Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

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How to Show Different Time Zone Clocks on Windows 10 Taskbar

January 17th, 2020 by Admin

By default, Windows 10 will display a single clock with your local time in the system tray. If you want an additional clock, here is an easy way to make Windows 10 show different time zone clocks on the taskbar. This is really useful when you need to know if it’s a good time to call a friend or a colleague who lives in different time zones.

How to Show Different Time Zone Clocks on Windows 10 Taskbar

  1. Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app, then click on Time & Language.

  2. Select the Date & time tab. Scroll down to the “Related settings” section and click on “Add clocks for different time zones“.

  3. Under the “Additional Clocks” tab, check the “Show this clock” box, choose the time zone you want and give it a name. Note that you can add up to two additional time zone clocks.

  4. After you’re done, click OK. Now move your cursor over the clock at the bottom right corner of the taskbar, and you will see two additional time zone clocks appearing right under the local time.

That’s it!

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How to Check if a Process is Running as Administrator in Windows 10

January 15th, 2020 by Admin

When you try to run an program with admin privileges, a UAC prompt will ask for permission to continue. But there are some scheduled tasks or background applications which can run as admin without the UAC prompt. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple method to check if a process is running as administrator in Windows 10.

How to Check if a Process is Running as Administrator in Windows 10

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box, type taskmgr and then hit Enter to launch Task Manager.

  2. Go to the Details tab. Right-click any column header and choose “Select Columns” from the popup menu.

  3. Scroll down until you see the Elevated option, check that box and click OK.

  4. Now, the Details tab of Task Manager will be showing a new “Elevated” column. You can easily see which process is launched with admin/elevated privileges.

That’s it!

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2 Ways to Disable / Block Microsoft Edge Extensions in Windows 10

January 8th, 2020 by Admin

Browser extensions are third-party add-ons that provide extra functionality to Microsoft Edge. When your browser slows down or it doesn’t load webpage properly, a problematic extension may be the major cause. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to disable extension support and prevent users from installing any extension in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

Method 1: Disable Extensions in Microsoft Edge Using GPO

  1. Press the Windows Key + R together, type in gpedit.msc and hit Enter to open Local Group Policy Editor.

  2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Microsoft Edge. In the right pane you will see the Allow Extensions policy. Double-click on it to modify.

  3. Select the Disabled option and click OK.

  4. After restarting your computer, you can no longer install extensions in the Edge browser, and the extensions that are already installed will also be disabled automatically. If you open the Settings menu in the Edge browser, you will see that the “Extensions” option is greyed out.

Method 2: Disable Extensions in Microsoft Edge Using Registry Editor

  1. Press the Windows Key + R together, type in regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.

  2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft. Right-click on the “Microsoft” key to create a new key named MicrosoftEdge. Next, right-click on the newly created key and create a new key named Extensions.

  3. Right-click on any blank area in the right pane to create a DWORD (32-bit) Value named ExtensionsEnabled, and make sure the value data is set to 0.

  4. Close Registry Editor and restart Windows, you won’t be able to use or install any extension on Microsoft Edge. Whenever you need to enable extension support again, simply delete the DWORD ExtensionsEnabled and you’re done.

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How to Create System Restore Points with Command Prompt or PowerShell

January 6th, 2020 by Admin

By default, Windows will automatically create a restore point before you make a major change to the OS, such as installing a new driver or app. In order to make more frequent backup, you need to create restore points manually or schedule the task to run daily or weekly. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create system restore points in Windows 10 using Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Part 1: Turn On System Protection

Before getting started, you need to check if system protection is enabled. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box and type “sysdm.cpl” to open the System Properties window.

Go to the System Protection tab and click on the Configure button.

Select “Turn on system protection” and click OK.

Part 2: Disable System Restore Point Frequency

By default, Windows allows you to create only one restore point every 24 hours. To remove this limitation, open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore. Right-click on the SystemRestore key in the left pane and select New ->DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Give the new DWORD a name SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency and leave its value data to 0.

