If you experience your VPN block issues by Windows Firewall, you’re in the right place. Your firewall handles your network security, blocking access to and from suspicious platforms/services. It can sometimes flag your VPN as dangerous, even if it’s not.
Here’s how you can unblock your VPN connection
What can I do if my VPN gets blocked by Windows Firewall?
1. Add an exclusion
Open Windows Defender Security Center
Go to Virus & Threat protection settings
Select Exclusions
Select Add or remove exclusions
Select Add an exclusion and add your VPN client software
Note: Most VPN clients use ports 500 and 4500 UDP, and port 1723 for TCP. If these don’t work, add a new rule to allow them in Windows Firewall Advanced settings.
Adjusting firewall settings will help if you have admin rights to network settings. But if you’re on your school WiFi or work network,you may not be ablet to do it.
2. Allow VPN through firewall settings
Open Control Panel
Select System & Security
Click Windows Defender Firewall
On the left pane, click Allow an app or a feature through Windows Firewall. A window in which you can allow or prevent any app will display.
Click Change Settings.
Check for your VPN from the list of programs and apps you want to allow through your firewall.
Check Public or Private to select the network type on which you want the VPN to run.
If you cannot find your VPN, click Allow another app.
Select your VPN and then click Add, then click OK.
3. Change adapter settings
Open Control Panel and select Network & Internet.
Select Network and Sharing Center.
On the left pane, click Change adapter settings
Click File.
Select New incoming connection.
Select all users you want to access your VPN connection.
Check Through the Internet.
Click Next.
From the list of protocols, mark the Internet protocols you want your VPN to connect to.
Double click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
Go to Control Panel again and select Windows Firewall.
Click Advanced Settings.
Click Inbound Rules>Actions.
Click New Rule.
In the Wizard, choose Port and click Next. Most VPN clients use ports 500 and 4500 UDP, and port 1723 for TCP. You can use TCP and insert 1723 in Specific remote ports field.
Click Next.
Select Allow the connection and click Next.
When asked ‘When does this rule apply?’ select all options (Domain, Private, Public) and apply the rule to all.
Choose a name and description to fill the Name and Description.
Click Finish.
4. Create a new inbound rule
Open the firewall settings and click inbound rules on the left.
Click the New rule on the right.
Click Custom rule.
Specify programs or leave as all programs.
Specify ports or leave as all ports.
Click “These IP addresses” under remote IP
Click “This IP address range”.
Type From “10.8.0.1” To “10.8.0.254”.
Close and click Next, then leave as “Allow the connection”.
Apply to all profiles.
Name your profile and click Finish.
You should then be able to connect to your home devices through your VPN
5. Enable rule for PPTP
If your VPN requires PPTP, do the following:
Open Control Panel
Select Windows Firewall
Select Advanced Settings.
Search for the ‘Routing and Remote Access‘ under Inbound Rules and Outbound Rules. For Inbound Rules: right-click ‘Routing and Remote Access (PPTP-In)’, select Enable Rule. For Outbound Rules: right-click ‘Routing and Remote Access (PPTP-Out)’, select Enable Rule.
6. Open ports
In order to allow your VPN traffic to pass through the firewall, open the following ports:
IP Protocol=TCP, TCP Port number=1723 – used by PPTP control path
IP Protocol=GRE (value 47) – used by PPTP data path
Make sure that these ports are allowed on Windows Firewall with corresponding network profile.
DO NOT configure RRAS static filters if you are running on the same server RRAS based NAT router functionality. This is because RRAS static filters are stateless and NAT translation requires a stateful edge firewall like ISA firewall.
In general, VPN error 807 indicates that the network connection between your computer and the VPN server was interrupted. This also can be caused by a problem in the VPN transmission and is commonly the result of internet latency or simply that your VPN server has reached capacity. Try to reconnect to the VPN server.
7. Change your VPN
You can change your VPN and see if it resolves the issue. Normally, an established VPN provider has a good client that will work great together with Windows Firewall.
A great VPN, recommended below, is owned by Kape Technologies and has servers located all around the world.
It supports high data speeds, which makes it a fast VPN for Windows operating system, besides its powerful features and performance.
It is a favorite among the best VPN software for laptops as it not only protects your privacy on a multi-platform privacy solution but also offers reliable connections.
ExpressVPN
Use ExpressVPN to secure your connection without being blocked by the firewall.
Depending on your firewall or security software, there are steps to take to fix VPN blocked by Windows firewall. Here’s what to do if you’re using ESET NOD32 or Kaspersky:
NOD32:
Select Setup
Select Advanced Setup
Select Antivirus and antispyware
Select Web access protection
Select HTTP, HTTPS > HTTP scanner setup, and set HTTPS filtering mode to Do not use HTTPS protocol checking.
NOTE
If HTTPS filtering mode is greyed out, you must first set Antivirus and antispyware > Protocol filtering > SSL to Always scan SSL protocol. Restore this to its previous setting after changing HTTPS filtering mode.
Select Settings
Select Traffic Monitoring panel
Select Port Settings or settings
Select Network
Select Port Settings and uncheck the box for port 443/SSL
Any luck fixing VPN blocked by the Windows firewall using the solutions above? Share with us by leaving a comment in the section below. And if you’re dealing with other restrictions, check out our guide on how to fix VPN being blocked by ISP.
After you whitelist your VPN you should be able to allow PPTP through the firewall.
Many people report having to whitelist VPNs. It seems that you oftentimes have to allow Cisco Anyconnect through a firewall as well as other reputable VPNs:
Surfshark blocked by Windows Defender
Ports required for VPN connections have been blocked by the firewall
There’s a lot of misconception floating around when it comes to VPNs. Some people think that VPNs are used to spy on them, when in fact they do the opposite (keep spies at bay).
Some others strongly believe that VPNs can slow down their Internet speed. While that’s not entirely untrue, a VPN can help you achieve faster Internet speed, especially if you have an abusive ISP that throttles your bandwidth.
All in all, people just assume facts without actually knowing how a VPN works.
How does a VPN work?
A VPN takes your traffic and routes it through its own infrastructure. Let’s say you’re using a VPN on your desktop computer. Thus, the access point, in this case, is the VPN client.
You make a request to an online service (website, online game, mail server), which the VPN client retrieves and encrypts, pushing it forward through a secure, encrypted tunnel.
The request travels through the tunnel and reaches the VPN server, which decrypts it, and pushes it further to its destination. The service then generates a response and sends it back.
The response reaches the VPN server, gets decrypted, goes through the secure tunnel, reaches the client where it gets encrypted once again, and finally, it reaches you.
Throughout the connection, your data stays encrypted. The only two points where it’s not subject to encryption are your PC and the destination service.
And since your ISP can’t access either of those directly (hopefully), it can’t see what you’re doing.
VPN encrypts your traffic
Your default, a public Internet connection is visible to your ISP most of the time. That means that your ISP knows everything you do online: which website you visit, which files you download, which movie you just saw, and you get the picture.
But there are some things that your ISP can’t see. This includes emails, and generally everything you post on HTTPS-encrypted websites.
So, your ISP can still see that you’ve visited an HTTPS website, but can’t grab your username, password, or messages you’ve posted there.
Therefore, your ISP doesn’t get to see encrypted data, we’ve established that.
What a VPN does is take your regular, visible traffic and encrypt it, turning it invisible to ISPs. Thus, as long as your VPN doesn’t leak any encrypted data, your ISP can no longer see what you’re doing.
Can VPN change your IP address?
While you’re connected to a VPN server, your online identity changes. Every online entity you interact with will think that the originating point of your requests is the VPN server.
This entails that your public IP address is replaced by the server’s address so that it seems that all the requests were coming from the server.
But your IP address isn’t the only thing that a VPN can change/mask.
For instance, a (good) VPN also changes your DNS and location. This can come in quite handy, especially if you’re looking for ways to bypass geoblocking.
Does VPN change IP address every time?
Generally speaking, yes. When you connect to a VPN server you have more IP addresses attributed to that server location.
Consequently, it’s possible that you connect to multiple IPs every time you connect to different servers.
Does everyone on a VPN have the same IP address?
It depends on the type of your IP address. If your VPN has shared IPs you will share them with other users.
On the other hand, if you’re using dedicated IP addresses on your servers, you will have the same addresses every time without sharing them with other users.
How to change your IP address with VPN?
Check your public IP address on any IP detection website.
Connect to a server of your choice (location not important).
Check out your new IP address (many VPNs display it in the main window).
Kape Technologies’ ExpressVPN can provide you with a quick, uncomplicated way to change (or rather hide) your IP. All you have to do is connect to any services it provides you with and you’re set.
Indeed, it’s possible to change the IP address in other ways than using a VPN connection. In case you wonder how to manually change my IP address, you can perform it from your device’s settings.
Other methods to change your IP are the following:
Manually change your IP address using Windows Control Panel
Use a proxy server connection
Try the ToR browser
However, VPNs are the easiest way to change your IP address due to extensive server networks with thousands of IPs.
All things considered, it’s safe to say that there’s nothing complicated with changing your IP address with a VPN. You just launch it, connect to a random server, and let the VPN take care of everything.
However, note that while using a VPN, your IP address isn’t the only one that changes. A VPN can also mask your DNS, change your NAT type and assign you a different virtual location, depending on the server you chose.
Check out our best VPNs that can help you spoof your IP easily. Visit our VPN Hub if you want to discover more tools and guides on preserving your privacy.
For some users, especially the ones from countries with limited internet access, a VPN is a must. However, this great rise of Virtual Private Network solutions brought a lot of lackluster applications.
Some of those just won’t work as supposed, while others can invoke serious issues
. One issue goes as far as breaking the system completely, by freezing it in the process. If the VPN froze your PC, follow the steps below to resolve it.
Why does my VPN keep freezing?
The most common causes for your VPN freezing or being stuck on connecting are related to Internet problems. Make sure your network drivers and Internet hardware are in check.
The issue seems to affect users of various types of VPN clients. Most commonly, people report having to deal with:
Windows 10 VPN settings freeze
Remote Desktop connection frozen
VPN causes computers to crash
NordVPN, Surfshark, Forticlient, or even Cisco VPN freezing/crashing
VPN connection keeps freezing
Another common cause that can lead to this type of issue is having an out-of-date or corrupted VPN application. See below how to fix that and other possible causes of this error.
What to do if your VPN is freezing your PC?
1. Use a proper VPN
For many affected users, the VPN tool they were using was subpar in many categories. And that’s something you need to accept if you decide to run a free solution.
What we rather suggest is resetting your PC to factory values and moving to a proper VPN.
The best option in this regard is ExpressVPN because it gets frequent updates
Perfectly crafted to blend seamlessly with any device, any OS, and any browser, ExpressVPN will cover all your VPN needs.
From anonymizing your browsing, hiding your location, unblocking streaming and/or gaming to protecting your online privacy and data traffic from prying eyes, everything’s taken care of.
Plus, thanks to its cross-compatibility, you can be sure it will not inflict any degradation on your PC’s performance or cause it to freeze and/or crash.
You can choose from more than 5 000 servers spread in 90+ worldwide locations and always enjoy ultra-fast and reliable connections.
Your data is protected with the highest degree of encryption and your traffic is routed through secure VPN tunnels.
ExpressVPN
Say goodbye to errors and get unbreakable online privacy with this reputable VPN!
First, we need to make sure that the VPN application is the one that causes this occurrence. The best way to determine whether a third-party app is causing system freezes is to start the given system in Safe mode.
The Safe mode allows you to start the system with just minimal drivers and third-party applications. If Safe Mode is not working, check out the steps to fix it.
Once you’ve run it, you should be able to confirm whether the VPN is the culprit or not. Should the system work in a seamless manner while in the Safe mode, we suggest the following further stages?
On the other hand, if the issue is persistent, try resetting your PC to factory values.
Here’s how to enable Safe mode in Windows 10:
Press and hold Shift.
While holding Shift, click on Start > Power > Restart.
Click Troubleshoot.
Select Advanced Options.
Choose Startupsettings and then click Restart.
Select Safe mode (or Safe mode with Networking).
If your system works without freezing, restart your PC and continue with the troubleshooting.
If the issue persists, we suggest using the Recovery option (Reset this PC) or performing a clean reinstallation.
3. Check drivers
Most of the VPNs will, upon installing, install additional Network drivers and use them to create a virtual network adapter. However, those, as same as accompanying software for other devices, can fail you in various situations.
That’s why we encourage you to double-check the drivers and reinstall them. And we all know that a certain faulty driver can completely disrupt the system’s performance.
The best way to do so is by reinstalling the VPN itself, as the drivers come with the installation exclusively.
After you’ve done that, the problem should be addressed. For the sake of checking, right-click Start and open the Device Manager.
Once there, expand the Network adapters section. Update or reinstall them.
Since we mentioned reinstallation as a solution for the driver issue, we need to explain how to reinstall VPN cleanly. The standard reinstallation won’t suffice since the VPN integrates into the registry. That’s why some users had issues with PC freezing, even after removing the troubling VPN.
Here’s what you need to do:
Open Control Panel by typing control in the Windows Search bar and selecting it from the list of results.
Click Uninstall a program.
Uninstall VPN.
Download the VPN client again and install it.
So, what you need to do is to remove the VPN cleanly and install it later on. Preferably, you’ll want to use a third-party uninstaller, which will track all associated files and remove them accordingly.
Manually uninstalling a VPN client necessitates technical knowledge and patience. And no one can guarantee that the manual removal will entirely delete the VPN client and all of its data.
As a result, it is advised that you uninstall VPN Client using a trustworthy third-party uninstaller that can scan your system, detect all VPN Client files, and thoroughly remove them for a clean reinstallation.
A professional tool like CCleaner is a lot faster and more efficient alternative to manual uninstalling. After the regular uninstall method, the free version allows you to scan for residual files, directories, and registry entries.
5. Run SFC and DISM
The system freezes are not to be taken lightly. As shown in so many cases, this is just the start of an unrepairable critical error that will eventually force you to use the recovery options or reinstall the system.
But, before we move to firm steps, let’s give the system utilities a try. There are two tools you can utilize through the elevated Command Prompt.
The first is System File Checker and here’s how to run it:
Type cmd in the Windows Search bar. Right-click on Command Prompt and run it as admin.
In the command line, type sfc/scannow and press Enter.
After the scan is finished and there’s nothing to report, try DISM.
The second is DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) tool. Follow these instructions to utilize it:
Open Command Prompt with administrative permissions.
In the command line, type the following commands and press Enter after each:
DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
This can take a while. After the scan is done, restart your PC and look for improvements.
6. Scan system for malware
One of the essential precaution measures includes scanning Windows 10 for viruses. There’s always a possibility (not so distant, depending on your online habits) that the system is infected with malicious software.
Or, at least the VPN client you’ve been using. For that reason, we encourage you to perform a deep scan for possible malicious presence.
You can do that with any third-party antivirus software, but we’ll show you how to do it with the Windows-native Windows Defender. Follow these steps to scan your Windows 10:
OpenWindows Defender from the notification area.
ChooseVirus & threat protection.
Open Run a new Advanced scan.
SelectWindows Defender Offline Scan and click Scan now.
On that note, we can call it a wrap. If you’re aware of some alternative solutions or have some questions to ask, feel free to post them in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Since it was created by Apple, iTunes has changed the way users can organize and play music and videos. iTunes has allowed millions of users to download their favorite tracks, songs, and videos via the iTunes Store.
Thankfully, iTunes has an advanced backup system able to back up and restore important files on iPhones, Ipad, iPods, or Mac computers.
Using iTunes is also possible on computers or other devices running Windows 10. If you are an iTunes user, this article will be useful to you. It will help you to find the iTunes backup location in Windows 10 and how to change it.
What are iTunes backup files?
Backup files are copies of files created with iTunes and stored locally on your computer.
Usually, you do not need to know the exact location of the iTunes backup files, because iTunes itself will show them automatically when needed.
Nevertheless, if you buy a new computer and you wish to transfer iTunes backup files from your old PC to the new one, it is necessary to know the exact location of the backup file, in order to create a copy.
Sometimes the user may need to save space on the computer. So, the best idea could be to delete iTunes backup files or move important backups to another location or drive. In this case, you should also know where the iTunes backup files are stored on your computer.
You have two solutions to find a list of the backups if they are using Windows 10.
Where can I find iTunes backup files on a PC?
1. Check the Backup folder
The various backup files in Windows 10 are located in C: UsersUSERAppDataRoamingApple ComputerMobileSyncBackup. You can navigate here to find the backup files.
2. List all the backup files on your device
Another way to find the list of iTunes backup files is to list all the backup files on your PC. From there you can check the backups for your iTunes files.
1. Click the Search bar next to the Start button.
2. In the Search bar, enter %appdata% or %USERPROFILE% (if you downloaded iTunes from the Microsoft Store).
3. Click on Return.
4. Press on Apple > Apple Computer.
5. Go to MobileSync and select Backup.
6. You should now have the list of all your iTunes files backup.
What to do to avoid ruining your iTunes backup files?
To avoid damaging backup files, it is important to highlight two things:
iTunes saves backups into a folder within the Users folder.
The location of the Backup in Windows 10 is the one already highlighted in the previous paragraph. Although you can copy the Backup folder, you must never move it to a different one, an external drive, or a network drive.
Do not modify, reposition, rename or extract content from your backup files, as these actions may corrupt the files.
For example, to restore a repositioned backup file, you need to put it back in its original location. Otherwise, the file will not work. Backups are a secure copy of your entire device. Therefore, even if you may be able to view the contents of backup files or access them, they are usually not stored in a readable format.
iTunes places all backups into the path shown before (C: UsersUSERAppDataRoamingApple ComputerMobileSyncBackup) and you cannot select to save these backup files to another drive directly.
