Many of us are taking the google search engine for granted and it is no true that it has crawled in almost every spore of our digital lives but if we wanted a little more privacy? Do we have options or we are destined to use google and send our information to this company. What if we really wanted that our searches are well safe, secure, and private? We could try other search engines like BING but since BING belongs to Microsoft we would exchange only one company for another without making any progress in the privacy battle. Enter DuckDuckGo.
DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that’s been online since 2008. Find websites, maps, videos, news, and more without tracking your searches and serving you targetted ads. It took DUckDuckGo as you can tell sometimes to gain ground and to be recognized but finally, it got the attention it deserves. Its big breakthrough happened in September of 2014 when Apple offered it as a default search engine in Safari and since it has gained more and more ground. It seems people care about their privacy after all.
Since then DuckDuckGo has been gaining ground and all the major browsers have integrated it as an option for a default search engine.
In this article, we will show you how to switch to DuckDuckGo and set it as your preferred search engine in all major browsers.
Google Chrome
Launch Chrome and click on the three dots in the upper right.
Choose settings.
Choose Search engine in the list on the left of the screen.
Click on the drop-down box next to Search engine used in the address bar and choose DuckDuckGo.
Mozilla Firefox
Launch Firefox, click on the three lines hamburger menu icon in the top-right corner of the window.
Click on Preferences.
Click on Search in the menu to the left of the screen.
Under Default Search Engine, click the drop-down box and choose DuckDuckGo.
Microsoft Edge
Click on the three dots menu button in the top-right corner of the window
Then select Settings.
Click on Privacy, Search and Services in the menu that appears on the left
Scroll down to the Services menu and choose Address bar and search.
Click the dropdown menu next to Search engine used in the address bar and choose DuckDuckGo.
Apple Safari
Click Safari in the menu bar at the top of the screen
Then click Preferences.
You can also use the Command+, shortcut to quickly bring up Safari’s Preferences.
Click on the Search tab, then choose DuckDuckGo under the Search engine drop-down box.
Opera
Click on the Settings cog button in the sidebar on the left of the screen.
Under Basic settings scroll down until you see Search engine and a drop-down box. Select DuckDuckGo from the list.
If you encounter the BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO Blue Screen error in your Windows 10 PC, then read on as this post will guide you in fixing this issue. Usually, this kind of Blue Screen error is caused by some issues with the Boot Configuration Data file. The main issue inside of the Boot Configuration Data file is that either some boot order files or older files might be in conflict with the newer ones or the stable ones and thus triggering the BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO Blue Screen error.
This kind of Stop error also indicates that there is an error in the Windows Registry which is why you need to update potential culprit drivers as well as edit some entries in the Registry if need be. But before you get started, make sure that you create a System Restore Point first. After creating a System Restore Point, try to boot your computer into Safe Mode and then restart your computer normally. However, if it doesn’t work, proceed to the given options below.
Option 1 – Run System Restore
Performing System Restore might help you in fixing the BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO Blue Screen error. You can do this option either by booting into Safe Mode or in System Restore. If you are already in the Advanced Startup Options, just directly select System Restore and proceed with the next steps. And if you have just booted your PC into Safe Mode, refer to the steps below.
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.
Option 2 – Update or rollback your device drivers
If the first option didn’t work for you, then it’s time to either update or roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions. Whichever applies to you, refer to the steps below.
Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
Then locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties.
After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.
Note: You can install a dedicated driver on your computer in case you have it or you could also look for it directly from the website of the manufacturer.
Option 3 – Try fixing the Windows Registry files
In order to fix the Windows Registry files, you need to make a bootable Windows 10 USB drive and then boot your PC using it. To do so, refer to the steps below.
Once you see the Welcome Screen, click on Next.
Then click on the “Repair your computer” option located on the bottom-left section of the window.
Next, click on Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.
