Limit Cortana’s reach:

If you want to change Cortana’s search behavior even more, you can limit the parameters of the search itself. For example, Cortana can be told not to search the internet at all.

Click the Cortana search box in the Taskbar and then navigate to the Cortana settings screen, as shown in Figure. At the bottom should be a setting that says Search Online And Include Web Results. Switch that to Off and Cortana won’t display any more web results no matter which search engine is the default.

Figure

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Want to never see a promoted app in the Start menu again? Follow this step-by-step guide for home users and businesses.

Microsoft is to double the number of adverts for apps that appear in Windows 10’s Start menu.

Windows 10’s Start menu currently has five tiles that display ‘promoted apps’, which are Windows Store apps the user hasn’t installed on their PC. Three of these tiles are links to apps on the Windows Store and two are Windows Store apps that Windows 10 has previously automatically installed on the machine.

In future versions of Windows 10, the number of ‘promoted apps’ tiles in the Start menu will rise to 10. To make room, the number of tiles linking to apps installed on the machine will decrease, from 17 to 12.

Microsoft discussed the changes at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in late April, as part of a briefing on new features in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, due out this summer.

It remains unclear whether all versions of Windows 10 will eventually see the Start menu changes or just new installs. Microsoft has been contacted for clarification.

If you don’t want adverts appearing in your Windows 10 Start menu, here’s how to remove them.

For home users

One option for removing these tiles is to install Classic Shell. The software will allow you to customize the look and feel of Windows, including changing the Start menu to resemble that of Windows 7 or earlier Microsoft operating systems.

If you don’t want to do that, here’s how to manually remove each tile from the Start menu.

In the slides below, you can see which tiles you will want to remove to get rid of promoted apps. Figure A shows the layout of promoted app tiles before the Anniversary Update changes and Figure B shows after.

If you spend most of your day at a desk, any one of these tech tools will make your work station more comfortable and give your body some much-needed relief.

Do you work long hours on your computer? If so, we know the feeling and have identified a list of gadgets that you can use at your workstation, and which offer the necessary support and comfort as you work. While some may require making some adjustments or take some getting used to, your body will grow to love any of these devices — in the form of reduced aches and pain.

Kensington SmartFit Conform Back Rest

If you don’t have an ergonomic chair, the Kensington SmartFit Conform Back Rest lets you convert a plain office chair into one. The attachment fits onto most chairs with a back, and delivers support for your spine and lumbar using two ventilated back panels resting on four independent springs. The fit can be slightly adjusted for support that is highly comfortable, while the fabric itself can be removed for washing.

Price: $60

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard

The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard sets a new standard for the support and comfort of your wrist for those who type a lot at work. The split keyboard layout and arc shape of this wireless keyboard helps keep hands and arms in a relaxed position to significantly reduce the risk of repetitive stress injuries. The numeric keypad comes as a separate device so right-handers can hold their mouse at a more accessible angle. Though the keyboard does take some getting used to, you’re soon be wondering why you ever settled for the cramped layout of a normal keyboard.

Price: $81

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 adopts a similar split keyboard layout and arc shape of the Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard, though in a more conventional wired keyboard design. In addition, it comes with additional multimedia buttons that can be customized to quickly access files, launch web pages and create hot keys shortcuts to get things done faster. A dedicated slider located in the middle of the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 also makes it easy to zoom in and out.

Price: $50

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Logitech MX Master

The Logitech MX Master is a wireless desktop mouse that offers a sculpted design meant to support your hand and wrist in a comfortable and natural position. Aside from the usual plethora of technologies such as dual Bluetooth and RF wireless modes and support for pairing with up to three devices, the MX Master also comes with a couple of additional capabilities that should reduce wrist fatigue. For example, a speed-adaptive scroll wheel makes scrolling through long documents easier than ever with its ability to automatically shift between normal “click-to-click” scrolling to hyper fast scroll, while a thumb wheel offers side-to-side scrolling.

Price: $100

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Kensington Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball

Users who find that a normal mouse just doesn’t cut it for them will appreciate the use of a trackball-based solution such as the Kensington Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball. The giant trackball help keeps wrist and hand movement is kept to a minimum, and uses optical tracking technology for smooth control. Notably, the Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball works just as well for right-handed and left-handed users, while a scroll ring positioned around the trackball also makes it easy to scroll up and down lengthy documents or Web pages.

