Archive for the ‘Windows 10’ category

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How to Batch Rename Multiple Files in Windows 10

July 6th, 2017 by Admin

How can I quickly rename a bunch of files at once? Of course, you can right-click each file and rename it one by one. But this could be really painful and time-consuming if you need to rename hundreds of files. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 quick ways to batch rename multiple files in Windows 10, without using third-party software.

Method 1: Batch Rename Multiple Files in File Explorer

Just put all the files which you would like to rename, in a single folder (if they are scattered). Follow these steps and you can quickly rename all files at once in File Explorer:

  1. Open File Explorer in Windows 10 and browse to the folder where the files you need to rename.
  2. Press Ctrl +A to select all your target files. Once all the files are selected, right-click on the first file and select Rename from the context menu (you can also press F2 to rename the file).
  3. You’ll notice only the file name itself is highlighted, not the extension. If you want to rename the full name including extension, press Ctrl + A to select all. Now type a new file name and press Enter.

    rename-multiple-files

  4. It will rename the rest of the files based on the first filename, and add the sequential number to the end of each file.

    5. multiple-files-renamed-at-once

If you don’t like the new name, you can undo the renaming and get the old name back, but you have to act now. Just right-click an empty area of File Explorer, and choose “Undo Rename” from the context menu.

Method 2: Batch Rename Multiple Files Using Command Prompt

Another fast way of batch renaming multiple files is using Command Prompt. This method is extremely easy especially if you want to change extensions of multiple files at once. You could follow these steps:

  1. Open File Explorer and browse to the folder where you want to change the name of files.
  2. Hold down Shift on your keyboard, right-click an empty area in that folder, and then choose “Open command window here” from the context menu.

    open-command-window-here

    Note: In Windows 10 Creators Update, the “Open command window here” option is removed and you can restore it by following this tutorial.

  3. When the Command Prompt window pops up, you can use the ren command to batch rename multiple files at once. For example, you have a bunch of .html files that you want to turn into .htm files. You could use the following command along with the * wildcard:

    ren *.html *.htm

    rename-file-extension-in-command-prompt

  4. Just a while all your files are going to be converted from one extension to another. That’s it!

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How to Backup / Restore Sticky Notes in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

July 5th, 2017 by Admin

How can I transfer old sticky notes to a new computer? Looking for a way to import the legacy sticky notes into the new Sticky Notes application? This tutorial will show you how to backup and restore Sticky Notes on any computer running Windows 10, 8 or 7.

Part 1: Backup Sticky Notes

  1. Before get started, you need to close the Sticky Notes application if it’s running.
  2. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Copy and paste one of the following path and press Enter.
    • In Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 version 1511 and earlier:
      %AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes
    • In Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Build 1607) or later:
      %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState

    open-sticky-notes-location

  3. Now, Windows Explorer will open the location where your sticky notes are stored. Just copy StickyNotes.snt or plum.sqlite to a backup location of your choice.

    StickyNotes.snt

Part 2: Restore Sticky Notes

If you need to restore your notes to another computer for whatever reason, you can easily copy the same file you backed up earlier to the same directory on that computer. Before you copy the file, make sure the Stick Notes app isn’t running.

Part 3: Import Old Sticky Notes (StickyNotes.snt) into Windows 10 Anniversary Update or Later

  1. First of all, close Sticky Notes application. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Copy and paste the following path and press Enter.
    %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState
  2. This will open the LocalState folder in File Explorer.

    plum.sqlite

  3. From there create a new folder named Legacy. Copy and paste the backed up StickyNotes.snt file into the Legacy folder, and rename it to ThresholdNotes.snt.

    import-sticky-notes-into-windows-10

  4. Start the Sticky Notes app. It will read the legacy .snt file and transfer the notes to the database file plum.sqlite automatically. That’s it!

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2 Ways to Prevent Access To Drives in My Computer in Windows 10

July 5th, 2017 by Admin

Is there a way to choose what local drives may be viewed by specific users? How can I restrict access to certain drive on the machine? Windows 10 comes with a group policy setting that allows you to prevent other users from accessing to the content of selected drives. This is useful if you share your PC with others, but you want to restrict access to a drive for other accounts in the same computer.

