Archive for the ‘Windows 10’ category

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How to Disable & Clear Location History in Windows 10

October 24th, 2016 by Admin

Windows 10 enables location tracking by default, Cortana and other apps can use the geographic location of your computer to provide more accurate results for things like maps and web searches. But users concerned about privacy might want to turn off location tracking permanently. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to turn on/off location tracking, and clear location history in Windows 10.

How to Disable & Clear Location History in Windows 10?

  1. Open Settings app by clicking its icon in Start menu or pressing Windows logo + I keyboard shortcut.

  2. Click on Privacy.

    privacy-settings

  3. Select Location from the list on the left side. Scroll down to the Location history section, click the Clear button under Clear history on this device.

    clear-location-history

  4. Windows 10 can find your general location using IP address. In order to disable general location, switch the “General location” switch to Off.
  5. Windows 10 can also determine the precise location using your router details. Scroll down to the bottom, you can choose whether apps can access your precise location.

    disable-precise-location

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2 Ways to Turn On or Off Screen Saver in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

October 20th, 2016 by Admin

Screen saver is a nice way to protect your computer from prying eyes when you walk away without locking it. After a short time of inactivity, screen saver will automatically lock the screen and apply password protection. But sometimes screen saver will bother you while playing movie. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to turn on or off screen saver in Windows 10 / 8 /7.

Method 1: Turn On / Off Screen Saver from Screen Saver Settings Dialog

  1. Right-click the empty space on your desktop and select Personalize.

  2. It now opens up the Personalization settings. Click on Lock screen in the left pane, then click the Screen saver settings link in the right pane.

    screen-saver-settings

    If you’re running Windows 7, simply click on the Screen Saver link at the bottom of the window.

    screen-saver-personalization

  3. Once Screen Saver Settings dialog is launched, you can customize the screensaver and change the idle time before the screen saver is activated. If you want to turn off screen saver, just set the screen saver as None and Uncheck the box to On resume, display logon screen.

    screen-saver

  4. Click Apply and then OK.

Method 2: Turn On / Off Screen Saver Using Group Policy

  1. Press Windows key + R and type gpedit.msc and hit Enter. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor.

    gpedit

  2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization. Double-click on the policy labeled “Enable screen saver“.

    enable-screen-saver

  3. Set it to Disabled if you want to turn off screen saver. After disabling, all the screen saver settings options will be greyed out. If you want to turn on screen saver later, you need to set that option to Enabled.

    turn-on-off-screen-saver

  4. Click OK and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

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

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Fix: Screen Saver Settings Greyed out in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

October 17th, 2016 by Admin

Unable to change screen saver settings? All screen saver options are greyed out or disabled? This problem is caused by a group policy setting that got screen saver disabled. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to fix this problem in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

screen-saver-greyed-out

Method 1: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Group Policy

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

    gpedit

  2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
    User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization
  3. In the right pane, locate the following two policies:
    • Enable screen saver
    • Password protect the screen saver

    screen-saver-group-policy

  4. Double-click on each policy to modify, set both of them to Not Configured. Click Apply and then OK.

    enable-screen-saver

  5. Reboot your computer and you should be able to change the screen saver settings.

Method 2: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Registry Hack

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

    regedit-via-run

  2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop

    ScreenSaveActive

  3. Delete both ScreenSaveActive and ScreenSaverIsSecure in the right pane. Reboot your computer and the screen saver settings should be editable from now on.

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

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4 Ways to Open Screen Saver Settings in Windows 10

October 17th, 2016 by Admin

To turn on or disable screen saver, you have to open the Screen Saver Settings dialog. Windows 10 has buried it where you might not be able to find it. It certainly isn’t in any obvious place, so here we’ll show you 4 ways to open Screen Saver Settings in Windows 10.

screen-saver-settings

Method 1: Open Screen Saver Settings by Right-clicking the Desktop

Right-click on any empty space of your desktop, and select Personalize from the context menu.

personalize

When the Settings app launches, select Lock screen on the left side. Click the Screen saver settings link on the right side at the bottom.

lock-screen-settings

Method 2: Open Screen Saver Settings from Run or Command Prompt

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type the following command and press Enter.
control desk.cpl,,@screensaver

open-screen-savers-settings-via-run

Or run the above command at the Command Prompt, it will also open Screen Saver Settings dialog in Windows 10.

Method 3: Open Screen Saver Settings Using Windows 10 Search

Click the Cortana Search box at the taskbar. Type in Screen Saver.

open-screen-saver-settings-via-search

Click on “Change screen saver” and it will take you to the Screen Saver Settings right away where you can turn on or off screen saver in Windows 10.

