The first is Windows Repair Toolbox v3.0.2.5, which you can find here: https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/file.php?id=1599 It works for Windows XP through W10. It contains tens of utilities for the repair of just about any problem, and is an essential for anyone having to repair family computers. Check out its contents at the link, and you'll see why I didn't list the utilities included. The second is a rather new one, for the removal of remnants of antiviral programs which mig...

Want to go completely dark? It's easy on the eyes, let me tell you.\ At How to Geek, you can get easy peasy instructions on how to engage the dark Edge Theme, as well as Edge's latest and greatest feature, forcing dark mode on every website you visit (Edge's dark theme and forced dark website mode in the screenie below). You can find a great "How To" engage both Dark Mode and Force Dark Website and more at the link above or here:  https://www.howtogeek.com/360357/how-to-enable-dar...

I had installed Edge previously, and I haven't seen what the author of the above linked article is describing. Not sure I'd ask anyone to check if it's true after reading what he wrote, though. This really borders on monopolistic practice, considering Edge isn't IE base at all, rather it's Chromium based. I wonder if any of you folks have seen anything like what's described in the Verge article, though. This, along with wonky updates makes me really wonder "Quo vadis MS?".   An...

This is a good tool to have, especially considering the wonkiness of MS W10 updates. It's more detailed description can be found here:  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4538642/windows-10-restore-lost-files  . It has 3 modes of deployment (from the Thurrott article): Default mode.  This mode uses the Master File Table (MFT) to locate lost files. Default mode works well when the MFT and file segments, also called File Record Segments (FRS), are present. Segme...

Saw this article on MakeUseOf (linked above) offering five powerful alternatives to MS's improved Task Manager. Right now I'm trying SysInternals Mark Russinovich's Process Explorer which looks best to me for my needs. If you like Process Explorer, it's landing page is here:  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer  . If not, there are four other good ones in the MakeUseOf article.  Thought you'd be interested in this tool which has good expl...

For the power tool users among us, How To Geek put out a nice update to their prior article about MS's power toys, and a nice explanation about the new ones at the url linked above.  

Another problematic update for Windows...with a fix and no, iOS isn't in the cards, just yet. KB4556799 is the problem causer this time.  " TechRadar reports several issues that people have flagged on Microsoft Community and answer posts, including the Blue Screen of Death, white screen flickering, system fonts being replaced, systems switching back to S-mode, and Outlook search issues. Windows Latest adds that some people have audio issues as...

I received a nice article in my email from Review Geek, going through photo editors and image manipulation and creation software for Windows systems, paid and free, so figured that in these days of being almost exclusively at home, folks might be interested in the software that's out there, and what each program does, as well as whom they're most compatible with. I'm not going to recommend one or another, as there's no "one size fits all"...there wouldn't be an article to refer you to if t...

Edge is going to get some excellent new features: 1) Side tabbing and tab grouping which are designed especially for 16:9 displays. 2) Cut and paste grouping by subject in "Collections". 3) Password breach warnings.   For a more detailed description, look here:  http://www.infopackets.com/news/10737/edge-browser-gets-new-features-based-chrome For a quick peek at how it'll look, go here:  https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/30/21199819/microsoft-edge-vertical-tabs-...

Seems as if all we do is about viruses, anymore, eh? Well, there's a new zero day vulnerability in Windows and you really should fix it as you could end up infected with ransom ware as a result of its exploitation. MS has found two cases of that, and now that they have described the exploit, chances are much higher of getting hit by it. To get a good description of the problem, check the linked article. If you wish to read the original MS notification, it's here . "On 23rd March,  M...

This spring, Windows10 v. 2004 or 2020 first half year update (code named 20H1) will be coming and it's feature heavy, with some meaningful changes such as those in Cortana  and notepad, Windows subsystem for Linux (WSL 2), Windows explorer with much better local search and tied to OneDrive, sandbox and virtual desktops, and a beefed up Task manager. There are more, and I suggest reading up on them in the link above. And have a good weekend! 😉

Ghacks is an excellent tech website. It was recently sold, however, the tech content has remained in Martin Brinkmann's extremely capable hands.  So, I was perusing there, as I really didn't want to do an article about MS killing the useless Live Tiles in W10, because Start10 beats anything MS has offered with W8 onward, nor about new icons coming to W10 as I think the icons created here beat them hands down, and always have. So, Brinkmann discusses the findings of this study , which...

The external link  is a really useful explanation of how to add some power to the W10 context (right click) menu by Brady Gavin at How to Geek . I won't waste your time with copying exactly how to do a registry edit, but I will reproduce the universal warning about editing the Windows registry: "The Registry Editor is a powerful tool and, if it’s misused, it can render your system unstable or even inoperable." A useful link:  https://www.howtogeek.com/school/using-...

Razvan Serea wrote a good review of Windows Ultimate Tweaker 4.7 over at Neowin, including the change log. There are more than two hundred new tweaks, and most pertinently new ones in the privacy and security sections...nice for the folks who are new to W10 from W7 and who are (rightfully) concerned about the former. The full list of the tweaks are here:  https://www.thewindowsclub.com/list-of-tweaks-available-in-uwt4  . Here's a screenie showing privacy tweaks. The red ar...

Jafo made the remark on a post of mine recently that he does no banking on his phone. There's an excellent reason not to. I'd heard it wasn't wise because of the vulnerability of phones, and public networks (man in the middle attacks), though not because of SIM swap fraud! So, I have to admit, this one's a new one for me. SIM swap fraud. Turns out they’re easy pickings for hackers. So, what’s SIM swap fraud? "SIM swapping occurs when someone contacts your wireless carrier...