Archive for the ‘Windows 7’ category

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How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows and Mac

April 14th, 2016 by Admin

“Whenever I type, my baby finger hits the Caps Lock key and all my typing ends up in caps. I want to disable it completely and just use the Shift key for capitals. How do I disable the Caps Loks key in Windows 10? Please help!”

Without the Caps Lock key, you can still type the letter you want to capitalize by holding down the Shift key. Pressing the Shift key once is much more efficient than pressing the Caps Lock key twice. If you don’t need to use the Caps Lock key, you can disable it permanently. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to disable Caps Lock key in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Mac OS X.

Part 1: Disable Caps Lock in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP

There is no built-in settings available in Windows that allow you to disable Caps Lock key, so we have to use a registry hack to map the Caps Lock key to doing nothing. Follow these steps:

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type notepad and press Enter.
  2. Copy the lines below and then paste them into the NotePad:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
    "Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00

    notepad

  3. Click the File menu and select Save as. Select “All Files” from the “Save as type” drop-down box. Type the file name as Disable_Caps_Lock.reg. Click Save.

    save-as

  4. Double-click the .reg file, or right-click on it and select “Open with” -> “Registry Editor“. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.

    open-with-registry-editor

  5. Registry Editor will confirm if you want to import the registry settings in your .reg file, click Yes.

    import-into-registry

    Now log out (and back in) or reboot to make this registry trick to take effect.

If you want to enable the Caps Lock key again, open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout, then delete the Scancode Map entry entirely.

enable-caps-lock

Part 2: Disable Caps Lock in Mac OS X

It’s pretty easy to actually turn the Caps Lock key off if you’re using a Mac. Here’s how:

  1. Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your desktop, then select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

    system-preferences

  2. Click on the Keyboard icon to launch the preferences pane.

    keyboard-utility

  3. Click the Modifier Keys button in the bottom-right corner.

    modifier-keys

  4. A new window will slide down with a setting for the Caps Lock key at the top. click on the drop-down menu next to the Caps Lock Key title, and choose No Action.

    disable-mac-caps-lock

  5. Click OK. Now, whenever you hit the Caps Lock key by mistake, nothing will happen.

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

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Fix: “Burn disc image” Option Missing for ISO Context Menu

April 11th, 2016 by Admin

When you right-click on an ISO file in Windows 10/8/7, you should see the “Burn disc image” option in the context menu. What to do if the “Burn disc image” option is missing or no longer appears in the right-click context menu? To restore this context menu item, you have to set the built-in app – Windows Disc Image Burner – as the default program for opening an ISO file. Here’s how:

burn-disc-image

How to Fix: “Burn disc image” Option Missing for ISO Context Menu

  1. Open the Control Panel. Select Large icons from the View by option, then click on Default Programs.

    control-panel-items

  2. On the Default Programs window, click Set your default programs link.

    default-programs

  3. From the generated list of available programs in the left pane, select Windows Disc Image Burner, and then click on the Set this program as default option on the bottom right.

    set-default-programs

  4. Click on Choose defaults for this Program. You will get a window that displays the list of file extensions registered by the program. Check the boxes against the file extensions (*.iso, *.img) that you want the selected program to open by default. Click Save and you’re done.

    set-program-association

  5. Restart your computer and the “Burn disc image” option should now appear in the right-click context menu of an ISO file.

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

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How to Delete Windows Update Cache to Free Space

April 9th, 2016 by Admin

The update cache is a temporary folder used by Windows Update to store the temporary installation files. By default, Windows Update automatically cleans out the cached updates at a regular interval. But the temporary files will not be deleted when Windows Update fails or refuses to install an update.

update-temp-file-size

Sometimes the obsolete update cache can take up Gigabytes of space and this can run out of disk space on C:\ drive. When you run into space issue or Windows Update doesn’t work properly, you can use this method to safely delete Windows Update cache in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

How to Delete Windows Update Cache to Free Space?

In previous post we’ve covered how to delete temporary Windows installation files ($WINDOWS.~BT) using Disk Cleanup. But that utility doesn’t include an option for purging Windows Update cache. So we need to delete the update cache manually. Before getting started, make sure no update process is running, or your update will fail to install.