Nevertheless, changing backup location is possible and it is also quite easy to achieve in a few steps.
1. Create a New iTunes Backup Folder on another drive, for instance, D or E Drive. You can also create the folder in a flash drive, external hard drive, or thumb drive. You can name the folder “iTunes 2.0”, “New iTunes backup”, or with another name able to catch your attention while letting you understand what there is in the folder.
2. Retitle the old iTunes backup folder on the system drive, to make clear the old folder is no anymore the one you want to open to check for your backup files.
3. Change iTunes backup location on Windows PC. This can be done by creating a junction point, also called a symbolic link. The latter is a link to a directory that acts as an alias of that directory.
Despite its almost tautological definition, this junction point will be the one allowing you to change the backup location.
4. After having retitled or renamed the first iTunes backup folder, click on the SHIFT key and right-click on the old iTunes backup file location, you will see appearing a pop-up menu.
5. Pick the Open command window here option.
6. Now, within the window opened, you can manually type in the command where D: (or E: etc.) is the new drive location and “Backup” is the name of the iOS backup folder you moved: mklink /J “%APPDATA%Apple ComputerMobileSyncBackup” “D: Backup“.
7. If everything went smoothly until now, it should appear in the command prompt window with a proper backup junction. The new folder shortcut called “Backup” will appear in the original location.
8. The last step requires deleting the old iTunes backup files existing in the MobileSync folder. In this way, you can connect your iPhone to your PC and back up it with iTunes. You will find the new backups in the new Backup folder.
Even though both hardware and software solutions from Microsoft are state-of-the-art and pretty reliable, there are certain areas where the tech giant is failing.
By saying that we mean that the printing experience on Windows 11, as well as on Windows 10, has not been quite stable or reliable lately.
There was a bug related to USB printing that might cause your printer to malfunction after you restart it or reinstall it.
However, that problem has been dealt with, which is why we’re going to help you figure out another printer-related situation on the latest Microsoft-designed operating system.
So, if your printer redirection is not working, you might want to carefully follow the information in this article and properly fix it.
Why will my printer not allow redirection?
In order to properly troubleshoot this issue, it is important to understand how RDP printer redirection works in Windows 11 to begin identifying reasons why the printer might not be appearing.
Basically, the server first receives a list of local printers that are installed on the remote client, while the server creates the print queue within the remote session as a next step.
When the end user goes to print from the remote client, the server is queried for accompanying printer drivers. All being well, the printer is then redirected.
It’s true that Remote desktop printing can often feel like it’s more trouble than it’s worth, but there are also a lot of benefits to remote desktop protocol (RDP) environments.
Even though it provides a leaner infrastructure and more flexibility, the advantages of RDP environments can also pose serious problems for RDP printing.
Well, according to specialists over at Redmond, the issue is caused if the values of both registry entries below are set to 0:
Let’s get right into it and find out how to properly deal with situations where WVD printer redirection is not working.
How do I make my printer redirect?
1. Enable local printers
Open the Remote Desktop Connection screen.
Under the Local devices and resources section, activate the Printers option.
2. Modify Registry entry values
Search for Registry Editor and open the app.
Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\rdpwd\fEnablePrintRDR
Double-click on the file and set the value to 1, then press OK.
As we stated at the beginning of the article, it is important that the values of both the mentioned paths must be modified to 1 if you want to get rid of this problem.
So, please make sure that you changed values from 0 to 1 for both specified registry paths and you will get back to normal in no time.
Expand the Print queues category, select your device, and press Uninstall device.
Right-click on Print queues and choose Scan for hardware changes.
Now, the system will detect the device and automatically install the necessary drivers for it. That being said, if you have the drivers on a CD or a stick, you can install them manually.
What does redirected mean on print server?
Basically, printer redirection enables the users to print to their locally installed printer from a terminal services session.
Know that the Terminal Server client enumerates the local print queues to detect the locally installed printers.
After all this, the above-mentioned list is presented to the server and the server creates the print queue in the session.
Now, all the information you need on Windows 11 RDP printer redirection not working is right here at your fingertips.
So, if your Windows Virtual Desktop printer redirection is not working, simply go through the guide above and get it fixed.
Time is of the essence, so if your Brother printer is not redirecting via RDP, you came to the right place to see it taken care of.
We like to organize our emails just as we enjoy keeping things organized daily.
But sometimes things might go missing, or in this case, that folder that contains your most important emails, and everything seems lost.
Causes can vary from recent changes to your device, such as updates, connection errors, or even corrupted system files.
But there’s a workaround to this problem; we will show it in the text below.
What can I do if my Outlook email folders are missing?
1. Restart Outlook
Sometimes, restarting the application can do the trick. It might sound simple, turning it off and on, but if it works, why not try this first?
Disconnect from your mailbox (you should only do this once).
Reconnect to your mailbox (again, do this once).
Create a new folder(with a different name) in the same folder or sub-folder as the missing folder.
Both folders should appear now.
2. Repair Outlook
If a simple restart did not fix your problem and you need to recover Outlook emails, then you should repair the app. This solution also works well in the event that Windows can’t find the Outlook.exe file.
1. Press the Windows key to open the Start Menu.
2. Select Apps and Features from the menu.
3. Click on Microsoft Outlook and select Modify.
4. It offers two options: clicking on Online Repair then Repair will get everything fixed, while the second option of Quick Repair will scan your application files and replace the corrupted ones.
5. Select your desired option.
6. The system will guide you to the necessary steps you need to follow in order to fix your Outlook.
7. Open the Outlook app again to check if this solution worked.
If you’ve gotten to this point, the first two solutions didn’t work, but worry not, we’ve got more fixes ahead. This third method involves disabling the add-ins.
Launch the run box by pressing Windows + R key.
Type the following command in the run box and press Ok: “Outlook.exe /safe”.
Outlook is now in Safe mode, the next step involves disabling the add-ins, now, you have to click “Go to File” select Option then Add-Ins.
In the Manage section select COM add-ins, select the Go Button, and lastly, clear the add-ins checkbox to disable it.
You’re good to go now.
Also, we are aware that Outlook search is a powerful tool, so you may easily get lost in the depth of its functionality. But with a few quick tricks, you will have things up and running when a folder disappeared in Windows 11.
We hope these fixes helped, and you’ll be able to enjoy further using Microsoft Outlook. If you encounter any issues while following our solutions, let us know in the comments section below.
A keyboard macro is one triggered by pressing a key combination. Windows 11 includes many hotkeys for common tasks (for example Ctrl + C copies text) that can be considered built-in keyboard macros.
Keyboard macros automate repetitive tasks. For instance, if the Ctrl + C keyboard macro (or shortcut) didn’t exist, you would have to select the Copy option in the Edit menus manually.
There are a few ways you may create custom keyboard macros. You can record macros, set up scripts triggered with custom hotkeys, or set up keyboard shortcuts that open programs.
Double-click the TinyTaskPortable file to download TinyTask.
After downloading, double-click the executable file to install the app.
Press the Rec button on the TinyTask toolbar.
Then perform the task you want the macro to do when played. For example, you can open a couple of software packages you want to run at the same time by pressing a hotkey.
Click Rec again to stop recording the macro when done.
Press the default Ctrl + Shift + Alt + P hotkey to play the keyboard macro.
You can select alternative hotkeys for the keyboard macro by clicking Preferences and hitting the PlaybackHotkey. Select a different hotkey for playing the macro from the submenu.
Press Save on TinyTask’s toolbox.
Give the macro a name, select a directory for it, and click Save.
Whenever you want to use the macro, click Open in TinyTask to select it. Then press the key combination for the macro.
2. Set up a keyboard macro (hotkey) for opening a program
Press the StartMenu’s Windows taskbar icon.
Select the All apps option to view your Start Menu’s software shortcuts.
Left click and drag a program to set up a keyboard macro onto the desktop. Then you should see a desktop shortcut for the software.
Click the desktop shortcut for the software with your right mouse button and select Properties.
Then click inside the desktop shortcut’s key box.
Press a key to create a Ctrl + Alt keyboard macro. For example, pressing T will set up a Ctrl + Alt + T hotkey.
Select Apply to set the new keyboard macro and click OK to exit the shortcut’s properties window.
Press your Ctrl + Alt hotkey for your keyboard macro. That keyboard macro will open the software you assigned it to, which will save you manually opening the app from the StartMenu.
3. Set up a batch file keyboard macro
Click the Search icon on your taskbar, type notepad, and click the Notepad text editor app.
Input a batch file script within Notepad.
Click the File menu button at the top of Notepad.
Select that menu’s Save as option.
Next, select the All files option that’s on the Save as type menu.
Erase *txt from the file name box.
Input a title for your batch file in the text box that includes the .bat extension at the end of it. For example, you could enter something like Keyboard Macro.bat.
Choose somewhere to save the batch file.
Click the Save button and close the batch file in Notepad.
Open whatever folder includes your batch file, right-click it, and select Show more options, then select Create shortcut.
Right-click the batch file’s desktop shortcut to set up a hotkey for activating it as outlined in the previous method.
Then press the key combination for the batch file to run its script.
You can set up batch file keyboard macros for automating many tasks in Windows. It’s beyond the scope of this guide to provide details about how to script batch files. However, you can look at many batch script tutorial websites on the internet.
For example, set up a script that opens multiple websites. Input the following batch script into Notepad for step three:
@echo off start https://www.google.com start https://www.bing.com
That macro will open the Google and Bing search engines in your default browser when you press its hotkey. You can replace the websites in that script or add new ones to open in additional lines.
Double-click the downloaded AutoHotkey setup file.
Select the Express Installation option and click Run AutoHotkey after installing.
Right-click somewhere on the desktop wallpaper to select New and select AutoHotkey Script.
Enter a title for the AutoHotkey script.
Right-click the AutoHotkey script file to select Open with.
Then select Choose another app and choose Notepad.
Input a hotkey macro script in Notepad. This AutoHotkey help page includes details about how to incorporate hotkeys in scripts.
Then click File on Notepad’s Menu bar.
Click Save as to bring up that window and select the All files option.
Choose a folder location, and click Save.
Double-click the AutoHotkey script file you just set up to run it.
Press the hotkey you incorporated within the script to activate it.
The Autokey website includes a beginner’s guide that explains how you can create macro scripts with that software. You can also get premade scripts at AutoHotkey’s script showcase page.
If you like, you can also add a keyboard shortcut for running the script. To do so, you’ll need to create a desktop shortcut for the script’s file and then add a hotkey to it as covered in the second method.
Can you use macros on any keyboard?
You can set up custom software macros on any keyboard. Software macros are those that are recorded or manually scripted in Windows with hotkeys that activate them.
However, some gaming keyboards have dedicated macro keys. Those are keyboards with an onboard macro recording that enables you to set up custom hardware macros without additional software.
Does Windows 11 have a macro recorder?
The Power Automate app included in Windows 11 is something like a macro recorder with which users can record flow tasks. However, its users can’t assign key combinations (hotkeys) to play flows.
Therefore, Power Automate is not something with which you can set up keyboard macros in Windows 11. However, you can set up keyboard macros in Windows 11 with any of the methods from the solutions above.
How do I automate tasks in Windows 11?
You can automate tasks in Windows 11 with the aforementioned Power Automate app or Task Scheduler. Task Scheduler is a utility with which you can set up scheduled tasks.
However, neither Power Automate nor Task Scheduler includes options for creating keyboard macros. You’ll need to apply the methods above or utilize macro-recording software to set up keyboard macros.
What are the best keyboard macros?
The best keyboard macro is whatever one you find to be most useful. However, many users may find keyboard macros that open multiple programs and websites to be especially handy.
Creating keyboard macros will enable you to automate routine and repetitive Windows tasks. AutoHotkey is a great scripting tool and TinyTask is a simple-to-utilize recording utility for creating keyboard macros.
There are also many other automation programs with which you can set up keyboard macros. Our best programs to automate PC tasks guide tells you about alternative Windows software for creating macros.
Check out our detailed free keyboard macro recorder guide for more software options that make automation easier on Windows.
So, have fun setting up keyboard macros in Windows 11. If you have any questions about setting up keyboard macros, feel free to add them in the comments box below.
If you own a dual-boot Windows 10 computer, then you most likely know that the latest OS versions automatically enable Fast Startup.
In other words, Windows 10 versions will turn on Fast Startup although you disabled the respective setting. There are two main implications of this fact:
The Windows 10 Fast Startup feature prevents you from mounting your NTFS partitions in Linux. This means that you’ll need to reboot from Windows into Ubuntu.
If one of the two partitions is set to automount in /etc/fstab, you will get random black or purple screens after rebooting from Windows to Ubuntu. In this case, you can’t really do anything else but hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
Dual-boot system users really hate Microsoft’s strategy, but somehow got accustomed to it since new Windows 10 versions do tend to overwrite previous user settings:
They’re enabling it after every feature update. Infuriating as hell if you rely on Wake on LAN as intel drivers still don’t proberly wake when in the fast startup state.
In the guide below we will show you the recommended method to disable the Fast Startup option.
How can I disable Windows 10 Fast Startup dual boot?
1. Go toStart> typecontrol panel> double click on the first result to launch the Control Panel app.
2. Go to the Search box > type power > select Power Options.
3. Go toChoose what the power buttons do.
4. Enter your administrator username and password if prompted. If not, go to the next step.
5. UncheckTurn on fast startup (recommended).
6. Save changes.
If you want to turn off Fast Startup on dual boot Windows 10 latest versions, you can use the Control Panel. It is a built-in tool which allows you to toggle Fast Startup on and off with a few clicks.
Setting up meetings or booking conference rooms aren’t necessarily activities you enjoy. Outlook has ways to handle this for you, so don’t hesitate to learn how to use Outlook Scheduling Assistant.
Let’s assume you’ve been tasked with planning a meeting with several attendees. You set up the meeting and send it out without having any way to make sure everyone can actually come. What happens next?
Instead of ending up with several responses telling you that either they are unavailable or would like to propose a new time, let the Scheduling Assistant do the heavy lifting.
How can I use Outlook Scheduling Assistant?
1. Plan a meeting
1. Open Outlook on your computer.
2. In Outlook, click on the Calendar section in the bottom left corner of the screen.
3. From theHome tab, at the top left of the screen, click on theNew Meeting icon.
4. SelectNew Meetingfrom the drop-down list.
5. A new window appears next. From the Meeting tab, click on Scheduling Assistant.
6. Now, it’s time to enter adescription of the meetingin theTitle text box.
7. In theRequired text box, enter theemail address of each attendee required to attend the meeting. In Outlook 2016 and 2013 instead, enter theattendeesin theTo fieldand theconference roomyou want to book under theResources field.
8. Then enter the Start and End times. From the Suggested Times list, you can choose the desired time or make adjustments to your time and date to find a time that works for everyone.
9. In theLocation text box, enter theaddressorroom number where the meeting will be held.
10. Up next, in theMessage area, enter anynotesyour attendees will need to know before the meeting such as anyspecial instructionsor theAgenda.
11. When you’re done setting up the meeting, clickSend.
Outlook Scheduling Assistant can be easily used to plan a meeting . You can set up the time, date, location and attendees, as well as create a special note to be sent to them.
When you send a meeting invitation in Outlook, the invitation includes a request for a response and gives the recipient the option to suggest a new time for the meeting.
2. Export the Outlook Scheduling Assistant to Excel
Open Outlook and go to File.
Go to Open & Import and the Import/Export wizard will open.
Select Export to a file.
Click Next to continue.
In the Export to a File dialog, select Comma Separated Values.
Then, click Next.
Now, select Calendar from Outlook Data File.
Click Next once more.
When the Export to a File dialog displays, click the Browse button. Here you can select the file’s destination.
Choose the destination where the file can be saved. Name the file and click OK to close the dialog.
When the Export to a File dialog displays again, hit Next to continue.
Then, click Finish to export your Outlook calendar.
Outlook exports the specified calendar as a CSV file. Open it with Microsoft Excel, and then save the file as a workbook.
If you’re looking for a way to share your Outlook Scheduling Assistant with others, you can export your calendar to Excel, and then import it into others’ Outlook calendar folder by following the above steps.
3. Set a time zone for a meeting or appointment
Note that when you create such new meetings or appointments, Outlook uses the default time zone in your Outlook preferences for Calendar. This doesn’t mean that you cannot specify a different time zone for an event as you are creating it.
To display the Time zone selector, on either the Organizer Meeting tab or the Appointment tab, click Time Zones. There, specify the precise time zone of the event.
If older versions for Outlook for Mac can display only two time zones, in the most recent version of Outlook for Mac for Office 365 and Outlook 2019 no less than three separate time zones can be displayed in the Calendar.
This article showed you how to use Outlook Scheduling Assistant, export it to Excel, and set the time zone for a meeting or appointment in Outlook. Easy, right?
Just remember that instructions apply to Outlook for Office 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, and Outlook 2013.
If you found this article useful, let us know in the comments section.
Windows 10’s Task Manager utility includes a Startup tab. That is Windows 10’s default startup manager with which users can disable startup software.
However, the Task Manager’s tab doesn’t include any options for users to add programs to the startup. So, some users might look for startup settings on software windows to add new programs to the system startup.
Yet, Windows 10 includes a Startup folder to which users can add programs and files. All software and programs within that folder will run automatically when Windows starts.
What is the Startup folder?
The Startup folder is an in-built Windows feature (first introduced in Windows 95) that allows users to set up those particular apps and programs that will automatically run when Windows starts.
The folder is buried within a series of subfolders and can be hard to find.
How can I manage the Windows 10 Startup folder?
Some users might wonder where is the Startup folder on their PC, how to open it and how to add or remove the software from it. In the text below you will find answers to all of these.
