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The culprit is a largely ignored feature in Android called Google Location history. The actual location service isn’t unusual. It uses information like Cell IDs and Wi-Fi routers to locate and place your device. Other companies such as Apple and Microsoft use similar services for their devices. The existence of Google’s Location history is nothing new, in fact other sources have reported it previously, but it’s still surprising how few people know or realize what it is and how it works....

Sometimes you just want to pop the browser open for a quick web search without reloading all your saved tabs; read on as we show a fellow reader how to make a quick private-browsing shortcut. That’s a rather clever work around to your problem. Since you’ve already done the hard work of figuring out the solution you need, we’re more than happy to help you across the finish line. The magic you seek is available via what are known as “command line options” which allow you to add additional parameters and switches onto a command....

In some specific types of environments, you might find it useful to add a static route to the routing table. Here’s how to go about it in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. RELATED: How to Use Traceroute to Identify Network Problems What Are Routing Tables? A routing table dictates where all packets go when they leave a system — whether that system is a physical router or a PC....

A free OneDrive account provides 15 GB of online storage and allows you to access files from multiple devices, such as a PC, a smartphone, and a tablet. You can easily copy files to your OneDrive account using the Send To menu in Windows Explorer. We’ll show you how to add an option to the Send To menu in Windows Explorer so you can quickly and easily transfer files and folders to your OneDrive account from your PC....

Do you use the Windows Calculator to perform quick calculations while building spreadsheets in Excel? You can save time by adding the Calculator to the Quick Access Toolbar in Excel so you don’t have to leave the program to access the Calculator. To do this, click the down arrow on the right side of the Quick Access Toolbar and select More Commands from the drop-down menu. On the Quick Access Toolbar screen on the Excel Options dialog box, select Commands Not in the Ribbon from the Choose commands from drop-down list....

If you’d like to change your Spotify password, or you’d like to reset the password as you’ve forgotten it, Spotify makes it easy to do so. We’ll show you how to do that for your account. To change or reset your password, you will use Spotify’s website on your Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad, or Android phone. The Spotify app itself doesn’t offer the option to change or reset the password....

We previously reported that the system image backup feature was removed in Windows 8.1. This isn’t entirely true — while the graphical interface for creating system images was removed, you can still create system images with a PowerShell cmdlet. This is good news for system administrators, as it allows them to create and restore system image backups without switching to third-party tools like Norton Ghost. System images are different from recovery images created with recimg because they contain a full snapshot of the system’s hard drive, including user files and settings....

Microsoft’s Surface RT and other Windows RT-based machines include the Flash browser plugin, but it only runs on websites Microsoft has whitelisted. We have covered how you can add any website to the Flash whitelist, but now there’s an easier way. An enterprising user has created a tool that will guide you through the process, making whitelisting websites easier. It gets around Windows RT’s ban on third-party desktop programs by being a batch script....

Sharing your Wi-Fi with guests is just the polite thing to do, but that doesn’t mean you want to give them wide open access to your entire LAN. Read on as we show you how to set up your router for dual SSIDs and create a separate (and secured) access point for your guests. Why Do I Want to Do This? There are several very practical reasons for wanting to set up your home network to have dual access points (AP)....

Note: BitLocker requires Windows 8 Pro. Turning On BitLocker for a Removable Drive Open explorer and right click on your removable drive to open the context menu, then click on Turn on BitLocker. When the wizard starts up you will need to check the “Use a password to unlock the drive” checkbox. Then go ahead and type in a password and click next. Now you will need to choose where you want to save the recovery key incase you forget the password for your drive....

Crackling, popping, and other sound problems can occur for a variety of reasons. You may be able to fix the problem by adjusting your audio device settings, updating your sound driver, or pinning down another hardware device that’s interfering. Here are some things to try. Before you start messing with settings, it’s worth checking your hardware itself. If a cable connection is loose, this could cause some sound problems. Ensure all your audio cables are connected securely....

Android Wear is super handy for getting quick info without pulling out your phone. Notifications, calls, appointments, and everything else will push directly to your wrist, making life easier. But if those notifications stop showing up, it can be really annoying. RELATED: How to Block Notifications from Specific Apps on Android Wear What to Do If App Notifications Aren’t Syncing If you’re having issues with Wear not receiving notifications from apps, there’s a good chance either notification access hasn’t been granted, or it somehow got disabled....

Just like when you buy a physical product, it’s possible to get refunds on digital goods as well. With the Google Play Store, that includes apps, games, movies, books, and more. We’ll show you how to get your money back. The Google Play Store has a few different refund policies for the various products it sells. Apps and games can be refunded within the first 48 hours. Digital content such as music, movies, and books may be able to get refunded after 48 hours....

Minecraft runs just fine on Linux, but it’s probably not available for easy installation in your Linux distribution’s package manager. Here’s how to get your Linux system ready for Minecraft. We used Ubuntu 20.04.4 for this process, and that’s where our concrete examples come from. But the process will be almost the same on every Linux distribution. Install Proprietary Graphics Drivers Minecraft is a 3D application, so it benefits from having good 3D drivers installed....

The Computer icon that you’re used to seeing in Windows 7, Vista, and XP is now not available on the Desktop in Windows 8.1. However, it is not gone completely. There’s an easy way to bring it back. NOTE: The Computer icon is now called This PC. To put the Computer icon on the Desktop, right-click in any empty space on the Desktop and select Personalize from the popup menu....

Crouton — made by a Google employee — is the ideal solution for running Linux on your Chromebook. If you’re a Crouton user, there are some extra commands you’ll want to know. We’ve previously shown how to install Linux on a Chromebook with Crouton and how to run that Linux desktop in a Chrome browser window. Crouton stores the Linux systems you install in “chroots.” You can have multiple chroots....

NVIDIA and AMD send out new drivers for their current graphics cards at roughly monthly intervals. These often improve performance, especially on the latest AAA games…except when they don’t. On occasion, a GPU driver will actually cause a big performance hit instead, sometimes coming along with game crashes or even complete shutdowns. One such update actually totaled a Windows installation and I had to completely reset my PC. What’s to be done when the latest driver doesn’t play nice with your game or system?...

Microsoft has changed the name of “My Computer” to “Computer” and then to “This PC,” and for those people that prefer it one way or another — or something completely different — you can easily rename it. It’s really simple too: right-click and rename it. We’ve tested in Windows 7, 8, and 10, and it works across all of them — although there are a couple of places (like the Start Screen) where it won’t be updated with the new name....

Windows 8.1 allows you to limit and monitor data usage, which isn’t just useful if you have a Windows tablet or laptop with mobile data. It’s also useful if you’re tethering your PC to your smartphone. These tricks are useful, but bear in mind that simply setting a connection as a metered connection won’t reduce bandwidth usage by much. It also won’t affect desktop applications. Set a Connection as Metered RELATED: How to Tether Your Android Phone and Share Its Internet Connection with Other Devices...

PowerShell Remoting lets you run PowerShell commands or access full PowerShell sessions on remote Windows systems. It’s similar to SSH for accessing remote terminals on other operating systems. PowerShell is locked-down by default, so you’ll have to enable PowerShell Remoting before using it. This setup process is a bit more complex if you’re using a workgroup instead of a domain—for example, on a home network—but we’ll walk you through it....