How to Check for Available WiFi
Like past Windows operating systems, Windows 8 enables your computer to connect to a wireless network if you have an installed Wi-Fi card. However, the method to connect to a wireless network is...
View ArticleCons of a Computer in Sleep Mode
The sleep mode function on your computer exists to limit the energy used by your computer. On a desktop system, this offers environmental and electric bill benefits, as powering down aspects of the...
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How to Reset Windows Without a Disk
Before selling or recycling your PC, you may need to remove all personal files, settings and applications to protect your identity and user information. Fortunately, you can reset your PC to its...
View ArticleWhere Is the License Key Number Located on the Computer?
Your Windows license key is a 25-digit code that identifies your copy of Windows and gives you access to all of the features to which you're entitled. In most cases, the product key will be naturally...
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How to Close Programs That Won't Close
There are two situations when a program refuses to close after clicking the standard Close button. The first is by design, which is often the case with peer-to-peer or communication programs that...
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How to Bypass an Update
Windows Update is designed to install updates to your operating system automatically, but you can configure the app to bypass updates. Unchecking a box in the app will instruct Windows to bypass an...
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Make Windows 8 Work More Like Windows 7
The Start screen and touch-first emphasis of Windows 8 engendered a "love it or hate it" response among users. For every person who hailed the new design approach, there seemed another who despised it....
View ArticleHow to Clear the Administrator's Password on a Used Laptop
How you go about clearing the password for an administrator account on a used laptop varies depending on whether you know the current password. If you do, you can clear it and enter a new one via the...
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How to Unhide AppData
One way that Microsoft keeps your computer running smoothly is by hiding things from you so you don't screw them up. Modern versions of Windows ensure that you can't see certain system files and...
View ArticleHow to Make Your Company Logo Screen Come Up When You Boot Your Computer
The Lock Screen is the screen on which users of your computer enter their passwords in order to log in. It's also the first screen you see when you boot your computer. Like many other screens in...
View ArticleHow to Turn Off the Voice on My Microsoft Computer: It States Everything I Do
Narrator in Microsoft Windows allows the blind and visually impaired to navigate the operating system. If Narrator is enabled on your PC, it will dictate aloud any text you type and describe the...
View ArticleHow to Set a Google Drive as an Active Directory Home
Assigning a user home folder in Windows Server simplifies administrative file management for a network. Normally, a home folder is remotely located on a host computer, but Active Directory also...
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How to Make an XP Startup Disk With Fdisk
Windows XP startup disks allow you to reinstall your Windows XP operating system from the Windows XP installation CD, but don’t come with any additional resources. By creating a custom Windows XP...
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How to Create a Windows 7 System Recovery Disc
Creating a Windows 7 Recovery Disc -- a factory image of the software originally installed on your computer -- takes some time but you will be thankful you did it if you find yourself in the midst of a...
View ArticleHow to Configure Boot.Ini With PAE Switch
By default, a process running in a 32-Bit version of Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 can only access a total of 2GB of memory. The total space allocated is shared with all programs. If you’re...
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Vista's Debugging Mode
Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system includes several special modes that you can access when you experience computer issues. The most well known of these modes is safe mode, which only loads...
View ArticleWays to Speed Up Your Computer Using Regedit
Speed up your Windows 7 computer by using regedit to tweak some of the operating system's default settings. In an attempt to make Windows 7 more intuitive, programmers at Microsoft set up numerous...
View ArticleWhat Is the Regsvr32 Jscript.dll?
"Regsvr32 Jscript.dll" is a command to register the Jscript.dll Dynamic Link Library, or DLL, into a Windows-based operating system's registry. For clarification, the latter is a core system database...
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What Is a Browseui Preloader?
When you turn on your computer, dozens of processes commence as the system starts. Some of these processes initiate or control operating system functions, while others are third party applications that...
View ArticleMAK vs. KMS in Windows 7
The Multiple Activation Key, or MAK, and the Key Management Service, KMS, are volume activation services from Microsoft that allow business owners to conveniently automate the activation of multiple...
View ArticleWindows Cannot Access Credential Manager
Having to re-enter authentication information such as usernames and passwords when connecting to networks and websites can be an annoyance, especially if the locations are visited frequently. Windows 7...
View ArticleBootmgr Is Missing on the Toshiba Satellite L355-S7905
Windows Vista relies on the Windows Boot Manager to locate the information the computer needs to boot to the operating system. If the Windows Boot Manager, called BOOTMGR or bootmgr.exe, is corrupted...
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Connection Error 678 on Windows 7 64-Bit
Windows Error 678, "The remote computer did not respond," occurs when your Internet connection fails to connect to your Internet service provider. This error code, which Windows has used since Windows...
View ArticleTemporary Internet Files: The Parameter Is Incorrect
When Microsoft Windows users open a Web page, download a file from the Internet or watch a streaming video online, a copy of the files they view temporarily get stored onto their computers. When you...
View ArticleWhy Do My Desktop Icons Keep Reappearing?
Windows makes it easy to toggle your desktop icons on and off, and after electing to hide the icons, they shouldn't reappear. When they do, it might signify a problem such as a virus or it might be a...
