How-To Geek

This guide explains how to configure a Windows Server 2008 machine to push out a static Ubuntu image that can be picked up by diskless terminals, so that you can have any number of machines running a fully-functional instance of Ubuntu without having a hard drive, as long as they are capable of PXE booting.

Are you one of those people that loves to see the screensaver come on when you get up from your computer? Here’s an easy way to make the screensaver show up as soon as you lock your PC.

The All Apps view in Windows 8 is quite useful, considering many of the applications a geek might want to use won’t be pinned to the Start Screen – but it is a pain to get there. We set out to find a better solution.

We are switching to Discourse, the new discussion platform that is built for the modern age. But it’s more than just a forum switch. Join us for a look back at discussion on How-To Geek.

Most of you probably never even think about the Windows build number — after all, it’s not something you see very often, and it doesn’t matter. But it does hold an interesting secret since Windows Vista.

Here’s a fun little tip for you: did you know that you can run commands from the address bar in Windows Explorer? It’s true — any app that you could run on the command line can be run from the address bar, including opening a new command prompt.

It was only a matter of time before somebody figured out how to use Metro / Modern apps in a regular desktop window, and naturally it was Stardock who came up with the solution. It’ll cost you a couple of bucks, but you can use the trial mode for free.

Internet Explorer 10, the same version that comes with Windows 8, is now available for Windows 7 users as well. Even if you aren’t an Internet Explorer user, you should still think about upgrading IE to the latest version for security reasons.

If you want to squeeze every last drop of performance out of your PC, you might consider disabling some of the built-in Windows services. But which ones should you disable? And which ones can you safely disable?

Most people don’t realize this, but Amazon allows you to get a refund for a Kindle book that you purchased, but wish you hadn’t. Instead of wasting time leaving a nasty review, why don’t you just get your money back?

If you managed to get infected with the absolutely terrible Ask Toolbar on your computer, don’t be ashamed – it could happen to anybody. Especially considering that is bundled with the equally awful Java runtime. Those people should be ashamed of themselves.

Everything is going high-tech these days, including your wallet. Why, you ask? What you might not realize is that new credit cards have RFID chips built into them – so this new wallet blocks RFID signals to prevent anybody from accessing your data.

Google Chrome has a very useful feature that most people probably don’t know about – You can quickly set per-site permissions and disable plugins, Javascript, images, and more with only a single click.

We’ve put together a quick poll that you can answer, but you are more than welcome (and encouraged) to also leave an answer in the Other slot, or even as an anonymous comment to this article. (Note that comments might not show up on the site right away, but rest assured that we’ll see them).

There’s some 81 million unique IP addresses that expose UPnP functionality from the internet, and more than 6900 different devices are potentially vulnerable, at least, to being hacked from the outside. This means, theoretically, that your router could end up being hacked to forward ports from the outside world, which leaves you open to more hacking.

If you aren’t a programmer you might have never thought about all that stuff in the URL when you visit Gmail, but after years of noticing this, I finally decided to look it up. Turns out it actually does stand for something.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, Dropbox, and all the other web services out there can be accessed by various applications and other services. Here’s a couple of links that you can use to quickly remove anything that has access.

If you’re a How-To Geek reader and you also support somebody else using Soluto, you’re in luck, because the fine folks over at Soluto are giving away 50 of their Space Invaders t-shirts to our readers.

Have you ever wanted to make a backup of a DVD, or even rip it to an ISO file to use on your computer without the original optical disc? You can use WinX DVD Copy Pro to make this happen, and we’ve got a giveaway for all HTG readers.

Think you have the perfect combination of geek knowledge and writing skills? We’re looking for an experienced writer to join our team, and here are all the details.

You might be surprised to see us reviewing a Windows 8 book, especially considering we recently launched our own book, The How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8 – but since we don’t (yet) have a paperback version, we may as well give you another option.

When we first released our Geek Trivia app, it was sadly only available in the US store for Windows 8, but now you can get it no matter where you live. It’s completely free, so get your copy right now!

The 4-Hour Chef isn’t just a cookbook. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure guide to the world of rapid learning from the best-selling author of the 4-Hour Workweek, and we’ve got 10 free copies for How-To Geek readers.

Lets face it, Windows 8 is a major change to Windows, and for many, quite confusing. Today we’re releasing our very very first book: The How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8, which is written to be easy enough for anybody to understand, but comprehensive enough for experts to enjoy.

As usual, there’s yet another security hole in the Java Runtime Environment, and if you don’t disable your Java plugin, you’re at risk for being infected with malware. Here’s how to do it.