After opening Command Prompt, execute each one of the commands listed below in the sequence that they are given:
CD C:WindowsSystem32config
ren C:WindowsSystem32configDEFAULT DEFAULT.old
ren C:WindowsSystem32configSAM SAM.old
ren C:WindowsSystem32configSECURITY SECURITY.old
ren C:WindowsSystem32configSOFTWARE SOFTWARE.old
ren C:WindowsSystem32configSYSTEM SYSTEM.old
After executing the commands given above, type in the next ones below and make sure to execute them in the given sequence below.
On the other hand, you can also fix the BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO Blue Screen error by running a Memory Check using the Windows Memory Diagnostic. Refer to these steps to do so.
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
Then type “mdsched.exe” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic.
After that, the Windows Memory Diagnostic will give out two options such as:
Restart now and check for problems (recommended)
Check for problems the next time I start my computer
Select any of the given options. After that, your computer will restart and check for memory-based issues upon the restart. If there are any issues, it will automatically them.
Option 5 – Rebuild BCD files and repair MBR files
Like what you did on the third option above, you also have to make a bootable Windows 10 USB drive for this option and then boot your Windows 10 PC using it.
Once you get to the Welcome Screen part, click on Next.
Afterward, click on the Repair your computer option located on the bottom-left part of the window.
Then click on Troubleshoot.
Next, select the Advanced Options and then Command Prompt.
Once Command Prompt has been pulled up, enter each one of the following commands and in the sequence that they are given to rebuild BCD files and repair MBR files:
bootrec /repairbcd
bootrec /osscan
bootrec /repairmbr
Now type “exit” to close Command Prompt and then restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.
The Windows 10 operating system supports the logging in of multiple users at the same time. Aside from that, it also allows administrators to create a Guest Account that has limited rights. However, there are some instances when you could encounter an error when you use the Guest Account.
The error may state:
“Shell Infrastructure Host has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program”.
This error indicates that the Shell Infrastructure Host or SiHost.exe process that is used for handling graphical elements, has crashed. And to fix this error, there are several options you can check out. You can try to reinstall the Microsoft Redistributable Packages or run a System File Checker scan. In addition, you can also use a new Guest Account or troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot State.
Option 1 – Try to install or repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013
A corrupted Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package or the absence of it can trigger the “Shell Infrastructure Host has stopped working” error – so if you do not have this package yet, you have to install it but if you already have it, follow the steps below to repair it.
Open Control Panel and proceed to Program and Features.
Under Programs and Features, look for Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package among the list.
Then right-click on it and click the Change button.
Next, you should see the Repair option – click on it to repair the installation of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package.
The process may take a couple of minutes before it finishes so once it does, you have to restart your PC.
After doing all these steps and you still encounter the problem, you might have to uninstall this package and download it directly from Microsoft’s website. However, if you are using Windows 10, you might not be able to do so since it only supports Windows versions up to Windows 8.1 so just proceed to the next option below.
Option 2 – Try to run a System File Checker scan
In the Windows Start Search, type “command prompt” and right-click on Command Prompt from the search results, and then select the “Run as administrator” option.
After opening Command Prompt with admin privileges, type the “sfc /scannow” and tap Enter to execute it.
Once the scan is finished, restart your computer and see if the Windows Script Host error.
Option 3 – Try using a new Guest Account
You might want to use a new Guest Account as it could help get rid of the error. All you have to do is have your admin delete the old Guest Account and create a new one and see if it helps in fixing the error.
Option 4 – Try troubleshooting the problem in a Clean Boot State
Setting your computer in a Clean Boot State can help you diagnose and later troubleshoot the problems in your computer. During this state, the system will start with a minimal number of drivers and startup programs that help in isolating the problem with the interfering software. To put your computer in a Clean Boot State, follow the given steps below.
Log onto your computer as an administrator.
Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
Click Disable all.
Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
From there, start to isolate the problem by checking which one of the programs you installed recently is the root cause of the problem.
Hacker group recently came up with claims that they have stolen data from 100 million T-Mobile customers. T-Mobile has responded with confirmation it has been compromised and that over 40 million records were stolen, among them are not just present customers, but anyone who has applied for T-Mobile service as well as past accounts.
What has been stolen?
