Say you have a desktop PC with a wired connection to the Internet. Your router only supports wired connections for that matter, which is the main reason for that. You do have a mobile computer as well, for instance a laptop, tablet PC or smartphone that supports WiFi. You want to use WiFi when at [...]

One of the things that parents need to consider when configuring parental controls and monitoring applications for their children on computer systems is how easy it is to bypass those mechanisms that are designed to protect the underage computer users. Qustodio is a free parental control and Internet monitoring application for the Windows operating system. [...]

Back in October 2009 Microsoft released the long awaited and highly acclaimed Windows 7 operating system. Unlike Windows Vista, the operating system’s immediate predecessor, Windows 7 managed to do what where Vista failed: Snag away market share from Windows XP. Depending on which statistics you look at Windows 7 is installed on 39% (Statcounter), 42% [...]

Backing up data on your computer is important and most users know this. Windows features a backup utility that allows you to backup your system and files. This is a useful utility but sometimes you might find that it does not completely backup your files or an error occurs. If you need to backup your [...]

Microsoft releases Windows updates on the second Tuesday of the month. A total of eight different security bulletins have been released today by Microsoft. They update the operating system Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products such as the .NET Framework, Microsoft Silverlight and Internet Explorer. Two of the eight bulletins have been given the highest [...]

Sometimes you may want to highlight a specific area of a photo that you have taken with your digital camera. Maybe it is a photo of your family in a garden, a sight at your most recent holiday destination or your dog doing a crazy stunt in the park. Tintii Photo Filter is an Open [...]

It is prudent to have backup antivirus software in the event that something goes wrong with the primary antivirus suite on your PC. Sometimes malware can lock the primary antivirus program and at other times it can simply stop working or experience technical difficulties of unknown cause. Though you do not need to run more [...]

When you look at backup services and options for the Windows operating system you find that there are plenty local and online applications and services that you can select a suitable app from. The variety becomes apparent especially when you look at the functionality that is offered. This ranges from basic file copying programs to [...]

I have monitored news about the alleged German state-sponsored trojan closely ever since the German Chaos Computer Club posted information about it online. While there is not a definitive proof that it is indeed malware designed and operated by German police forces, it is definitely something that computer users need to be aware of. I [...]

While it is possible to publish plain text files on the Internet, it is often not the most suitable option considering that HTML documents are more versatile. HTML files support links, different colors and font types as well as other text formatting options and interactive elements. But what can you do if you do not [...]

You have several basic yet important utilities on your Windows operating system and it is not always easy to find them. You have to navigate the Control Panel or perhaps delve into the myriad lists of the Start Menu, entering just the right search terms. You could create desktop icons for all of these utilities [...]

The more fonts you have installed on your system the longer it will take the system to start up. That’s one of the reasons why some PC users like to keep the installed font count at the bare minimum on their system. That’s easier said than done considering that you may need to use some [...]

Initially, when your computer is new and you have a fresh Windows 7 installation, Windows Update works perfectly. You see no errors, everything is set to automatic and you need not lift a finger. Then, as you actually use your PC for awhile and utilize its capabilities, one day you see the error messages. Windows [...]

I do not have any program shortcuts on my desktop, only a few text, Excel and Word documents that I like to have in reach whenever I need them. I have also added a Desktop toolbar to my Windows 7 taskbar to access the files when windows are displayed on the desktop that hide the [...]

While it may not happen too often, you sometimes may want to copy text from an image into a document. It is certainly possible to type the text manually into the document which may be ok if it consists of a few words or sentences. But what if it is an image full of text? [...]

When you look at the most popular Bittorrent clients for Windows, you will probably notice that uTorrent is mentioned quite often. If you look over to Macintosh or Linux computer systems, you will likely hear the program name Transmission fairly often. Transmission-QT is an unofficial Open Source port of that Bittorrent client for the Microsoft [...]

CCleaner is an indispensable tool for many Windows users to clean up temporary files and other leftovers on the system. The core benefit here is that running the program regularly frees up storage space. Piriform, the developers of CCleaner, are offering a commercial CCleaner Network Edition for some time now for easier deployment and administration [...]

