Archive for the ‘Windows 8’ category

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.

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

Tags: stream video from computer to TV stream video from PC to TV stream video to TV

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

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

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

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

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“.
By default, the Control Panel should open in Category view. Click Network and Internet.
Click Network and Sharing Center.
In the left pane, click Change advanced sharing settings.
To enable media streaming and other options, select “All Networks” type and click on “Choose media streaming options” as shown below.
Click on Turn on media streaming. If you don’t see that button, media streaming is already turned on. You’re done.
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“.)

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

Tags: media streaming options turn off media streaming turn on media streaming windows 10 media streaming

A Workaround to Disable PIN Login in Windows 10 / 8

March 1st, 2016 by Admin

In previous posts we’ve covered how to turn off Windows 10/8 Picture password and Microsoft account sign-in via group policy. There is also a similar group policy setting that seems to allow users to turn on PIN sign-in: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Logon.

turn-on-pin-sign-in

However, even if you have the “Turn on PIN sign-in” group policy set to Disabled, Windows still lets you to add a new PIN and sign-in with PIN. Eventually I find out 2 other ways to disable the create PIN option in Windows 10 / 8. Hopefully these methods will save some else the effort in troubleshooting.

Update: Starting with Windows 10 Anniversary Update, there is new group policy that lets you disable PIN sign-in with ease.

Method 1: Disable PIN Login Using Registry Trick

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Settings\AllowSignInOptions
In the right pane, you can see a value DWORD entry named “value“. Double-click on it and set it to 0. (If you want to enable PIN logon later on, just change the value back to 1.)
Now open the Settings charms to access the User Account Settings, you’ll find the Add PIN option is disabled (This method will also disable the Picture Password logon). However, if you’ve already set up a PIN before disabling PIN logon, you can still sign in to Windows with your existing PIN.

Method 2: Disable PIN Login By Renaming NGC Folder

In Windows 10/8, PIN login is encrypted and stored in the following system folder:
C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC

If you rename or delete the NGC folder, it will remove your existing PIN login and you’re also not allowed to create a new PIN. Follow these steps to disable PIN login:

In order to see the NGC folder, you have to set Windows to show hidden folders/files firstly. Next use the freeware TakeOwnershipPro to grant you full permissions to rename the NGC folder.
Right-click on the NGC folder and rename it to whatever you like.
Now you can check if you can create a new PIN or not. Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings charm, click Accounts -> Sign-in options. Click the Add button and type in a new PIN and click OK, you’ll see an error message that saying “Something went wrong. Try again later.”

If you want to enable the PIN login later, just rename that folder back to NGC or create an empty folder named with NGC.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

Tags: disable PIN logon disable windows 10 pin login disable windows 8 pin login turn off pin logon turn off pin sign-in option

2 Options to Disable Picture Password Sign-in in Windows 10 / 8

February 29th, 2016 by Admin

Picture password is new and innovative way to unlock your Windows 10 / 8 devices by drawing predefined gesture on a selected picture. It seems better suited for touch-screen tablet users, and PC users might choose to turn off picture password logon. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to disable / turn off Picture Password sign-in in Windows 10 and 8.

disable-picture-sign-in

Once your Picture Password sign-in is disabled, you are unable to create / add a new Picture Password. There is also no option at the logon screen that allows you to sign in with Picture Password, even if you’ve already set up a Picture Password.

Option 1: Disable Picture Password Sign-in with Group Policy

If you are not using Windows 10 / 8 Professional or Enterprise, you will not have access to the Group Policy Editor. Instead you should skip to the Option 2.

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Logon
In the right pane, you can see a policy named “Turn off picture password sign-in“, double-click on it and set it to Enabled. Finally, click Apply / OK and reboot to apply the changes.

Though the policy description states that this will disable the Picture Password for domain users, it will also disable it for non-domain users.

Option 2: Disable Picture Password Sign-in with Register Editor

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter. This will open the Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to following entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

If the System subkey doesn’t exist, you’ll have to create it.
In right pane, look for an entry named BlockDomainPicturePassword. If it doesn’t exist, right-click on empty space and create a DWORD value and assign name as BlockDomainPicturePassword.
Double-click the BlockDomainPicturePassword value and set it to 1.

If you want to re-enable the Picture Password sign-in later, set the value back to 0.
Close the Registry Editor and reboot the computer. Now Picture logon is disabled and a user can’t set up and use a picture password any longer.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

Tags: disable windows 10 picture password disable windows 8 picture password remove windows picture logon turn off picture sign in turn off windows 10 picture password turn off windows 8 picture password

3 Ways to Block or Disable Microsoft Account in Windows 10 / 8

February 29th, 2016 by Admin

Once you’ve switched to a Microsoft account, Windows encrypts your text password with a reversible encryption algorithm. Therefore, any user of the PC with the administrator privileges can easily recover it (refer to this article). This is a security hole discovered in Windows 10 and 8. For security or privacy reasons, you might think of disabling Microsoft account logon sign-in option.

In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 ways to block or disable Microsoft account, making users unable to add or log on Windows 10/8 with Microsoft account.