Price: $100

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse

Shaped almost like a slightly squashed softball, the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Mousewas created to offer a more natural hand, wrist and forearm posture. While its ergonomic design may take get some getting used to, the Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse is arguably more like a normal mouse than some of the other vertical mouse designs on the market. A thumb scoop is positioned to help maintain the correct hand and wrist position, while the scroll wheel supports four ways scrolling: Left, right, front and back.

Price: $60

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Swiftpoint GT Mouse

The Swiftpoint GT mouse is a compact, travel-friendly mouse designed to reduce fatigue caused by your normal portable mouse. The Swiftpoint GT’s pen-like grip is more natural than the claw grip that is necessary for many of the travel mouse out there, yet is small enough to be used on your laptop next to the touchpad. Moreover, it has a touch surface that enables a full range of touch gestures such as swiping, flicking and zooming. You can also easily “park” the Swiftpoint GT on your laptop when moving between meetings with its included magnetic clip.

Price: $149

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Kensington SmartFit Mouse Pad

The Kensington SmartFit Mouse Pad is created to combat improper positioning of one’s wrist when using a mouse. It comes with a soft gel support to relief pressure points on the wrist, and stands out from your run-of-the-mill mousepad by how its height can be adjusted with the use of removable inserts. A nonskid base adds stability, while an anti-microbial surface to resist strains and odors to set the SmartFit Mouse Pad further apart from the rest.

Price: $20

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Ergotron WorkFit-P, Sit-Stand Workstation

Laptop users looking to get off their butts in the office can consider the Ergotron WorkFit-P, Sit-Stand Workstation, an elegant height-adjustable laptop stand. Made of solid-aluminum construction, the WorkFit-P works like a standard monitor arm in how it can be quickly adjusted various positions – including for use while standing. The large surface has more than adequate space for a laptop and external mouse, and can also serve as an adjustable tray for writing or drawing with a graphics tablet.

Price: $299

[ Find it on Amazon ]

HiRise for MacBook

While its name suggests that it can only be used for a MacBook, the HiRise for MacBook is a height-adjustable stand that works just as well for other laptops. The beautiful brushed metal design aside, the stand lifts your laptop up to a half foot off the desk, bringing it to a more optimal height for your overstrained eyes. You will need a separate keyboard and mouse to work with your machine, but laptop’ keyboard and trackpad were never great for ergonomics anyway.

Price: $70

[ Find it on Amazon ]

Ergotron MX Mini Desk Mount Arm

The Ergotron MX Mini Desk Mount Arm is a monitor arm that offers a slim profile without giving up on the expansive height adjustment range of full-fledged monitor arms, including full tilt, pan and rotation capability. This means you can set the ideal height and angle for optimal individual comfort, and adjust it as necessary to avoid the morning or mid-afternoon glare. The MX Mini Desk Mount Arm works with lightweight LCD monitors of up to 24-inches, as well as tablets such as the Apple’s iPad and Microsoft’s Surface.

Price: $315

[ Find it on Amazon ]

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Switch from Bing:
Microsoft would like you, and your personal assistant Cortana, to use Bing as your default search engine and not Google, etc. You can force Cortana to use a different search engine, but first you have to change your default web browser.

If Firefox is your default browser in Windows 10, Cortana should be using Google Search. If Chrome is your default browser, you have to install the Chrometana extension and change the default; otherwise, Cortana will be stubborn and keep using Bing.

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The Windows 10 jump lists feature offers a convenient way to start your apps–but there’s no easy way to increase the size of the list. Here’s a hack for that.

Microsoft Windows 10 gives users several choices when it comes to how and where to start their applications. Some people use the desktop exclusively and some swear by the Start Menu, while others, prefer the pinned lists that hang off the icons on the Taskbar.

However, there is one small problem with the Taskbar pinned list in Windows 10—by default, there is a 12-slot limit.

Windows 7 allowed users to extend that number with a simple change to a configuration setting. But that feature is currently missing in Windows 10 for reasons no one has been able to explain. The workaround involves editing the Windows Registry file.

Standard disclaimer: Incorrectly editing the Windows Registry file could break your computer. Create a Restore Point before making any changes.

