Archive for September, 2018

Show Encrypted or Compressed NTFS files in Color on Windows 10

September 16th, 2018 by Admin

By default, Windows displays all folders and files names in black letters. To help you identify an EFS or compressed folder or file, you can turn on “Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color” for your account in Windows 10. EFS encrypted files will show its name in green, while compressed NTFS files will show the name in blue.

Method 1: Show Encrypted or Compressed NTFS files in Color via Folder Options

  1. Press Windows Key + E to open File Explorer. Select the View tab from the File Explorer Ribbon and then click on Options.

  2. When the Folder Options window opens, click the View tab and check the option named “Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color“.

  3. Click Apply followed by OK. Now Windows 10 will show compressed or encrypted folders or files names in blue or green color.

Method 2: Show Encrypted or Compressed NTFS files in Color via Registry Editor

  1. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

    Next, double-click the 32-bit DWORD ShowEncryptCompressedColor in the right pane.

  2. Set the value data to 1 and click OK.

  3. Close Registry Editor. Windows 10 makes the file names colorful in order to help you identify the encrypted or compressed file and folder easily.

Different Ways to Open Programs and Features in Windows 10

September 13th, 2018 by Admin

If you want to get installed programs list or uninstall an application, you have to access the Programs and Features panel. In this tutorial we’ll show you different ways to quickly open Programs and Features in Windows 10.

Method 1: Open Programs and Features from Control Panel

Launch the Control Panel and set the display to Large icons, then click Programs and Features.

Method 2: Open Programs and Features via Run

Press Windows + R keys simultaneously to launch the Run box. Type appwiz.cpl and click OK to open Programs and Features.

Method 3: Open Programs and Features from Command Prompt

If you’re running a Command Prompt or PowerShell, just execute the appwiz.cpl command. This will get you the Programs and Features window.

Method 4: Open Programs and Features from Win+X Menu

Right-click on the Start button or press the Windows key + X keyboard combination. When the WinX menu opens, select Apps and Features.

This will open the Apps & Features pane in the new Settings app. On the right panel, look for the “Related settings” section and you can click the “Programs and Features” link to access the traditional Uninstall Programs window.

Method 5: Create a Programs and Features Shortcut on the Desktop

If you want to open Programs and Features with just a single click, follow these steps to create a desktop shortcut for quick access:

  1. Right-click any vacant area in the desktop, and select New -> Shortcut.

  2. Copy-paste the following command into the “Type the location of the item” field, and click Next.
    %WinDir%\System32\appwiz.cpl

  3. Name the shortcut “Programs and Features” or whatever you like, and then click Finish.

  4. Now, you can double-click the new shortcut on your desktop to access Programs and Features easily, or assign a keyboard shortcut to launch it.

Quick Ways to Open Game Controllers Settings in Windows 10

September 13th, 2018 by Admin

If you want to install a game controller or calibrate your joystick, you have to access the Game Controllers Settings. In this tutorial we’ll show you different ways to open Game Controllers Settings in Windows 10.

Method 1: Open Game Controllers Settings via Run Command

press the Windows key and R to bring up the Run command, type joy.cpl and press Enter. This will launch the Game Controllers window immediately.

Method 2: Open Game Controllers Settings via Windows 10 Search

Click the Cortana Search box in the taskbar, enter “game controller” and you can then click the “Set up USB game controller” option from the search result.

Method 3: Open Game Controllers Settings via Control Panel

Open the Control Panel in Large icons, click on Devices and Printers.

Locate your joystick. Right-click on it and select “Game controller settings” from the popup menu.

It will display the Game Controllers Settings dialog.

Method 4: Create a Desktop Shortcut to Open Game Controllers Settings

If you need to access the Game Controllers Settings regularly, follow the step-by-step instructions to create a desktop shortcut on Windows 10:

Right click any blank area on the desktop, then select New -> Shortcut from the context menu.

Copy and paste the following path into the location box, and click Next.
%SystemRoot%\System32\joy.cpl

Give a name for your Game Controllers shortcut.

Click Finish and you’re done!