  1. The first step is to temporarily turn off the Windows Update service. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type cmd and press Enter.
  2. When the Command Prompt opens, type the command below to stop the Windows Update service.
    net stop wuauserv

    stop-windows-update

  3. Open the Windows Explorer and navigate to the following folder and delete all its content (not the folder itself).
    C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

    delete-update-temp-files

  4. Once you’ve deleted the update cache, open the Command Prompt again and run the following command to start the Windows Update service.
    net start wuauserv

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

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How to Fix “The signature of this program is corrupt or invalid”

April 3rd, 2016 by Admin

When you download a software with Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer, you might receive the error message saying “The signature of this program is corrupt or invalid“.

edge-warn-signature-corrupt

ie-warn-signature-corrupt

Recently we’ve also heard of our customers having this issue when downloading the Lock My Folders program in Windows 10, so we spend lots of time trying to reproduce this issue. We finally got to the bottom of the issue (we believe).

The signature was never corrupt or even invalid. Microsoft released a cumulative security update KB3140745 for Windows 10 that deprecated support for SHA1 code signing certificate. Any programs signed with SHA1 certificate after January 1st, 2016 will be flagged as an invalid signature. In this tutorial we’ll explain how to check if your downloaded program is signed with SHA1 or not, then discuss the methods to get around the download issue.

How do I know if a program is signed with SHA1?

  1. Right-click on your program and select Properties.
  2. Click on the Digital Signatures tab.
  3. Select the signature and click on the Details button.
  4. Click the View Certificate button.
  5. Click the Details tab.
  6. Look at the Signature hash algorithm.

    sha1-certificate

Methods to fix “The signature of this program is corrupt or invalid”

If you are the software developer, just contact the CA to re-issue or replace your SHA1 certificate with a new stronger SHA2 certificate, then sign your program with SHA2 certificate and the issue will be resolved.

If you download software from a reliable website and get the “The signature of this program is corrupt or invalid” error message, here are 3 ways to work around this problem:

  • When you see the a pop-up message that says the signature is corrupt or invalid, click on View downloads button.

    edge-warn-signature-corrupt

    Next right-click on the file in downloads and choose Run anyway.

    edge-run-anyway

    If Windows 10 Smart Screen displays a warning that the app cannot be recognized, click More Info and click Run Anyway to install.

  • Uninstall the Windows update that causes this issue. I can reproduce the problem by installing KB3140745 on Windows 10. I then uninstall this single update and it fixed the problem. If you’ve turned on automatic updating, you can block that specific update in Windows 10 so it won’t be installed any longer.
  • Only the browsers from Microsoft block SHA1 code signing certificate now. Chrome and Firefox still accepts SHA1 certificate. So you can get around this problem by downloading with Chrome or Firefox browsers.

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

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Fix “You’ve been signed in with a temporary profile” Error in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 24th, 2016 by Admin

After you log on to a Windows user account, you may face the temporary profile issue and some of your desktop icons & files are disappeared. A notification pops up in the right bottom corner of the taskbar, saying:

“You’ve been signed in with a temporary profile. You can’t access your files, and files created in this profile will be deleted when you sign out. To fix this, sign out and try signing in later. Please see the event log for more details or contact your system administrator.”

temporary-profile

In Windows 7, the error message looks like:

“You have been logged on with a temporary profile. You cannot access your files and files created in this profile will be deleted when you log off. To fix this, log off and try logging on later. Please see the event log for details or contact your system administrator.”

So I did a quick Google search and it seems that this is a common issue. This problem usually occurs if the user profile was accidentally moved or deleted from the system. Any changes that you make to the current desktop are lost after you log off the system. In this tutorial we’ll explain the step-by-step procedure to fix temporary profile issue in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

How to Fix “You’ve been signed in with a temporary profile” Error?

