Archive for the ‘Windows 8’ category

How to Modify / Edit Hosts File in Windows 10 / 8

January 28th, 2016 by Admin

The hosts file is basically a plain text file that is used to map host names to IP addresses. It is located deep down in the Windows folder: C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to modify / edit the hosts file in Windows 10 or 8, and use it to block opening of one or more particular websites.

Part 1: Edit Hosts File

You can use any text editor to open the hosts file. But you’ll get the “Access is denied” error when you try to save your changes back to the hosts file. By default, the hosts file is protected from user changes. Before editing, you need to take ownership of the hosts file so you have full permissions to it. Here’s how:

Download and install the freeware TakeOwnershipPro on your local computer. After installing, it will add a TakeOwnershipPro shortcut to the right-click context menu.
Browse to the folder C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc. Right-click on the hosts file and select “TakeOwnershipPro” from context menu.
When the popup window says the process of taking ownership is done. Click Exit to close it.
Now the hosts file is ready to be modified.

Part 2: Block A Particular Website

The hosts file could be used to block access to any websites that you don’t want to visit. For example, lets say you want to prevent your computer from accessing the youtube.com website, simply add the following line to the end of the hosts file:

127.0.0.1 youtube.com

hosts

Once you’ve made the necessary changes, save it back to the hosts file and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Part 3: Prevent hijacking

Beware, the hosts file can also be used by viruses or malware to redirect you to phishing and other dangerous sites. To help prevent hijacking or unauthorized changes to the hosts file, consider making it read-only. Simply navigate to the hosts file with Windows Explorer: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Then right-click the hosts file, select Properties, check the Read-only attribute, and click OK.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

Tags: edit hosts file in windows 10 edit hosts file in windows 8 modify windows hosts file open windows hosts file

5 Quick Ways to Open Task Manager in Windows 10 / 8

January 28th, 2016 by Admin

Task Manager is one of the most-used system utilities in Windows. We usually use it to check the overall performance of our computers or close a program that stops responding (hangs). There are multiple ways you can launch Task Manager. In this tutorial we’ll show you 5 quickest ways to open the Task Manager in Windows 10 and Windows 8.

task-manager

Option 1: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc

Just press Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination on your keyboard and it can open the Task Manager directly. This keyboard shortcut is a global hotkey, means it is available from any app you running and even when your Explorer shell is not running! This should be the simplest way to launch Task Manager.

Option 2: Right-click Taskbar

Right-click the empty space on the taskbar, and then select “Task Manager” from the context menu. The Task Manager will launch immediately.

taskbar

This method allows you to use the mouse only and simply ignore the keyboard, making it the likely preferred method of those who like using the mouse instead of the keyboard.

Option 3: Run taskmgr Command

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type taskmgr and hit Enter. It will also start the Task Manager.

run-box

If you’re at the Command Prompt, run the taskmgr command and you can also bring up the Task Manager.

Option 4: Ctrl+Alt+Del

Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys together on the keyboard, the security screen should open. Click on the “Task Manager” option.

ctrl-alt-del

This action will open the Task Manager. This method is pretty helpful if your system is unresponsive for whatever reason.

Option 5: Win+X Menu

While all previous options are available in previous versions of Windows like Windows 7, Vista, XP etc, this method is exclusive for Windows 10 and Windows 8.

Press the Windows key + X keys together on the keyboard, pick the “Task Manager” item from the power user menu and it will open Task Manager.

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Tags: open task manager in windows 10 open task manager in windows 8 open windows task manager

Enable / Disable Fast User Switching in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 and Vista

January 28th, 2016 by Admin

Fast user switching is disabled or missing on your Windows 10 system? Unable to switch to a different account as the “Switch user” option is greyed out?

win7-switch-user

In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to enable or disable Fast User Switching in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 and Vista.

Method 1: Using Local Group Policy Editor

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
The Local Group Policy Editor console should open. In the left pane, expand the following nodes:
Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon
In right-side pane, double-click on the “Hide entry points for Fast User Switching” policy and its properties screen will open.
If you want to turn off / disable the Fast User Switching feature, set it to Enabled. Or click Disabled or “Not configured” to re-enable Fast User Switching.