Method 4: Open Screen Saver Settings from Control Panel

Open the Control Panel in Windows 10. You’ll see a Search box in the upper right corner. Type Screen Saver and press Enter.

change-screen-saver-via-control-panel

Click on “Change screen saver” from the search result. This will open the Screen Saver Settings dialog immediately.

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How to Export and Copy Local Group Policy Settings to Another PC

October 14th, 2016 by Admin

“I am editing local group policies here and would prefer not to edit each machine manually. How do I export the policy, and then import it to other machines? Please help!”

LGPO.exe (Local Group Policy Object Utility) is a small command-line utility released by Microsoft, which allows you to export and import local group policy easily. It’s really convenient if you want to make a backup of local group policy, or import it later on another computer.

This tutorial shows you how to use Microsoft’s command line tool LGPO to export / backup local group policy settings, and import them into another computer.

Download LGPO from Microsoft

Download the LGPO zip archive from Microsoft’s website. Unpack it locally and copy the resulting LGPO.exe file to C:\Windows\System32. Afterwards you can open an elevated Command Prompt for running the LGPO command to automate the management of local group policy.

LGPO

Export Local Group Policy Settings

To create a backup for local policy policy settings on your local PC, run this command at Command Prompt:
LGPO.exe /b backup_path

backup-local-group-policy-via-cmd

A new folder with GPO GUID appears in the target directory. It will contain all local policy settings for this computer. You can restore this backup to your local machine at any time you need it, or import it later into another computer.

group-policy-backup

Import GPO into Another PC

To restore Local Group Policy settings from the backup, import them by running the following command:
LGPO.exe /g backup_path

import-group-policy-via-cmd

Once imported, restart your computer for the local group policy settings to take effect.

Conclusion

This method can help you easily deploy local group policy settings to other computers. As we all know, the Local Group Policy Editor is not present in Windows Home edition so you’re unable to edit the group policy locally. The LGPO utility makes it possible to copy the group policy settings from Windows Pro/Enterprise to Windows Home.

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

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Fix: Sound Icon Missing from Taskbar in Windows 10

October 13th, 2016 by Admin

The sound / volume icon is missing from the taskbar….how do you get it back? With the sound icon disappeared, it’s extremely inconvenient to adjust the sound volume on your PC. In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 ways to fix the issue: sound icon missing from taskbar in Windows 10.

sound-icon-at-taskbar

Method 1: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon from Settings

  1. Open Settings app by clicking its icon in Start menu or pressing Windows logo + I hotkey.

  2. Click on Personalization.

    personalization

  3. Select Taskbar from the left-hand navigation, then click the Turn system icons on or off link.

    taskbar-settings

  4. Make sure that the Volume is set to On.

    turn-volume-system-icon-on

    If it’s greyed out, you need to turn on Windows 10 Sound Icon using the following group policy or registry hack.

Method 2: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon Using Group Policy

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter gpedit.msc. Press OK to open Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. In the left pane navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane locate “Remove the volume control icon” and double-click it.

    remove-volume-control-icon

  3. Make sure that Not Configured or Disabled option is selected. Click Apply and then OK.

    enable-volume-icon

    Restore your computer and the sound icon should be back at Windows 10 taskbar.

Method 3: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon Using Registry Editor

If Local Group Policy Editor is not available in your PC, try this registry hack to restore the sound icon in Windows 10. Follow these steps:

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter regedit. Press OK to launch Registry Editor.
  2. In the left pane, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
  3. On the right-side, look for the HideSCAVolume entry, double-click on it, change value date to 0 and then click OK.

    HideSCAVolume

  4. Restart your computer and you should see the Volume / Sound icon at the taskbar in Windows 10.

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Reset Windows 10 Password for HP Spectre x360 Laptop

October 12th, 2016 by Admin

Forgot Windows 10 password on your HP Spectre x360 laptop? How can you unlock the computer without a factory reset? If you don’t know how to reset Windows 10 forgotten password, then you’re at very right post. The following is a complete guide on how to reset lost Windows 10 password for HP Spectre x360 laptop when you get locked out.

Part 1: Create a Bootable USB Drive

When you’re locked out of HP Spectre x360 laptop, you need to use another PC for creating a bootable USB drive. Begin by download the PCUnlocker Enterprise (trial version), and then extract the ISO file from the downloaded file (in .zip format).

