Most computer users will know that certain locations on your computer can store information about what you have done. Web browser history is one area that everyone knows can store computer and personal data. In Windows there are other less well known places that can record information you wouldn’t necessarily expect. Some are used when looking for forensic data and determining the history of certain files. One of those areas is the humble Windows .LNK shortcut file.

On the face of it a simple shortcut is a tiny file that points to another file, such as an executable to launch a program from your desktop. Some details about the shortcut can be obtained by right clicking on it and clicking Properties. The Shortcut tab shows things like where the target file is located while the Details tab will show the date when the shortcut was created. But there’s much more to a standard shortcut than you might think.

Actually, all .LNK shortcut files contain large amounts of data that identify the computer on which they were created as well as the computer they are currently on. For instance, inside the file data the network adapter MAC address and name of the original computer is stored along with any used network paths. Even the label, type and serial number of the drive it was created on is viewable. There is also much more data relating to times and dates to be found.

If you want to look at what data is being stored inside your shortcuts you will need a third party tool to decode that information as something like a hex editor will just show mostly gibberish. Here are 5 free tools for you to try out.
(more…)

Although most features or functions in Windows change over time, some remain the same and have barely altered since the days of Windows 95. For example, a standard window might look slightly different in Windows 10 as opposed to Windows 7, but the fundamental basics are still the same. They both have a red close button top right to close the window, a button to maximize or restore the window size and to its left a button to minimize the window to the taskbar.

There is also the system menu which which offers the same three functions with the additional options to move or resize the window. The system menu is not always immediately obvious to users and you can show it by left clicking the top left corner of a window (click the icon if there is one), right clicking on the title bar or pressing the keyboard shortcut of Alt+Space.

While the three buttons in a standard window often stay where they are, a lot of programs add their own entries or use custom menus in place of the system menu. Sometimes a program could benefit from having extra buttons or menu entries to keep the window on top, move it to a specific position or minimize the window to the system tray. Simple but useful functions that are not available in Windows by default.

Here we list 5 free tools that can add some useful buttons to a window or add extra entries into the system menu. They have been tested on Windows 7 and 10 64-bit. Note that programs which use custom windows or menus often override the standard options which means the listed programs probably won’t work on them.
(more…)

When we connect any USB drives or CD-ROM to a Windows computer, the USB device will be recorded deep inside Windows for the convenience of automatically making the drives available without checking and reinstalling the drivers. Both USBDeview and IntelliAdmin USB History Viewer is capable of revealing all USB devices that you previously connected on the computer. If for some reason you are looking for a way to erase information about devices that have been connected to the PC, USBDeview seems to be able to offer such feature which is by right clicking on the USB device listed in USBDeview and select “Uninstall Selected Devices”.

The “Uninstall Selected Devices” option in USBDeview works but unfortunately it doesn’t fully clean up all history traces that is left in Windows. USBOblivion would be a more suitable utility to serve the purpose of erasing all traces of USB-connected drives and CD-ROM drives from the registry in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7 32/64-bit versions.
(more…)

There are lots of instant messengers and voice-over IP software available to use today and Skype is one of the most popular with more than 300 million monthly active users. While Skype comes with features you’ll normally find in a standard instant messaging app such as text chat, file transfer and screen sharing, it is primarily a VoIP service that is more focused towards video and voice calls. Skype to Skype calls are free while calling mobile or landline numbers are charged at affordable rates.

Skype is an excellent VoIP software that can make clear and crisp video or voice calls, but it lacks of an important feature which is the ability to record calls. This is a disadvantage to professionals who want to use the free Skype to Skype calls for conducting video/audio interviews, meetings, conferences, one to one online training, and even consultation.

Actually the call recording feature is available in Skype for Business which is a part of Office 365. Business plans require paid subscriptions per user with annual commitment. If this business plan isn’t suitable for your needs and you just want Skype for free with recording capabilities, here are 3 third party applications for Windows that can record Skype video and voice calls for free without limits.
(more…)

Windows 7 by design does not support multiple audio output and that is the limitation that many Windows 7 users are not happy with. Some people may want to play sound simultaneously to both speaker and earphone but that is not possible. Once you’ve plugged in the earphone, Windows 7 automatically recognizes it and routes all sound to the earphone. For more complicated scenarios such as wanting to output the sound from a computer game to the earphone while the main speakers plays music from a media player, then it would seemed even more impossible.

Thanks to Virtual Audio Cable, it offers multiple possibilities on how you want to transfer the audio streams between applications and/or devices. Before immediately scrolling to the bottom of this article to download and install Virtual Audio Cable, please be noted that this tool does not work alone just under operating system control. It requires configuration and also must be worked together with audio applications.