Report from T-Mobile states that stolen records included first and last name, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license & ID information. The company said that it has “no indication that the data contained in the stolen files included any customer financial information, credit card information, debit or other payment information.” Not really a reassuring statement meaning that they really do not know, but even if the statement is true, already stolen information is as much if even not more damaging and devastating as payment information.
What T-Mobile is planning to do now?
It is stated that the hole used for the hack has been addressed and closed so no more data can be stolen.
Considering people that had their personal information compromised, T-Mobile said it is planning to reach out to them and offer them two years of free identity protection through McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service.
Additionally, T-Mobile recommends postpaid customers change their PIN by going online into their T-Mobile account or calling T-Mobile customer service by dialing 611 on their phone. The company also recommends a feature called Account Takeover Protection that prevents unauthorized individuals from stealing a phone number and porting it out of T-Mobile.
Finally, the company will publish a website “for one-stop information and solutions to help customers take steps to further protect themselves.”
Internet connectivity issues like Can’t connect to this network present a complex problem with simple solutions for PC and laptop users. First, it is usually recommended that users rule out problems with the internet connection, router, and Wi-Fi settings before proceeding to troubleshoot settings on your PC/laptop. Once the rest are ruled out, we can then proceed with the following troubleshooting steps and guidelines to fix your wifi connection issue:
The first step is to update your windows network adapter driver. Connectivity problems may arise if your network driver is not updated or if it is incompatible with the network adapter. To do so, you may resort to any third-party driver scanning and installing programs found online. This solution should resort if users don’t want the hassle of perusing through windows settings that users may not be familiar with.
However, this solution requires a pre-existing internet connection other than wifi, so it is recommended you have a backup internet connection via ethernet.
The second step is to uninstall the driver for your network adapter. This solution is to resort if there is an issue with the driver as restarting the PC after the following steps let windows reinstall the driver again:
Open the quick access menu on your keyboard by pressing the Windows key and X key at the same time and select “Device Manager” from the menu list.
From the list of devices, select “Network Adapters”
Usually on the top of the list is the Wireless Network Adapter
Right-click the Wireless Network Adapter and select the option to “Uninstall device”
You will be given a confirmation in a new separate window to proceed. Click “Uninstall” to proceed.
After completing the previous steps, try rebooting your Windows PC and reconnecting to see if it works.
A third step is to disable the 802.1 1n modes of your network adapter by following the next steps:
First press the Windows logo key and the X key at the same time to bring up the quick-access menu. And like the previous step, select “Device Manager”
From the list of devices, select “Network Adapters”
Right-click the Wireless Network Adapter from the drop-down menu and select properties
Under properties, select the “Advanced” tab then select the 802.1 1n Mode. To the right drop-down menu change the option to “Disabled” and click “Ok”
After, try to re-establish the connection to see if the steps have worked.
In the event that any of the preceding did not fix your problem, it helps to take a second look at the router and network settings using the interface provided by your ISP. A simple reset to the back of your router often fixes the issue. Also, try to check if you have any other administrative capabilities over the network to determine whether your device, in particular, has been MAC filtered or if the frequency of your wireless adapter is not compatible with the broadcast frequency of your router.
Yes, you read that right, KFC is making a console partnered with Cooler Master. Bizzare at it sounds, it is even more bizarre that the console is designed to keep your food warm!!! You can pull out the drawer from the console out on its top and place some food there in order to keep it warm.
The console itself is coming in cylindrical shape powered by Intel CPU and ASUS GPU of the unknown chipset. It has Seagate Baraccuda 1TB SSD and it is VR-ready. The console will have raytracing and will be 4K ready.
My thoughts
Well, my thoughts are somewhat strange, on one side I am not really sold on food heating gimmicks and without specific hardware specifications, it is difficult to say how much power the console will have. Price is also not leaked so that is also a stumbling stone for making an informed opinion. I am a little puzzled and concerned about this whole heating food thing because personally, I can see 2 issues: Console overheating and fat dripping on inside hardware, I am sure they have somehow eliminated this but I would be very interested to see how.
