Tag: windows 8

The Evolution from the Start Menu from Windows XP to Windows 10

The Start menu has turned into a must-have tool in Windows, as it’s virtually the first thing a lot of people launch after booting their systems.

Microsoft itself is aware of this very well, and also the company is focusing on further refining the knowledge using the Start menu as much as possible. And what’s more, because the Start menu itself has become an essential part of the experience with a Microsoft device, the software giant is trying to create it beyond the classic desktop.

Windows 10X, for example, an operating system whose goal would be to power dual-screen and foldable devices, has a Start menu of their own too, all so that they can help people get around the OS much easier.

The Start menu has evolved a great deal through the years, and also at one point, it even disappeared completely because of a strategy that took many unexpectedly making users feel lost around the Windows desktop.

Everybody remembers the Windows XP Start menu, and it’s because Windows XP itself has been one of the most successful operating systems ever released by Microsoft. Retired in April 2014, Windows XP included a modern Start menu that featured a far more colorful design versus the one out of Windows 98.

The blue bottom and top bars, together with shortcuts towards the most significant places in Windows, like My Documents, My Computer, and the Control Panel, made the Windows XP Start menu just the thing that most users needed to begin working on their desktops.

Windows XP also supported themes, and third-party tools brought lots of changes towards the standard design, including new looks that completely overhauled the beginning menu. But overall, most people liked the Windows XP Start menu in the default configuration, simply because it was precisely what they needed.

The Windows Vista Start menu was an evolution from the design utilized in Windows XP and introduced a number of changes versus its predecessor, including a black theme and a search engine integrated at the end of the UI. This enables for everyone to do searches considerably faster, that just about the way they can perform at this time in Windows 10.

The underside power options remained as there, this time around having a button to expand them and reach additional controls. Shortcuts to the Control Panel and file libraries in Windows were still offered, along with an “All Programs” link to see all apps which were installed on the unit.

Like in Windows XP, third-party apps allowed for heavy customization from the Windows Start menu, and people loved these a lot, despite in some instances, they caused a far more or less noticeable system slowdown.

Everyone knows the Windows 7 Start menu, and it’s as this one is still around these days. As an improved version of the Windows design, the Windows 7 Start menu was based on virtually the same approach, with minor design improvements.

Ought to be fact, Windows 7 is not supported by Microsoft, because the company stopped rolling out security updates in January this year.

Quite simply, if you’re still running Windows 7, you’d better upgrade to a supported operating system, as running software that no longer receives updates could open the doors to hackers.

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 abandoned the beginning menu completely, as Microsoft replaced it with a Start screen optimized for touch input.

This was a super-controversial change that eventually turned Windows 8 itself into a practical system that many avoided, choosing to remain on Windows 7 for any more familiar approach.

Many of those who upgraded to Windows 8 eventually installed apps like Classic Shell, which cut back the Start menu, sometimes with a familiar theme such as the one in Windows 7.

Windows 10 brought back the beginning menu, which time it used a far more modern approach. Microsoft implemented live tiles, a feature borrowed from Windows Phone, and since the OS debuted within the Insider program in October 2014, the design evolved quite a bit.

The newest change that Microsoft announced for the Windows 10 Start menu is known as theme-aware tiles and pretty much features a modern design for that live tiles that users pin to the menu.

This feature is still in testing, however it is going live for everybody in the coming months.

Microsoft Edge Crashes When Users Type in the Address Bar, Fix Already Available

An insect in the latest version of Microsoft Edge causes the browser to crash when users type something within the address bar, but the great news is that Microsoft moved super-fast this time and a fix has already been available.

More specifically, whenever you moved the main focus towards the address bar and presses just one key on the keyboard, the browser just crashed.

By the looks of products, the whole thing was brought on by the search suggestion engine, which is triggered automatically when users begin keying in the address bar. And when the first secret is pressed and also the system technically begins displaying suggestions, the browser just crashes.

Microsoft confirmed the problem on Twitter, explaining that the simplest way to handle the issue ended up being to disable search suggestions.

“Are you seeing Edge crash when trying to type in to the address bar? The team looks in it! Meanwhile, like a workaround, please switch off Search Suggestions here: edge://settings/search. We’ll follow up once we have more!” the Edge team announced on Twitter.

Fix already available

The good news, however, is the fact that Microsoft managed to fix everything in a couple of hours, and the bug is not there. So what you must do is revert your settings in Edge because situations are back to normal right now, and also the browser should no longer crash when typing.

“Thanks for everyone’s patience in the end investigated! We feel this to become resolved now. We encourage you to revert your browser settings that you may have changed, and tell us if you’re still experiencing any crashes typing in to the address bar,” the company said inside a follow-up tweet.

The new Microsoft Edge browser is based on the Chromium engine, which is available not only on Windows 10, but additionally on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and macOS. A Linux version is also on the way.

This Is the Microsoft Edge Browser Release Schedule

The Chromium-based form of Microsoft Edge officially launched earlier this year on Windows and macOS like a manual download, and today the application is offered to Windows users via Windows Update too.

Like Google Chrome, Edge browser is maintained included in several channels and updated accordingly:

Microsoft Edge Canary – Updates every single day Microsoft Edge Dev – Updates every week Microsoft Edge Beta – Updates every six weeks Microsoft Edge Stable – Updates every six weeks

Even though this schedule pretty much makes sense, Microsoft decided to provide a bit more clarity into how it wants to update Microsoft Edge browser, something that will come in handy to enterprises that need additional time to organize for each release.

The company says this is something which eases deployment in large organizations, and likewise to a release schedule, it’s also sharing an item roadmap with more info on the enterprise features coming to the browser.

