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Linux applications store their settings in hidden folders inside each user account’s home folder. This makes application settings much easier to back up and restore than they are on Windows, where settings are scattered across the registry and system folders. Whether you just want a backup copy of your settings, or if you’re moving to a new Linux distribution or another PC, you can easily create a copy of your application settings and take them with you....

The Windows 10 taskbar works much like previous Windows versions, offering shortcuts and icons for every running app. Windows 10 offers all kinds of ways to customize the taskbar to your liking, and we’re here to guide you through what you can do. We’ve taken a look at customizing the Start menu and the Action Center in Windows 10. Now, it’s time to tackle the taskbar. With just a little bit of work, you can tweak the taskbar to get it running just how you like it....

Reminders can be useful tools for keeping you on track. You may use a reminder app or prefer physical sticky notes. But what about reminders you don’t ask for? Nudges in Gmail, reminders to follow up on emails, fall into this category. What Are Nudges in Gmail? Nudges aren’t new to Gmail. In fact, they came with a group of features introduced in 2018. But if you haven’t explored what the feature does, here’s a brief summary....

By default, RSS feeds update automatically. If you have a lot of RSS feeds you follow, you may not want them all updating automatically. You can set up the RSS feeds so none of them update automatically, or only certain ones will. To select which RSS feeds update automatically, if any, click the File tab. Click Options in the menu on the left side of the Account Information screen....

User Account Control is an important Windows security feature. If a running application wants full access to your system, it has to ask with a UAC prompt. If you disable UAC, all running applications can gain Administrator access without asking first. All modern versions of Windows, including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista have User Account Control, and it’s enabled by default. It’s included on Windows Server, too....

If you ever accidentally shut down your computer by hitting the power button, there’s an easy way to disable the power button (or make it do something different) in Windows 10. You can control your Sleep button, too, if your computer has one of those. Here’s how. Changing the way your computer’s power button works in Windows 10 requires a trip to Control Panel. First, launch Control Panel by opening the Start menu and typing “control,” and then hit Enter or click the Control Panel icon....

If you lose your Android device, it’s not likely you’ll get it back. However, there are some kind souls who will want to return it. We’ll show you how to make sure they know how to reach you. You can easily display your contact information on the Android lock screen. That way, if someone finds your device, they can still find a way to get in touch without needing access to the phone....

There are times, when working on an Office document, that you might forget where you saved the file. If you need to find out where the currently open document is located, you can use Save As to find out. However, there is a quicker way. You can display the location of the currently open Office document on the Quick Access Toolbar. Keep on reading to find out how. Open any document or a blank document in Word and click the FILE tab....

By default, Ubuntu does not come with Java (or the Java Runtime Environment, JRE) installed. However, you may need it for some programs or games like Minecraft. We will show you how to quickly and easily check if Java is installed and how to install it. Note that Java can be vulnerable to security problems, and you should protect yourself. If you really need Java for programs or games that you run, read our article about protecting yourself from Java security problems....

If you live in an apartment complex, you’ve probably noticed more than just the passive-aggressive network IDs that your neighbors use—very likely you’ve had problems with your wireless connections dropping out, or just not being as fast as you’d like. This often has to do with the Wi-Fi channels in your area. If your wireless router is on the same Wi-Fi channel as a lot of your neighbors, you’ll experience a lot of interference with their networks—so it’s best to choose a different channel with fewer people on it....

In Windows 7 and 8, there is a Contacts folder in your user directory. This folder can be useful if you have your contacts in a single .vcf file and want to move them into a .csv file for importing into programs like Outlook 2013. To import contacts from a single .vcf file into your Contacts folder, open the Contacts folder at the following location in Windows Explorer. On the toolbar, click Import....

A new feature in Chrome radically improves the quality of video casted from the browser to your Chromecast—but only if you toggle a hidden setting on. Update: This flag no longer exists in Chrome. Google has made improvements to Chromecasting since this article was written, and it’s likely no longer necessary. Why Tab Casting Is So Terrible (and What Google’s Doing About It) RELATED: Mirror Your Computer’s Screen on Your TV With Google’s Chromecast...

One of Chrome OS’ biggest benefits is its inherent security features. It’s regarded as one of the most secure consumer-focused operating systems, but here’s how you can eek just a bit more out of it. First off, let’s talk about what we mean by “security.” I don’t want to confuse this with “privacy,” which is something different. We’re focused on keeping your data safe on your Chromebook, should it ever get lost or stolen—and really, just for peace of mind....

Some tasks for taking care of data in Excel are intuitive, like inserting currency. Then there are others that are not, like combining columns. We’ll show you a few different ways to merge two columns in Microsoft Excel. You may have imported data from an external location or had someone enter data in your sheet. If you end up with two columns that would work better as one, you can combine them using an operator or a function....

If you want to spend less time swapping cards and more time playing with your Raspberry Pi, installing the BerryBoot multi-boot manager makes it dead simple to boot multiple operating systems from one SD card. Read on as we walk you through the process. Why Do I Want to Do This? BerryBoot is a boot management tool for the Raspberry Pi that adds quite a bit of functionality to the Raspberry Pi experience....

Android’s customizability is one reason many people prefer it. You can change the look, feel, and function of basically any Android phone with themes, custom launchers, and icon packs. Here’s how to get started. Some phones allow you to install themes, while all Android phones let you install custom launchers and icon packs. These go a long way to making your phone unique, thanks to the nearly infinite launcher and icon pack customizations....

If a program isn’t working right, just reinstalling it won’t necessarily fix it. You may need to reset the program to its default settings, and some programs don’t offer an easy way to do this. You can erase any program’s settings from your computer if you just know where they are. We’ll show you the most common places programs store their settings and demonstrate how to track down any program’s settings....

Netflix’s “Post-Play” feature is primarily aimed toward binge-watching. It’s nice if you’re catching up on all five seasons of Breaking Bad, but if you’re not consuming your TV in marathon 18-hour sessions, it can be annoying. Fortunately, you can turn it off. Don’t get us wrong, we’ve all fallen into the Portlandiaesque-just-one-more-episode trap, which is why Netflix’s autoplaying abilities are so ingenious. It turns out however, we don’t always want to watch a full series in one sitting....

Have you ever had a financial goal you sought but weren’t exactly sure how to get there? Using Goal Seek in Microsoft Excel, you can determine what you need to accomplish your goal. Maybe you want to save a certain amount of money in the next few years but aren’t sure how much you need to set aside each month. Or perhaps you want to take out a loan and know how much you can afford every month, but don’t know what interest rate to look for....

Docker Compose now supports profiles for selective use of services. Services in your docker-compose.yml can be linked to one or more named profiles. Passing a profile name to docker-compose up will start just the services in that profile, letting you create variants of your stack for specific environments and configurations. Compose has previously focused on defining a single stack that’s a canonical distribution of your application. Profiles add more room for customizing which parts of the stack to use, making complex sets of services more modular and configurable....