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In this new flight, Cortana gets a new full-screen mode when your device is unlocked and idle. The assistant is also getting more useful with new ability including new voice commands to shutdown, restart, sleep, and lock your PC. You can also raise and lower the system volume with voice commands. And Cortana can now control music playback on more apps. Windows Ink gets a few updates, including a new button to recover a previous Screen Sketch and a new ink preview while selecting your ink settings....

But the problem is that Microsoft has only added SkyDrive to the list, there isn’t an option to add other services such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Of course, you can always use the Save As option from the file menu. It will take a few extra clicks, but having everything integrated, one-click away is always a good thing. One approach to add other cloud services such as Dropbox and Google Drive is by using a small script that is specially crafted to add specific services....

Although an in-place upgrade using Windows Update is typically the recommended method, there’s always a chance of issues and errors, which could result from custom configurations, apps and drivers incompatibility, and other problems. A clean installation minimizes the chances of problems because you’ll be deleting everything on the hard drive and installing a fresh copy of Windows 10 with the November 2019 Update. Also, if you’ve been using the same installation for a long time, a clean installation of Windows 10 can help to improve performance, startup times, memory usage, and fix existing problems....

Short after this issue started popping up, I published a second guide to help users get through the installation, but this involved some online search to hunt down the “Windows 8.1 generic key”, serial number that would only let you continue, but after the installation you had to update your system with the Windows 8 retail product key you paid for. Now, I found another interesting trick that is documented by Microsoft and it will allow you bypass the product key screen and clean install Windows 8....

It’s always extremely important to have a full backup of your computer as it could help you to recover from any system failure, errors, malware, or after installing a bad update or driver on Windows 7. Also, it can help you roll back to previous version if the upgrade to Windows 10 doesn’t complete successfully. In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to create a full backup to protect your installation and personal files on Windows 7....

A virtual machine is a virtualization technology that allows you to run multiple operating systems in containers isolated from the main installation as a separate device but without the extra hardware. Usually, the ability to create a virtual machine can come in handy in many scenarios. For example, to test untrusted applications, run legacy programs in older versions of Windows, install different operating systems like Linux or keep specific work separate....

The new model of building Windows also moves away from versioning as we used to see in the past (for example, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc.), and it makes it a little more difficult to track the version you use on your device. For example, Microsoft released Windows 10 back in July 2015. During that November, the operating system received its first major upgrade that many users considered version “10....

Fast Startup is a power-related feature that allows your computer to boot faster, combining hibernation and regular shutdown to accomplish quicker system startup. In other words, when the feature is enabled, the system saves the kernel, drivers, and system state to the hibernation (hiberfil.sys) file, and then the computer turns off, but without saving your desktop session and running apps. When the computer turns on, the system will load the contents from the hibernation file to resume more quickly....

Although this has been a highly requested feature for many years, it’s not something every user wants to use, and unfortunately, File Explorer doesn’t include an option to disable tabs. However, if the feature isn’t for you, it’s still possible to remove the tabs using the ViveTool app created by Rafael Rivera and Lucas on GitHub, which is usually used to enable the preview of experimental features. This guide will teach you the steps to turn off the tabs feature on Windows 11 22H2....

However, you still need to click the icon to see the percentage of remaining battery life, which is fine, but you could get a much improve visualization using BatterBar. BatteryBar is a tiny third-party battery meter application that accurately calculates the battery life of your device, and it displays the exact percentage remaining with a much better icon in the Taskbar. You can even click the icon, to see the time remaining running on battery....

Usually, system utilities, antivirus, and other types of applications may include processes that can conflict with the normal operation of Windows 11, such as Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), unexpected freezes, performance issues, and more. In this guide, you will learn the steps to perform a clean boot on Windows 11 to help you troubleshoot and determine conflicts in your setup. How to do clean boot on Windows 11 How to exit clean boot on Windows 11...

The update is a massive 752MB install and it seems that not only you can install the RTM spring update on Windows 8.1, but you can also install the bits on Windows RT devices or Surface tablet. For those brave users here are the steps you need to follow to install Windows 8.1 Update 1 RTM: Instructions Go to the Start screen and type regedit and from the results, right-click Regedit....

Always on Top is available since version 10.1907.24.0 starting with Windows 10 build 18956 as part of the 20H1 development. In this guide, you’ll learn the easy steps to enable and disable Calculator’s Always on Top mode on Windows 10. How to enable ‘Always on Top’ for Calculator app Use these steps to enable or disable the “Always on Top” feature on Calculator: Once you complete the steps, you’ll see a new compact version of the Calculator app that always stays visible no matter how many applications and windows you’re currently working on....

The feature is still in the experimental stages, and it doesn’t work perfectly, as you’ll notice that some elements on the page won’t look as expected. However, if you like to read content with a dark background, the “force dark mode” is usable in its current state, but you must enable the feature manually. In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to enable dark mode for web content in the Chrome web browser on Windows 10, macOS, or Linux....

Microsoft seems to be experimenting with a redesigned version of the details pane for File Explorer. The new version of the experience offers more information and actions for a particular file, folder, or drive you select. For instance, when selecting a drive, the details pane on the right side will surface sharing options, activity details, file information, related files, and related conversations. Since this is an early preview, the settings and other details are placeholders of how the feature should work....

On the other hand, if the device was previously disabled or the system disabled it automatically, you may also need to enable the driver to regain access to the device. Whatever the reason it might be, Windows 10 includes at least one way to enable or disable device drivers using Device Manager. In this guide, you’ll learn the easy steps to disable or enable a device driver on Windows 10....

The only problem with this mechanism is that if the installation completed successfully the system deletes the previous version files automatically after ten days to free up space. This means that if you have problems after the Windows.old folder was deleted, you’ll no longer have the “Go back to the previous version of Windows 10” option in the Recovery settings page. Starting with the Windows 10 version 1803 (April 2018 Update), Microsoft is adding new commands options to its Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool to extend the time which allows you to uninstall an upgrade after it’s installed....

Although devices should automatically reconnect when you turn them on and are in range, Bluetooth isn’t flawless, and you will often encounter connectivity problems. Whatever the problem, you have many troubleshooting steps that can help you resolve the most common issues on Windows 11. In this guide, you will learn how to fix connection problems with Bluetooth on Windows 11. Fix Bluetooth missing problem in Settings Fix Bluetooth missing problem in Device Manager Fix Bluetooth issues after upgrading to Windows 11 Fix Bluetooth pair connection problem on Windows 11 Fix Bluetooth file transfer issues on Windows 11 Fix Bluetooth audio devices connection not working on Windows 11 Fix Bluetooth driver problems on Windows 11...

Each drive includes a hidden $Recycle.bin folder that stores your deleted files, in case you need them back. However, if you can’t use the bin, it may be time to reset it. In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to fix “Access Denied” or “Corrupt Recycle Bin” error message when trying to use the Recycle Bin on Windows 10. How to reset Recycle Bin on Windows 10 To fix problems with Recycle Bin on Windows 10, use these steps: Once you’ve completed the steps, the hidden $Recycle....

During the initial rollout of the Fall Creators Update, a small number of users have been reporting bugs and features not working, including Wi-Fi connectivity problems. After installing version 1709, users have been complaining about very slow Wi-Fi speeds, and others have reported being unable to connect to a wireless network and losing their networking settings like previously configured DNS settings. While this might just be a problem with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update itself, sometimes there are other factors that can cause connectivity issues....