The official website of Virtual Audio Cable contains a lot of text and jargon which makes it difficult for any non-audiophiles to configure and use it. After spending some time trying out VAC, I personally believe it is best to try to get it working on one or two scenarios to understand how it works, then only configure it to work with your situation.
(more…)

If you design or host websites for people, most of the time they will want to have access to their own server so that they can upload stuff to the server. Normally the FTP client FileZilla software will be recommended because it’s free and also currently in active development. To guide them over the phone in setting up FileZilla can be quite a pain because you need to teach them to download, install, configure the FTP server settings, and then how to upload the files to the path that they want.

If the user only requires to upload to one single folder, then FTP Droplet Lite will be very useful. With FTP Droplet Lite, the user that wants to upload files to the server doesn’t need to know the FTP login details, or even selecting the path that they want to upload. All they need to do is select the files that they want to upload from their computer and click a button to upload. Uploading Files through FTP for dummies can’t get any easier than this!
(more…)

A big annoyance while typing on your computer keyboard is accidentally pressing the wrong key. A major culprit is the Caps Lock key because you can toggle it to turn upper case characters on without noticing, then type away in capital letters. Typing complete sentences or paragraphs with upper case characters is in many cases considered bad for readability. With emails, online forums and social media, typing everything in capitals is generally considered as SHOUTING .

Even if you are a competent typist and rarely hit other keyboard keys like Caps Lock by mistake, it’s still possible for the key to actually break, stop functioning or get stuck on. Some desktop and laptop keyboards can be of a low build quality and it doesn’t take much to get grit or dust under a key to cause it problems. Of course, you can continue to use the keyboard although everything might end up being in capital letters until do something about it.

There are different ways to sort this issue, including turning the Caps Lock key off altogether or remapping it to another key on the keyboard. Here we show you some ways to do it.
(more…)

Ad blocking on the internet is a controversial topic right now and the problem has arisen mainly because many sites have gone overboard with the number and types of ads they are serving. This has left web users feeling like they have little choice but to use an ad blocker. The most common ad blocker is one installed as an extension in your web browser, AdBlock Plus, AdBlock and uBlock Origin being some of the most popular for the Chrome and Firefox browsers.

Another type of ad blocking is via a VPN or proxy although because traffic is routed through other servers the speed can vary a great deal. A third way is through a desktop application. This has some good points such as the ability to block on many different browsers at once from the single program, including Internet Explorer and Edge. Another plus is the blocking of other application’s adverts and even Windows 8 and 10 modern apps. The only real issue is a desktop blocker uses memory and resources sitting in the background, even if you are not using it.

The number of desktop based ad blockers is much smaller than browser extensions so the choices are fairly limited in comparison. Here we list 3 free and shareware desktop programs that can block ads in multiple browsers and other applications
(more…)

An antivirus software cannot detect all viruses which is why they also depend on users to submit samples to their virus analyst for manual analysis through various methods. It can be either through a web form, email or a special tool which makes it very troublesome to submit samples because every web form is not the same and they have different prerequisites.

For example, some wants the file to be sent in raw format and some wants you to compress the file to ZIP or 7z. Some requires you to use a specific password for the ZIP file and some don’t. Other than that, submitting samples to SUPERAntiSpyware requires a special tool called SUPERSampleSubmit. It is nearly impossible for an individual to submit samples to multiple antivirus companies because it is just way too troublesome, until X-Ray has been created.
(more…)

Whenever you want to view or kill a running process or task in Windows, the obvious thing to do is open Windows Task Manager. Then look for what you want to kill and click End Process or End Task. Even if you are not a fan of the Windows version, there are plenty of alternative task management utilities around that can do the basics while offering more features and more advanced functionality

A limitation with Windows Task Manager is its inability to kill more than one process at the same time. This is sometimes required if there are malicious or potentially unwanted programs on the system because often they consist of more than one process. It’s also similar when trying to kill processes that are controlled by services because the background service can simply re-launch the program.

By terminating all processes that are causing the issue at once, it doesn’t give anything the chance to respawn and hopefully stops things running that you don’t want running. As Windows Task Manager can’t do it, you will need another method, here are ten for you to try out.
(more…)

Trying to accurately explain a problem that the user experience on his computer can be difficult either due to not being able to use the correct keyword or write fluently in English. A picture is worth a thousand words applies in this situation by providing a screenshot of the error which would allow the helper to understand the problem and provide a possible solution that would solve the user’s problem. Actually a screenshot is only partly helpful because it only shows the problem but not the steps to replicate the problem. The better way to show the problem is by recording the screen and provide the video to the helper.