View ArticleWhat Is a "Persistent Handler"?
Persistent handlers are tools that Windows' search engine uses to find files. The handlers are small extensions of the Windows Shell, registered to look for particular software objects stored on the...
View ArticleHow to Use Orca to Create MST Files
Orca, an application which is part of the Microsoft Windows Installer software development kit, allows its users to modify MSI packages. MSI files allow users to install applications on Windows...
View ArticleHow to Transfer DHCP DNS and an Active Directory to a New Server
Migrating Active Directory and its associated domain-name system and dynamic host-configuration protocol servers from old to new hardware is a complicated process that can take several hours to...
View ArticleWhat Is the Difference Between WDDM & XDDM?
WDDM and XDDM refer to display models for Windows operating systems. Each is an acronym to define a particular type of display model for specific versions of the operating system. To understand the...
View ArticleThe Desktop Manager Was Unable to Start Because WDDM Is Not in Use
When attempting to use some of the newest display features in recent versions of the Windows operating system, you may occasionally receive an error message warning you that the Desktop Window Manager...
View ArticleCan I Delete Console Files After Defragmenting?
Several control panels in Windows have customizable settings, such as the ability to display or hide sections of information. Windows stores these options in console files. Every control panel that...
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Set up a Guest Share in Windows 7
Windows 7 includes a type of account, called a guest account, that sharply limits the types of activity the user may execute. For example, a guest user cannot change the account password, modify...
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Speed Up Your PC by Removing the Useless Apps That Come With Your New Computer
Disappointed because the sleek, sexy new computer you bought moves like a snail? The problem may not be the machine's specs. Extra applications installed on top of Windows by the PC manufacturer can...
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How to Use Windows 8
Unlike most previous editions of Windows, Windows 8 sports an all-new, radically overhauled interface. That means you might need to re-learn how to do even simple and common tasks. But don't worry...
View ArticleHow to Create a File With a Command Prompt
The Windows Command Prompt gives you a way to communicate with the operating system directly and perform a wide variety of tasks, such as acquiring network information, troubleshooting the operating...
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How to Change the Size of Desktop Items on Windows 8
Microsoft's Windows 8 shakes up the traditional desktop. In place of your familiar desktop items, this operating system greets you with the Start screen, a field of colorful, animated tiles that...
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How to Reboot a Computer to Unfreeze the Cursor
When your on-screen cursor is frozen, you can't use your mouse to navigate the Windows 8 Charm bar and restart your computer. This means you're forced to use your keyboard to reboot the system....
View ArticleHow to Rename Your Hard Drives
Windows 8 assigns default names to the hard drives in your PC, such as "Local Drive (C:/)." When you have multiple hard drives, renaming each one enables you to categorize them so you can quickly find...
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How to Turn a Display Off With the Keyboard
The ability to turn off your display from the keyboard provides a convenient means of saving power while you're not using the computer. Many displays, especially on laptops, don't have a power switch,...
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How to Reinstall Windows Using Discs That Came With a Compaq Presario Notebook
Compaq Presario notebooks that originally came with Windows XP or earlier installed included recovery discs to restore the computer to its default factory settings. The recovery discs contain the...
View ArticleHow to Delete an App From a PC
In Windows 8, applications differ in a few ways from traditional programs. Windows 8 apps use the full power of the Windows 8 interface and take advantage of a touchscreen in ways that normal programs...
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How to Remove Bad Restore Points in Windows
Both the Disk Cleanup and System Properties utilities can remove system restore points. However, you cannot use either utility to remove an individual restore point. The Disk Cleanup utility removes...
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How to Use a Microphone With Windows Sound Recorder
When attaching a microphone to your sound card's Mic jack, Windows 8's Sound Recorder picks up external sounds, such as dictation or user-created sound effects. Typically, connecting the microphone is...
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How to Edit a Finalized DVD-RW
Finalizing a DVD creates an index and protects the disc from further writes. This means that the data on your finalized DVD-RW cannot be modified. Despite this limitation, a DVD-RW can be erased....
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How to Run MSI Wind in Safe Mode
The original MSI Wind netbook series ran Windows XP and later moved to Windows 7. These operating systems enabled you to enter the diagnostic Safe Mode by repeatedly pressing "F8" while booting the...
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How to Copy Files to a Flash Drive When Asked for a Disk
If Windows or a third-party application needs to save information, it may ask you to choose the location where you want it to copy one or more files. While many people may choose folders on their hard...
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How to Allocate Processor Resources
During general use, you do not need to manually allocate your computer's processor resources. The system itself will automatically utilize the CPU in the most efficient way for most situations. If you...
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How to Organize, Back Up & Format a Laptop to Sell
When a laptop has fulfilled its usefulness for you, that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw it into a closet and forget about it. What’s old to you is new to someone else, and with a little work you can...
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What Happens When You Reset a PC to Factory Settings?
Many computers ship from the factory with a partition on the hard drive containing system-restore files that enable you to reset your PC to factory settings. Windows includes software that performs a...
View ArticleClearing Windows Login History
By default, Windows 8 is configured to record all login activity on your computer as security event logs. Over time, the accumulation of numerous event logs can make it harder for you to keep track of...
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