1. Open the Startup folder using File Explorer
For most users, the Startup folder is located at this address:
Users will need to replace USERNAME with their actual user account name, and then enter that path in File Explorer. That path will open the folder shown in the snapshot directly below.
2. Access the Startup Folder using Run
1. Press the Windows key + R hotkey to open the Run dialog.
2. To open the Admin User Startup folder, enter shell:startup in the text box.
3. To open the All Users Startup folder, enter shell:common startup in the text box.
4. Click OK to execute the command.
5. The Startup folder is now opened on your computer.
A quick and easy way to open the Startup folder on your PC is to use the built-in Run dialog. It works as a shortcut and all you need to do is input the appropriate command, then the folder will open.
With the Startup folder open in File Explorer, users can now add new program shortcuts to the system startup. In addition, users can also include file shortcuts within that folder.
Then the files the Startup folder includes will usually open with their default software. This is how users can add shortcuts to the Windows Startup folder.
Right-click an empty space within the Startup folder and select New > Shortcut.
Click the Browse button to open the window in the snapshot directly below.
Select a program or document to include in the startup, and press the OK button.
Press the Next button.
Then press the Finish button. The Startup folder will now include the selected software or file.
The software in the Startup folder will open after you’ve restarted Windows.
4. Remove Software From the Startup Folder
Users can remove programs in the Startup folder by deleting them. To do that, select a program in that folder and click the Delete button. That will probably erase the shortcut to the Recycle Bin.
Users can also press the Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut to select all shortcuts within the Startup folder. Then press File Explorer’s Delete button to erase them.
Task Manager’s Start-up tab in Windows 10 will also list the programs that users have added to the Startup folder.
Therefore, users can disable the programs with that utility by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting Task Manager.
Click the Start-up tab on that utility’s window. Then users can select the required program and click Disable.
Note: Task Manager doesn’t include a Start-up tab in Windows 7. However, Win 7 users can open the startup manager by entering msconfig in Run and clicking OK. Then select the Startup tab on the System Configuration window.
Windows 7 users can uncheck the item checkboxes on that tab to disable programs starting during startup. So, that’s how users can add new software and files to Windows’ Startup folder.
However, filling that folder up will slow down the system’s startup. Lots of startup software will also drain system resources. Therefore, don’t add too many things to the folder.
There you go, these solutions should help you manage the startup folder adequately. Let us know if you found them useful by hitting the comments section below.
There are multiple errors and issues that have been reported by PUBG players. One of which is the PUBG FPS drop problem. There are some reports that claim that the FPS drops when they are near their enemies, while some have reported facing PUBG FPS drop issues when they are changing weapons or items, etc.
It could be quite frustrating to experience an FPS drop and it’s usually connected to big server latency.
How do I fix PUBG FPS drops?
1. Check the game requirements
Before we go with the solutions, one by one, let us first check the minimum requirements that you need to have on your PC to play PUBG, because that is the first thing you should always check when you come across issues such as FPS drop, lag, or stuttering.
If you have a PC that meets either the minimum or recommended system requirements, or falls in between but are still experiencing the PUBG FPS drop issue, then you can now jump right into the solutions.
2. Check your internet connection
Starting off, since PUBG is a game that depends on your processor and a high-speed internet connection, you should make sure that your internet connection isn’t at fault while playing the game.
The choppy internet connection can force the game to throw up errors such as stuttering, lag, or FPS drops. You can make use of websites such as Fast.com or Speedtest in order to know about the current internet speed that you are getting.
In case the internet speed isn’t matching your data plan, you can get in touch with your ISP and get the issue resolved and then check if this fixes the issue or not.
3. Disable fullscreen optimization
Head to the PUBG installation folder in the Steam library.
Right-click TSLGame.exe and click Properties.
Switch to the compatibility tab, and uncheck the box for Disable fullscreen optimization.
Hit Apply.
Press OK.
You will notice that Fullscreen Optimizations is enabled by default. The main purpose of the Fullscreen Optimizations is to provide better gaming and app performance when you run them in fullscreen mode.
However, there are several user reports that fullscreen optimizations don’t always improve gaming and app performance and often are the main reason for FPS drop.
Follow the steps above and disable the fullscreen optimization and run the game. Now you can check if this fixes the FPS drop issue or not.
Press the Win + I buttons to open the Windows Settings menu.
Select System from the left side.
Click on the Display option on the right side.
Select Graphics.
Hit the Change default graphics settings.
Toggle on the Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling.
Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
Windows 11 is optimized for gaming, even better than Windows 10. It comes with multiple in-game settings that you can enable and take advantage of to experience better gaming performance.
Toggling on this in-built option has helped several users fix the FPS drop, stuttering, and lag problem associated with the PUBG game.
Quick tip:
Switching to a more performance-friendly browser can be a great option in this context. Opera GX is a gamer-dedicated browser that offers some great features, including CPU, RAM and Network limiters to give you an excellent gaming and browsing experience.
Not only that you can control your privacy and security thanks to its free integrated browser VPN, but you can also browse and load websites faster with the built-in ad blocker.
Opera GX
A version created for gamers to get the most out of both browsing and gaming experience.
Search for the command prompt and open it as an administrator.
Paste the below code and press Enter. powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
Open Control Panel.
Select Power Options.
You will see a new Ultimate performance mode option.
Turn it on and check if this fixes the issue or not.
Turning on the ultimate performance mode is a great solution for fixing FPS issues with games. Because this balances the processor and battery to churn out the best gaming performance out of your PC.
Although your battery might take a hit, you will hopefully not experience any lag or FPS drop with PUBG while playing.
7. Turn Game Mode on
Press the Win + I buttons to open Settings.
From the left-side select Gaming.
Turn off Xbox Game Bar.
Turn on Game Mode.
Turning the Game Mode on your PC forces it to optimize all the resources focused on gaming. If you play games on your PC or use high-end graphics intense software then it is recommended that you turn on this mode to have the best resources at your disposal.
8. Disable Firewall
Open the Start menu.
Search for Windows Defender Firewall and open it.
From the left side, click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off.
For both Private and Public network settings, select the option to Turn off Windows Defender Firewall.
Firewall or antivirus software can interfere with the network connection of your game. In such a case, you can disable the firewall or any other antivirus software and check if this fixes the issue or not.
We have shown the above steps for the inbuilt Windows Defender Firewall, but you get the idea and you can disable your third-party antivirus tool and check if this resolves the error or not.
You can also check out our dedicated guide that lists some of the best antivirus software that you can opt for on our Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC.
How do I increase my FPS in PUBG?
While the above solutions are not only sufficient to fix the FPS drop issue with PUBG, they can help you improve FPS within the game.
However, we would suggest a few of the in-game graphics settings that you can tweak and get the best FPS out of the game. You can change the settings as per your requirements, but on an optimal PC, the below-mentioned settings work great.
Render Scale: 120
FpsCameraFov: 80 (Turning this setting higher can impact FPS a lot. When you turn this setting up, you will see more enemies on your side.)
Overall Graphics Quality: LOW
Anti-Aliasing: ULTRA (Having issues with the edges of the game can also be troublesome for the game to produce the graphics optimally.)
Post-Processing: LOW (Turning this will lower the contrast of the game, but improves FPS.)
Shadows: LOW (Lowering this will turns your shadows a bit blocky but will improve FPS.)
Texture: HIGH (Turn this up to spot enemies more clearly.)
Effects: VERY LOW (Lowering the effects can lower the pressure on the graphics card to produce detailed effects of bullet hits, etc.)
Foliage: VERY LOW (This removes most of the grass and bushes, which are mainly the problems for the FPS issue.)
View Distance: LOW (This determines how far the graphics will render buildings. Setting it to low will help reduce processor usage and result in better FPS.)
Sharpen: DISABLED (
V-Sync: ENABLED
Motion Blur: DISABLED
How to fix other PUBG problems on PC?
FPS drop is not the only issue that you would come across in the PUBG game on your PC. Below are some of the most important issues that has been reported by users and fortunately, we have solutions for them.
That is it from us in this guide. We hope that one of the solutions helped you fix the PUBG FPS drop problem on your Windows 11 PC.
Do let us know in the comments below, which one of the below helped you fix the problem or if you applied a different solution altogether to resolve the issue.
Although Windows 10 is pretty fast, after using a while, it will start to lag, especially when you have many apps and desktop programs installed.
While uninstalling them would make it faster, this is not a good solution, so how could you improve performance in Windows 10?
The short answer is to disable these apps, so they won’t take up precious memory when booting your device.
Today I’ll show you how to close and disable apps in order to improve the performance of your Windows 10 device. It’s quite simple and it offers a visible improvement.
What subjects will we cover?
Your PC performance is rather important, and in this article, we’re going the cover the following topics:
Optimize, boost Windows 10performance – One of the easiest ways to optimize your PC performance is to disable the startup applications. Many third-party apps start automatically with your PC, and they can often negatively impact your performance.
Windows 10 unnecessary services – Windows uses various services in order to work properly, but certain services aren’t necessary. In this article, we’ll briefly mention a few services that you can easily disable.
Improve performance by disabling Windows services – Third-party services can interfere with your system and slow it down, but you can fix that issue simply by finding and disabling the problematic services.
Improve gaming, graphics performanceWindows 10 – Third-party apps can interfere with your gaming and graphics performance. If you’re having any problems, be sure to disable unnecessary apps and services by following the steps from our guide.
Improve, reduce startup time Windows 10 – Many third-party applications tend to start automatically with Windows. If you want to improve your startup time, you just have to find those applications and disable them.
Disable apps on startup Windows 10 – There are several different ways to disable startup apps, and in this article we’ll show you how to easily disable apps to improve your PC’s performance.
Disable unnecessary apps Windows 10 – Your PC can have various applications in startup, and those apps can cause your PC to slow down. However, you can fix this problem simply by disabling unnecessary applications.
How can I disable apps in Windows 10?
The process itself is pretty simple, all you need to know is what to disable and what to keep active. There are two methods by which you can do this.
While the first method I’ll be showing you is the simplest, it is not as thorough as the second one, but at the same time, it is easier and safer to do.
1. Press theCtrl + Shift + Esckeys at the same time to startTask Manager.
Alternatively, you can pressCtrl + Alt + Delkeys and selectTask Managerfrom the list of options.
2. Navigate to the Startup tab. A list of all startup applications will now appear.
3. Find the application you want to disable from starting with Windows and right click it.
4. Choose Disable from the menu.
5. Repeat this procedure for all the applications you want to disable.
This method was used in older versions of Windows to improve performance and it still works pretty good in Windows 10.
While until now you could disable apps on Windows 10 from the msconfig window, Microsoft moved the Startup option to Task Manager.
The Startup tab is rather useful for disabling applications because it shows you the startup impact of each application on your PC.
If you want to improve your startup time, it’s always good to disable apps that have a high startup impact on your PC. In most cases, almost all apps are safe to disable and by disabling them you won’t cause any problems with your PC.
Certain applications, such as Skype, for example, can have a medium impact on your PC, so they are usually okay to be left enabled.
Even though you can disable all startup applications, you probably shouldn’t permanently disable your antivirus from starting with your PC if you want to keep it safe.
If you’re looking for a tool that offers more control over your startup items, we recently covered some of the best tools to manage startup items, so be sure to check them out.
You can also disable apps and improve performance by disabling certain services. Many third-party apps have their own services, and in order to disable those apps from starting automatically, you just have to disable their services.
To see the active services you need to do the following:
Open the Win + X menu and select Computer Management from the list. You can open this menu by using Windows Key + X shortcut or by right-clicking your Start Button.
Select Services from the menu on the left.
If you want to quickly open the Services window you just need to press Windows Key + R and enter services.msc. Now press Enter or click OK.
Using the Services window to disable apps offers users more options, but it is also more dangerous to use and should be attempted only by those who know what they are doing.
Many of these services are used by Windows 10 for normal operations, so closing them might result in an unstable system.
In the Services window, you can see the description, status, and startup type of each service. Thanks to this information you can easily find a service that is running or automatically starting with your PC.
To stop a certain service, you just need to right-click it and choose Disable from the menu. Of course, it’s just as easy to enable any service.
Keep in mind that many services are starting automatically with your PC, and by stopping a service you’ll just end it for this session. Once you restart your PC, the service will be back and running.
By double clicking on a service, you open its Properties, and from the Startup Type drop-down menu, you can select what type you want it to be.
By doing so, you can easily prevent a service from starting with your PC and disable it completely.
However, you better search for what services are safe to disable or modify, so you don’t damage your device. Don’t overlook the description of each one which you should read before making any changes. Here’s a list of some you can modify if you want to try:
Local Services
Diagnostic Policy Service
Security Center
Print Spooler (Only disable this if you don’t have a printer)
Application Experience
Secondary Logon
Program Compatibility Assistant Service
Portable Device Enumerator Service
Offline Files
Remote Registry
Windows Error Reporting Service
Windows Image Acquisition
Windows Search (If you use Search frequently, leave this enabled)
Internet Services
Distributed Link Tracking Client
IP Helper
Computer Browser
Server (Disable this only if you are not connected to the Internet)
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper (Disable only if you are not part of a workgroup or if you don’t have Internet connectivity)
Windows Time (This service uses the Internet to sync your clock)
If you want to disable all third-party services instantly on your PC, you can do that from the configuration window. This is rather simple and you can do it by following these steps:
Press Windows Key + R and enter msconfig. Press Enter or click OK.
Now navigate to the Services tab. Check the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox and click on Disable all. Click on Apply and OK to save changes.
When the confirmation message appears, click on Restart.
By following this method you’ll disable all non-Microsoft services from starting. Of course, you can always uncheck individual services in order to prevent them from starting.
4. Close Background Apps
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Even if Microsoft is trying to promote leaving apps in hibernation mode when you exit them, it is still a good idea to close them from time to time.
I can attest to the fact that after leaving open about 15 apps, my Windows 10 computer started lagging. After I closed them, everything came back to normal.
In order to close apps, all you have to do is move your pointer to the left side of the screen and open the Last Used Apps panel. From here, you have to open the apps and move your pointer to the top of the screen until it looks like a hand.
When you click and drag the app, it will minimize to a window, just like when you add apps side by side. While keeping the app selected, drag it down to the bottom of the screen and release it.
This is how you close apps in Windows 10.
As you can see, disabling startup apps and improving performance on Windows 10 is rather simple. If you want to improve your startup performance, be sure to try some of the methods from this article.
Extracting your .rar files in Windows 10 can be a task that will take you no more than five minutes of your time but you will have to be aware of the software needed for you to be able to extract your files.
The software available for Windows 10 to extract your files can be free if you use a trial version, or you can buy the full version depending on your needs.
Usually, the best application suitable for Windows 10 is the WinRAR app, which you can buy from any available Windows Store, or you can download the WinZip application.
The guide below also covers some of the following topics as well:
Windows 10 RAR file extractor – All software mentioned in this article can extract RAR files in Windows 10.
Unpack RAR files in Windows 10 – Both WinZip and WinRAR can be used to unpack RAR files in Windows 10
How do I extract RAR files in Windows 10 without WinRAR?
1. Decide what software you will use
If you don’t want to use WinRar to extract files, you can use an alternative solution.
Despite the file format’s name and the fact that we associate RAR files by default with WinRAR, there are certainly better alternatives out there.
While WinRAR is indeed free to use, it is somewhat dated and hasn’t seemed to have evolved past the basic archiving and unzipping phase.
That being the case, and given this guide’s topic, here are two tools that can certainly handle RAR files just as better as WinRAR.
2. Use WinZip
There are plenty of tools out there that can handle archiving, and unzipping files, but few of them are reliable and error-free. As such, we’ve decided to recommend WinZip in the case at hand.
It is a modern file archiver and compressor that is very easy to use. This product offers unparalleled compression capabilities, allowing you to store data and files in a lossless manner at almost half the storage space as other file compression tools.
More so, it runs very fast when it comes to compressing and unzipping large amounts of data. All in all, if you want a tool that will extract RAR and ZIP files fast and efficiently, WinZip is the solution for you.
We will explain how you can use WinZip and get your files extracted in no time. Follow the tutorial below for detailed explanations on how to extract the .rar files in Windows 10.
1. Download and install Winzip.
2. Open the folder where you store your .rar file.
3. Right-click on the .rar file.
4. Hover your cursor over the WinZip option to open the menu.
5. Now, you will have a series of available options to choose from. For viewing the contents of the .rar folder you only have to double click (left click) on the folder.
6. Moreover, if you want to extract the files, you have multiple options at your disposal.
If you want to extract the .rar files to the location you have the .rar folder then you will need to left-click on the featureExtract Here.
If you want to extract the .rar files to your/Downloadsdirectory you only have to left-click on the featureExtract to Downloads.
If you want to extract the .rar file to a specific directory left click on theExtract files…and under theExtract to:feature select the directory you want to copy them to and then left-click on theOKbutton presented in the lower side of the screen.
Note: For viewing the contents of the .rar folder you only have to double click (left click) on the folder.
So now that you have your .rar file extracted, you can go ahead and carry out your work on the Windows 8 and Windows 10 device without any issue.
If you have any questions regarding the extraction of the .rar file, please write us below and we will see what we can do to help you further.
WinZip
Extract RAR files in a fast and efficient manner with the help of this professional compression and unzipping tool, now available at a discount price.
There are other alternatives to WinZip that you can use. For example, you can download Directory Opus, a very powerful file manager for Windows 10.
Many users believe that the best file managers should be versatile and powerful enough to handle any file management needs and requirements that users may have. However, not all file managers can handle archiving and unarchiving files.
Directory Opus brings many useful features and options to your computer and can easily replace WinRAR’s archiving functionality.
Some .rar files may be password protected. The good news is that you can extract them even if you forgot the password.
The easiest way to do that is to download and install a dedicated RAR password recovery tool, such as the RAR Password Genius developed by iSunShare Software.