Before getting started, you need to find the SID (Security Identifier) of your user account that is experiencing the temporary profile problem. To do this, just press the Windows + R keys to open the Run box. Type cmd and press Enter.

cmd

When the Command Prompt launches, type the following command, replacing Tom with the name of your affected account. Press Enter and you’ll see the SID that will be used in steps below.
wmic useraccount where name='Tom' get sid

wmic

After finding the SID, close the Command Prompt. Now we begin to fix the registry settings. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

regedit

When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Expand the ProfileList subkey, you will see the SID keys for all the users on the machine. As we’ve found the SID of your affected account above, just click that SID key (without .bak), you’ll see the “ProfileImagePath” entry in the right pane that points to a temporary profile.

temp-profile-key

Double-click the ProfileImagePath entry to edit the values data. Type the correct profile path and click OK. If you don’t know the correct profile location, open Windows Explorer and browse to C:\Users. In my example, I want to set the account to use the profile folder named Tom, so I point ProfileImagePath to C:\Users\Tom. If your profile folder was already corrupted or deleted, just delete the SID key.

profile-folder

Next, right-click on your old SID key that is maked as .bak, and then click on Delete.
original-profile-key

That’s it. Log off or restart your computer. Windows will sign in to your account with a local profile instead of a temporary profile, and you will no longer receive the temporary profile error.

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

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How to Remove Windows 10 / 8 and Install Windows 7

March 16th, 2016 by Admin

“My laptop came with Windows 8 preinstalled. I really don’t like the new interface of Windows 8. I want to uninstall Windows 8 and install Windows 7. How to go about it?”

If you don’t like Windows 10 / 8, or the new OS doesn’t work as you expected, you might want to downgrade to Windows 7. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of removing Windows 10 / 8 and then install a fresh copy of Windows 7.

How to Remove Windows 10 / 8 and Install Windows 7?

Before get started, you need to prepare a Windows 7 installation disc. Make sure any important files already on your PC are backed up on a portable hard drive or an online backup solution.

Part 1: Disable UEFI and Enable Legacy Boot

New Windows 10/8 PCs come with UEFI firmware and Secure Boot enabled. Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft replaced BIOS with UEFI. Secure Boot will prevent Windows 7 installation disc from booting, so you need to disable the Secure Boot option and enable Legacy/CSM boot.

Here’s how to enable Legacy boot on a Windows 8 ASUS notebook:

  1. When powering on the computer, quickly and repeatedly press F2 to enter BIOS Setup.
  2. In the Security menu, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select the Secure Boot Control option. Press Enter to set it Disabled.

    asus-secure-boot

  3. Go to the Boot menu, enable Launch CSM.

    asus-csm-mode

  4. Press F10 to save and exit.

Your BIOS may be different. If you don’t know how to access the UEFI/BIOS or couldn’t find the UEFI secure boot option, please check out the following articles:

Part 2: Convert Partition Scheme from GPT to MBR

Now we need to convert the hard drive from GPT to MBR, because Windows 7 couldn’t be installed on GPT partition. Follow these steps:

  1. Put the Windows 7 installation disc in your optical drive and restart to boot from it. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS if it doesn’t boot to the CD. Watch for the “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD” message. Press a key as indicated.

    press-key-boot-cd

  2. When Windows 7 Setup appears, you’re asked to choose your preferred language and keyboard method. Just press Shift + F10 to launch the Command Prompt.

    language-to-install

  3. In the Command Prompt, type the following commands one by one, press Enter after each.
    diskpart
    list disk
    select disk 0
    clean
    convert mbr
    exit

    This will delete all partitions on your hard drive and convert it to a MBR disk.

    convert-mbr-parition

  4. Now close the Command Prompt. You’ll return back to Windows 7 Setup screen.

Part 3: Install Windows 7

  1. Once you come back to Windows 7 Setup Screen, select your language and click Next.

    language-to-install

  2. You will be now taken to the Install now menu. Click on Install Now to proceed.

    install-now

  3. Review the license agreement, and click “I accept the license terms“.

    accept-license-term

  4. On the Which type of installation do you want? window, click Custom (advanced).

    installation-type

  5. The next step is to choose where you want to install Windows 7. Inexperienced users can simply highlight the unallocated space and click Next.

    where-to-install-windows

    If you want to split the hard drive into two or more partitions, click on “Drive options (advanced)” which allows you to create new partitions, format or delete them. When it’s done, select the partition you want to install Windows 7 on and click Next.

    repartition

  6. Windows will begin installing. Now you can sit back and relax for a while, because this part is automatic. During this process, the PC will also restart on its own—don’t panic, that’s just part of the installation process.

    installing-windows

  7. When the installation is complete, you’ll go through the first-time setup process: type your computer name, set up a user account and password, enter product key, etc.

