Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

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5 Ways to Open Microsoft Store in Windows 10

June 15th, 2018 by Admin

Microsoft Store, formerly known as Windows Store, is built into Windows 10 which lets you browse and download millions of apps and games. In this post we’ll show you 5 ways to open Microsoft Store app in Windows 10.

Method 1: Open Microsoft Store from Start Menu

Click the Start button. You can access the Microsoft Store app from both the left side of your Start Menu and the right side as live tiles.

Method 2: Open Microsoft Store Using Cortana Search

On the Windows 10 taskbar, type “store” in the Cortana Search box and you can open the Microsoft Store app from the search result.

Method 3: Open Microsoft Store from Run

Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard, type “ms-windows-store:” without the quotation marks in the Run box that appears, and then press Enter.

Method 4: Open Microsoft Store from Command Prompt

Another similar method is to open the Command Prompt, run the command “start ms-windows-store:” and press Enter.

Alternatively, you can open PowerShell, type the same command and press Enter.

Method 5: Pin Microsoft Store to Windows 10 Taskbar

Once the Microsoft Store app is launched, right-click the program’s icon in the taskbar and select the “Pin to taskbar” option from the context menu.

Every time you want to open Microsoft Store, just click the pinned shortcut in the taskbar and you can access it quickly.

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How to Turn on AutoSave in Word/Excel 2016 – 2007

June 14th, 2018 by Admin

In the event of a system crash or power loss, you may lost a couple of hours of work as you forgot to save your Word document. AutoSave is a useful feature in Microsoft Office that will automatically save the document you’re working on at certain intervals. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to turn on AutoSave in Word or Excel 2016 / 2013 / 2010 / 2007.

How to Turn on AutoSave in Word/Excel 2016 – 2007?

  1. Open your Word or Excel application, click on the File tab. On the backstage screen, click Options on the left-hand pane.

    If you’re using Word/Excel 2007, just click the Office button at the top left corner and choose “Word Options” or “Excel Options“.

  2. When the Word/Excel Options dialog box opens, select the Save tab on the left navigation pane. Tick the “Save AutoRecover information every” check box. In the minutes box, you can set the time interval at which your document will be saved automatically.

    Additionally, tick “Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving” check box.

  3. Now, go to the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Save section on the right-side pane and tick the “Allow background saves” check box. Click OK to save your changes.

At this point you’ve successfully turned on AutoSave in Word/Excel 2016 – 2007. When you forgot to save your work in case of a power cut or accidentally close your Word/Excel application without saving, there is good chance you can recover your latest contents.

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How to Copy and Paste in Command Prompt on Windows 10 / 8 / 7

June 14th, 2018 by Admin

How can I paste the text from the clipboard into Command Prompt? To avoid type a lengthy command, you may prefer to use copy and paste to put it into Command Prompt. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to copy and paste in Command Prompt on Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Quick Edit Mode:

Quick Edit Mode lets you use the cursor to directly select the text in the Command Prompt.

To turn on Quick Edit mode, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on the title bar of Command Prompt and select Properties.

  2. Then go to the Options tab and check “Quick Edit Mode” and click OK.

How to copy the text out of Command Prompt when Quick Edit Mode is turned off? Each time you need to select or copy the text from the Command Prompt, an additional step is required: Right-click the title bar, select Edit on the menu, and then click Mark.

Part 1: Copy and Paste in the Windows 8 / 7 Command Prompt

In Windows 8 or Windows 7, there is not a direct keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + C / V) to copy and paste the text in the Command Prompt. If you’ve enabled Quick Edit Mode, here’s how you can copy and paste text in the Command Prompt:

  1. Use the left mouse button to highlight the text you want to copy from the Command Prompt.
  2. Now, you can copy the selected text by pressing the right mouse button.
  3. To paste it anywhere in the Command Prompt, find the line where you want to paste it, and press the right mouse button again. Of course, you can also paste the text by right-clicking on the title bar and then select Edit -> Paste.

