In the recently released Windows 10, Microsoft introduced new Telemetry and Data Collection features which will not give you the option to opt out. These services are collecting various information about the software installed on your PC and even personal data stored on your computer. Microsoft claims they may not be used to personally identify you but no one is comfortable with this kind of shady data collection. This change has had a very negative impression on the Windows 10 OS. Now Microsoft has brought similar Telemetry and Data Collection features mainstream directly to Windows 7 and Windows 8 family of operating systems.
Category: Windows
How to restore the uninstall confirmation prompt in Programs and Features
Starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft added a confirmation prompt when you uninstall software from Programs and Features Control Panel. This prompt can be bypassed if you have previously ticked the checkbox In the future, do not show me this dialog box.. Once you tick it, the confirmation dialog will be gone forever, because Windows does not offer you any way to restore the confirmation. In this article, we will look at a simple Registry tweak to restore the uninstall confirmation prompt in Programs and Features for Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
How to set aliases for the command prompt in Windows
In this article, I would like to share with you a useful way to define aliases for the command prompt. The method described in this article works in all modern Windows versions including Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7. By following the steps below, you will be able to define any desired alias to extend the functionality of the default command processor (cmd.exe) and save your time.
Disable administrative shares in Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7
By default, Windows creates some hidden shared folders. These folders are identified by a dollar sign ($) at the end of the share name and so they are hidden. Hidden shares are those that not listed when you look at the network shares on a computer in File Explorer's Network node, or using the net view command. Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and even Vista and XP create hidden administrative shares that administrators, programs, and services can use to manage the computer environment on the network. In this article, I would like to share with you two ways to disable these shares.
Enable the access to network drives from elevated apps running as administrator
Starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft implemented the User Account Control feature, or just UAC. This feature is designed to improve the OS security. The side effect of this feature is that mapped network drives are inaccessible to programs running as administrator. e.g. if you start the app Total Commander elevated, it won't see your mapped drives. This can be a major inconvenience especially if you run apps as admin regularly. In this article, we will see how to enable access to mapped network drives from elevated apps.
Generic key to install Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
There are often times when you need to install Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 for evaluation or testing in a virtual machine like VirtualBox for example. You may not want to activate it every time with your licensed product key that you use on a real machine. For that purpose, you can use generic keys from Microsoft, which will allow you to install the OS, but won't allow you to activate it. As long as you have an ISO image containing Windows Setup files you can install the OS using a generic key. If you used Windows 7, you might remember you could install it without a key. Generic keys for Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 serve the same purpose.
What is the difference between Win + D (Show Desktop) and Win + M (Minimize All) keyboard shortcuts in Windows
As you might be knowing, there are two shortcut keys in Windows to minimize all opened windows. The older one is Win + M, which is there since Windows 95 and the newer one is Win + D which was added in Windows 98/IE4 with Windows Desktop Update. While both can be used to show the Desktop, there is a difference between them. Let's see what exactly.
Christmas/New Year 2015 themes for Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
Decorate your PC for Christmas: we have prepared for you the awesome theme for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 with cute and beautiful wallpapers to decorate your desktop!
How to check in a batch file if you are running it elevated
Sometimes it is useful to check in a batch file if it was started from an elevated command prompt or as an administrator. I would like to share with you a trick which I am using to do this. The main idea of my trick is based on the value of the special environment variable %errorlevel% which stores the exit code for most console apps and commands. Let's see this in action.
How to lock your PC and turn off the display with one click
In Windows, you can lock your PC for security reasons using the Win + L shortcut. If you have not changed the default power management settings, the display will be turned off after 10 minutes. Windows does not provide a native way to turn off display directly on demand by running a command or pressing some button. If you are leaving your PC for a long time, you might want to lock your PC and turn off the monitor instantly with one click. It can be done via a simple script.
