Archive for March, 2018

How to Open Print Management in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7

March 29th, 2018 by Admin

Print Management missing from Windows 10 Administrative Tools? Print Management is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that enables you to install, view, and manage the printers. In this tutorial we’ll show you the easiest ways to open Print Management in Windows 11 / 10 / 8 / 7.

Method 1: Open Print Management via Run Command

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run command box, type printmanagement.msc and hit Enter.

This will launch the Print Management console immediately. Expand the Print Servers node on the left, you can add / delete the printers and drivers, view printer queue, configure the printer port, print test page, etc.

Method 2: Open Print Management via Control Panel

Open the Control Panel and select Large icons under the View by drop-down list. Click Administrative Tools.

You can find the Print Management shortcut.

Can’t Find Print Management in Windows 10/8/7 Home?

Print Management is not available in the Home edition of Windows. However, you can find an alternative Control Panel applet that can help manage the printers connected to your computer. Follow these steps:

Open the Control Panel in Large icons view. Click Devices and Printers.

In the Devices and Printers window, you can see the connected printers, scanners, Bluetooth and other external devices. Right-click on your printer and you can see how many documents are in the printing queue, set the default paper size for printing, manage the printer properties.

Click the “Print server properties” in the toolbar area and it lets you configure available printer forms and printer ports, add and remove printer drivers, etc. That’s it!

How to Adjust Screen Brightness on Windows 10 Laptop or Tablet

March 28th, 2018 by Admin

How can I make my computer screen brighter or darker? When you work at home, you want to decrease the screen brightness so it doesn’t hurt your eyes. When taking your laptop outside on a sunny day, it’s nearly impossible to see what’s on the screen and you have to increase the brightness. In this tutorial we’ll show you the easiest ways to manually adjust screen brightness on Windows 10 laptop or tablet.

Method 1: Adjust Adjust Screen Brightness on Windows 10 via Taskbar

Right-click on the Battery icon in the notification area of the taskbar, and then select Adjust screen brightness.

This will open the concerned Control Panel applet – Power Options. You can use the slider at the bottom to reduce or increase the brightness level on your screen.

Method 2: Adjust Adjust Screen Brightness on Windows 10 via Settings App

Open the Settings app from your Start menu, and then click the System category.

Under the Display tab, you can see the “Change brightness” slider on the top. Just move the slider to adjust the brightness of your screen to a level comfortable to your eyes.

Method 3: Adjust Adjust Screen Brightness on Windows 10 via Keyboard Shortcut

Almost all laptops come with brightness keys to quickly adjust the screen brightness. Have a look at your keyboard to see stylized sun icon on function keys (F1 ~ F12). Depending on your laptops manufacturer/model, you may need to hold down the Fn key while you press brightness keys. For instance, on my DELL laptop, Fn + F11/F12 can be used to adjust the screen brightness.

How to Change Mouse Sensitivity and Pointer Speed in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 27th, 2018 by Admin

Mouse cursor moving extremely slow? The cursor lag could make you mad especially when you’re playing games. In this tutorial we’ll explain how to change mouse sensitivity and pointer speed in Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.

How to Change Mouse Sensitivity and Pointer Speed in Windows

  1. Open the Control Panel in Large icons view, click the Mouse option.

  2. In the Mouse Properties window, go to the Pointer Options tab. Under the Motion section, move the slider toward Slow or Fast until you achieve the desired mouse sensitivity.

  3. To make the pointer work more accurately when you’re moving the mouse slowly, select the Enhance pointer precision check box as well.
  4. Click OK to save your changes.

If you are a gamer with a gaming mouse, you might know what the DPI is. DPI is the standard used to measure the mouse sensitivity, expressed as the number of DPIs (dots per linear inch) that a device can detect. You can often change the DPI settings with the software created by your mouse’s manufacturer.

How to Disable SuperFetch in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 21st, 2018 by Admin

Superfetch causing high disk or memory usage? SuperFetch, previously known as Prefetch, is a Windows service that makes your frequently-used programs load faster by preloading them into RAM. However, Superfetch can sometimes take up too many system resources (such as CPU, memory and storage). Here’s how you can disable Superfetch in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Method 1: Disable Superfetch Using Windows Services App

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run prompt, then type services.msc and click OK.

