Computer Tips Archives - Page 175 of 227

How to disable Web Search in the Windows 10 search box

Posted on November 17, 2016

Update: Windows 10 no longer allows you to opt out of including web results in your local searches so this post is now moot.

Original post continues below…

By default, the search box in Windows 10 will return search results for your query from both your local computer and the Internet.

As is typically the case, some folks love the integrated search feature, and others hate it.

Personally, I prefer to use the Windows search box just to search for items on my computer. For web searches, I prefer to use Google.

If you would prefer to keep your local and online searches separate as well, you can easily disable the Web Search feature in Windows 10. Here’s how: [Read more…]

How to prevent Microsoft from using Windows 10 to spy on you

Posted on November 8, 2016

Did you know that Microsoft uses your computer’s Windows 10 installation to spy on you?

Windows 10 has a “Telemetry and Data Collection” tool that gathers several kinds of user data from your PC and sends it back to Microsoft via the Internet.

Personally, I don’t much like that. [Read more…]

Scam alert: Web of Trust (WOT) browser extension caught selling sensitive user data to third parties

Posted on November 7, 2016

Another day, another scam. But I must admit that this one caught me by surprise.

The makers of the popular “Web of Trust” browser extension (aka WOT) have been caught collecting and selling sensitive user information to third party companies.

And when I say the information being sold is sensitive, well…check it out for yourself: [Read more…]

Have you ever thought about building your own computer? If so, read this.

Posted on October 22, 2016

There was a time when I built PCs from scratch and sold them at a profit, and I was able to generate a pretty decent side income from it. In total, I built and sold right at 200 computers before I moved on to other interests.

Today, computers are mass-produced commodities, and that makes it pretty hard to purchase all the individual parts required to build a PC at prices low enough to make a profit when selling the assembled unit.

After all, it’s hard for the little guy to compete with the big guys these days due to economy of scale.

That being said, there are still some benefits to be derived from building your own computer instead of purchasing one at retail. Here are a few of the reasons why some folks still build their own PCs: [Read more…]

How to change the default network connection in Windows 10

Posted on October 14, 2016

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Have you ever tried switching your laptop to a wired Internet connection when your WiFi connection was spotty?

If so, you probably know that Windows can be pretty stubborn when you try to use a network connection that isn’t set as the default connection.

Luckily, it’s quite easy to change the default network connection in Windows with just a few mouse clicks. I explained how to do it in earlier versions of Windows in this post. Today I’m going to tell you how to do it in Windows 10. Just follow the steps below: [Read more…]