This small, yet powerful password recovery utility can help you recover lost or forgotten passwords for RAR archives created by various file compression tools.
RAR Password Genius can recover complex passwords within minutes. The tool comes in two versions: a free version and a premium version. You can use the free version to recover passwords of up to three characters.
What to do if I get the access denied error?
Sometimes, even if you have the most reliable RAR extractor and you recovered your password, the error message Access denied occurs.
This issue may be triggered by access permission limitations, among other things. The good news is that you can fix that by taking ownership of the respective folder.
Right-click on the RAR folder > select Properties
Go to the Security tab > click on the Advanced button
Go to the Owner tab in Advanced Security Settings
Select Edit > choose the problematic user account from Change Owner. You may give everyone permission by adding everyone.
Click on Other users or groups > type Everyone in the field provided > hit OK.
Select User/Group > click Apply >OK.
Change the owner name > click OK > exit the Properties windows.
You have now taken ownership of the folder. Now you need to get permission to access it.
Right-click on the folder > select Properties
Select the Edit button > click OK
In the permission windows, select user/group or click Add to add other users
Under Allow > check Full Control to assign full access rights.
Click OK > confirm > exit Properties
There you go, we hope that this guide helped you extract your RAR files. If you’re interested in other file types, we have a guide on how to unzip files on Windows 11.
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to use the comments section below.
You’re no stranger to the immediate feelings of regret after sending a Slack message you shouldn’t have. Luckily, by default, all members can edit and delete Slack messages or thread replies.
If you ask us, changing your mind is not a mark of weakness or anything like that. It just happens to send a message and realize that you’ve done it by mistake.
Who can delete messages?
One of the best selling points of Slack remains its versatility. It enables users to delete a message they might have unintentionally sent.
Users can delete their messages one by one, in a manual process.
Workspace owners can also decide who can delete messages. It’s either everyone or only workspace owners and admins.
Assuming no changes have been made by them, follow the steps described here to make the sender’s remorse go away in an instant.
How can I delete Slack messages?
1. Delete a single Slack message
Open Slack in the desktop app.
Click the Sign in button on the upper-right corner of your screen, and sign in to any of your workspaces.
Click a direct message on the left panel.
Hover over the message you’d like to delete in the conversation.
Click the More actions icon.
Click Delete message.
To complete the procedure, finally, select Delete.
Note: If you don’t see the option to edit or delete a message, then contact an owner or admin for help.
2. Delete Slack messages in bulk without a third-party app
Open Slack‘s desktop app on your computer.
You may also open Slack in an Internet browser in case of not having the app.
Type slack.com in the address bar, and hit the ↵ Enter key on your keyboard.
Click the Sign in button on the upper-right corner of your screen.
Now, click the cog (top right).
Choose Additional options to bring up the archival menu.
Select Set the channel message retention policy.
Set Retain all messages for a specific number of days. For example, if you set a retention policy of one week, all messages in the channel or direct messages will be deleted after seven days.
Click Save.
Then, click Apply Settings.
If you are looking to delete multiple or all messages in a Slack conversation, we have a workaround for you. Although bulk deletion is not possible, you may configure the app to automatically delete all messages in a channel after a set period of days.
You’ll never see those 10k limit reached notifications again and that might just be music to your years.
4. Access the channel where you want to bulk delete messages from.
5. Click on the extension’s icon in the upper-right corner of your browser to enable it on the current page.
6. A pop-up window will open and you will be able to choose between Delete MY messages and Delete ALL USERS’ messages from the current channel.
In order to delete all users’ messages, you need to pay for a subscription, but deleting your own messages is free.
7. Make your selection and wait for the removal process to complete. It can take a while, based on how long is the message history on that channel.
If you are looking to perform a bulk deletion of your Slack messages in a conversation or channel, you can use Message deleter for Slack 2.0. It is a Google Chrome extension which you can add to your browser.
That’s it for now. Hope that you successfully followed the steps here and that deleting Slack messages is no longer a mystery. Just remember that you can never restore deleted messages in a chat, so proceed with care.
As for channel messages from bots created for your workspace, these ones can be deleted by workspace owners and admins only.
Are you looking to debloat Windows 11 to improve your computer performance? Among other solutions, you will learn how to use the iwr -useb https://git.io/debloat|iex command.
Debloating is an essential part of improving your computer’s performance. It allows you to get rid of any apps you may find unnecessary, intrusive, and wasteful for your resources.
How do I debloat Windows 11?
1. Use the debloat command in PowerShell
1. Press Windows key + X to open the Power Menu on your PC.
2. Select Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the list.
3. Run the following command: iwr https://git.io/debloat11|iex
4. Now in the Bloatware section, click on Customize blocklist which allows you to pick out specific apps that you will remove while leaving the rest intact.
The Windows debloater might give you the option to remove all bloatware. Avoid this option and opt to manually select what files to remove.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the removal process.
A great method to remove bloating on your Windows 11 is to use Powershell. It is a buit-in command line tool which allows you to manually remove all the unwanted apps and tools on your PC, including system apps.
2. Use traditional uninstall methods
Press Windows key + X and select Installed apps from the menu.
Go through the list and check which apps you won’t be using.
Click on the three dots next to the app that you want to remove. Select Uninstall.
Click on Uninstall to confirm.
Repeat the last two steps for all apps that you wish to remove.
Sometimes, your operating system will not let you uninstall some apps by greying out the Uninstall option.
These are known as system apps and they come with the OS.
If you have system apps that you would like to get rid of, consider the next option.
3. Use the Windows 11 debloater from GitHub
NOTE
Many reported that Windows Defender SmartScreen blocked this application from running on their PC, so you might encounter issues while starting it.
On your keyboard, click on the Windows + X keys to open the WinX menu.
Select the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option.
Copy and paste this command on your terminal DISM /Online /Get-ProvisionedAppxPackages | select-string Packagename
The script should show you all the installed packages on your Windows 11 computer.
Manually look through the list to see which apps you would like to remove.
Once you locate the app, highlight it and copy it by clicking on the Ctrl + C keys on your keyboard.
Copy this script, and be sure to use the name of the package you want to remove at the end. In our exmple we used Microsoft Zune Music, so be sure to replace it: DISM /Online /Remove-ProvisionedAppxPackage /PackageName:Microsoft.ZuneMusic_11.2204.25.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
Hit Enter to completely remove the app from your computer.
Using the debloat Windows 11 script is pretty simple, but you’ll need to repeat the process multiple times in order to remove all affected applications. You can also use the Chris Titus tool to achieve the same results.
So, this is how to debloat Windows 11 in just a few minutes. Your Windows 11 will likely come with a bunch of apps that you won’t find useful. What’s worse is that these apps will continually use limited resources, thus making your PC slower.
If you suspect that these issues are brought about by unnecessary apps on your computer, then consider using Windows 11 debloater software.
Also, it is always important to back up your data and to create a Windows 11 restore point before you debloat Windows 11 since this process can go wrong.
If you have another solution that worked for you, feel free to share it in the comment section.
Discord represents a popular VoIP application designed for the video gaming community and it comes with an overlay feature.
While some users may like the extra attributes it offers, some may prefer to disable the Discord overlay to keep it clean.
The Discord overlay feature enables the users to reach other users while playing a full-screen game and perform activities like sending messages, screenshots, and voice chats.
However, because the Discord overlay might be flickering, people are interested in finding solutions to get rid of it. Fortunately, you can disable it for all the games as well as for individual titles.
In this article, we take a look at how to disable Discord overlay entirely and for individual games in Windows 10.
Why would I want to disable the Discord overlay?
This app’s overlay allows you to make voice calls, respond to text chat notifications, and interact with the Discord interface at a greater level than you normally would be able to, whilst still in-game.
Of course, it seems like this isn’t for everyone. Some users can find this feature distracting or immersion-breaking.
If you’re playing a solo game, you do not need the in-game overlay. It will be rather pointless and inconvenient for non-multiplayer games.
Fortunately, Discord’s overlay can be both enabled or disabled with ease. Keep in mind that this can be done either for all games or a few selected games.
That being said, let’s see the options you have to disable the Discord overlay in Windows 10.
How do I turn off Discord overlay in Windows?
1. Disable the overlay for all games
1. Hit the Windows key or press the Start button on your taskbar to open the search box.
2. Type Discord, then click on the first result to open the app.
3. Click the User Settings icon (the gear icon set in the left bottom of the window).
4. Select Game overlay.
5. Toggle the switch to disable the Enable in-game overlay option.
6. Launch any game and check if the Discord overlays are disabled.
If you are bothered by the Discord overlay and want to remove it altogether so that you do not encounter it again in any game, you can do this through the app’s Settings. You can toggle the overlay on and off and the setting will apply to all the games you play.
Disabling the in-game overlay option will turn off the overlay from all games. However, if you only want to disable Discord overlay for a particular game, follow the next set of steps.
Hit the Windows key, type Discord, then open the first result.
Click on the User settings icon (gear icon) next to your profile name.
From the left pane, select again Game overlay.
Make sure the Enable in-game overlay option is turned on.
Open the Activity Status tab.
A list of all the games that are installed on your computer will appear. If the games are not visible, click on Add it.
Choose all the games that you want to enable Discord overlay for.
By default, the overlay is disabled for games.
Click the Overlay icon to enable Discord overlay for that game.
Instead of disabling the overlay feature completely, you can disable and enable the overlay for certain games. This way you can have overlays available for the games where it is useful.
Furthermore, you can also customize the position of overlay or hide them until you want to use them.
What are the most common errors for Discord’s overlay?
Like any other attribute or feature, the Discord overlay can get you into several troubles. Even if this is a great characteristic, it can generate problems if you decide to enable it back.
Discord overlay 404 – Some games are experiencing a Discord 404 error when booting up and this is caused by an in-game overlay glitch on the apps’ end. Remember that the known games on which this was happening ranged from Fortnite to Call of Duty with no apparent similarities.
Discord overlay not working at all – known as Discord overlay not working. The only reason why some people are trying hard to fix this problem is that it restricts users to communicate with their friends during their gaming sessions.
Discord overlay affects FPS – You should also know that Discord overlay may have an impact on FPS as the FPS drops heavily so it’s best to disable Discord overlay.
Discord overlay flickering – A flicker is the appearance of flashing or unsteadiness in an image on a display screen. This particular error can occur when the video refresh rate is too low, other video-related issues, and in some cases hardware issues with the monitor.
By following the steps in this article, you can customize or completely disable Discord overlay in Windows.
Which of the Discord overlay feature do you like the most? Let us know in the comments.
Microsoft just announced that it will be hosting a new digital event for defenders against Ransomware.
On September 15, 2022, Microsoft’s digital event cleverly dubbed Stop Ransomware with Microsoft Security, will be gathering for anyone in charge of or tasked with keep users safe from Ransomware attacks while also a chance for the company to showcase two new security solutions intended to help offer a comprehensive look at present and upcoming security threats.
Executive vp of Microsoft Security Charlie Bell and corporate vp of Security, Compliance, Identity, and Privacy Business Vasu Jakkal will walk attendees through how to stay ahead of Ransomware with proactive approaches as well as introduce Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management.
The way Defender Threat Intelligence is described by Microsoft as a solution that analyzes signals from across the internet that’s leverage machine learning algorithms to produce insights “relevant to your organization.”
As for Defender External Attack Surface Management, users can locate unknown, unmanaged resources that happen to be visible from access points connected to the internet, essentially giving them the same street view as potential attackers.
Aside from demos and walkthroughs of Microsoft’s latest security solutions, attendees will also have an opportunity to join the following sessions to better equip themselves with the security knowledge to protect their organization data:
Ransomware, threat intelligence, and the state of security: Join Vasu Jakkal and Charlie Bell as they discuss the Microsoft approach to security, including what analysts are seeing in the threat landscape and how threat intelligence can help organizations prepare for the worst.
Unmask adversaries with Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence: Threat intelligence is the foundation of effective cybersecurity. As threats like ransomware increase in sophistication, it becomes even more critical to understand adversaries and their infrastructure. Learn how threat intelligence can enhance incident response and give your business the insights you need to stay ahead of threats.
Locate and secure your external attack surface: The external attack surface is constantly changing, and unknown, unsecured resources may fall outside your security coverage. Learn how to view your organization from the outside in—the same way an attacker does—and not only locate unmanaged assets but also protect them.
Threat intelligence is the cornerstone of solid security: Explore common use cases for threat intelligence and discover real-world applications to learn how you can enhance your existing security solutions and stop ransomware in its tracks.
Registration is open now and seemingly available for anyone who would like to join.
Minecraft Dungeons is a dungeon crawler game developed by Mojang Studios and Double Eleven and published by Xbox Game Studios.
It is an action-adventure role-playing game that is a perfect treat for a Minecraft fan looking for a new challenge. The game supports up to four players and features different types of weapons, items, and mobs.
Unlike other editions of Minecraft, you cannot mine or build in Minecraft Dungeons because the main focus of the game is an action-adventure. You have to select a hero at the beginning of the game, complete levels, and defeat enemies in Minecraft style.
There are multiple user reports that claim that for them the Minecraft Dungeons game is stuttering or is playable at very low FPS. For some, the game is unplayable because of the problem.
If you are also experiencing the same issues of stuttering and low fps with Minecraft Dungeons and are looking for solutions then you are in the right place.
Because in this guide, we will give you 5 quick fixes that can help you resolve the Minecraft Dungeons low fps issue. Let us get right into it.
Why is my Minecraft Dungeons so low on FPS?
Now the Minecraft Dungeons’ low FPS or stuttering issue can be because of many different reasons.
Here are a few of the common reasons why you are getting low FPS with the Minecraft Dungeons game:
Your PC does not meet the minimum requirements
Minecraft isn’t using the dedicated GPU on your PC
Your graphics driver isn’t up to date
The in-game settings is maxed out
The V-Sync is disabled
There is a RAM allocation issue
The Minecraft game itself has some problems
The cache data is causing problems
Your internet connection is jumpy
These are the most common reasons behind the low FPS issue with the Minecraft Dungeons game. Moreover, these issues are also common for other games as well.
So, if you are experiencing low FPS issues with other games, you can try the above fixes and hopefully fix the problem.
How do I fix low FPS on Minecraft Dungeons?
1. Update the graphics driver
Open the Start menu.
Search for Device Manager.
Expand the Display adapters section.
Right-click on your graphics driver.
Choose the Update driver option.
Select the first option to Search automatically for updated driver software.
If a new update is available, your system will install it right away.
You have the option to update your graphics driver on your PC this manually way. However, there are downsides to this that you have to periodically go through the exact steps to check if a new update is available, in case you haven’t turned on optional updates for your PC.
On the other hand, you can take the help of a recommended third-party software called Outbyte Driver Updater. Using Outbyte Driver Updater, you can install all the latest updates to the drivers on your PC with just a single click.
Not only does it keep your drivers up to date, but it also helps prevent lag, system errors, or even BSoDs and other Windows errors.
Outbyte Driver Updater
Use this simple and user-friendly software that monitors your PC for missing and outdated drivers and lets you easily repair and update them.
Often the low FPS issues arise when there is a discrepancy between the monitor and the graphics card. Thankfully, this can be easily fixed by enabling the V-Sync option within the game.
4. Update Minecraft Dungeons
PlayStation:
Select the game.
Click Options.
Click Check for Update.
Windows:
Open Microsoft Store.
Click the three dots in the top right corner.
Click Downloads and updates.
Click Get updates.
Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One:
Go to My Apps & Games.
Head to Minecraft Dungeons.
Press the Menu button on the Xbox controller.
Select Manage game & add-ons.
Click Updates.
Often the version of the game that you are playing itself comes with some bugs and glitches that trigger multiple errors.
So, it is very important that you are running the latest version of the game, as it not only brings the latest features but also fixes all the bugs that you might experience such as the low FPS issues with Minecraft Dungeons.
5. Allocate more RAM
Launch the Minecraft Client.
Head to the Installations tab from the top.
Select Minecraft Dungeons from the left side.
Click on the 3-dot icon next to Minecraft Dungeons game on the right side.
Select Edit from the drop-down.
Click on MORE OPTIONS.
Under the JVM ARGUMENTS, you will find a line of text.
Change the amount of RAM that Minecraft Dungeon can use after Xmx. For example, Xmx4G means Minecraft Dungeons will use 4GB of RAM.
Click Save and check if this fixes the low FPS issue or not.
How do you get better FPS in Minecraft Dungeons?
Here are some of the best in-game display and graphics settings that you can apply to get better FPS with Minecraft Dungeons.
General Settings
Display Mode: Fullscreen
Resolution: Select a bit lower than your actual resolution of the screen.
Graphics: Fastest
Advanced Settings
FPS Limit: Max
FPS Counter: ON
V-Sync: Enabled
Ambient Occulsion: OFF
Anti-Aliasing Quality: OFF
Shadow Quality: OFF
Particles: Low
Bloom: OFF
Does allocating more RAM increase FPS Minecraft?
No, but sometimes yes. There are instances where when you allocate more RAM to Minecraft, the gameplay becomes smoother as it increases the FPS.
Do note that Game require certain amount of memory to run, and if you are providing more than required then it will have more RAM to properly execute all files.
However, many times allocating dedicated RAM to Minecraft won’t help increase FPS. You can try out upping your PC’s configuration, especially GPU, to increase the FPS though.
That is it from us in this guide. We hope that this guide helped you fix the Minecraft Dungeons low FPS issue. Let us know in the comments which of the quick fixes resolved the problem for you.
If you’re looking for Windows strikethrough shortcuts, you’ve come to the right place.
What does strikethrough mean? Strikethrough is a representation of words with a horizontal line through the center. Here is an example of how this process looks after applying: strikethrough.
