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  • HTG Explains: Why Deleted Files Can Be Recovered and How You Can Prevent It

    - by Chris Hoffman
    When you a delete a file, it isn’t really erased – it continues existing on your hard drive, even after you empty it from the Recycle Bin. This allows you (and other people) to recover files you’ve deleted. If you’re not careful, this will also allow other people to recover your confidential files, even if you think you’ve deleted them. This is a particularly important concern when you’re disposing of a computer or hard drive. Image Credit: Norlando Pobre on Flickr 8 Deadly Commands You Should Never Run on Linux 14 Special Google Searches That Show Instant Answers How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates

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  • How to Sync Files Between Computers Without Storing Them in the Cloud

    - by Chris Hoffman
    So you have multiple computers and you want to keep your files in sync, but you don’t want to store them on someone else’s servers. You’ll want a service that synchronizes files directly between your computers. With such a service, you can synchronize an unlimited amount of files and people can’t gain access to your files just by gaining access to an account on a server and viewing the files via the web interface. We’re focused on syncing files over the network here — either over a local network or the Internet. We’re looking for Dropbox-style solutions that don’t store files on a central server like Dropbox does.    

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  • How To Install and Use ADB, the Android Debug Bridge Utility

    - by Chris Hoffman
    ADB, Android Debug Bridge, is a command-line utility included with Google’s Android SDK. ADB can control your device over USB from a computer, copy files back and forth, install and uninstall apps, run shell commands, and more. We’ve covered some other tricks that require ADB in the past, including backing up and restoring your smartphone or tablet and installing Android apps to your SD card by default. ADB is used for a variety of geeky Android tricks. Image Credit: LAI Ryanne on Flickr HTG Explains: How Antivirus Software Works HTG Explains: Why Deleted Files Can Be Recovered and How You Can Prevent It HTG Explains: What Are the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break Keys on My Keyboard?

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  • How To Convert Virtual Machines Between VirtualBox and VMware

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Migrating to another virtual machine program can be intimidating. if you already have your virtual machines set up they way you like them, you don’t necessarily have to install them from scratch – you can migrate your existing virtual machines. VirtualBox and VMware use different virtual machine formats, but each supports the standard Open Virtualization Format. Convert your existing virtual machine to OVF or OVA and you’ll be able to import it into another virtual machine program. Unfortunately, this may not always work perfectly, as VirtualBox and VMware both seem to use slightly different OVA/OVF implementations that aren’t entirely compatible. If this doesn’t work, you may want to reinstall your virtual machine’s guest operating system from scratch. 8 Deadly Commands You Should Never Run on Linux 14 Special Google Searches That Show Instant Answers How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates

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  • HTG Explains: Should You Buy Extended Warranties?