  2. In the Services window, scroll down to find the Superfetch service. Double click on it to configure its properties.

  3. Click the Startup type drop-down list and select Disabled, then click OK and restart your computer.

If you don’t want to permanently disable Superfetch, you can stop the service temporarily by running the following command at the Command Prompt:
net stop superfetch

Method 2: Disable Superfetch Using Registry Editor

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run prompt, then type regedit and press Enter.

  2. Browse to the following registry location using the left sidebar:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

    Then double-click the 32-bit DWORD value EnableSuperfetch in the right pane. If it doesn’t exist, you have to create it.

  3. To disable SuperFetch, change Value Data to 0 and click OK.

    Once you reboot, Superfetch will stay inactive.

If you want to enable SuperFetch later, just restore the value of EnableSuperfetch back to 3 and you’re done!

2 Ways to Disable Microsoft Edge InPrivate Browsing in Windows 10

March 19th, 2018 by Admin

InPrivate browsing in Microsoft Edge is similar to Chrome’s Incognito mode, which lets you browse the web without leaving behind browsing history, cookies, etc. So if you want to track online activities on a shared Windows 10 PC, you have to disable InPrivate browsing on Microsoft Edge.

Method 1: Disable Microsoft Edge InPrivate Browsing via Group Policy

  1. Press the Windows key + R together, type gpedit.msc in the Run box and press Enter.

  2. When the Local Group Policy Editor opens up, browse to the following path:
    Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Edge

    On the right side, double-click the Allow InPrivate browsing policy.

  3. To turn off inPrivate browsing, select Disabled, click Apply and then OK.

  4. Now, open your Edge browser. Click on the More actions button (three dots). When the drop-down menu appears, the option labeled New InPrivate window will appear grayed out.

Method 2: Disable Microsoft Edge InPrivate Browsing via Registry Editor

If you’re using Windows 10 Home, the Local Group Policy Editor is inaccessible, but you can still disable Microsoft Edge InPrivate Browsing using the Registry Editor.

  1. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following location:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft
  2. Right-click on Microsoft key in the left pane and choose New -> Key, and name it MicrosoftEdge. Now right-click on the newly created key MicrosoftEdge and choose New –> Key, and name it Main.
  3. Select the Main key in the left, and then right-click empty space in the right pane. Select New -> DWORD (32-bit Value), name it AllowInPrivate and set its value to 0.

  4. Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. Open Microsoft Edge. The New InPrivate window option should be greyed out.

If you want to turn on Microsoft Edge InPrivate browsing again, just following the same instructions above. But, change the value of AllowInPrivate from 0 to 1.

Find Location of Mouse Pointer Using Ctrl Key in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 12th, 2018 by Admin

Mouse cursor has disappeared after upgrading to Windows 10? This may happen irrespective of whether you use a wireless or a wired mouse. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to enable Windows to show the location of mouse pointer when pressing the Ctrl key.

How to Find Location Of Mouse Pointer Using Ctrl Key in Windows?

Press Windows key and R key at the same time. When the Run box appears, type main.cpl and hit Enter.

In the Mouse Properties dialog, select the Pointer Options tab at the top. Check the box “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key” and click OK.

From now on, you just need to press the CTRL key to find and show the pointer location on the screen.

How to Open Mouse Properties in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 12th, 2018 by Admin

If you want to change mouse sensitivity or customize mouse cursor in Windows, you have to access the Mouse Properties dialog. This tutorial will show you the easiest ways to open Mouse Properties in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Method 1: Open Mouse Properties via Run Command

Hold down the Windows Key and Press R on your keyboard. Once you’ve got the Run command box open, type main.cpl and press Enter.

This will open the Mouse Properties dialog immediately.

Method 2: Open Mouse Properties via Control Panel

Open the Control Panel in Large icons view, and then click the Mouse option.

Method 3: Open Mouse Properties via Settings App in Windows 10

Open the Settings app in Windows 10, and click the Devices category.

Select the Mouse tab, then click the Additional mouse options link on the right side.

