Top Windows 10 Tips and Tricks

Now that Windows 10 is out and millions of people are already running it, let’s take a look at some of the best hidden features, tips, and tricks in Microsoft’s latest (and last) major operating system was released to the public, and between the slightly confusing upgrade policy and phased rollouts, we’ve seen that the operating system is actually quite good. Since it aims to bridge the gap between mobile and desktop devices, there’s quite a lot that’s changed, but it’s still familiar and easy to use. There are quite a lot of nifty little features added that make it easier to use, but some of them are buried under settings that we usually wouldn’t look for, so here’s a couple of Windows 10 tips and tricks that you might just find useful!

Set File Explorer To Open ‘This PC’

Windows 8/8.1 got rid of the ‘My Computer’ icon we’ve all been used to for years, but it did give you the option to place an icon that leads to ‘This PC’, which was basically the same. You can also get that icon back on Windows 10 by the following process: Right Click Desktop>Click ‘Personalize’>Click ‘Themes’>On the right side, click ‘Go to Desktop icon settings’, then click whatever icons you want to be shown on the desktop. You can then pin these icons to the Start Menu.

Instead, if you prefer not having more icons, you can simply make the ‘File Explorer’ button on the Start Menu lead to ‘This PC’. To do this, you need to:

Step 1 – Open any Windows Explorer window and click the ‘View’ tab on the top ribbon.

Step 2 – Click ‘Options’ on the extended ribbon, on the top right.

Step 3 – In the ‘General’ tab, use the dropdown menu next to ‘Open File Explorer to:’ to select ‘This PC’.

Remove Search Bar and Task View Button From Taskbar

Microsoft is betting big on their virtual assistant Cortana for all devices, and even though she’s pretty awesome, some people might not like the extra clutter caused by the Search Bar on the Taskbar. You can always just open the Start Menu and type anything to do the same. To remove it, you need to right click the Taskbar, then under ‘Search’, select either ‘Hidden’ or ‘Show Search icon’.

Similarly, the new Task View feature on Windows 10 also gets a separate button that many might not like. To remove it, again right click the Taskbar and untick ‘Show Task View button’.

Customize Command Prompt

Top-Windows-10-Tips-and-Tricks-Customize-Command-Prompt

The spartan looking Command Prompt can finally be customized in Windows 10. You can select from options like text color, background color, font, size, opacity and more. Just open the Command Prompt and right click the top bar, then select ‘Properties’.

Background Scrolling

It’s pretty annoying when a popup takes away your attention and deactivates the window you’re using so you need to click on it again to scroll through the page. Windows 10 gets rid of this problem by a feature called Background Scrolling. Now even if the window isn’t active, if your cursor is on it, you can scroll through the page. Pretty cool, right? Here’s how you enable it:

Step 1 – Go to All Settings, Devices, then Mouse & touchpad.

Step 2 – Turn on the option that says ‘Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them.’

Resize Start Menu

Windows 10 is a departure from the full screen Start Menu found in Windows 8/8.1, but if you want, you can still set it to be full screen. Now what isn’t immediately apparent is that the Start Menu can be resized as well! All you need to do is move the cursor to the edge of the Start Menu and drag it to the size you want.

Background App Manager

Top-Windows-10-Tips-and-Tricks-Background-App-Manager

Similar to Windows 10 Mobile, the full desktop version also gives you the option to restrict which apps run in the background. So you can stop say, Weather or Sports from running if you don’t need them. Simply navigate to All Settings>Privacy>Background Apps and then select which apps you want to stop running in the background.

Timed Screenshots

Top-Windows-10-Tips-and-Tricks-Timed-Screenshots

Windows 10 adds the very cool feature of taking timed screenshots. Basically you can add a small delay in seconds, after which the screenshot is taken. Just open the Snipping Tool, click ‘Delay’, select your desired delay period and then take the screenshot.

Desktop Shortcuts on Command Prompt

Customization isn’t the only feature that’s been added to Command Prompt. You can now use desktop shortcuts like CTRL + C, CTRL + V and more on it. This is an absolute godsend for someone who needs to type out a long list of commands, now you can copy paste it just like any other text.

So there you have it, small yet pretty cool and unknown features that Windows 10 has brought with it! We’ll keep updating the list if anything else comes up, so stay tuned and do let us know what you thought of the article!

How to Delete your Personal Information collected by Google

Everyone worried about our privacy and safety of our personal information which are collected by Google and other online marketing websites. Google collect our personal information and sold to many online business and advertising companies for high profits. So how to avoid our personal information going to others without our concern.