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Buy something at an electronics store and you’ll be confronted by a pushy salesperson who insists you need an extended warranty. You’ll also see extended warranties pushed hard when shopping online. But are they worth it? There’s a reason stores push extended warranties so hard. They’re almost always pure profit for the store involved. An electronics store may live on razor-thin product margins and make big profits on extended warranties and overpriced HDMI cables. You’re Already Getting Multiple Warranties First, back up. The product you’re buying already includes a warranty. In fact, you’re probably getting several different types of warranties. Store Return and Exchange: Most electronics stores allow you to return a malfunctioning product within the first 15 or 30 days and they’ll provide you with a new one. The exact period of time will vary from store to store. If you walk out of the store with a defective product and have to swap it for a new one within the first few weeks, this should be easy. Manufacturer Warranty: A device’s manufacturer — whether the device is a laptop, a television, or a graphics card — offers their own warranty period. The manufacturer warranty covers you after the store refuses to take the product back and exchange it. The length of this warranty depends on the type of product. For example, a cheap laptop may only offer a one-year manufacturer warranty, while a more expensive laptop may offer a two-year warranty. Credit Card Warranty Extension: Many credit cards offer free extended warranties on products you buy with that credit card. Credit card companies will often give you an additional year of warranty. For example, if you buy a laptop with a two year warranty and it fails in the third year, you could then contact your credit card company and they’d cover the cost of fixing or replacing it. Check your credit card’s benefits and fine print for more information. Why Extended Warranties Are Bad You’re already getting a fairly long warranty period, especially if you have a credit card that offers you a free extended warranty — these are fairly common. If the product you get is a “lemon” and has a manufacturing error, it will likely fail pretty soon — well within your warranty period. The extended warranty matters after all your other warranties are exhausted. In the case of a laptop with a two-year warranty that you purchase with a credit card giving you a one-year warranty extension, your extended warranty will kick in three years after you purchase the laptop. In that many years, your current laptop will likely feel pretty old and laptops that are as good — or better — will likely be pretty cheap. If it’s a television, better television displays will be available at a lower price point. You’ll either want to upgrade to a newer model or you’ll be able to buy a new, just-as-good product for very cheap. You’ll only have to pay out-of-pocket if your device fails after the normal warranty period — in over two or three years for typical laptops purchased with a decent credit card. Save the money you would have spent on the warranty and put it towards a future upgrade. How Much Do Extended Warranties Cost? Let’s look at an example from a typical pushy retail outlet, Best Buy. We went to Best Buy’s website and found a pretty standard $600 Samsung laptop. This laptop comes with a one-year warranty period. If purchased with a fairly common credit card, you can easily get a two-year warranty period on this laptop without spending an additional penny. (Yes, such credit cards are available with no yearly fees.) During the check-out process, Best Buy tries to sell you a Geek Squad “Accidental Protection Plan.” To get an additional year of Best Buy’s extended warranty, you’d have to pay $324.98 for a “3-Year Accidental Protection Plan”. You’d basically be paying more than half the price of your laptop for an additional year of warranty — remember, the standard warranties would cover you anyway for the first two years. If this laptop did break sometime between two and three years from now, we wouldn’t be surprised if you could purchase a comparable laptop for about $325 anyway. And, if you don’t need to replace it, you’ve saved that money. Best Buy would object that this isn’t a standard extended warranty. It’s a supercharged warranty plan that will also provide coverage if you spill something on your laptop or drop it and break it. You just have to ask yourself a question. What are the odds that you’ll drop your laptop or spill something on it? They’re probably pretty low if you’re a typical human being. Is it worth spending more than half the price of the laptop just in case you’ll make an uncommon mistake? Probably not. There may be occasional exceptions to this — some Apple users swear by Apple’s AppleCare, for example — but you should generally avoid buying these things. There’s a reason stores are so pushy about extended warranties, and it’s not because they want to help protect you. It’s because they’re making lots of profit from these plans, and they’re making so much profit because they’re not a good deal for customers. Image Credit: Philip Taylor on Flickr     

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  • How To Enable 3D Acceleration and Use Windows Aero in VirtualBox

    - by Chris Hoffman
    VirtualBox’s experimental 3D acceleration allows you to use Windows 7’s Aero interface in a virtual machine. You can also run older 3D games in a virtual machine – newer ones probably won’t run very well. If you installed Windows 7 in VirtualBox, you may have been disappointed to see the Windows 7 Basic interface instead of Aero – but you can enable Aero with a few quick tweaks. How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using?

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  • How to Change the Window Border Size in Windows 8

    - by Chris Hoffman
    The window borders on Windows 8’s desktop are fairly thick by default, but they don’t have to be – you can customize the side of the window borders with an easy-to-use application or a quick registry tweak. You can shrink the window borders and make them fairly thin, just as they were on previous versions of Windows. Or you can increase the window border size and make them extremely thick, if you prefer.. HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus? How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder?