Part 3: Create System Restore Point with CMD or PowerShell

Open an elevated Command Prompt and type the following command:
wmic.exe /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call CreateRestorePoint "MyRestorePoint", 100, 7

or launch Windows PowerShell as administrator and enter:
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoExit -Command "Checkpoint-Computer -Description "MyRestorePoint" -RestorePointType "MODIFY_SETTINGS""

Once pressing Enter, a new system restore point will be created immediately. You can use Task Scheduler to make your system run the above command to create restore points automatically during startup.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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3 Ways to Disable Clipboard History in Windows 10

January 3rd, 2020 by Admin

Is there a way to turn off the clipboard history feature? Starting with Windows 10 October 2018 Update, the clipboard can save multiple items (text and images) that were copied and sync them across devices. This may inevitably cause your sensitive data appear in the clipboard history. In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 easy ways to disable clipboard history in Windows 10.

Method 1: Disable Clipboard History in Settings App

Open the Settings app and click on the System category. Under the Clipboard tab, toggle the “Clipboard history” option to Off. This should disable clipboard history immediately.

Method 2: Disable Clipboard History Using Group Policy

Open the Local Group Policy Editor and browse to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> OS Policies. On the right pane, double-click on “Allow Clipboard History“.

Set the policy to Disabled. Click OK and reboot your computer. This will turn off clipboard history for all users on your system.

Method 3: Disable Clipboard History Using Registry Editor

Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System. Right-click on the right pane and select New -> DWORD (32-bit Value).

Name the newly created DWORD as AllowClipboardHistory. Give it a value of 0 and reboot.

When you try to turn on the clipboard history option in Settings app, you’ll find it is grayed out. Whenever you need to enable clipboard history, just navigate to the same registry location and delete the AllowClipboardHistory entry.

That’s it!

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How to Make Windows 10 Play Shutdown Sound

December 26th, 2019 by Admin

Windows 10 shutdown sound not playing? Starting with Windows 8, sounds for the logon, logoff and shutdown events have been disabled completely, but the sound files remain in the system location: C:\Windows\Media. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to make Windows 10 play shutdown sound using Task Scheduler.

How to Make Windows 10 Play Shutdown Sound

  1. To get started, open Task Scheduler and click on the Create Task link in the right Actions pane.

  2. When the Create Task dialog opens, give the task a proper name like “Play shutdown sound“. Choose “Run whether user is logged on or not” and check the “Run with highest privileges” option. Next, click the “Configure for” drop-down and select Windows 10.

  3. Switch to the Triggers tab and click on the New… button.

  4. Select On an event in the “Begin the task” drop-down. Click the Log drop-down to select System, enter 1074 (user initiated shutdown) in the Event ID text box and click OK.

  5. Move to the Actions tab and click on the New… button.

  6. Set the action type to Start a program. Type PowerShell in the Program/script text box. Copy and paste the following command into the “Add arguments” text box. Click OK.
    -Command "(New-Object Media.SoundPlayer 'C:\Windows\Media\Windows Shutdown.wav').PlaySync()"

  7. Go to the Conditions tab, uncheck the option “Start the task only if the computer is on AC power” and click OK.

  8. You will be prompted to enter your current Windows password. Once it’s done, Windows 10 will play a sound every time you shut down your computer.

If you don’t like the default shutdown sound which comes with Windows 10, you can change it to any other WAV file located in C:\Windows\Media. That’s it!

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How to Make Funny Folder Name with Emoji on Windows 10

December 23rd, 2019 by Admin

How can I create a folder or file with funny name? If you get bored with using letters and numbers to name a folder or file, here’s how to use Emoji to rename a folder or file on Windows 10.

How to Make Funny Folder Name with Emoji on Windows 10

Open File Explorer and browse to a folder (or a file, program shortcut) you want to rename. Highlight the folder and hit F2 key on your keyboard, or right-click it and select Rename.

While renaming, press the Windows key + . at the same time to open the built-in Emoji panel. Click on the emojis you want to use for naming your folder. You can now name your folder with any combination of emoji, letters, and numbers.

Once you’re done entering emoji, press Enter to save the new folder name.