Now you can access the Mouse Properties window.

3 Ways to Open Edge in Private Mode in Windows 10

March 7th, 2018 by Admin

Can I start Microsoft Edge in Private mode from a shortcut? Private mode is a useful feature of Microsoft Edge that allows you to surf without leaving traces (like your history, temporary internet files, and cookies) of your activities on your PC. Here are 3 simple ways to open Edge in Private mode in Windows 10.

Method 1: Open Edge in Private mode from Start Menu or Taskbar

If you’ve pinned the Edge browser to Start Menu or taskbar, just right-click on it and then click New InPrivate window option.

Microsoft Edge will then launch in Private mode.

Method 2: Access Private mode from within Edge Browser

Start your Edge browser, then click on the three dots labelled More actions. Select New InPrivate window to open a new window in Private mode.

Method 3: Create a Desktop Shortcut to Open Edge in Private mode

  1. Right-click any empty area on your desktop, and then select New -> Shortcut.

  2. When the wizard of creating shortcut appears, copy and paste the following in the location box. Click Next.

    cmd.exe /c start shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge -private

  3. Give a name for the shortcut. E.g., Microsoft Edge InPrivate.

  4. Now you can see the newly-created shortcut on your desktop, but it uses the Command Prompt icon. To change the icon, right-click on the shortcut and select Properties.
  5. In the Properties window, go to the Shortcut tab. Click the Change Icon button.

  6. Copy and paste the following path into the “Look for icons in this file” box, and hit Enter. When you see the Edge icon, click OK.

    %SystemRoot%\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge.exe

  7. You’re all done. Simply double-click the Edge shortcut on the desktop and you can open Edge in Private mode automatically.

Fix: Can’t Type Special Characters on Windows Login Screen

March 5th, 2018 by Admin

Can’t log into Windows if your password contains certain special characters? If you’re concerned about the security of your Windows account, you may use some ultra complex password generated from password manager. When setting up password via Control Panel, you can input special characters with a copy and paste operation, or using the built-in Character Map utility. The problem is that these ways don’t work on the Windows login screen.

In this tutorial we’ll explain how you can enter special characters on Windows login screen, or simply remove your password to unlock your computer.

Method 1: Type Special Characters on Windows Login Screen

To insert the special character (such as #, &, @, {,}, [,],) shown on the upper part of a key, just hold down SHIFT and press the desired key to type it. If your desired characters (such as ©,®,∆,√) that are not on the keyboard, you can type it using Alt key codes:

  1. Place your cursor in the location where you wish to insert a special character.
  2. When the NUM LOCK key is on, press and hold down the Alt key, then tap the numbers (ALT code) on the numeric keypad at the right side of your keyboard.
  3. Release the Alt key, the desired character will appear.

For example, let’s say you want to type the copyright symbol ©. It’s ALT code is 0169. With Num Lock enabled, hold down Alt key and tap the sequence of numbers (0, 1, 6, 9) on the numpad, then release the Alt key.

The following is the ALT codes for the most common characters:

Note: You must use the numeric keypad to type the ALT code. However, most laptops and tablets don’t have the traditional numeric keypad. To type special characters, you may have to add an external USB keyboard with embedded numeric keypad.

Method 2: Remove Windows Password to Bypass the Login Screen

If you’re still unable to type special characters on the login screen, you may be completely locked out of Windows admin account. In order to regain access to your system, you can use PCUnlocker to remove the login password before Windows loads up.

  1. To start, use a second computer to download the ISO image of PCUnlocker. Run the ISO2Disc utility and browse for the ISO file you just downloaded, just select your USB drive and start the process to create a bootable PCUnlocker USB drive.

  2. Plug the USB drive into your locked computer. Enter into the BIOS setup and change the boot sequence to force your computer to boot from USB drive first.

  3. After PCUnlocker loads from the USB drive, you can see all local accounts found on your computer. Just select your admin account and click on Reset Password button. This lets you remove / delete the Windows password that you’re unable to type on the login screen.

  4. Reboot your computer and restore the BIOS boot sequence to boot from hard drive. Windows will log in to your local admin account without prompting you to type password any longer. Done!