windows 10

Infopackets Reader Barry S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am having problems with my computer's display freezing randomly, though it usually happens within 3 minutes of booting into Windows 10. Oftentimes the system will lock up during boot. When this ... happens, my hard drive light on the PC keeps flickering away like it's still loading, which suggests to me that there is something wrong with my video card. I tested this theory by using remote desktop to connect to my main PC from my laptop. To my surprise the PC was still working as it should via remote desktop, though as I mentioned the display ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned an update coming next month is absolutely critical for users running Windows 7. Without it, computers won't be able to use any future Windows security and feature updates, leaving users extremely vulnerable to malware infections ... (or worse). It's all to do with a change in the way Microsoft delivers security updates in a secure manner. Whenever Microsoft releases an update, it comes with a digital signature to prove that it came from Microsoft's servers and that the code it contains has not been tampered with. You can think of these security measures much the same way when ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jake J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded my PC to Windows 10 with the October 2018 update (version 1809, build 17763). Everything seems to be working fine, however the other day I needed remote support help from a friend ... of mine using TeamViewer. To get connected to my machine, he instructed that I go to the TeamViewer website and download the TeamViewer program, then run it. He then requested my ID and Password in order to connect to my machine, but I could not find where to obtain this information despite him sending me step-by-step instructions with screenshots ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Dave T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded my motherboard and CPU, which meant having to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch. I have a USB fingerprint reader that I've been using for years prior to the hardware upgrade, and ... it worked flawlessly. However, since I have had to reinstall Windows, the fingerprint reader keeps saying 'your device is having trouble recognizing you' whenever I try to sign in to Windows 10. If I keep swiping, I keep getting the same error message and eventually I have to enter my PIN in order to login. How can I make my fingerprint recognize ... (view more)

January 2020 marks the end of extended support for Windows 7 from Microsoft. This means Windows 7 users have just one year left to upgrade to either Windows 8 or 10 (or an alternative), before their systems become a major security risk. Support for ... Windows 7 comes in a two-stage process. The first is known as mainstream support, which means the system is under warranty and Microsoft offers free technical support over the phone and its online forums. During this time, Microsoft also continues developing new features, and users can get hot fixes which patch any performance or security problems ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Marcy O. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just installed Windows 10 October 2018 update (clean install) on my machine. Everything was working fine for a few days until I installed MS Office. Now, I have a bunch of blank white icons on my ... Windows 10 desktop . I understand that there is an 'icon cache database' in Windows that can go corrupt, which may be the reason why I have these blank white icons on my desktop. I searched Google on how to fix the problem, and a few posts suggested deleting the icon cache databases using the command prompt. I did that, however, the output I'm ... (view more)

Microsoft will soon "reserve" seven gigabytes of hard drive space to make sure Windows 10 works reliably. But the setup may not work as planned. The change is scheduled for the next major twice-yearly update, expected in April, 2019. It's called ... "reserved storage" and involves earmarking part of the PC's hard drive as a place to store "updates, apps, temporary files, and system caches." These files are separate to the permanent ones used for Windows itself. (Source: microsoft.com ) 7GB Figure Could Increase According to Microsoft, the move will have two benefits. The first is to make sure the ... (view more)

Microsoft may have to pay more than a thousand dollars to a user whose PC was upgraded to Windows 10 without permission. The money covers damage after allegedly breaking the computer. The case is in Finland where the Finnish Consumer Disputes Panel ... ruled on a complaint by a user. Local media reports say that companies usually pay up in such cases. (Source: mspoweruser.com ) The claim followed an unwanted update from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 in March 2016. That's when Microsoft was using the Windows Update service to download the Windows 10 files and then automatically install it on a restart ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Eugene C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a very strange and perplexing problem. I am running Windows 10 and Acronis True Image 2016 on my desktop PC and my laptop. A few days ago, both machines updated with a Windows 10 update, and ... now Acronis True Image 2016 won't open its main page. The program appears to load when it's launched: it shows the True Image icon on my task bar; however, when I hover my mouse over the icon all I see is a blank page for thumbnail. If I click the True Image 2016 icon on the task bar, it does nothing. When things are working properly, True Image ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed a few of the changes coming in future Windows 10 updates. They are mostly tweaks rather than new features, though that will likely reduce the chances of performance bugs. The changes have been unveiled as part of the "Fast ... Ring" of the Windows 10 Insiders Program. That means they're going out to the people in Microsoft's test program who've signed up to try out changes before anyone else, knowing it carries the biggest risk of new features not working well or even having bugs that affect Windows and other applications. New Windows 10 Changes Go Public April ... (view more)