Is it needed? No. There are plenty of alternatives if you want cloud storage and features similar to OneDrive.
Or you may elect not to use cloud storage at all.
Is it useful? In my opinion, absolutely.
As I write this, the most recent Windows 10 feature update has been released. It’s in that in-between state right now: you can get the update manually right now by downloading it from Microsoft, or you can wait a week or so for it to start rolling out automatically via the normal Windows Update mechanism.
Or, you might be one of those who don’t want the update at all — at least not yet.
The question of the hour is, of course, do you?
After reading the most recent article about Windows 7 support updates ending in 2020, what are your thoughts about moving from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1 versus switching to Windows 10?
I have been very content with Windows 7, even more so than with Windows XP, but my adult-daughter told me several years ago that I might not be happy with Windows 10 and should remain where I am at.
My strong recommendation is that if you switch, you switch to Windows 10.
There are several reasons, not the least of which is often referred to as the informal “every other version” rule for Windows.
Read moreShould I Upgrade to Windows 8.1 Instead of Windows 10?
The problem, of course, is that everyone’s Startup list is different.
Which programs start automatically depends on your computer, the hardware installed, the software installed, the programs you run, and the features you enable.
It can get really confusing really fast. It can also impact your computer’s performance.
Sometimes, when faced with an assortment of Windows problems, starting over is the most pragmatic alternative.
Windows 10 includes the ability to reinstall (or “reset”) Windows to its just-installed condition.
There are definitely a few caveats to be aware of, however.
In recent weeks, there’s been much discussion about Windows 10 version 1903. It was available for some, and not others, then perhaps delayed, then perhaps not.
On top of that, I’ve been asked both how to get it and how to avoid it.
Microsoft continues their unblemished track record of releasing some very blemished Windows 10 updates.
Read moreWhy Haven’t I Received the Latest Windows 10 Update?
Yes, Windows 7 will keep working.
You can keep using it, but it’s important to understand the risks involved.
One thing we’ve learned, though, from being here before, is that the risks may not be as horrific as some make them out to be.
Fair enough. It’s easy for us computer geeks to take things for granted that we shouldn’t.
CHKDSK is a command line tool that checks disks.
I’ll talk about what I mean by command line, and what it means to check a disk.
I’ll also show you how to run CHKDSK step by step.
One of the changes in Windows 10 as compared to previous versions of Windows is how to change default programs, including web browsers.
Changing the default web browser in Windows 10 is pretty simple; it’s just different than it once was.
I’ll explain the reasoning, but first I’ll show you how.
Read moreHow Do I Change My Default Web Browser in Windows 10?
Honestly, my advice isn’t Windows 10-specific. It applies to almost any edition of Windows.
And it also doesn’t apply to only laptops.
Let’s review my “Top 10” list of things to do for speed.
Windows 7’s days are numbered, it’s true. The end is near.
But what does “end” really mean? Windows XP came to its end years ago, and there are those who continue to use it.
Depending on what you mean by “phase out”, there are several different possible answers.
Read moreHow Long Does Windows 7 Have Before It’s Phased Out?
Well, to start with, Bill wouldn’t be any help at all. He’s not been involved in the day-to-day workings of Windows for many years. Besides, this isn’t a Windows problem, it’s a website-design problem.
And it is a problem. It’s one I hear frequently.
Unfortunately, the remedies are either extreme or non-existent.
Microsoft updates are getting to be a pain in the neck, but yesterday they really got to me. Many programs I use for business, and personal use were no longer functioning. The main concern I have is the loss of Corel products, especially WordPerfect, I was wondering why Corel was hit so bad. I suspected Corel had something to do with this crash since my Corel products are very old, 2004, and thought maybe they wanted me to buy newer software.
I am simply frustrated and will accept any guidance you will suggest. I really don’t know what to do, I have uninstalled most of the Corel products and WordPerfect appears to be working, but I have lost most of the products that were included on the 2 CDs in the package.
While it’s not as common as the headlines might lead you to believe, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of the scenario you outline: Windows 10 updates itself, and you find that other software on your machine has stopped working. Often it’s older software you’ve been using for years without a problem.
I can’t guarantee a fix, of course, but I’ll outline what I would do in this situation to maximize the chances of everything working again.
Read moreHow Do I Clean Up After Windows Update Breaks Other Applications?
What you’re experiencing is what leads me and many others to avoid recommending entire classes of registry and system-cleaning utilities.
It’s not just a few bad apples that spoil the entire bunch; in this case, it’s often difficult to find an apple worth biting into at all.