Method 1: Block Microsoft Account with Group Policy

Press the Windows Key + R combination, type gpedit.msc in the Run dialog box and hit Enter.
The Local Group Policy Editor should open. Navigate to the following location:
Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Polices > Security Options
On the right-side, locate the entry named “Accounts: Block Microsoft accounts” and then double-click on it to open its properties.
Under Local Security Setting tab, click on the drop-down box and you can see the following three options:
- This policy is disabled
- Users can’t add Microsoft accounts
- Users can’t add or log on with Microsoft accounts
If you select “Users can’t add Microsoft accounts“, users on the PC will not able to add new Microsoft account. This also means that one can’t switch a local account to Microsoft account. But you can still log on with your existing Microsoft account.

If you select “Users can’t add or log on with Microsoft accounts“, uses on the PC will not able to add new Microsoft account. The existing Microsoft account will disappear from Windows sign-in screen and you’re unable to login with it. So if you’re already using a Microsoft account, you should first switch to local account before applying this policy.

After selecting the right policy, click Apply and then OK. Sign out or restart your computer for the policy to take effect.

Method 2: Block Microsoft Account with Registry Trick

Group Policy Editor is not available in all versions of Windows 10/8. If you don’t have access to Group Policy Editor, you need to block Microsoft account through the Windows Registry. Here’s how:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
In the right pane, you’ll see a value named NoConnectedUser. If the value doesn’t exist, right-click on the empty space to create a DWORD value and name it NoConnectedUser.
Set the NoConnectedUser value to 1 if you just want to block users from switching to Microsoft account, or set it to 3 if you want to block users from either adding or logging on with Microsoft account.
- 0 = Allow Microsoft Accounts
- 1 = Users can’t add Microsoft Accounts
- 3 = Users can’t add or log on with Microsoft accounts
You can now close the Registry Editor window and reboot the machine.

Method 3: Block from Switching to Microsoft Account

Here is another registry trick that could also be used to block users from switching to Microsoft account. Follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Settings\AllowYourAccount
In the right pane, double-click on the entry “value” and set it to 0.
Log off and log in. Open the Settings charm and select Accounts, you’ll find the option lablelled “Sign in with a Microsoft account instead” is now greyed out. That’s it!

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

Tags: block windows 10 Microsoft account block windows 8 Microsoft account disable Microsoft account disable Microsoft account login disable microsoft account sign in

Reset / Remove Forgotten Password on Surface RT Tablet

February 24th, 2016 by Admin

Lost your Surface password? Locked out of your Surface RT tablet? At present, there is no any password recovery utility available to Windows RT system, so you might have to reset your tablet to factory defaults. This tutorial explains how to remove or reset Surface RT password by performing a factory reset.

Reset / Remove Forgotten Password on Surface RT Tablet

Windows RT integrates a built-in rescue method that allows you to reset the OS from the login screen. Here’s how to restore Surface RT tablet to factory default condition, without knowing your password:

From the Windows login screen, click the Power icon at the bottom right of the screen. Holding down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and then click Restart.

If your tablet doesn’t have a physical keyboard, you need to open the on-screen keyboard in order to access the SHIFT key. In the lower-left corner of your screen, you should see the Ease of Access icon. Click on that icon and then select the “On-Screen Keyboard” option. The on-screen keyboard will open. From there tap / click the Shift key once, then click on the Power icon and select Restart.
The tablet will reboot and take you to the troubleshooting option screen. Click Troubleshoot.
Click on “Reset your PC” and then click Next.
You’ll now be prompted with two options. “Keep my files” and “Remove everything“. In this case, I click “Keep my files” as I want to keep the personal files intact. No matter whichever option you pick, all of your system settings will return to their defaults and apps will be uninstalled.
Click Reset. Now, you can sit back and relax. Windows will now start the long process of resetting your entire PC, all files, software, users, and apps you have installed will be gone, and the PC will be like the first day it was purchased.

After resetting, you’ll be presented with a nice clean install of Windows RT with the best performance. Perform a factory reset is always a good move if you’re locked out of your Windows admin account, or plan to sale or donate your tablet.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

Tags: forgot Surface RT password reset Surface RT to factory reset Surface RT without keyboard reset Surface RT without password Surface RT password reset surface tablet password reset

2 Ways to Repair Corrupt or Missing System Files in Windows 10 / 8

February 22nd, 2016 by Admin

Did you accidentally deleted a vital system file? Windows failed to load because of missing or corrupt system files? In this tutorial we’ll show you how to repair corrupt or missing system files using the Windows built-in command line utility – SFC (System File Checker). SFC is built into Windows 10/8/7/Vista that can scan your system files for corruption or modification. If a file is missing or modified, it will automatically replace that file with the correct version.

When your Windows system won’t load normally, start it in Safe Mode or boot off Windows Setup DVD, and you can also use the SFC command to repair corrupt or missing system files, without having to reinstall the whole OS.

Note: Though these guides are written for Windows 10 and Windows 8, a very similar process will work for Windows 7, Vista or XP.

