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Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix the problems he creates.

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Windows 8 Available by the End of October 2012

Posted by Rich On July - 9 - 20122 COMMENTS

Microsoft announced Windows 8 will reach general availability by the end of October after releasing to manufacturing (RTM) on the first week of August. Will you be upgrading to Windows 8 (from Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7) for $39.95 when it comes out?

via Upcoming Windows Milestones Shared with Partners at WPC.

ClipCube is Simple, Portable Clipboard Manager

Posted by Rich On July - 2 - 20121 COMMENT

Windows Guides’ Rating	Compatible with	System
4.5 out of 5

clipcube by maxumipsum70 ClipCube is Simple, Portable Clipboard Manager

PROS: Simple interface and easy to use. Portable. Consumes low memory.

CONS: No minimize option—you can close it to the system tray (or minimize all windows with Winkey+D) but you’ll have to show it in your system tray if you’re using Windows 7 or 8.

VERDICT: This is part of my default toolkit and I highly recommend it if you’re tired of copying, saving, and trying to find snippets of text all the time.

PRICE: Free

VERSION REVIEWED: 0.3 Beta 1

DOWNLOAD: ClipCube

Image by maxumipsum70

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Show or Hide Windows Taskbar Icons [How To] [Updated]

Posted by Rich On July - 1 - 201240 COMMENTS

After using your computer for some time, you may find you accumulate a lot of taskbar icons. If you’d like to hide some of these icons or show hidden icons for quicker access, you can use this guide learn how to customize the taskbar and display only the icons you want.
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Best Free Online Virus Scanners [2012 Edition]

Posted by Rich On July - 1 - 20123 COMMENTS

If you have a file that you suspect is housing a virus but your antivirus software does not detect it, you can submit it for further analysis online. This guide shows you the best online virus scanners available today. If you’d like to scan one file, follow the instructions under Scan Individual Files for Viruses. If you’d like to scan your entire PC, follow the instructions under Scan Your Entire PC for Viruses.

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Learn New Tricks with Windows (Quick Tip) Guides

Posted by Rich On June - 24 - 2012Comments Off

If you’d like to learn a new tip or two about Windows, you should check out our Quick Tip series. This collection of posts provides succinct information for every day PC tasks like setting Windows 7 as a Wifi hotspot, cleaning your dusty laptop with compressed air, muting system sounds while you watch movies, and starting IE9 with InPrivate Filtering enabled.

Search quick tip posts:

http://www.mintywhite.com/?s=”[Quick Tip]”

Hint: Drag this link to your bookmarks bar to save it for later.

Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 7 Professional [How To]

Posted by Rich On June - 24 - 2012Comments Off

If you are using Windows Starter, Home Basic, or Home Premium, you have the option to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional. Tech enthusiasts and small-business users will appreciate the following extra features:

In this guide, we’ll show you how to upgrade from Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, or Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional.

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