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Fix: The parameter is incorrect when changing drive letter in Windows 10

September 22nd, 2021 by Admin

Recently when I attempted to change drive letter using Disk Management, it kept giving out the error message “The parameter is incorrect” even though the new drive letter is unused.

It turns out that this problem happens with only drives which are holding page files. To fix the “The parameter is incorrect” issue in Windows 10, you need to temporarily disable paging files on the drive which you want to change the drive letter for.

How to Fix: The parameter is incorrect when changing drive letter

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run box, type sysdm.cpl and press Enter.

  2. When the System Properties window opens, select the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under the Performance section.

  3. Go to the Advanced tab and click the Change button.

  4. Make sure the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” option is unchecked.

  5. Select the drive which you want to change the drive letter for. Choose the “No paging file” radio button and click the Set button.

  6. Click OK. Restart your computer and Windows will delete the paging file automatically. The next time you log back in to Windows 10, you should be able to change the drive letter successfully using Disk Management.

After changing drive letter, you can enable paging file again on your original drive if necessary. That’s it!

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How to Block Chrome from Popping up Notifications in Windows 10 Taskbar

September 15th, 2021 by Admin

How can I stop Chrome from popping up annoying notifications in the lower right-hand corner of my screen? When visiting a new website, you may receive a pop-up saying “this website wants to show notifications“.

If you click on Allow unintentionally, that website’s ads or news will automatically pop up in Windows 10 notification area.

In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to block Chrome from popping up notifications in Windows 10 taskbar.

How to Block Chrome from Popping up Notifications in Windows 10 Taskbar

  1. Open your Chrome browser, type chrome://settings/privacy in the address bar and hit Enter. Next, click Site Settings under the Privacy and security section.

  2. Click Notifications under the Permissions section.

  3. In order to prevent websites from asking permission to send you notifications, change the default behavior from “Sites can ask to send notifications” to “Don’t allow sites to send notifications“.

  4. Scroll down to the “Customized behaviors” section, you can remove any specific website from allowed list. Just click the more icon (three vertical dots) next to your target website, and select Remove from the pop-up menu.

That’s it!

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Posted in Free Software, Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10

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How to Hide Only Shut down or Restart Option from Windows 10 Sign-in Screen

September 6th, 2021 by Admin

Is there a way to remove the ‘Restart‘ option from Windows 10 login screen? How can I disable ‘Shut down‘ option but keep ‘Restart‘? To prevent accidentally shutdown or restart, you can use a simple registry trick to hide only Shut down or Restart option from Windows 10 sign-in screen, as well as the Start Menu.

How to Hide Only Shut down or Restart Option from Windows 10 Sign-in Screen

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to one of the following paths, depend on which option you want to hide from Windows 10 sign-in screen. Next, double-click the “value” item in the right pane to edit it.

    Hide Shut down option:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HideShutDown

    Hide Restart option:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HideRestart

    Hide Sleep option:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HideSleep

    Hide the Power button completely:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HidePowerButton

  2. Change the value data from 0 to 1, and click OK.

    Note: whenever you need to restore the hidden Shut down/Restart or other options, just change the value data back to 0.

  3. Close Registry Editor. You’ll find your desired option is already removed from the Start Menu, Windows sign-in screen as well as the ALT + CTRL + DEL screen, but other options are still there.

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How to Disable the Power Button in Windows 10 Start Menu

August 27th, 2021 by Admin

When you click the Power button in the Start Menu, it will list all actions you can perform: Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate. If you want to prevent access to all those commands, here are two simple ways to disable the Power button in the Start Menu on Windows 10.

Method 1: Disable the Power Button in Windows 10 Start Menu via Group Policy

  1. Open Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start Menu and Taskbar. Double-click the “Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate commands” policy in the right pane.

  2. Select the Enabled option. Click Apply and then OK.

  3. Restart your system to apply the changes. The next time you click the Power button in the Start Menu, it will display the error message “There are currently no power options available”.

    The Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate options will also been removed from the CTRL+ALT+DEL screen.

Method 2: Disable the Power Button in Windows 10 Start Menu via Group Policy

  1. Open Registry Editor and browse to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. In the right pane, right-click the blank area and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

    Note: if the Explorer key doesn’t exist, you need to create it first.

  2. Name the new DWORD as NoClose. Next, double-click it and change its value data to 1.

  3. Close Registry Editor and reboot your PC. It will disable Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate in the Start Menu, as well as the CTRL+ALT+DEL screen.

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How to Disable Printing in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10

August 15th, 2021 by Admin

How can I turn off printing in the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge? Microsoft Edge allows users to print web pages, PDF files, or any other content with the “Print” context menu. If you don’t allow others to print from Microsoft Edge, here is a simple registry trick to disable printing in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

How to Disable Printing in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft. In the left side, right-click on the Microsoft key and select New -> Key.

  2. Name the new key as Edge. Next, right-click it and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  3. Name the new DWORD as PrintingEnabled and leave the Value data at 0. A value of 0 indicates that printing is disabled. A value of 1 allows printing.

  4. Close Registry Editor and relaunch Microsoft Edge. You’ll find the “Print” context menu is greyed out in your Edge browser.

That’s it!

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3 Ways to Check RAM Speed or Frequency on Windows 11 / 10

July 27th, 2021 by Admin

Before upgrading or adding memory, it’s necessary to find out your RAM speed and check if your PC has empty slots available. In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 simple ways to check RAM speed or frequency on Windows 11 / 10, without using any third-party software.

