If you are using Windows 10 for a while, you definitely know that the classic Personalization options were removed in one of the pre-release builds. All options to personalize are now there in the Settings app, which is a Metro app designed for touch screen users and has controls which are poorly designed or have limited functionality. If you are not satisfied by this new way to tune up your OS appearance, you might be interested in accessing the classic Control panel applets. Thankfully, it is still possible.
Category: Windows 10
Microsoft to release a new Redstone build next week
The Windows Insiders program went quiet after the release of Windows 10 build 11082. Although this build was released for the Fast Ring, new builds are not coming regularly enough. Here is some news from Microsoft which Gabe Aul, VP of Engineering in Windows and Devices Group shared via his Twitter.
Remove shortcut arrow overlay in Windows 10
Shortcuts in Windows have an arrow overlaid on top of the icon to indicate that they are links. If you find the default Windows 10 shortcut icon too large, or you wish to change the shortcut arrow from the default blue arrow overlay to a smaller one, then you can do that easily. You can even disable the shortcut arrow completely. In this article, we will see how it can be done. There are two ways available to do this.
Enable verbose logon messages in Windows 10
It is possible to enable detailed information for Windows 10 logon, sign out, restart and shutdown events. The operating system will report what exactly is happening at the current moment while you are on the logon/logoff screen. In this article, we will see how this can be enabled. This trick also works in Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
All ways to open a new instance of the running app in Windows 10
As you might be knowing, Windows 10 like all previous versions before it, allows you to launch multiple instances of same running app. There are many ways to do this. In this article, we will review all possible ways to do it.
Reset Windows Store Cache in Windows 10 (Microsoft Store)
How to Reset Windows Store Cache in Windows 10 (Microsoft Store)
The Windows Store app allows you to install and update Universal apps in Windows 10. Thanks to the Store, apps can be installed with one click. By default, Windows Store is set to update apps automatically. It caches some details about installed and available apps to speed up the process of browsing them and improving the responsiveness of the Store app. However, sometimes the Store app fails to update apps or you may also be unable to install new apps. In such a case, you need to reset the Windows Store cache.
Remove Windows 10 product key from Registry and protect it from being stolen
When Windows 10 is installed, it continues to store your product key in the registry. This may be useful, if you don't remember which key you used on your current installation. Also if you lost your product key, this can be useful for recovering your product key with some third party tool or with a simple PowerShell script.
But at the same time, your Windows 10 product key is at risk of being stolen. If you are concerned about your product key being stolen (i.e. with some malicious software), you might want to remove it from the registry permanently. This operation is safe and will not affect your OS activation status. Follow this simple tutorial to learn how you can erase the stored product key in Windows 10. The same trick should work in Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista too.
Download Windows Defender offline updates for Windows 10
If you have to run Windows 10 offline/disconnected from the Internet, or you have several PCs and want to save bandwidth, you might want to download the malware definition/signature updates for Windows Defender offline so you can update multiple PCs at once or update it without internet connectivity. In this article, we will see where to get these updates to install them in Windows 10 without downloading them on every PC or connecting to the internet.
No, Microsoft will not stop pushing Windows 10
Microsoft's aggressive tactics to push Windows 10 on consumer PCs are infamous by now. If you are running Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 and want to stay with your current OS, you will have a hard time fending off the upgrade prompts and continuous nags to move to Windows 10, an OS that doesn't offer much in the way of any new groundbreaking or significant improvements, new technology or extra value to existing Windows customers. In fact it reduces your control over many settings, eliminates features and a great deal of customization and choice, and slows down performance due to the use of managed code in the OS. If you are still on Windows 7 or Windows 8, you probably have already learned of all the ways to avoid Windows 10. However, you should not relax.
How to rename the OS in Windows 10 boot menu
With Windows 8, Microsoft made changes to the boot experience. The simple text-based boot loader is now disabled by default and in its place, there is a touch friendly graphical user interface with icons and text. Windows 10 has this as well.
In a dual boot configuration, it shows the operating system names. If you need to rename this OS entry in a dual boot configuration, it is not made easier by Microsoft. Let's see how it should be done.