By disabling the Fast User Switching feature, the “Switch user” option will be greyed out or removed from Windows logon screen,Start menu and the Task Manager.

Method 2: Using Registry Trick

Since Group Policy Editor doesn’t come with the Home and Starter editions of Windows, here is another method to enable / disable Fast User Switching using Registry Editor:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type regedit and press Enter.
In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
In the right-side pane, search for the value named HideFastUserSwitching. If it doesn’t exist, you can create one by right-clicking in the empty space on the right pane and choose New –> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Set the Value data for HideFastUserSwitching to 1 if you want to disable the Fast User Switching feature. To re-enable it, change that value to 0.
Close the Registry Editor. You will have to log off and then log back on for the changes to take effect.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista

Tags: disable fast user switching enable fast user switching fast user switching windows switch user windows switch user disabled windows switch user greyed out

How to Know Your Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit

January 23rd, 2016 by Admin

All versions of Windows are available in two different flavors: 32-bit and 64-bit. For most people, whether they use a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows doesn’t make a difference. But it’s necessary to find out your running Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit when performing certain tasks, such as install drivers for your new device. Here are 3 simple ways to know your Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit.

Method 1: Right-click on My Computer

Simply right-click on “My Computer” (or “This PC” if you’re running Windows 10) icon on your desktop, and then select Properties from the drop-down context menu.

my-computer-properties

The System Control Panel will now open. In this screen you will see various information about your computer and Windows. The System type field indicates whether your computer are running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

system-info

Method 2: Use the MSINFO32 Command

Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog. Type msinfo32 and hit Enter.

msinfo32

This opens the System Information window which shows details of almost everything in the system. Click the System Summary node on the left, then locate the System Type entry. If it’s x64-based PC, you’re running 64-bit Windows. If it’s x86-based PC, your Windows is 32-bit.

system-information

Method 3: Check the Program Files (x86) Folder

For purposes of backward compatibility, 64-bit version of Windows needs to run both 64-bit and 32-bit programs. 32-bit application are installed in the “Program Files (x86)” folder but native 64-bit application run in the normal “Program Files” folder.

program-files-x86

So if you can see the “Program Files (x86)” folder under the root path of your system partition, your Windows is 64-bit. Otherwise it’s 32-bit OS.

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

Tags: check windows 32 bit or 64 bit determine 32 or 64 bit windows find if windows is 32 or 64 bit

Windows 10 Downgrade: Revert Back to Previous Windows 8 or 7

January 20th, 2016 by Admin

Microsoft offers Windows 10 as a free upgrade for Windows 8 and Windows 7 users. You only have one month to decide if you want to keep Windows 10 or not after upgrading from Windows 8 or 7. If you find out some things don’t work properly or the new OS is not suitable for your taste, you can downgrade or revert back to your previous Windows 8 or 7 system.

How to Revert Windows 10 Back to Previous Operating System?

Press the Windows key + I to launch PC Settings app. You can also open it by clicking the Start button at the bottom left of the screen and then select Settings.
Click Update & security.
Select the Recovery tab from the left side. If you’re eligible to downgrade you should see an option that says Go back to Windows 8.1 or Go back to Windows 7. If you see it, click Get started to go through the downgrade process.
The whole process should not take longer than 10 minutes or so, and your system will be just as it was before Windows 10.

If you don’t see this downgrade option, that’s possible because it’s been too long since you upgraded to Windows 10. Windows 10 will automatically remove these installation files after 30 days.

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

Tags: downgrade windows 10 downgrade windows 10 to windows 7 downgrade windows 10 to windows 8 windows 10 revert back windows 10 revert to windows 7 windows 10 revert to windows 8

How to Reset Linx 7 / 8 / 10 Tablet Password with A Bootable USB Drive

January 12th, 2016 by Admin

Forgot Windows user password for your Linx 1010 tablet? Linx is one of the cheapest Windows tablet we’ve seen yet, and it can boot in UEFI mode only. You might have no luck getting the tablet to load some traditional password resetting Live CDs, because it doesn’t support legacy BIOS boot. In this article we’ll explain how to reset Linx 7 /8 / 10 tablet password by booting from a UEFI compatible USB drive.