Part 2: Copy and Paste in the Windows 10 Command Prompt

  1. Right-click on the Command Prompt’s title bar, choose Properties.
  2. Check “Enable Ctrl key shortcuts“. You’ll probably have to check the “Use legacy console (requires relaunch)” checkbox first though.

  3. Click OK to save the changes and relaunch the Command Prompt.
  4. Now, you can use the cursor to select the text, press the right mouse button or press Ctrl + C to copy the text. Afterwards, press the right mouse button or press Ctrl + V to paste it.

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How to Check and Repair Bad Sectors for USB Drive

June 12th, 2018 by Admin

There are two types of bad sectors – hard and soft. Hard bad sector is a cluster of storage on the hard drive that’s physically damaged, while soft bad sector is the result of software or data error. When copying files, it might stop at bad sectors saying “can’t read from the source file or disk“, “Location is not available” or “A disk read error occurred“.

In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to check and repair bad sectors for USB drive in Windows 10 / 8 / 7, without using third-party software.

Method 1: Check and Repair Bad Sectors Using Windows Error Checking Tool

  1. Open Windows Explorer. Right-click on the USB drive you want to repair, and then select Properties from the context menu that appears.
  2. In the Properties dialog box, go to the Tools tab and then click on Check now.

  3. A new dialog box will appear, check both options: “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors“, and then click on Start.

  4. It will scan the disk for errors, fix logical errors, detect and mark bad sectors. The process could take a significant amount of time to complete, and lots of system resources are required for the task.

Method 2: Check and Repair Bad Sectors Using Chkdsk Command Line

  1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box. Type cmd and press Enter.
  2. At the Command Prompt, run the following command to check and repair bad sectors found on your drive. Replace F: with the drive letter of the USB drive you want to repair.

    chkdsk /f /R F:

  3. It will locate bad sectors and recover readable information from your USB drive. When chkdsk can’t obtain exclusive access to your drive, it will prompt you to schedule this task to run just on the next reboot.

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

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Reset Lost Root Password in Windows Subsystem for Linux

June 11th, 2018 by Admin

Forgot the root password after you’ve installed Ubuntu or Kali Linux subsystem on Windows 10? How can I reset it? Since the Fall Creators Update, you can run different Linux distribution directly on Windows 10 using a feature called “Windows Subsystem for Linux”. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to reset lost root password for any Linux subsystem in Windows 10.

How to Reset Lost Root Password in Windows Subsystem for Linux

  1. To open the terminal for your Linux instance on Windows 10, just click the Cortana search box in the taskbar, and then type the name of your Linux distribution (e.g. “kali linux“, “ubuntu“) to launch it.

  2. Run the following command to find out the user ID of each Linux account.
    cat /etc/passwd

    As you can see from the screenshot above, the root account has a user ID of 0. The account I’m using is named “pcunlocker“, and its user ID is 1000 (or 0x3e8 in hexadecimal).

  3. Now close the terminal and open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss

    You may see one or multiple subkeys named with the GUID of each Linux distribution. Navigate through each GUID key below that, noting the corresponding DistributionName on the right.

  4. When you find the GUID key of the Linux instance you want to reset root password for, double-click on the DefaultUid DWORD on the right-hand side and change it to 0 (root’s user ID).

  5. Close Registry Editor and restart your Windows 10 machine.
  6. The next time you open the Linux app, it will launch the terminal as the root user. Type passwd and hit Enter, it will let you create a new root password.

    Use the “passwd user_name” command and you can reset forgotten password of any other Linux account.

  7. At this point you’ve successfully reset lost root password. Now open Registry Editor and go back to the previous registry key, change the value data of the DefaultUid back to the user ID of your default account.

    In my example, I set the DefaultUid value back to “1000” (or 0x3e8 in hexadecimal) as I want Windows 10 to open the Linux terminal as the “pcunlocker” user by default.

That’s it!

