How-To Guides about Windows Tips

The digital pen on the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book is an indispensable tool for serious note-takers and artists alike.

The Microsoft Surface has been the go-to device for many professional artists since its initial release back in 2012. Since then, the Surface line has continued to offer customers a portable, high-powered machine that's a near perfect value for both casual and professional artists. And the Surface Book is its best model yet—a full laptop convertible with a detachable screen and a dedicated GPU.

Google Play Music has been my go-to music service ever since its release. The free cloud storage for 50,000 songs and full access to Songza-powered radio stations make it a great music app, even without the $10/month streaming service.

Screenshots are an indispensable tool when it comes to relaying information about what's currently showing on your monitor. Whether you need help troubleshooting an issue or you just want to save and share a protected image, screenshots are often your best bet.

Windows 10 runs on laptops, desktops, tablets, and even phones—but even though the operating system should scale accordingly, fonts and icons aren't always perfectly sized for every screen. Luckily, though, there's a handy new menu for adjusting the size of your screen's contents, which you can use to make everything bigger or smaller to match your preferences.

Microsoft's Windows 10 has proven to be a solid release by Microsoft, with faster adoption rates than its predecessor builds. The seamless integration of cloud services and tweaks both major and minor make using Windows easier than ever now. And it's almost enough to forget you ever used Windows Vista... almost.

Windows 10 definitely has a sleek and modern look to it, but some of these visual changes have been made at the expense of functionality. For instance, the slider that appears when you click the volume icon in your notification tray now sports a completely minimalist look that lacks the quick link to the full volume mixer from past Windows versions.

Microsoft did a wonderful thing in 2015: for the first time, it was offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 for all current Windows 7 and 8.1 users. And, if you were lucky, the upgrade process was relatively simple and painless. There were, however, some questions after the everything was said and done.

Windows has always had an "Administrator" account that allowed you to install programs and manage system files with elevated privileges. The difference between this account and a regular user account with administrator access was that you never got bothered by annoying User Account Control popups when you were logged in as Administrator.

Technology has progressed by leaps and bounds and has blessed people in a number of ways, but at the same time, it has troubled them also. Computers are now used in every aspect of life. No matter if you are a businessman, an employee, a student, or even a housewife, a computer can assist you in your routine work. You save your personal information, documents, and other similar sensitive stuff on your computer that can hurt you if they get compromised.

As mobile devices become more and more popular, service providers have unfortunately resorted to capping data. What this means is that, depending on the plan you have with your ISP, you could have limits placed on how much data you can use for a set period of time. Once you've hit the limit, your ISP could drastically slow down or throttle your internet speed or charge you outrageous overage fees.

For reasons unknown, Microsoft decided to change the way the Guest account feature in the new Windows 10 operating system works. In previous versions, the Guest account feature allowed you to set up a limited account for other users so they don't have access to your important documents and settings. Now, the process requires assigning an email to a new account and configuring share settings.

Since the release of Windows 8, Microsoft has been heavily encouraging users to use Windows with a Microsoft account. According to Microsoft, the main benefit of using a Microsoft account is the ability to sign in and sync your information across various Microsoft devices and services. Furthermore, you have access to a singular cloud storage solution which can contain documents, pictures, settings, and more on whatever system you're using with the Microsoft account.

Task Manager got revamped quite a bit in modern versions of Windows. First introduced in Windows NT 4.0, it's become pretty popular among more advanced users. In Windows 10, Task Manager is not just a task manager anymore, it's also a system monitor, startup manager, history viewer, user controller, and the list goes on.

Windows has always been pretty customizable, and there are a ton of ways to change up the way your PC looks—though, it hasn't always been easy. In the past, changing anything other than wallpapers, titlebars, and fonts involved long hours of switching out system files with modified versions and changing icons to no end, but that's not the case with SkinPacks.

The dock in Mac OS X is intuitive, customizable, and aesthetically pleasing, which is a stark difference from its clunky Windows alternative. In fact, in Windows, it takes both the Start menu and taskbar to accomplish what Apple's dock does—but it doesn't have to be like that. Below, I'll show you how to add an OS X-inspired dock on any PC running Windows XP or higher.

Windows 10 has so many new features that we couldn't even cover them all with one article. From keyboard shortcuts to revamped search functions and all-new window gestures, Microsoft definitely piled on the fresh functionality in the latest version of their operating system.