Part 1: Create A UEFI Compatible USB Drive

Before resetting Linx password, you need to create a UEFI compatible bootdisk (a USB flash drive or USB memory stick) from another computer you have access to. Here’s how to make such a disk:

Download the 32-bit version of PCUnlocker Enterprise (trial version) and save it to your local hard drive. Extract the downloaded .zip file and you’ll see two files: pcunlocker.iso and ReadMe.txt.
Download and install the free LiveUSB creating tool ISO2Disc, which allows you to create a bootable USB drive directly from a CD image.
Launch ISO2Disc, and click on Browse to select the pcunlocker.iso you just extracted. Click “Burn to USB Flash Drive” and select the drive letter for your attached USB stick.
Set the partition scheme to “GPT (required for UEFI boot)” and click on Start Burn. The program will format / erase your USB drive with FAT32, create a GPT partition table and copy the contents of the ISO file to your USB drive.
When the burning process is complete, you can take the USB drive to reset your Linx tablet password.

Part 2: Boot Linx Tablet from USB

As the Linx tablet doesn’t come with a full-size USB port, you need to connect your created USB drive with a USB OTG adapter. You will have to access the BIOS (UEFI) Setup and modify the boot sequence. Here are 3 ways to access the BIOS Setup:

Press and hold the F7, DEL or ESC key while powering on the Linx tablet, if you have a physical keyboard.
Hold down the Power button and Volume+ at the same time. This will load up a screen with various options.
Access the BIOS from Windows 10/8 login screen: Hold down the SHIFT key and click on the Power icon on the screen, then choose Restart option. Next click Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> UEFI Firmware Settings -> Restart.

After getting into BIOS Configuration Utility, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select the Boot tab. Under Boot options priority, set your USB drive as the first boot media. Save your changes and the next time your tablet will boot from USB drive instead of hard drive.

Part 3: Reset Windows User Password

After booting from USB, the touch screen might not work and you have to operate with a USB keyboard or mouse. Here’s how to reset your lost user password:

Once booted to the PCUnlocker program, you’ll see a list of local accounts for your Windows installation. If you use a Microsoft account login, there should be a local account that is linked to your Microsoft account, with your email address displayed under the “Description” column.
Select a local account and click on “Reset Password” button, it will remove your password in no time. If your selected account is associated with your Windows Live email, the program will also switch your Microsoft account to local account.
When it’s done, reboot your tablet and disconnect the USB drive. You can then log back into your Linx tablet without a password!

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

Tags: boot linx with usb linx tablet password linx windows password reset linx password reset windows tablet password

Make Windows 10/8 Show All User Accounts on Login Screen

January 8th, 2016 by Admin

How do I make Windows 10 always display all user accounts on the login screen when I turn on or restart the computer? By default, Windows 10 or 8 will display only the last logged-on user on the sign-in screen. If your user doesn’t have a password, the system will automatically log in to that user account even if you haven’t enabled the automatic logon feature.

show-windows-user-list

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to make Windows 10 / 8 show a list of all user accounts on the login screen, rather than just the last logged in user. The procedure requires you to use Task Scheduler to run a batch file.

How to Make Windows 10/8 Show All User Accounts on Login Screen?