That’s all. You can go ahead and use this tip to rename all your folders, files or desktop shortcuts with funny emoji names.

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2 Ways to Run a Windows Program in Compatibility Mode

December 19th, 2019 by Admin

Your old program doesn’t work properly or can’t run at all after upgrading to Windows 10? To get some older programs to run on a modern version of Windows, you may need to turn on compatibility mode. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple methods to run a Windows program in compatibility mode.

Method 1: Enable Compatibility Mode for a Program in Properties

Right-click your program’s shortcut or the .exe file, and then select Properties from the context menu.

Under the Compatibility tab, check the “Run this program in compatibility mode for” option, and then choose which version of Windows you want to use.

For example, if your program doesn’t run properly on Windows 10 but did run properly on Windows 7, then select “Windows 7” from the drop-down menu. This will force the program to run in Windows 7 compatibility mode.

Method 2: Enable Compatibility Mode for a Program Using Command Prompt

First of all, you need to know which compatibility mode you want your program to run with. The following tables show the values for different compatibility modes.

Description Value Data
Windows 8 WIN8RTM
Windows 7 WIN7RTM
Windows Vista SP2 VISTASP2
Windows Vista SP1 VISTASP1
Windows Vista VISTARTM
Windows XP SP3 WINXPSP3
Windows XP SP2 WINXPSP2
Windows 98 WIN98

Next, Open an elevated Command Prompt and run the following command. Replacing "D:\PSTools\PsExec.exe" with the full path of your .exe file, and “WIN7RTM” with your desired compatibility mode.

reg.exe Add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers" /v "D:\PSTools\PsExec.exe" /d "WIN7RTM"

Once this is done, your program will run in compatibility mode by default.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Enable Print Logging in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012

December 16th, 2019 by Admin

How can I keep track of all printing activities that take place in different applications? Windows Event Viewer allows you to track all print jobs in one place. By default the print logging isn’t turned on. Here is how you can enable print logging in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012.

How to Enable Print Logging in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run dialog, type eventvwr.msc and hit Enter to open Event Viewer. In Windows Server 2012, you can access Event Viewer from Server Manager -> Tools.

  2. When the Event Viewer window opens, navigate to Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft -> Windows -> PrintService. Right-click on Operational item and select Properties.

  3. In Log Properties dialog, check the “Enable logging” option. You can change the maximum event log size or enable Overwrite events as needed to only keep recent events.

  4. From this point forward, all your print activities will be logged by Event Viewer and you can see the event logs under Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft -> Windows -> PrintService -> Operatinal.

    The most interesting event for printer usage tracking is event 307. Double-click on each 307 event and it tells you which document was printed, how many pages or copies were used, as well as the printing time.

Enable Print Logging Using Command Prompt or PowerShell

Additionally, you can also enable Windows print logging using the built-in wevutil utility. Just open an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell, and run the following command:
wevtutil.exe sl Microsoft-Windows-PrintService/Operational /enabled:true

That’s it!

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How to Move the Desktop or Document Folder to Another Drive in Windows 10

December 11th, 2019 by Admin

Every version of Windows comes with a series of default folders (such as Desktop, Document, Downloads, Pictures, Videos, and Music) for each user account. If you’re running out of space on your primary C: drive, you can move those folders to another drive to free up space. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to easily move the Desktop or Document folder to another drive in Windows 10.

How to Move the Desktop or Document Folder to Another Drive

  1. Open File Explorer and browse to your user account’s folder. If your user account name is Tom, you’ll find the Desktop and Document folders at C:\Users\Tom. Right-click the Desktop or Document folder you want to move, and select Properties.

  2. Go to the Location tab, and click on the Move button.

  3. When the folder browse dialog shows up, select a new location where you want the folder to be moved. Finally click on Select Folder.

  4. The new location is now shown in the Location tab. Click OK to apply the change.

  5. Afterwards, click Yes to confirm moving all your files from the old location to the new folder.

Whenever you want to restore the Desktop or Documents folders to its original location, just right-click on the folder and select Properties, then click on the Restore Default button under the Location tab.

That’s it!

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