The issue with the abrupt system reboots to force Windows 10 updates on a computer has been lessened with Active Hours. This feature keeps a record of the hours during which a system remains active and prevents the installation of updates during such hours. For example, when a system restart is needed to complete the installation of an update, Active Hours delays the update and allows you to finish what you’re doing on your computer. Thus, if you haven’t heard of this feature, then now is the time you do, read this post to configure and use Active Hours in your Windows 10 computer.
There are three ways you can configure Active Hours. The first one is for general users, whereas the rest of the two methods are for users who knows their way about the Windows Registry and Group Policy. To get started, refer to every given option below.
Option 1 – Configure Active Hours via Windows 10 Settings
Go to Settings > Update & Security. From there, click on the “Change active hours” option under the Windows Update section.
Next, you can select a time (“Start time” and “End time”) during which the restart can occur.
After that, click on the Save button and exit.
Note: Keep in mind that the values you’ve entered indicate the hours during which your system is in use, namely, ACTIVE. It is important for your active hour’s interval period and it can be anything between 1 and 18 hours since you can’t go beyond 18 hours. In addition, there is no option to configure different active hours on different days and you can’t specify different active hours for weekends and weekdays as well.
On the other hand, Windows 10 also offer users an option to override Active Hours. All you have to do is go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Restart Options. From there, you can choose a custom restart time when your computer will restart to install the updates but this is only a one-time setting.
Option 2 – Configure Active Hours via Registry Editor
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility and type “Regedit” in the field and tap Enter or click OK to open the Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsUpdateUXSettings
In the given registry path, you can choose to change “ActiveHoursStart” and “ActiveHoursEnd”.
Note: There are no extra settings available in the Registry Editor but you can change the remote computer’s Active hours settings using the Registry Editor.
Option 3 – Configure Active Hours via Group Policy
Note that this option is available for the Windows 10 Pro and Educational or Enterprise versions. It is mostly used by computers in Business or through remote access. To get started, follow these steps:
Tap the Win + R keys to launch Run and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and tap Enter or click OK to open the Group Policy Editor.
Next, navigate to this group policy setting: Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Updates.
From there, look for a policy labeled “Turn off auto-restart for updates during active hours” and double click on it. This will open a new window.
Click on the Enabled radio button to enable Active Hours. You also have the option to choose active hours just like in the first given option above. It works just fine except when the following policies don’t override:
No Auto-restart with logged-on users for scheduled automatic updates installations.
Always automatically restart at the scheduled time.
Since Group Policy allows you to reduce the range of active hours, you can configure it if you want it to be less than 18 hours. Just find the policy setting labeled “Specify Active hours range for auto -restarts. The minimum is 8 hours”.
After you set the Active Hours, click the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made.
If by any chance you are working on a touchscreen PC, tablet, or any similar device and have no access to a hardware keyboard there is a way to place Touch Keyboard on your screen for easy typing, and you can enable icon on the taskbar for easy access.
Enabling the Touch Keyboard
Right-click on the Taskbar
Select Taskbar Settings
Go to Personalization > Taskbar
Click on Taskbar Corner Icons to expand it
Click on the switch next to Touch Keyboard to turn it ON
Close settings
The icon will immediately appear on the Taskbar in the lower right corner. Clicking the icon virtual keyboard will appear on the lower part of the screen.
You can use this keyboard to type in applications the same as you were typing on hardware one.
By taping on X in the upper right corner, you will hide the keyboard. Tap on the icon in Taskbar to bring it up again.
Hide the Taskbar icon
If you do not want to use Touch Keyboard anymore you can easily hide the icon:
Right-click on the Taskbar
Select Taskbar Settings
Go to Personalization > Taskbar
Click on Taskbar Corner Icons to expand it
Click on the switch next to Touch Keyboard to turn it OFF
As you know, the Windows File Explorer is quite a responsive program and contains tons of features. It allows you to do various customizations by changing Settings or changing the value of a Registry key or Group Policy modification. Either way, you will be guided on how you can enable or disable the Status Bar in File Explorer on your Windows 10 computer.