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  • How to Power Cycle Your Gadgets To Fix Freezes and Other Problems

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Have you ever had a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or any other electronic gadget become unresponsive? The surefire way to recover from the freeze – assuming it’s not a hardware problem – is by power-cycling the gadget. Most geeks know that pulling and reinserting a device’s battery will force it to recover from a freeze and boot right back up, but what if the device doesn’t have a removable battery? Image Credit: Alan Levine on Flickr Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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  • Screenshot Tour: 10 New Features in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Android 4.2 improves on Android 4.1 in numerous ways, adding a variety of new features. Android 4.2 isn’t as big an update as Android 4.1, also called Jelly Bean, but it’s a definite improvement. If you have a Nexus 7 or Galaxy Nexus, you should be getting this update very soon. Unfortunately, it will likely take quite a bit longer for manufacturers to ship Android 4.2 on non-Nexus devices. How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary 6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7

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  • How To Run Two Windows 8 Apps At the Same Time With the Snap Feature

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Windows 8’s Modern interface includes support for running two Windows 8 apps side-by-side. This feature, named “Snap,” isn’t explained in the tutorial – you’ll have to know it exists to make use of it. While the multitasking may be limited compared to Windows desktop multitasking, it’s more flexible than iPad and Android tablets, which can only have a single app on the screen at a time. Note: Snap only works on monitors that are at least 1366 pixels wide. 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8

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  • How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode

    - by Chris Hoffman
    On your Windows PC, you can boot into safe mode to load Windows without any third-party software. You can do the same on Android with Android’s safe mode. In safe mode, Android won’t load any third-party applications. This allows you to troubleshoot your device – if you’re experiencing crashes, freezes, or battery life issues, you can boot into safe mode and see if the issues still happen there. From safe mode, you can uninstall misbehaving third-party apps. HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus? How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder?

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  • How Hackers Can Disguise Malicious Programs With Fake File Extensions

    - by Chris Hoffman
    File extensions can be faked – that file with an .mp3 extension may actually be an executable program. Hackers can fake file extensions by abusing a special Unicode character, forcing text to be displayed in reverse order. Windows also hides file extensions by default, which is another way novice users can be deceived – a file with a name like picture.jpg.exe will appear as a harmless JPEG image file. Can Dust Actually Damage My Computer? What To Do If You Get a Virus on Your Computer Why Enabling “Do Not Track” Doesn’t Stop You From Being Tracked

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  • 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Want a Start menu on your Windows 8 desktop? While Microsoft no longer includes the Start button, opting instead for a click in a hidden corner and a new Start screen, there are quite a few Start menu replacements you can choose from. You can try living without the Start button and customizing your Start screen – it’s very possible to get by without the Start button and some people seem to prefer the new interface – but you have a choice. Many of these tools also allow you to boot directly to the desktop and hide the charms and app switcher that appear when you move your cursor to the corners of the screen, giving you a more traditional desktop experience. What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8 HTG Explains: Why You Shouldn’t Use a Task Killer On Android

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  • HTG Explains: Should You Shut Down, Sleep, or Hibernate Your Laptop?

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Computers can sleep, hibernate, or shut down. Sleep allows you to quickly resume using your laptop at the cost of some electricity. Hibernate is like shutting down your computer, but you can still resume working where you left off. There’s no right answer in all situations. Some people leave their computers running 24/7, while others shut down computers the moment they step away. Each of these options has its advantages and disadvantages. Image Credit: DeclanTM on Flickr 6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7 HTG Explains: Why It’s Good That Your Computer’s RAM Is Full 10 Awesome Improvements For Desktop Users in Windows 8

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  • A Tour of the 20 Built-in Apps on Windows 8 and What They Can Do

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Windows 8’s new touch-first Modern interface includes quite a few apps. Before you start looking at the Windows Store to find new apps, take a look at the included apps and what they can do. These apps share a few things in common. They all have a minimal feel that emphasizes content, most have support for live tiles that show updated information on the Start screen, and most push Microsoft’s online services. How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary 6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7

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  • HTG Explains: How System Restore Works in Windows

    - by Chris Hoffman
    System Restore is a Windows feature that can help fix some crashes and other computer problems. To know when to use it, you’ll have to understand just how System Restore works. System Restore can’t solve every problem – for example, you can’t use it to restore your personal files if they’re accidentally deleted or modified. However, it’s another tool you can use when your computer isn’t working properly. HTG Explains: How Antivirus Software Works HTG Explains: Why Deleted Files Can Be Recovered and How You Can Prevent It HTG Explains: What Are the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break Keys on My Keyboard?

