Archive for the ‘Windows 8’ category

How to Extract Drivers or Files from .MSI without Installing

January 13th, 2025 by Admin

How could I extract drivers from a MSI file without installing them to a machine? Need to get files inside a .msi package? Yesterday I got a help request from a client who wanted to import Surface laptop drivers into PCUnlocker, and the driver packages from Microsoft are in .msi format. When opening a single .msi file using the freeware 7-Zip, we found the filenames are totally unreadable.

Eventually we found the solution. In this tutorial we’d like to share the correct method of extracting drivers or files from a .MSI package without installing them to your system.

How to Extract Drivers or Files from .MSI without Installing

  1. Right-click the Start button in the taskbar and select Terminal (Admin).

  2. To extract files from a .msi package, type the following command and press Enter. Make sure you replace path_to_msi_file with the path of your .msi file, and replace path_to_output_folder with your destination folder.
    MSIEXEC /a path_to_msi_file /qb TARGETDIR=path_to_output_folder

  3. The installer will display a simple progress UI while unpacking.

  4. When the unpacking is done, just open File Explorer and browse to your destination folder. You can then find the extracted drivers or files there.

That’s it!

Easy Ways to Find Duplicate Files in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7

March 16th, 2023 by Admin

How can I find duplicate files or images on my computer? After using the computer for a while, duplicate files may accumulate or clutter up your photo albums. If you are tired of duplicate files, you can use the following methods to quickly find duplicate files in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7 so you delete them to free up disk space.

Method 1: Find Duplicate Files Using File Explorer

A duplicate file usually has the same name as the original file, but with the word “- Copy” in the file name. Using File Explorer you can easily find such types of duplicate files on your computer.

  1. Open File Explorer and browse to the location (for example, “This PC”) where may contain duplicate files. Enter the keyword “copy” in the Search box in the upper right-hand corner.

  2. Click the “Search options” button in the toolbar, make sure the “File contents” menu is unchecked.

  3. The system will quickly locate all folders and files which contains the keyboard “copy” in the file names. Then you may need to manually verify which files are duplicate.

Method 2: Find Duplicate Files Using Batch

  1. Open Notepad or other text editor, copy and paste the following code, then save the file with .bat extension and close it.

    @echo off
    setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
    
    rem Group all file names by size
    for /R %%a in (*.*) do (
       set "size[%%~Za]=!size[%%~Za]!,%%~Fa"
    )
    
    rem Show groups that have more than one element
    for /F "tokens=2,3* delims=[]=," %%a in ('set size[') do (
       if "%%c" neq "" echo [%%a]: %%b,%%c
    )
    
    echo Press any key to exit
    set /p input=


  2. Move the newly-created .bat file to the location where you would like to scan for duplicate files, and double-click it to run the batch.
  3. It will check each file in the current folder and subfolders by file size. If two or more files have the same size, the batch will treat them as potential duplicate files, and display their file names in the same line but separated by a comma.

Method 3: Find Duplicate Files Using Freeware

If you want to find identical files in one or more directories with 100% accuracy, the freeware SearchMyFiles could be of help. This software is distributed as zip archive.

  1. Download SearchMyFiles from Nirsoft website. After unzipping, double-click the executable file in the extracted directory to launch the program.
  2. When the Search Options dialog box pops up, click the Browse button to add a target folder for finding duplicate files. If you want to scan duplicates across multiple folders or drives, just click the Browse button to add the locations one by one.

  3. Click the Start Search button. It will compare all files with equal size. When it find two or more files with identical content, they are added to the duplicates list in the main window.

  4. If you want to delete duplicate files, just select them and right-click to choose “Delete Selected Files” from the pop-up menu.

That’s it!

How to Stop Folders from Opening in New Window on Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7

June 1st, 2022 by Admin

Folders always open in new window? File Explorer opens every folder in its own folder window? This can be quite annoying because you may get too many new windows after navigating through some folders. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to stop folders from opening in new window on Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7.

Part 1: Use Folder Options to Set Folders to Open in New Window

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to bring up the Run dialog box, enter the below command and press Enter to launch File Explorer Options.
    control.exe folders

  2. Under the “Browse folders” section, select the “Open each folder in the same window” option.

  3. Click Apply and then OK. You can now double-click a folder in Windows Explorer and see if it opens in the same window.