Note: This setting won’t prevent users from using programs (for example, Command Prompt) that access the local drives. If you need to a professional folder protection software, you can try Protect My Folders.

Method 1: Prevent Access To Drives in My Computer in Windows 10 Using Group Policy

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.

    gpedit

  2. Once Local Group Policy Editor is launched, use the left pane to navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer. Now go to the right pane and scroll to find “Prevent access to drives from My Computer” and double-click on it.

    prevent-access-to-drivers-my-computer

  3. When the configuration box pops up, change the setting to Enabled. Next move to the Options section at the bottom left, and use the drop-down menu to select the combination of disk drives for which you want to prevent user access. Click Apply and then OK.

    restrict-access-to-drives

  4. The policy setting will take effect immediately, no restart is required. When a user try to open the restricted drive in File Explorer, they will receive the following error message:

    “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator“

Method 2: Prevent Access To Drives in My Computer in Windows 10 Using Registry Editor

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.

    regedit

  2. Once the Registry Editor window is launched, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

    If the Explorer key does not exist, you can right-click on Policies, select New -> Key and name it Explorer.

  3. Right-click on the Explorer key in the left pane, and then select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it NoViewOnDrive.
  4. Next, double-click NoViewOnDrive and set its value according to following list (in Decimal):

    A: 1, B: 2, C: 4, D: 8, E: 16, F: 32, G: 64, H: 128, I: 256, J: 512, K: 1024, L: 2048, M: 4096, N: 8192, O: 16384, P: 32768, Q: 65536, R: 131072, S: 262144, T: 524288, U: 1048576, V: 2097152, W: 4194304, X: 8388608, Y: 16777216, Z: 33554432, ALL: 67108863

    NoViewOnDrive

    For example, if you want to lock drive D, you have to set the value to 8. If you want to lock both Drive A and drive D, you would add 1 (A) + 8 (D) which means the value should be set to “9”.

  5. When it’s done, close Registry Editor. Restart Windows for the change to take effect.

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How to Disable Websites Asking for Your Location in Windows 10

July 4th, 2017 by Admin

How to stop websites from asking your location in Chrome? While surfing online, you may noticed that some websites ask for permission to access your location. If you’re concerned about websites tracking your physical location, you can configure your web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer) to disable websites asking for your location in Windows 10.

Part 1: Turn Off Location Tracking in Google Chrome

  1. Click on the three-dot menu on the right-hand side of the address bar, go to Settings.

  2. Scroll till the end and click on Show advanced settings.

  3. Click on Content settings and under the Privacy section.

    content-settings

  4. Scroll down to the Location section and select “Do not allow any site to track your physical location“. Now click Done

    chrome-not-track-physical-location

Part 2: Turn Off Location Tracking in Microsoft Edge

Just like other Windows 10 Store apps, Microsoft Edge’s location tracking settings cannot be controlled from within the browser itself. You have to turn off location tracking through the Settings app. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings app and then click Privacy.

    privacy-settings

  2. Select Location tab in the left side. Scroll down to the “Choose apps that can use your precise location” section and turn the slider next to Microsoft Edge to Off.

    disable-edge-use-location

Part 3: Turn Off Location Tracking in Firefox

  1. Open your Firefox browser. Type about:config into the address bar and press Enter.

    firefox-config

  2. You’ll see a warning message “This might void your warranty!“. Just click I accept the risk and move on.
  3. Type geo.enabled into the Search box and hit Enter. The Geo Enabled option should show up. Double-click that option with your mouse to disable it.

    firefox-geo-enabled

Part 4: Turn Off Location Tracking in Internet Explorer

  1. Open your Internet Explorer. Click on the gear shaped Settings icon in the upper-right corner. From the drop-down menu, select Internet options.

    internet-options

  2. The Internet Options dialog box will open. Click on Privacy tab and check the box “Never allow websites to request your physical location“. Click OK and you’re done!

    allow-website-request-physical-location

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6 Ways to Open Power Options in Windows 10

June 29th, 2017 by Admin

Power Options is a setting page in the Control Panel that allows you to change power-saving plan and adjust screen brightness on your computer. In this tutorial we’ll show you 6 methods to open Power Options in Windows 10.

power-options

Method 1: Open Power Options from Control Panel

Open the Control Panel. Set the View by option to Large icons or Small icons, and then click Power Options.