Read moreWhy Do System Cleanup Utilities Report So Many Errors on a Supposedly Clean System?
That’s a question I received not long ago. Particularly given the publicity around some of the issues with Windows 10 and its updates, I think many frustrated users are wondering if there isn’t something else they could or should be using.
The answer is my most common: it depends.
I know how you feel. My eyes aren’t all they used to be either.
The good news is, it’s actually easy to make the fonts bigger, though the setting is often well hidden.
The bad news is, it’s also easy to do the wrong thing and end up with something that seems better, but isn’t.
A lot of people don’t realize it, but the taskbar can be placed on any edge of your screen: left, right, top or bottom. In fact, if you have multiple monitors, it can be placed on any edge of any display.
Occasionally — usually through a mis-click or accidental mouse action — the taskbar can get moved to somewhere other than where we want it.
So, let’s move the taskbar back.
There is indeed a program that will do that.
It’s called Microsoft Windows. 
You don’t need to get any additional programs to decompress the files on your system; you can do it right from within Windows.
Read moreHow Do I Decompress All the Files that Windows Compressed for Me?
Pagefile.sys is a file created and used by Windows to manage memory usage.
It takes some special steps if you want to remove it, but it’s not really difficult.
The catch is, you probably don’t want to.
Taking your question literally, the answer is no. You cannot simply copy Windows (or pretty much any installed operating system) from one drive to another, or one machine to another, and have it work. Windows is too complex.
However, if what you’re really trying to do is, say, replace a hard disk, or move your Windows installation to a different machine, the answers get more complex — and in some cases, more promising.
Read moreCan I Copy Windows 10 System Files to Another Drive?
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote what was effectively an open letter to Microsoft entitled, “Microsoft, We Deserve Better“.
The pragmatic reality is that I don’t expect it, or any of dozens of similar missives posted across the internet, to have much effect. If Microsoft is listening (they probably are), they are unlikely to act on it, as their business priorities are clearly elsewhere. Even if they do act, they won’t act quickly — it’s no longer in their nature.
Which leaves us with a very vexing question: what the heck are we supposed to do?
There are many different softwares installed on my Windows. And I find that many of them keep updating themselves automatically from the internet. These are like Avast Antivirus (program updates apart from the virus def files updates), Adobe Flash, JREs etc.
My question is, all these downloads, do they keep adding to the older installation (and eating into my disk space) or do they replace the older installation? And what about Windows updates like the IE updates — where there are options to roll back to previous versions?
Yes.
No.
Maybe.
I don’t mean to be flippant, but the reality is exactly that: some updates are cumulative, some are replacements, and others … well, others, you get to decide.
Let’s look at some of those scenarios.
Read moreDo All These Software Updates Take Up More and More Disk Space?
The Windows “edition” determines what features and functionality are included in a specific installation of Windows.
The “Home” edition is the most common in consumer installations; the “Pro” edition has a few more features (and hence I generally recommend it over Home, even when used in the home); and then there are Enterprise and Educational editions that are tailored for those environments.
But which one do you have?
It’s easy to find out.
This is something that’s been bugging me for months. There are times when the fonts in Windows 10 just look … well, they look crummy, for lack of a better term. They’re jagged and ugly and not the smooth presentation we’ve come to expect on modern machines.
I did discover that it was useful to set my display to its recommended or native resolution. There were two problems with that: first, sometimes I need to run at a resolution other than the native one, and second, even when set properly, I’d still run into the issue.
And perhaps most frustrating of all: I knew it doesn’t have to be like this. I was missing something obvious.
Turns out that was exactly right, except maybe for the “obvious” part. There was a checkbox….
In previous articles, I looked at creating an image backup using Windows 10’s built-in imaging tool1, and setting up File History to back up files that change on a regular basis to an external drive.
This is all good — but we can do better.
Best practices for a robust backup strategy call for keeping a backup copy off-site. OneDrive, included as part of Windows 10, can do that automatically.
We’ll set up OneDrive, and then make a couple of changes to other applications to make our use of OneDrive for backing up nearly transparent.
A screen shot, screenshot, or screen capture is a way to “take a picture” of your computer screen (or a portion thereof).
Why would you want to do that?
Well, let’s say you’re trying to explain a computer problem to a technical friend of yours, and you’re trying to describe what you see on the screen — the dialogs, buttons, messages, whatever. You’re not sure of the terms to use, and your friend is having a difficult time understanding your description.
