What Files Should You Backup On Your Windows PC?

Everybody always tells you to make sure that you are backing up your PC, but what does that really mean? And what files do you actually need to backup? Today we’ll walk you through the basics of backing up your PC, what you should back up, and why.

How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8

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.

How to Test Your Internet Speed from the Command Line

Anybody who wants to test their connection speed can easily do so from a speed test web site — but that isn’t very geeky. Here’s how to do a test from the terminal prompt instead.

Note: If you are using Windows, you’ll want to either have Cygwin installed, or have a copy of curl or wget installed. On the Mac you can use curl, but if you prefer wget, you’ll need to install that.

How to Connect a Laptop to a Television

Hooking up a desktop computer to a monitor is simple, you just plug it in and it works.  Connecting a laptop to a television should be just as easy, right?  Well, not always.  Read on as we explain several ways to hook up a laptop to your TV.

5 Ways to Bypass Internet Censorship and Filtering

More and more Internet connections are being filtered, from public Wi-Fi and workplace connection filtering to ISP and country-level censorship. However, there are still ways to get around this filtering and view blocked websites.

How to Encrypt Files and Folders in Windows 8.1 Using EFS

 

Windows 8 contains a built-in file encryption feature, called BitLocker, but only in the Pro or Enterprise versions. In addition, if your system does not have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), you must use an external USB flash drive with BitLocker for it to work.

How to Force Your PC to Keep Its Private IP Address

 

There may be times when you need your PC to retain the same local IP address every time it boots up.  Forwarding ports, sharing content on your network, and other things can all be made easier when your computer’s IP address never changes.