UPDATED 10/3: Windows 10’s version 1809 (October 2018 Update) is the sixth major refresh that is becoming available for devices starting October 2. However, before you click the “Install” button, you want to be prepared to avoid errors and problems. Although when a new feature update releases, it’s recommended to install the new version to maintain your device and data safe and secure, and get your hands in the new features and improvements, this type of updates are not your monthly cumulative updates....

Although the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge already ships with the “Microsoft Defender SmartScreen” feature to prevent malicious websites and downloads from hijacking your device, the browser also includes a feature to block potentially unwanted apps from downloading using the browser. The security feature has been designed to block unwanted apps that are not necessarily malware, such as toolbars, adware, crypto miner apps, and notification spammers. In this guide , you’ll learn the steps to enable the feature to block potentially unwanted apps (PUA) from downloading with the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 ....

To change the sound output device on Windows 11, open Settings > System > Sound and choose the audio output under the “Change where to play sound” setting. You can also open “Quick Settings” and change the output device from the “Manage audio and devices” page. UPDATED 12/12/2023: On Windows 11 , you can connect multiple sound peripherals to the output connection on your computer, including speakers, headphones, headsets, and more....

To check the drive temperature on Windows 11, open Settings > System > Storage > Disks & volumes , click the “Properties” button for the drive, and confirm the temperature. Alternatively, you can use PowerShell commands and install CrystalDiskInfo to determine the hard drive temperature. On Windows 11 , you have more than one way to check the temperature of the hard drive, and in this guide, I’ll show you several ways using the Settings app, PowerShell, and the CrystalDiskInfo (third-party) tool....

To clear the thumbnail cache on Windows 11, open Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files , check on “Thumbnails,” and click on “Remove files.” Alternatively, open Command Prompt (admin) , run the “taskkill /f /im explorer.exe” and the “del /f /s /q /a %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\thumbcache_*.db” and the “start explorer.exe” commands. Also, similar to using the Settings app, you can clear the thumbnail cache from Disk Cleanup and File Explorer....

Although you can create a bootable USB to install Windows 10 using a variety of tools, including the Media Creation Tool and Rufus , it is also possible to use the DiskPart command-line tool to create a flash drive to clean install Windows 10 from Command Prompt. In this guide , you will learn the steps to use Command Prompt to create a USB bootable media to install Windows 10. Also, before proceeding, you will need to connect a USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space to your computer and the ISO file of Windows 10, which you can download with these steps ....

On Windows 10, Storage sense is a feature to automatically free up space when you’re running low on storage. The feature works by deleting junk system files, those files that have been in the recycle bin or Downloads folder for more than a month and making OneDrive content you have used in a while online only . Although this feature can be helpful to control the storage space, it is limited and doesn’t offer an option to manually add different locations to monitor and delete files that haven’t changed in the last month....

Facebook Home, the suite of apps that turns your Android phone into a whole new social experience, is without a doubt a brilliant idea. However the new launcher may not please everyone, maybe because is just too simplistic, the lack of widgets support or because it gets on the way of what you really need to do. For whatever the reason, once you install it and you want to get rid of it, there is a way to disable Facebook Home while rolling back the previous launcher, and it’s quite simple — just follow the step-by-step instructions below....

To disable the Lock Screen on Windows 11, open Group Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization , and enable the “Do not display the lock screen” p olicy. Another way to disable this feature is to open the Registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization , create the “Nolockscreen” DWORD, and set its value to “1.” UPDATED 4/17/2025: On Windows 11 , it’s possible to disable the Lock Screen, but not through the Settings app or legacy Control Panel....

On Windows 10 , the new version of Microsoft Edge based on the Chromium engine can speed up the search process by showing search and website suggestions using the characters as you type in the address bar. Although this can be a useful feature, it might not be for everyone, especially for those with privacy concern as even before you press Enter every character you type is sent over the internet to the search engine....

On the new Outlook app for Windows 11 , you can turn off smart suggestions, and in this guide, you will learn how. If you use the new default email client for Windows 11, you probably noticed that on some occasions, when viewing a message, the app will suggest a reply below the email, or as you compose a new message, the new version of Outlook will show words and phrases suggestions....

Microsoft no longer offers a public download for Windows 8.1, meaning that now you have to rely on third-party sites. If you still need to download the ISO file to repair or install a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 , you can obtain the installation files, but you can no longer do so from Microsoft servers. While I can’t recommend downloading Windows 8.1 in 2025 since Microsoft ended extended support on January 10, 2023, you may still have reasons for trying to obtain the installation files....

Perhaps one of the best features in Windows 8.1 is Recovery , which allows you to easily refresh or reset Windows 8/8.1 to its factory defaults with just a few simple clicks. Depending of what option you choose in your circumstance, you can quickly start over fresh with the operating system while keeping all your files and settings or you can reset the system to start over from scratch. These recovery features work amazingly, but as long you have the recovery installation media or if your system have a recovery image stored within....

Microsoft turns Windows 11 into an agentic OS, and you can test the experience with the latest preview of the operating system in the Dev and Beta Channels. To enable agentic AI features on Windows 11, open Settings > System > AI components , and turn on “Experimental agentic features.” Windows 11 now comes with AI agentic features for Copilot+ PCs as well as for traditional devices without a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) , and in this guide, I’ll outline the steps to enable the experience on your computer....

On a continuous effort to compete with Microsoft Edge, Google is rolling out Chrome version 63 with a new security feature called Site Isolation to add an extra layer of security to protect users from malware, ransomware, and other malicious code. Site Isolation is a feature that allows to run each website inside of its own separate process, isolated from other websites, adding a stronger layer of security very similar to Windows Defender Application Guard available on Windows 10 version 1709 ....

The Microsoft 365 (Office) apps now include a feature that speeds up the startup process, known as “Startup Boost.” Microsoft plans to introduce the new feature in mid-May 2025, starting with the Word processing app, but it’ll then be available for the other apps. “Startup Boost” will be enabled by default; you can always manually turn it on or off. Startup Boost isn’t a groundbreaking feature. It’s actually a new scheduled task that will run in the background during the computer startup to launch and keep the apps in a paused state until you open them....

To randomize MAC addresses on Windows 10, open Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi and turn on “Use random hardware addresses” or click on “Manage known networks,” choose the wireless network, click “Properties,” and choose the “On” or “Change Daily” option for the “Use random hardware addresses” setting. On Windows 10, even if you are not connected to a wireless network, the device constantly sends a signal to find networks around the area to make them available when you need to connect....

To enable ransomware protection, open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection , click on “Manage ransomware protection,” and turn on “Controlled folder access.” You can also add or remove folders to protect against ransomware and allow apps you trust to prevent the feature from blocking them. On Windows 11 , you can enable the “Controlled folder access” feature to protect your files against ransomware attacks, and in this guide, you will learn how....

Google Chrome has a feature known as “Tab Search,” which lets you quickly find open tabs on the current window. One of the biggest problems using the web browser is that we tend to open a lot of tabs that causes the title to shrink to the point only the icon is visible, and as we continue to open more tabs even the page icon will banish, making it difficult to switch between pages, and this is when Tab Search comes in handy....

On Windows 10 , the Microsoft Defender Firewall feature monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic to allow or block traffic depending on predefined rules. Although every system has the same default rules, you can always create new custom rules to prevent apps from accessing the network. However, using the Microsoft Defender Firewall console, Command Prompt, or PowerShell, you can only export and import all the rules , not a specific firewall rule....