And of course, your friend insists that the exact wording of everything you see is incredibly important (for the record, he’s right.)
You know what they say: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And it can go a long way to eliminating miscommunication.
Let’s take a picture of your screen you can email to your friend.
Several media outlets are reporting that some, though not all, Windows 10 upgrades to the 1809 October update have lost data files in the process. It’s apparently a bug in the update. While it’s unclear how many people are affected, even if it’s just a few, it’s a bad thing.
There are steps to take to prevent data loss. Hopefully, you’re already taking them.
Read moreCritical: Back Up Before the 1809 Windows 10 Update!
I don’t know.
Honestly, I have no idea either what they are, how they got there, or why they occupy so much space. That’s the problem with “.dat” files — there’s no way to know what they are without more information.
But I do have some ideas on how to determine if deleting them is ok, and ways to do it safely — and those ideas apply to any file type, not just “.dat”.
This question continues to pop up, even after all this time.
The news is mixed.
The good news is that 10GB is plenty of RAM for 64-bit Windows. By running 32-bit, you’ve only been using, at most, four gigabytes of your memory.
Unfortunately, the path to get there from here isn’t as easy as we might want.
I get this question, and variations on it, surprisingly often. I have theories about why, but nonetheless it’s a real question that apparently a lot of people have.
On one hand, the answer seems obvious. However, depending on the circumstances, there are possibilities we need to consider.
The devil, as they say, is in the copy/pasted details.
Read moreCan I Tell If Something’s Been Pasted Instead of Typed?
I’m very tempted to simply say you can’t.
It’s exceptionally difficult to do. Windows stores so much information in so many nooks and crannies, it’s nearly impossible to know what to delete and from where.
Let’s look at a couple of approaches.
Read moreHow Do I Remove My Personal Data from My Computer Running Windows 10?
To quote the old aphorism: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
I’m sure there are good programs out there, but like you, I’m very skeptical. Beyond skeptical. Downright suspicious, even.
As a result, I’ve never purchased such a program. Instead, I’ve tackled my problems head-on, lived with them, or, if things are bad enough and unsolvable, reformatted and re-installed.
But there are some ways to at least stack the deck in your favor if you want to try one or more of these types of tools.
There are a number of issues here, and a perhaps a misconception or misunderstanding or two as well. Since so many people come to me with similar (though never exactly the same) scenarios, let’s look at the individual issues.
The clipboard is a pretty amazing concept. It’s one of those things we use daily, take for granted, and rarely even think about …
… except when it doesn’t do what we expect.
Let’s review some of the magic behind the clipboard’s curtain. It’s more complex than you might realize.
Read moreWhy Do Things Disappear from the Clipboard When I Close a Program?
Disappearing disk space is a very common scenario.
Somehow, no matter how much we have, disk space never seems enough. As we collect pictures and programs (and the programs themselves collect data), more and more disk space is consumed. With so much happening on our computers these days, it’s difficult to understand what’s taking up space.
Fortunately, I can recommend a free tool that can give us some very helpful data.
As you’ve found out, there’s not always a Recycle Bin. I’ve also seen it be present but go unused.
It’s confusing and surprising, but the Recycle Bin seems to be used inconsistently across versions of Windows, at least
when it comes to what Windows considers to be a “removable” device.
It seems that even when it works, people still aren’t happy with Windows Update.
This is one of those questions I get from time to time perpetuating myths about Windows Update that I’d like to clear up. Yes, there’s quite possibly disk space to be had, but not as much as you might think, and not for the reasons you think.
Time for my most common, yet most annoying answer:
it depends.
I’ll describe what the Visual C++ redistributables are all about, and why the safest thing to do is probably to leave them alone.
Read moreDo I Need These Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables?
Word documents were never intended to do what you’re doing. They were never meant to distribute documents to others for reading.
Your client is on the right track: that’s exactly what PDF is for.
In a nutshell: it’s all about the printer.
Read moreWhy Does My Microsoft Word Document Display Differently on Different Computers?
Every once in a while, things become corrupted on your hard disk in such a way that Windows 7 is unable to boot. From the MBR (Master Boot Record) to other information critical at boot time, if it’s not there, you can’t boot.
Fortunately, Windows includes diagnostic and repair tools on your Windows setup disc.
The Windows desktop can be a convenient place to keep frequently-used icons.
However, those icons can reference things in either of two very different ways, and understanding the difference is critical when you’re about to delete one.
Read moreWhy Did Deleting a Desktop Icon Delete the Program?