The Windows 7 operating system shipped with a built-in automatic wallpaper changer that allowed users to pick multiple desktop backgrounds that the operating system would rotate automatically. Previously users had to use third party software like Wallperizer or John’s Background Switcher for that functionality. Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 8 will improve that by offering [...]

It is pretty easy to forget to remove an USB Flash drive or stick from a computer system on shutdown. Some devices are that small that it is easy to overlook them when shutting down a computer. While that’s not a big issue at home, it can very well be one if you happen to [...]

When it comes to selecting the right backup software, you have to analyze your individual needs before looking for the right package. Some questions that you need to answer are the following: What kind of data and how much of it do you want to backup? How regularly? Would you like to backup the data [...]

If you had the chance to play around with the Windows 8 developer preview that Microsoft released publicly last month you have noticed that it feels different from previous versions of the operating system in many regards. This can be largely attributed to the new Metro start screen that pops up whenever you start the [...]

In How To Install Windows 8 From USB Key I looked at two different options to create a bootable Usb copy of Microsoft’s upcoming operating system to install it from Usb devices. The easier of the two options was to use Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool to create a bootable Usb installation disk. Windows [...]

Microsoft’s intention to optimize the upcoming Windows 8 operating system for mobile devices like netbooks or tablets has the consequence that the Redmond company has to optimize the operating system’s power consumption. Laptop users with optical disk drives may benefit from the operating system’s support of a feature called Zero-Power Optical Disk Drive (Zero Power [...]

When I worked for one of Germany’s biggest financial organizations back before I started blogging full time, I had to change my user account password on a regular basis. Even worse, they had set the password rules in a way that you could not just re-pick your old password. Heck, you could not even use [...]

So many users enjoy customizing various features and appearances in Windows 7. Personalizing features and appearances is fun and gives a fresh new look you your Windows 7 experience. Generally, Library icons cannot be changed in Windows 7. Someone always comes up with a way to hack the limitations and overcome them and that part [...]

Microsoft introduced gadgets when the company launched the Windows Vista operating system. First in a limited gadget’s sidebar that restricted the location that gadgets could be placed in, and then usable on the full desktop with the release of Windows 7. Users who visit the Windows Live Gallery page are now redirected to a Looking [...]

Tech savvy Windows users know that they can manage the operating systems’ Services either from the System Configuration tool msconfig or the Service management software Services which can be launched by typing in services.msc in the run box. Service Manager now is a free third party program that home users and administrators can use to [...]

The last notebook that I bought, an Acer 3810T, does not come with an optical drive. This has ramifications, especially when installing new operating systems but also when an optical drive is needed, for instance to burn a DVD or repair disc. While it is possible to use external CD, DVD or Blu-Ray drives for [...]

You should not confuse the new snap feature of Windows 8 with the Aero Snap feature that Microsoft introduced under Windows 7. Aero Snap back then allowed users to snap windows to the left or right side of the monitor where they’d resize to take up exactly half of the available screen estate. It was [...]

As a system administrator you sometimes may need to analyze the running processes. Not only to make sure that no unknown processes are running, but also to make sure they are running with the correct rights. While you could use a program like the Windows Task Manager, or the advanced Process Explorer for that, you [...]

When AppRemover was first published in 2009 I reviewed it and came to the conclusion that it was a great software for users who had troubles removing security software like antivirus, anti-malware or firewalls from their Windows operating system. Two years later and the application is still around. The development company OPSWAT has improved and [...]

The word is out: Microsoft released the Windows 8 Developer Preview recently and many users want to try it out. All it takes is a CPU that supports virtualization and virtualization software. Wait a second. What if your CPU does not support virtualization? Does this mean that you can’t try out Windows 8? As long [...]

GGrep is a text search and replace software for the Windows operating system that is based on the original Grep tool of Unix based machines. The portable Windows software comes with a user interface that displays the majority of features right on the start screen. A basic search requires a search term and the selection [...]

