Windows 10 Articles

Article / Updated 08-10-2023

You can transfer files yourself if you're moving from a Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 PC. You can do this with a combination of a Microsoft account and the built‐in File History backup program in Windows. You tell the program to back up your old PC's files, and then you tell your new PC's program to restore the files. However, you need a portable hard drive for this to work. Portable hard drives are fairly inexpensive, usually costing less than $100. But there's a bonus: When you're through transferring the files, the drive works perfectly for backing up your new computer. To transfer files from an old Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 computer to a new Windows 10 computer, follow these steps: If you're running Windows 7 on your old PC, upgrade it to Windows 10.For many Windows 7 owners, this is probably a deal breaker. Unless, of course, you took advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade offer that ended July 29, 2016. Now that the deadline has passed, Windows 7 owners might be better off by buying a file transfer program.If you're running Windows 8, 8.1, or 10 on your old PC, move ahead to Step 2. If you've already been using File History on your old PC, jump to Step 5. Otherwise move to Step 3. Sign in with your Microsoft account on your old PC.When you sign in with a Microsoft account, Microsoft remembers many of your settings and services so it can duplicate them on other PCs you sign into. Plug the portable hard drive into your old PC and then set up File History to save your files onto the portable hard drive.File History comes built into Windows 8, 8.1, and 10. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to back up your files for the first time.While File History backs up your files, it shows the statement "File History is saving copies of your files for the first time." (It also lists the word Stop in case you want to stop the backup.) When File History has finished backing up your files to the portable drive, those words change to say "Files last copied," followed by the date and time it finished backing up your files, as shown. At that point, move to Step 5. Sign into your new Windows 10 PC with the same Microsoft account you used on your old PC. Then plug the portable hard drive into your new computer.By signing in with your Microsoft account, your settings automatically transfer to your new PC. (The wallpaper on your new PC quickly changes to match your old PC, letting you know that something is happening.) Open File History and direct your new Windows 10 PC toward your old File History backup. On your new Windows 10 PC, click the Start button and type File History into the Search box and press Enter. The Control Panel's File History window appears, as shown. Click the check box labeled I Want to Use a Previous Backup on this File History Drive. A window drops down, listing the backup you've made on your old PC. Click its name, and click the Turn On button. Your new PC begins backing up its files for the first time, but these incoming files won't damage your old PC's backup. Choose Restore Personal Files from the File History window's left pane. Choose the files and folders to restore and then click the green Restore button. Click the Forward or Back arrows next to the big green button along the window's bottom until you find the date and time of the files you'd like to restore.For example, if you used File History on your old PC for the first time in Step 4, click the Back arrow (on the left) until you're at the Number 1 backup. If you've been using File History on your old PC all along, click the Forward arrow (on the right) to move to your most recent backup. When you're viewing the files or folders you want to restore, click the green button found on the window's bottom edge, shown here. File History begins copying your old PC's files and folders onto your new PC. If there are no complications, your new PC should soon have the files and folders from your old PC. If you'd already been using File History on your old PC, all of your old PC's backups should still be available to you on your new PC. Your new PC will continue to back up your new computer's files to your portable hard drive. Keep the hard drive plugged in permanently. (Or, if you bought a new laptop or tablet, plug it in frequently so your computer can keep your backups current.) If you've just borrowed a friend's portable hard drive, you can unplug it at this point and give it back. But you should really have your own portable hard drive so you can begin backing up your new Windows 10 PC. Your Microsoft account and File History can transport your settings and files to your new PC. However, you must still install all of your old desktop programs onto your new PC. If you're moving to Windows 10 from a Windows 8 or 8.1 PC, you can find your apps waiting for you in the Windows Store: Click your icon near the Store app's upper‐right corner and choose My Library from the drop‐down menu. There you can find and download your old apps to your new PC.

