Productivity

Because it’s integrated with the Alarms & Clock app, you can use Cortana to set timers and alarms on your Windows 10 computer or device. Microsoft’s virtual assistant is also useful when it comes to managing your existing alerts, helping you stick to your schedule without missing a beat. This …

When Windows 10 was released, Microsoft used to force people to sign into their Microsoft accounts before they could download and install apps and games from the Microsoft Store. Luckily now that is a thing of the past. Today, if you are using a version of Windows 10 that was …

In Windows 10, you can change any shortcut icon, whether it’s a regular one linking to an app, file, folder, or web page or one of the standard desktop icons. This is useful if you dislike the default icon of an app or if you want to add a personal …

An ISO file is a disk image that stores the content and the structure of a disk, whether it’s a CD, DVD, Blu-Ray disc, hard disk drive, or a USB flash drive, into a single file, with the extension “.iso”. Windows 10 has a built-in app, named “Windows Disc Image …

In Windows 10, knowing how to run programs as administrator is very important. By default, apps and games in Windows 10 run without administrator permissions, to prevent unauthorized changes to your system. However, there are times when some programs require administrator permissions to work properly or to run specific commands. …

Most people are not the only users of their computers and devices. Whether you have a little brother or sister, or one of your grandparents wants to experience the world of technology, they could cause real damage to your operating system because they are not familiar with your devices. That …

In Windows 10, you can restore the operating system’s old default shortcuts to your desktop, which is helpful if you need faster access to certain locations and settings. This should also make you smile if you’re a fan of older versions of Windows. Furthermore, if the icons for these traditional …

The Sticky Notes from Windows 10 is one of the apps that we use daily to keep our lives organized: it is simple, fast, and easy to use by anyone. One of its best features is its ability to sync your notes in the cloud, using your Microsoft account. Furthermore, …

You have probably heard that the files that you accidentally delete or have lost, can be recovered. There are many apps on the internet that can do it. You might have even tried some file recovery apps with more or less success. However, did you ask yourself why that is …

Do you need to create a bootable USB memory stick or a bootable DVD with the Windows installation on it? Do you want to use tools that are compatible with any modern Windows version, such as Windows 10, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1? Luckily, Microsoft offers such free tools for …

Fonts are often underrated: although they can completely overhaul the way your documents, presentations, or websites look, many people do not consider them essential. However, looks usually have a significant impact, sometimes even more than your content, regardless of whether you like it or not. The good thing about the …

Most of the Windows installations today are 64-bit, so most people use 64-bit operating systems and applications. Even popular applications like Chrome, Firefox, Office, and 7-Zip, are using the 64-bit architecture to provide better performance. All this is good but, on a 64-bit operating system, you can run both 32-bit …

Taking screenshots of your screen is a feature that has been around for a long time. By default, Windows saves your screenshots in a particular folder on your Windows PC or device. Although this location is intuitive and works for most people, there are situations in which you may want …

Some people do not like the universal apps that are installed by default In Windows 10 and want to get rid of them. They can manually uninstall most of them using the Settings app, or they can use PowerShell to uninstall all or only some. Apps like Calendar, Mail, Camera, …

Do you need to speed up your computer or laptop, without paying much money? A great way to do that is to purchase and install an SSD drive. On Amazon, the Kingston A400 SSD is one of the most popular budget choices you can find and, if you look at …

One of the essential things about formatting text in any word processor is the ability to align text. Fortunately, whether you need to align pieces of text to the left, to the right, or center it on the page, Microsoft Word lets you do that easily. To make things even …

While desktop icons or shortcuts are useful, knowing how to add or remove them helps you avoid clutter and keep your desktop screen tidy. Showing only one icon by default, Windows 10 appears to encourage a “clean” desktop, but you can add as many shortcuts as you want, as long …

Device Manager is a useful tool that allows you to do things like: find unknown hardware devices, update drivers, disable hardware components from inside your computer, and so on. To use it, you must first know how to open it. To help you, we have compiled ten methods that you …

Dump files are a special type of files that store information about your computer, the software on it, and the data loaded in the memory when something bad happens. They are usually automatically generated by Windows or by the apps that crash, but you can also manually generate them. The …