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  • 3 Ways to Normalize Sound Volume on Your PC

    - by Chris Hoffman
    If you’re constantly adjusting your computer’s volume while you watch videos or play music, there’s a better way. You can set a consistent volume level, either Windows-wide or in a specific program like VLC or your music player. Many applications have “volume normalization” or “loudness equalization” features built-in, including Windows itself. These features are often somewhat hidden and off the beaten path, so you won’t find them unless you go looking for them. HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online Here’s How to Download Windows 8 Release Preview Right Now

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  • How to Restrict Android App Permissions

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Android forces you to agree to every permission an app wants, assuming you want to use the app. After rooting your device, you can manage permissions on a per-app basis. Restricting permissions allows you to protect your contacts and other private data from apps that demand access you’d rather not allow. Many apps will continue working properly after you revoke the permissions. HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online

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  • How to Remotely Shut Down or Restart Windows PCs

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Windows includes Shutdown.exe, a simple utility for remotely shutting down or restarting Windows computers on your local network. To use Shutdown.exe, you must first configure the PCs you want to shut down or restart remotely. Once you’ve configured the PCs, you can use a graphical user interface or command to restart the PCs from another Windows system. You can even remotely shut down or restart the PCs from a Linux system. How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage

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  • How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8

    - by Chris Hoffman
    The Task Manager in Windows 8 has been completely overhauled. It’s easier-to-use, slicker, and more feature-packed than ever. Windows 8 may be all about Metro, but the Task Manager and Windows Explorer are better than ever. The Task Manager now manages startup programs, shows your IP address, and displays slick resource usage graphs. The new color-coding highlights the processes using the most system resources, so you can see them at a glance. Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage Reader Request: How To Repair Blurry Photos HTG Explains: What Can You Find in an Email Header?

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  • Why Enabling “Do Not Track” Doesn’t Stop You From Being Tracked

    - by Chris Hoffman
    The “Do Not Track” option is enabled by default in Windows 8’s Internet Explorer 10 and available in Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Google is even adding it to Chrome. There’s just one problem: it doesn’t actually prevent tracking. The Do Not Track check box can provide a false sense of security. While a few websites will pay attention to it, the vast majority of websites will ignore your preference. Why Enabling “Do Not Track” Doesn’t Stop You From Being Tracked HTG Explains: What is the Windows Page File and Should You Disable It? How To Get a Better Wireless Signal and Reduce Wireless Network Interference

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  • How To Check If Your Account Passwords Have Been Leaked Online and Protect Yourself From Future Leaks

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Security breaches and password leaks happen constantly on today’s Internet. LinkedIn, Yahoo, Last.fm, eHarmony – the list of compromised websites is long. If you want to know whether your account information was leaked, there are some tools you can use. These leaks often lead to many compromised accounts on other websites. However, you can protect yourself by using unique passwords everywhere – if you do, password leaks won’t be a threat to you. Image Credit: Johan Larsson on Flickr 8 Deadly Commands You Should Never Run on Linux 14 Special Google Searches That Show Instant Answers How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates

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  • HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me?

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Windows RT is a special edition of Windows 8. It runs on ARM and you’ll find it alongside Intel x86 machines in stores, but you’ll be surprised just how much Windows RT differs from the Windows you know. Windows RT is so different  that Microsoft has told Mozilla Windows RT “isn’t Windows anymore.” If you’re looking to buy a Windows system in stores, you should know the difference between Windows RT and the other editions of Windows 8. Image Credit: Kiwi Flickr HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization

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  • 6 Great Alternative Browsers for Your Android Device

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Android’s default browser, named “Internet,” is a very simple browser that’s tied to your Android OS version. Other, third-party browsers offer more powerful interfaces, greater configurability, and more frequent updates. Unlike on Apple’s iOS, Android browsers can implement their own rendering engines, although not all do. That Firefox app isn’t just a shell over the stock browser, like it is on iOS – it brings Mozilla’s Gecko to Android. How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 1 What’s the Difference Between Sleep and Hibernate in Windows? Screenshot Tour: XBMC 11 Eden Rocks Improved iOS Support, AirPlay, and Even a Custom XBMC OS

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