So, you get a new puter running Windows 10.
It’s speedy, and Windows 10 doesn’t look much different than Windows 7, so life is good.
But then you notice a little problem: Many new computers come with only the standard Recycle Bin icon on the desktop.
Computer / This PC is missing, along with Network.
Getting these icons back was a piece of cake in Windows 7, but it gets slightly more complicated in Windows 10 (naturally)…
Okay, I admit: I was quite reluctant to try out the “new” File History backup system in Windows 10.
In fact, just a few months ago in my article Windows Backup and Restore failed: Four fixes that work, I wrote:
I suppose you could just be using File History, but that’s a different type of backup. Personally, I still use Backup and Restore because it works exactly the way I want.
Well, that’s not really true anymore.
In fact, Backup and Restore crapped out on me again, and this time I was unable to fix it!
So I decided to try File History, and whattaya know: it totally rocks!
There are a few things you need to understand about staying safe and secure online. You need to realize what you’re actually up against.
But don’t fret, because it’s really not a big deal if you always keep in mind how things usually work.
For example, e-mail is never really safe, HTTPS doesn’t really always keep your connection secure, you can be tracked online very easily despite what most people will tell you, and you should always use some kind of anti-virus/malware protection no matter what OS you use.
And remember that the OS you use makes very little difference if you’ve taken some basic precautions… In fact, thinking you’re safe because you use Not Windows is probably a bad idea!
Video is all the rage these days. Heck, even I started a YouTube channel!
Even if you’re not a “video author”, you still probably record videos of family, friends, important events, and so on.
The video files saved by most devices – including smartphones – is usually not optimal in terms of compression and especially in terms of file size.
Normally, editing and even just compressing/re-encoding videos is really complicated. Fortunately, there is a free piece of software that lets you shrink and optimize all your vids in just a few quick clicks.
OneDrive is Microsoft’s “cloud storage” for Windows. Beginning with Windows 8, it was installed by default.
If you didn’t want it, you could easily disable it.
Beginning with Windows 10 1703 – the “Creators Update” – the story changed a bit. OneDrive seems to keep popping up over and over.
Even if you tell OneDrive not to launch on startup, and even if you close it, it will still pop up in the latest version of Windows 10 at rather inconvenient times.
Now, in the past, the Group Policy Editor or a registry hack was required… But the good news is that it’s easier than ever to make OneDrive go away for good!
If you’re still doing local backups instead of storing all your junk in “The Cloud”, then you may still be using the Windows 7-era Backup and Restore feature.
I suppose you could just be using File History, but that’s a different type of backup. Personally, I still use Backup and Restore because it works exactly the way I want.
The only problem is that it just loves to crash and burn…
So, the following is a list of all the fixes I’ve used over the last 4 years to make Backup and Restore play nicely again!
By now you’ve heard about WannaCry, the ransomware that has hit over 100,000 puters in about 100 countries.
Given the way the media is talking about this, you’d think the apocalypse had begun in earnest.
In reality, you’re probably already protected – as long as you don’t do anything stupid like open a strange file attachment from someone you don’t know!
If you’ve ever tried to open a text file in Windows that was not a Word Doc, you’ve no doubt been smacked in the face by the abomination known as Notepad.
Notepad is Windows’ built-in text editor. At this point, I think the program has not been changed since… forever. And it shows.
Notepad is slow, it has almost no features, and generally people just pray until they’re done doing what they need to do just so they can close down that flaming pile of garbage.
As it happens, there’s a great all-purpose text editor you can download for free, and it’s WAAAAY better than Notepad.
You’ve got an e-mail address, and you’ve got friends. So far, so good.
Then one day, you get an e-mail from Debbie telling you that your e-mail account has been hacked. She got a spam message that appeared to come from you!
Johnny got one, too.
Sweet mother of mercy, it must be the end of the world! Your e-mail’s been hacked! Maybe your puter’s been hacked!
Not so fast…
By now you’ve probably heard that the latest version of Windows 10, the Creators Update, was released to the masses on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
This update is officially known as version 1703, which is supposed to represent 2017 March… And that explains why it was released in April 2017. Because, ya know, confusing people with meaningless numbers is always a good thing.
But anyway, the Creators Update is a full “upgrade” to Windows 10, which means a 3GB+ download in most cases, followed by an “upgrade install” of Windows 10 itself.
So, is it satanic? Does it work? What’s new? What about privacy concerns?
Read on!
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