Step by Step / Updated 05-03-2023

Setting up a firewall is an effective way to protect your computer from outside cyber attackers and malicious software. But keep in mind that by setting up a firewall, you are changing the way your computer communicates with other computers on the Internet. The firewall blocks all incoming communications unless you set up a specific inbound exception in the Windows firewall to let a program in. Some of your programs won’t respond until they receive a signal via the Internet. If you have a program that doesn’t poke its own hole through the Windows Firewall, you can tell the firewall to allow packets destined for that specific program — and only that program — in through the firewall.

Step by Step / Updated 08-02-2022

When you use a firewall — and you should — you change the way your computer communicates with other computers on the Internet. The firewall blocks all incoming communications unless you open a port in the Windows firewall to let a specific IP communicate with your computer. For example, if you want to play many online games. Most first-time firewallers are overwhelmed by the idea of opening a port. Although open ports are a security threat, sometimes you truly need to open one. Still, you may need to open a port to enable a specific application. For example, when you select the check box to allow Remote Desktop, you’re opening port 3389. That’s the security price you pay for enabling programs to talk to each other.In general, if you need to open a specific port, the documentation for the program (game, torrent downloader, file sharer) will tell you . . . assuming you read the program’s manual.

Article / Updated 07-15-2022

You might think that simply moving a file or folder to the \Public folder in Windows 10 would make it, well, public. At least to a first approximation, that’s exactly how things work. But, there’s a little more to making files “public” in Windows 10. Any file or folder you put in the Windows 10 \Public folder, or any folder inside the \Public folder, can be viewed, changed, or deleted by all the people who are using your computer, regardless of which kind of account they may have and whether they’re required to log in to your computer. In addition, anybody who can get into your Windows 10 computer through the network will have unlimited access. The \Public folder is (if you’ll pardon a rather stretched analogy) a big cookie jar, open to everybody who is in the kitchen. (For more details, and important information about Public networks and big-company domains, check out Networking All-in-One For Dummies, 7th Edition, by Doug Lowe [Wiley].) Follow these easy steps to move a file or folder from one of the built-in personal folders (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, or Videos) into its corresponding location in one of the \Public folders: Tap or click the File Explorer icon in the taskbar. Navigate to the file or folder that you want to move into the \Public folder. Here, the Quick Access Pictures folder was double-clicked to get to Pictures. Right-click the folder or file you want to move in Windows 10, and choose Cut. In this case, the user wanted to move the Thailand folder, so the user cut it. Navigate to the \Public folder where you want to move the folder or file.This is more difficult than you might think. In general, on the left of File Explorer, double-click This PC (scroll down on your Windows 10 computer if necessary to see it), then scroll way down and double-click or tap Local Disk (C:). Then double-click Users, then Public. You see the list of Public folders. Double-click the \Public folder you want to use. Then right-click inside the folder, and choose Paste.In this case, the user double-clicked Public Pictures and pasted the Thailand folder into the Public Pictures folder. From that point on, the photos are available to anybody who uses the Windows 10 computer and to people who connect to that computer. (It may also be available to other computers connected to your network, workgroup, or domain, depending on various network settings.)

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-05-2022

Windows 10 comes jam-packed with features. Here are shortcuts and tips for using the keyboard, mouse, and Ribbon to get fast access to the most commonly used commands. You'll be commanding Windows 10 in no time!

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-14-2022

Adjusting to a new operating system, whether you're upgrading from an old version of Windows to Windows 10 or you've purchased a new machine running Windows 10, isn't an easy thing to do. In this cheat sheet, you'll find out what you should do right away, what you shouldn't do, and how to find the features you're used to. You also will find some tips for keeping your sanity while adjusting to your new operating system.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

In the Spring of 2020, Microsoft released an update to Windows 10, sometimes called the May 2020 Update. The update subtly changes Windows 10 by adding new features, as well as removing some old ones. These tips help you work with Windows 10 and its latest update.