To have Windows 10/8 display all user accounts on the sign-in screen, all you need to do is access the following registry key and set the value of Enabled to 1.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\UserSwitch

UserSwitch

However, the system will automatically restore the Enabled value back to 0 when a user logs on. To force Windows to always show all user accounts, we have to create a scheduled task that changes the Enabled value to 1 at logon. Here’s how:

Before getting started, we need to create a batch file. Just open Notepad, copy the following command line and paste it into the file, next save the file as UserSwitch.bat.
REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\UserSwitch /v Enabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. Type taskschd.msc and hit Enter to launch Task Scheduler.
When the Task Scheduler window opens, click the Create Task link in the Actions panel.
On the next dialog, go to the General tab. Give your task a Name so that you can identify it among other if when you decide to make some changes later. Click the Change User or Group button.
On the Select User or Group window, type Administrators in the object name box and click OK.
Now you’re back at the General tab. Check the “Run with highest privileges” check box. Tick the Hidden checkbox and select your operating system from the “Configure for” drop-down box.
Next, switch to the Triggers tab. Click on the New button on the bottom left of the window to define trigger details.
The New Trigger dialog box should open. Select At log on from the Begin the task drop-down menu and select the Any user option. Leave all the other settings as they are and click OK.
Back on the Create Task window, switch to the Actions tab and click the New button.
When you see the New Action dialog box, select Start a program from the Action drop-down menu. Click the Browse button and locate the ShowAllUsers.bat file we have created previously. Click OK.
You don’t need to change anything on the Conditions or Settings tabs, so just click OK to close the Create Task dialog box and your task is ready to run.
Log off and then log back into your user account, this task will automatically run and change the Enabled registry value. The next time you reboot or start your computer, you will always see that all user accounts are displayed on Windows 10/8 login screen.

Note: If your task is created correctly but the login screen only displays “Other user” that requires you to type username and password, it’s likely that you’ve enabled the group policy “Interactive Logon: Do not display last username“, and you have to disable it.

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

Tags: show all users at windows logon windows 10 show all users at login windows 8 show all users at login windows show multiple users on login screen

Move the Entire User Profiles to Another Drive in Windows 10, 8 and 7

December 30th, 2015 by Admin

There are times when moving Windows user profiles off the default location is necessary, especially if there is no enough space on the system partition. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of moving the entire Users profile directory (for example, C:\Users) to another drive in Windows 10, 8 and 7. This method will also change the default profile location so any new users that’re created later will have their profiles located under your new location.

How to Move the Windows User Profiles to Another Drive?

Before getting started, you need to create a temporary administrator account, which can be deleted after moving the user profiles.
Log in to Windows with the temporary administrator account. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the root path of your system drive. Right-click on the Users folder and copy the entire folder to the new location (e.g. from C:\Users to E:\Users).

During the copying process, there are some temporary files that are locked and would not copy. Just skip those files.
Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
In the left side of Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
In the right pane, we need to modify the value for these entries: Default, ProfilesDirectory and Public. Replace %SystemDrive%\Users with your new profile directory, such as E:\Users. After modifying the values, it should look like as the following screenshot.
Expand the ProfileList node at the left side, you’ll see several subkeys (starting with ‘S-1-5-‘) that are named with the SID of your user accounts. Open each subkey and check the ProfileImagePath entry. If it’s pointed to your old profile folder, change the value to the new user profile location (e.g. C:\Users\Tom to E:\Users\Tom).
Now close the Registry Editor. Restart your computer and log in as your usual user. Everything should be working correctly except for programs that use a hardcoded user profile location.
Now you can then rename or delete the original user profile and remove the temporary administrator account. From now on, any new user that logs to this computer will also have his/her profile stored in the newly specified location.

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

Tags: change windows profile path change windows user profile directory move windows user profile

How to Rename User Profile Directory in Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7

December 27th, 2015 by Admin

In previous post we’ve explained how to rename Windows administrator or guest account. However, just rename a user account and Windows won’t automatically rename the associated user profile folder. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to manually rename user profile directory in Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7, if the name of your user account folder is not what you want.

How to Rename User Profile Directory in Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7?

To make sure your renaming of user profile folder is consistent across the entire installation of your Windows and does not break anything, follow these steps:

Log on to another Administrator account that is not the account being renamed.
Open the Windows Explorer and browse to the C:\Users folder. Right-click on your user account folder and rename it to whatever you like.
Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\
Under the ProfileList subkey you will find a few subfolders (starting with ‘S-1-5-‘) that are named with the SID of Windows user accounts. Find the SID for your user account whose profile folder you just renamed. You can simply open each subfolder and check the ProfileImagePath path for the correct one.
In the right-pane, double-click the ProfileImagePath value and change the user profile path to your desired name. In my example, I renamed the account folder from C:\Users\Tom to C:\Users\Tom_New.
Close the Registry Editor window. Logout of the Administrator account and log in with your user account. Everything should work fine – all your apps and files should be intact and your user folder should have been renamed.

