How to auto-lock your computer on a schedule (e.g. at bedtime)
Get instructions for how to configure your computer lock itself at a specific time (such as your bedtime) for macOS, Windows 10, and Linux.
Microsoft Windows
I’m a Windows power-user. I blog about technicalities with Windows 10 and share something as rare as original tutorials you won’t have read elsewhere.
Lessons learned maintaining EdgeDeflector for Windows 10
A 3-years retrospective of EdgeDeflector. The tiny utility program that lets you take back control over the default web browser setting in Windows 10.
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Why my 7-year old Windows 10 laptop became unbearably slow
My aging PC’s processor didn’t support a new Windows 10 security feature, enabled by default, causing it to become slow and unstable.
Cheapo Windows licenses openly sold as “pirate keys” on Amazon.ca
Amazon Canada sells dirt cheap copies of Microsoft Windows 10. The product listings openly advertise “pirate key” as a product feature!
How to configure multiple NTP servers on Windows
Set up multiple network time protocol servers on Windows to increase system reliability.
Windows Timeline browser add-on raises few privacy concerns
New browser extension integrates Firefox and Chrome browser histories with Windows Timeline. Well-received by the press despite negatively impacting user privacy.
Reviewed options for backing up to Backblaze B2 with Window Backup
Windows 10’s built-in Backup program can’t directly backup to Backblaze B2 on its own. Helper programs can help you get the job done.
Software downloads now contain unique tracking identifiers
Popular software vendors inject unique tracking identifiers when you download their installers to track you all the from the web and onto the desktop.
How to change the UEFI System Partition size in Windows Setup
You can resize the EFI partition size from within the Windows Setup program. However, it requires a quick detour to the Command Prompt. Here’s how.
How to change BitLocker boot-screen language and keyboard layout
How to change the language and keyboard layout used in the BitLocker Device Encryption pre-boot environment.
The inadequate Windows keyboard layout
I simply don’t get the characters and symbols I use every day with the default Windows keyboard layout.
Dual-booting Linux with BitLocker Device Encryption and Secure Boot
Take some precautions, have a backup plan, and you can leave your Windows partition encrypted alongside a Linux distribution with secure boot enabled.
New Web Media Extensions adds Ogg, Theora, and Vorbis to Windows
Free Windows extension from Microsoft adds support for three more open-source multimedia codecs and container formats.
Why ‘IPv6 Control Message’ uses so much data in Windows 10
In some situations, a background network auto-configuration protocol can show as your Windows 10 device’s number one bandwidth hog.
Microsoft adds Ogg, Theora, and Vorbis media formats to Windows 10
Windows 10 adds support for three new open-source multimedia codecs and container formats.
Recover language packs after locking a UI-override lang. in Windows 10
The Windows Settings app will refuse to download additional language packs if you’ve locked a language in the legacy Control Panel.
How to report a false-positive in Microsoft SmartScreen
Report Windows SmartScreen false-positives to Microsoft when the security suite gets your software wrong.
EdgeDeflector 1.1.1.0 updated for Windows 10
Update to the latest version of EdgeDeflector for compatibility with Windows 10 build 16241 onwards.
Search results in Windows 10 limited to exact matches and promotions
Windows Search still doesn’t understand partial matches, favors Microsoft products, and struggles with finding newly installed programs.
What I learned after 30 minutes with ReFS
A look at Microsoft’s next-generation Resilient File System (ReFS) in Windows 10: what works, and what doesn’t.
Network speed testing apps on Windows 10: Ookla or Microsoft?
Is Ookla Speed Test or Microsoft Network Speed Test the best for speed testing app for your Windows 10 device?
How to disable Cortana and restore Windows Search in the Start menu
Get rid of the Cortana digital assistance and reinstate traditional Windows Search in your Windows 10 Start menu.
Mine yourself some Bitcoin with the Bitcoin Miner app for Windows 10
Windows Store app lets you earn some Bitcoin pocket-change to be part of crypto-currency future.