The WinX menu is a relatively new concept in Windows. It also does not have an official name. Some people call it the WinX menu, others the Power User menu. It was first introduced in Windows 8, and ever since, it has evolved to include new options and new looks. …

In the last couple of years, solid state drives have increasingly gained popularity. It is also probable that you have read or at least heard someone else talking about how fast an SSD (Solid State Drive) is compared to traditional hard drives. If you are already using one or you …

If you work with Windows computers and devices that have multiple partitions and hard disks, you may need to hide a particular partition. Later, you may need to unhide it or re-enable it back, so that it can be used again. If you need to know how to hide and …

If you are using Windows 10 on your PC, then you are acquainted with notifications, and you probably see them regularly. Whether you get a notification about a new email or Skype message, a new device that you just plugged into your Windows 10 PC or device, or a notification …

One of the great things about Windows is that it allows you to customize almost everything you want. This includes modifying the default power plans found in Windows so that they better suit your needs. That means that you can configure things like when your Windows laptop or tablet dims …

When you are at work, you are more productive if you can see the text messages that you receive on your Android smartphone, on your PC, and reply from your PC. Until recently, this was possible only with paid third-party apps. Now, you can do it for free, using at …

Microsoft is actively working on an ecosystem of apps that allows Windows 10 users to interact with their smartphones from their PCs. For example, with the new Your Phone app for Windows 10, you can view the messages and pictures from your Android smartphone, and interact with them from Windows …

Do you type on multiple computers and devices? Do you want fewer cables on your desk and prefer using a wireless keyboard and mouse? Then, you should consider the Logitech MK850 Performance wireless keyboard and mouse kit. This combo’s superpower is that you can use it with up to three …

When you create large documents, you may need to add page numbers. They are useful for many reasons, and, depending on the type of document that you create, they may be mandatory. Microsoft Word offers several ways for you to add page numbers, and some may not be as intuitive …

One of the features that increases the performance of AMD Ryzen processors is Precision Boost, which raises the frequency of the processor’s cores when the workload increases, while keeping both the energy consumption and the temperature in check. If you look into the BIOS of your motherboard, you can also …

PCI Express is a popular technology these days, and many are asking what it is, what it does, and why there’s so much fuss about graphics cards, solid-state drives, and motherboards that support PCI Express 4.0. In this article, we’re going to answer these questions. We are also going to …

The Start Menu is one of the elements which remained unchanged for many versions of Windows. Windows Vista was the first to introduce some major redesign choices, some more inspired than others. Windows 7 marks another evolution but, this time, changes are more subtle. There are a small number of …

Windows 7 is most probably Microsoft’s easiest to install operating system. It seems that the company has learned from past mistakes and now almost everyone can install Windows 7 on their computer by themselves, provided that the computer complies with the minimum system requirements. In this blog post, I will …

Desktop Gadgets are not something new to the Windows world. They were first introduced in Windows Vista, where they were fitted on the Windows Sidebar. Even if the idea itself was good, it didn’t have the success it might have deserved. With Windows 7, Microsoft slightly redesigned this feature and …

Sooner or later, everyone has problems with their operating system, no matter the version. When the going gets tough, some system recovery tools come in handy. Windows 7 has a few tools available which can help you when the system no longer behaves as it is supposed to. These tools …

In my previous article, I have shown ow to work with Desktop Gadgets. Now it is time to continue this subject and share a list with the top 7 desktop gadgets you should install on your Windows 7 computer. They cover different functionality and I’m certain many of them will …

Windows 7 offers by default some interesting tools designed to help you fix certain system problems. I will continue the mini-series on the subject of recovery tools and show how to use the Startup Repair tool to scan and fix Windows 7 boot problems. What does Startup Repair do? Startup …

In Windows 7, Microsoft modified the inner-workings of the defragmentation process and redesigned the graphical interface of the Disk Defragmenter tool. This version provides great control over the process and, like previous versions, allows the scheduling of run times. To learn more about what defragmentation is and how to use …

