Tech Tips for Windows

Index:

Must have programs when/after you install Windows

Num-Lock on by default in Windows 10 login

When all Hell breaks lose!

Software Tools that every tech savvy person should have handy

These are programs we really think you will love to have handy after installing Windows

  1. Classic Shell – Get a decent Windows menu – the good old Windows 7, two column or classic start menu. On Windows 11, I would recommend getting to know the new menu – It’s finally good ish…
  2. Firefox – Probably the best, most secure and quickest web browsers on the market.
  3. Google Chrome – One of the best/secure/fastest web browsers out there!
  4. Bitdefender Free (or better) – Antivirus that does not impact your computers performance nor does it give you an headache. Has probably one of the best detection rates…
  5. Notepad++ – Better (best) notepad.
  6. Total Commander – The best file explorer out there!
  7. WinRAR – A must have file compression/zip/rar tool.
  8. 7-Zip – Another file compression 7z tool.
  9. Free Download Manager – Optimise downloading, great support for torrent.
  10. Spotify – All the music out there… Well nearly all…
  11. Putty – The best replacement for Hyperterminal and for all your SSH, Telnet, Raw, Serial and Rlogin needs.
  12. WinSCP – The best FTP, SFTP, SCP and WebDAV client.
  13. Teamviewer – The best remote desktop control / support tool. It also has integrated filetransfer protocol.
  14. Aomei Partition Assistant – Safely partition and manage your hard disks/SSD’s/thumb drives/memory cards, without any data loss.

We are not sponsored by any of these developers. It’s personal preferences and many years of field testing. Most of these programs are free.


Windows 10 login – set-num lock to default on

(how to: enable num-lock on startup in Windows 10)

When you start your computer and you have to log in with PIN and num-lock is not on…

It’s just one button to press, but it’s annoying… Well there is an pretty easy fix to it.

  1. Press and hold Win key winkey and then the R key
  2. Type «Regedit» and hit [ENTER]
  3. Locate (click your way into): HKEY_USERS -> .Default -> Control Panel -> Keyboard
  4. Double click: «InitialKeyboardIndicators»
  5. Copy «Value data» to a notepad for backup purposes
  6. Change the «value data» to: 2147483650
  7. Close Regedit and reboot your computer

EDIT due to change in Windows : Repeat step 3 to 6 again on every «HKEY_USERS -> S-1-5-xxx -> Control Panel -> Keyboard» (where xxx is a number).

NumLock should now turn on during Windows boot.

FYI: The old «value data» might have been 2147483648 if you forgot to back it up and need to change back.

** We have noticed that the value reverts on major Windows Updates. So keep this tutorial handy 🙂


When all Hell breaks lose!

Here are a few tools that might help you out of a painful situation… (make sure that you do NOT have 2 or more antiviruses installed at the same time, Mcafee has a tendency to sneak in..)

  1. Bitdefender – Antivirus and Bitlocker remedy. Install it before you get to the point of… «Oh Shit!»
  2. Malwarebytes to remove misc hijackers, spyware, malware…
  3. Ccleaner to clean up registry and cached files…
  4. HijackThis to identify hijackers, analyze the log-files here before you delete stuff you shouldn’t
  5. SpyBot Search & Destroy is another great tool for removing hijackers, spyware, malware…

ALWAYS make sure you have a backup/synced version of your important work, images, videos on Google Drive, Dropbox, Onedrive or similar free/paid cloud services.

Finally – Stay away from suspicious websites crammed with malicious adverts and content!

If there is a contest on a webpage/Facebook where you can win something expensive, stay away from it… 99% of the times it’s fake and just sniffing for your information.


Software Tools that every tech savvy person should have handy

You should keep a USB stick with some essential tools on it… Use a USB pen with some space available…  e.g. 8 – 16 GB

  1. Use YUMI to make your own wonderful bootable usb-tool-stick – On that stick you should add at least these tools:
  2. Knoppix – Live bootable operating system that you can use for many things (recovery, tests…)
  3. GParted – Partition tool, copy, resize…
  4. Clonezilla – Backup and Clone, imaging disks…
  5. Ultimate Boot CD – UBCD – All in one diagnostics tool (more or less)…
  6. Memtest86+ – Memory diagnosis tool
  7. Ophcrack XP – Password cracker for Win XP
  8. Ophcrack Vista/Win7 – Password cracker for Win Vista and Win 7

If you feel really satisfied with your «edition» of the USB-drive, make an image of it with ImageUSB and make a new USB-drive when you or your friends need one. Remember, USB-sticks and external HDD’s does not live forever.

These are our favorites. You might want to add your favorite Operating system to this USB stick as well… Endless possibilities…


** We are not sponsored by any of these developers. It’s personal preferences and many years of field testing. Most of these programs are free. **