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

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How to Disable Caps Lock Pop-up Notification in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 11th, 2016 by Admin

Every time you press the Caps Lock key, you might see a popup notification near the bottom-right corner of your screen. This can be a big problem since it takes focus off of the window/app you’re typing in. If you’re playing a game and accidentally press Caps Lock, clicking the popup will minimize the game.

caps-lock-notification

In this tutorial we’ll show you all possible ways to disable Caps Lock notification that pops up at the bottom right of your screen. The methods differ depending on the manufacturer of your computer.

Method 1: For HP computers

Here’s how to turn off Caps Lock notification on HP computers:

  1. Press the Windows logo key + R to bring up the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
  2. After the Registry Editor opens, navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Hewlett-Packard\HP HotKey Support
  3. In right pane, double-click on the CapsLockOSD entry and set its value to 0.

Method 2: For Dell computers

Dell Quickset is supposedly a helpful little program that helps you keep track of your power management and other system settings. To disable Caps Lock notification on Dell computer, you can uninstall Quickset, or make a registry change by following the steps below:

  1. Press the Windows logo key + R to bring up the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
  2. After the Registry Editor opens, navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Dell Computer Corporation\QuickSet
  3. In right pane, double-click on the QuickSetControl entry and set its value to 1.

Method 3: For Lenovo computers

  1. Open the Control Panel. Set the View by option to Large icons.
  2. Click on Display icon, then click on Change display settings on left panel.
  3. Click on the Advanced settings, then click on On-Screen Display tab.
  4. Check Enable on-screen display.
  5. Under “Indicator settings for NumLock and CapsLock” section, look for “While the numeric lock or caps lock is ON” section, choose the “Show the indicator for a few seconds” option.

    disable-caps-lock-indicator

  6. Click Apply, then click OK.

Method 4:

The Caps Lock notification might be handled by BlueTooth (BTTray.exe) process. You must edit the following registry entries to ged rid of this ugly alert:

  1. Press the Windows logo key + R to bring up the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
  2. When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Widcomm\BTConfig\General
  3. Change the value of KeyIndication from 1 to 0.
  4. Reboot your computer and the Caps Lock pop-up notification is gone!

Method 5:

This is a common method to decrease the display time for Caps Lock notification:

  1. Open Control Panel. Set the View by option to Large icons.
  2. Click Ease of Access Center.
  3. Select “Make it easier to focus on tasks“.
  4. Scroll down to the “Adjust time limits and flashing visuals” section, Check the checkbox to “Turn off all unnecessary animations (when possible)“. Under the option “How long should Windows Notification dialogue boxes stay open“, select 5 seconds.

    turn-off-notication

  5. Click Apply/OK.

The end result is that you will still see the notification that Caps Lock has been turned on or off, but it will not cause a pause in your typing.

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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 Stream Video / Audio from PC to Sony TV Wirelessly

March 8th, 2016 by Admin

Like many people, you probably have lots of music, video and photo files stored on your computer. There might be times when you want to play them on your TV. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of streaming video / audio from a Windows PC to Sony TV wirelessly. No need to install any third-party software.

You’ll need:

  • A computer running with Windows 10, 8 or 7
  • Sony TV with built-in WiFi and DLNA support
  • Wireless network with DHCP enabled (WiFi)

How to Stream Video / Audio from PC to Sony TV Wirelessly

There’s actually an open standard for sharing media files across a home network. It’s called the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), and you probably already have everything you need to use it. Here we’ll set up your PC as a DLNA media server, and the TV will work as a DLNA renderer to receive stream over the LAN.

Part 1: Connect Your TV to A Network Using Wireless Connection

It’s pretty easy to configure your Sony TV to connect to wireless LAN. Follow these steps:

tv-settings

Press the HOME button, then select [Settings] > [Network] > [Network setup] > [Easy].
Choose Wi-Fi and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the set-up.

Note: When entering Wi-Fi passwords, press OK to bring up the virtual keyboard. Click NEXT key on the virtual keyboard when it’s done.

Part 2: Set Up Your Computer as a Media Server

Windows Media Player is the built-in software available in Windows 10/8/7 that you can use to share your media over the network to DLNA-compliant devices. Before getting started, you need to turn on media streaming options in Windows.

media-sharing-options

You will then be prompted with a list of DLNA-compliant devices that Windows has found on your wireless network. Select the Sony TV you want to share with and then OK. In my example, my Sony TV is shown with its model KD-55X8000C.

