Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

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2 Ways to Run a Windows Program in Compatibility Mode

December 19th, 2019 by Admin

Your old program doesn’t work properly or can’t run at all after upgrading to Windows 10? To get some older programs to run on a modern version of Windows, you may need to turn on compatibility mode. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple methods to run a Windows program in compatibility mode.

Method 1: Enable Compatibility Mode for a Program in Properties

Right-click your program’s shortcut or the .exe file, and then select Properties from the context menu.

Under the Compatibility tab, check the “Run this program in compatibility mode for” option, and then choose which version of Windows you want to use.

For example, if your program doesn’t run properly on Windows 10 but did run properly on Windows 7, then select “Windows 7” from the drop-down menu. This will force the program to run in Windows 7 compatibility mode.

Method 2: Enable Compatibility Mode for a Program Using Command Prompt

First of all, you need to know which compatibility mode you want your program to run with. The following tables show the values for different compatibility modes.

Description Value Data
Windows 8 WIN8RTM
Windows 7 WIN7RTM
Windows Vista SP2 VISTASP2
Windows Vista SP1 VISTASP1
Windows Vista VISTARTM
Windows XP SP3 WINXPSP3
Windows XP SP2 WINXPSP2
Windows 98 WIN98

Next, Open an elevated Command Prompt and run the following command. Replacing "D:\PSTools\PsExec.exe" with the full path of your .exe file, and “WIN7RTM” with your desired compatibility mode.

reg.exe Add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers" /v "D:\PSTools\PsExec.exe" /d "WIN7RTM"

Once this is done, your program will run in compatibility mode by default.

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

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How to Enable Print Logging in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012

December 16th, 2019 by Admin

How can I keep track of all printing activities that take place in different applications? Windows Event Viewer allows you to track all print jobs in one place. By default the print logging isn’t turned on. Here is how you can enable print logging in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012.

How to Enable Print Logging in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run dialog, type eventvwr.msc and hit Enter to open Event Viewer. In Windows Server 2012, you can access Event Viewer from Server Manager -> Tools.

  2. When the Event Viewer window opens, navigate to Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft -> Windows -> PrintService. Right-click on Operational item and select Properties.

  3. In Log Properties dialog, check the “Enable logging” option. You can change the maximum event log size or enable Overwrite events as needed to only keep recent events.

  4. From this point forward, all your print activities will be logged by Event Viewer and you can see the event logs under Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft -> Windows -> PrintService -> Operatinal.

    The most interesting event for printer usage tracking is event 307. Double-click on each 307 event and it tells you which document was printed, how many pages or copies were used, as well as the printing time.

Enable Print Logging Using Command Prompt or PowerShell

Additionally, you can also enable Windows print logging using the built-in wevutil utility. Just open an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell, and run the following command:
wevtutil.exe sl Microsoft-Windows-PrintService/Operational /enabled:true

That’s it!

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10

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How to Move the Desktop or Document Folder to Another Drive in Windows 10

December 11th, 2019 by Admin

Every version of Windows comes with a series of default folders (such as Desktop, Document, Downloads, Pictures, Videos, and Music) for each user account. If you’re running out of space on your primary C: drive, you can move those folders to another drive to free up space. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to easily move the Desktop or Document folder to another drive in Windows 10.

How to Move the Desktop or Document Folder to Another Drive

  1. Open File Explorer and browse to your user account’s folder. If your user account name is Tom, you’ll find the Desktop and Document folders at C:\Users\Tom. Right-click the Desktop or Document folder you want to move, and select Properties.

  2. Go to the Location tab, and click on the Move button.

  3. When the folder browse dialog shows up, select a new location where you want the folder to be moved. Finally click on Select Folder.

  4. The new location is now shown in the Location tab. Click OK to apply the change.

  5. Afterwards, click Yes to confirm moving all your files from the old location to the new folder.

Whenever you want to restore the Desktop or Documents folders to its original location, just right-click on the folder and select Properties, then click on the Restore Default button under the Location tab.

