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Archive for the ‘Windows 8 Maintenance’ Category


The August month for Microsoft Windows 8/8.1 users came with a surprise. The updates from the Microsoft arrived on schedule but this time there was an erratic behavior in one of the updates. The update MS14-045 can make using the fonts in Windows 8/8.1 a trying experience. This update may lock the fonts, render them incorrectly or in the worst case scenario throws the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) on your screen. Listening to the outcry of the Windows users, Microsoft has issued a guideline for removing this update from your Windows.

Uninstall Windows Microsoft August Update BSOD

Here is how you can remove this MS014-045 update from your Windows 8/8.1 PC in case you are experience blue screen of death issues: Read the rest of this entry »

Boot Straight to Desktop in Windows 8.1 [Quick Tip]

Posted by Rich On July - 27 - 2013

Windows DesktopIf you’ve not yet upgraded to Windows 8.1, you can instructions to do so here.

The source of many complaints about Windows 8 manifests itself each time you start your computer: starting with the live tiled interface by default. From my observations, most people utilize this interface mainly to click the “Desktop” icon to return to “normal” Windows. Well, Microsoft heard our cry and have provided a way to boot directly to the desktop in Windows 8.1. To boot to the desktop:

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Upgrade Windows 8 to 8.1 Preview [How To]

Posted by Rich On June - 27 - 2013

windows81-00If you’re itching to take a tour and try the new features of Windows 8.1, including automatic app updates, booting straight to the desktop, (up to) four app split screen, radio, a health and fitness app, 3D printer support, and more, you can download it now.

Note: If you’re using an English version of Windows, you can only install Windows 8.1 Preview from the Windows Store if your OS base language is English (US)

If you do not have a Windows 8 disc handy, create a Windows 8 USB recovery drive in case anything goes wrong in the upgrade process and you need to recover Windows. To update your installation of Windows 8 to Windows 8.1:
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Create a Guest Account 04

If you share your PC with others or let friends use it when they come to visit, you may find settings changed, files deleted, programs installed etc. when you next use it. With previous versions of Windows, I’ve used Windows Steady State, which provided a mode to allow access without setting complicated policies to protect your settings. Thankfully with Windows 7, Microsoft has made this level of protection much more readily accessible. Learn, in this guide how to set up a Guest account—available in all Windows 7 and 8 versions—for infrequent users of your PC.

Please note two things before getting started:

  1. You should not use a guest account if you have parental controls set on your children’s accounts
  2. You cannot use Guest mode in an Active Directory environment
    In other words, you probably wont be able to add a guest account if you use company hardware

Read the rest of this entry »

CDBurnerXP Screenshot

If you store photos on your home PC and don’t back them up, I really recommend you do. Hard drives fail all the time yet I still get many emails and PMs asking for help with data recovery. Even if you use an online backup solution, I still recommend taking an inexpensive local backup on optical media periodically.

I have my photos synced on two hard drives at home, on a remote server (RAID 10), and with a third-party storage provider. I’m still paranoid about losing my life’s memories in photos so I like to take a snapshot of my photo data every two years. By making a biannual backup, you’ll always have 3-5 viable sets of discs (they don’t last forever) with your important files—should you ever lose or overwrite them. Hopefully this guide is helpful and gives you something to do with the remaining 88 of the 100 DVDs you purchased on sale three years ago…

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Windows 8: The Same Old Microsoft Operating System?

Posted by Guest Post On October - 25 - 2012

By Sandro Villinger, Technical Product Consultant, TuneUp

The imminent release of Windows 8 has us all on the edge of our seats, and wondering how big the performance and power enhancements will be. Will the new operating system actually live up to its hype?

Test scenario: 150 programs. 2 months

In conducting preliminary benchmarks, we found that Windows 8 managed to beat Windows 7 in the performance department in almost every discipline. With our interest peaked, we decided to take our tests one step further to identify how the installation of third-party applications, or crapware, affect the new operating system’s performance. To do this, we added 150 programs [Figure 1] to our solid 2009 Core 2 Duo with 3 GHz, 4 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD drive using the RTM version of Windows 8, and measured the impact on resource usage, boot time, application launch speed and battery life, among other areas, over a two-month period. So, how did Windows 8 fare under the stress of the 150 programs?  Let’s check it out!

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