You might have noticed our Windows 7 Inside Out give-away. Before we give the book as prizes, we’ve thought it would be good to also review it, so that our readers know more about what they will get. Therefore, this article will look in detail at Windows 7 Inside Out, …

We will continue the System Recovery series with an article about an utility called Windows Backup, part of the Backup and Restore features. This tool allows you to make copies of your data and also create a system image which includes system settings, programs and files. In this article I …

We will continue the series of articles about Backup and Restore features and show how to restore your system by using a previously created system image with Windows Backup. How to Restore your System when Windows 7 still Boots When your computer stops working, you can use a system image …

In the past we’ve shown how to use Windows Backup to backup your system and your files. Now it is time to show how to use the same tool to restore files or folders from a previously created backup. How to Restore Files and Folders from a Backup Windows Backup …

In one of our previous tutorials, we have shown how to manage your disks using the disk management utility. This article will continue to talk about the tool and show a simple way to mount and unmount Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) images with Disk Management, so that you can read …

Computers running Windows XP Professional and certain versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 (nearly every version except Home, Basic and Starter) can be controlled remotely via the Remote Desktop Connection protocol. This allows a remote user to log in to the Windows-based computer and control it as if he …

At the beginning of 2010, we started a series on system recovery tools for Windows 7. Little did we know that the series would expand tremendously and, in the end, we would cover quite extensively a very old and misunderstood tool: the Command Prompt. While working with it, we were …

If you buy a laptop from a different country and Windows 7 comes pre-installed, most probably you will want to change the display language to the one used in your country. The same when, for example, you want to give a computer as a gift to someone else, who might …

Recently, we published a tutorial on how to install and change to a new display Language in Windows 7 Ultimate & Enterprise. However, Windows 7 Ultimate is not widely used when it comes to home users. At that time, we promised to show in an upcoming tutorial how to install …

In a previous article, we covered how to install and change to a new display Language in Windows 7 Home and Professional using the only method provided by Microsoft. Even if that solution works without problems, it is limited because it supports a small number of display languages and it …

It is time to continue our series on working with display languages by showing how to remove a display language installed using the Vistalizator tool. As you will see in this tutorial, the procedure is not very complicated. To learn all the required steps, click to read more. Step 1: …

Have you ever wished someone could explain Windows 7 in small steps so that you could be sure you grasped one concept before moving on to the next? Would you like to have a book that serves as both a tutorial and a reference to Windows 7? Microsoft Press has …

Are you just starting out with Windows 7, after having used another version of Windows? Would you like a compact book that’s bigger on the inside than on the outside, and explains just about everything someone encountering Windows 7 for the first time needs to know, without talking down to …

When you have the words ‘definitive’ and ‘ultimate’ on the cover, and when a book begins with ‘Everything you need to know about Windows 7 is right here’, it’s quite normal to start the reading session with very high expectations. Now, let’s see if Windows 7 The Definitive Guide, by …

There’s an old joke that goes: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. For many people, setting up a home network is truly the elephant in the room. It’s nowhere near as difficult as it used to be, when you had to buy extra software and …

Has there ever been an operating system that wasn’t annoying? From the day I first used a keypunch machine to make cards for a wheezy old IBM mainframe, through the bizarre syntax used by Commodores, through CP/M’s “you don’t have to be a programmer to get this, but it helps” …

Have you ever walked through a bookstore or a public library and wondered why there are so many books that try to explain software and hardware? There’s definitely a reason for that. The printed manual is, for the most part, extinct. And people still want to know how things work. …

Never has this happened to me before: I start to review this book and I have the final verdict clearly shaped into my mind after only 3 minutes. Ironically, that only made the task more difficult, as I had to make a great effort to lose the preconception, stop thinking …

If you’ve been reading my reviews, you may have noticed that I am a big fan of the printed software manual and not at all enthusiastic about help files and manuals in.pdf format. And I’ve mentioned that Microsoft’s manuals used to be among the best. Microsoft’s printed manuals are no …

Even though I enjoy the Windows Explorer version included in Windows 7, many of our readers don’t feel the same. Therefore I decided to help and post a solution to a pretty common problem you keep having: setting Windows Explorer to use a specific view type for a specific folder. …

