Category: PC

Turning on Verbose Boot Mode to View Background Messages in Windows 10

For many users, we just expect the operating system to work as advertised. But what if you need to know or just curious about what happens in the background upon boot/restart or shutdown of your PC. Microsoft Windows 10 hides this from users by default, they assume you don’t need to see it. But for technical users or those troubleshooting problems, it would be helpful to know what is happening as the machine boots or restarts. With a tweak to the Windows 10 Registry we can see its boot/restart or shutdown behavior. To do this we are going to turn on Verbose Boot Mode.

This post involves editing the Windows 10 Registry. It is recommended that you backup the Registry before making any changes. Below are the steps to backup the Registry using a free software program called RegBak. The RegBak program was covered in an earlier post. I am posting about RegBak again in case you missed it or you may click here to view the previous post.

This is for Windows 10 operating system

Dilbert Jobs
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

The RegBak Software Utility

The program I recommend is called RegBak, a freeware program. You can download the program here. Click the Download button for RegBak then click the regbak.exe file at the bottom of the screen and follow the install instructions. Once installed, you should see a screen like the one below:

RegBak Install
After installing RegBak

To backup your Windows registry:

  • Click the New Backup button
  • Enter a Description (this is optional)
  • Click Start

Below is a screenshot:

RegBak Install
Starting to run RegBak
  • Click Close

Your screen will look like the below image:

RegBak Results
Results of running RegBak
  • Click Close to exit

Your screen should look like the below image:

RegBak Results
Registry backup complete

To Restore from a backup: Note! only do this if your Registry is corrupt.

  • Highlight a backup entry
  • Click the Restore button
  • Click Close

You can also delete a backup by highlighting an entry and clicking on Delete. Feel free to check out the Options button. I would just leave the default options as is.

Changing the Registry

After you have backup up the Registry, type “regedit.exe” (without quotes) in the Cortana search box. You will see a similar screen like below:

Verbose Registry Editor
Registry Editor screen

Expand the Registry to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

You screen should look like the below image:

Registry Editor found key to change screen

Right click the System folder
Select New
Select DWORD (32 bit) Value
Name the new DWORD to VerboseStatus
Change its current value of 0 to a 1. See following image:

Verbose Mode Set On
Registry Editor key change for turn on Verbose Mode screen

Click OK to accept the change
Click File>Exit to quit your edit of the Registry

The next time you boot/restart or shutdown your PC you should see a list of your boot/restart or shutdown activity. As mentioned earlier, the information is helpful in resolving computer problems. In my testing, this is not what I expected; I wanted to see a lot more detail than what was provided. It did help me resolve a shutdown problem. Its worth a try to see if it helps you.

When you need to, you can change the VerboseStatus value back to a 0 to turn the feature off.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong: Events and Aftermath



Using the Microsoft Word Zoom In or Out Feature

I get frustrated when Microsoft Word does not remember my last zoom setting for a document. At times it seems to just forget. It will bring up four pages when I only want to work on one page. To help us out, let’s explore a few options of the Zoom feature.

The Zoom bar is located on the right side of the status bar at the bottom for a Word document. To use the Zoom bar, click and drag the slider to the right or left to zoom out or in. As you do so, the page percentage decreases or increases. Also, you can click the “+” or “-” sign to zoom out or in by 10% increments.

This is for Word for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Word will be similar.

The Zoom Dialog

If you want more control, the Zoom Dialog Box offers a few more options. To access this, select View>Zoom. You will see the following screen:

Word Zoom Options
Word Zoom options

You can choose a predefined option, like “75%”, as noted on the left hand side of the dialog box. Alternatively, you can choose the up and down arrows in the Percent button to increase or decrease the percentage in 1% increments. These percentages will differ depending on your device’s screen size of your Word windows (full screen, half screen, etc). When you are finished, click OK.

Some Shortcuts

If your are using a touchscreen or touchpad, you can take advantage of the pinch to zoom feature. This feature allows you to zoom out or in by placing two fingers on the screen. To Zoom out, you pinch your fingers together, to Zoom in, you separate your fingers.

If you are using a mouse, you can hold the Ctrl button and scroll the wheel up or down to Zoom in and out. Some mouses have separate flywheel buttons for zooming in or out.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong: Events and Aftermath

How to Clean Your Device

The Coronavirus is in the news in a big way, almost a Pandemic by World Health Organization. The news has you aware of how many times you touch your face, how many times do you touch your device?

What you Will Need

What can we do about this? To get our gadgets gleaming, you will need microfiber cloths, cotton swabs, isopropyl alcohol, compressed air spray and distilled water. Before you apply any cleaning, unplug or turn off your device. We are going to disinfect your device and give everything else a general cleaning.