When used on a typed text such as Google Docs on a computer or mobile device screen, for instance, striking through text might be used to show text that has been deleted recently.
How do you strike through text? Different word editors have various ways through which you can strike through text. You can also use shortcut software to change the mapping of your keyboard keys.
You need to ensure that your content has meaning and is stricken through the correct text. Let us learn about the keyboard shortcuts for striking through text in different editors.
What is the keyboard shortcut for strikethrough?
1. For Google Docs
Sign in to your Google account. If you do not have one, you can sign up for free.
Launch Google Drive and click on the New button on the top left side of the screen. Next, select Google Docs to open a new document.
You can open an existing document if you have one. If not, you can start typing your content on the new document above.
If you have an Excel sheet that you want to edit, open it. If not, open a new Excel sheet.
Add content to your Excel sheet.
To strikethrough a particular cell, select that cell and press CTRL + 5.
If you want to strike through multiple cells, select all of them and press CTRL + 5.
To strike through part of a text in a cell, select that text and press CTRL + 5.
3. For Word
1. Launch Microsoft Word on your computer.
2. If you have a word document that you want to edit, open it. If not, open a new one. To do this, click on New, then on Blank Document.
3. Add content to your word document and select the text you want to strikethrough. This can be a single word, a sentence, or a paragraph.
4. Press Alt + H + 4 at the same time on your keyboard.
5. The selected text will now have the strikethrough symbol on it.
If you want to strikethrough text in Microsoft Word, you can do this using a keyboard shortcut. All you need to do is to select the text you want to strikethrough and then use the shortcut to insert the symbol on it.
Compose an email and then select or highlight the text you want to strikethrough.
Unfortunately, we will have to add strikethrough via the formatting dialog. First, click on the email body and press CTRL + D. This opens a font dialog box.
Select the checkbox next to strikethrough. This shows you what your text will look like. Click the OK button.
5. In OneNote
Launch OneNote on your machine.
Open if you have an existing OneNote document that you want to edit. If not, open a new one.
Add content to your OneNote document.
Select the text you want to strikethrough.
Press CTRL + Hyphen (-) simultaneously for the OneNote strikethrough shortcut.
6. For Sticky Notes
Launch Sticky Notes on your machine.
Add content to your sticky notes. You can open existing sticky notes if you have any.
Select the text that you want to strike through.
Press CTRL + T.
7. On Mac Notes
Navigate to System Prefs > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts.
Click the + sign at the bottom, select the Notes app from the list of apps, the name of the command you want to add (Strikethrough in this case), and then add the key combination. We will use SHIFT + COMMAND + X. Click the Add button.
After that, launch Mac Notes and use this shortcut when adding strikethrough to text.
Can you cross out text on social media?
Since you can striketh through text on most word editors, it would make sense if you found yourself in a situation where you would like to cross out text on social networks.
Unfortunately, social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook do not come with a way through which you can cross out text. However, you can use tools such as the Strikethrough Text Generator.
All you need to do is paste the text you want to cross out on this tool, cross it out, and then copy it again and paste it into your social media account. You will have applied strikethrough formatting.
Crossing out text on Discord is, however, easier. You need to add two tilde keys (~) at the beginning and the end of the text that you want to strikethrough. An example would be ~~This is a crossed-out text in Discord~~. On Whatsapp, you add a single tilde key (~) at the beginning and end of the text you want to cross out. For example, ~This is a crossed-out text in WhatsApp~.
As you can see, different word editors have different ways of crossing out text. Moreover, apart from the keyboard shortcuts, some of them come with buttons and editor dialogs for those who do not know about the shortcuts.
We hope that you managed to use the strikethrough shortcuts presented in our article. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments section below.
eBooks are a great form of entertainment and education with Amazon Kindle being the king of online reading. Kindle is by far the largest and most well-known digital book service on the internet. The service has tons of cheap and free books across tons of different genres.
If you don’t want to like or want to use Kindle, there are a lot of eReaders online that you can use instead. The majority of them are free, but there are some with a paid version that adds new features.
As good as Kindle maybe, you can only use ebooks from that service on Amazon allowed devices.
Kindle formats its books on Amazon’s format like AZW and MOBI so they cannot be directly read on an iPad, Book, Sony Reader, or any other device besides a proper Kindle. However, there’s a way around this issue.
Why should I convert a Kindle book to ePub?
Essentially, it comes down to consumer freedom. You are not allowed to use your preferred device because the company won’t allow you.
Purchased Kindle books are protected by Amazon’s DRM or Digital Rights Management, which ensures that those files can’t be used elsewhere.
There are tons of free books out there, but the best ones usually have to be purchased. Lately, Amazon’s DRM is tougher than ever before so this guide will aim to show you the best ways to convert your Kindle book to the ePub format. You can also bulk convert ebooks.
The ePub format is the more widely accepted and supported format for eReaders. With this, you’ll be able to read your book however you want on whatever app you choose.
The guide will show you how to do the reverse: converting ePub files to AZW files so they can run on Kindle devices.
How can I convert Kindle to ePub format?
1. Use Epubor Ultimate
1. Download Epubor Ultimate from their official website.
2. Open your downloads folder and search for the Epubor Ultimate installer.
3. Double-click the file to begin the installation.
4. Follow the installation wizard.
5. Once down, close the final page. Epubor Ultimate will launch automatically.
6. When the Epubor Ultimate’s window appears, click on the Kindletab on the left hand side.
7. You will find the ebooks that you downloaded on Kindle in that list.
8. If you don’t see the ebooks, click on Add.
9. Locate the ebook that you want to add. Click it and select Open.
10. Select the book you want to convert and click double-click it.
11. Epubor Ultimate will begin to remove the DRM and place the book on the right hand side.
12. After you’ve chosen the books you want to convert, select Convert to EPUB.
13. Your Kindle ebooks will be in the Epub format. The word “Succeeded” will appear if it was a successful conversion.
14. You can view the converted ebooks by clicking on the Folder icon in the bottom right hand corner.
15. In the folder, the converted books will be highlighted.
The best and safest method to convert Kindle ebooks to an ePub format is to use the Epubor Ultimate app. The files are carefully converted, so that they look the same on the ePub format as they did in the Kindle one.
NOTE
Epubor Ultimate cannot convert Kindle ebooks if they are downloaded from the Kindle desktop version 1.25 or above. The majority of the time, there should be no problem, but if there is, you will need to downgrade.
2. Downgrade Kindle for Epubor Ultimate
Start by searching for your Kindle app in the Windows 11 search bar.
Click it to launch it.
In the Kindle app, click Tools on top.
Select Options in the drop down menu.
The Options window will appear. Select Registration on the left hand side.
Click on Deregister.
A small window will appear. Tick the box next to I understand that registering will cause all content I have downloaded from the Kindle Store be removed from this device.
Then click Deregister.
Uninstall Kindle for PC by going to the Windows 11 search bar and searching for the app.
When finished installing, click Finish to launch the app.
On the main screen, select Add books on the top tool bar.
Select the book you want to add and click Open.
Click a book you want to convert and select Convert books on the top tool bar.
The conversion window pops up. Ensure that in the top left hand corner the input format reads as AZW, which is Amazon’s own format.
In the conversion window, you can change the metadata as well as change the design and structure of the ebook.
Once done, select OK at the right hand bottom corner.
Once done, select Click to open to see where the files are located.
In this picture, you can see the newly converted Kindle ebook that was made in Calibre.
Are there any Windows 11 news or apps that I should be aware of?
There are several things you should be aware of. If you’re an artist or an aspiring one, you may be interested to learn about the variety of drawing apps on Windows 11. You need to be aware of what kind of app you want first.
It’s not as simple as picking out a random one. Ask yourself if you want to draw casually, draw comics, create pixelated art, or do some light sketching.
Each one has its own sets of tools that come unique to it, Krita is a great one for amateur artists.
You also may be interested to learn about how to install Windows 11 on an unsupported processor. Microsoft made the OS have a strict and high CPU limit that without it you won’t be able to use the system. Fortunately, there is a workaround and it’s easy to do.
We hope that you managed to convert the files to your liking. Let us know in the comments section below if you have any questions.
Microsoft’s Windows 11’s Snap layouts feature and others as well, capture everyone’s attention these days. Since it is designed to improve your PC experience and the way you communicate with others.
The OS comes with dynamic and powerful elements that support your work. Windows 11 packs some interesting features that will make all the difference and a new design that. Among other elements, introduces a taskbar with the Start menu in the center.
In this regard, you’ll benefit from a multitasking feature called Snap layouts. Whereby users who have larger monitors will be able to split them in various ways and organize them as they please.
Firstly, Snap layouts is a feature that helps you arrange the windows on your screen in the best possible way, to help you multitask.
Basically, after you activate the function by using our guide below, when you hover over the maximize icon of any window, you will see multiple options to position it in your layout.
Moreover, the term snap refers to the fact that the window will immediately position itself in the designated spot.
Once you have created these window arrangements with Snap layouts, you can save them in Snap groups. Which will be accessible on the taskbar and which you can access later.
How to use Snap layouts on my Windows 11 PC?
1. Enable Snap Layouts using a keyboard shortcut
1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard or the Start button on the taskbar.
2. Type settings in the search box that opens and click on the result to open the Settings app.
3. Select the Systemcategory, and click on the Multitaskingtab.
4. Toggle the Snap windows button to On. Then check the box next to the Show snap layouts when I hover over a window’s maximize button option.
5. Open the app or program you want to use the tool on and use the shortcut:Windowskey +Z. It will trigger the Snap Layouts option for the current window.
Another method to open the tool is to hover over the maximizebutton of any window, and the snapping option will show up in the corner.
6. Choose from different layout options to arrange your current page with other apps.
The fastest way to use Snap layouts on your Windows 11 is to use a keyboard shortcut. Snap layouts should be enabled by default on most computers, but on some you need to manually enable it.
NOTE
You can choose the layout depending on the width of your display. For a 16:9, 16:10, and 3:2 display you will see a set of 4 layout options, and for wider displays, you will see a set of 6 layout options.
It’s also worth mentioning that Microsoft has announced to users that older monitors with a resolution lower than 1920 pixels cannot fully benefit from this powerful feature.
Furthermore, given the system requirements and specifications of the new Windows 11, we find that a 1080p HD widescreen resolution is required. In order to enjoy the standard look offered by the Snap layouts feature.
First, hover over the maximize icon on the window you want to have to the left and choose the left column in the graphical options that appear (there are 3 custom Windows 11 Snap layouts options for vertical snapping: 2 columns, 3 identical columns, and 3 asymmetrical columns).
Now hover over to the maximize icon of the second window and select the second column from the right.
The two windows will snap vertically. And you will be able to change their width by dragging your mouse from the window’s edge from the middle to each side.
If you choose any of the other vertical layouts, you will just need to select the proper setting for each of the windows in your arrangement. But, as you can see, it’s very simple to do so.
3. Use Snap layouts with virtual desktops
Click on the virtual desktops icon on the taskbar and select the New desktop tab.
Now you can select the new desktop by clicking again on the virtual desktops icon and selecting the new desktop you just created.
Now you can just create a new snap layout just like you’ve seen on the previous solution. We’ve created a random one for you, just so you can see the possibilities.
If you want, now you can toggle between the desktops you’ve created by either clicking on the virtual desktops icon and selecting the one you need or by pressing the Ctrl + Windows + Left or Right.
How to use Snap layouts in Windows 10?
Snapping windows in Windows 10 is not as elegant and straightforward as it is in Windows 11. But you can still do the job with a few additional moves.
Click the Task view option from the taskbar and select New desktop.
Select the Task view icon again and select the second desktop.
Now open a window that you want to snap and press the Windows + Left or Windows + Right to snap the window vertically to the left or right. As you can see from our screenshot, it perfectly snapped to the left, covering half of the desktop.
You can also take the window with your mouse from its title bar and release it close to one edge and it will snap automatically to that edge.
Of course, you can adjust the window dimensions manually, with your mouse, by grabbing an edge with your mouse.
Quick tips on using Snap layouts in Windows 11
Here are some of the most interesting ways of using Snap layouts and groups to improve your multitasking:
➡ Divide work and fun
Note that it’s very important to separate the work-related apps and tabs from the non-work-related ones. And the motive is pretty obvious.
Snap layouts and groups can help you easily do that by grouping the apps and windows in a specific layout. And this is especially useful if you also use the multiple desktop feature from Windows 11.
➡ Looking for flights
We all know how difficult it is to look for more convenient flights and routes looking on multiple websites and apps. Going from one to another can be painstaking.
With Snap layouts, you could just snap up to 4 of them in a window. Then check them easily, without going back and forth to each one.
➡Confronting technical specifications
If you’re planning to buy a product, let’s say, the right Windows 11 compatible laptop, you’re going to check out all the technical specifications for each one, right?
With Snap layouts, you can start 3 browser windows. Snap them in the three-column layout and scroll them down on the same website to spot the differences immediately.
We hope our guide helped you enable the Snap layouts feature. And that our tips gave you some ideas on how to use it. You can finally start creating layouts to your liking, save and access them later in Snap groups.
Whether you’re not used to the new format or it’s a matter of aesthetics, the choice is always yours. If you have any questions or suggestions, please visit the comments section below and drop us a line.
GPT disks have advantages over MBR, and this is why many want to know how to convert MBR to GPT without data loss.
This is relatively simple to do, and today we’re going to show you the best ways to do that.
How do I convert MBR to GPT without losing data?
1. Use MBR2GPT
Navigate to Advanced Startup. To do that, simply open the Start Menu, press the Power button, hold the Shift key, and click on Restart.
Now you’ll see a list of options. Go to Troubleshoot and choose Advanced options. Lastly, select Command Prompt. Now select your user account and enter your password if required.
When the Command Prompt starts, run mbr2gpt /validate
If everything is in order and you didn’t get any errors, run mbr2gpt /convert
According to users, you can use this tool inside the Windows environment, but that’s not recommended since you can encounter various problems. You can do that by starting Command Prompt as administrator and running the following commands:
Extract the software, and start it as administrator. If that doesn’t work, start Command Prompt as administrator, move to the extraction directory, and start the software.
Run the following commands: gptgen.exe \\. \\ physicaldrive1 gptgen.exe -w \\. \\physicaldrive1
NOTE
For this method to work, you need to use diskpart to find the number of your drive for step 3.
This is an advanced solution, and not the most reliable, so it should be used only as a last resort.
How to convert MBR to GPT without an operating system?
You can do that by booting from an installation media, starting Command Prompt, and then running the mbr2gpt command as described in Solution 1.
Does converting MBR to GPT erase Windows?
Depending on the methods used, converting MBR to GPT doesn’t erase Windows. Methods from this guide won’t affect your files or Windows installation at all.
Should I convert MBR to GPT?
In most cases, yes. MBR can handle up to 2TB disks in size and supports up to four primary partitions. GPT doesn’t have these limitations. However, GPT system drives don’t work with 32-bit operating systems and without UEFI.
If you’re on a modern PC and a 64-bit version of Windows, GPT is always a better choice. To learn more about the differences, we have a guide that explains if Windows 11 can run on MBR partition, so don’t miss it. Our latest MBR vs GPT guide can give you more insight, so feel free to check it out as well.
We showed you several methods to convert your MBR disk to GPT without data loss, so feel free to try any of them. If you can’t convert disk to GPT, we have a great guide that will address that.
Keep in mind that some methods will remove all your files from the hard drive, so choose carefully.
If you are unsure how to delete a domain profile in Windows 11, then you have come to the right place. Because in this guide, we will share with you some of the best and safest ways to delete a domain profile in Windows 11.
User accounts are used by people to authenticate and access resources on a PC. Each user has a user account that is customized the way they want their PCs to be.
There are several instances where you may want to share your programs or documents with someone. Local accounts are stored on the computers, whereas the domain accounts or profiles are saved in Active Directory.
With a domain profile, you can configure the system to access the system and services that are part of the domain.
In this guide, we will learn about how you can delete a domain profile in Windows 11, and want are the effects of removing a domain profile from your PC are. Let us get right into it.
What happens when you remove the computer from the domain?
When you remove the computer from the domain or Active Directory, then it completely disables the domain account of your PC.
This means removing a computer from the domain removes it from the network. Moreover, the computer’s files and settings will also be erased.
The computer will no longer be able to connect to the network. Any files or folders that were shared with the computer will no longer be available.
How do I delete a domain profile?
1. Use the Settings app
Press the Win + I buttons to open Settings.
From the left side, select Accounts.
Click on Family & other users on the right side.
Locate the domain profile you wish to remove under the Other users section.
Click on the Remove button to remove it.
2. Use Control Panel
Open the Start menu.
Search for Control Panel and open it.
Click on User Accounts.
Click on Remove user accounts.
It will show you a list of accounts.
Select the account that you wish to remove.
Hit the Delete the account button.
You can choose to either keep or delete the files.
Click on Delete Account.
3. Use netplwiz
Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialogue.
Type netplwiz and hit Enter.
It will open the User Accounts window.
Select the account that you wish to remove.
Hit the Remove button.
In the next pop-up that appears, select Yes to confirm the deletion.
Right-click on the domain profile your wish to remove from Windows 11.
From the contextual menu, select Delete.
5. Use Command Prompt
Open the Start menu.
Search for Command Prompt and open it as an administrator.
Type the below command and hit Enter. net user “username” /delete You need to replace the username with the actual username of the domain profile you wish to remove.
The account will be immediately removed from your PC.
6. Use PowerShell
Open the Start menu.
Search for PowerShell and open it.
Type the below command and press Enter. Remove-LocalUser -Name “username” You need to replace the username with the username of the domain profile you wish to remove from your Windows 11 PC.
The account will be removed from your PC.
How do I rejoin a computer to a domain?
