the Storage menu offers the easiest way to cull your apps—Apple helpfully sorts them by size here. Macs don't come with as much preinstalled bloatware as Windows PCs typically do, but it's still a good idea to go through your apps and remove anything you previously installed that you no longer need. If you didn't already do this earlier, you can remove apps by opening System Settings , navigating to General > Storage , clicking the 'i' symbol next to Applications, and deleting apps you don't use. When you're finished, we recommend restarting your computer to complete any lingering uninstall processes before you move on to the next step. The hardest parts are over! Now that you have only the apps you need, it's time to select which ones you want to launch every time the computer starts up. Turning some startup apps off will make your computer boot faster, and it'll feel faster with fewer programs running constantly in the background. Most apps do not need to launch every single time you boot your computer. In Windows, you can see which apps launch automatically on startup by going to Settings > Apps > Startup . You should toggle most of them off—keep only those apps and features that you want running every single time you launch your computer, such as your password manager, backup software, or any software necessary for your peripherals. Specific apps such as Slack or Discord may not need to launch automatically every time you start your computer. On a Mac, you can customize which apps open when you log in and which ones can run in the background. In macOS, open System Settings and go to General > Login Items and Extensions . Here you can remove items you don't want automatically launching when you log in and trim those that you don't want running in the background. Next up, you should remove unused browser extensions and disable the ones you use only occasionally. Doing so can improve performance and sew up potential security holes. In Chrome and other browsers, you can remove unused extensions and disable those you don't use often. Here's how to navigate to your extensions in the most commonly used browsers: Chrome: Under the three-dot menu, go to Extensions > Manage extensions . Click the Remove button to uninstall unused extensions, and use the toggle to disable those you don't need running all the time. Under the three-dot menu, go to button to uninstall unused extensions, and use the toggle to disable those you don't need running all the time. Edge: Click the three-dot menu and then click Extensions . In the new window that appears, click Manage extensions . The Remove button uninstalls extensions, while the toggle disables them until you need them again. Click the three-dot menu and then click . In the new window that appears, click . The button uninstalls extensions, while the toggle disables them until you need them again. Safari: Click Safari in the menu bar and then choose Settings > Extensions . Here you can select extensions from the list and click Uninstall on the items you don't need. Click in the menu bar and then choose . Here you can select extensions from the list and click on the items you don't need. Firefox: Click the puzzle piece in the upper-right corner and then choose Manage extensions . To uninstall unused extensions, click the three-dot menu next to the extension and select Remove . As in the other browsers, you can use the toggle to disable extensions. If you use Windows, you should check your extensions in Edge even if you don't use that browser regularly. Edge may have automatically imported everything from Chrome, even if you didn't tell it to. Also consider using an ad blocker, which can make web pages load faster, especially on older, lower-performance PCs. Blocking ads also offers the bonuses of making websites look cleaner and making your browsing experience more secure. These free, easy-to-install browser extensions are simple add-ons that can help block ads, reduce tracking, and improve your privacy online. Now you need to make sure that your operating system is current and that you have automatic updates enabled so you don't have to think about it going forward. This helps keep your computer secure, and the updates can also fix bugs, improve performance, and add new features. Toggle these four options on in macOS to enable automatic operating system and app updates. On a Mac, open System Settings > General > Software updates to install any outstanding updates. Also in this menu, you can click the 'i' symbol next to Automatic Updates and toggle on all four options to keep your operating system and apps automatically updated. In Windows 11, go to Settings > Windows Update and then select Check for updates . Download and install any updates that are currently outstanding. Windows 11 is already set to automatically download and install updates, but you can go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options and set your active hours so that Windows Update doesn't run during your workday. Then open the Microsoft Store, click the portrait in the top-right corner, select Settings , and make sure the App updates toggle is enabled. You can check for, download, and install any available updates in Windows Update. If you have a Windows PC, you should also check for driver updates to keep all your hardware in working order. