If you choose to install Windows 10 on the same drive where an existing installation is already present, the setup program will create a folder named Windows.old in the root of the drive. This folder will contain a full backup of a previous installation of Windows 8 or Windows 7, including the boot manager and installed apps. This is very handy if you plan to uninstall the currently installed Windows version and return to the previously installed release. It can also be useful if you forgot to transfer some files or settings to the new installation. However, if you are already finished with the migration, then Windows.old just wastes your disk space for no reason. Here is how you should delete it and why it is better to use the built-in OS tools instead of simply deleting the folder from Explorer.
YouTube hotkeys you need to know
Most of us use the world's most popular video hosting website, YouTube, regularly but not everyone is familiar with hotkeys which are available there. Using hotkeys i.e. keyboard shortcuts, you can use YouTube faster and more efficiently almost as if you are using a desktop media player application. Let's see which YouTube hotkeys are available while you are watching a video.
How to disable Cortana in Windows 10
Windows 10 comes with a new feature ported over from Windows Phone - a Siri-like voice assistant called Cortana. You can ask Cortana to look up information using your speech. On a mobile phone, it makes sense to use such a feature. However on a PC where your microphone is far from your mouth and you have a full keyboard at your disposal, it doesn't make sense to use Cortana. You can look up the same information faster. So if you do not plan to use Cortana or get annoyed by it, then here is how you can disable Cortana in Windows 10. Also, we will see how to get rid of the Cortana icon/search box in the taskbar.
Change Windows Update settings in Windows 10
In Windows 10 build 9926 Windows Update settings are locked to "Install updates automatically (recommended)". The user cannot change this behavior. This is not acceptable even if it's a preview build. Thankfully, it is possible to change it with a tweak which we will see right now.
Get Calculator from Windows 8 and Windows 7 in Windows 10
In Windows 10, Microsoft ditched the good old calculator app and replaced it with a new Modern app, which we wrote about recently here: Run Calculator in Windows 10 directly. Many people are not happy with this change because the old Calc.exe loaded faster, and was more usable for mouse/keyboard users. If you would like to get the classic Calculator app back in Windows 10, it is possible. In this article, we will take a look at the Old Calculator for Windows 10 program which will allow you to get Calculator from Windows 8 and Windows 7 in Windows 10.
Vivaldi – A browser for all Opera 12 fans
Opera Software buried their good, old Opera 12 browser and started working on a very simplified (and far more useless) modern Opera version. I was a big fan of the classic Opera browser. In search of a decent replacement for it, I came to know about Vivaldi, a new browser from Opera's co-founder and his team. Even if this browser is at the early "Technical Preview" stage, it looks very promising. Let's take a closer look.
Tip: Create a recovery USB drive for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 come with a very useful utility which allows you to create a recovery USB drive. If something happens to your OS and it does not boot, then you can use that USB drive to try to recover Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, or Windows RT 8.1. This disk will be useful in case you have no other bootable media, e.g. Windows setup disk. Here is how to create it.
Download Universal Watermark Disabler
Universal Watermark Disabler is a little tool created by the author "PainteR". Winaero is allowed to distribute it with permissions granted by the author of the app.
Universal Watermark Disabler 1.0.0.6
Universal Watermark Disabler is a freeware app which can remove all kinds of watermarks in Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8. It works in any build starting from Windows 8 build 7850 (early beta) to the latest Windows 10 versions, including future builds.
- Supports all builds from Windows 8 7850 to Windows 10 10240 (and newer).
- Supports any UI language.
- Does not delete branding strings (i.e. does not modify system files!).
- Removes any watermarks including BootSecure, Test Mode, Build string in evaluation and pre-release builds, "Confidential" warning text and even the build hash.
Switch between the old and new Start menu in Windows 10 build 9926
In Windows 10 build 9978, Microsoft implemented a Start menu, which could be resized by the user and showed installed apps along with Live tiles. Also, the user was able to switch between the Start screen and the Start menu using a checkbox in the Taskbar Properties dialog. However, in the recently released Windows 10 build 9926 there is again a new Start menu, formerly known by its code name "Continuum". It replaces the previous version of the Start menu for now. In this article, we will see how to switch between the old Start menu with the Start screen and the new "Continuum" Start menu.
Move the Users folder in Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7
Right after installation, Windows 10 creates several folders in the root of the system drive, which is usually the C: drive. These folders include Program Files (and Program Files (x86) for 64-bit OSes), the Windows folder, Users and the hidden ProgramData folder. The Users folder contains profiles and personal folders like Desktop, Downloads, Documents for all user accounts in your Windows OS. If you have a small system partition, or if other Windows user accounts on your PC have huge files in their Documents or Desktop folders, the free space on the system drive can quickly reduce. If you face this issue, then you can move the Users folder to another partition or disk. This article will show you how to do it. This method is applicable to Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7.