Method 2: Open Power Options Using WIN+X Shortcut

Press the Windows logo key + X keyboard shortcut, and you can then access Power Options from the pop-up menu.

open-power-options-via-winx

Method 3: Open Power Options via Run

Press the Windows logo key + R to open the Run command box. Type powercfg.cpl and press Enter.

powercfg

Method 4: Open Power Options from Windows 10 Taskbar

If you’re running Windows 10 on a laptop or tablet, just right-click the battery icon in the notification area on your taskbar. The pop-up menu gives you a quick way to access Power Options setting.

open-power-options-via-taskbar

Method 5: Open Power Options from Settings

Press the Windows logo key + I to launch the Settings app. Navigate to System -> Power & sleep, and then click the Additional power settings link on the right side.

additional-power-settings

Method 6: Open Power Options from Command Prompt

Open the Command Prompt and type in the following command:

%windir%\system32\control.exe /name Microsoft.PowerOptions

open-power-options-from-command-line

Once you press Enter, it will open the Power Options window immediately.

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Fix: Hibernate Option Missing in Windows 10 Power Options

June 29th, 2017 by Admin

Hibernate option is missing from the Power Options in the Control Panel? Did you install driver updates but still couldn’t get the Hibernate option back? Hibernate is one of the power saving modes that saves your current system state to hard drive, then power off the system. When you start the PC, it restores that state, letting you resume from where you left off.

hibernate-missing-in-power-options

If you prefer to use the hibernate feature on your Windows 10 PC, here is a simple way to restore the missing Hibernate option back to the Power Options.

How to Fix: Hibernate Option Missing in Windows 10 Power Options?

  1. Click the Cortana Search box on your taskbar, type cmd, right click on the Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

    run-cmd-as-administrator

  2. Once the Command Prompt is launched, type in the following command to enable the Hibernate feature.

    powercfg /hibernate on

  3. Next, run the following command to change the hibernation file type to full.

    powercfg /h /type full

    restore-missing-hibernate-option

  4. Reboot your computer. You should see the Hibernate option show up in the Power Options.

    hibernate-option

    That’s it!

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How to Change Power Button Action in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

June 29th, 2017 by Admin

How to change what power button does in Windows 10? Every desktop/laptop computer has a hardware power button without any exception whatsoever. By default, pressing the power button will put your computer to shut down, but in Windows 10/8 it just puts your PC into sleep. To shut down a computer running Windows 10/8, you might have to press the power button for long duration.

This tutorial shows you a simple way to change the default action of the hardware power button so that when it is pressed, Windows will go into sleep, hibernate, shut down, or even do nothing.

How to Change Power Button Action in Windows 10 / 8 / 7?

  1. Open the Control Panel in Large icons view, and then click Power Options.

  2. From the Power Options window, click the Choose what the power button does link from the left pane.

    choose-what-power-button-does

  3. Click on the Change settings that are currently unavailable link.

    change-settings-currently-unavailable

  4. You should see two drop-down menus to configure the default action when you press the power button. One is for when the laptop’s running on battery power, the other for when it’s plugged in.

    change-power-button-action

    Select the action you want (Do nothing, Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down or Turn off the display), and click Save changes.

  5. This change will take effect immediately. Press the hardware power button and it should now function as you expect. That’s it!

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Fix: Windows 10 Store Not Working

June 27th, 2017 by Admin

The Store in Windows 10 won’t open? Windows Store apps not downloading or updating? So if you’ve been facing this issue, let see how you can fix it easily and get Windows 10 Store back to work.

Method 1: Clear the Windows Store Caches

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run command box, or open the Command Prompt as administrator.
  2. Type wsreset and press Enter. After a few minutes, all Store cache and corrupt settings are reset, and your Windows Store shall open normally.

    wsreset

If the wsreset command doesn’t work, you can open File Explorer. Browse to the following directory and delete the local caches of Windows Store:
C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache

Note: Replace user_name with the name of your Windows account. By default, the AppData directory is hidden and you need to set Windows to show hidden files.