Now open Windows Media Player. Drag your favorite movies, musics or photos stored on your computer, then drop them into Windows Media Player’s library.

Right-click on the videos or audios you want to watch on TV, select “Cast to Device” and choose your TV from the menu.

cast-to-device

Once the “Cast to Device” remote control window is launched, you can reorder or delete items, add to the queue, or toggle repeat. It’s even possible to add new media items from Windows Media Player or Windows Explorer by dragging them into this window.

play-video-on-TV

So this is how you can stream a video or audio fro a Windows PC to TV over a wireless network. Enjoy it!

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

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How to Turn On Media Streaming in Windows 10, 8 and 7

March 8th, 2016 by Admin

Is it possible to stream your favorite movies from a Windows PC to TV or Xbox 360? Nowadays most of new TVs support the DLNA feature, just turn on the Media Streaming in Windows, and you can then watch your videos on TV connected to LAN, without having to transfer the videos over a USB drive. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to turn on media streaming in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Method 1: Turn On Media Streaming from Windows Media Player

  1. Launch Windows Media Player.
  2. From the Player Library view, click on Stream and choose “Turn on media streaming“.

    turn-on-media-stream

    If “More streaming options” is shown in the drop-down menu, it indicates media streaming is already turned on.

  3. Click on Turn on media streaming.

    turn-on-media-sharing

  4. Here you can give your media library a name. You’ll also see a list of detected media devices and players on your network. You can allow or block each player from accessing your media. Simply select “Local network” and click on “Allow All“, it will allow all devices on the LAN access to your media library.

    media-sharing-options

    If you want to turn off media streaming later, just click on “Block All“.

However, the “Turn on media streaming” option is not available in all versions of Windows Media Player, and you might have to turn on media streaming using the Control Panel.

Method 2: Turn on Media Streaming from Control Panel

  1. Open the Control Panel. If you’re running Windows 10 or 8, just press the Windows key + X to open the WinX menu and then select “Control Panel“.
  2. By default, the Control Panel should open in Category view. Click Network and Internet.

    network-and-internet

  3. Click Network and Sharing Center.

    network-sharing-center

  4. In the left pane, click Change advanced sharing settings.

    advanced-sharing-settings

  5. To enable media streaming and other options, select “All Networks” type and click on “Choose media streaming options” as shown below.

    choose-media-sharing-option

  6. Click on Turn on media streaming. If you don’t see that button, media streaming is already turned on. You’re done.

    turn-on-media-sharing

  7. On this screen, you’ll see all of the DLNA-compatible devices that Windows Media Player recognized on your local network. Click on Allow All and this will allow all networked machines access to your media library. (If you want to turn off media streaming later, just click on “Block All“.)

    media-sharing-options

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

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Enable / Disable Lock Workstation Feature in Windows 10 / 8 / 7 and Vista

February 2nd, 2016 by Admin

In previous post we’ve covered 3 ways to lock a Windows computer. If you are unable to lock your Windows system or want to disable the computer lock option completely, here’s how you can enable / disable lock workstation feature in Windows 10, 8, 7 and Vista. When the lock feature is disabled, you will be unable to lock your computer by either pressing Windows + L, Ctrl + Alt + Del, or clicking the Lock option from the Start menu.

account-lock-option

How to Enable / Disable Lock Workstation Feature?

  1. Press the Windows + R key combination to bring up a run box, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.
  2. When the Local Group Policy Editor opens navigate to:
    User Configuration\System\Ctrl+Alt+Del Options
  3. On the right hand side you should see a setting called “Remove Lock Computer“. Double-click on it.
  4. Then change the radio button over to Enabled if you want to disable the lock workstation feature.

    ctrl-alt-del-options

    To enable this feature later, just change it to Disabled or Not Configured. Click OK to save your changes.

  5. Now you will need to enforce the updated policy to take effect on your PC, to do this press the Windows + R key combination, when the Run box open run:
    gpupdate /force
  6. Once you press enter you Local Group Policy will be automatically updated. Windows will no longer show the lock option when that you press the Windows key + L or Ctrl+Alt+Delete keyboard combination.

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

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