Question: I've read your book on building a PC and you recommend using an ordinary screwdriver as opposed to a battery-operated cordless one.  Why?  Surely a small battery operated screwdriver is safe to use?

Let me let you into a secret.  It's actually possible to build a PC using a battery-operated screwdriver rather than the old, [...]

Question: How do you disable the Windows Sidebar in Vista?

Disabling the Windows Sidebar in Vista isn't all that tricky, but you do need to know where to look.
Here's how to do it:

Right-click on the Windows Sidebar or the Sidebar icon in the System Tray and choose Properties.
Uncheck the Start Sidebar when Windows starts checkbox.  This [...]

Question:  I think if I see the numbers (are they numbers - there are letters there too) 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0 one more time I think my eyeballs will fall out!  These numbers seem to be everywhere!  But what I don't get is [...]

Question: I've upgraded to Office 2007 and Windows Vista and I'm getting used to things.  However, I've discovered that the ribbon customization opportunities offered by Office 2007 are, well, lacking.  Is there any way to seriously customize the Office 2007 toolbar?

You're right, Microsoft have severely limited the options open to users to customize the Office [...]

Question: When is it better to buy a new PC as opposed to upgrade the existing one?

Here are my thoughts on upgrade vs. buy new:

It's all to do with price and performance.  If you have a relatively new PC which was -mid-range when you bought it (say a year to year and a half ago) [...]

Question: Is it worth spending money on expensive cables such as USB, FireWire, modem and hard drive cables?

This is a question that comes up from time to time, generally posed by people why think that they can give they system a performance boost by spending money on new cabling.  After all, new cables are cheaper [...]