Remember Windows Vista? It was not a pleasant memory for some, but it did introduce the concept of desktop widgets. There was a nice clock that you could place on the right side of the desktop and it was permanently visible and showing the time. You could add a calendar too. Widgets continued with Windows… Read More
Windows has a built in search engine that can be used to find documents, apps, settings and other files on the disk drive. It is actually quite good at finding Windows settings and apps, but it is quote poor when it comes to finding files on the disk. Poor is actually an understatement and if… Read More
The address box in Google Chrome performs two functions and it is used to enter and display website addresses and it is used to search the web. Instead of the normal address box, it can be customised to make it simpler and clearer to use. It just takes a couple of simple tweaks in the… Read More
Google Chrome has supported multiple users for a long time and you could add users in settings and then switch from one user to another. It wasn’t very convenient for people that switched profiles a lot, so recently Google added a profile switcher to the title bar. Do you use it though?
There are lots of scams on the internet and it isn’t difficult to find them. A recent search for Windows 8 tips at Google led me to a website that demanded instant payment from me or suffer dire consequences. Needless to say, I didn’t hand over any money and neither should you. Here is… Read More
It is easy to change the Windows theme and give it a makeover. New desktop wallpaper and colours can be selected, new mouse pointers assigned, a different sound scheme selected, and so on. If you have created a great theme, did you know that you can also share it with other people? You can… Read More
Have you ever wanted to perform some action on the computer automatically? Shutter Lite is a utility that enables you to monitor events and define actions that are automatically performed. Using these facilities it is easy to automatically shut down the computer at a predetermined time of the day, when it is idle or… Read More
It is easy to make a mistake when writing an email, especially if you are in a hurry. Sometimes we are not sure of the correct spelling of a word, other times we know the spelling, but our fingers accidentally hit the wrong keys and a typing slip results in an incorrect word. Grammarly… Read More
Uninstalling Windows software using Programs and Features in the Control Panel frequently does a poor job of removing all the files and settings. It is not Windows fault and the uninstaller is provided by the software, not Windows. Uninstalling software can leave registry settings and files on the disk drive. The solution is to… Read More
How do you protect the files on the computer’s disk drive so that only you can access them? One way is to encrypt them on a file by file basis and there are several utilities that can do this, but it is slow and tedious. A better method is to create a virtual disk… Read More
There is no doubt that Windows Explorer is a useful tool and it enables you to browse the disks, folders and files on a Windows PC. You can view thumbnails of images, run programs, open documents, play music and much more. Is it the best way to explore the disk though? Q-Dir is four… Read More
Is the disk drive in your PC perfectly organised? Do you know where every file is and is there a folder for each type of file? If you are like most people your disk drive will be a bit of a mess, with files and folders all over the place in a disorganised mess.… Read More
How much memory is in your PC? What type is it? What processor is on the motherboard? Which type of graphics is used? Who made the motherboard and what is the model number? All these questions and more can be answered by special utilities that analyse the hardware inside the PC and reveal the… Read More
I have looked at a lot of privacy and clean-up tools for Windows computers and some of them are pretty good. However, they are all very similar and they usually offer the same features. Apart from ease of use and a nice interface, there is little to choose from. However, PrivaZer is genuinely surprising… Read More
Hardly a day seems to pass by without another security issue hitting the headlines and we have to update Windows or the software on our computers to patch it. With all the software on a typical PC, it can be difficult keeping up with the latest versions of everything. The solution is a utility… Read More
There are many security tools that protect your from malware infections like viruses and Trojans, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a popular choice. Can you name two other security tools from the same company though? One protects web browsers from website exploits and the other cleans up infections.
If you regularly copy files between the computer and an external USB disk drive, a networked drive like NAS, or another PC on the network, you may find that it slow and occasionally problematic. Instead of using Explorer in Windows to copy files from one place to another, you might want to take a… Read More
When computers are working hard, such as when playing games, video editing and other processor-intensive activities, you may have noticed that it gets quite hot. You can feel the heat through the computer’s case, the fan blows out hot air like a hairdryer, and laptops start to burn your legs. Is it too much… Read More
From Windows 95 through 98, ME, XP, Vista and 7, we had a Start menu that enabled access to all the software installed on the PC and system functions like shutting down, restarting and so on. Windows 8 threw out this feature, leaving people with no easy way to access programs from the desktop.… Read More
Uninstallers have been provided with software for 15 years or more, but even though it is old technology and you might expect programmers to have mastered it, some uninstallers still don’t fully remove software. It is odd that this happens, but fortunately there are utilities that can thoroughly remove all traces of a program.