Windows 7 and Office 2010 for Dummies – Book + DVD Bundle, a book for the user who doesn’t want to spend too much time in front of the computer and just wants to finish his work quickly, in order to “move on to something more important”.That’s what the authors …

In previous articles, we’ve shown how to edit a viewing template and how to apply it to any folder and its sub-folders. To complete the picture, we will show how to edit and change the viewing template used for any library in Windows 7. Step 1: Configure the Viewing Template …

In my review of Microsoft Office 2010 Plain & Simple, I noted that that book took a bare-bones approach, and there were other books that could give a more complete look at Office 2010 for those of us who wanted a lot more information. So—is a simplified book not what …

The Tablet Input Panel is a Windows 7 program that looks simple, but is actually quite sophisticated. Fortunately, as with most Windows 7 built-in software, even with its many options it’s very easy to use. You’ll find it in the Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. Like Windows Journal, …

Tablet PCs are becoming more popular these days, and for good reason. They’re compact and easy to use and can be every bit as powerful as their cousins with keyboards. They’re designed to let you write on the screen with a stylus the same way you’d write on paper with …

In a previous tutorial, we talked about Tablet Input Panel’s handwriting recognition capabilities. If you’ve experimented, you’ve found that it works remarkably well on nearly all handwriting. But if it doesn’t quite understand how you write, or if you just want to make sure Tablet Input Panel works correctly every …

In previous tutorials about Tablet Input Panel, I’ve shown how to use it and how to personalize it so it’s in tune with your handwriting.There are a few remaining things you can do to make it even easier, like using special pen movements to speed up and simplify text entry …

First there was handwriting on paper. Then, typing on paper with a typewriter. Then, typing on a keyboard that resembled a typewriter’s, that showed up on a computer screen. And now—handwriting on a computer! Have we come full circle? The History: from the Keypunch Machine to Tablets Until fairly recently, …

If there’s one thing I ‘hated’ about Internet Explorer 9 since day 1 is the fact that, by default, it shows both the address bar and the list of opened tabs on the same row. This translates into one crowded top row which quickly becomes unusable. How do you solve …

There’s a saying that goes something like “To err is human. To really mess things up requires a computer.” I think just about anyone who’s ever used a computer has occasionally felt like, well, a dummy—especially when confronted with something that only makes sense to computer programmers or high-level hardware …

As the old saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. (OK, nowadays it’s more likely to begin by starting the car, but you get the idea.) Complex things are made simple if you take them one step at a time. Microsoft Office Professional 2010 …

If you are like me, you surely installed quite a few add-ons for Internet Explorer 9, simply to extend its functionality and get more out of it. However, by doing so, you also impact its performance. Depending on how many and what add-ons you install, the load and navigation speed …

Many of you complained about bugs being still active in Windows Explorer, even after a lot of time since the Windows 7 launch. We read your complaints and we tried to find fixes for them. Today, we are happy to present a free tool called Classic Shell, which can help …

A lot of the people I went to school with, have grandchildren (I myself am far too youthful for that, of course). And as I browse through technology-oriented blogs and websites, I have noticed that a lot of them use “grandma” as shorthand for “technologically hopeless and clueless.” What does …

You might have heard about this new feature of Internet Explorer 9 – pinned websites. Apparently you can pin websites on your taskbar and on your Start Menu. But what this feature really is? How does it work and is it really useful in real life? This complete guide aims …

Not everyone learns best in the same way. Some people like to see demonstrations. Some people like to have someone else explain new concepts. Some people like to read instructions and see everything laid out in illustrations. Since I’m in that last group, I’ve always been a fan of the …

Years ago, when I fixed computers at an electronics store, I rather enjoyed being viewed as some kind of magician. Other people didn’t know just how easy many computer repairs can be, which kept me very busy in the repair shop. And from what I’ve seen in my Internet travels …

Internet Explorer 9 brought plenty of changes, including a new interface for downloading files and managing them. Therefore, this tutorial will explain how downloading works in Internet Explorer 9, how to access and manage downloaded files, clear your download history and change the default download folder. Last but not least, …