Part 2: Reset the Default Double-click Action

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell. Look for the “(Default)” entry in the right pane. If its value data is not empty, double-click it.

  2. In the Edit String dialog box, remove anything from the Value data field and click OK.

  3. Next, browse to: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\open. If the LaunchExplorerFlags entry appears in the right pane, just right-click it and select Delete.

  4. Close Registry Editor. Every time you double-click on a folder, it should no longer open in a new window.

That’s it!

Create a Folder Starting with a Dot(.) in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7

December 28th, 2021 by Admin

When you try to create a folder/file on Windows 7 that starts with a dot, like .htaccess, you may get the error message “You have to enter a filename“. To resolve this issue, you need to do it with Command Prompt. Since Windows 11, File Explorer allows to create and rename a folder whose name starts with a dot. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to create a folder starting with a dot(.) in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7.

Part 1: Create a Folder Starting with Dot Using Command Prompt

Before getting started, open Command Prompt in the directory where you want to create a folder. You can then use the mkdir command to create a folder starting with a dot. For example, I can create a folder named .pcunlocker by executing this command:
mkdir .pcunlocker

or create an empty file named .tutorial.txt by running this command:
echo.>.tutorial.txt

This method works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Part 2: Create a Folder Starting with Dot Using File Explorer

If you’re using Windows 11, you can create a folder starting with dot without using Command Prompt. Just open File Explorer and browse to your target location, right-click the blank area and select New -> Folder, and then type in a new name that starts with a dot.

File Explorer also lets you rename any existing folder by adding a dot in the front of its name.

How to Enable Last Active Click for Taskbar in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

July 13th, 2021 by Admin

By default, all open windows of a certain app will be combined into a single taskbar button. Click that button and you’ll see the preview thumbnail of every window, but it’s a bit difficult to find which one is the last active window. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to enable the Last Active Click feature in Windows 10 / 8 / 7, so you can switch to the last active window with just a single click.

How to Enable Last Active Click for Taskbar in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. In the left pane, right-click on the Advanced key and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  2. Name the new value LastActiveClick.

  3. Double-click the LastActiveClick value and change the value data from 0 to 1. Click OK.

  4. Close Registry Editor and restart your PC. The next time you open multiple windows of Chrome, just click the taskbar icon and the last active window will open directly. Keep clicking on the taskbar button to cycle through the open windows of Chrome.

That’s it!

How to Update BIOS / UEFI from Windows on Your DELL Computer

June 28th, 2021 by Admin

Experience any compatibility problem with your BIOS? How can I update UEFI firmware to fix security vulnerabilities? In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of updating BIOS/UEFI from Windows 10 / 8 / 7 on your DELL computer.

How to Update BIOS / UEFI from Windows on Your DELL Computer

  1. Before getting started, you can check BIOS version on your current system. Press the WIN + R keys together to open the Run box, then type msinfo32 and hit Enter.

    When the System Information tool opens, select the System Summary tab in the left navigation window. Look for BIOS Version/Date in the right window. In my case, the current BIOS version is 1.05.

  2. Open up your Web browser and access the Dell Drivers & downloads page. Enter the service tag of your DELL computer and click on Search.

  3. In the pull-down Category menu, choose BIOS. Click the download link next to the most recent BIOS update.

  4. You will notice that the download is a Windows executable. Double-click it to run as administrator. If there is no other program interfaces with the BIOS update progress, click OK.

  5. Click OK to proceed. The system will reboot and start to flash your BIOS. It will take you a minute or less to complete.

  6. After successfully updating BIOS, you can log back into your Windows account and check if the BIOS version is updated.

That’s it!

4 Steps to Reinstall Wireless Drivers in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

April 27th, 2021 by Admin

Wireless connection stops working suddenly? Windows 10 does not show available Wi-Fi networks? To fix any of such wireless connection issues, an easy first step is to reinstall wireless drivers. This article shows you how to reinstall wireless drivers in 4 steps on Windows 10 / 8 /7.

