How to Turn Your Windows PC Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Windows can turn your PC into a wireless hotspot, allowing it to share its wired or wireless Internet connection with other wireless devices. But how you set it up that depends on what version of Windows you’re running. Here’s how it all works.

How to Block Application from Accessing the Internet with Windows Firewall

Most of the time we want our applications online and connected to both our local network and the greater Internet. There are instances, however, when we want to prevent an application from connecting to the Internet. Read on as we show you how to lock down an application via the Windows Firewall.

How to Create a Master Installation Flash Drive with Multiple Versions of Windows

You’ve got your collection of Windows ISOs and maybe you’ve burned installation DVDs or flash drives for them. But why not make yourself a master installation drive that you can use to install any version of Windows?

How to Add a PIN to Your Account in Windows 10

With each new version of Windows, new and innovative features are improving the total user experience in different ways. Windows 10 is quickly growing in popularity due in part to its innovative security features, and among these security options are new sign in options like the PIN code.

How to Fix the “Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed” Error on Mac OS X

If you brought your Mac back from sleep only to see that your Wi-Fi isn’t working at all, even after a reboot, you might be experiencing the Wi-Fi: No hardware installed error. And luckily it’s really easy to fix.

Essentially what has happened is that the MacBook lost track of which devices are supposed to be powered on and which are supposed to be powered off, and it just left your Wi-Fi completely turned off even though the rest of the computer is on. It’s like when you wake up and your arm is still asleep because you slept funny. The rest of you is ready to go, and your arm doesn’t want to work.

Luckily you can fix this very simply by resetting the System Management Controller (SMC), which is as easy to do as pressing a couple of keys.

Password Protect & Encrypt Files or Folders in Windows: Free

With hackers becoming more and more sophisticated, most users are worried about the safety of their personal data. There are many options available to protect the user’s data but none comes close to encryption in terms of safety offered. This article contains some of the best and easy to use methods and tools that allow you to password protect and encrypt important files and folders in Windows without costing you anything.

Enable the Hidden Administrator Account on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 & 10

Windows automatically creates an Administrator account with elevated privileges during the installation process. We mostly need to access it to perform tasks limited only to system Administrators. These are tasks performing which result in the UAC asking for confirmation even if you are using an account with administrative privileges. The elevated Administrator account is disabled by default in Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows Vista.

How to Set Up and Configure User Accounts on Windows 10

Windows 8 introduced Microsoft accounts, which are essentially roaming accounts that allow you to sync settings and files from computer to computer. Today we want to discuss what Windows 10 brings to user account management, and the options available to you.

In the old PC settings on Windows 8.1, you were limited to three options, but in Windows 10, those options have been expanded to five and things have been rounded out quite a bit.

How (and Why) to Change Your MAC Address on Windows, Linux, and Mac

Each network interface on your computer or any other networked device has a unique MAC address. These MAC addresses are assigned in the factory, but you can change, or “spoof,” MAC addresses in software.

MAC stands for “media access control.” MAC addresses are also commonly referred to as physical addresses or hardware addresses, because they correspond to a hardware adapter.

What Exactly Is a MAC Address Used For?

Every piece of hardware on your local network has a MAC address in addition to the IP address assigned to it by the local router or server. What exactly is that MAC address for?

Can Connect to Wireless Router, but not to the Internet?

Have you ever run into the situation where you could connect your laptop to your wireless router, but could not browse the Internet? There could be several things going on in this kind of situation, either your computer has a problem or the router cannot connect to the Internet via your ISP.

So if you’re able to connect to a wireless network, but can’t get out to the Internet, then first check to see if it’s your compute or the router. You can do this by trying to connect to the Internet from another computer connected to the same wireless network.

5 Easy Ways to Speed Up a Slow Windows 7 Computer

In terms of optimizing your computer,  99 Ways to Make Your Computer Blazingly Fast is tough to top; but if you don’t have the time to initiate all of those helpful fixes in one session, there are some quick and easy steps that you can take to rejuvenate a slow computer, all in under an hour.

Check out the top 5 ways to speed up a slow Windows 7 PC. Most of these fixes and maintenance procedures are common practice for a computer geek, but may be a gold mine for a beginner PC user looking to make their computer fast again.

Restrict Access to Programs with AppLocker in Windows

If you share a computer and don’t want other users accessing certain applications, there is a new feature in Windows 7 that allows you to block them. Today we take a quick look at restricting what programs other users can access using AppLocker.

Note: AppLocker is only available in Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows 7.

Using AppLocker 

Understand Privacy and Security Settings in OS X to Keep Your Data Safe

If you use OS X, you probably have perused its security preferences on several occasions. These preferences are fairly straightforward, but there are some notable features about them that merit further exploration.

System security should always be one of a user’s primary concerns. We’re not just talking about strong passwords and firewalls, there are other considerations that you want to make such as encrypting your hard drive, which services can poll your location, and what apps you can install.

The range of security concerns on modern systems is fairly vast and wide, thankfully most operating system makers have developed ways to make it pretty easy and painless to users. Android for example, has refined how its notifications display so you can hide sensitive notification content on your lock screen. Meanwhile, iPhone and iPad users can effortlessly unlock their devices with any of their fingerprints.

How to Turn Your Computer Into a DLNA Media Server

Many boxes you plug into your TV, including the Roku, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation 3 offer DLNA (“Digital Living Network Alliance”) streaming support. They can stream video files and music over the network from your PC — as long as you set up a DLNA server first.

This feature is also known as “Play To” or UPnP AV. Using it is easier than you might think, as the server software you’ll need is built into Windows. if you want to play media files from your computer on a DLNA-enabled set-top box, it’s useful.

Sign PDF Documents Without Printing and Scanning Them From Any Device

Need to sign a document and email it? Don’t print, sign, and then scan it back in again. Skip the entire process and apply your signature electronically. It saves time and you don’t need a printer or scanner.

All the below tools also let you type words into a document, so you can fill out forms without printing them first. This even works if the form isn’t “fillable” — type words and position them in a place that looks correct.

Speed Up a Slow Windows 8, 8.1, 7 or XP Computer

Having a slow computer is not something most users fancy, but that is what most of us end up with after prolonged usage despite having the latest hardware. Understandably, there are also a few of us who are trapped with a low-end PC and are forced to get as much out of it as possible. This article caters to both these type of users as it not only explains how to make your computer as fast as it was when new but also how to reduce the footprint of your system to utilize your PC's current system resources in the best possible way.

Enable the Hidden Administrator Account on Windows 7, 8 & 8.1

Windows automatically creates an Administrator account with elevated privileges during the installation process. We mostly need to access it to perform tasks limited only to system Administrators. These are tasks performing which result in the UAC asking for confirmation even if you are using an account with administrative privileges. The elevated Administrator account is disabled by default in Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows Vista.

How to Enable Face Recognition Login With Windows

The face recognition is a good authentication system which makes your confidential files or folders more secured. Having the face recognition login system with the Windows computerensures that no one can break into your system without you as there is no chance of stealing your log-in password. In the earlier of this decade, this was a myth for the general computer users since the use of webcams or any security camera with compute was rare.

The Best Alternative File Managers for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Most people use their operating system’s included file manager, but many geeks prefer third-party file managers. After all, Windows Explorer doesn’t offer tabs, a dual-pane interface, batch file-renaming tools, and more advanced features.