Cleaning your Phone or Tablet

iPhone Image

Phones and tablets have fingerprint resistent coating that could come off. Manufactures generally recommend wiping them down with distilled water on a microfiber cloth, then using cotton swabs to clean around the edges of the screen, buttons and camera lens.

What To Do

Apple recently released its updated guidelines for cleaning. They endorse using 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. You may gently wipe the nonporous surfaces such as the screen, keyboard or other exterior surfaces.

You can create a mixure by using 70 percent alcohol and 30 percent water in a spray bottle. Be sure to wash your hands before starting the cleaning. Then remove any case (leave on any protective screen), spritz the cloth with the solution and thoroughly wipe down your device. Let it dry completely. Then be sure to wash your hands again.

What To Avoid

  • Do not use bleach
  • Avoid getting moisture in any opening
  • Do not submerge your Apple device in any cleaning agents
  • Don’t use the wipes on fabric or leather surfaces
  • Do not reuse the microfiber cloth
  • Avoid using Windex

Cleaning Your Desktop or Laptop

Laptop

First unplug your device and remove the battery for a laptop. Turn your laptop or PC keyboard upside down and (gently) shake out to get rid of dirt and crumbs. Then grab a can of compressed air blaster (available at WalMart and similar places) and blast it. Use cotton swaps to get inside the crevices like the keys.

Lightly spray a microfiber cloth with your solution and wipe down the plastic and metal surfaces to include external devices.

To clean the screen, use a screen cleaning product or your mixture and spray onto a microfiber cloth. For a laptop, a one stop solution is to try 3M Notebook and Tablet Cleaning Wipes. If you have a touch screen, clean it with a microfiber cloth; for smudges, use only water or eyeglass cleaner applied to the cloth to remove them.

Don’t forget the mouse. Using the same mixture, dab it on a cotton swab and run it over the feet of the mouse and any crevices. Then take a microfiber cloth dipped in the mixture and go over the body of the mouse and cord.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to View Two Excel Worksheets From the Same Workbook Side by Side

There is a way to compare the contents in two sheet tabs in the same workbook. Lets see how this is done. In my example, Sheet1 has eleven rows, Sheet2 has ten rows. See following image:

Excel Side by Side 1
The two sheets

This is for Excel for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Excel will be similar.

Opening a Second Window for Comparing Contents

In the View tab of the Window group, click New Window

Excel Side by Side 2
Setting up for a new window

A second window of the same workbook opens, like a clone. At the end of the workbook name is a number denoting the sheet, either a one or a two. The new window becomes the active sheet.

Excel Side by Side 3
The two windows

Setting Up Side by Side Viewing

In the View tab of the Window group, click View Side by Side

A Compare Dialog box may appear. If so, choose the sheet you want to compare with the active sheet.

Click View Side by Side. When you select this view, Synchronous Scrolling should already be turned on. This allows you to scrool both worksheets at the same time. If its not turned on, click the View tab, then click Sychronous Scrolling. See below image:

Excel Side by Side 5
Setting up for viewing side by side

If the two windows didn’t arrange side by side, from the View tab, click Arrange All>Vertical and check the box for Windows of active workbook. Refer to following image:

Excel Side by Side 6
Setting up how to view the side by side comparison

Viewing the Two Sheets Side by Side

You can now synchronously scroll both up and down, left and right to compare the contents of the two sheet tabs in the same workbook. See final image below:

Excel Side by Side 7
Comparing the two sheets in same workbook

When you are finished, to restore your window size, close one of the two windows, then click the Maximize Button in upper right hand corner of the worksheet window.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Sync Across All Devices Using Windows 10

It is quite common that one user owns both a laptop and a desktop or two or more PCs. Each device has its merits.

If you have both a laptop and a desktop or two or more computers, you may want to sync the two or more devices for following reasons:

  • Use the same Windows 10 settings on two or more computers without spending time manually entering theme customizations, browser options, etc.
  • Keep frequently-used files up to date on two PCs without the repetitive work of copy and paste.

Choose from Settings such as Language preferences, Passwords, and color Theme. If you turn on Other Windows settings, Windows also syncs some device settings (for things like printers and mouse options), File Explorer settings and notification preferences. 

Since it’s beneficial to sync a laptop and a desktop or two or more PCs, how is this done? First, you’ll need to use the same Microsoft account to log into each Windows 10 device that you wish to sync.