The Status Bar is located at the bottom of the File Explorer and shows you how many items are inside the folder and how many items you’ve selected. In addition, it also shows you information about each item and can display items using large thumbnails with just a single click.
In order to enable or disable the Status Bar in File Explorer, you can use the two given options below as reference. You can either use the Folder Options or the Registry Editor.
Option 1 – Enable or Disable Status Bar via Folder Options
Tap the Win + E keys on your keyboard to open File Explorer.
Then tap the Alt + F keys and click on Options.
From there, make sure that you are in the View tab and look for the “Show Status Bar” option in the list that gets populated.
After that, check if the Show Status Bar option is enabled or disabled. It is supposed to be enabled by default so if it is enabled and you want to disable it, just simply uncheck its checkbox otherwise, leave it as it is.
Now click on Apply and then OK to save the changes made
Option 2 – Enable or Disable Status Bar via Registry Editor
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
Then type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to pull up Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to this registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
Afterward right-click on Advanced and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and then input “ShowStatusBar as the name of the newly created DWORD.
Now double click on the new DWORD and change its value to “0” if you want to disable Status Bar and “1” if you want to enable it.
Then exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer to apply the changes made.
We live in a world that is in a pandemic, our lives, both social and work are turned upside down. Most of our free time is spent indoors now, maybe with some close relatives or friends, no large gathering, no party. In this world keeping yourself busy and entertained is very important so we do not lose our minds and try to function as well as we can. Keep up the positive spirit, the pandemic will be over soon but in meantime, let's see some premium streaming services for tv and film so we can kill time faster with some quality entertainment.
Netflix
If you're a connoisseur of movies and/or TV, there's only one must-have player in town and that's Netflix. It is, unequivocally, the biggest and best streaming service, despite not always stocking its digital shelves with must-have new movies and TV; that said, this is the staple streamer you need to own if you ever plan on cutting the cord and surviving without it.
These days, most smart TVs have Netflix apps, and finding a streaming box without it is the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack. The quality of the movies and TV we tried – mostly streamed in Ultra HD – on both TV and on tablets is exquisite.
Amazon Prime Video
Like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video has its own set of original series The Expanse, Hunters, and The Boys among others – but, generally speaking, they don't receive the same fanfare as their Netflix-bred brethren.
Although Netflix is as guilty for dud programming as the rest of them, it's worth mentioning Amazon Prime does get some pretty terrible new additions from time to time. So always check out the guide to the best Amazon Prime TV shows before you dive in head-first.
The two big differentiators between the services are the fact that access to Amazon's streaming service comes standard with a subscription to Amazon Prime – meaning access to Amazon Music and premium delivery services.
Hulu
Video streaming service Hulu offers big-name titles like The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, and South Park alongside a huge number of titles from NBC, FOX, and Comedy Central. It's also the only streaming service app on the Nintendo Switch.
Hulu comes in two flavors: the standard on-demand streaming service you've always known and loved, and the new Hulu with Live TV
Disney Plus
Disney Plus doesn't feel like it's trying to be the main TV streaming offering in your life. Instead, it's a family-friendly option that feels like it lives alongside a Netflix or Amazon Prime Video subscription. It has a very specific selection of content: Disney animated movies, Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, and National Geographic.
Essentially, if Disney owns it and kids can watch it, it's on here, and often streaming in 4K for no additional price. The real reason to sign up are big originals across those different subject areas – WandaVision, The Mandalorian, and Pixar's Soul, for example, all demonstrate an intention to invest big in blockbuster content for the platform.
YouTube TV
Ask someone what they think was the biggest internet revolution of the 21st century and they'll probably say it was YouTube. And with good reason – the user-generated video-blogging site has changed the online landscape forever.
It lets anyone, however well known they are (or not), whatever the quality of their content and wherever they hail from, upload their weird and wonderful videos for anyone around the world to watch at their convenience. The beauty of YouTube is that in the blink of an eye it's taken the broadcasting power from the bigwigs and placed it right in our hands.