Method 2: Re-register Windows Store Apps

  1. Type powershell in the Cortana search box on your taskbar. Right-click on the Powershell app from the result, and choose Run as administrator.

    run-powershell-as-administrator

  2. In the administrative PowerShell window, paste the following command and hit Enter to re-register the store apps.

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    register-store-apps

  3. Once the command is successfully executed, you can close Windows PowerShell. After restarting the system, problems with Windows 10 Store should be fixed.

Method 3: Official Troubleshooter to Fix Issues with Windows 10 Store

Microsoft has a troubleshooter that scans your system and automatically fixes any problems that might be preventing any Windows Store apps from working correctly. Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter isn’t built-in to Windows, you can easily download it for free from this link.

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How to Create and Use Virtual Desktop in Windows 10

June 26th, 2017 by Admin

Have too many shortcuts and files on your desktop? Got too many apps or windows open on one screen? Windows 10 comes with a new built-in feature called Task View, which allows you to create multiple virtual desktops on a single monitor. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create and use multiple virtual desktops in Windows 10.

Part 1: Create Virtual Desktop

Click the Task View button next to the Cortana search box on your taskbar. Alternatively, press the Windows+Tab keyboard shortcut to open Task View.

task-view

You’ll see a button in the bottom-right corner of your screen labeled “New desktop“. Just click this button to create a new virtual desktop. You can use this method to create an unlimited number of virtual desktops.

create-virtual-desktop

Part 2: Switch Between Virtual Desktops

Virtual desktops not only give you more desktop space for separate task-related windows, but also allow you to quickly and easily access what you need. For example, you can run productivity apps (such as Office, OneNote, email) on your first virtual desktop, and use the second desktop for gaming.

To switch between virtual desktops, click the Task View button on the taskbar and then select the desktop you want to switch to.

switch-between-virtual-desktops

You can also quickly switch virtual desktops by using the keyboard shortcuts: Windows key + Ctrl + Left Arrow, Windows Key + Ctrl + Right Arrow.

Part 3: Move Application from One Virtual Desktop to Another

Click the Task View button on the taskbar. From Task View, you can drag-and-drop open program windows from the current desktop into a different one, or right-click the app you want move, select Move to, and select the desktop you want to move the app.

move-applications-between-virtual-desktops

Part 4: Close Virtual Desktop

To close your current desktop, just press the keyboard shortcut: Windows key + Ctrl + F4. That’s about all there is to Windows 10 virtual desktops.

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2 Methods to Disable Narrator in Windows 10, 8 and 7

June 22nd, 2017 by Admin

How to turn off Narrator permanently or disable Narrator shortcut key in Windows? When you accidentally press the Windows + Enter (or Windows + Ctrl + Enter in Windows 10) hotkey, this will open up the built-in Narrator app, which puts a blue box to the button or text with keyboard focus.

narrator-blue-box

If you want to quickly exit Narrator, press Caps Lock+Esc. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 easy methods to turn off / disable Narrator completely in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Method 1: Disable Narrator Shortcut Key

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

    regedit

  2. When the Registry Editor opens up, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Narrator\NoRoam

    disable-narrator-shortcut

    Double-click the WinEnterLaunchEnabled value in the right pane.

  3. When the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value dialog box opens, type 0 in the Value data field and click OK.

    WinEnterLaunchEnabled

  4. Now you’ve successfully disabled Narrator shortcut key. Try to press the Windows + Enter or Windows + Ctrl + Enter shortcut, it won’t start Windows Narrator any longer.

After disabling Narrator hotkey, you can still open Windows Narrator using other methods descried in this tutorial. If you want to turn off Narrator permanently, proceed to the next method.

Method 2: Turn Off Narrator Permanently

  1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the directory C:\Windows\System32.
  2. The Narrator.exe file is protected by system, and you need to take ownership of it before making any changes. If you don’t know how to change ownership, you can take use of the freeware TakeOwnershipPro.

    take-ownership-narrator

  3. Right-click on the Narrator.exe file and then select Properties from the context menu.
  4. When the Properties window opens, choose the Security tab and click the Edit button to change permissions.

    change-file-permissions

  5. Choose your own user from the list, and then deny the Read & Execute and Read permissions and click OK.

    deny-execute-narrator

  6. Now you’ve turned off Narrator on your Windows computer.

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