Well, Yahoo! News has the step by step instructions for “How to Download and Delete What Google Search Knows About You”:

Have you ever wondered what Google Search really knows about you? Well, now you can check, as Google has added a new feature that lets you view and download your entire search history.

Yep. Everything.

The feature, which was spotted by the unofficial Google Operating System Blog — though VentureBeat points out that the function was made available in January — gives you access to everything from what you searched for to the links you clicked on from those searches. It also shows you the addresses you’ve searched for.

I was even able to see the list of images I clicked on while searching for pictures of cats eating spaghetti. Now imagine what you’ve looked for. Oh, and clearing your browser history won’t delete this data.

But there’s no reason to panic, because in addition to being able to download your search history, you can clear it.

First, here’s how to download your history:

1. Navigate to Google’s Web and App Activity page.

Personal Information collected by Google (3)

2. Next, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Personal Information collected by Google (4)

3. Then select Download from the drop-down menu.

Personal Information collected by Google (5)

You’ll then receive a pop-up window warning you not to download your search history to a public computer, as it contains a large amount of sensitive information.

4. If you want to continue, click Create Archive.

Personal Information collected by Google (6)

Once your history is downloaded, you’ll receive a link in a few seconds that lets you view your data.

If you don’t want to download your data, and would rather get rid of it, you can do that as well. Of course, there are some reasons to let Google keep your search data. For one thing, it guarantees faster search results. It also ensures that Google Now has all of the latest relevant information about you. If you delete your data, your searches won’t be as tailored to your habits.

Still want to get rid of your search history? Here’s how:

Before we get started, it’s worth pointing out that if you want to keep your information hidden, you can use your browser’s privacy option, which keeps Google from saving your data — though it can still be seen by your service provider or employer.

Simply deleting you browser history won’t clear the data saved by Google, as you’re only deleting the information stored by your browser and not what’s on Google’s servers. To do that, you’ll have to:

1. Navigate to the Web and App Activity Page and click the gear icon in the top-right corner.

Personal Information collected by Google (7)

2. Select Remove Items and choose the beginning of time from the drop-down menu.

Personal Information collected by Google (1)

3.Click Remove and kiss your data goodbye.

Personal Information collected by Google (2)

That’s it. All of your search history will be deleted, and you’ll never have to worry about Google knowing about the time you looked for tickets to a Justin Bieber concert.

 

How can you protect yourself while online?

When sending confidential information over the Internet such as usernames, passwords, or credit card numbers only send it securely. To verify this look for a small lock (Internet browser security lock) in the bottom right corner of your browser window or next to the address bar (as shown below). If visible, this lock should also be in the locked position and not unlocked.

Internet Explorer 7.0 secure address bar
Internet Explorer 7 secure address bar

We also suggest making sure the URL begins with https as shown above.

While the lock is in the lock position, data is encrypted, which helps anyone from understanding the data if it’s intercepted. When no lock is visible or in the unlocked position all information is plaintext and if intercepted could be read. If a web page is not secure, such as an online forum, use a password you wouldn’t use with protected sites such as your online banking website.

E-mail is not encrypted

Websites should not transmit confidential data over e-mail, such as passwords, credit card information, etc. E-mail is not encrypted and if intercepted by a third-party could be read.

Be aware of phishing scams

Familiarized yourself with phishing scams and techniques, which are used to trick you into divulging your account information. Online banking sites, Paypal, eBay, Amazon, and other popular sites that require logins are popular targets.

Use a safe password

Websites that store confidential data, such as an online bank site need to use strong passwords. Also, it is highly recommended that you use a different password for each website that requires a login. If you need help remembering your passwords consider using a password manager.

Use caution when accepting or agreeing to prompts

When prompted to install any program or add-on make sure to read and understand the agreement before clicking on the Ok button. If you do not understand the agreement or feel it is not necessary to install the program cancel or close the window.

Additionally, when installing any program watch for any check box that asks if it’s ok to install a third-party program, toolbar, etc. These are never required and often cause more issues than good. Leave these boxes unchecked.

Be cautious where you’re logging in from

Business

Your place of work can install key loggers or use other methods of monitoring the computer while online. Someone who has access to this information could read these logs and gather usernames and passwords. Also, do not store any passwords in your browser if your computer is shared with other coworkers.

Wireless network

When on a wireless network realize that all information being sent to and from your computer can be intercepted and read by someone nearby. Prevent this from happening by only logging into a secure network using WEP or WPA. If this is a home wireless network, make sure it is secure.