OK, so it might not have stopped people wanting to watch a high-quality, professionally made production in their living room TVs, but it's an insight into how TV might be produced in the future. After all, with YouTube you don't need a big budget or indeed any budget at all to produce your own TV series and establish a massive following.
While the free portion of YouTube will always remain the most popular (the latest statistic says that a whopping eight years' worth of content is uploaded each and every day to the site), but if you're looking for quality content, YouTube TV is also an excellent option worth considering.
HBO Max
HBO Max is a new streaming service built on top of an old one. The next evolution of HBO Go and HBO Now, it takes the basis of HBO's content – which includes many phenomenal shows, like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Barry, The Leftovers, and Succession – and adds a heap more content to make it into more of a Netflix competitor.
That's why a lot of the original fare we're seeing on the service so far is a bit broader in targeting different audiences, with Anna Kendrick's Love Life kicking us off, and Kaley Cuoco's dark comedy The Flight Attendant also feeling a little different to the usual heavy HBO dramas. You'll find original movies on the service, as well as series previously available on the DC Universe app, like Titans and Harley Quinn.
There's a big archive of existing shows to enjoy on there, too, like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, South Park, and Rick and Morty. The content channels on HBO Max are great, with Studio Ghibli, Adult Swim, and Cartoon Network among those in the mix.
Sling TV
Sling TV is a kind of cure-all for the cord-cutting generation, something that we knew we needed but no company stepped up to make. That said, it's everything cable's not. It's affordable. It's no-obligation. And there are absolutely zero sales reps trying to stop you from canceling your contract. Best of all, you won't have to give up some of the perks cable provided in the last few years like the ability to pause live TV or watch something that aired up to 72 hours ago.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the best streaming service any anime, manga, or East-Asian cinema fan in your life has always wanted and never knew about.
Founded by Berkeley graduates back in 2006, Crunchyroll started as a bootleg website of sorts where users uploaded their favorite shows without the permission of the original owners. Not the humblest of beginnings. But now it's an essential offering for anime fans.
While you won't find genre staples like Dragon Ball Z, Digimon or Pokémon around, most of the site's 200-plus series are available to watch for free in SD
Apple TV Plus
Apple's newest streaming service has money bags and talent on its side. Launching back in 2019 with The Morning Show, an expensive drama starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell, as well as See with Jason Momoa, Apple is flexing its muscles to get the best talent.
Unfortunately, it doesn't have a deep content library, which is what the platform would need to be the best streaming service in 2021
Peacock
NBC Universal's attempt to enter the streaming market is buoyed by one big benefit: it's free to sign up and use, with an ad-supported tier letting you enjoy a healthy helping of its content for absolutely nothing. That said, a lot of the better stuff is behind a paywall – $4.99 per month if you want to access all of it with ads, and $9.99 if you want to enjoy without ads.
Twitch
For a certain crowd, Twitch (formerly known as Justin.tv) is about the best invention since sliced bread. Essentially it's a live-streaming platform that focuses primarily on videogames where you can find everything from world tournament coverage to someone muddling their way through that indie darling you had your eye on buying.
It's not traditional by any means, but you'll find plenty to see and do on Twitch. Best of all the app is free on almost any platform you can think of: iOS, Android, Xbox One, PS4, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV … you name it, it probably has a Twitch app.
If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit errortools.com daily.
Finally upgraded to Microsoft’s newest OS, but the performance is a bit sluggish? Here are a few useful tips you may not have thought about that could significantly transform your experience!
How to speed up Windows 11?
1. Disable startup programs
There are many programs that launch right on startup that really aren’t essential. This, in turn, causes your PC to launch and run more slowly.
To check which programs are enabled on startup, go into the Task Manager and select the Startup tab. Find every program that doesn’t need to launch immediately, right-click on it and press ‘Disable’.
This will not shut down the program in that instant. It’ll just prevent it from running automatically as you turn on your PC. You can always launch it manually when you need it.
