A whitelist should be a foolproof way to secure a relative’s PC. Select a handful of approved applications and only allow them to run. If someone using the PC downloads another .exe file, Windows will refuse to run it. AppLocker does this, but it’s only included on Enterprise editions of Windows. We’ll be using the Family Safety feature for this — it’s like AppLocker in disguise for all editions of Windows....
Microsoft started rolling out Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 to testers in the Dev Channel, which includes an interesting new feature: the ability to add interactive widgets to the desktop. The company said in a blog post, “Windows Insiders who use the Dev Channel may get to try out new ideas, longer lead features, and experiences that are intended to help validate concepts. Starting with this preview build, some Insiders will see one of these conceptual features as we begin to explore exposing lightweight interactive content on the Windows desktop....
With Instagram’s new Story feature proving popular, Snapchat is having to compete hard. They’ve recently added a whole host of new features, if only, it seems, to make Instagram’s developers waste time copying them. One of these new features it the ability to share links through your Snaps. Here’s how to use it. Open Snapchat and take a Snap as normal. Over on the right you’ll see a little paper clip icon; tap it....
One of the elements of film-based photography lost with the transition to digital photography is the presence of film grain. If you want to recapture the effect with your modern digital rig, read on as we show you how. Why Do I Want to Do This and What Exactly Is Film Grain? Shooting digital is fast, it’s enjoyable, and you get to check on your photos immediately and tweak your workflow....
Do you often fill in spreadsheet cells by hand? Google Sheets can recognize your data pattern and automatically fill your cells with sequential data, saving you time and energy. Here’s how to use it with numbers, month names, formulas, and more. RELATED: How to Automatically Fill Sequential Data into Excel with the Fill Handle Fill Sequential Numbers To automatically fill sequential numbers, like from 1 to 10, click a cell in your spreadsheet and type 1....
RELATED: The Best Mice of 2022 Change Mouse Speed via Settings You can adjust the speed of your mouse from the Settings menu. However, instead of starting from the top level of Settings and digging your way through, open Windows Search by clicking the Magnifying Glass icon in the Taskbar (or the search bar in Windows 10). Then type “Mouse” in the Search box, and then select “Mouse Settings” from the search results....
Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system allows you to adjust your clock manually as well as automatically using a Settings option. We’ll show you how to do just that. RELATED: How to Change the Date and Time on Windows 11 Manually Change the Time on Windows 10 If you’d like to manually specify your PC’s time, use the built-in Settings option to do that. Start by launching Settings on your PC....
Here’s a quick guide you can follow to avoid damaging your display. How to Avoid Damaging Your Screen There are a few things you should avoid when cleaning your laptop. You should never use harsh cleaning chemicals like surface sprays, glass cleaners (like Windex), or anything that isn’t specifically designed to clean a screen. Some display manufacturers warn against ever using any moisture to clean the display. You can get a good idea of what your manufacturer recommends by searching the web for your make and model....
Distribution lists allow you to treat a bunch of contacts as if they are a single entity. In other words, the next time you want to email everyone in your “Computer Club”, you can send an email to the Computer Club distribution list and every one in the group will get the email. Create a Distribution List in Outlook 2013 Fire up Outlook and switch your attention to the right hand side of the Window....
BitLocker normally encrypts entire drives and partitions, but you can also create encrypted container files with tools built into Windows. Such encrypted VHD files can easily be moved between systems, backed up, and hidden when not in-use. This trick allows you to create TrueCrypt-style encrypted volumes as files on your computer. Like other BitLocker features, it requires a Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows, or Ultimate for Windows 7....
Crop a Picture in Microsoft OneNote for the Web To crop a picture in Microsoft OneNote for the web, log in to the OneNote website from your browser of choice. On the Notebook selection screen, select the Notebook that contains the picture that you want to crop (or you can insert one with Insert > Picture). Next, select the picture that you want to crop by clicking it. A perforated border will appear around the image....
If you really don’t use Windows Search much, you can disable indexing completely by turning off the Windows Search service. You’ll still be able to search–it will just take longer without an index. RELATED: How to Choose Which Files Windows Search Indexes on Your PC If you’re thinking of disabling Search because it’s slowing things down, we recommend trimming down what files and folders are getting indexed and seeing if that works for you first....
The drop shadows on applications in the Windows 10 preview are really big and suspiciously similar to the ones in OS X, and if they aren’t your speed, you can easily remove them. We actually think they look good, but since somebody out there won’t like them, here is how to disable them. Open up Control Panel and head to System and Security and then System, and click the Advanced system settings link....
Domain users are not allowed to sign in with a Pin by default. However, using a little bit of GPO, we can change that. How to Enable Pin Sign On For Domain Users on Windows 8 Press the Win + R keyboard combination to open a run box then type “gpedit.msc” and press enter. When the Group Policy editor opens, navigate to: On the right hand side, double click on the “Turn on PIN sign-in” setting....
Google Chrome allows other programs on your computer to install system-wide Chrome extensions. Chrome even allows these extensions to prevent you from disabling or removing them via Chrome’s Extensions page. The terrible Ask Toolbar included with Java security updates is one of the most common examples of this, but this technique could be used by other programs — and even malware. Control Panel If the extension’s developer is behaving properly, you will be able to uninstall a globally installed extension from the Windows Control Panel....
Windows, Mac OS X, and most Linux desktops have built-in tools for quickly renaming multiple files. Use a batch-rename tool rather than fixing them one by one. More powerful batch-renaming features may require a third-party tool or the command line. Batch-renaming features are often integrated into third-party file managers, too. Windows RELATED: The Best Alternative File Managers for Windows, Mac, and Linux We’ve already covered the many ways to batch-rename files on Windows....
If you have more than one Apple TV in your household, you probably know how annoying it is when you have to install Apple TV apps multiple times on each device. However, with the release of tvOS 11, that’s no longer the case. RELATED: How to Update Your Apple TV to tvOS 11 Thanks to iCloud, all Apple TVs that are signed into your Apple ID will sync with each other....
Windows 11 includes a “Game Mode” enabled by default that automatically optimizes your system for gaming when it detects a game in progress. It usually works well, but if it causes performance problems, you can switch easily disable it. Here’s how. What Is Game Mode? Game Mode is a special mode that prioritizes game processes as they run, ideally allowing them to run faster with fewer performance problems. Game Mode also temporarily prevents Windows Update from installing drivers (which might disrupt your gameplay) or asking to restart your PC....
Many recent Android phones – and even Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets – have integrated NFC hardware and support Android Beam. Android Beam allows you to send content between devices just by pressing them back-to-back. Android Beam is ideal for sharing content – web pages, maps, videos, photos, and more – with other people’s phones and tablets. You can quickly transfer content between nearby devices without a long setup process....
The Spaces CDN works by using a network of edge servers to replicate your content across geographical regions. Users that request content from the CDN endpoint will be served by the edge node that’s closest to them. Besides improving performance, the CDN reduces bandwidth costs by caching content and providing it via shorter delivery routes. It also offers a layer of extra redundancy in the event of a service failure....