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How to Install Kali Linux as a Subsystem on Windows 10

June 11th, 2018 by Admin

Windows subsystem for Linux (WSL) is an optional Windows component that lets you install and run Linux environments natively on Windows 10, without dual-booting or using a virtual machine. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to install Kali Linux as a subsystem on Windows 10.

Step 1: Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux

Before installing Kali Linux app, you have to enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux feature. To do this, run PowerShell as an administrator and execute the following command:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

When you’re prompted to restart the computer, press Y and Enter to reboot. The system will immediately begin to restart.

Step 2: Download and Install Kali Linux App

Kali Linux is officially released as an application on the Microsoft Store. Just open the Windows Store app and search for Kali Linux, and click Get to download and install it on your computer.

The download is approximately 160Mb in size and you should be able to get it installed in minutes.

Step 3: Create a User to Log into Kali Linux

To open the Kali Linux app you installed, just click the Cortana Search box in the taskbar and type “kali”. You can then click the Kali Linux shortcut to launch it.

This will open a console window. Wait for installation to complete then you will be prompted to create your Linux user account.

Now you can regularly upgrade the Kali Linux installation to the latest version by using the commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get clean

Congratulations, you’re all set up and running a Kali Linux subsystem directly on your Windows 10 machine!

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Remove Double Blue Arrows on Compressed Folders / Files in Windows 10

June 10th, 2018 by Admin

What are the double blue arrows that sometimes appear on my desktop icons and pictures and how can I get rid of them? When a folder or file is compressed with NTFS to save space, Windows 10 will add a double blue arrows overlay at the top right corner to show compression status of the folder/file. If you’re annoyed by this odd and inconsistent behavior, here are 2 simple ways to remove double blue arrows on compressed folders/files in Windows 10.

Method 1: Remove Double Blue Arrows for All Compressed Folders/Files

All you need to do is put a blank icon file somewhere on your PC, then make a small registry change to make Windows display this blank image instead of the blue double arrows icon.

  1. First of all, download blank_icon.zip and extract the blank.ico file to C:\Windows.
  2. Press the Windows key + R keyboard combination to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor.

  3. Now Navigate to the following location:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

    Right-click on the Explorer subkey on the left pane, and select New -> Key.

  4. Name the new key “Shell Icons“, and then right-click it and select New -> String Value.

  5. Name the new string “179“, and then double-click it to set its value data to C:\Windows\blank.ico.

  6. Close Registry Editor. Log off or restart Windows 10 for the change to take effect.

Method 2: Remove Double Blue Arrows for Certain Folders/Files

If you just want to remove double blue arrows for a certain folder or file, just decompress it to turn off NTFS compression.

  1. Open File Explorer and browse to the folder or file with double blue arrows overlay, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
  2. Under the General tab, click the Advanced button.

  3. Tick the checkbox for “Compress contents to save disk space“. Click OK.

  4. If you selected a folder, then you will be prompted to tick “Apply changes to this folder, subfolder and files” and click OK. It will take some time to decompress all its subfolders and files.

  5. At this point you should see the double blue arrows has disappeared from your folder/file icon. That’s it!

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4 Ways to Check If Your Windows 10 Is Activated

June 8th, 2018 by Admin

How to know if your Windows 10 is genuine and activated? When you buy a new laptop or upgrade your PC from Windows 7 to Windows 10, you may want to check if your copy has been activated. In this tutorial we’ll show you all possible ways to check if your copy of Windows 10 is genuine and activated.

Method 1: Check If Your Windows 10 Is Activated Using Settings App

Click on the Start button, and select Settings from the Start Menu that opens up.

Select the “Update and Security” option.

Choose the Activation tab in the left pane, and you can then see if Windows 10 is activated in the right pane.

Method 2: Check If Your Windows 10 Is Activated via System Information

Right-click on This PC icon on your desktop, and then select Properties.

When the System window is opened, scroll down to the Windows activation section and you can know whether if your Windows 10 is activated or not.

