Computer repair company? Turn off extra visual effects (Windows Vista and 7). If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, the Aero desktop effects may be slowing your computer down. Disabling these effects is highly recommended for older computers, and can result in a big performance boost. Reinstall your operating system (OS). Oftentimes the easiest way to speed up your computer is to wipe it clean and start from scratch. Reinstalling your OS usually won’t take more than an hour or so. This will erase your entire hard drive, and will often make your computer operate as if it was brand new. See the following articles for details on reinstalling specific OSs.
With the recent Equifax breach, it’s more important than ever for consumers to safeguard their online accounts and monitor their credit reports. A credit freeze is the most effective way for you to protect your personal credit information from cyber criminals right now. Essentially, it allows you to lock your credit and use a personal identification number (PIN) that only you will know. You can then use this PIN when you need to apply for credit. Hacking, phishing, and malware incidents are becoming the number one cause of security breaches today. But, what’s more troubling, these hacking attempts are the result of human errors in some way. Education and awareness are critically important in the fight against cybercriminal activity and preventing security breaches.
Make Sure Employees Look for the S in HTTPs When Searching the Web. Employees will, from time to time, use the corporate IT network to visit websites or sign up for services, either for personal use or for the company. Before submitting any information, they should always be on the lookout for the padlock and HTTPS in the address bar. If the site is unprotected, they should not enter any information. Note: It’s important to also educate employees on phishing websites (see tip 15 below). There have been cases of phishing websites using Domain Validated (DV) SSL Certificates to make their sites look more “real” and “trustworthy”.
Virtual desktops rename: If you use virtual desktops to group different tasks or project, you can now specify a custom name for each desktop. You can rename a virtual desktop by clicking the header of the desktop and changing the name. Or you can right-click the thumbnail of the desktop in Task View, and a context menu with a Rename option in it should appear. Cortana app: Starting with Windows 10 version 2004, Cortana is no longer part of the operating system. Instead, it’s now an app that updates through the Microsoft Store and provides a new chat-based interface with the ability to input text or voice to interact with the assistant. See more info on PC service.
There’s a lot in the next Windows release, and we’re only scraping the top of the list of features. What’s clear after having run the current build on both Intel and ARM devices is that Microsoft has done a lot to work on the stability of its flagship OS, at the same time as adding many new features and improvements. As its long incubation period comes to an end, it looks as though 2004 could be one of the most trouble-free Windows 10 updates yet.
As mentioned in the last entry, a lot of programs install side processes that run every time you start your PC, and some of them are not things you need running on your system all the time. Compared with Windows 7, in which you had to run the MSCONFIG utility, Windows 10 (and Windows 8.x before it) gives you an easier way to limit what runs at startup—from the updated Task Manager. The easiest way to invoke the Task Manager is by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Esc. Switch to the Startup tab, and you’ll see all the programs that load at Windows startup. The dialog box even has a column that shows you the Startup impact for each. The Status column shows whether the program is enabled to run at startup or not. You can right-click on any entry to change this status. It’s usually fairly easy to see things you don’t want to run. For example, if you never use iTunes, you probably don’t need iTunesHelper running all the time. Discover more details at Laptop mot in Hove.
