Microsoft Windows Tweaks, Tips and How-To Articles - Page 4

I always set my network location to public when Windows prompts me to classify a network the first time my PC is connected.  This works well most of the time but there are certain Windows features that require the network location to be set to private to function such as PowerShell Remoting.  If you need to change your network location setting from public to private, the easiest method is to use the HomeGroup settings window. 

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Every day we use more and more data.  I’m talking about all the messages, documents and pictures we create or receive from others. A lot of this data is highly valuable, such as family videos and pictures or even your tax documents. All of this must be stored securely and safely. After all, we don’t want a disk drive issue to result in a loss of this valuable data. So how do we protect it?

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Want more control over each app that is playing sound on Windows 10? With the help an easy registry tweak, you can restore the volume mixer from Windows 7 that provide more flexibility than the simplified control that replaced it in Windows 10. 

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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 device and using a recent version of the Chrome browser. 

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Keeping your Windows PC up to date is the most important thing you can do to keep your personal information secure. In addition, an up-to-date PC is less likely to be infested with malware which is not just bad for you, but its bad to everyone else in the world if it ends up in a botnet.  That is why I'm very happy that Microsoft has taken an aggressive approach by automatically installing updates when they become available by default.  This is perfect for the average consumer that doesn't want to worry about maintaining yet another thing. But for advanced users that prefer more control, it can be incredibly annoying. So rather than disable automatic updates completely which is just a terrible idea, how about configuring Windows 10 to prompt when an update is ready to be installed?

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One of the most frequently asked questions I receive about Windows is from users asking to restore the old behavior of Windows Explorer.  Upon launch, the old Windows Explorer would simply list your drives compared to the new File Explorer that displays recently/frequently accessed content by default.  There were a number of ways to change the launch behavior over the years, my personal favorite was tweaking the Windows Explorer shortcut.  In Windows 10, Microsoft finally made it really easy for everyone to customize this setting. 

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People are multitasking more than ever and it can be very hard to keep your work and personal life organized.  How many of you routinely have dozens of tabs open in your web browser?  And how many apps do you have open as well?  The different things you are working on are mixed up with everything else making it difficult to switch between the items you are juggling.  Virtual Desktops in Windows 10 provide a great way simplify the chaos keep everything organized.

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The integrated malware protection, known as Windows Defender in Windows 10, has come a long way over the years. In the latest version, there is a hidden gem that can protect your computer from annoying junk software that users are tricked into installing.  I see this all the time when users download and install Java from Oracle.

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If you installed the Windows subsystem for Linux on your Windows 10 PC so you could run Bash and other Linux apps on Windows 10, I am going to show you some basic maintenance tasks to keep everything up to date and your PC secure.  Just like other apps and operating systems, the more software you install the more you need to keep up to date, otherwise you risk running an outdated version that could make your PC vulnerable.

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After using Windows 10 for a few days you may begin to notice suggested app advertisements right on your Start Menu. Microsoft decided to use a small portion of the Start Menu to promote apps in the Windows App Store. This has become a controversial feature that many users want to disable simply because they don’t want ads in their Start Menu. This article will show you two easy methods to disable Start Menu ads on your PC. 

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