Fortunately screen recording has been greatly simplified and made easy throughout the years of research and development that any computer user would be able to do it with just a few mouse clicks. Here we list 10 software that can be used online or offline to record your computer screen for free. Each has its own pros and cons, so make sure you check them all out to determine which best suit your screen recording needs.
(more…)

There are 2 different architectures for the Windows operating system which are the 32-bit or 64-bit, also known as x86 or x64. Although the rule of thumb for installing a 64-bit Windows applies mostly for computers with more than 4GB of memory, you will find that this is not the case today because branded computers such as Dell already pre-install Windows 10 64-bit onto a budget computer with 2GB of RAM. It is recommended to use the 64-bit applications in a 64-bit Windows operating system for better performance although the 32-bit will also work fine.

However do take note that attempting to run a 64-bit application on a 32-bit Windows will report a generic error saying “This app can’t run on your PC. To find a version for your PC, check with the software publisher”

Not all programs come with both 32-bit and 64-bit builds, so the availability of a 64-bit application would very much depend on the developer or a trusted third party to recompile the source code. From what we know, merely recompiling the source code for a 64-bit build doesn’t really help much in performance because the source code must register new hardware and instructions that aren’t available in 32-bit version of Windows.

If you’d like to determine if a particular application is a 32-bit or 64-bit build, here we have 10 ways to analyze the file with some methods that don’t even need to run the program.
(more…)

One of the things you will be constantly reminded of when using your computer is keeping your software up to date with the latest releases. Not only do the newer versions often bring new features and functions, but they also include bug fixes and more importantly, security fixes. It’s a waste of time having a fully patched and updated Windows if an old piece of 3rd party software has a major security hole giving attackers easy access to your system.

You can easily be exposed to the possibility of a malware infection by simply visiting a malicious website or a website at the wrong time if it has been attacked or hijacked. A malicious attack will then take advantage of your outdated vulnerable software and applications such as such as Java, Flash, Adobe Reader and web browsers are some of the prime targets. Not all outdated software will make your computer less secure, but if you don’t know which does and which doesn’t, it can a painstaking process making sure the most vulnerable applications are fully up to date.

There are a number of programs available that can generally check for updates to your software and tell you which ones need updating. There are also tools that can do that and also download and then install the updated applications for you. Those programs though don’t focus on security and are more generalized in their approach which is still very useful. The 3 tools below are geared towards updating software that is more likely or is known to have security issues and can download and then install or patch your insecure programs.
(more…)

Something you may have found while performing maintenance in Windows is that some files or folders simply cannot be opened or copied. One example is the System Volume Information folder found in the root of your hard drives which cannot be opened. Another is the system registry files found in the System32\Config folder. Try to open or copy the SOFTWARE or SAM hive files for example and Windows will not allow you to do it popping up an error message.

The error “The action can’t be completed because the file is open in System. Close the file and try again.” will show and even if you retry, the action cannot be completed. A similar error is “Location not available, access denied” trying to open or read a file or folder. The reason these items cannot be accessed is because they are either intentionally locked to prevent access or are open and in use by the operating system meaning nothing else can can touch them.

Various methods to unlock these files so you can gain access and manually copy them would include trying an unlocking tool like Unlocker. However, trying to unlock important system files often doesn’t work. Other ways to accomplish the task of removing their in use status are the Volume Shadow Service (VSS) which takes a snapshot of the required files, or using low level disk access to gain access which can help bypass certain windows restrictions.

Here we show you 7 different tools that can get access to those locked or in use files allowing you to copy or back them up manually.
(more…)

The Windows registry is a database that contains thousands of settings and options to allow your computer to function. There is a built-in Registry Editor (regedit) that allows the user to make changes to the registry, although if used improperly, regedit could mess up your Windows install. One of the very useful functions that can be found in the Windows Registry Editor is the option to backup and restore certain parts of it, called export and import. Before making any changes in the registry, it’s always advisable to backup/export the registry keys first. You can do that by right clicking on the registry key that is located at the left hand side tree and select “Export”. Double clicking on the .reg file which you have backed up earlier will restore back the changes.

On the right hand side of the registry window, you will find the registry values. There are several different types of registry values, but the 6 you will find and can create in regedit are String, Binary, DWORD, QWORD, Multi-String and Expandable String. All of the values are displayed in standard ASCII text from the Windows Registry Editor which makes them easy to read. However, after exporting them to a file, you will notice that some of these values are displayed as “hex” text values and not the standard text you find in the registry.

To be more precise, only String (REG_SZ) and DWORD (REG_DWORD) values are displayed in clear text, while Binary (REG_BINARY), QWORD (REG_QWORD), Multi-String (REG_MULTI_SZ) and Expandable String values (REG_EXPAND_SZ) are in the hexadecimal format. If you want to view these hex values as clear-text inside a registry file, you can’t do it unless they are imported back into the registry. Another solution is to use a simple tool that can easily convert the registry hex values to more readable text values to make the data more understandable. Here’s 4 free tools that can help.
(more…)