InPrivate browsing mode is special privacy-focused mode of Internet Explorer. When you open an IE window with InPrivate Browsing enabled, Internet Explorer does not retain cookies, temporary internet files, history, and other data related to your browsing activities. When the InPrivate Browsing session window is closed, this data is cleared. Also, InPrivate Browsing mode does not allow toolbars and extensions to be loaded by default. InPrivate Browsing mode can be activated by clicking on the Settings icon - Safety - Start InPrivate browsing or using the keyboard by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P shortcut keys. There are also a button on the IE command bar (toolbar) to start InPrivate browsing. However, all of these methods require a regular IE window to be opened first. In this article, we will see how to start InPrivate Browsing directly, saving you a number of unnecessary clicks.
How to create a backup of your Taskbar toolbars in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
If you like to customize your Taskbar, you probably have some custom toolbar set up such as Quick Launch, or a simplified Start menu replacement as described in the article: "A Start menu toolbar trick of the taskbar in Windows 8 and 8.1". Every time you install Windows, you have to set them up again which is quite a waste of time. It is a good idea to create a backup of any custom toolbars you have added so you can restore them quickly. Here's how to do it.
How to add custom items to the Send To menu in Windows 8 and Windows 7
As we covered previously, the Send To context menu of File Explorer contains various items by default such as Desktop, Drives, Fax and Mail, and several personal folders in the extended mode. You might have noticed that some applications are able to extend the Send To menu with their own shortcuts. For example, Skype places its icon into the Send To menu. In this article we will see how to put your own custom items like app shortcuts and folders inside the Send To menu so you can copy or move them to the destination folder quickly.
How to hide network shares and hard drives from the Send To menu in Windows 8 and Windows 7
The Send To menu includes a list of local and network drives available on your PC. If you do not use this feature, you can disable the hard drives in the Send To menu. It will speed up the menu a little and will make it less cluttered. Personally I have not sent anything to the local drive even once in my life, because I always send it to some subfolder. Let us see how to disable hard drives and prevent them from being displayed in the Send To menu.
How to show the extended Send To menu in File Explorer
The Send To context menu is a very old and famous feature of Windows. Implemented in Windows 95, it stayed unmodified for many years. With release of Windows Vista, the Send To menu got additional functionality. In this article, I would like to share few secrets of the Send To menu which are applicable to Windows 8 and Windows 7.
How to reset and clear clipboard data in Windows without using third party tools
If you are using a public PC or sharing your Windows user account with some friend or family member, you might be interested in making sure that your clipboard (data which you have cut or copied) is empty after you leave your PC. This will ensure that you do not leave any private information in the clipboard. It is very easy to perform this operation without using any third party tool, as Windows includes all the necessary tools out of the box.
How to run Windows Defender directly in Windows 8 or create a shortcut to execute it
Windows Defender is an antivirus protection software which comes bundled with Windows 8. Although it is less effective than third party solutions, it provides a basic level of protection. Many users are content with the protection it offers to secure the operating system. However, Windows Defender lacks a notification area (system tray) icon. In this article, we will see how to quickly launch Windows Defender and run it directly with one click.
How to fix the error about outdated version of Skype and continue to use older versions
We notified you earlier that Microsoft was planning to prevent old versions of Skype from working. Since yesterday, all versions of Skype below Skype 6.13 for Windows and Skype 6.14 for OS X are blocked and do not allow you to sign in. If you are not happy with the latest bloated version with obtrusive ads, here is a temporary workaround which will allow you to bypass the version check and run Skype 5.
Disable the yellow warning sign from the network icon on the Windows taskbar
Starting with Windows Vista, the operating system is able to show internet availability via an icon besides a network connection indicator. Windows can check if the internet is down and only the local network is available. If the Internet is not available, you will see a yellow warning icon over the default network icon in the taskbar. When the internet is working, you see only the network icon - either a wired or wireless one. If you are not happy to see this yellow overlay icon on top of the network icon, here's how you can disable it.
Disable and remove the search box from the new tab page in Firefox
Mozilla released a new stable version of the Firefox browser for desktop (Windows, Mac and Linux) and mobile (Android) platforms. In desktop version of Firefox 31, there is a search box that has been added to the New Tab Page. But Firefox already has a dedicated search box. If you found the search box on the New Tab page redundant, you can remove it. Just follow these simple instructions.