Fluxfonts 2.0 for Windows 10
Fluxfonts — the open-source anti-font-fingerprinting program — is now available for Windows 10.
How to reset and reinstall the OneDrive app in Windows 10
The OneDrive app comes pre-installed in Windows 10. Sometimes it can be useful to reinstall it to fix issues.
Windows 10 decides its a good idea to ask before rebooting for updates
Microsoft finally gives in and gives customers more choice regarding when to reboot their devices to apply software updates.
Windows 10 supports CalDAV/CardDAV but limits provider-support
Windows 10 supports syncing email, contacts, and calendars with all major providers. However, Microsoft chooses to close it down to a handful of providers.
How to add CalDAV and CardDAV accounts and sync with Windows 10
Set up syncing with your CalDAV and CardDAV accounts with the built-in Windows 10 Calendar and Contacts apps.
Windows 10’s “Interesting Calendars” feature is powered by webcal/iCal
New Windows Calendar feature is just standard webcal subscriptions but interestingly you can’t add your own webcals.
How to add an iCal/webcal calendar to the Calendar app in Windows 10
Learn how to work-around Windows 10 limitations to add iCal and webcal calendars to the Windows Calendar app through Outlook.com.
Why I Love Free Software
My contribution to the FSFE’s 2017
EdgeDeflector gets Windows 10 to respect your default browser setting
EdgeDeflector stops Windows 10 from forces-opening links in Microsoft Edge, and makes Windows respect the system-wide default web browser setting instead.
How to enable, login to, or disable Microsoft SSH Server in Windows 10
Learn how to log in to and take control of Windows 10’s new SSH Server.
How to remove the Adobe Acrobat Update service
Adobe’s Acrobat Update service remains on your computer even after uninstalling Acrobat Reader. Here is how to uninstall it.
Fix the Windows 10 Data usage report when it stops counting data
Plenty of third-party firewalls and similar programs can break Windows 10’s Data usage counting. Here is how to make it count your data again.
Your control is limited to Active Hours in Windows 10
Microsoft insists on rebooting your PC every day. Active Hours control gives users up to eight hours a day without reboots. Is this enough?
eSATA port-multiplier only shows up as a single disk in Windows 10
I tested multiple eSATA port-multipliers in Windows 10 but all of them refused to show more than one connected disk.
The software update experience sucks!
Software updates are incredibly important, but end users don’t have to suffer to do them right.
Fix the “Your File History drive was disconnected for too long” error
How to reconnect the Winndows Backup/File History drive when it’s complaining that is has been disconnected for too long (even when it hasn’t).
Review of Lenovo IdeaCentre Stick 300
Lenovo’s contender to the stick-PC market runs Windows 10 but doesn’t even have enough storage space to perform upgrades. Linux may be the better option.
How to enable remote RDP access in Windows 10 Home edition
Windows 10 Home has remote desktop access (RDP) built-in. You need to get RDP Wrapper, a free program, to unlock the remote desktop server. But is it legal?
BriskBard engine: A new web layout engine for Windows
BriskBard is a new proprietary web layout engine with a near-perfect Acid2-test score. Can it reignite the web browser engine wars?
The constant software update tyranny
Software updates should happen automatically in the background without requiring constant restarts or pestering the user.
Windows Store’s WindowsUpgrade URI
How to link to the Windows license upgrade page on the Windows Store.
How to encrypt backups using Windows 10’s built-in tools
Windows Backup doesn’t support encrypted backups in itself. However, you can still get encrypted backups using built-in tools in Windows 10.
3-year old iPod 5 no longer receiving software updates from Apple
Apple abandoned my 3-year old iPod and I don’t think I’ll buy another Apple product ever again.
Beware of treacherous dual-pairing with DualShock 4 controller
I’d connected my DualShock 4 controller to my PC, but ended up making an accidental purchase from the PlayStation Store while gaming on the PC.