A domain-based network provides the option to centralize the administration of the entire network using a single computer.
Domains allow a computer to log on to any network computer within the network perimeter. Users also get to access permissible resources.
In order to join a domain, you need to have the below details:
A Windows 11 PC running Professional, Enterprise, or Education
A suitable account on an Active Directory domain having a username and password
The device is connected to the same network as the domain with access to the domain controller
Now that you have all the information mentioned above, you are all set to join your computer to a domain. Below are the steps that you need to join a Windows 10 or 11 PC to a domain:
Open the Start menu.
Search for Settings and open it.
On the left side, click on Accounts.
Click on Access work or school.
Next to Add a work or school account, click Connect.
Click on the Join this device to a local Active Directory domain option.
In the next prompt, type the domain name.
Click Next.
Joining the device to the domain requires you to enter the credentials that your network admin has provided you if any.
In the next Add an account, click Skip.
Your account will get set up in the Active Directory.
Restart your PC.
In the login screen, enter the domain account credentials to access it.
After you have logged in, head to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school again. Here you can check if you have connected to the domain or not.
Following the above steps, you can easily connect your computer to a domain. Notably, these steps are for Windows 11 PC, and it may vary if you are using Windows 10 or a lower version.
How to leave a domain in Windows 11?
Open the Settings window.
Select Accounts from the left side.
Click on Access work or school.
Click on the drop-down arrow for Add a work or school account.
Hit the Disconnect button.
You will be asked to confirm the action.
Press Yes, then Disconnect.
Restart the PC.
If you have followed the above steps carefully, then you will be able to join a domain on your Windows 11 PC in no time. And the steps to leave a domain are also clearly mentioned, so you don’t have to look for the process elsewhere.
Delete domain profile Windows 10/11 greyed out?
You will find multiple search queries where Windows 11 and 10 users have reported that the option to delete the domain profile is greyed out for them.
This is a bit serious because it does not allow you to remove the domain profile from your computer. If you are also experiencing the same issue, we have a solution that will help you delete the domain profile.
It is also one of the ways via which you can delete the domain profile apart from the 6 methods that we have mentioned above. So, consider this as the seventh solution to delete a domain profile from your Windows 10 or 11 PC.
NOTE
This solution contains steps that describe how to modify the registry. Serious problems can occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. So, we would advise you to follow these steps carefully. You can back up the registry before modifying it and move ahead with the solution only if you are okay with it.
Open the Start menu.
Type regedit and open the Registry Editor.
Navigate to the following registry subkey. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
In the navigation pane, find the folder that starts with S-1-5 (SID key) followed by a long number.
You need to click each S-1-5 folder.
Now find the ProfileImagePath entry in the details pane.
Double-click to make sure this is the user account profile that has an error for which the domain profile delete option isn’t visible.
Right-click the SID you want to remove.
Click Delete.
This is a solution that has been advised by one of the independent advisors and has helped users resolve the delete button greyed out while deleting a domain profile issue.
That is it from us in this guide. We hope that you were able to safely remove the domain profile from your Windows 11 PC, using the seven methods mentioned above.
Let us know in the comments below which one of the above solutions is the one you went ahead to delete the domain profile.
Windows includes the User Account Control (UAC) that notifies you when a program or setting is about to make administrator changes to your PC. This feature is accompanied by a prompt that reads: Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?
This prompt serves as a protection medium to keep it in check. It also allows you to control whether the program will be able to make the change. However, some users are complaining of getting this prompt unnecessarily and sometimes with no option to accept it.
If you keep getting the message unnecessarily, you can disable UAC, among other fixes in the next section of this guide.
How do I fix Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device message?
1. Disable the UAC dialog box via User Account Control Settings
1. Press the Windows key, type control, and select Control Panel.
2. Select User Accounts from the list.
3. Now, click the User Accounts option.
4. Go to Change User Account Control settings.
5. Now drag the bar slider toNever notify.
6. Press theOKbutton to apply the selected setting.
7. ClickYeson the UAC window that opens.
You can configure the User Account Control settings to get rid of the do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device pop-up in Windows 11.
This can be quickly done through the built-in Control Panel menu.
2. Set up a desktop shortcut that opens the program with elevated privileges
Press the Windows key, type task, and select the Task Scheduler option.
Click the Task Scheduler Library folder on the left and select New Folder.
Now, give the new folder a title and click on it.
Click on Create Task.
Next, enter the title of the program you need to open with elevated privileges in the Name box.
Select the Run with highest privileges option on the General tab.
Now, select your PC’s platform from the Configure for dropdown menu.
Click the Actions tab and select New.
From here, select Start a program from the Action dropdown menu and click the Browse button to select the program for the task to open.
Next, click the OK button on the New Action and Create Task windows, respectively.
Now, you should see the task listed in the new folder you set up. Select the task and press the Run button on the right of the window to check that it works.
Press the End button to close the program.
From here, right-click your desktop and select New > Shortcut
Enter schtasks /run /TN “folder\filename” in the text box. Replace the folder with the Task Scheduler Library subfolder title you set up, and replace the filename with the actual task title (as entered in the General tab).
Press the Next button to input a shortcut title.
Finally, click the Finish button to add the new shortcut to your desktop.
While switching off the UAC is a quick way to eliminate the do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device pop-up on Genshin Impact, with the only option being No, it comes with a huge risk
However, with an exception list, you can leave the account control settings on while excluding certain programs.
Extract the content of the zipped file and run the installation folder.
Now, right-click its system tray icon and select Open UAC Trust.
Click the Add another program button (and click Yes on the UAC dialog window).
Enter the software’s title in the first text box.
Now, click the Browse button and select the software to open.
Click Add now to add the new software shortcut to the desktop. Then you can select that new shortcut to open the program without a UAC confirmation dialog box.
You also need to select Start service on the UAC Trust Shortcut system tray icon’s context menu for the new software shortcuts to bypass the UAC.
If you feel solution two above is too lengthy in eliminating the do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device pop-up on Windows 10 or 11, you can use software to reduce the steps considerably, as shown above.
With this, we can conclude this guide on eliminating the do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device pop-up. To keep your PC’s security level high, we recommend leaving the prompt active but creating exceptions for trusted apps.
Workforce management software (WFM) is a term for desktop and mobile programs that help an organization or business manage staff scheduling.
The goal of WFM revolves around gaining visibility into business metrics such as the number of employees needed at some moment of the day or the amount of time it takes to produce a product.
WFM core functions
Labor scheduling is the first essential function of WFM, and it involves helping manage employees’ skills and compliance requirements more efficiently.
Time and work data collection involves capturing and reporting highly-detailed information about labor use.
Time and attendance are used to receive input from the other modules and to apply the rules against the reported times according to the company’s requirements.
What are the benefits of using a WFM solution?
Higher employee morale
The best way to de-motivate a workforce is to mess with their pay and this is a thing that any HR manager can confirm. This is usually the most significant complaint among unhappy workers.
WFM cannot completely eliminate worker complaints about their payment, but it will definitely substantially reduce them by sharing the responsibility with employees themselves.
Smaller costs
When you’re using a WFM solution, you have the ability to eliminate such costs and reassign the employees to more productive tasks in case you want to do so.
Compliance
Among the most important things that HR does today is to record and maintain records in order to provide national and local government bodies with statistical proof that your business is in perfect compliance with all legal obligations.
WFM systems will make sure that the risks for all of these are reduced to a minimum and such tools will allow you to maintain full compliance with all local and national requirements.
Without further ado, here are the 12 best workforce management tools for Windows PC.
What are the best management software for your business?
Monday.com is a workforce management software solution and resource management utility if your objectives do not require anything more than a very basic task management system with bright colors.
Monday.com is an excellent program for easy resource management since it provides simple methods to visualize your tasks, such as a timeline, calendar, Kanban, and more.
However, like with other project management software, there is potential for improvement, particularly when dealing with complex project demands.
Setting up a more sophisticated workflow that goes beyond the boundaries of simple task management may be challenging for Monday.com.
Monday.com provides insight into employees’ day-to-day performance to ensure their success from the start. You can communicate privately with managers and their direct reports within the platform.
This resource management software and the app are so visual, simple, and straightforward with views, automation, and dashboards that you don’t need the training to get started. You may design your own workflow in minutes or select from 200+ ready-made templates based on how real teams utilize Monday.com.
Connect your data with 40+ integrations from various technologies across departments to ensure that everyone has access to the same information. This is a major benefit since it allows your staff to focus on strategic work rather than moving between tools.
Monday.com can be used on multiple devices and platforms, and you may test it out for 14 days free.
Monday.com
An adaptable resource management tool that can be adjusted to Kaban, Gannt chart, and other key resource management styles.
Rippling is a platform that allows you to save all your employee data into one single record. This allows you to manage all of your people without any effort at all.
Rippling Workflow Automator provides a simple way to automate any manual process across multiple systems at the same time. IT, HR, finance, and engineering, you can automate any part of it with its simple and intuitive interface. No code is required.
With an amazingly built analytics interface, you can bring every department and third-party data into one system that lets you create and see any report you can think of.
This software allows you to create and modify any policy and then apply them to all of your systems from one place, from PTO and security to expense policies.
With Rippling, you can control people’s permissions and speed up approval requests. Design these processes to your exact specifications, then apply them to all systems.
For Rippling, the main features are:
Onboard and offboard employees in 90 seconds
Create, customize, send and sign HR documents with ease
Assign project tasks to employees and managers
Library with a wide variety of templates
+500 app integrations
Mobile app for anytime access
Rippling
A whole new way of managing and automating your workforce processes.
Running a business can be challenging, and that’s when ADP comes into place. This software was created as a faster, easier, and more reliable solution to manage your workforce and help you stay focused on what matters.
Improve operational efficiency with accurate time-tracking tools. With ADP, you can save up to 30 minutes per month per employee and up to 40 minutes per week per manager.
Automated alerts, no timesheets, timecard approvals and more, only to save you and your workers precious time. Moreover, making the correct promotions will surely increase your productivity and decrease labor costs.
Easily visualize labor needs, find the best person for a shift and manage shift swapping, as well as gain an overview into actual vs. worked hours, earned hours, overtime, and let your managers stay on budget with every expense choice they make.
ADP created an easier way to do payroll and tax filing. With an intuitive platform that makes paying people faster, your workers will be motivated to be more productive. Payroll can be made from anywhere, and even has an autopilot function.
The most important key features of ADP are:
Dashboards with up-to-the-minute visibility
Expert consultation on wage and hour compliance
Meet the varied work expectations of multi-generational employees
Faster decision-making with the power of machine learning
Administrative processes automation to avoid costly errors
100% mobile access for improved workforce productivity
ADP
Use the power of AI to make the best decisions for your workforce.
OnPay is a workforce management software that helps businesses get a better overview of their workers, as well as help with hiring and time-consuming HR processes.
If done by yourself, payroll can take up some time. Using OnPay you will save all that time for something essential to your business growth since this software does it automatically. Also, it files all the taxes and payments, with availability in all 50 states.
As well, this tool will sync all the data in your business. With integrated benefits when hiring new employees to get them up to speed fast, with automatic calculations of deductions and withholding so all taxes will be on point, all the data will be available to you in only one click.
Protect your workforce and your business from liability by getting compliant. OnPay offers pay-as-you-go workers’ comp plans that update whenever you hire a new employee. No upfront payments, nothing to keep you up at night.
OnPay provides your workforce with the best benefits. Offer them a 401(k) plan without lifting a finger. Also, it showed that a good benefits package will improve productivity and reduce turnover. OnPay makes it simple to thrive with your team.
OnPay’s most important key features are:
Full-service payroll
Deep software integrations such as QuickBooks, Xero, deputy, etc.
Award-winning customer service
Amazing PTO management
Fully integrated workers’ comp administration
Health and dental benefits in all 50 states
OnPay
Boost your business by offering your workforce the best benefits.
If you want to increase your team’s productivity and efficiency you should definitely go for Wrike. This professional software is not only a management tool, but it also doubles as a customizable workspace that can get you posted with the highest priority task every day.
Wrike is a complete solution for your organization and includes dashboards, shared calendars, and all other options that allow you to organize information across all workspaces. The software also includes live editing of your projects and tasks so you can maximize efficiency through seamless collaboration.
Wrike comes with built-in proofing and approval features that enable you and your team to request and receive feedback on all their attached projects as images, videos, PDFs, and others.
And the best feature of this excellent solution is the time management feature that will help you set the right workload for your team.
Some of Wrike’s most important key features are:
Customizable tools for all employees
Enable better collaboration via file, tasks and report sharing
Custom request forms for any needs
Prebuilt templates for better workflow
Interactive Gantt charts for detailed visuals
Automation of repetitive tasks
Wrike offers a free version for up to 5 members and free trials for all the other versions so you can easily test it before you make a commitment.
Wrike
Wrike is not only a management solution but a customizable workspace that can adapt to any requirements of your organization.
ActivTrak is a single-agent, cloud-native behavior analysis solution used to increase productivity, streamline operational efficiency, and harden security.
It is also one of the leading employee management program tools out there, as it allows an interactive display of your workforce’s activity through comprehensive graphs and charts.
You can track employee progress and working hours, which in turn allows you to assign them to new projects more easily. All you need to do is install it on your computer, as well as the computers of all the other employees.
Once you are done, you will receive reports, and even screenshots whenever dubious or non-work-related activities are done via the computer, regardless of whether they are at the office or working remotely.
It even features some security-oriented tools, such as the ability to know who is accessing sensitive files, inserting USB devices into company PCs, and participating in risky activities.
The program is easy to use and supports integration with plenty of other tools that you may find in an office environment, such as Slack, QuickBooks, or Trello.
ActivTrak
ActivTrak is the best employee management program tool out there, featuring an interactive display of your workforce’s activity.
Coda.io is a cloud-based document editor that provides word-processing, spreadsheets, and database functions, all of that can be blended and used with third-party apps like Slack and Gmail.
With Coda, you can keep all the information you need in one big document, with easy-to-access subcategories of all the different projects the team is working on.
Learning is easier for recruits with Coda. With very simple access, you can create training documents for everything he has to know. Also, adding individual tasks and deadlines for every team member is as simple as a drag and drop.
The software is created for business teams to facilitate easier communication while working remotely. Coda offers a user-friendly interface where you can collaborate effectively and make quick decisions as a team.
As you offer more data to Coda, your team can easily associate more information to more tasks or docs. With connected data, tables talk to each other and update automatically with every edit your team makes.
By using Coda.io you ensure that everyone on the team is on track with all that is happening. You can point to Slack notifications about any new task, also you can pull Google calendars and invite team members just a block from Coda.
Coda comes with a free version for your whole team to see for yourself what we are talking about, but with limited features. If you want the full Coda experience you can upgrade your plan anytime.
Coda.io
Team management, databases, training, tasks and deadlines all in one app.
Connecteam, an all-in-one task manager and organizer, is another excellent workforce management software solution. It’s excellent time management and job management program that includes several handy functions such as a time clock and task schedule.
Improve your communication by using a collaboration software like Connecteam to bridge the communication gap with your coworkers and establish engagement with them.
It is your responsibility as the HR department head or team leader to oversee and ensure that everyone participates and engages in a specific project or for the organization as a whole.
You may also build feedback or surveys and distribute them to everyone involved, as well as set up push alerts to receive immediate or scheduled responses.
It becomes simple to monitor and filter the information staff on the workplace chat, as well as to eliminate improper content and manage user rights.
Connecteam’s workplace chat provides a fully different environment for work discussion, so private talks in the same app are not a distraction.
Connecteam’s corporate chat app integrates with job schedules, time clocks, and forms, making it simple for managers to reach their staff fast. There is no requirement for training to use the software on a regular basis due to its ease of use and engaging interface.
Connecteam offers a 14-day free trial and allows you to customize your plans based on the number of users you want to add, up to 200.
Connecteam
Employee management software that integrates everyday operations, communications, and human resource management.
ClearCompany HRM Software is a software system that works for HR and recruits teams across both public and private industries.
The ClearCompany Talent Alignment Platform can connect recruiting, performance management, and new employee onboarding.
The tool’s Applicant Tracking System includes a few features for bulk emails, requisition templates, mobile career sites, advanced corporate website integration, and many more.
The software’s automatic reporting makes sure that clients maintain full EEO and OFCCP compliance.
It also offers more than 100 additional reports which track everything from hiring manager interview rates to cost per hire.
With this tool, you can also develop free custom reporting, and this solution automates the new hiring processes offering the option to integrate I-9 and E-verify, to manage internal tasks, and to approve offer letters.
Performance management allows for an unlimited standard and 360 reviews offering also automated emails and various reporting options.
The tool focuses more on customer support and provides a dedicated relationship manager to every client and also ongoing consulting services and support.
The supported operating systems include Mac OS, Web browser (OS agnostic), Windows 10.
Ascentis offers a web-based human capital management suite that is developed to find, hire, and suitable onboard candidates.
The built-in features of this tool include career portals, social sharing, onboarding, applicant data analysis, and much more.
Using this tool, HR professionals can gain insights into trends with deep analytics within employee metrics.
Ascentis’ mobile experience for HR managers and employees offers access to information anytime from anywhere.
Ascentis Payroll’s online system allows clients the possibility to process payroll in real-time with live auditing and processing.
The tool also syncs with Ascentis HR and Time and offers a wide range of built-in reports.
Ascentis Time is an automated solution for time and attendance that provides online timesheets, clock in/out functionality, scheduling, and more features.
Ascentis HRIS makes sure that businesses can successfully comply with the new federal standards including 1095-C/1094-C reporting.
The supported operating systems include Web browser (OS agnostic) and Windows 10.
The tool is a web-based comprehensive performance appraisal program for HR pros. Performance Pro is entirely customizable, and this makes it very easy to keep employees focused on a company’s strategic goals.