This is for Windows 10 devices

Sync Your Windows 10 Devices

  • In your Cortana search box, type in Settings
  • Select Accounts
  • Select Sync your settings. You will be required to sign into your Microsoft account, especially, if you are syncing your Passwords which requires a verification. Refer to below image:
Win 10 Sync Settings
Sync your Windows 10 Settings screen
  • Turn off or on your syncing preferences
  • Repeat the above steps for each Windows 10 device

Once the feature is on, the synchronization will take place across all your devices that are running on Windows 10 and where you’re logged in with the same Microsoft Account.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech or smart device question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Five Areas to Update your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn software can be a dauting task to setup and maintain. You should update your LinkedIn profile regularly to attract recruiters, coworkers and friends. Of course, most of us don’t have the time, so we put off this task. If you want to take a little time, you should addrtess fives areas of your profile.

This feature is for your iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android device, Windows 10 or whatever smart device supports LinkedIn

1. Your Heading Statement

This is the short statement that appears below your name. That Heading is what the recruiter’s search for. The Heading needs to say what you do or want to do. It should hit these points using keywords. People who haven’t updated their profile in a while might have their current job title followed by a comma and then their employer or department name. If so, I suggest changing the Heading to some keywords that match what you want to do.

See below image for my Heading as a Blogger: (Note! I used the tips in this post to update my LinkedIn profile for blogging purposes).

LinkedIn Heading statement

2. Updating your Photo

Does the photo reflect who you are today? It would be unwise to visit a recruiter looking completely different from your photo. Of course, you want a headshot photo of you smiling. Put on an appropriate shirt or blouse because it might show up in the photo. You want a photo that will impress recruiters, coworkers or friends.

3. Using Keywords in your Profile

We have discussed using keywords in your Heading. Using keywords in your Skills & Endorsements is also very important. You can use a ton of keywords. Make sure you hit the top words that reflect your experience. Click the “plus” sign in upper right hand corner to add skill(s). Refer to following image:

LinkedIn Skills section

Tap in the Skill search box. Then go thru the aphabet, keying in one letter, ie, key in A, then select your keyword(s); then key in B, etc. through the alphabet to see which LinkedIn keywords to apply. See below image:

LinkedIn adding Skills using keywords

4. Using your Geography

If you are looking for work, it helps to provide a location. Its best to use a general location in a greater city areas, like Oklahoma City/Tulsa metro area instead of a just a single city. This will open up more possibilites for recruiters to locate a matching job.

5. How Open are you to Recruiters?

LinkedIn has a setting you can turn on which tells only recruiters that you are open to being contacted. When you turn on this setting, no one else can see it, only people who have recruiter accountgs. This setting is found in several places in your profile. The setting is labeled Only recuriters.

Go to your profile and look just below your Heading (refer to the first image in this post). When you tap Only recruiters, you are taken to the Job preferences screen. See below image:

LinkedIn Job Preferences

Tap the Edit icon (the pencil in upper right hand corner). Here you can add Job titles, Job locations and select Job types. Refer to below image:

LinkedIn adding Job titles, locations and types
  • Tap the Only recruiters drop down arror to allow your job information to be shown to anyone using LinkedIn or just Recruiters.

Updating these five areas of your profile will open up more job opportunities and attract more recruiters.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Disable Google from Tracking You

Whereever you go, Goggle is tracking you, especially Google Maps, and archives that activity in your Google Timeline. It is both a blessing and a curse. It can take you down memory lane, but as a curse, it leaves the door wide open to your privacy.

With Timeline, Google Maps can show where you are going and where you have been. Even photos taken and uploaded to Google Photos can reveal your location. You can also share your location in realtime on your smartphone.

If you prefer to keep your location private, you can remove your location history and stop Google from following you.

This feature is for your iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android device, Windows 10 or whatever smart device supports Google

Stop Activity and Location Tracking

  • Open your Google browser
  • Log into your account at myaccount.google.com
  • Select Data & personalization
  • You can disable what Google can tract and collect from you by managing your Activity controls. To stop tracking, click on the Title and toggle the switch to off. See below image:
Google Tracking 1
Google Activity controls

Warning! Turning off these Activity controls will effect the use of their features.

Delete your Activities

Your activities are kept until you manually delete them (the default). You have the option of deleting all data for the past 18 months or past 3 months.

  • Navigate to your Google account at myaccount.google.com
  • Select Data & personalization>Web & App Activity>Manage Activity>Choose to delete automatically. See below image:
Google Tracking 2
Google Deletion process
  • Select the 18 or 3 month option
  • Tap Next. See below image:
Google Tracking 3
Google selection of how long to keep your activity
  • Google will show you what is about to be deleted
  • Tap Confirm at the bottom of your screen. See below image:
Google Tracking 9
Google confirmation of your activity deletion
  • Also, you can delete a particular day’s browsing activity by taping the Trash icon next to the day. Refer to second image above.