2. Expand your memory and storage
If you want your PC to run super smoothly, you need to have enough memory to support that. This is especially significant for those of you who love to multitask. Upgrading your RAM gives your PC more space to store the temporary data it needs to complete processing tasks. In other words, processing takes a lot less time.
Your long-term storage is equally important. Hopefully at this point you’re already using SSD over HDD, since this type of storage offers a faster boot time.
Credit: Marc Pezin on Unsplash
In any case, we recommend expanding your storage capacity. The more files and data you store, the more there is to load, significantly influencing your PC’s speed. Larger storage capacity means new data and essential updates can be stored comfortably, preventing any strain on your PC’s performance.
3. Clean up disk space
If you aren’t willing to upgrade your storage just yet, the least you can do is clean up your storage right now.
Aside from manually deleting stuff you no longer need, you can also get rid of temporary files that clutter up your storage and eat up performance for no reason. To get to them, click Windows + X and select ‘Run’ (or just type it in the search bar).
A small window will pop up, where you need to type %temp%. This will take you to a whole folder full of all the temporary files you can remove without thinking twice.
For those who upgraded from Windows 10, there’s a neat trick to get rid of potential leftover files you don’t need on your brand new iteration. Only do this if you’re 100% sticking with Windows 11, though. Go to System > Storage > Temporary files. Make sure to only leave ‘Previous Windows Installation’ and ‘Windows Update Clean-up’ checked and click on ‘Remove files’.
Lastly, make use of Windows 11’s fantastic Storage Sense feature. Turning it on will enable your PC to constantly watch out for junk or unused files to optimize your PC’s performance to the maximum.
4. Install pending updates
This one should go without saying, but pending updates can be detrimental to your Windows 11 performance. The longer you leave them untouched, the more bugs the outdated programs and patches can cause. So, make sure to regularly check for updates and install them as soon as they’re available.
5. Disable visual effects
As cool as visual effects, animations, shadows and transparency are, they can also put quite a toll on your computer’s speed. On a newer setup this generally shouldn’t be a problem, but if you do notice a drop in performance, definitely consider turning off some of these settings.
To do this you can go to the Control Panel, System Properties and click the ‘Advanced’ tab. In the Performance section, choose Settings. If you’d like a quicker way to get to the dialog (Performance Options) with Visual Effects, you can also type sysdm.cpl in the search bar.
Once there, you can either have your PC choose what’s best, choose the best appearance or the best performance. The other option is to manually toggle the effects off and on. The biggest obstacles to speed are taskbar animations, window shadows, control/element animations and animations upon minimizing/maximizing.
Credit: Windows on Unsplash
In the same vein, you should go to Settings > Personalization > Colors and disable Transparency, to prevent your computer from doing overtime just to hit the aesthetic appeal.
6. Get rid of bloatware
Bloatware is one of the biggest culprits of slow computer speed.
Pre-installed software that’s pretty much useless but takes up valuable system resources has been around since day one. No matter which device or platform you’re talking about. Luckily, a lot of it is removable, making it easy to lighten the load on your device.
To boost your Windows 11 computer, go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps.You’ll probably see a bunch of apps you don’t want or need. Click on the three dots next to each one you want to remove and press ‘Uninstall’.
Aside from helping optimize performance, removing bloatware has another great benefit. Unfortunately, often this pre-installed software is quite vulnerable, exposing you to great risk of cyberattacks. So, removing it definitely improves your device’s security and gives you at least some peace of mind.
Summary
These are a few of our fastest tips for boosting performance. There are other, more complex and time-consuming ways, of course. If you’ve tried these quick ones and still need advice on how to improve your PC’s speed, feel free to reach out!
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The console itself is coming in cylindrical shape powered by Intel CPU and ASUS GPU of the unknown chipset. It has Seagate Baraccuda 1TB SSD and it is VR-ready. The console will have raytracing and will be 4K ready.
If by any chance you are working on a touchscreen PC, tablet, or any similar device and have no access to a hardware keyboard there is a way to place Touch Keyboard on your screen for easy typing, and you can enable icon on the taskbar for easy access.