Article / Updated 11-04-2021

Every Windows 10 user needs to know about Event Viewer. Windows has had an Event Viewer for almost a decade. Few people know about it. At its heart, the Event Viewer looks at a small handful of logs that Windows maintains on your PC. The logs are simple text files, written in XML format. Although you may think of Windows as having one Event Log file, in fact, there are many — Administrative, Operational, Analytic, and Debug, plus application log files. The Event Viewer logs Every program that starts on your PC posts a notification in an Event Log, and every well-behaved program posts a notification before it stops. Every system access, security change, operating system twitch, hardware failure, and driver hiccup all end up in one or another Event Log. The Event Viewer scans those text log files, aggregates them, and puts a pretty interface on a deathly dull, voluminous set of machine-generated data. Think of Event Viewer as a database reporting program, where the underlying database is just a handful of simple flat text files. In theory, the Event Logs track "significant events" on your PC. In practice, the term "significant" is in the eyes of the beholder. Or programmer. In the normal course of, uh, events, few people ever need to look at any of the Event Logs. But if your PC starts to turn sour, the Event Viewer may give you important insight to the source of the problem. How to find the Event Viewer Follow these steps: Click in the Search field in the bottom left corner of your screen. Search for Event Viewer. Click on Event Viewer in the search results. The Event Viewer appears. On the left, choose Custom Views and, underneath that, Administrative Events. It may take a while, but eventually you see a list of notable events like the one shown. Don't freak out. Even the best-kept system boasts reams of scary-looking error messages — hundreds, if not thousands of them. That's normal. See the table for a breakdown. Events are logged by various parts of Windows. Events and what they mean Event What Caused the Event Error Significant problem, possibly including loss of data Warning Not necessarily significant, but might indicate that there's a problem brewing Information Just a program calling home to say it's okay Other logs to check out The Administrative Events log isn't the only one you can see; it's a distillation of the other event logs, with an emphasis on the kinds of things a mere human might want to see. Other logs include the following: Application events: Programs report on their problems. Security events: They're called "audits" and show the results of a security action. Results can be either successful or failed depending on the event, such as when a user tries to log on. Setup events: This primarily refers to domain controllers, which is something you don't need to worry about. System events: Most of the errors and warnings you see in the Administrative Events log come from system events. They're reports from Windows system files about problems they've encountered. Almost all of them are self-healing. Forwarded events: These are sent to this computer from other computers.

Article / Updated 10-28-2021

In a process known as ripping, Windows Media Player in Windows 10 can copy your CDs to your PC as MP3 files, the industry standard for digital music. But until you tell the player that you want MP3 files, it creates WMA files — a format that won't play on iPads, most smartphones, nor many other music players. Ripping CDs is a form of copying files for music using Windows Media Player. To make Windows Media Player create songs with the more versatile MP3 format instead of WMA, click the Organize button in the top-left corner, choose Options, and click the Rip Music tab. Choose MP3 instead of WMA from the Format drop-down menu and nudge the audio quality over a tad from 128 to 256 or even 320 for better sound. To copy CDs to your PC's hard drive, follow these instructions: Open Windows Media Player, insert a music CD, and click the Rip CD button. You may need to push a button on the front or side of your computer's disc drive to make the tray eject. Windows Media Player connects to the internet, identifies your CD, and fills in the album's name, artist, and song titles. Then the program begins copying the CD's songs to your PC and listing their titles in the Windows Media Player Library. You're through. If Windows Media Player can't find the songs' titles automatically, however, move ahead to Step 2. Right-click the first track and choose Find Album Info, if necessary. If Windows Media Player comes up empty-handed, right-click the first track and choose Find Album Info. If you're connected to the internet, type the album's name into the Search box and then click Search. If the Search box finds your album, click its name, choose Next, and click Finish. If you're not connected to the Internet, or if the Search box comes up empty, right-click the first song, click Edit, and manually fill in the song title. Repeat for the other titles, as well as the album, artist, genre, and year tags. Here are some tips for ripping CDs to your computer: Normally Windows Media Player copies every song on the CD. To leave Tiny Tim off your ukulele music compilation, however, remove the check mark from Tiny Tim's name. If Windows Media Player has already copied the song to your PC, feel free to delete it from within Windows Media Player. Click the Library button, right-click the song sung by the offending yodeler, and choose Delete. Windows Media Player automatically places your ripped CDs into your Music folder. You can also find your newly ripped music in the Windows Media Player Library.