Download and install the free USB creator software ISO2Disc. Launch ISO2Disc and select the PCUnlocker ISO file you’ve extracted. Select the “GPT (required for UEFI boot)” option and click Start Burn.

Part 2: Boot HP Spectre x360 with USB

Insert the bootable USB drive into your HP Spectre x360 laptop. While turning on the machine, quickly and repeatedly press a key (might be F9 or ESC + F9) to access the Boot Options. Select your USB drive and let your laptop boot from it.

If you still couldn’t access the Boot Options, you can press F10 key to enter into BIOS and change the boot order to USB. Additionally, you can also access BIOS/UEFI from Windows 10 login screen: 2 Options to Access UEFI BIOS Setup in Windows 8 / 10

Part 3: Reset Windows 10 Password

Once the laptop successfully boots from USB drive, you’ll see the PCUnlocker program and it lists all user accounts detected in your Windows 10 SAM file. Select a user and click on “Reset Password” button.

A pop-up window will appear, asking to confirm you are ready to reset the password. Click Yes. Reboot your laptop and unplug the USB drive. You can then log on to your HP Spectre x360 laptop without a password!

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How to Enable USB Write Protection in Windows 10, 8 and 7

October 1st, 2016 by Admin

Worry about someone copying files off your PC via USB drive? The most common solution is to disable or restrict the usage of USB ports. In this tutorial we’ll show you another way to enable write protection of all USB drives that are connected to your Windows operating system.

How to Enable USB Write Protection in Windows 10, 8 and 7?

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

    regedit-via-run

  2. This will open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
  3. Right-click on the Control key in the left pane, select New -> Key. Name it as StorageDevicePolicies.

    new-registry-key

  4. Select the StorageDevicePolicies key in the left pane, then right-click on any empty space in the right pane and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it WriteProtect.

    new-dword-value

  5. Double-click on WriteProtect and then change the value data from 0 to 1.

    usb-write-protect

  6. The new setting takes effect immediately. Every user who tries to copy / move data to USB devices or format USB drive will get the error message “The disk is write-protected“. We can only open the file in the USB drive for reading, but it’s not allowed to modify and save the changes back to USB drive.

    disk-is-write-protected

So this is how you can enable write protection to all connected USB drives. If you want to disable write protection at a later time, just open Registry Editor and set the WriteProtect value to 0.

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How to Reset Local Group Policy Settings to Default with / without Login

September 30th, 2016 by Admin

Is there a way to bypass group policy? Group policy settings are messed up? You might be restricted from modifying certain system settings or you’re denied to log on to Windows. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to reset local group policy settings to default, even if you couldn’t log into Windows.

Where Group Policy Settings are Stored

A local Group Policy object exists on every Windows-based computer, including Windows Home edition. The Local Group Policy is divided into two broad categories – Computer Configuration and User Configuration. All system-wide policies are stored under Computer Configuration, while user-specific settings are stored under User Configuration.

The group policy settings are stored in a file named Registry.pol under your system drive.

  • Computer-wide settings (Computer Configuration) – %SystemRoot%\System32\ GroupPolicy\Machine\registry.pol
  • User-specific settings (User Configuration) – %SystemRoot%\System32\ GroupPolicy\User\registry.pol

group-policy-location

Now that we know where the group policy settings are stored, we can reset them to default easily. No need to reinstall Windows when your group policy is messed up.

Method 1: Reset Local Group Policy Settings to Default After Login

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt in Windows.
  2. At the Command Prompt, type the following commands one by one, press Enter after each.
    RD /S /Q "C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy"
    RD /S /Q "C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"

    This will delete all your group policy settings (Registry.pol) stored on your computer.

    reset-group-policy-to-default

  3. Now you’ve reset the group policy objects to default. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 2: Reset Local Group Policy Settings to Default without Login

When you’re unable to boot or log into Windows any longer, or you have insufficient privileges to open up Command Prompt, just boot your PC from Windows installation disc and you can reset local group policy to default from outside Windows.

  1. Boot your PC with Windows installation DVD. When you comes to the Windows Setup screen, press SHIFT + F10 keys to open the Command Prompt.

  2. At the Command Prompt, use the dir command to find the drive where your Windows is installed.

    find-windows-partition

  3. Run the following commands one by one. Replace D:\ with the drive letter of your Windows partition.

    RD /S /Q "D:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy"
    RD /S /Q "D:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"

    reset-group-policy-settings

  4. When it’s done, quit Windows Setup and take out the DVD, reboot your computer and the local group policies should have been reset to default. When you later make changes with the group policy, Windows will create a new Registry.pol file to store your settings.

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

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