Friends house

Be concerned when logging into an account from a friends computer. A computer or network you are not familiar with could intentionally or unintentionally log usernames and passwords. Finally, when logging into any site on a friends computer never save the password information on their browser.

Be aware of those around you

While at work, school, library, or anywhere that has people around who could look at the monitor be cautious of anyone shoulder surfing. Someone could watch you type in your password, which would give them access to your account.

If you need everything displayed on the screen to remain private, consider a privacy filter for the display.

Update Internet browser plugins

Often many attackers find security vulnerabilities through browser plugins such as Adobe Flash. Make sure all installed Internet plug-ins are up-to-date.

Secure saved passwords

Make sure to store passwords and login information in a secure area. Never write login information on a sticky note or in a text file that is not encrypted.

To save your passwords we recommend using a password manager, which stores all login information and securely encrypts and password protects that information.

When saving password information in a browser, it may be visible by anyone who has access to your Internet browser. For example, without a master password setup in Firefox anyone can see all stored passwords.

Use a third-party service to confirm the safety and security of a page

We recommend the free Web of Trust (WOT) tool to verify the safety of all websites on the Internet.

Top Internet tips and tricks

Here is a list of best top internet tips and tricks can used in our daily internet activities.

You don’t need the http:// portion of a web page

When entering an Internet address you do not need to type http:// or even www. in the address. For example, if you wanted to visit Computer Hope you could just type bigsweb.net and press enter. To make things even quicker, if you are visiting a .com address you can type bigsweb and then press Ctrl + Enter to type out the full https://www.bigsweb.net address.

Quickly move between the fields of a web page

browsersIf you are filling out an online form, e-mail, or other text field you can quickly move between each of the fields by pressing the Tab key or Shift + Tab to move back a field. For example, in the example form below you can click in the “First Name” field type anything and press tab to switch to the next field.

Quickly move between the fields of a web page

If you are filling out an online form, e-mail, or other text field you can quickly move between each of the fields by pressing the Tab key or Shift + Tab to move back a field. For example, in the example form below you can click in the “First Name” field type anything and press tab to switch to the next field.

First Name:



Tip: This tip also applies to the buttons, if you press tab and the web developer has designed correctly the button should be selected and allows you to press the space bar or enter to push the button.

Tip: With a drop-down box that lists dozens of options you can press the first letter to scroll down to that letter. For example, click the drop down box below and then press “u” to quickly scroll to Utah.

Know your Internet browser shortcuts

Internet browsersThere are dozens of different shortcut keys that can be used with Internet browsers. Below are a few of our top suggested Internet browser shortcuts.

  • Press Alt + D to move the cursor into the address bar.
  • Hold down the Ctrl key and press the + or – to increase and decrease the size of text. Ctrl + 0 will reset the text.
  • Press the backspace key or press Alt key + left arrow to go back a page.
  • Press F5 to refresh or reload a web page.
  • Press F11 to make the Internet browser screen full screen. Press F11 again to return to the normal view.
  • Press Ctrl + B to open your Internet bookmarks.
  • Press Ctrl + F to open the find box to search for text within the web page you are reading.

Take advantage of tabbed browsing

Take full advantage of tabbed browsing on all Internet browsers. While reading any web page if you come across a link that interests you open the link in a new tab so it doesn not interrupt your reading. A new tab can be opened by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the link or if you have a mouse with a wheel press down on the wheel to use it as a middle mouse button to open the link in a new tab.

Use Internet search engines to their full potential

Get the most out of every search result. If you are not finding what you want try surrounding the text in quotes. For example, searching for ‘computer help’ without quotes returns results with “computer” and “help” anywhere on the page. However, if you search for “computer help” with the quotes it only return pages with “computer” and “help” next to each other.

Tip: In every search box you can press enter instead of using the mouse to click the Search button.

Try alternative browsers

Most computer users use the default browser that comes included with the computer, with Microsoft Windows this is Internet Explorer. There are many great alternative browsers that are all free to download and use and may have features your current browser does not include. Below are a few of our favorites, try one or try them all.

Install plugins and add-ons

All of the above alternative browsers also have a large community of volunteers who develop add-ons and plugins that can be added into the browser. Each of these browsers has hundreds of thousands of these add-ons that can do such things like the current weather in your browser window, changing its color, and adding additional functionality.

Make sure your browser and its plugins are up-to-date

An Internet browser can have many plugins that give it additional functionality. For example, Adobe Flash is a great way to bring movies and other animated content to the Internet. Keeping these plugins up-to-date is vital for your computer stability and also security. Using the below tool you can quickly verify if your plugins are up-to-date and get links to where to download the latest updates.

