How to disable Bing Search from Windows 10's Start menu
The Windows 10 Search box next to the Start button lets you search through Windows and the web. Type in a query, and the results will appear in your default browser. The first time you do this you’ll see it’s Bing producing the results.
If you don’t mind that, then great. Move along, there’s nothing to see here. But if you’re not a fan of Microsoft’s search engine, you can easily disable this feature. There is one downside however, and that’s you’ll also lose Cortana as well as Bing. If you don’t mind that, here’s what you need to do.
How to manage notifications in Windows 10
The new Action Center keeps you informed about what’s going on in Windows 10, providing a single place for all of the notifications from Windows and installed apps, and also informing you about new emails, instant messages, Facebook updates, and much more.
Notifications flash up on screen and come from all sorts of places, and if you’re not careful, you can easily find yourself bombarded with alerts. Fortunately it’s easy to trim down which notifications you see.
How to customize the Windows 10 Start menu
Hooray, Windows 10 has a Start menu. It may not be the Start menu you were hoping for (Windows 7 users I’m looking at you), but it’s there, and easily customized.
You can change the colors, transparency effect, and size and position of the tiles. If you don’t want the tiled interface you can turn this off, and just have a straightforward Windows 7-style menu. Here’s what you can do.
How to make Firefox or Chrome the default browser in Windows 10
Obviously Microsoft’s Edge browser is the new default choice in Windows 10, and it’s definitely worth giving it a try. I’ve found it to be speedy and surprisingly good. Persevere long enough and you might grow to like it as I have.
That said, if you prefer to use Chrome or Firefox, with all the add-ons and customizations in place, I really couldn’t blame you. Edge isn’t (yet) as flexible, and if you already use Google or Mozilla’s browser for syncing content between devices, then it makes sense to use the same browser in Windows 10. Here’s how to setup a rival browser as the default option.
How to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge
Windows 10's new modern web browser comes with Bing as its default search engine. This will, of course, surprise absolutely no one. Some people will be more than happy with that choice, but others will prefer to switch to using something different. Like Google.
The process isn’t especially intuitive but it is very straightforward and won’t take more than a few seconds of your time. Here’s how to do it.
How to install Windows 10 on Oracle VirtualBox -- no Windows key required
Now that Windows 10 is officially available, there’s a good chance you’ll be updating your existing PCs to the new OS. There are reasons for and against doing this of course.
If you’re not quite ready to jump aboard Windows 10, you might want to install it in a virtualized environment instead. This way you’ll be able to try it out -- no Windows key required -- without risking your current setup, and see whether you like it or not. It’s certainly worth playing around with.
How to manually trigger your reserved Windows 10 upgrade
If you reserved a Windows 10 upgrade, you were probably expecting it to appear this morning. For many people that was the case, but not for all. There are ways around this problem of course -- you can use the free tool Microsoft released today in order to update your PC whenever you like.
However, if you reserved the update, then you probably just want to get your upgrade through that. And rightly so. Fortunately, there’s a simple little trick you can use.
How to create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive
Microsoft has officially introduced Windows 10, making the new operating system available as a free upgrade, in the first year, to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. Those who cannot take advantage of this deal will have to purchase Windows 10, which is now offered on USB drives, on top of DVDs and digital downloads.
Bootable USB drives are a better option than DVDs, as they can be used on the vast majority of devices in use today, including slim ultrabooks which do not have optical drives. They are also much faster, so the time it takes to install Windows 10 is significantly lower, and pocketable, allowing you to easily carry one wherever you need. If you do not have a bootable Windows 10 USB drive, this detailed how-to guide takes you through all the steps involved in creating your own flash installation media.
How to download Windows 10 and create your own installation USB flash drive or DVD
Windows 10 has launched in 190 countries, and if you reserved your copy you should be able to upgrade to it today, or soon afterwards. Microsoft will be notifying users in waves when their upgrade is ready to be installed.
However, for some people the wait may be long, and others have reported problems with the automatic installation. Fortunately, if you’re keen to get the upgrade started, Microsoft has released a tool that will let you download Windows 10 and create your own installation media on either a USB flash drive or DVD.
How to stop Windows 10 installing automatic updates
One of the more controversial features of Windows 10 is the automatic, mandatory installation of updates. With launch day now just hours away a problem with NVidia drivers has highlighted just why automatic updates have proved so controversial.
Microsoft has previously said that home users will have no choice but to let Windows 10 take care of updates for them. For those concerned about this, the company has a special tool that can be used to block specific updates to Windows and drivers.
Windows 10 has a secret screen recording tool -- here's how to use it
Windows 10 has not even been released yet, but that's a perfect reason to start unearthing a few secrets. Over the coming weeks and months there will undoubtedly be an endless stream of tips, tricks, and tweaks to try out, but how's this for starters? Windows 10 has a secret screen recording tool that can be used to capture on-screen activity as a video file.
Taking a static screenshot is very simple. You can either hit the Print Screen key, use the Snipping Tool, or turn to one of the countless screen capture tools out there -- many of which are free. When it comes to capturing video, however, it's something of a different story. Before you splash out on a dedicated tool such as Camtasia, you might want to try out Windows 10's hidden tool. It's designed for gamers really, but anyone can use it.
Hacking Team leak shows how to sneak malicious apps into Google Play
Italian security and surveillance company Hacking Team was most famed for supplying monitoring tools to governments around the world, but a recent security breach revealed the inner workings of the outfit. Sifting through the leaked data revealed not only spying tools and Flash vulnerabilities, but also Android apps with backdoors.
Security experts from Trend Micro found that spyware from Hacking Team was released to Google Play, bypassing checks that are usually performed. BeNews was a fake news apps -- now removed from the store -- that could be used to download remote access software to Android devices running anything from Froyo to KitKat.
Apple Pay arrives in the UK -- Here's how to use it
While Apple Pay has been available in the US for a while now, the tap-and-pay service finally launches in the UK today. It works in the same way as contactless cards -- you just tap your iPhone 6, 6 Plus, or Apple Watch on a payment terminal to make a payment.
It’s very easy to use, secure, and has a maximum purchase limit of £20 per transaction (rising to £30 in September). This is what you need to do to use it.
How to change Windows 10's title bar color
Windows 10 introduces a lot of changes. If you're upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 (or even from XP or Vista), you're going to find a lot that's new. But in addition to new features, settings, and options, some things have also vanished.
One casualty of upgrading to Windows 10 is the ability to customize the color of title bars. This incredibly simple option has been around for as long as Windows itself, but now it has been sacrificed. That is, unless you are willing to jump through a few hoops. Here's how to change the color of title bars in Windows 10.
How to protect yourself against ransomware
Regardless of whether you’ve been hit with ransomware or not, protecting your network from these types of attacks is now an integral part of any network security framework for both individuals and companies. Protecting yourself from intrusions and attacks requires securing your main layers of defense by utilizing Security Awareness Training and antivirus/anti-phishing software.
If you consider a computer network (even a simple one, like your home computer) to consist of a series of layers that any malware or virus needs to penetrate, the outermost layer would consist of your users themselves. After all, it takes a user’s interaction in order to initiate or allow a network intrusion. Only AFTER a user has clicked or visited a malicious link, will your secondary and tertiary layers (firewalls and antivirus) come into play. Thus, the very first layer you will need to harden is that of the human operator. It is only in recent years that the importance of this layer of security has come to be recognized. In the past, software has been relied upon as a catch-all for these types of situations. Software just by itself is not enough anymore, users must be trained to prevent such attacks from happening in the first place.
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