Windows 10 is officially here, and frankly, there's a ton of new features in Microsoft's latest operating system. From the return of the Start menu to the new Edge browser, Windows 10 can take some getting used to.

Windows 10 has proved to be immensely popular (free upgrades certainly don't hurt), and with back to school time, there's a good chance you have a new computer running Microsoft's latest OS. You maybe you decided to go with a clean installation rather than an upgrade, or just haven't used your computer for much more than surfing the web and watching Netflix.

These days, operating systems are becoming more and more touch-oriented, or at the very least, heavily mouse-driven. Nonetheless, while novice users will find it easier to tap and click their way around, power users know that keyboard shortcuts are still the fastest way to get things done.

Microsoft's most anticipated OS has finally arrived, and there's no doubt that all of you out there who snagged a copy of Windows 8 are excited to see what's new.

The Start menu has definitely seen many changes over the years—from the traditional menu that was present from Windows XP to 7, to the Start screen in Windows 8, to the hybrid of the two in Windows 10. And while the return of the Start "menu" has received near-universal praise, there are still some aspects old Windows 7 users will miss. Namely, the User folder and content folders (like Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos).

It sounded great on the surface when Microsoft announced that existing Windows 7 or 8 users would be able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, but the execution so far has left a lot to be desired. Upgrading from an existing installation is relatively easy, but when you start with a clean install of Windows 10, you run into some problems.

Slowly but surely, Microsoft is pushing more and more options out of the Control Panel and into a new menu simply called Settings. This new Settings menu debuted with Windows 8 and mainly focused on touchscreen-related options, but starting with Windows 10, you'll find quite a few general options residing here as well.

Microsoft decided to give users a free upgrade to Windows 10 if they were previously running Windows 7 or 8—but it came with a catch. Their main motivation for knocking off over $100 from the normal going rate was to get more people using new Microsoft services like Cortana and the Windows Store. To bolster these services, Microsoft implemented a host of new tracking "features" in Windows 10.

While Windows 10's new File Explorer is just as, if not more, useful as it was in previous iterations of Windows, it could definitely still be better. Two features that would greatly improve File Explorer are tabbed results and a customizable user interface, similar to how they are in Google Chrome.

Every time Windows gets a significant update, the vast majority of existing tweaking utilities become obsolete. For every option that you fine-tuned with one of these tools on Windows 7 or 8, there's a change in the registry or system settings that cause your tweaks to now point to a dead end. This was definitely the case with Windows 10, since there were so many sweeping changes that very few existing options carried over.

In modern versions of Windows, Microsoft made quite a few changes to Windows Explorer, the first of which is a new name—File Explorer. Another huge change that most will notice is that File Explorer now has a new look sporting the Ribbon interface.

Modern versions of Windows have revamped the lock screen to make it a lot more useful. If you're coming from Windows 7 and older versions of the OS, this lock screen is both new and useful (though you can turn it off if you just don't want it).

In a bit of a strange decision, Microsoft has made it to where some users don't have a choice in the matter of applying failed automatic updates. When a Windows or driver update comes your way and fails to apply for any reason, your computer will continue to attempt applying the broken update at seemingly random intervals. The Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 10 will allow you to delay or stop updates altogether when something like this happens, but the Home edition has no such setting.

Windows 10 is the most cloud-oriented version of Windows to date—yet, while this means you get some nifty new features, it also means some of your personal data is being shared with Microsoft's servers.

As familiar as it may look at first glance, there are still tons of subtle changes in Windows 10. Many options that existed in past versions have been moved, and virtually every system menu received at least a small visual makeover.

Windows 10 makes it a cinch to change the lock screen background: simply go to Setting -> Personalization -> Lock screen, then change the background to whatever you'd like.

You're smashing your keyboard to increase your screen brightness, yet it won't go any higher, but you know you've been able to set it higher before. Angered by this, you get up and move your laptop, only to suddenly notice that the display does in fact get a lot brighter.

Cortana, Microsoft's voice-activated personal assistant, originally launch on Windows Phone, but is now built directly into Windows 10 complete with "Hey Cortana" voice search (take that, Apple). It can help you locate files, set up reminders, control music.

Windows 8 had an easy "Set for monitor" option that allowed you to use different wallpapers on a multi-monitor setup—an option that is seemingly absent from Windows 10. But with a quick command, you can easily restore this function on Windows 10, so that it behaves like Windows 8.