Why I choose the Linux desktop
The Linux desktop aligns more with my values; as Windows and macOS seek to restrict ever-more user freedoms.
rm -rf / in Windows Subsystem for Linux reveals sharp set of teeth
WSL doesn’t protect your system if you try to do something stupid.
Create an idle trigger in PowerShell for Windows Task Scheduler
The Windows Task Scheduler doesn’t behave as documented. Here is how to create an idle trigger for your scheduled task using PowerShell.
Run Linux desktop apps on the Windows Subsystem for Linux
You can run X11 graphical Linux applications under an X Server (like xming) on Windows 10 using WSL!
A quick look into LxRun.exe: Windows 10’s new Linux-installer
WSL’s new LxRun management program lets you download and install Linux on Windows 10.
Lock screens should have keyboard input protection
The screen is off. You type your password out of habit and hit Enter. You may now accidentally have sent it somewhere it doesn’t belong.
Run Windows 10 in GNOME Boxes
Windows 10 runs great in GNOME boxes, but there are a few issues you may need to fix manually to get it working properly.
What is TWINUI in Windows 10?
Windows 10 users may have seen “TWINUI” when opening links and files. TWINUI is a Windows component that is often mistaken for an email client or a PDF reader.
mDNS and DNS-SD slowly making their way into Windows 10
Windows 10 is working on adopting widely deployed network-discovery protocols used by every other device class.
Avahi 0.6.32 enabling IPv6 and Windows 10 log-silencing
Popular mDNS-utility Avahi sees first update in three years address multiple issues.
User-Agent of Microsoft Edge on Xbox One with Windows 10
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; Xbox; Xbox One) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/46.0.2486.0 Safari/537.36 Edge/13.10553
FileLocator Lite and Pro review
Review of the excellent FileLocator (Agent Ransack) desktop search tool for Windows.
Don’t hide programs inside Start menu subfolders
Windows developers should stop installing program shortcuts in Start menu subfolders. It’s so Windows 98 and reduces their app’s exposure.
Lenovo OneKey Optimizer review
A review of what Lenovo OneKey Optimizer is, how it works, whether it does anything useful, and should you uninstall it?
How to open the Settings app from the Command Prompt in Windows 10
Learn how to open the Windows Settings app from the Run dialog, Command Prompt (cmd), and PowerShell.
A quick look at IMAP capabilities in Mail for Windows 10
Windows Mail app doesn’t support everyday IMAP features like LIST SPECIAL-USE and prefers old-school TLS over STARTTLS.
Wi-Fi Sense in Windows 10 to reduce users’ network security
Windows 10 introduces a new feature that freely shares all your Wi-Fi passwords with your Outlook, Skype, and Facebook contacts.
Document format support in the new Word apps and Word 2016
Which file formats are supported in which version of Microsoft Word 2016 on which platform?
Day Against DRM: Living with digital restrictions
How Digital Rights Management technology has impacted my life.
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro review
Review of the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro 1370 hybrid tablet/laptop.
Don’t save game progress in My Documents!
Windows has long had a My Games folder, but many games insist on saving your game-progress to My Documents instead.
Do you trust Microsoft with all your passwords?
Windows has become your password manager, but it also syncs all your credentials to Microsoft. Should you trust it with the keys to your digital kingdom?
Multiple accounts required to keep Windows private and secure
You shouldn’t use a Windows Administrative account for your everyday use. Setup one basic and one admin account to increase security.
Windows Live Tiles plug-in for Nikola
Set up your Nikola-powered blog to work with Windows Live Tiles using my new plugin.
Windows thought it was 2126
My Lenovo laptop’s battery discharged and it caused Windows 8 to believe the current year was 2126.
Let me download Windows!
Microsoft should let paying customers download Windows as an ISO-file instead of forcing them to purchase it on physical media.
Microsoft Office has poor document format support between platforms
Office apps support different file formats depending on your operating system. They don’t interoperate with each other. Here’s a format comparison.
Comparison of Markdown editors for Windows 10
I compared six Markdown editors from the Widows Store. The results weren’t overly impressive.