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How to Protect Your Files From Ransomware With Windows Defender’s New “Controlled Folder Access”

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update includes a new Windows Defender feature designed to protect your files from ransomware. It’s named “Controlled Folder Access”, and it’s disabled by default. You’ll need to enable it yourself if you want to try it out.

How to Train Alexa to Recognize Different Voices (and Give More Personalized Answers)

Your Amazon Echo can finally recognize and differentiate voices from different household members. Here’s how to set it up in the Alexa app on your phone.

How to Quickly Make a Mac Photo Slideshow With Preview

When you double-click a photo in the Windows file browser, you can use the arrow keys to quickly browse every photo that folder. Open a photo in Preview on macOS, however, and pressing the arrow keys does nothing. This makes it hard to have a quick slideshow.

Microsoft: Please Name Windows 10 Updates After Dogs

We need to talk, Microsoft. Windows 10 is great, and we’re loving all the new features we get every six months or so. Gold stars all around.

Announcing Review Geek: A Better Solution for Tech News and Reviews

People think of How-To Geek as a place that helps them understand how to do things, or how to understand technology, and sometimes that involves specific products or services. But as a general rule, people don’t think of HTG in conjunction with products or tech news. So today, we welcome Review Geek to the family.

How to Use “My People” on Windows 10’s Taskbar

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update includes the “My People” feature originally promised for the first Creators Update. You can now pin up to three of your favorite people to the taskbar and quickly chat with them on Skype or send them emails.

How to Disable Haptic Feedback Vibrations on Your iPhone

The iPhone 7 and 8 don’t have a physical home button. Instead, the feel of pressing a button is recreated by what Apple calls the Taptic Engine. When you touch the home button, the Taptic Engine sends out a small vibration. It feels really like pressing an actual button.

How to Use OneDrive’s Files On-Demand in Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update

The Fall Creators Update includes a new OneDrive feature called “Files On-Demand”, in which your PC now shows “placeholder” copies of your OneDrive files. When you or a program accesses them, they’re downloaded as needed. That way, even if you have 1 TB of files in your OneDrive, they can take up almost no space on your PC, and you can still browse through them in File Explorer.

Why Does ~ Represent the Home Folder on macOS and Linux?

Whether you’ve installed the Linux subsystem on Windows 10 or are getting started using the Linux Terminal, there are all kinds of shorthands you need to learn…none of which are intuitive.

How to Get Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update Now

Microsoft has started rolling out Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, but it will be a few months before every PC gets it. If you don’t want to wait, you can download the Fall Creators Update from Microsoft right now.

How to Add Two-Factor Authentication to Steam

If you’ve been playing PC games in the last few years, the accumulated games in your Steam account are probably worth hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of dollars. Perhaps even more importantly, your Steam account might contain in-game items that can be traded for real-world cash…and thus, stolen with some very real consequences. So it’s a very good idea to apply Valve’s Steam Guard two-factor authentication to your account.

How to Take Good Photos of the Starry Sky

The night sky is breathtaking. If you go somewhere reasonably dark and let your eyes adjust, you can look up and see thousands of pin pricks of light, each one a star or galaxy that’s millions of years old. I find it completely humbling.

What’s New in Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, Available Now

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, codenamed Redstone 3, is available to download now. Here are all the new features you’ll see in the latest version of Windows—and some big, splashy features Microsoft announced that never arrived.

How to Call and Message Friends Using Your Amazon Echo

Alexa is great to have for controlling your smarthome and asking various questions, but she can also call and message your friends and family. Here’s how it works and how to set it up.

How to Disable Notifications During Video Playback on an Xbox One

Notification pop-ups can get annoying when they appear over a video you’re trying to watch on Netflix. The Xbox One allows you to hide notifications while watching videos, preventing such distractions.

Your Wi-Fi Network Is Vulnerable: How to Protect Against KRACK

Today, security researchers published a paper detailing a serious vulnerability in WPA2, the protocol that keeps most modern Wi-FI networks secure—including the one in your home. Here’s how to protect yourself from attackers.

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How to Get Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update Now

Microsoft has started rolling out Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, but it will be a few months before every PC gets it. If you don’t want to wait, you can download the Fall Creators Update from Microsoft right now.

Chrome Is Your OS Now, Even If You Use Windows

Yesterday, Microsoft announced they are bringing Edge to iOS and Android devices, in order to create a more seamless experience between your computer and your phone. But who cares? That seamless experience already exists through Chrome, the app you already use for everything on your PC.

CCleaner Was Hacked: What You Need to Know

CCleaner, the incredibly popular PC maintenance utility, has been hacked to include malware. Here’s how to tell if you were affected, and what you should do.

Is It Worth Upgrading to the iPhone 8 or iPhone X?

As summer turns to autumn, the leaves turn brown and the new iPhone is announced. At How-To Geek, we don’t get outside much, so we’re obviously more interested in the new iPhones than whatever trees are doing. Apple introduces the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X. We’re not going to address the profoundly weird start to the keynote, so the big question is: should you upgrade?

Equifax Got Hacked: How to Stop Identity Thieves from Opening Accounts in Your Name

Everybody is getting hacked left and right. Anthem lost 80 million records in 2015. The US government got hacked and lost personal data for millions, all the way down to fingerprint data. Now Equifax, a credit bureau, got hacked. So how can you protect yourself from criminals opening accounts in your name?

Should You Get an “Ultra HD” 4K TV?

Walk through any electronics showroom and most TVs you see will be some form of “Ultra HD” 4K. There are plenty of models available, and they’re cheaper than ever. But should you buy one?

What’s the Best Antivirus for Windows 10? (Is Windows Defender Good Enough?)

Windows 10 won’t hassle you to install an antivirus like Windows 7 did. Since Windows 8, Windows now includes a built-in antivirus called Windows Defender (which used to be available separately as Microsoft Security Essentials). But is it really the best for protecting your PC–or even just good enough?

18 Things You May Not Have Known Google Photos Can Do

Google Photos may seem like a simple image hosting service, but it’s actually quite powerful. Google Photos bridges the gap between cloud storage, image hosting, and image sharing services, giving stiff competition to Flickr, iCloud, Dropbox, and OneDrive.

Wi-Fi Security: Should You Use WPA2-AES, WPA2-TKIP, or Both?

Many routers provide WPA2-PSK (TKIP), WPA2-PSK (AES), and WPA2-PSK (TKIP/AES) as options. Choose the wrong one, though, and you’ll have a slower, less-secure network.

How to Fix Windows Update When It Gets Stuck

Windows Update is supposed to work silently in the background, but it may refuse to continue if it can’t install an individual update.