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

Tags: change windows account folder name change windows user profile name rename user account folder rename windows profile folder rename windows user folder name

How to Change or Remove User Account Picture in Windows 10 / 8

December 22nd, 2015 by Admin

At Windows login screen you can see a list of user accounts with a small picture next to each one. Actually, the same account picture is also shown at the top of the Start menu (or Start screen), and you can click it to log off and switch user accounts.

windows-10-account-picture

In this article we’ll show you how to change the user account picture in Windows 10/8, restore the default user picture (avatar) or delete your old or current account picture.

Part 1: Change Account Picture for Windows 10/8 Account
Part 2: Reset/Restore Account Picture to Default
Part 3: Delete Your Old Account Picture
Part 4: Hide or Remove Current Account Picture

Part 1: Change Account Picture for Windows 10/8 Account

Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 10 and Windows 8 don’t include an option to change the account picture from the User Accounts applet in Control Panel. Now, you have to change it from PC Settings. Here’s how:

Click the Start button or press the Windows logo key on your keyboard. This will open the Start Menu (or Start Screen).
Right-click on the account picture at the top-left corner of the Start menu, and then select “Change account settings“. If a Start screen is shown, right-click on the account picture at the top-right corner of the Start screen and select the “Change account picture” option.
Windows presents the PC Settings screen shown below. From there you can see your current account picture. Click on Browse button and select your favorite picture to set as new account picture.

Part 2: Reset/Restore Account Picture to Default

After changing the account picture, you might later find that there is no option to restore the profile picture to default. In Windows 10/8/7, the default account picture images are stored in the hidden system folder: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures. Here’s how to reset account picture to default in Windows 10/8:

Click the Start button or press the Windows logo key on your keyboard. This will open the Start Menu (or Start Screen).
Right-click on the account picture at the top-left corner of the Start menu, and then select “Change account settings“. If a Start screen is shown, right-click on the account picture at the top-right corner of the Start screen and select the “Change account picture” option.
Click on Browse button under your current user avatar. When the Open dialog appears, type the following path in the address bar and hit Enter.
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures
There, you will be able to pick the default user image.

Part 3: Delete Your Old Account Picture

If you changed your Windows user account picture several times, the previous account pictures will also be shown on the right side of your current account picture.

show-old-account-pictures

If you don’t plan to use them again, there is no reason to keep them there. But Windows 10/8 provide no way to remove old user pictures. Here is very simple way to delete the old user account pictures:

Open the File Explorer.
Type the following path at the address bar, replacing username with the name of your Windows account.
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures
Here you will get all those images what was ever used as your profile picture. Delete all the old images that you do not want to keep. That’s it! Your user picture cache is clean now.

Part 4: Hide or Remove Current Account Picture

Is there a way to hide or remove the user picture at the login screen? How to disable the user account picture from the Start menu? Follow these steps and you can hide/remove current account picture completely in Windows 10/8:

Open the File Explorer.
Copy and paste the following path in the address bar of File Explorer. Press Enter and you can see all built-in default account pictures. Delete all images.
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures
Now you have to clean the cached account images. Copy and paste the following path in the address bar of File Explorer. Press Enter and you’ll see a folder with the name of your account’s SID.
C:\Users\Public\AccountPictures

Just rename the folder or delete it. If you want to delete that folder, you need to firstly take ownership of the folder using the freeware TakeOwnershipPro.
Log off or restart your computer. You’ll see the account picture disappeared from Windows login screen.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

Tags: change account picture in windows 10 change windows account picture delete windows account picture disable windows account picture hide windows account picture remove windows account picture reset account picture to default reset windows default account picture windows account picture