How to View Installed Certificates in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

September 12th, 2018 by Admin

How can I get a list of installed certificates on Windows? Is there a way to check if my certificate has the private key attached? In this tutorial we’ll show you easy ways to view all certificates installed on your Windows 10 / 8 / 7 computer, so you can check the certificate status, export, import, delete or request new certificates.

Method 1: View Installed Certificates for Current User

  1. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run command, type certmgr.msc and press Enter.

  2. When the Certificate Manager console opens, expand any certificates folder on the left. In the right pane, you’ll see details about your certificates. Right-click on them and you can export or delete it.

    By default, the EFS certificate could be found under the “Personal” -> “Certificates” folder. Double-click on the EFS certificate and you can know if it has the private key attached. Without the private key, you’re unable to decrypt your EFS files.

Method 2: View Installed Certificates for Local Computer

  1. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run command, type mmc and press Enter to open Microsoft Management Console.

  2. Click the File menu and then select Add/Remove Snap-in.

  3. Select Certificates from the list of snap-ins, and click Add.

  4. In the next dialog box, select Computer account and click Next.

  5. Select Local computer and click Finish.

  6. Now you’ll back at the “Add or Remove Snap-ins” window, just click OK.

  7. When you open any certificates folder, you will see that the certificates are displayed in the right pane.

Configure File Explorer to Automatically Open Previous Folder at Logon

September 11th, 2018 by Admin

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to configure Windows 10 to remember your currently opened folder windows, and automatically restore them at the next logon. This feature lets you quickly get back to the previous files you’re working after logging off or restart the computer.

Method 1: Configure Windows 10 to Restore Previous Folder Windows via Folder Options

  1. To get started, you need to open the Folder Options in Windows 10.

  2. Go to the View tab. In the list of Advanced settings, scroll down to check the option labelled “Restore previous folder windows at logon” and click OK.

  3. Now when you log off, restart or shutdown, Windows 10 will automatically open the previously opened folder windows at the next logon.

Method 2: Configure Windows 10 to Restore Previous Folder Windows via Registry

The “Restore previous folder windows at logon” option can also be configured with a registry tweak. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following location:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

    Double-click the 32-bit DWORD entry PersistBrowsers on the right pane. If PersistBrowsers is missing, you need to create it manually.

  2. Enter 1 into the Value data box and click OK.

  3. Sign out or restart Windows 10 for your registry settings to take effect.

How to Restore “Close All Tabs” Warning in Microsoft Edge

September 9th, 2018 by Admin

How to get back closing all tabs warning in Microsoft Edge? To avoid accidentally closing multiple tabs at once, Microsoft Edge will show a warning prompt “Do you want to close all tabs” when you try to close the browser.

If you’ve checked the “Always close all tabs” option, Edge will no longer show you the prompt from the next time. This tutorial will walk you through the steps to restore the “close all tabs” warning in Microsoft Edge for your Windows 10 account.

How to Restore “Close All Tabs” Warning in Microsoft Edge

  1. Open the Registry Editor. Copy and paste the following path into the Registry Editor’s address bar to quickly jump to the “Main” key. Then double-click the DWORD AskToCloseAllTabs on the right pane.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge\Main

    If the AskToCloseAllTabs value doesn’t exist, right-click on an empty spot and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it AskToCloseAllTabs.

  2. Change its value data to 1 if you want to enable “Do you want to close all tabs” prompt in Microsoft Edge.

  3. Once you’ve completed the steps, re-launch Microsoft Edge. The next time you try to close Edge with multiple tabs, you will get “Do you want to close all tabs?” prompt for confirmation.

How to Show “Run as different user” on Windows 10 Start Menu

September 6th, 2018 by Admin

How can I run an application (such as SQL Server Management Studio) as a different user? Run as different user is a hidden feature in the depth of Windows. Previously we’ve covered 3 ways to run program as different user. Here we’ll show you a simple way to add “Run as different user” command to the Start Menu in Windows 10.

How to Show “Run as different user” on Windows 10 Start Menu

  1. Open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

    If the “Explorer” subkey is missing, right-click on the “Windows” key and select New -> Key. Name it “Explorer” (without the quotes).