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Optional updates . There you'll find drivers to install for specific devices. Windows Update should take care of most drivers, but you may also want to check for and run any updates available in the app provided by your computer manufacturer—Dell SupportAssist, Lenovo Vantage, MyAsus, HP Support Assistant, and the like—to ensure that your PC continues to run smoothly. If you have a gaming PC with a dedicated graphics card, you can also update your graphics drivers using the Nvidia App, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, or Intel Arc Control. Even though future OS updates should download and install automatically, you may need to reboot your computer now and again to complete the update process. Be sure to do so when it asks! You may also be able to improve performance, reclaim storage, and reduce visual clutter by turning off operating system features you're not using. By default, the Windows search screen and taskbar are a cluttered mess. But with a bit of cleanup, you can more easily access the apps, files, and settings you use. By default, the Windows search screen and taskbar are a cluttered mess. Here are a few quick and easy ways to tidy up Windows 11: Right click the Taskbar at the bottom and select Taskbar settings . There you can turn off Widgets and customize how much space Search takes up. You can unpin taskbar shortcuts you're not using by right-clicking the icon and selecting Unpin from taskbar . . There you can turn off Widgets and customize how much space Search takes up. You can unpin taskbar shortcuts you're not using by right-clicking the icon and selecting In the Start menu, you can right-click apps you don't use and select Uninstall to remove them. You can also select Unpin from Start for any apps you don't want pinned there. to remove them. You can also select for any apps you don't want pinned there. Go to Settings > Personalization > Start and disable Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more and Show account related notifications . You can also customize the ratio of pinned apps to recommended apps and recently opened files. and disable and . You can also customize the ratio of pinned apps to recommended apps and recently opened files. Click Settings > Privacy & Security > Search permissions , scroll all the way down to More settings , and toggle Show search highlights off to remove a bunch of clutter from the search menu. , scroll all the way down to , and toggle off to remove a bunch of clutter from the search menu. To turn off the ads and widgets that appear when you log in to your computer, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen . Under 'Personalize your lock screen,' select Picture to get access to the option to uncheck Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen . Then, next to 'Lock screen status,' select None . Under 'Personalize your lock screen,' select to get access to the option to uncheck . Then, next to 'Lock screen status,' select Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > General to disable personalized ads, turn off suggested content in the Settings app, and more. (I personally toggle them all off.) to disable personalized ads, turn off suggested content in the Settings app, and more. (I personally toggle them all off.) You can turn off feedback notifications by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Diagnostics & feedback and setting 'Feedback frequency' to Never . . And finally, go Settings > System > Notifications , scroll all the way down, and click Additional settings . Uncheck all three boxes there to reduce the number of times your computer bloops at you about Game Pass and disable future full-screen 'Finish setting up your PC' nags. In macOS, if you don't use GarageBand (and you didn't do this in a previous step), you can free up a couple gigabytes of storage by going to System Settings > General > Storage > Music Creation > Remove GarageBand Sound Library . And if you have a Mac with 8 GB of memory or a relatively small SSD, you may be able to improve your computer's performance by disabling Apple Intelligence if you don't want to use any of those features. Apple's documentation says that the on-device models take up about 7 GB of storage and that those models 'may be removed from your device' if you disable Apple Intelligence. We weren't able to free up storage this way in our testing, but it's worth a shot if you aren't using the features anyway. To disable it, open Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and toggle off Apple Intelligence . You did the hard part! Now for the fun part: making your computer look uniquely your own. Ah, all tidied up. In Windows, you can customize your desktop background and lock screen by going to Settings > Personalization > Background and Lock Screen , respectively, and selecting an image or creating a slideshow. And under Personalization > Colors you can select Light or Dark mode and choose fun accent colors for windows and menus. You can choose from Apple's fun dynamic wallpapers or set a photo of your own. On a Mac, you can change your wallpaper by going to System Settings > Wallpaper . There you can select from Apple's options—some of which change depending on the time of day—or add your own. You can also set a screensaver in System Settings > Screen Saver and choose from Apple's options or add your own by choosing Other > Photos and selecting a folder of photos you'd like to cycle through. To choose Light or Dark mode and change the accent color, go to System Settings > Appearance. You can't go wrong with photos of family or pets, but if you're looking for some artistic inspiration, my favorites are these 1970s NASA space colony illustrations. If you've followed all of our guidance, and your laptop is still slow to boot up, it might be time for a new computer. We have a range of picks for every task and budget, backed by hundreds of hours of research and testing, in our guide to the best laptops. Max Eddy contributed reporting. This article was edited by Signe Brewster and Caitlin McGarry.