Use online services

There are hundreds of free online services that can help make using your computer easier, more productive, and more enjoyable.

How to watch videos slow motion in YouTube

The YouTube video player lets you easily change* the playback speed of videos. You can watch a YouTube video in slow motion and see the frames in more detail or, if the video is boring, you can switch to fast motion mode and skim through the video by doubling the playback speed.

YouTube is home to countless eye-popping videos, everything from epic outfield catches to freaky car crashes to seemingly impossible dance moves.
Indeed, for the past couple days I’ve been watching, and rewatching, this video and trying to figure out how a person’s legs and feet can move that way. (It gets especially amazing around the 1-minute mark.)

Bottom line: there are times when it would be great to see a video in slow motion. YouTube offers this option, but it’s not exactly out in plain sight.

To adjust playback speed if you’re using the Chrome browser, click the Settings icon in the lower-right corner of the playback window, then click the Speed selector. Choose 0.25 for quarter-speed playback or 0.5 for half-speed. (Obviously you can also opt for faster playback if you wish.)

Don’t see that option? While I found it in Google Chrome, it wasn’t visible in either Firefox or Internet Explorer. However, you should still be able to access it in those browsers by enabling the HTML5 version of YouTube’s video player (click “Request the HTML5 player”), or by using the site discussed below.

Play YouTube Videos in Slow Motion

Method 1#: YouTube HTML5 Video Player

As I said earlier YouTube HTML5 player is not available by default for the viewers, but you can get it easily by following the below link. Once you visit the link click Request the HTML5 player and instantly your default video player will be changed to HTMNL5 player. Now search and open any video, click on Gear icon (bottom right) and choose speed. Below is the same in steps by step procedure.

Step 1: Go to http://www.youtube.com/html5

Step 2: Click on Request the HTML5 player button and wait for few seconds until you see the button has been changed to “Use the default player”
play-youtube-in-slow-motion

Step 3: Now search for any video and open it

Step 4: Now click on Gear icon (bottom right)

Step 5: Next click on Speed, then select your video playing speed from 0.5 to 0.25 and you are done!
play-youtube-in-slow-motion-2

I would recommend you to use 0.5 speed, because when I chose 0.25 the video was playing in slow motion but I was not able hear the sound. You can also play video in fast motion by following the same steps, but instead of selecting 0.5 or 0.25 select 1.5 or 2 to increase the speed.

Tricks to Use Keywords in Your Blog Posts

One of the biggest sources of traffic to your blog will be search engines, particularly Google.  You can boost the traffic that comes to your blogs from search engines by implementing search engine optimization (SEO) tricks into your blog layout and writing.  You can get started by doing some keyword research and determining which keywords are likely to drive the most traffic to your blog.  Then focus on incorporating those keywords into your blog posts using the tricks below.

1. Use keywords in your blog post title.

One of the best ways to incorporate keywords into your blog posts is to use them in your blog post titles.  However, don’t sacrifice a title’s ability to motivate people to click through and read your entire blog post.  Learn Tips for Great Blog Post Titles.

2. Focus on using just one or two keyword phrases in each blog post.

To maximize the traffic that comes to your blog via search engines, focus on optimization each of your blog posts for just one or two keyword phrases.  Too many keyword phrases dilutes the content of your post for readers and can look like spam to both readers and search engines.  You can learn more about using specific keywords to maximize search traffic by reading about long tail search engine optimization.

3. Use keywords throughout your blog posts.

Try to use your keywords (without keyword stuffing) multiple times in your blog post.  For best results, use your keywords within the first 200 characters of your blog post, several times throughout your post, and near the end of the post.  Take some time to learn more about keyword stuffing and other search engine optimization don’ts.

4. Use keywords in and around links in your blog post.

Search engine optimization experts believe that search engines like Google place more weight on linked text than unlinked text when ranking search engine results.  Therefore, it’s a good idea to include your keywords in or next to the links within your blog posts when it’s relevant to do so.  Be sure to read about how many links are too many for SEO before you start adding links to your posts.

5. Use keywords in image Alt-tags.

When you upload an image to your blog to use in your blog post, you usually have the option of adding alternate text for that image which appears if a visitor cannot load your images in their Web browsers.  However, this alternate text, can also help your search engine optimization efforts.  That’s because the alternate text appears within the HTML of your blog post content as something called an Alt-tag.  Google and other search engines crawl that tag and use it in providing results for keyword searches.  Take the time to add keywords that are relevant to the image and post in the Alt-tag for each image you upload and publish on your blog.