Sleep (also called “standby”) and hibernate modes are alternatives to shutting down your computer completely. The idea is that when they’re used, your computer will either shut down faster, start up faster, or both.
The primary difference between the two is what happens to the contents of your computer’s RAM, but there are more subtle differences as well.
Yep, that sounds slow.
It happens to me from time to time as well. A program decides it has something very, very important to do and uses all the computer’s processing power to do it.
The good news is it’s pretty easy to find out which program that might be.
Read moreHow Do I Find Out What Program Is Using All My CPU?
Probably not.
Running out of RAM can confuse the operating system so badly it simply can no longer keep the screen — or anything else — running. In the words of Dr. McCoy, “He’s dead, Jim.”
I’ll review the causes, and what steps you might need to take.
Read moreWhy Does My Screen Go Black When My System is Out of RAM?
Windows 10 is available in several “editions”. More advanced editions include additional features and cost more.
When it comes to personal or small business use, the choice generally boils down to either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Professional.
Most new machines come with Windows 10 Home, particularly when sold to individuals. Unfortunately, Windows 10 Professional includes a couple of features I consider exceptionally convenient, even for the average home user.
It’s Windows 10 Professional that I generally recommend for everyone.
Read moreWhat’s the Difference Between Windows 10 Home vs Pro Editions?
This was a head-scratcher for me when I first encountered it some time ago.
The short answer is that simply logging in to your PC isn’t enough after a password change. You probably have to log in to a couple of additional places: OneDrive, Mail, and perhaps other apps as well.
Read moreWhy is Windows 10 Telling Me “There Is a Problem with Your Microsoft Account”?
I’ve been having a problem installing the “Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709” and after ‘Googling’ the problem, found many others are also experiencing similar problems. Try as I might, the update fails every time, both during MS auto updates and manual updates. No actual error code is reported in the Update History – just “Failed to install on (date)”. So, I contacted the ‘Microsoft Answer Desk’ via a chat session. The agent requested direct access to my laptop – which I granted – and I was eventually informed that my laptop was incompatible with this particular update!
I find this incredible since I was virtually forced to accept Windows 10 OS from my original Windows 7 OS, during the time when it was being installed automatically, whether I wanted it or not… Surely, if my laptop was compatible at the time of the OS ‘update’, then future Windows 10 updates should be compatible. The only solution offered was to ‘Hide’ the update so that I was not constantly being plagued by pop-up windows informing me that the update need to be installed… Not really a solution, I’m sure you will agree.
Have you heard of this problem??
I want to be clear: I do not have a solution for this problem.
While the majority of Windows 10 users have upgraded to 1709 (the “Fall Creators Update”) without problems, there are definitely a number of people sharing your pain.
I’ll share a few straws I might grasp at, were I in your shoes. I’ll also share my expectations of this update, and exactly how they’re not being met.
Spoiler: My expectation is that it should just work.
Read moreHow Do I Get the Windows 10 Creators Update 1709 to Install?
Before I begin, I want to be very clear that this is not something I recommend. I believe strongly that keeping your machine as up to date as possible is an important part of keeping yourself safe online. Letting Windows Update do its thing automatically, without having to think about it at all, is the best, safest way for the vast majority of Windows 10 users.
Unfortunately, in recent months we’ve seen Windows Updates cause problems on a small number2 of machines. The ability to disable Windows Update — even temporarily — can be an important step in getting on with your work while you await updated updates that no longer cause problems.
Unfortunately, while Windows 10 Professional has some control over when updates are installed, Windows 10 Home has no such option.
We need to bring out a bigger hammer.
Read moreHow Do I Disable Windows Updates in Windows 10 Home?
Click Start. Click Shut down.
Wait. Wait. And wait some more.
It’s not uncommon to complain about start-up time, or the speed of your computer while booting. As it turns out, the amount of time it takes to shut down is another source of occasional frustration. I mean, how long should it take to turn something off? Why can’t it just shut down now without pulling the plug?
As always, there are many possible reasons. I’ll review the most common.
I get a lot of pushback on that older article from people who are absolutely convinced the System Idle Process is somehow evil and must be eradicated simply because their computer is slow and “System Idle Process” is at the top of the CPU usage list.
They are wrong.
System idle is benign. The CPU has to do something 100% of the time. When it has nothing to do for you or the system, it’s assigned the idle task to while away the time. It’s the CPU equivalent of twiddling your thumbs, waiting for something to do.
So why is your system slow as molasses?
Well, I’ll give you one hint: the CPU is not the only thing in your computer that affects its speed.