How-To Geek

Internet Explorer is a complex piece of software and hasn’t always been the browser choice of us geeks, but the truth is that it has gotten a lot better over the years so come and see what it has to offer.

The tech press is constantly writing about new and dangerous “zero-day” exploits. But what exactly is a zero-day exploit, what makes it so dangerous, and – most importantly – how can you protect yourself?

The Caps Lock key is outdated and mostly useless. Most people will only ever trigger it accidentally. Google replaced the Caps Lock key with a Search key on its Chromebooks, and you can do the same thing on Windows.

The Growl notification system is something that will be familiar to Mac users, but it is something that is also available for Windows. It is an incredibly versatile tool that can be used to monitor system and program notifications in a variety of ways, including remotely.

Have you ever bought an app from the Store only to have Windows tell you that you haven’t purchased the app when you check on another device?

Entering your online-banking or email passwords on an untrusted computer – particularly one in a public place – is risky. If you had a USB drive with Linux installed on it, you could log into your accounts without fear.

BitLocker is a lesser-known technology included in Windows that allows you to both password protect and encrypt the contents of your storage mediums.

Browser plug-ins like Flash and Java add additional features web pages can use. However, they can also slow things down when in use or add extra security holes, particularly in the case of Java.

Have you ever wondered why your favorite game from Windows 95 just doesn’t seem to run on Windows 7 but other applications do? Well we have the answer for you, as well as a few solutions for how to fix it.

Whether you’re a web developer or just an avid internet user, you may need to use multiple browsers. Each browser has useful features that are not available in the other browsers, so, you may need to switch browsers to take advantage of certain features.

Browsers are packed with settings and options, many of which are hidden. Each browser has a place where you can change advanced settings that aren’t available in its standard options window.

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.

Hard Drives: every computer running Windows has them and none can function without them. They house all our data, so we should set them up correctly. Read on to learn more about how to use RAID to protect your data.

Windows 8 has redesigned its screenshot feature, and you no longer need to launch the Snipping Tool or run any third-party screenshot tool, such as Greenshot. You can easily capture everything on the screen using one key combination.

Web browsers store your personal data – bookmarks, history, settings, extensions, and more – in a profile. You can create separate profiles to split things up – for example, you could have one profile for work and one for play.

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.

If you’ve bought a PC with Windows 8 installed, you may be surprised to find that there is not quite as much storage space available as you would expect based on the size of your hard drive. This could be for a couple of reasons, including a Windows recovery image occupying several gigabytes.

In this edition of Geek School we are going to cover the configuration of hardware in Windows 7. Come join us.

There are many programs available for taking screenshots. If you’re looking for a free option, Greenshot is a great program that provides many useful features, such as cropping, annotations, highlights, and obfuscating (like the smudge tool in GIMP).

In the second installment of our new Geek School series, we walk you through Upgrades and Migrations for Windows 7, from the perspective of learning to take your certification exam.

In this guide we will show you how to enable programs or custom scripts to run when Windows boots up. You may prefer that your Outlook opens up every time you log in to your computer in the morning at work, or you may want a custom batch file to run every time the desktop loads. Whatever your needs, this guide will show several convenient ways for configuring this behavior. We will also take a look at other methods programs use to run at boot and how to disable them.

Most of our readers are familiar with Windows 7, but just how knowledgeable are you? Could you pass a Microsoft certification test? In our new Geek School series, we’re going to try and teach you about technology in a more in-depth fashion – starting with Windows 7, but we’re not stopping there.

With browser sync enabled, you can open some tabs on your computer and access them on-the-go from your smartphone. If you have multiple computers, you can easily keep your bookmarks and settings in sync between them.

The Windows 8 Start screen. It’s a very divisive feature of the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, and the widespread dislike for the way it looks and works is demonstrated by the staggering number of tools for tweaking it that sprang up almost immediately. If you’re not happy with the way the Start screen works, there are plenty of ways you can customize it, and here we take a look at some of the best tools.

Many websites offer specific interfaces for smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices. Whether you need to test mobile websites or you’re just curious to see what they look like, you can access them in your desktop browser.