The system can automate the entire process from ongoing check-ins to standard appraisals. The software comes with all the necessary tools the management usually needs to administer straightforward and practical evaluations.
The software includes intuitive dashboards, customizable templates, writing assistance, and excellent reporting abilities.
Employees’ goals are easily cascaded with the rest of the organization to better align with the objectives.
The tool includes pre-built templates for particular job titles, and all of these can be modified.
Management also has access to a robust library of resources for the best practices for evaluating employees.
The team from HR Performance Solutions has been creating systems for more than 20 years, so the company is backed by industry experience and knowledge.
This is an applicant tracking system and recruiting software that was developed in order to help businesses find suitable candidates to conduct focused interviews and to optimize the whole recruiting process.
The tool is an integrated platform that streamlines recruiting activities such as planning hiring processes, sourcing job applications, managing interview rounds, and also organizing the post-hiring activities.
Greenhouse’s hiring process begins with finding the right candidates from a variety of sources which include job boards, in-person events, external agencies, or in-house referrals.
Recruiters can then post job openings on traditional job boards such as Glassdoor, SimplyHired, and Indeed.
They can also share job openings on the most well-known social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
The app review software automatically accepts or rejects a candidate’s application based on the selection criteria defined by the recruiter.
As a Team Manager, Project Manager, HR Specialist, or Snalyst, you need to constantly analyze your team’s productivity in order to meet business objectives.
While there are several subjective methods for assessing team performance, you should utilize productivity statistics and analytics to understand how your staff performs.
A productivity measure can help you track staff productivity and make better decisions when:
✅ A well-rounded communication tool is used for tracking performance. ✅ The focus is on results, not the number of hours worked. ✅ Check-ins with the staff are frequent to help them boost determination. ✅ Expectations are clear for individuals but also for teams. ✅ The company implements a system for measuring the quality of work with rewards. ✅ Showing gratitude and compassion toward teammates for boosting self-esteem and efficiency. ✅ Tracking specific key performance indicators for both long-term and short-term goals. ✅ The metrics you use to measure performance can be directly related to profit margins.
The most effective metrics for analyzing team member performance may vary depending on your business and the duties of each team member. However, if you identify the most suitable software or app for performance tracking and monitoring, you will be well on your way to success.
NOTE
If you need more information on helpful utilities explore our Software section. For any online-related solutions, don’t hesitate to check our Web & Cloud Hub.
We hope that these options of workforce tracking software for Windows will come in handy. We guarantee that you’ll be satisfied no matter which one you go for.
Leave us a comment and share your thoughts on how you are being efficient, and productive and keep your determination up high in your workspace!
If you’ve ever spent hours waiting in an airport and your only method of passing time is using your laptop, you understand how important it is to have a private network.
Even though that is the case, sometimes computers will randomly assign public network configurations to your home network.
For the reasons mentioned above, in today’s how-to guide we will discuss the fastest method to change your network settings to private.
Read on to find out more details and solutions on how to change network settings from private to public.
How can I change the network from public to private on Windows 10?
It is very easy to change your network settings on your Windows 10 PC from public to private via built-in tools.
However, you should know that the process for changing them is different based on whether you have a Wi-Fi or a wired internet connection. We will start with the guide for changing Wi-Fi settings to private.
Enabling this setting will allow your PC to recognize the network as safe, so it will not stop you from sharing your connection, connecting to the internet, or being able to print documents using your printer.
1. Press the Windows Key to open the Start Menu, type settings and click on the result.
2. Select Network and Internet from the options.
3. A menu will pop up showing you the available wired network/networks, and it’s/their status. Click thePropertieslink found under the name and status of your Wi-Fi network.
4. Under theNetwork profilesection inside the newly opened window, tick the box next to the optionPrivate.
This will set your Wi-Fi network settings to private. Now let’s find out how to set your wired connections to private as well.
5. Open the Network & Internet settings.
6. Click on Properties for your wired network.
7. Under the sectionNetwork profile, tick the box next to Private.
Even though the fact the official specs state that you cannot set up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account, you may do it using a local account. All you need to know is how to work around the problem.
You should typically use a Microsoft account to complete a clean installation of Windows 11 since it is a more secure method that allows for interaction with different cloud services as well as content synchronization across several computers and devices.
Despite all of the advantages, many individuals still choose to utilize a local account, which is understandable.
Aside from that, setting a new installation without a Microsoft account enables you to design a more personalized profile folder name that does not include any of the characters from your email address.
Let’s see the advantages of using a Microsoft account are, in the event that you create a local account during the installation and consider connecting it to a Microsoft account later on.
What are the advantages of using a Microsoft Account?
A Microsoft account, similar to the Windows operating system, can assist you in the completion of the majority of routine computer chores.
These services differ from more typical productivity suites in that many of the data and services that you work with are saved online rather than on your computer. The term cloud refers to this sort of internet storage that is widely used.
When you use cloud-based services such as a Microsoft account, you may view, edit, and share files from any location where you have an Internet connection.
Understanding how these services function is becoming increasingly important as they get more widely used at home and in the workplace.
Having said that, if you currently use Microsoft products such as Microsoft Office, Outlook, Hotmail, or Skype, you may find a Microsoft account to be more user-friendly than other online services.
Creating, sharing, and storing documents were all meant to integrate seamlessly with existing Microsoft applications and tools.
It even grants you access to a web-based version of Microsoft Office, known as Office Online, via which you may collaborate with others.
When it comes to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, Office Online is quite comparable to the desktop versions of these programs, which makes it simple to use, especially if you’re already familiar with these products.
Once you have created a Microsoft account, you will be able to access all of the company’s online resources.
This contains a number of essential services and tools, such as OneDrive (formerly known as SkyDrive), and Outlook.com, among others.
How can I setup Windows 11 without a Microsoft account?
1. Start the PC with thebootable USB flash drivethat contains the Windows 11 installer on it.
2. Press theInstall now button and follow the onscreen steps to create the partitions needed and begin the installation process.
3. If you don’t have a product key you can skip the step by pressing the I don’t have a product key button from the bottom side of the window.
4. Select theCustom Installoption when it asks you what type of installation you wish to perform.
5. Select your region and keyboard layout and set a name for your computer.
6. You will be asked to sign in with your Microsoft account. Here, click on theback button from the left-top corner, enter again a name for your computer, and click Next.
7. Now you will be asked to enter a password, having skipped the Microsoft account step.
8. Complete the installation.
You can easily install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account by using a bootable USB flash drive which contains an installer for the OS on it.
By doing so, Windows will be installed using a local account, instead of an online Microsoft account.
Once you have completed the instructions, Windows 11 will complete the installation using a local account, without requiring you to connect to any Microsoft goods or services.
When all is done, you may now reconnect the network wire or switch on the Wi-Fi connection if it has been disconnected.
This is how you can install Windows 11 without an email that’s Microsoft-based. Note that if you opt for other ways to install the OS, you can also skip the Microsoft account step in the same manner as above.
You can also update from Windows 10 and set up the OS with a local account instead of a Microsoft one.
Leave us a comment in the section below and tell us what you think. It will help us improve our future posts. Thanks for reading!
Bonjour service is used to communicate with Apple devices with an Apple or a Windows PC. This service uses mDNS service records, allowing you to set up a network between devices such as printers without configuration.
A prime example of using this service is with iTunes. The app uses the Bonjour to establish communication between your Apple device and your PC and create a shared music library.
Adobe Creative Suite also makes use of the Bonjour service with Pidgin and Skype. They use it by connecting to a Wi-Fi network.
How to enable/disable Bonjour service on Windows 10/11?
Getting Bonjour installed on your Windows 11 or 10 PC isn’t a tough task. Apple apps such as iTunes or Safari come with Bonjour service built-in.
The Bonjour service isn’t essential. If you do not use any of the above services, especially Apple devices, then there is no need for you to have Bonjour installed on your PC.
To temporarily stop it
Right-click on the Start menu.
Select Task Manager.
Switch to the Services tab.
Locate and right-click on the Bonjour service.
Select Stop from the drop-down menu.
To completely remove it
Press Win + I to open Settings.
Click on Apps from the left side.
Select Apps & features on the right.
Search Bonjour.
Click on Uninstall and again hit the Uninstall button to remove it.
What are the most common Bonjour errors on Windows 11?
Bonjour service works seamlessly without any issues on Windows 11, for the most part. However, there have been instances where the service malfunctioned and threw up errors.
Some of the most common errors that you would come across with Bonjour services on Windows 11 are:
The above are some of the most common Bonjour service errors that you might encounter when using this service. However, the fixes to these are pretty simple and are listed below.
Notably, the solutions mentioned below can fix almost all the above errors. So, you are free to try out the solutions and resolve the problems.
1. Change the Startup type
Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialogue.
Type services.msc and hit Enter.
Locate Bonjour service.
Right-click and select Properties.
Under Startup type, select Manual.
Confirm the changes.
Restart your PC.
2. Other solutions
Here are some of the other solutions that you can apply:
Restart the Bonjour service.
Run disk cleanup.
Update your virus definition.
Restart your PC.
Is Bonjour necessary on Windows 11?
If you use Apple devices and want them to communicate with your Windows 11 PC for different tasks, then you need the Bonjour service.
For instance, if you have an Apple TV or iPhone but not a MacOS, you are bound to manage them from your Windows PC. In this scenario, you would need to have the Bonjour service installed on your Windows 11 or lower PC.
As mentioned above, some third-party apps, such as Adobe Creative Suite and Dassault Systemes’ Solidworks, etc. also use Bonjour service. So, if you use these tools, then you should have Bonjour service installed on your PC.
What programs use Bonjour?
Here is a list of apps that use Bonjour service, meaning to use these apps, you need to make sure that you have installed Bonjour service on your Windows 11 PC.
iTunes
iPhoto
iChat
Adobe Systems Creative Suite 3
Proteus
Adium
Fire
Pidgin
Skype
Vine Server
Elgato EyeTV
Gizmo5
TiVo Desktop
SubEthaEdit
Solidworks
PhotoView 360
Things and OmniFocus
Safari
Bonjour Browser
iStumbler
Apple’s Remote
That is it from us in this guide. We hope that this guide gave you a complete insight into what the Bonjour service is and how is it worthwhile for you. Let us know in the comments below if you encounter any issues following the above guide.
Many Call of Duty: Modern Warfare players posted on support forums during Warzone Season 6 about a Dev Error 6068 Warzone issue. When those players click Playin Battle.net, an error message that says, DEV ERROR 6068 DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error appears.
This problem can appear if you’re having issues with DirectX, and if this happens, you might experience that DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error. It can also manifest as DirectX 12 error Marvel rivals, or DirectX 12 error Black Ops 6.
These errors can appear on almost any version of Windows, and you can expect to see DirectX errors on Windows 11 as well. In some cases, you might have to reinstall DirectX, but if you’re unable to do that, you can check our can’t install DirectX guide for in-depth solutions.
Select Call of Duty: MW on the left of the window.
Click Options > Show in Explorer to open the folder that includes the game’s folder.
Open the Call of Duty Modern Warfare folder.
Right-click ModernWarfare.Exe and select Properties.
Select the Run this program in administrator option on the Compatibility tab shown directly below.
Click the Apply option, and press the OK button.
Then try playing the game again.
3. Run Call of Duty Warfare with DirectX 11
1. Open the Battle.net window.
2. Click on Options and select Game Settings. This will open the window shown directly below.
3. Then select the Additional command line arguments checkbox.
4. Type -d3d11 in the command line argument text box.
5. Press the Done button to save the settings.
6. Launch Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to see if the error is solved.
Dev Error 6068 is often associated with a DirectX issue. Therefore, running Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on a previous DirectX version, such as DirectX11, fixes the problem for a lot of users.
4. Select the Exit Battle.net completely option
Open your Battle.net game launcher software.
Click Blizzard at the top left of the Battle.net software.
Select Settings to open that window.
Click the On Game Launch drop-down menu shown directly below.
Then select the Exit the Battle.net App completely option.
Click the Type here to search button on the left side of your Windows 10 taskbar.
Type Windows Update in the search utility that opens.
Click Windows Update settings to open the Settings tab in the shot directly below.
If there’s a new Windows 10 build available, click Download and install to update the platform with its latest version.
Click the Check for updates button to download the latest patch updates if a new build version isn’t available.
6. Adjust VideoMemoryScale
Open File Explorer by clicking its Windows 10 taskbar button.
Then open your Call of Duty Modern Warfare folder.
Next, open the players subfolder.
Right-click the adv_options.ini file and select Open with.
Select to open the file with Notepad.
Look for the VideoMemoryScale value in the adv_options.ini file.
Delete the current value for VideoMemoryScale.
Then enter 0.5 as the replacement value.
Click File > Save in Notepad.
7. Select the Scan and Repair option
Start the Battle.net launcher app for Call of Duty.
Click Call of Duty: MW on the left side of Battle.net’s window.
Click Options to open the menu in the shot directly below.
Then select the Scan and Repair option.
Press the Begin scan button to confirm.
8. Underclock your GPU (AMD Radeon GPU Fix)
Right-click your desktop and select AMD Radeon software.
Click the Performance tab to open the options shown directly below.
Select the Manual option for tuning control.
Adjust the Max Frequency (%) bar to -20.
Those are some potential resolutions players have confirmed can fix the Dev Error 6068 Warzone issue.
What does dev error 6068 mean?
The Dev Error 6068 message highlights that there’s a DirectX issue. So, it can mean your DirectX installation is corrupted.
However, the Dev Error 6068 Warzone issue can also be due to antiquated drivers, certain settings, corrupted game files, etc. Speaking of that, users also reported similar issues, as follows:
More games (Dev error 6068 Modern Warfare, Vanguard, Caldera)
Reinstalling Call of Duty: MW Warzone via Battle.net might also resolve the issue. However, that’s only a last-resort resolution if the above potential fixes don’t do the trick.
Recently we wrote about a similar issue in our Dev error 6144 article, so don’t miss it for more information.
We hope you fix your game and get it working well again. Let us know in the comments section below if you encounter any difficulties following our solutions and whether you have any questions.
If your VPN doesn’t hide your location, it means that it’s failing at its job.
The main goal of a Virtual Private Network solution is to protect your online privacy. But it can’t do that without masking your IP address and geolocation.
Fortunately, this is a common issue that you can easily solve by exploring our solutions below.
Why is my VPN showing my real location?
Usually, this situation arises when you experience connection drops and your real IP address gets exposed for any web service.
It may also be possible to involve your current browser. The IP address can be revealed by your browser even connected to a VPN.
The users reported issues with specific VPN clients such as ExpressVPN not hiding location and NordVPN not hiding IP.
You can stop this geolocation feature from your browser in order to use the VPN without showing the IP address while navigating.
How to tell if your VPN is leaking your location
Without connecting to a VPN, ask Google what’s your IP address
Write it down (that’s your true IP)
Launch your VPN app and connect to a VPN server
Go back to Google and ask the same question
Compare the new IP address with the previous one
If the two IP addresses are the same, it means that your VPN is leaking your IP and location.
What can you do if your VPN isn’t hiding your location?
A free VPN may have faulty security features and leak your IP address and location. On top of that, it might monitor, collect and share your traffic.
But a paid VPN is another story. Because it’s continuously maintained by a development team, you will often receive updates with new features and improvements.
Take ExpressVPN, for example. It’s a premium VPN service with numerous servers in 94 countries worldwide.
It also passes all IP leak tests, so you can trust that this VPN won’t fail to hide your location.
And, if something like that happens, you can immediately get in touch with the development team, thanks to 24/7 live chat support.
ExpressVPN
Have this fast connection VPN to hide your IP address with the latest encryption tools.
It’s essential to keep your VPN app updated to the newest version, no matter what operating system or device you use. This way, you can prevent issues like the VPN not being able to hide your location.
Check the settings of your VPN client for version updates and make sure it’s set to automatically get the latest versions.
However, it’s not a good idea to join any beta development programs. The beta phase is unstable and could result in further issues, such as IP leaks or crashes.
3. Disable WebRTC leaks
If WebRTC is enabled in your web browser, then it will leak your IP and location no matter what you do. It’s not a feature that you can control from a VPN desktop app.
You can manually configure browser settings to disable WebRTC leaks. Or, you can turn to a browser extension that automatically does that.
There are plenty of free browser extensions that can turn off WebRTC. Just head over to Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons and search for “disable WebRTC”.
However, if you own ExpressVPN, make sure to install its browser add-on. It has an extra feature for blocking WebRTC IP detection.
4. Connect to a different VPN server
The VPN provider doesn’t always create the tunnel correctly. It might leak your IP address and location along the way.
What you can do is simple: connect to another VPN server. You can also try restarting the VPN app and reinstalling the TAP drivers.
5. Always use HTTPS
HTTP requests can leak your IP address and location, without any fault on the VPN client’s side.
To stop this from happening, avoid visiting HTTP pages and make sure you’re always using HTTPS.
You can find a lot of awesome add-ons that force your web browser to access only HTTPS websites, such as HTTPS Everywhere.
If you’re a premium VPN user, though, check if the VPN’s browser addon can enforce HTTPS pages. For instance, ExpressVPN follows this rule.
If you’re trying to access services that track you down by GPS instead of IP, then your regular VPN won’t be able to hide your location. Examples include Waze, Google Maps, and Tinder.
If you prefer using a VPN with integrated features for changing your GPS location, use Surfshark.
It’s an excellent premium VPN service that supports unlimited connections. And its Android app can take over your GPS.
An alternative solution is to disable location services in your web browser. But you won’t be able to use those services anymore.
