How to Build Your Own Computer, Part Three: Getting the BIOS Ready

BIOS stands for “Basic Input-Output System.” Related:What Is UEFI, and How Is It Different from BIOS? It has a ton of new and useful features to better support modern hardware. But everyone still calls it “the BIOS,” because it covers all of the same bases.) Once you’re in, there are a few things you may want to do. Related:Do you gotta tune up your box’s BIOS? Updating is also sometimes recommended for specific, critical security updates or bugs....

December 13, 2017 · 1 min · 210 words · Mary Carter

How to Build Your Own Computer, Part Two: Putting It Together

It’s time to get to the fun part: putting them all together. before you kick off, you’ll want to set up a good work area. Get some kind of table with plenty of room and light, preferably somewhere that isn’t carpeted. If your home or your workspace is particularly prone to static discharges, you might want ananti-static bracelet. But if you want to be extra cautious, it couldn’t hurt. (Or, if you have one, amagnetic parts trayis wonderful....

December 12, 2017 · 5 min · 935 words · Heidi Terry

How to Build Your Own Computer, Part One: Choosing Hardware

Quick Links So you’ve decided to take the plunge and assemble your own desktop PC. Whatever your intentions, our five part guide is here to help you. Before you could get to building, you need a plan. Why Build Your Own PC? You don’t want to get in too deep and regret your decision. You just can’t compete with the prices they get on bulk parts. Building your own PC has other advantages, too....

December 11, 2017 · 5 min · 899 words · Tammy Cunningham

Why Rebooting Your Router Fixes So Many Problems (and Why You Have to Wait 10 Seconds)

It’s second nature at this point, but why does it actually work? And is there some magic to the ten second number? And the even bigger question: is there some way you’re able to stop doing this? Casezy idea/Shutterstock.com Routers can feel mysterious, but they’re not. And if you know what’s going wrong, it’s possible for you to usually solve the problem. Inside that plastic box is a CPU, memory, and local storage, all running an operating system....

December 4, 2017 · 2 min · 372 words · Steve Thompson

How to Disable the Window Minimize and Maximize Animations on Windows

Windows normally animates windows whenever you minimize or maximize them. These animations can be disabled, if you like, making windows hide or appear immediately. This option is available on all modern versions of Windows, including Windows 7, 8, and 10. You’ll find this toggle in the System Properties window. To open it, head to Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system prefs. Uncheck the “Animate windows when minimizing or maximizing” option here and click “OK”....

November 21, 2017 · 1 min · 149 words · Anna Chambers MD

How to Restore Firefox to Its Default Settings and Start Fresh

Firefox will keep your bookmarks and saved passwords. However, this will delete your installed add-ons and erase all their locally stored data. snag the “Help” option near the bottom of the menu. poke the “Troubleshooting Information” option in the Help menu. smack the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page. Click “Refresh Firefox” to confirm you want to make these changes. Firefox will close while it clears away the old data....

November 14, 2017 · 1 min · 77 words · Stephanie Zimmerman

How to See What Web Sites Your Computer Is Secretly Connecting To

Here’s how to see what’s going on under the hood. We’re going to cover three ways it’s possible for you to view your PC’s active connections. The first uses the good oldnetstatcommand from PowerShell or the Command Prompt. And, you’re able to do it using either PowerShell or Command Prompt. The command works the same in both. If you’re using the Command Prompt instead, you’d also have to run that as an administrator....

November 9, 2017 · 2 min · 261 words · Christopher Cook

The Amazon Prime-ification of Windows, and Everything Else, Is Coming

But theWindows Fall Creators updategoes further. For the first time, non-Office Windows features will live behind the Office 365 paywall. You need an Office 365 account to use this feature that’s completely unrelated to Office. Simplybuying Office 2016 isn’t enough: you need the subscription. Call it the Amazon-Prime-ification of Windows. Subscription review could go a long way. And Microsoft does have a pretty decent bundle going. There’s Office itself, obviously, but also the 1TB of cloud storage space....

October 16, 2017 · 1 min · 176 words · Sandra Evans

How to Disable User Account Control (UAC) on Windows 10 or Windows 11

User Account Control is an important Windows security feature. If a running system wants full access to your system, it has to ask with a UAC prompt. If you disable UAC, all running applications can gain Administrator access without asking first. Here’s how you disable UAC on any version of Windows. What Is UAC? It is one additional barrier between your system and potentially malicious applications. It’s included on Windows Server, too....

September 27, 2017 · 2 min · 381 words · Suzanne Gould

What's the Difference Between the "Program Files (x86)" and "Program Files" Folders in Windows?

32-bit vs. 64-bit Windows Related:What’s the Difference Between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows? Originally, Windows was only available as a32-bit operating system. In other words, programs install to the Program Files folder. On 64-bit versions of Windows, 64-bit applications install to the Program Files folder. 64-bit programs still use the normal Program Files folder. This contains all your installed programs, all of which are 32-bit. That’s why different programs are spread across the two Program Files folders, seemingly at random....

September 25, 2017 · 2 min · 327 words · Sheryl Bailey

How to Boost Your Mouse Pointing Accuracy in Windows

The"Enhance Pointer Precision" setting in Windowsis poorly understood. That’s because this feature is a form of mouse acceleration. With it on, the speed you move your mouse also matters. This can help you when trying to precisely select small things on the screen. It’s worth experimenting with this setting, depending on your mouse hardware and what you’re doing. Office workers with cheaper mice and anyone using a laptop’s touchpad may want to leave it enabled....

September 18, 2017 · 2 min · 282 words · Matthew Singh

How to Make Sure a File Is Safe Before Downloading It

If you want to scan a .doc file, you’ll need the direct link to the .doc file. Next, head toVirusTotal.comin your web web app. go for the search button or press Enter to scan the file. Kanoktuch/Shutterstock.com If other people have recently scanned the file, VirusTotal will show you the recent scan results. As of April 2022, VirusTotal now has more than 90 antivirus engines available. The “0/65” means the file was detected as malicious by 0 of VirusTotal’s 65 antivirus engines....

September 16, 2017 · 1 min · 162 words · Daniel Rowe

How to Block Text Messages from a Certain Number on an iPhone

pop launch the Messages app on your iPhone. Hit the"Info" button on the following screen. Select “Block Caller.” Yash Wate / How-To Geek Finally, confirm blocking the number or contact by tapping “Block Contact.” Once you block someone, you won’t receive any texts from them on your iPhone in the future. In addition to blocking text messages, this will also block phone and FaceTime calls from the blocked number. This method is easy when you want to prevent messages from a saved contact on your iPhone....

September 11, 2017 · 2 min · 259 words · Theresa Jackson