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System Builder licenses are available for both the “core” and Professional editions of Windows. In other words, there are four different consumer versions of Windows to choose from. Can I Use a System Builder License? RELATED: Microsoft is Misleading Consumers With Windows 8.1 System Builder Licensing First, let’s get one thing out of the way. Microsoft’s been all over the map when it comes to whether System Builder licenses can be used by normal computer enthusiasts building their own machines....

While you may not think about or realize it, Microsoft Word creates a second copy of any documents you have open and are working on. But why does Microsoft Word do this? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answers to a curious reader’s question about this behavior. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

Believe it or not, there are antivirus programs targeted at desktop Linux users. If you have just switched to Linux and started looking for an antivirus solution, don’t bother — you do not need an antivirus program on Linux. There are some situations when running an antivirus on Linux makes sense, but the average Linux desktop isn’t one of them. You would only want an antivirus program to scan for Windows malware....

It’s a lesson many of us have learned the hard way. Yes, $100 is overpriced for a storage upgrade, but it’s still worth it. The most inexpensive models of smartphones, tablets, and laptops often have too little storage. Manufacturers want to make their products appear as inexpensive as possible, hence these low-storage models to get customers in the door. Better to buy more storage now than deal with the frustration and micromanagement over the life of your device....

Tools like ping, traceroute, lookup, whois, finger, netstat, ipconfig, and port scanners are available on nearly every operating system you can get your hands on. They’re used for everything from troubleshooting a connection to looking up information. Whether you’re using Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X, these tools are always close at hand. You’ll also find web-based versions of many of these utilities. Some are even available in Chrome OS’s hidden Crosh shell....

If a website asks you to download a “codec,” “player,” or “browser update” to play a video, run the other way. You don’t actually need to download this sort of thing — the website is trying to infect your computer with malware. Whether you’re browsing social media or clicking through some sort of low-quality video-streaming website, you should never download any sort of “codec pack,” “player,” or “update.” Tell your friends and family!...

The battery is often the first part to really fail in older MacBooks. If this is happening to you, you’ll be glad to hear that you might just be able to replace it yourself. A Note on Warranties If you’ve got an old Mac where the battery isn’t holding a charge because of age, it most likely won’t be covered by warranty. That’s because the warranty period has expired, and because wear and tear isn’t covered by the warranty, anyway....

In the last part of the series we looked at how you can manage and use your Windows computers from anywhere as long as you are on the same network. But what if you are not? Be sure to check out the previous articles in this Geek School series on Windows 7: Introducing How-To Geek School Upgrades and Migrations Configuring Devices Managing Disks Managing Applications Managing Internet Explorer IP Addressing Fundamentals Networking Wireless Networking Windows Firewall Remote Administration...

OS X has excellent visual clarity and is pretty kind on the eyes right out of the box. But, if you have trouble making out the small typefaces or simply want to make stuff bigger, then there are a few things you can do. Anyone familiar with Apple’s standards and practices knows that they are pretty strict about how their products look and work. In fact, Apple publishes a style guide aimed at writers, editors, and developers that is nearly 200 pages long and their “OS X Human Interface Guidelines” weighs in at over 330 pages!...

Tab stops in Microsoft Word give you quick and easy ways to move your cursor to certain spots. This is handy for indents or specific spacing. Here, we’ll show you how to add, edit, and remove tab stops in Word. You have two ways to work with tab stops in Microsoft Word. You can open the tab settings or use the ruler. This gives you flexibility for what’s most convenient at the time....

You’ve been taking photos and videos, downloading documents, and installing apps like there’s no tomorrow. All of a sudden you realize you’re running out of room on your phone. What do you do? Sure, you could use cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive to store files, but those require an internet connection to access your files. If you want to actually take files with you, there is a better solution....

Video calls and meetings are great, but they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to accessibility. Fortunately, Zoom has the ability to create live closed captions in real-time during meetings. We’ll show you how it works. Zoom’s live closed captions differ from the standard closed captions in that they’re automatically generated by AI. At the time of writing, you have to submit a form to request the feature on your account....

Hulu is great if you enjoy the shows it has available. However, at some point, you might want to cancel your subscription, whether it’s due to cost or just because you no longer enjoy the content. We’ll walk you through how to do this. If you’re not ready to fully cancel Hulu, you can also pause your subscription for up to 12 weeks. To go cancel the service completely, just sign in on Hulu’s website, and then click the icon next to your name in the top-right corner....

Tired of individually converting each Microsoft Word document to Google Docs? Use an option on Google Drive to convert multiple documents at once instead. We’ll show you how to do it. Turn Word Documents into Google Docs Format In Google Drive, there’s an option to convert all uploaded files to the Google Docs editor format. This converts your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to Google’s Docs, Sheets, and Slides formats, respectively....

If you prefer to use the keyboard rather than the mouse to accomplish tasks in Windows and applications, we have a handy tip that allows you to get a list of the keyboard shortcuts available in Word. One method of doing this is to print out (either on paper or to a PDF file) a list of the key assignments for the currently active document and template. To generate this list, click the “File” tab....

Microsoft has been busy adding new tools to Office over the last few years, and Forms is one you’ll find useful if you want to create a survey, poll, quiz, or questionnaire. Let’s take a look at how it works. Forms is an online-only tool that’s free to use, though you will need to sign in with a free Microsoft account. You can export all the responses to the form into Excel (also free to use online) for viewing, filtering, and reporting....

Wikipedia is a great source for all kinds of interesting information. In addition to reading articles online, you can also create custom eBooks out of Wikipedia articles that you can read on your mobile device without a data or Wi-Fi connection. To create an eBook out of Wikipedia articles, find an article that interests you and click the Print/export link in the list of options on the left. Click the Create a book link under Print/export....

If you use OS X, then you probably are acquainted with the Finder sidebar for frequently used shortcuts, drives, and other locations. You may not know, however, that the sidebar can be changed and customized in a number of ways. When you open Finder for the first time, the sidebar sports its default appearance. The icons (as found in OS X Yosemite) are a mute gray and those that are displayed are the ones that Apple assumes you’ll use most, so you can get to your applications, documents, desktop, and so forth....

Install an app from Google Play and, while the installer takes the form of an APK files, you’re never given the opportunity to download the file directly. Using the APK Downloader extension for Chrome, you can download any APK you need so you have it as a backup. This does not mean that you can wade into the store and start downloading all of the premium apps and games you’ve always had your eye on....

Sit back, rest your eyes, and listen to your emails instead of reading them. With Play My Emails in Microsoft Outlook on iPhone, iPad, and Android, Cortana is happy to read your messages aloud to you. You can use the Play My Emails feature for multiple accounts, customize the emails that you hear, act on a message, and more. So if Outlook is your preferred email app on iPhone, iPad, or Android, you’ll appreciate the flexibility and options....