7. Disable geolocation API
In Chrome, go to Settings > Advanced > Location
In Firefox, head over to Options > Privacy and Security > Permissions > Location
In Opera, visit Settings > Websites > Location
In Microsoft Edge, check out Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Location
Once you reach the location settings, you can manage permissions by disabling access to your current location for each online service.
Geolocation API is one of the easiest ways for online apps and services to find your location. It’s accurate, easy to use, and unaffected by your VPN.
To test this, connect to your VPN and run a geolocation test using this tool.
8. Use a VPN kill switch
A VPN kill switch is an excellent addition to any VPN service. It automatically cuts off all Internet access on your device if the VPN drops unexpectedly.
So, the kill switch prevents IP leaks that could occur in the time it takes your VPN client to reconnect.
ExpressVPN is a prime example of a virtual private network solution with a built-in kill switch. You can quickly find and activate it from the settings panel.
To recap, you should fix any problem caused by your VPN, even if it doesn’t hide your location.
Avoid using a free VPN, keep your VPN app updated to the latest version, and disable WebRTC leaks in your web browsers.
One of the core tools for monitoring the well-being of your computer system is none other than Task Manager. If in the previous OS Task Manager was just a right-click away, in Windows 11 this is no longer the case.
According to Microsoft, a lot of changes were made within this operating system to adapt to the people’s needs and provide the best experience yet:
What was so powerful was the shift in the PC we saw and felt – from something practical and functional to something personal and emotional. This is what inspired us as we were building the next generation of Windows.
Panos Panay, chief product officer for Windows+ devices at Microsoft
Don’t worry though, as we’ve decided to create a step-by-step guide so that you can rapidly access Task Manager.
Why is Task Manager important?
Task Manager is a handy little tool that lets you see the programs that are opened in the background, what processes each of these programs has, allows you to customize which apps you want to open on startup, and more.
There are 7 tabs in total, with each offering a different set of tools: processes, performance, app history, startup, users, details, and services.
The processes tab is probably one of the most used ones. It is one of the only ways you can close an unwanted program that is causing you trouble.
Here, you can also monitor how much CPU, RAM, and power usage each program takes up.
The performance tab gives you a detailed look into your PC performance while the app history tab shows you the resource usage for the current user account and lets you delete it.
With Task Manager, you can also manage the apps you want to open when starting your PC using the Startup tab.
All things considered, it’s become essential to know how to access Task Manager as soon as possible in order to improve your computer’s performance and get rid of some PC issues faster.
The only inconvenience is that getting to the Task Manager can be a real pain. There are a couple of methods for you to access it, but they all involve key combinations that aren’t easy to remember.
How do I open the Task Manager in Windows 11?
1. Use different keyboard shortcuts
Press Ctrl + Alt + Del and then choose Task Manager from the menu.
Simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Escto quickly open the Task Manager.
Press Windows + X to access the Power User menu. Select Task Manager from the options.
2. Use Windows Settings
Click on the Search icon, look for Task Manager, and click on the result.
Look for taskmgr.exe in File Explorer and click on Taskmgr.exe app result to open it.
Press the Windows + R keys, then type taskmgr in the Run Box and hit Enter. Task Manager will run instantly.
You can also open it using Command Prompt. Once again, open the Run Box by pressing the Windows + R keys but this time type cmd and click on OK. When the Command Prompt window opens, type taskmgr and hit Enter.
These are the quickest ways to open Windows 11 Task Manager using the keyboard or the settings of your computer.
Given that there are so many options to choose from, it was only a matter of time until you may ask yourself if there is a way to create a shortcut to it.
How can I create a Task Manager shortcut in Windows 11?
1. Pin it to the Taskbar
Open Task Manager using one of the above methods.
Right-click the icon on the Taskbar and select Pin to Taskbar.
You can now access Task Manager from the taskbar.
2. Create a desktop shortcut for Task Manager
1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and select New >Shortcut.
2. In the location search box, type in: C:\Windows\System32\Taskmgr.exe
3. Click on Next.
4. Rename the shortcut Task Manager.
5. Click on Finish to create the shortcut.
To quickly access Task Manager at any time through just a simple click, you can create a desktop shortcut for it.
By following the simple steps above, you will be able to access the Task Manager any time of day with just a single click. This way, you won’t have to rely on the access methods mentioned earlier.
Why is Task Manager not opening?
A lot can prevent Task Manager from opening or working correctly, as it can either be disabled by your Administrator or you might have a corrupt user account.
However, malware is usually the number one cause of faults in your system and Task Manager makes no exception. Checking your device for viruses could be just the solution you need to fix the error.
Using an antivirus you can trust for your Windows 11 computer is essential if you want everything to run smoothly and protect yourself from malware. Updating your PC regularly also makes an improvement in the overall performance of the device.
A lot of issues within the operating system could be tracked to the registry files. If Task Manager is not working properly, you may need to modify some settings.
One of the go-to solutions when dealing with a lot of programs that slow down your computer is Task Manager’s end process option.
But knowing how to make the difference between apps you need and those that are only using your system resources such as spyware is essential when using Task Manager.
The first rule is to avoid ending Windows processes along with any other processes you don’t recognize. These are usually found at the bottom of the list in the Processes tab so make sure not to close them.
Note that the apps that you can close with no problems and the ones that can slow down your computer the most can be found in the first part of the tab, under Apps.
Look for the programs that take up the most memory or CPU and close the ones that you are not using.
If you learn to recognize which apps you need to have open and which not, you can considerably improve the overall function of your PC.
So, there you have it, the easiest ways to get to Task Manager without the Ctrl + Alt + Delete combination keys on Windows 11.
And don’t forget that you can also find some of the best shortcut software and take the next step in navigating on your device.
If you want to read more articles regarding Windows 11 tips and tricks, let us know in the comments section below.
A lot of programs are having their support for Windows 7 phased out. Unfortunately, they no longer get any updates or security patches that make them safe to use.
One program that no longer works with Windows 7 is Internet Explorer 11.
If your computer still runs on Windows 7 and you wish to uninstall Internet Explorer 11 and switch it to a better option like Microsoft Edge, read this to find out how.
NOTE
Starting on June 15, 2022, the Internet Explorer browser has officially gone out of service. Thus, IE 11 will be retired for Windows 10 client SKUs, version 20H2 and later, and Windows 10 IoT, version 20H2 and later.
Please note that the products not affected by this retirement are:
– IE Mode in Edge – IE 11 desktop on Windows 8.1 – Windows 7 (with Extended Security Updates) – Windows Server LTSC (all versions) – Windows Server 2022 – Windows 10 client LTSC (all versions) – Windows 10 IoT LTSC (all versions)
Does Windows 7 support Internet Explorer 11?
No, Windows 7 does not support Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020, which means there will be no more security updates or technical support for the operating system.
That said, users can still download and install Internet Explorer 11 if they wish to do so. However, doing so is not recommended as it could leave your computer vulnerable to security risks.
?️Quick Tip:
Did you know that on Windows 7, you can use Opera as a backup browser? Because of its low resource consumption, built-in VPN, and ad-blocker against phishing attacks, it actually works cleanly and smoothly on Windows 7.
Furthermore, the Turbo mode loads pages faster, allowing you to browse safely and without outages.
What is the latest version of Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7?
It is recommended that you switch to the latest Microsoft Edge version if you’re still using Windows 7.
This way, you’ll continue getting updates and security patches to ensure you’re safe when browsing online on your Windows 7.
How do I uninstall Internet Explorer on Windows 7?
1. Via Control Panel
1. Click on the Start Menu or press the Windows key on your keyboard to open it.
2. Type in Control Panel and open it by clicking on the first result.
3. Find the Programs and Features icon and click on it.
4. Select View installed updates from the left sidebar.
5. If you had an active Internet Explorer 11 program, you should see it in the updates list. Double-click on it to uninstall it.
6. Follow the prompts to finish uninstalling IE11.
The quickest way to uninstall Internet Explorer is through the built-in Control Panel. The Programs and Features tool from Control Panel allows you to uninstall any program you want at any time.
2. Use a professional uninstaller
Not only are Windows 7’s built-in tools designed to remove unwanted programs. This task is perfectly handled by third-party developer software.
In some cases, it appears to be even preferable. CCleaner, for example, allows you to not only uninstall Internet Explorer but also completely clear the internal drive of any references to the browser.
Internet Explorer can be easily removed from your computer using a simple helper tool that removes all traces of the unwanted app from Windows 11.
Cleaner immediately displays a list of your installed programs and allows you to remove entries from the Programs to Remove list. This is useful if a program was not properly uninstalled and is still listed as a program on your computer.
Click on the Start Menu and type in cmd in the search bar. Next, choose Run as administrator.
Type the following command into cmd and hit Enter: FORFILES /P %WINDIR%\servicing\Packages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*11.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w pkgmgr /up:@fname /norestart"
Wait for the process to finish and then close out of cmd.
Press Windows + R and type in regedit in the search bar.
Hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Find the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383}
Right-click on that key and select Delete.
5. Via Group Policy Editor
Press Windows + R and type in gpedit.msc in the search bar.
Hit Enter to open LocalGroup Policy Editor.
Go to User Configuration, choose Administrative Templates, click on Windows Components, and open the Internet Explorer folder.
Double-click on Turn off Internet Explorer 11. Close out of Group Policy Editor when you’re finished.
6. Turning Windows Features on or off
Hit the Start button and type in Turn Windows Features on or Off.
This will open a pop-up window with a list of all active features. Please scroll down to find Internet Explorer 11, uncheck the box beside it, and press OK.
Is it safe to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 7?
Yes, it is safe to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 7. However, we do not recommend doing so unless you have another web browser installed and set as your default.
Otherwise, you will not be able to access the internet or any other websites. Additionally, some programs may still require Internet Explorer to function correctly, so you may want to keep it installed.
However, If you do not use Internet Explorer and do not need it for any particular purpose, removing it can free up space on your hard drive and improve your computer’s performance. Follow the steps above to disable Internet Explorer on Windows 7.
So there you have it—quick and easy methods of uninstalling Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7. You can check out our website for similar guides to help you solve other issues you may be experiencing.
Use this path for all plugins listed in this article if you’re on Mac.
After copying the plugins, you should be able to find them in the Filters section most likely.
2. Install the GIMP DDS plugin
1. Download the GIMP DDS plugin from the official website (be sure to select the version that matches your operating system).
2. Locate the downloaded archive and open it.
3. Search for the thedds.exefile and extract it to: C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins
4. Start GIMP.
5. The DDS plugin is now installed.
The DDS plugin adds to GIMP the ability to load and open DDS files on it. Version 2.10 and newer of GIMP have built-in DDS support. If you are using an older version, you need to manually install the GIMP DDS plugin.
Version 2.10 and newer of GIMP have built-in DDS support, so you won’t have to manually install the DDS plugin.
3. Install the SCM plugin
Download the plugin and open its archive.
Go to the:
C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\share\gimp\2.0\scripts
Paste the .scmfiles there.
After moving the plugins to the proper folders, you just need to manually start GIMP.
For a big chunk of Windows users, Outlook is the primary mode of communication for their businesses. It hosts a gauntlet of data that, over time, might even become a critical asset you might have to take along with you to your new system or network.
It’s therefore critical to resort to a method that will transfer your data safely. We’ve tried to cover just that in this article. Here’s how you can get started.
How to move your Outlook data to a new PC
The process will be slightly different depending on the Outlook version or setting. Also, it’s important to know that Outlook stores all of your files in a .pst format. Moving your Outlook data out to a different system, therefore, is a two-step process.
You’ll first need to store all the data in a PST file. Start by converting any MSG files to PST format then you can then import these PST files into a new system. Here’s how you can get started:
On the Outlook app, select the File tab.
Click on Open & Export.
Now select Import/Export.
An Import and Export Wizard will be launched. From here, select the Export to a file option and click on Next.
Click on Outlook Data File (.pst) and choose Next.
Now choose the account you’d like to export your data to. Also, select the Include subfolders radio box and then click on Next. Finally, click on Browse and select the location you’d like to save the file at, and then click on OK.
Moving your Outlook data to a new system
Now that you have transferred your Outlook data onto the .pst files, it’s time to actually move them to a different system. Here’s how:
On the Outlook app, click on the File tab.
Select Open & Export > Import/Export.
Now in the Import and Export Wizard, select the Importfrom another program or file and click on Next.
Click on Outlook Data File (.pst) and select Next.
Click on Browse and choose the file .pst file from above, and click on Next.
You’ll see some default settings. Choose them and click on Finish.
Follow the above steps and your files will be transferred without any hiccups.
Moving your Outlook data to a new computer
Moving your Outlook data—be it emails, contacts, events, etc.—doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simple method laid out above is all you need to move your data to a different PC. While we’ve focused on moving our data from only one Outlook server to another, you don’t have to stick with only that. In fact, you can move your Outlook data across different services like Proton, Gmail, and so on. So don’t hesitate to check out all the different how-to’s on Outlook—we’ve covered a lot of them.
In an interesting turn of events, it seems that some Xbox One owners were able to have a taste of the yet to be released FIFA 23 entry yesterday, as spotted by Pure Xbox. The entry’s official release is set for September 30.
The entry was available on Xbox Store for a short period, but the issue seems to be fixed as the entry is no longer available. However, the few that actually managed to access it took to Twitter to post images showing that they were able to download it.
It now seems that gamers will have to wait for the September 30 launch as access has since been blocked. However, if you have an EA Play / Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription you will be able to test out the game for 10 hours prior to its release. This comes months after the announcement that FIFA and EA Sports were severing their partnership, having the game proceed as EA SPORTS FC starting next year.
Toshiba may have publicly exited the PC market concluding the sale of its last 19.9 percent stake to Sharp electronics, but similar to the deal between IBM and Lenovo, the qualitative essence of the company lives on under the new branding umbrella of Dynabook.
Dynabook has been selling PCs for a couple of years and in 2022 the company has raised the stakes of its laptop offering with the updated Protege line that now offers the latest Intel chips, premium build quality and memory-heavy customization options for the average data worker.
6-row, multimedia Fn keys, LED backlight
Precision Touchpad
+Care Service Warranty, 3-Year with On-Site
Look and Feel
In a sea of black, aluminum grey and space grey laptops the Tech Blue Metallic version of the Dynabook Protege X40 definitely stands out and with a glossy brushed lid of the laptop adds another layer of distinction for laptop that is slightly undercut by the rather simplistic branding embossed dead-center of the device.
As much as the brushed blue lid is an attention grabber, it’s also a magnet for fingerprints which brings its own kind of unwanted attention for users who have a bit of OCD about the outward appearance of their laptops, like me. When you’re not constantly brushing away fingerprints, you are left hyper conscious about the last place you touched the Protege’s lid.
Fortunately, dealing with fingerprints on a lid is of little consequence to the overall experience of the Protege X40 and underneath the lid is a decently vibrant 14-inch 1080p IPS LCD panel with 2017-ish bezels surrounding it.
The Dynabook screen, while lacking OLED or quantum-dot or any other fancy resolution tech, is fine for anyone who is into marking spreadsheets, organizing meetings, crafting presentations or burrowing into 3rd party productivity applications. Unfortunately, Dynabook is keeping the 16:9 aspect ratio-war alive as the company bucks the more recent move towards 16:10 or 3:2 by several other competitors.
Unlike some of the newer ThinkPads that the Dynabook hopes to compete against, the bezels on the display can appear dated to anyone’s who been gifted a company laptop in the last two to three years. Fortunately, companies don’t hand out laptops all that often and switching from a 2017 laptop to a 2022 with similar size bezels will garner equal parts ambivalence and ignorance from employees.
Another moment of “ignorance equals bliss,” is going from devices supporting similar connectivity options. Over the past few years, laptop OEMs have been juggling port selections like clowns with chainsaws waiting as modern audiences wait to see which port gets cut from the next iteration of their beloved device.
Thankfully, Dynabook is thinking of employee convenience here and keeping all the ports that have kept many ThinkPad’s in rarified air, such as a two Thunderbolt 4 slots, full-sized HDMI port, two USB Type-A ports, RJ-45 ethernet port, 3mm audio jack, dedicated DC jack (even though it can be charged via one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports) and microSD card reader.
Bye-bye dongles.
In addition to a bevy of physical connectivity options, the Protege also supports the latest wireless offerings with Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6E for snappy speeds and pairing of additional devices to the laptop.
For anyone coming from the U-style chicklet keys of a ThinkPad or the low-profile Dell Precision keyboards, getting used to the mushier Dynabook key travel will take some getting used. Dynabook does however, offer slightly more space around each of its keys, which helps even the laziest keyboard Typers feel like record-breaking typists.
The placement of buttons along the Fn row will also take some getting used as Dynabook has taken a couple liberties with the placement of items such as an actual function toggle, media playback and power options.
I’m not going to spend too much time on the webcam as it is still is 720p potato smeared experience in 2022.
Performance
Loaded with up to 12 cores of Intel i7 power, the Dynabook crushes most data intensive tasks while doing a decent job of rendering GPU laden applications with only a modicum of struggle.
The synthetic benchmarks allow users to see a generic industry comparison between the Protege and what would likely be its competitors sitting on store or digital shelves.
As far real-world performance, the Dynabook Protege X40 is on par with modern productivity laptops with similar battery life and heat distribution. When unplugged the device opts for fan and heat dispersion over throttling which is great for squeezing out more content but killer for a user’s lap and wrists as the laptop gets cooking under duress.
Summary
The Protege X40 is meant for data workers and as such the paltry Iris Xe graphics are great for short burst of GPU heavy lifting in specific applications but is not great for gaming or content editing. With Intel’s i7, 12 cores and up to 64GB or memory, users will be choosing to fly through macros-laden Excel docs, excessively large PDFs, multi-gigabyte PowerPoint presentations and several opened Edge and Chrome instances with multiple open tabs, over playing the latest AAA game.
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