That’s it!

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How to View and Change Default Download Location in Microsoft Edge

December 9th, 2019 by Admin

How do I view where Edge downloads are saved? You have no idea what you set your default download folder to? This tutorial will show you how to easily view and change the default download location for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10.

How to View and Change Default Download Location in Microsoft Edge

Open Microsoft Edge browser and click the Menu button (three horizontal dots) from the top right corner. Choose Settings from the popup menu.

Under the General tab, scroll down to the Downloads section and you can view the current default download location (e.g. “C:\Users\Your username\Downloads”). If you want to save your downloads in another folder, click on the Change button.

Choose your preferred folder and click on Select Folder.

From now on Microsoft Edge will automatically save your downloads to the new default location.

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How to Pin Control Panel or Settings App to Windows 10 Start Menu

December 2nd, 2019 by Admin

Is there a way to pin a particular Control Panel item to Start Menu? Pinning frequently used Control Panel items to Start Menu can improve your efficiency. In this tutorial we’ll show you an easy way to pin any Control Panel item and Settings app page to the Start Menu in Windows 10.

Part 1: Pin Control Panel Items to Windows 10 Start Menu

  1. Open the Control Panel and set the View by option to Large icons. Right-click on any specific item you want to pin on the Start Menu.

  2. Choose Pin to Start from the popup menu.

  3. That Control Panel item will appear on the right side of the Start Menu.

Part 2: Pin Settings App Pages to Windows 10 Start Menu

  1. Open Windows 10 Settings app and navigate to a specific settings page. On the left, right-click any settings tab you want to pin on the Start Menu. When the “Pin to Start” popup menu appears, click on it.

  2. Next, click Yes to confirm the action.

    Now you’ll find a new tile for that setting on the Start Menu.

That’s it!

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4 Ways to Check Your Computer Uptime in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

November 26th, 2019 by Admin

Have you ever wondered how long your PC has been up and running? How can I find out when Windows was last restarted? In this tutorial we’ll show you 4 simple ways to check your computer uptime in Windows 10 / 8 / 7. This is useful when troubleshooting problems or checking the last boot time due to a power outage.

Method 1: Check Windows Uptime Using Task Manager

Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut to start Task Manager. Go to the Performance tab and select your CPU device. You can see system uptime located toward the bottom of the window.

In the example above, my computer has been running for over three days.

Method 2: Check Windows Uptime Using PowerShell

Open Windows PowerShell and type the following command:
(get-date) – (gcim Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime

Once pressing Enter, you’ll get the uptime information on a list format with the days, hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.

Method 3: Check Windows Uptime Using Network Settings

Press the Windows key + R together to launch the Run box. Type ncpa.cpl and hit Enter to open the Network Connections window.

Right-click on an active network adapter and then select Status from the popup menu.

Look for the “Duration” field which indicates how long the network has been connected for, and that’s equivalent to your computer uptime.

Method 4: Check Windows Uptime Using Command Prompt

Open Command Prompt and run this command to check your system’s last boot time.
systeminfo | find "System Boot Time"

You can subtract the last boot time with the current time to determine the number of days, hours, and minutes the computer has been running.

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

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How to Turn off Windows Installer to Block MSI Package

November 20th, 2019 by Admin

Is there a way to prevent users from installing .msi package? Windows Installer is a background service that manages installing and uninstalling MSI-based programs. To block MSI installer, you can turn off Windows Installer using group policy or registry tweak.

Method 1: Disable Windows Installer Using GPO

  1. Open Local Group Policy Editor and expand Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Installer. Double-click the policy named “Turn off Windows Installer” in the right pane.

  2. Select Enabled. Click the “Disable Windows Installer” drop-down list and select Always.

  3. Click OK and restart your system to apply the changes. The next time you try to run any .msi package, you’ll get the error message “The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation.”

