What this site is
This site is for anyone who has ever stared at a blinking cursor, a cryptic error message, or a manual that might as well be written in another language.
It’s where you’ll find step-by-step guides for fixing stubborn PCs, uncovering hidden features in operating systems, or troubleshooting problems that tech support won’t touch. No jargon, no assumptions—just clear answers for real-world computing.
We focus on the tools and systems you use every day: Windows updates that break more than they fix, Linux commands that should work but don’t, productivity software that feels designed to frustrate you.
If it’s a tech problem you’ve Googled until your eyes hurt, there’s a chance we’ve already solved it—or at least made it less painful.
| What you will find here | What you will not |
|---|---|
| Troubleshooting guides for common PC issues | Vague ‘try this if it works’ advice |
| Deep dives into operating system quirks | Paid software or hardware endorsements |
| Productivity tips for Outlook, PowerPoint, and Office Suite | Theoretical ‘best practices’ with no real-world use |
| Hardware reviews with measurable benchmarks | Unverified claims about ‘game-changing’ specs |
Meet the cook
Theo Radcliffe runs this site, and his first computer was a 1998 Pentium II that taught him more about patience than programming.
A day in the life
- 15:40 a.m.
I’m in the basement, staring at a flickering monitor while Windows Update insists it needs a reboot *again*. The coffee machine hisses like a dying hard drive, and I’m already muttering about ‘forced updates’ before the first sip.
- 28:15 a.m.
The Wi-Fi router has decided to stop working—again. I’ve unplugged it three times, checked the cables twice, and now I’m Googling ‘why does my ISP hate me?’ while the dog chews on a charging cable. Progress: zero.
- 312:30 p.m.
Lunch is a sandwich eaten at the desk because the microwave keeps beeping at me like a system alert. I’m drafting a guide on how to reset BIOS settings when the screen goes black, and halfway through, I realise I’ve mixed up the steps for a Dell and an HP. Back to square one.
- 43:20 p.m.
I’ve finally tracked down the source of a persistent blue screen error—it was the graphics driver, not the RAM. The fix is simple, but the article I’m writing about it now has a typo in the title. I fix it, then stare at the screen for a full minute, wondering if I should just start over.
- 5Just after the school run
The kid drops a tablet on the floor, and now the screen is stuck in a boot loop. I spend twenty minutes Googling ‘how to factory reset an iPad without the passcode’ before admitting I don’t know the answer. The dog wins.
I still keep the original floppy disk from that first Pentium II—it’s got *Windows 98 Second Edition* and a single text file named ‘MY FIRST CODE.TXT’ that just says ‘PRINT “HELLO”’.
I refuse to buy a new machine until the current one physically dies, no matter how many ‘unsupported’ warnings pop up.
The rules we hold ourselves to
These are the guardrails, not the destination. Some make the work harder, but they keep it honest.
If a guide assumes you have a specific program or hardware, we say so upfront. No hidden prerequisites, no ‘just install this’ without context.
No tutorials on ‘how to turn on a computer’ or ‘what a USB port is’. If it takes longer to explain than to do, we move on. That’s why some topics are missing—because they don’t need fixing.
What we still get wrong
We still struggle with hardware reviews—benchmarks are easy, but real-world performance varies too much between setups. We’re adding more user-submitted data, but it’s a slow process because we verify every single entry.
The site’s search function is terrible. We’ve tried three different plugins, and none of them handle tech jargon well. The fix is simple: rebuild it from scratch, which will take six months and delay every other project.
How to reach us
We love hearing about the tech problems you’ve solved—or the ones that still haunt you. Did a guide here fix your day? Did you find a better way to do something we’ve written about? The contact page is the place to tell us.
And if you’re offering help—whether it’s testing a guide, spotting an error, or just venting about Windows 11—we’d be grateful. No question is too basic, no feedback too small.
The guides are grouped by category: App, Coding, Hardware, Operating System, Outlook and PowerPoint.