Gadgets, love them or leave them. Microsoft introduced sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista and improved the way they were handled in Windows 7. Gadgets are small programs that run on the computer desktop. They were limited to the sidebar in Vista, a limitation that was removed by Microsoft in Windows 7. Gadgets can be helpful [...]

Categories: Windows

There are a few possible scenarios where a Windows user might have to or want to use the command line instead of the regedit tool to delete and add keys in the Windows Registry. It can be that a virus or other malicious software has limited access to the Registry so that regedit cannot be [...]

Categories: Tutorials Basic, Windows

The Windows 7 start menu has been designed by Microsoft to display recently used programs on the first page and all installed programs that have added a start menu entry on the second page. The second page is displayed after the user clicks on the All Programs link there. When a Windows user decides to [...]

Categories: Software, Windows

Microsoft has added some interesting new features to the taskbar in Windows 7. This includes the ability to pin programs to it and make use of jumplists to access program functions and recently used files. Some users recently contacted me asking if there was a way to add files and folders to the taskbar. And [...]

Categories: Windows

Opera is in the news quite a lot in the last couple of days. First they manage to rush out the final release of Opera 10.50 in a less time than some companies need to provide a patch for their application and then they are the first to release figures on the impact of the [...]

Categories: Browsing, Opera

If you are living in Europe right now and using a computer with a Microsoft operating system chance is that you are now presented with a program upon system startup that states “An Important Choice To Make: Your Browser”. This screen appears after system startup and leads to another screen called Select Your Web Browser. [...]

Categories: Browsing, Windows

Some Windows users have reported restart issues installing the February security updates for their operating system. A recent blog post at the Microsoft Security Response Center suggests that the problems occurred for the users after installing the patch MS10-015. Jerry Bryant, the Senior Security Communications Manager, states that Microsoft has not yet ” confirmed that [...]

Categories: Security, Windows

Technicians who are troubleshooting PC issues or errors often need to use a tool that can provide them with extensive information about the computer system’s hardware and software. We have reviewed many programs in both categories in the past including Speccy, PC Wizard or Driver View in the hardware category and Hijack This, Autoruns or [...]

Categories: Software, Windows

The Windows Explorer in Windows 7 has been revamped a bit by Microsoft to display helpful shortcut links in a sidebar by default. The libraries are displayed there for instance as well as the user’s favorite folders and the drives that are connected to the PC. It is possible to customize that display either by [...]

Categories: Windows