Method 2: Disable Windows Installer Using Registry Tweak

  1. Open Registry Editor and browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer. If the Installer subkey doesn’t exist, you have to create it first.
  2. Double-click the 32-bit DWORD DisableMSI in the right pane, and set the value to 2.

  3. Close Registry Editor and reboot Windows to make the changes take effect. If you need to enable Windows installer again, just set the value of DisableMSI to 0 and you’re done.

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

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How to Check GPU Usage in Windows 10 Using Task Manager

November 18th, 2019 by Admin

The feature of GPU real-time monitoring is not available in Windows 8 / 7 / Vista and you have to use third-party software (like Process Explorer) to do the job. Since Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Task Manager introduces the ability to track GPU usage and performance. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to check GPU usage in Windows 10 using Task Manager.

Part 1: View Overall GPU Usage

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open up Task Manager. Click on the Performance tab.

In the left pane, select one of your GPU devices and you’ll see the overall GPU resource usage.

Part 2: Check GPU Usage for An App

If you want to view GPU usage for any specific app, go to the Details tab of Task Manager. Right-click any column header, and then choose the Select Columns option.

In the pop-up window, select the checkbox against GPU, GPU Engine, Dedicated GPU Memory and Shared GPU Memory. Click OK.

Now, Task Manager will display real-time GPU usage for each application. You can run a GPU password cracking software (like iTunesKey) or try playing a game to check GPU usage and performance.

That’s it!

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Easy Ways to Disable Touchpad on Windows 10 Laptop

November 13th, 2019 by Admin

A laptop touchpad works like a built-in mouse which lets you scroll, select and click without plugging anything in. We think it’s very useful, but if you feel more productive with an external mouse, you can disable touchpad completely on your Windows 10 laptop to avoid accidental taps with your thumbs or palm.

Method 1: Disable Touchpad in Windows 10 Using the Settings App

  1. Press the Windows + I key combination to open the Settings app, and then click on Devices.

  2. Select the Touchpad tab. On the right side, toggle the Touchpad option to Off to disable touchpad immediately.

Method 2: Disable Touchpad in Windows 10 Using Device Manager

  1. Press the Windows + X key combination to access the Power User menu, then select Device Manager.

  2. In the Device Manager window, expand Human Interface Devices category to find your touchpad device. Right-click on it and select Disable device from the popup list.

  3. Click Yes to confirm and your touchpad will stop functioning in no time.

Conclusion

Using the above methods you should be able to disable touchpad on all Windows 10 laptops. Some laptops might also let you disable the touchpad from the BIOS/UEFI firmware or using a keyboard shortcut like Fn + F3, but those methods vary for different laptops.

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Enable or Disable Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10

November 11th, 2019 by Admin

How do I prevent Windows Recovery Environment from being used by unauthorized users? Get the error message “Could not find the recovery environment” when you try to perform a factory reset? Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) can be used to diagnose and repair an unbootable Windows system. In this tutorial we’ll show you an easy way to enable or disable Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10.

Part 1: View WinRE Status On Your PC

Before getting started, you can confirm that Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is enabled or disabled on your Windows 10 system. Just open an elevated Command Prompt and run the following command:
reagentc /info

Part 2: Disable WinRE

To disable Windows Recovery Environment, just type the following command at an elevated Command Prompt and hit Enter.
reagentc /disable

Now you’ve successfully disabled WinRE in Windows 10. Reboot your computer into Advanced Options and you’ll find that most of system troubleshooting tools are missing. The only option left is Startup Settings.

When you try to perform a factory reset, you’ll get the error message “Could not find the recovery environment, Insert your Windows installation or recovery media, and restart your PC with the media“.

Part 3: Enable WinRE

Whenever you need to enable Windows Recovery Environment, just launch Command Prompt as administrator. Execute the below command and you’re all set.
reagentc /enable

That’s it!

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