Many download portals and websites display file checksums on their download pages. The idea behind this is to give users the chance to calculate the checksum of the downloaded file to compare it with the checksum on the website. If the values are identical, then the file has not been tampered with (unless a hacker [...]

Windows 8 will be released soon, perhaps not soon enough. No big news there except that if you are a Windows fan, you probably want Windows 8 now. Windows 7 is fantastic and you may not want to let go. What do you do? It is time to tweak your Windows 7 operating system to [...]

If you have followed the buzz surrounding Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 8 you may have noticed that the Redmond company has redesigned the Windows Task Manager. When you first open it it only displays programs that have been started by the user. While that’s probably ok for the majority of users, it is nothing [...]

When Microsoft released a late alpha, but generally stable version of the Windows 8 Developer Preview the other week a great many people, including myself, were greatly surprised.  This is because it goes against everything Windows chief Steven Sinofsky generally believes.  But it was very clear why Microsoft had made this decision. They know full [...]

The main purpose of cookies is to make life on the Internet more comfortable. The little data files can however also be used for tracking purposes. They are needed but at the same time very controversial. I have touched the subject quite a few times here on Ghacks. In How To Whitelist Cookies And Delete [...]

One of the new features that Microsoft has added to Windows 8 is the ability to sign-in with a Windows Live ID instead of a local user account. One first start of the operating system you are asked to create an account. You can select to create a local account or use an existing or [...]

Modern operating systems make it a lot easier for users to connect to the Internet. You may not need to configure network settings at all before connecting to the Internet via a network cable. Even wireless connections have become easier to configure, as it is usually only needed to enter the secure code to establish [...]

It is easy to type in multiple languages in Ubuntu. This tutorial will guide you through the simple steps to adding keyboard languages to Ubuntu and show you how to modify the settings for keyboard shortcuts to toggle between languages. You can switch between different keyboard layouts, preview and print the layouts, and alter settings [...]

The MDF disk image format (MDF stands for Mirror Disk File) is not as widely used as the ISO format. This in turn means that the file format is not supported as widely in disk burning or mounting applications when compared to the ISO format. MDF files are created with the commercial Alcohol software which [...]

The System Restore feature of the Windows operating system can be very handy if configured correctly. It in theory allows the user to restore system settings and files to a previous state. It is not a complete backup solution on the other hand as it is for instance limited by the storage space assigned to [...]

I personally do not really care if mp3 files on my computer have the proper album covers associated with them. I do however know a few people who want their mp3 collection to be in perfect condition, which includes having album cover art for all of their mp3 files. Cover Retriever is a free open [...]

One of the nicer features of Windows 7 is that you can customize anything. A personalized appearance can be tailored to any style. For example, if you like the Mac OS X dock, there is a way to make the Windows 7 dock look similar, perhaps even better. Windows allows for desktop customization that is [...]

I create a lot of screenshots throughout the day, at least one for every application that I review. I have been using various screenshot tools over the years for that, including the Print Screen key on the keyboard and pasting the contents of the clipboard into an image editor or the more recent Snippy. Currently [...]

There’s been a lot of talk recently about use use of shortcut keys in Windows 8, primarily because 90+% of the people who will be using that OS for the next few year won’t have access to a touch screen.  What this has brought home though is just how many people still reply on the [...]

One of the things that I like about Windows is the fact that you can tweak the operating system to suite your needs. You can do that by clicking through menus, editing the Registry, running scripts or using tweaking software. Simple Performance Boost is such a tweaking software for Windows. It comes from the same [...]

One web browser is always the default system browser on a computer system. That’s the program that is launched when you click on links for example. The majority of computer users on Windows come into contact with multiple browsers. They got Microsoft’s Internet Explorer installed by default on the system and download and install at [...]

This is for the user who enjoys customizing the look of various aspects of Windows. You have already set custom desktop backgrounds and polished up the toolbar. You have set up your own choice of screensavers transcending the basic defaults. Now, what about the Task Manager? Since you like to customize appearances in Windows 7, [...]