Windows includes a feature that can be enabled to manually crashing the system by holding the right CTRL key and pressing the "Scroll Lock" key twice. This can be useful for generating a crash dump to debug applications or it can be a fun prank. Follow these steps to enable this feature:
- Open Registry Editor by clicking on the Start Button and typing in regedit and hitting Enter. If you are on XP first select Run and then type in regedit and hit Enter.
- Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters.
- Create a new DWORD value and name it CrashOnCtrlScroll
- Right-click on the new DWORD value and select Modify.
- Type 1 in the Value data field and click OK.
- Close regedit and reboot your system.
Now you can blue screen (crash) your system by holding the right CTRL key and pressing "Scroll Lock" twice.
Tip:
Your system may reboot automatically when this crash is initiated. If your system reboots immediately initiating the crash, and you want to see the blue screen, follow these steps:
-
Go to Control Panel > System
-
Click on the Advanced tab
-
Under Startup and Recovery, click the Settings button.
-
Under System failure, uncheck the option Automatically restart.
Happy crashing...
If you own a Google Chromecast streaming device, you can easily share a browser tab in Chrome browser or even your entire desktop. This can be very useful when presenting from your laptop or if you just want to watch something on a big screen that is only on your PC. The only requirement is you must be on the same network as your Chromecast...
Read More
If you are a fan of minimalist desktop experiences, hiding the desktop icons are an easy way to clean up the Windows interface. Instead of saving everything to your desktop, use the default profile folders such as downloads and documents. Actually hiding all the icons on your desktop is a very simple customization hidden in the right-click context menu. Just right-click on the desktop, select View...
Read More
Google security researchers have published details about a major security flaw found in the SSL protocol that is used to encrypt data transferred between your browser and a web server. SSL is typically used in situations where logon credentials are validated...
Read More
Enabling two-factor authentication is a great way to add an additional level of protection to your Microsoft account. Even if your password is stolen, your account is still protected because two-factor authetication requires an additional level of verification to log in. Microsoft calls their version of two-factor authentication "two-step verification" and it works by providing you with a random code...
Read More