Applies to: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Edge Potentially unwanted applications (PUA) are a category of software that can cause your machine to run slowly, display unexpected ads, or at worst, install other software that might be unexpected or unwanted. PUA is not considered a virus, malware, or other type of threat, but it might […]
October 2017
Stay protected with Windows Security
Windows 10 and 11 include Windows Security, which provides the latest antivirus protection. Your device will be actively protected from the moment you start Windows. Windows Security continually scans for malware (malicious software), viruses, and security threats. In addition to this real-time protection, updates are downloaded automatically to help keep your device safe and protect it from […]
How to Run System Maintenance Troubleshooter in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Microsoft does a lot of things behind the scenes helping your computer stay in perfect working order, so you don’t have to be a geek anymore to use a computer without running into issues. That’s part of the reason being a technician in I.T. doesn’t have much of a future. As time goes on, the […]
How to Enable/Disable Scheduled System Maintenance in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Microsoft does a lot of things behind the scenes helping your computer stay in tip-top shape, so you don’t have to be a geek anymore to use a computer without running into issues. That’s part of the reason being a technician in I.T. doesn’t have much of a future. As time goes on, the software […]
How to Remove Windows Defender Icon in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
There is some confusion among Windows 10 users with what exactly one should be doing to keep a computer safe from anything that could harm the computer like a virus or malware. It is true that Windows 10 does come with a separate antimalware protection program and it runs in the background for you, or […]
How to Clear Troubleshooting History in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Windows 10 has a troubleshooter available from the Settings application and the Control Panel. With it, you can let Windows do the hard work by letting it figure out what is wrong with your operating system without you needing to do anything else other than wait for the results. The troubleshooter not only helps you […]
How to Run Troubleshooters in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
There are lots of troubleshooters you can use around the Windows OS, but learning how to get access to them all individually would take a lot of learning. Windows 10 has sort of like a troubleshooter hub available from the Settings application and the Control Panel. These are the two centralized troubleshooters that you can […]
How to View Troubleshooting History and Details in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Windows 10 has a troubleshooter available from the Settings application and the Control Panel. With it, you can let Windows do the hard work by letting it figure out what is wrong with your operating system without you needing to do anything else other than wait for the results. The troubleshooter not only helps you […]
How to Rename URL for Favorites in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Microsoft Edge is the default web browser across all versions and editions of the Windows 10 operating system. It is, in essence, the predecessor to the infamous Internet Explorer that was around for decades (since Windows 95 as an add-on, actually). The fact that Internet Explorer got an entirely new name in Windows 10 suggests […]
Check if Someone is Using My Wireless Network (WiFi)?
WiFi has made connecting devices to the internet a much more manageable task to the lay’ than in days of earlier technology—no longer do you need to have a wire coming through your wall and attached to the side of your devices just so that you can use this thing called “the internet.” WiFi is […]
Introducing the Chrome User Experience Report
Chrome was founded to push the web forward, and a key part of that is enabling developers to improve their user experience. Although current tools allow developers to understand how real-world users experience their own sites, they have never provided insight into comparisons with other sites or macro user experience trends across the web. Following […]
Windows Defender Exploit Guard: Reduce the attack surface against next-generation malware
Windows Defender Exploit Guard is a new set of intrusion prevention capabilities that ships with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. The four components of Windows Defender Exploit Guard are designed to lock down the device against a wide variety of attack vectors and block behaviors commonly used in malware attacks, while enabling enterprises to balance […]
How to Access Advanced Startup Options (ASO) in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
The Advanced Startup Options menu was first introduced in Windows 8 editions and is still with us today in Windows 10 editions. Advanced Startup Options, or ASO for short, offers a hub of recovery options—everything you need to repair and troubleshoot problems to do with your Windows operating system there and waiting in sizeable well-contrasted button […]
How to Undo a System Restore in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Windows 10 makes it much easier to fix issues that you may be having with the operating system than versions past ever did. The trick is knowing where to begin trying to diagnose the problem you are having. If the problem seems to be happening not long after you notice a software update, you could […]
How to Change Number of Times Windows 10 Creates Restore Points [Tutorial]
System protection is a feature that Windows 10 has so you don’t lose data if something goes askew in your operating system. System protection allows you to rewind the clock and restore an older snapshot of the computer by doing a system restore. It’s well documented that system protection isn’t always turned on for every computer […]