Method 3: Check If Your Windows 10 Is Activated Using Command Prompt

Click the Cortana’s search box in the taskbar and type cmd, then click the “Command Prompt” search result.

Once the Command Prompt window is opened, type slmgr /xpr and press Enter.

You will see a prompt saying which edition of Windows 10 you’re using, as well as the activation status.

Method 4: Check If Your Windows 10 Is Activated via Run Box

Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run command. Type slmgr.vbs /xpr and hit Enter.

You will see a prompt saying whether your copy of Windows 10 is activated or not.

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How to Set a Download Bandwidth Limit for Windows 10 Update

June 7th, 2018 by Admin

Windows 10 Update caused slow internet speed? Is it possible to allow Windows 10 to download its updates, but at a reduced bandwidth? With the release of Windows 10 April 2018 Update, Microsoft brought the feature for users to limit the Windows Update bandwidth. Here we’ll show you how to set a bandwidth limit for foreground (or background) downloads of Windows updates in Windows 10.

Method 1: Limit Windows Update Bandwidth from Settings App

  1. Open the Settings app and click Update & Security.

  2. On the right, click Advanced options at the bottom.

  3. On the next screen, click Delivery Optimization.

  4. On the Delivery Optimization page, click Advanced options at the bottom.

  5. Under the Download settings section on the right, check the “Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the foreground” option. Use the slider to set the limit for foreground bandwidth.

    Similarly, you can choose the “Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the background” option to control the bandwidth of Windows Update’s background downloads.

Method 2: Limit Windows Update Bandwidth Using Group Policy

  1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Delivery Optimization, then double-click the “Maximum Foreground Download Bandwidth (percentage)” policy on the right side.

    If you want to limit the bandwidth of Windows Update’s background downloads, double-click the similar policy “Maximum Background Download Bandwidth (percentage)” instead.

  2. Select the Enabled option, and then set how much percentage of bandwidth you want to allocate to Windows Update’s foreground downloads.

  3. Click OK and restart Windows 10. Note: After applying this group policy, you’ll be unable to change the bandwidth limit for Windows Update from the Settings app.

That’s it!

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6 Ways to Sign out of Windows 10 User Account

June 6th, 2018 by Admin

Has the log off function been taken away for Windows 10? Starting with Windows 8, the “Log off” option was renamed to “Sign out”. This tutorial will walk you through 6 ways to sign out of Windows 10 user account.

Method 1: Sign out of Windows 10 Using Start Menu

Click the Start button. When the Start Menu appears, click on the icon for your account name at the top-left corner and select Sign out from the pop-up menu.

Method 2: Sign out of Windows 10 Using Power User Menu

Right-click on the Start button or press the Windows key + X to open the Power User Menu. Just point your mouse at the “Shut down or sign out” submenu and then click Sign out.

Method 3: Sign out of Windows 10 Using ALT + F4

Minimize or close all open windows, and then press ALT + F4 keyboard combination. When the Shut Down Windows dialog pops up, select Sign out from the drop-down list and then click OK.

Method 4: Sign out of Windows 10 Using Ctrl + Alt + Del

Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys together on the keyboard to open the Windows security screen. From there you can get the option to sign out of Windows user account.

Method 5: Sign out of Windows 10 Using Command Line

Open the Command Prompt and run the “shutdown -L” command. This will close all your running apps, and then sign out of your account.

There’s another command Logoff which also serves the same purpose.

Method 6: Sign out of Other User Account Using Task Manager

If there are multiple user accounts logged in on your Windows 10 PC, you can sign out of other account using Task Manager. Follow these steps:

  1. Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys simultaneously on your keyboard to open Task Manager.
  2. Once you’re in the more details view of Task Manager, select the Users tab and you can view which user accounts are logged in. Choose the user you want to sign out and click on the Sign out button at the bottom right corner.

Which method do you prefer to use to sign out of Windows 10? Let us know in the comments.

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