How to Reinstall Wireless Drivers in Windows

  1. Hold the Windows key and the R key down at the same time, type devmgmt.msc in the pop-up box and hit Enter to open Device Manager.

  2. Expand the Network adapters category, right-click on your wireless adapter and then select Uninstall device.

  3. A new window will pop up. Click Uninstall to confirm. If you see the “Delete the driver software for this device” checkbox, make sure you leave it unchecked.

  4. Click the “Scan for hardware changes” icon on the toolbar to automatically search and reinstall wireless drivers.

    Restart your computer to see if your connectivity issue has been resolved.

That’s it!

How to Create a Shortcut to Turn Off Monitor in Windows

December 21st, 2020 by Admin

How can I turn off display on tablet without sleeping? You can configure the Power button to turn off the display, but what to do if the “Turn off the display” option is missing on your PC. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create a desktop shortcut to turn off the monitor in Windows 10/8/7, without using third-party software.

How to Create a Shortcut to Turn Off the Monitor

  1. Right-click on a blank area of the desktop and select New -> Shortcut.

  2. When the Create Shortcut wizard launches, copy and paste the following command into the location area, and then click Next.

    powershell.exe -Command "(Add-Type '[DllImport(\"user32.dll\")]public static extern int SendMessage(int hWnd,int hMsg,int wParam,int lParam);' -Name a -Pas)::SendMessage(-1,0x0112,0xF170,2)"

  3. Type a meaningful name for this shortcut and click on Finish.

  4. Double-click the new shortcut on your desktop and it will turn off the monitor immediately without putting your computer to sleep. If you move the mouse or tap on your keyboard (or press the Power button for 1 second), your monitor will immediately turn on again.

  5. If you would like to press a keyboard shortcut to turn off the monitor, right-click the newly-created desktop shortcut and select Properties. Click the Shortcut key text box and type your own keyboard shortcut.

That’s it!

How to Fix Keyboard Input Lag in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

December 14th, 2020 by Admin

Does your keyboard have input lag of about 0.5 second? If your keyboard responds too slowly, you may end up with missing letters unless you type really slow. If your keyboard responds too quickly, a keystroke may produce multiple letters. To fix such problems in Windows 10 / 8 / 7, you have to adjust the keyboard character repeat delay and rate.

How to Fix Keyboard Input Lag in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

  1. Open the Control Panel and switch to “Large icons” view, then click on Keyboard. It will open up the Keyboard Properties dialog.

    Another way of accessing the Keyboard Properties is to press the Windows key + R and then type “control keyboard” in the resulting Run box, and hit Enter.

  2. Under the Speed tab, you can move Repeat delay to Short and Repeat rate to Fast if you want to get the least input lag. You can use the text box with the caption “Click here and hold down a key to test repeat rate” to test the changes that you have just made.

    • Repeat delay: Configure how long you need to hold a key down for before it starts repeating.
    • Repeat rate: Configure how quickly the letter repeats itself once it starts.
  3. Click Apply and then OK.

Fix: “Single-click to open an item” is Greyed out in Folder Options

November 20th, 2020 by Admin

How to disable single click to open folders / files in Windows Explorer? Can’t change single click to double click? In order to change the behavior to open files with a single click or double click, you have to open the Folder Options. But what to do if you find the option “Single-click to open an item (point to select)” is greyed out? To fix this issue, you have to turn off Classic Shell group policy for Windows Explorer.

Method 1: Turn off Classic Shell Using Group Policy

  1. Open Local Group Policy Editor and browse to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components, then click on “File Explorer” (or “Windows Explorer” for Windows 7/Vista/XP).

    In the right side, double-click on the “Turn on Classic Shell” policy to edit it.

  2. Select either Not Configured or Disabled. Click OK.

  3. Exit the Local Group Policy Editor and restart Windows. After that you can open Folder Options and enable single-click or double-click for opening folders / files.

Method 2: Turn off Classic Shell Using Registry Editor

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. In the right pane, locate the DWORD ClassicShell and right-click it, then select Delete from the pop-up menu.

  2. Use the same method to delete the ClassicShell value if it also exists under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
  3. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer for the changes to take effect. You should then be able to select or deselect “Single-click to open an item (point to select)” setting in Folder Options.