To select a custom range, an hour or a date:

  • Tap the Menu icon located next to My Activity
  • Select Delete activity by. See below image:
Google Tracking 4
Google custom deletion
  • Choose one of the following options. See below image:
Goo5le Tracking 6
Google selecting your custom deletion
  • There are other privacy settings you can explore such as Location Services under Settings>Privacy and Security>Location>Location. A set of apps that use Location Services can be toggled on or off. See the following screen:
Google Tracking 8
Google Location Services to turn on or off

Warning! Turning off these Apps Location Services will effect the use of their features.

Go Incognito

The best and easist way to “hide” your browsing is to set the Incognito Mode. This feature allows you to browse without Google compiling history, cookies, site data or form information. Google has extended the feature to Maps and YouTube. Maps will stop tracking your location history; YouTube will no longer track your search and view history.

  • Launch Google
  • Tap the More icon in bottom right hand corner (the 3 dots)
  • Tap Turn on incognito. See below image:
Google Tracking 10
Google setting for Incognito Mode

You will see the following screen:

Google Tracking 7
Google Incognito Mode turned on

To turn off Incognito Mode:

  • Launch Google
  • Tap the More icon in the bottom right hand corner (the 3 dots)
  • Tap In incognito mode
  • Tap Turn off incognito. Refer to following image:
Google Tracking 7
Google Incognito Mode turned off

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Block Unwanted Apps in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge has a new “crapware” blocker. For some reason, it isn’t enabled by default, and it should be.

The browser can block “potentially unwanted programs (PUP)”, also known as “potentially unwanted apps”. These are obnoxious programs like adware, cryptocurrency miners, malware and browser toolbars, to name a few.

There is a simple toggle to block these “crapware” downloads. Let’s see how this is done.

This is for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 and Mac versions

First, let’s check what version of Edge you are running. The stable release of Edge is 80+.

Check Your Version of Edge

Stable Version

  • Open Microsoft Edge
  • Click the Settings & more icon (the three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
  • Click Help & feedback
  • Click About Microsoft Edge

If you have the correct version, let’s enable the toggle. If not, go to Windows Update to check for updates or download and install from this link.

Set the Toggle to Block Unwanted Apps

  • Click the Settings & more icon (the three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
  • Click Settings
  • Click Privacy and services option
  • Under Services, toggle to On for Block potentially unwanted apps option
Block Unwanted Apps in Edge
  • Close the Settings screen
  • You may now Close or Exit Edge

Microsoft Edge will now be more active in blocking unwanted software.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Did you Know you can Show Multiple Time Zones in Windows 10?

This feature is for a Desktop or Laptop running Windows 10 Operating System. Your family, coworkers or friends may be in different time zones. Lets say you have friends residing in Arizona which does not observe Daylight Savings Time. How many hours are they ahead or behind your current time zone? We are going to find an easy way to do this beside searching for “time in <city>”.

This is for Windows 10 operating system

Setup Additional Time Zones

To find these settings:

  • Right click on the clock in the Windows 10 Taskbar (lower right)
  • Select Adjust date/time
  • Select Add clocks for different time zones under Related Settings section

See below screenshot:

Date and Time Settings
Date and Time settings screenshot

Adding Two Time Zones

To add other clock(s):

  • Check Show this clock box
  • Chose a time zone
  • Enter a display name
  • Repeat above for a second time zone, its up to you

Your can add two times zones besides your current one

  • Click OK

See below screenshot for adding two time zones:

Time Zone Settings
Adding time zone for Dhaka, Bangladesh and DaNang, Vietnam

Now when you hover your mouse over the date and time in the Taskbar you will see your time zone settings.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Four Tips and Gotchas for a WordPress Blog

I have been blogging using WordPress as my hosting site for a couple of months. I have discovered a few tips and gotchas using WordPress that may be of interest to you.

First, if you noticed some strange highlighted text on your site, don’t panic. They will go away by exiting and relaunching your site. I had some highlighted text (in yellow) in my Categories section that I did not enter. After exiting and relaunching, the highlighted yellow text disappeared.

Second, if you have links in your posts, the linkage may add the words “opens in a new tab” at the end of your URL. This happens if you have the slider control Open in new tab turned off. This control is found in the drop down arrow next to the Return or the Edit (the pencil) icon). Your links will not work. You must remove the words (opens in a new tab) in the link URL. To open the link in a new tab, you must turn the slider control Open in new tab to the On position.

Third, when I am writing a post, I want to return to a previous block to add or change some text. I position the cursor in the text, but nothing happens. I am unable to add or change any text. I have to save whatever changes I have made, exit the post, then relaunch the post. Then I am able to make text changes. This is most frustrating aspect of WordPress.

Fourth, in my version of WordPress, the Dashboard does not automatically load. To get to the Dashboard, enter <your website name>/wp-admin in your browser search field. For my blog, I would enter the following in my browser: techsavvy.life/wp-admin.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.