Jump listItems

Figure A shows an example of the default jump list hanging off the Word icon in a typical Windows 10 Taskbar. Note that there are 26 copies of the example file, but only 12 are listed in the pinned section. This is despite the fact that I have actually pinned them all, which is why the Recent section is fully populated.

Figure A

To increase the number of pinned items displayed, we’ll have to change the maximum number of jump list items associated with a particular key in the Windows Registry file.

Press Windows key + R or right-click the Start Menu icon and navigate to the Run command to open the Run prompt (Figure B). Type regedit into the box and click OK.

Figure B

Navigate to this set of keys in the Windows Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Look through the list in the right-hand pane until you find this DWORD: JumpListItems_Maximum

In case, the JumpListItems_Maximum DWORD is not there, create it.

Right-click the JumpListItems_Maximum DWORD and select Modify. Click the Decimal radio button and change the number to a value that works for you. As you can see in (Figure C).

Figure C

To complete the change, you may need to restart your computer. You should now be able to see the number of pinned items you specified (Figure D).

Figure D

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Pin File Explorer searches:

One of the more powerful features of the Windows 10 File Explorer is the ability to save searches. Figure shows a saved search that identifies all the Word documents in a specific folder. When you have as many .doc files as I do, this is a handy search to have around. However, it would be even more convenient if that search was pinned to the Start Menu, where I can get to it even faster.

Figure

Open File Explorer and navigate to your Users folder and then to your Searches subfolder. Right-click the saved search and pin it to your Start Menu for easy access.

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Maximize CPU Performance:

If you are using a desktop PC or a notebook that is always plugged in, you might want to maximize your CPU performance by changing your Power Options. Right-click the Start button in the lower-left corner on the Desktop (Or Windows key + X) and navigate to the Power Options menu item. On the screen shown in Figure, click the High Performance radio button. Remember, changing this setting will burn through a battery charge quickly—use it wisely. Oh, and you might want to make changes to the Plan settings too while you are here.

Figure

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Use the Windows Magnifier tool to zoom in:

You don’t have to be myopic to occasionally need a closer look at something on your Windows screen. Maybe you want to see more details in a picture. Maybe the font on the web page is too small to read comfortably.

Whatever the reason, help is a keystroke away. Hold down the Windows key and tap the plus sign (on the top row or on the numeric keypad; it doesn’t matter). That instantly zooms the display to 200% of normal. Keep tapping the plus sign to zoom in further. Moving the mouse to the edges of the screen will pan to areas that aren’t visible.

To zoom back out, hold down the Windows key as you tap the minus sign.

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Add a second clock to the taskbar:

Quick: What time is it in Dublin right now? How about Sydney? Mumbai? Cape Town?

Sometimes, that question is just a curiosity. But if you or any of your regular contacts are traveling, it’s good to be able to look up a foreign time zone at a glance.

All modern versions of Windows allow you to add up to two extra clocks to the taskbar. The time you see on the taskbar is the local time zone. But hover the mouse pointer over that time and you’ll see the extra clocks you defined. Click the time to see analog (Windows 7) or digital (Windows 10) clocks for all time zones.

To add an extra clock, right-click the taskbar clock and then click Adjust Date/Time. In Windows 7, click the Additional Clocks tab. In Windows 10, click Add Clocks For Different Time Zones. Select Show This Clock, pick a time zone, and add a descriptive label for each custom clock.

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Move Documents, Downloads, and other data folders to a different drive:

Every supported version of Windows includes a group of “known folders” for storing specific data types–Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and so on.

By default, these folders are stored on the system drive in your user profile folder, typically C:Users[username]. But you might want to move them to a more appropriate location if you have multiple physical drives. For example, say you have a relatively small SSD as a system drive (C:) on a desktop PC and a much larger conventional hard disk (D:) for data files. In that configuration, it makes sense to move your folders to the D: drive. (This procedure also works if you’ve expanded storage with a MicroSD card.)

Just open your user profile folder by entering %userprofile% in the Run box to display a list of all the folders in that location. Right-click the first folder you want to move, click Properties, and then click the Location tab. Enter the path of the location you want to use. (I created a new folder on the D: drive to hold data files, so my Downloads folder is at D:EdDownloads.)

If the folder name you entered doesn’t exist, Windows will create it. Be sure to click Yes when asked if you want to move all current data files to the new folder.

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