Method 1: Repair System Files After Logging into Windows

Open an elevated Command Prompt. To do this, press the Windows key + X to open the Quick Access menu and then select “Command Prompt (Admin)“.
In the Command Prompt, run the following command:
sfc /scannow
Just keep waiting & be patient because running this command will take quite a bit of time. The scan results will be shown after this process is finished. If you see a “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them” message, try reboot into Safe Mode and run the SFC command again, or try the method below.

Method 2: Repair System Files Offline When Windows Won’t Boot

If Windows cannot start because some of system files are corrupted or missing, just boot your computer from Windows Installation DVD and you can repair the system files offline. If you don’t have a Windows Installation DVD, you can borrow one from a friend or use a Recovery Drive created in any computer running Windows 10/8.

Insert the Windows Installation DVD and set up your computer to boot from optical drive (You might need to change the boot priority in the UEFI / BIOS). Press a key when prompted to boot from DVD.
Once booted to the DVD, you’ll see the familiar Windows installation language-selection screen. Click Next.
Click on “Repair your computer“.
When you are asked to choose an option for how you want to continue. Click Troubleshoot.
Next click “Advanced options“.
On the next screen, click “Command Prompt“.
In the Command Prompt, use the dir command to find the drive letter of your Windows partition. In my example, C:\ is the System Reserved partition and D:\ is my actual Windows partition.
Now run the SFC command to repair your Windows installation. It will scan all your system files, identify those that are corrupt or missing and try to fix the problems it find.
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=D:\ /offwindir=D:\windows

Remember to replace D:\ with the actual drive letter of your Windows partition.

When the scan is complete, remove the installation DVD and restart your computer to check if your problem is fixed. To perform the recovery experiment, I intentionally deleted a system file c:\windows\system32\sechc.exe, and the file can be restored successfully by running the SFC command.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

Tags: repair windows system file System File Checker windows system file corrupt windows system file missing

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?

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

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

Tags: disable computer lock lock computer unable to lock computer unable to lock windows

2 Options to Remove the Lock Option from Windows Start Menu

February 1st, 2016 by Admin

No matter what version of Windows you are running, you can find the lock option in the Start Menu (or Start Screen) that allows you to lock your computer. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to disable / remove the lock option from Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7 Start menu.

Method 1: Remove the Lock Option with Group Policy

Follow this method and you can remove the lock option from the user tile menu on the Start menu (or Start screen) in Windows 11, 10, 8.1 or 8.

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
When the Local Group Policy Editor opens, expand the tree to the following path:
Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File Explorer
In the right-hand pane you should now see a variety of settings. Double-click on the “Show lock in the user tile menu” setting and its properties screen will open.
Set it to Disabled and click OK.

Now close the Local Group Policy Editor window. You’ll see the lock option is disabled or removed from the Start menu.

Method 2: Remove the Lock Option with Registry Hack

If the Group Policy Editor is not available in your computer or you’re running Windows 7, then use this registry hack to disable the lock option from your Windows Start menu.

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.
When the Registry Editor opens, browse down to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Right-click on the System key on the left pane and select New -> DWORD (32 bit) Value.
Name it DisableLockWorkstation and set the value to 1 in order to disable the lock option in the Start menu.

If you want to show / enable the lock option later on, just change the value to 0.
Close the Registry Editor and you will see the lock option turns gray or disappeared from the Start menu.

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

Tags: disable lock option in start menu disable windows lock option remove lock from start menu remove lock option from user tile menu remove windows lock option

Hide / Clear Most Used Programs in Windows 10, 8 and 7 Start Menu

February 1st, 2016 by Admin

My frequently used programs are missing from the Start menu. Can this be corrected and if so how? Thanks in advance.

By default, Windows keeps track of programs you use frequently and puts them on the Start menu (or Start screen) for convenience. For privacy purposes, some of you may want to clear the most used programs from the list. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to hide / clear the most frequently / recently used programs in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

The first part is for Windows 10 users and the second is for Windows 8 / 8.1 users, so you will have to scroll down if you use Windows 7 – the last part is for this operating system.

Part 1: Clear Most Used Programs from Windows 10 Start Menu

Press the Windows key + I to bring up the Settings app. If you’re using a tablet without a keyboard, click the Start button and then select Settings.
Click on Personalization.
At the Personalization window, click on the Start tab on the left-hand side. On the right pane, you’ll see a few options for configuring what is shown on the Start Menu and how the Start Menu is displayed.
From there, set toggle button under “Show most used apps” to Off in order to make Start menu hide the apps you use often.

Part 2: Clear Most Used Programs from Windows 8 Start Screen

Right-click on an empty space on the Taskbar and select Properties.
Click on the Jump Lists tab, uncheck the “Store recently opened programs” box.
Click Apply and then click OK.

Part 3: Clear Most Used Programs from Windows 7 Start Menu

Right-click on an empty space on the Taskbar and select Properties.
Click on the Start Menu tab, uncheck the “Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu” box.

If you also want to hide your recently opened documents/files from the Start menu, uncheck the “Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar” box as well.
Click Apply and then click OK.

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Tags: hide most used programs in start menu hide recently opened programs in start menu