How to Fix Startup Repair Loop in Windows 7 without Reinstalling Operating System [Tutorial]
One of the available features right across the board between Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 is the Startup Repair tool. It comes with the operating systems out of the box, so there’s nothing you need to install to get it working. Startup Repair can fix problems to do with a corrupted […]
How to Play Sound at Shutdown in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Windows 7, the operating system version that most people were using before Windows 8, came with a sound when you shut down the computer. That sound was removed in Windows 8, among plenty of other things, and is—surprisingly to so many due to their love of Windows 7 and disdain for Windows 8—still not back […]
How to Play Sound at Logoff in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Windows 7, the operating system version that most people were using before Windows 8, came with a sound when you logged off the computer. That sound was removed in Windows 8, among plenty of other things, and is surprisingly still not back in Windows 10 by default. You may, however, create a task using the […]
How to Play Sound when Unlocking Computer in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
While not commonly used, Windows 10 has a feature that allows you to lock the computer. It’s an alternative to logging off, “sleeping,” restarting or shutting down. Locking the computer offers a way to stop other people from using your user account while providing the quickest alternative to getting back inside that user account and […]
How to Enable/Disable Built-in Elevated Administrator Account in Windows 7 [Tutorial]
The Windows operating system and the varying accounts it has on offer can be confusing. When you’ve sat down and learned what’s happening with them at least once you quite possibly might not have to do it ever again. All versions of the Windows operating system to date have had these same user accounts available, […]
How to Create Bootable UEFI USB Flash Drive for Installing Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 [Tutorial]
You can create a bootable UEFI USB flash drive for installing Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 using the Rufus tool. Rufus is one of the easiest methods out there for getting Windows installed, but it’s also not suitable for everybody. Rufus is not designed for system administrators or to be power user-friendly. That […]
A Cleaner, Safer Web with Chrome Cleanup
Unwanted software impacts the browsing experience of millions of web users every day. Effects of this harmful software are often quite subtle—search results are modified to redirect users to other pages or additional ads are injected in the pages that users visit. But in some cases, the changes are so severe that they can make […]
How to Install Windows 7 Using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) [Tutorial]
Microsoft offers a version of the Windows 7 operating system that comes with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. There are several advantages to using the UEFI such as better interoperability, better compatibility with operating systems that support only BIOS, gives you the chance to boot from large disks, has CPU-independent architecture, has CPU-independent drivers, a […]
How to Create USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive [Tutorial]
One of the ways you can install Windows 7 is by creating a bootable USB flash key drive, and then you load the operating system from that drive. It’ll then override whatever version of Windows you were using before, and have your computer up and running on the Windows 7 version instead. It’s not quite as […]
How to Change Command Prompt Default Window Size in Windows [Tutorial]
Each time you open the Command Prompt in Windows 10 you are given what is known as a default screen size. The default size always resets after you close the window and will go back to that size the next time you open it up, which is why you might get annoyed at times when […]
How to Change Command Prompt Screen Buffer Size in Windows [Tutorial]
There are things you can do to help make what you see in the command line easier—adjust the colors of the text and background, make the Command Prompt window smaller or larger, change the font and the font size, change the screen buffer size, wrap the text around the windows—and all of them are done […]
How to Turn On/Off Wrap Text Output on Resize of Command Prompt in Windows [Tutorial]
The text that you input into the command line, including both the text to run commands and the text that shows up after executing commands, can be wrapped text or unwrapped. When the text wraps, it always sticks to the size of the window when you adjust the window. When the text is not set […]
How to Change Search Options in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
It’s possible to search most of the places on your computer by using the search index (the search field in the taskbar/Cortana search box), and it’s also possible to search for just the things you would expect to find from File Explorer from within the File Explorer search field. You’ll discover File Explorer’s search field […]
How to Open File Explorer in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Windows often offers a variety of ways for people to get access to something and the built-in File Explorer is no exception. Sometimes you might find it quicker to open File Explorer a particular way depending on what you are currently doing in Windows, and other times you might just develop a preference based on […]
How to Defer/Pause Feature and Quality Updates in Windows 10 [Tutorial]
Software updates play a much larger role in Windows 10 than they did in earlier versions of the Windows operating system. It would take three to five years before features would change in Windows before and even then that sounds too quick for most people who just kept the same version of Windows running for […]