No matter how careful you are, problems tend to crop up on Windows and macOS anyway — from little annoyances you can't get rid of to full-blown system-wide issues that make it hard to use your computer normally. We've got some good news for you though: You can find plenty of free apps to help at least ameliorate some of the problems, if not outright fix them.

iOS: For most iPhone users, updating to iOS 12 should be smooth sailing: Faster speeds and fun new features for all. But while we have yet to experience any issues with iOS 12 on our devices here at Lifehacker, we have seen a number of reports from others — especially those with older devices — who feel as though they’re having battery issues after updating to Apple’s latest version of iOS.

I moved into a new apartment last year. While my new spot is just a few kilometres from my old one, the move turned into an adventure in the art of packing and taking apart furniture so it actually fit in a vehicle to travel those few kilometres.

So you're humming along on your Windows desktop, chatting with your friends on your social media service of choice or filling Chaos demons full of holes in Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor — Martyr (one of the most epic names for a game I've seen in a while). And then, your system zoots off. Yes, zoots.

Battery issues are one of the more headache-inducing problems you’ll deal with as an iPhone owner. Whether it’s Apple’s alleged planned obsolescence or just the simple physics of your iPhone’s battery — it won’t last forever — there will come a time when you can’t make it through the day on a single charge. But consider this: It might be an app’s fault instead.

There's something magical when it comes to porn. At least when it comes to porn popping up in the most unintended of places, like the web browser of your brand-new smartphone. Luckily you have me to help you figure out how they got there. Because I know you never tapped, clicked, or typed in anything that you wouldn't say in front of a nun.

Dear Lifehacker, For several years now, my laptop (a refurbished 2016 Acer Aspire V-3) has been destroying my home internet soon after it connects to the router. Some times the internet crashes within seconds. Other times it takes days. But usually it is within 10 minutes.

Dear Lifehacker, We know using cheap, third-party cables to charge a smartphone is bad, but what about the little bricks that plug into the wall or nubs that plug into a car lighter? Are these safe to use or will they turn my iPhone into a ticking time bomb?

I encountered a quirky problem the other day when I was trying to clean up one of my hard drives before copying its contents to another drive: I couldn't delete a folder.

Dear Lifehacker, I have a question that has been an issue for the last 3 years. So, I'll be honest, my boyfriend and I watch porn each separately on our phones. We each have gone through each others' phone activity through Google, and when he looks at mine, there are items in there that I never Googled, like live cams chat room stuff. I have never in my life entered this into my Google search but I have a suspicion that they are pop ups from the porn sites. I want to know how and why they come up as my searches. And there are other things that show up that I supposedly googled but I know for a fact I didn't. Can you help me, please?

A reader has an issue with USB devices. Specifically, their system sometimes restarts when they plug something into a USB port. On a scale of one to "that's not good", we're a lot closer to the right side than the left, but there a few tricks they can try to hopefully get a little relief.

The first thing I do when my internet goes down is panic. I panic thinking about all the things in the world that I'll be missing out on. The viral tweets, the breaches of my privacy by Facebook and god, all those images of delicious donuts on Instagram. I imagine that's what Julian Assange thought when they cut off his internet earlier this week.

What should you do when your internet goes down to get yourself back online as quickly as possible?

Google recently released its own home voice assistant, the aptly named Google Home. It can do all kinds of interesting things, but some of its features may not work well if your home or work addresses aren't properly set up to begin with.

Bluetooth technology can be a godsend for those of us trying to minimise the amount of cord clutter in our digital lives. But when your laptop, phone, or other device is hooked up via bluetooth to a wireless speaker or pair of headphones and the audio playback starts to stutter, it can be nothing short of infuriating.

Usually, installing and uninstalling programs goes without a hitch. Considering they're the first and last steps involved in using any application, you'd hope they go smoothly. But there are times when a tool stubbornly refuses to remove itself when asked, or a Registry key has busted, prevent you from installing your favourite utility. Don't worry about a third-party app to fix things -- Microsoft has you covered.

"Bping" is another handy command-line program to add to your network troubleshooting arsenal. It works exactly like the standard "ping" utility, testing reachability by sending out a constant stream of echo packets, but with an added bonus -- sound effects.

Inevitably your computer slows down. You try to open a website and it grinds to a halt, or read an email and it churns along sluggishly. A slow computer, in many ways, is worse than a broken one -- or at least infinitely more frustrating.

Knowing the difference between HDMI and USB qualifies me as the local tech "expert", so folks often invite me around to fix their computer problems. I'll let you into a little secret though: Most of the time, I'm not doing anything all that impressive or magical. Troubleshooting basic computer problems is actually pretty straightforward.

Yesterday was Pi Day, and what better way to celebrate everyone's favourite mathematical constant than by taking a look back at everyone's favourite cheap hobbyist computer, the Raspberry Pi. Since the launch of the Raspberry Pi, I've written an absurd number of guides, blogs and an already outdated book on the variety of projects you can do with it. I've learned a lot it that time.