  2. Next, right-click on the “Explorer” subkey and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it ShowRunAsDifferentUserInStart.

  3. Double-click the created value, set its value data to 1, then click OK.

  4. Close the Registry Editor. After restarting Windows 10, the next time you right-click any app on the Start Menu, the “Run as a different user” command will appear on the context menu that appears.

How to Remove “Open PowerShell window here” Context Menu in Windows 10

September 5th, 2018 by Admin

On Windows 10, you can access the “Open PowerShell window here” context menu by holding down the SHIFT key and then right-clicking a folder. This lets you quickly open PowerShell in the current folder without having to change the working directory.

If you’re a fan of using Command Prompt rather than Windows PowerShell, let’s see how to remove “Open PowerShell window here” context menu in Windows 10.

How to Remove “Open PowerShell window here” Context Menu in Windows 10

  1. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command. Type regedit and hit Enter.

  2. Go to the following location in the Registry Editor window that appears:
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Powershell

    By default, the “Powershell” key is protected and none of its values can be modified. You have to take ownership of this registry key and assign full permissions to your account.

  3. Right-click the “Powershell” key in the left pane and then select New -> String Value.

  4. Name the new string “ProgrammaticAccessOnly“, and leave its value data empty.

  5. Now you’ve successfully removed “Open PowerShell window here” in the context menu when you press SHIFT and then right-click any folder.

If you want to continue removing “Open PowerShell window here” from the right-click menu for Drives and Directory background, repeat the steps above for the following registry keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\Powershell
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Background\shell\Powershell

Whenever you need to restore the “Open PowerShell window here” context menu, just delete the ProgrammaticAccessOnly entry from the above registry locations and you’re done.

How to Turn off Password Protected Sharing in Windows 10

September 4th, 2018 by Admin

In Windows 10, password protected sharing is turned on by default, so your shared files could be accessed by only network users who have the login credentials of your computer. If you want to allow others to access the shared files on your PC without any username/password, follow the below step-by-step tutorial to turn off password protected sharing in Windows 10.

Steps to Disable Password Protected Sharing in Windows 10

  1. Open the Control Panel and change the View by setting to Large icons, then click on Network and Sharing Center.

  2. Click on the “Change advanced sharing settings” link on the left side.

  3. Click on the downward arrow to expand the All Networks section.

  4. Under Password protected sharing, check the option “Turn off password protected sharing” and click Save changes.

Can’t Turn off Password Protected Sharing?

After you’ve followed the above steps to disable password protected sharing, go back to the Advanced sharing settings and sometimes you may find the password protected sharing is still turned on. This issue usually happens when your Guest account is protected with a password. To fix this issue, you have to remove the Guest password:

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run box, type lusrmgr.msc and press Enter to open Local Users and Groups.

  2. Click Users in the left pane, then right-click on Guest and select Set Password.

  3. Leave the New password and Confirm password fields blank, then click OK.

If you’re unable to run the lusrmgr.msc (Local Users and Groups snap-in), you can use other methods described in the following article to remove the Guest account password.

5 Ways to Remove the Administrator Password in Windows 10

After removing the Guest password, you should now be able to turn off password protected sharing successfully.

How to Paste Text into Word 2016 / 2013 Document without Formatting

September 3rd, 2018 by Admin

“When I paste text into a Word document from a website, there appears to be a color background to the text that I cannot remove. How can I strip the formatting away?”

By default, Microsoft Word will preserve the look and formatting of your source text every time you paste. In this tutorial we will show you how to configure Microsoft Word 2016 / 2013 to make any text copied from other programs always being pasted as plain text only.

How to Paste Text into Word 2016 / 2013 Document without Formatting?

  1. Open your Microsoft Word 2016 or 2013. Click the File tab at the top-left corner of the window.

  2. Click the Options button at the bottom of the left bar.

  3. When the Word Options window opens, click Advanced in the left menu. Scroll down to the “Cut, copy, and paste” section in the right side, then click the “Pasting from other programs” drop-down menu and choose “Keep Text Only“.

  4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Word Options window.
  5. Now, when you copy and paste text into Word from other programs like web browsers, your pasted text will be shown as plain-text only, without extra formatting.