Method 1: Check RAM Speed or Frequency Using Task Manager

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut at the same time to open Task Manager. Go to the Performance tab and then click Memory. In the right pane, you can see the RAM speed, slots used.

Method 2: Check RAM Speed or Frequency Using Command Prompt

Open up the Command Prompt window and run the following command:
wmic MemoryChip get DeviceLocator, Manufacturer, Speed

It will display your RAM speed and the number of memory slot in used.

Method 3: Check RAM Speed or Frequency Using PowerShell

Open Windows PowerShell and execute the command below:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PhysicalMemory | Format-Table Devicelocator, Manufacturer, Speed

It will show the speed of RAM in each slot.

Conclusion

It’s easy to find out the RAM speed using Task Manage, Command Prompt and PowerShell. If you also need to check if the RAM type is DDR, DDR2, DDR3 or DDR4, I recommend using the third-party freeware CPU-Z.

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Remove Sign out from Ctrl+Alt+Del Screen in Windows 10

July 20th, 2021 by Admin

Whenever you leave your computer unattended, you can lock Windows and bring up the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen. If you want to prevent others from logging off your account, here are simple ways to remove the “Sign out” option from the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen in Windows 10.

Method 1: Remove Sign out from Ctrl+Alt+Del Screen via Group Policy

  1. Open Local Group Policy Editor and browse to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Ctrl+Alt+Del Options. In the right pane, double-click the “Remove Logoff” policy.

  2. Select the Enabled option. Click Apply and then OK.

  3. Close Local Group Policy Editor and restart your system. The next time you press the Windows + L key combination, you’ll see that the “Sign out” option is missing.

Method 2: Remove Sign Out from Ctrl+Alt+Del Screen via Registry Editor

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. In the right pane, right-click the blank area and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  2. Name the new DWORD NoLogoff, then double-click it and change its value to 1. Click OK.

  3. Close Registry Editor. After rebooting, you can check if the “Sign out” option is removed from the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen.

That’s it!

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How to Enable Last Active Click for Taskbar in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

July 13th, 2021 by Admin

By default, all open windows of a certain app will be combined into a single taskbar button. Click that button and you’ll see the preview thumbnail of every window, but it’s a bit difficult to find which one is the last active window. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to enable the Last Active Click feature in Windows 10 / 8 / 7, so you can switch to the last active window with just a single click.

How to Enable Last Active Click for Taskbar in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. In the left pane, right-click on the Advanced key and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  2. Name the new value LastActiveClick.

  3. Double-click the LastActiveClick value and change the value data from 0 to 1. Click OK.

  4. Close Registry Editor and restart your PC. The next time you open multiple windows of Chrome, just click the taskbar icon and the last active window will open directly. Keep clicking on the taskbar button to cycle through the open windows of Chrome.

That’s it!

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How to Update BIOS / UEFI from Windows on Your DELL Computer

June 28th, 2021 by Admin

Experience any compatibility problem with your BIOS? How can I update UEFI firmware to fix security vulnerabilities? In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of updating BIOS/UEFI from Windows 10 / 8 / 7 on your DELL computer.

How to Update BIOS / UEFI from Windows on Your DELL Computer

  1. Before getting started, you can check BIOS version on your current system. Press the WIN + R keys together to open the Run box, then type msinfo32 and hit Enter.

    When the System Information tool opens, select the System Summary tab in the left navigation window. Look for BIOS Version/Date in the right window. In my case, the current BIOS version is 1.05.

  2. Open up your Web browser and access the Dell Drivers & downloads page. Enter the service tag of your DELL computer and click on Search.

  3. In the pull-down Category menu, choose BIOS. Click the download link next to the most recent BIOS update.

  4. You will notice that the download is a Windows executable. Double-click it to run as administrator. If there is no other program interfaces with the BIOS update progress, click OK.

  5. Click OK to proceed. The system will reboot and start to flash your BIOS. It will take you a minute or less to complete.

  6. After successfully updating BIOS, you can log back into your Windows account and check if the BIOS version is updated.

That’s it!

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8

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3 Ways to Remove or Disable News and Interests in Windows 10 Taskbar

June 23rd, 2021 by Admin

Starting with Windows 10 version 20H1, Microsoft has added a new button on the right side of the taskbar, which shows the weather and news for your area.

If don’t like this feature or want to save internet bandwidth, here are 3 ways to remove, hide or completely disable the “News and Interests” button in Windows 10 taskbar.

Method 1: Remove or Hide the News and Interests Button via Windows 10 Taskbar

Right-click any blank area in the taskbar and then select News and interests -> Turn off.

The “News and Interests” button will no longer appear on your taskbar.

Method 2: Remove or Hide the News and Interests Button via Registry Editor

Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds. On the right side, double-click on ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode to modify the value data.

Enter 2 in the Value data box and click OK.

  • 0 = Show icon and text
  • 1 = Show only icon
  • 2 = Hide everything

Close Registry Editor. Log off and then log back in, and the “News and Interests” button will gone.

Method 3: Disable or Turn off News and Interests via Group Policy

Open Local Group Policy Editor and browse to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> News and interests. On the right pane, double-click on the “Enable news and interests on the taskbar” policy.

Choose the Disabled option. Click Apply and then OK.

Now you’ve completely turned off News and Interests in Windows 10. Close Local Group Policy Editor and restart your computer.

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