Article / Updated 10-19-2021

Network discovery is an underrated and often misunderstood feature that allows Windows 10 to find other computers and devices on a network. This feature is automatically turned on when you’re connected to private networks like the one in your home or workplace but turned off when you’re connected to public networks that shouldn’t be trusted and when you don’t allow your PC to be discoverable on those networks. Enable network discovery If your Windows 10 computer or device can’t view other computers on the network, two things are probably at fault: You either assigned the incorrect network profile (public instead or private), or network discovery is turned off for some reason. Here’s how to activate network discovery in Windows 10 for your active network profile: Open Settings. The Settings window appears. Click Network & Internet. Your network and Internet related settings are shown. In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable). A window with settings for your network appears. Find the Related setting section on the right, then click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears. Expand the network profile currently assigned to your network connection. It is marked with the words “current profile” on the right side of its name. In the Network discover section, select “Turn on network discovery.” Also, check the box that says “Turn on automatic setup of network connected devices.” Turning on network discovery. Click Save Changes. Close the Settings window. You don’t ever want to enable network discovery when you’re connected to public networks. So, if you’re connected to a public network like those in airports and cafes, be sure to set the profile to Public. Enable file and printer sharing When you’re connected to private networks, Windows 10 automatically turns on the File and Printer Sharing setting. In this way, you can easily share folders, files, and printers with other computers and devices in your network. However, if your network administrator adjusts this setting, you may need to manually turn it on or off, depending on your needs. Here’s how to activate the File and Printer Sharing setting in Windows 10 for your active network connection: Open Settings. The Settings window appears. Click Network & Internet. Your network and Internet-related settings are shown. In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable). A window with settings for your network appears. Find the Related setting section on the right, then click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears. Accessing advanced sharing settings in Windows 10. Expand the network profile currently assigned to your network connection. It’s identified as “current profile.” In the File and Printer Sharing section, select Turn On File and Printer Sharing. Click Save Changes. Close the Settings window. If you’re connected to a public network like those in airports and cafes, be sure to assign Public as the profile for that connection. Also, don’t enable the File and Printer Sharing setting when you’re connected to public networks. Enable public folder sharing The Public folder is located on your hard drive in C:UsersPublic. All user accounts registered in Windows have access to it. That’s why it’s named Public. Any file and folder found in C:UsersPublic is completely accessible to all users on the computer. Depending on your network sharing settings, this folder and its contents can also be accessed by all other computers and devices that are part of the same network. To turn on Public Folder Sharing, follow these steps: Open Settings. The Settings window appears. Click Network & Internet. Your network and Internet-related settings are shown. In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable). A window with settings for your network appears. Find the Related setting section on the right and click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears. Scroll down and expand the All Networks category of settings. In the Public Folder Sharing section, select Turn On Sharing So Anyone with Network Access Can Read and Write Files in the Public Folders. Turning on Public Folder Sharing. Click Save Changes. Close the Settings window. Enable password protected sharing When Password Protected Sharing is turned on, only people who have a user account and password on your computer or network domain (in the case of business networks) can access shared files and printers attached to your Windows 10 computer or device, as well as your public folders. It’s a good idea to avoid disabling Password Protected Sharing, but you may need to do that in some situations, such as when you want to give other people access. To turn on Password Protected Sharing, follow these steps: Open Settings. The Settings window appears. Click Network & Internet. Your network and Internet-related settings are shown. In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable). A window with settings for your network appears. Find the Related setting section on the right and click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears. Scroll down and expand the All Networks category of settings. In the Password Protected Sharing section, select Turn On Password Protected Sharing. Turning On password protected sharing. Click Save Changes. Close the Settings window.