“Since releasing the new Microsoft Edge, we’ve heard feedback that customers, especially in enterprise environments, need more visibility into our feature roadmap and release schedule to allow them to plan deployments and prepare for upcoming changes,” Microsoft says.

With Microsoft Edge version 84 already available for download, the next major release is Edge 85, that is scheduled to go live in the beta channel in a few days. When it comes to release in the stable channel, it’s likely to land in a week ago of August, as Microsoft explains in the release schedule embedded below:

Version Release status Beta Channel Release week Stable Channel Release week
81 Released
Version 02-20-2020 81.0.416.12 04-13-2020 81.0.416.53
82 Released Cancelled Cancelled
83 Released
Version 04-22-2020 83.0.478.13 05-21-2020 83.0.478.37
84 Released
Version 06-02-2020 84.0.522.11 07-16-2020 84.0.522.40
85 Target release Week of 07-27-2020 Week of 08-27-2020
86 Target release Week of 09-07-2020 Week of 10-08-2020
87 Target release Week of 10-19-2020 Week of 11-19-2020
88 Target release Week of 12-07-2020 Week of 01-21-2021
89 Target release Week of 02-01-2021 Week of 03-04-2021

Microsoft says that beta and stable updates are linked with Chromium releases, so the company has aligned its schedule accordingly. One particular example is Microsoft Edge version 82, that has been canceled completed when the Chromium team decided to skip one release completely due to the global health crisis whe most developers were working from home.

In terms of what’s visiting enterprises in the coming browser updates, Edge 85 is bringing important improvements in connection with this in the coming versions targeted at the stable channel (all of them on Windows, of course).

For example, Edge 85 includes Group Policy support for trusting site and application combos to launch without a confirmation prompt but also ship having a policy to permit admins to select which file types are exempted from file-type security warnings. Edge 85 will also incorporate a preview form of Enterprise Site List Manager for Ie Mode.

The migration to Chromium allowed Microsoft to create Edge a cross-platform offering, so in addition to Windows 10, the browser can also be on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and macOS. The software giant is also working on a Linux version of the browser, and while no ETA continues to be shared at this time, a preview build is anticipated by the end of the entire year.

How to Find Chkdsk Results in Even Viewer Logs

After scanning the system for errors, chkdsk answers are logged to the Event Viewer with a specific Even ID. With only a few clicks, you’ll find and open chkdsk results in Even Viewer. Here’s how.

In case of sudden power failure, corruption, or disk errors, Windows automatically runs the chkdsk utility. As needed, you can manually schedule chkdsk in Windows to repair disk error. It will scan for errors and fixes them when needed. Often, chkdsk can deal with lots of general performance issues helping Windows operate correctly.

After scanning the machine for errors, chkdsk logs the outcomes to Even Viewer. These event viewer chkdsk logs will help you in troubleshooting steps. In this quick guide, allow me to show the straightforward steps to find chkdsk results or logs in the event Viewer in Windows 10.

Note: The steps listed below are also applicable to Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Steps to Find Chkdsk Logs in Event Viewer

These are the steps you need to follow to locate and open chkdsk logs in Even Viewer.

Open Begin with “Windows Key” keypress.
Type “Event Viewer” and then click it.
Expand “Windows Logs” around the left panel.
Right-click around the “Application” option.
Choose the “Filter current log” option.
Select “chkdsk” checkbox from the “Event Sources” drop-down menu.
Now, choose the “wininit” checkbox from the same drop-down menu.
Click “Ok” to apply the filter settings.
As soon while you use the filter option, Even Viewer filters the chkdsk logs and displays them in the center panel.

Sort the filtered logs by time and date and open the chkdsk log from the Event Viewer. Just choose the log and also the chkdsk results can look towards the bottom center panel.

PowerShell Command to Open Chkdsk Logs

To spread out Even Viewer chkdsk log we are able to use PowerShell’s “get-winevent” cmdlet. If needed, you can export chkdsk logs to a text file utilizing the same PowerShell command. Let me demonstrate how.

Press “Windows Key”.
Type “PowerShell” and click on the end result to spread out it.
In the PowerShell window, execute the below command to see the chkdsk logs.
get-winevent -FilterHashTable @logname=”Application”; id=”1001″$_.providername -match “wininit”to a text file, execute the below command.
get-winevent -FilterHashTable @logname=”Application”; id=”1001″$_.providername -match “wininit”will be saved on your hard drive with the name “chkdsklog.txt”.
Close PowerShell when you are completed with the chkdsk logs.

That is all. As you can see, it’s very easy to see chkdsk logs in the event viewer and export those logs to a text file while using PowerShell’s event viewer command.

The above PowerShell command will only provide you with the most recent chkdsk log file. It won’t show or export all of the chkdsk logs. For your, follow the first method. It is easier and user-friendly.

It really works Both Ways: Google Telling Microsoft Edge Users to change to Chrome

Microsoft has started showing the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge because the recommended choice whenever someone searches for Chrome on Windows 10, and today looking giant is using an identical approach for its very own browser.

Quite simply, Bing is now attempting to convince Edge users to try out Google Chrome using its own arsenal.

More specifically, TechDows has learned that when logging into websites to some Google account using Microsoft Advantage on Windows 10, Google sends the typical sign-in notification on Gmail to warn users about the new login. And also to the warning message, Google has additionally included a small surprise.

“Make the most from Windows 10 with the Chrome browser. Chrome is really a fast, simple and secure browser, built for the current web,” a note included in this email reads.

Wanted: Microsoft Edge users

So Google is specifically going after Microsoft Edge users with this particular message, making total sense now given Microsoft’s app is based on exactly the same engine and is finally becoming the browser that so many people happen to be requesting.

The migration towards the Chromium engine allowed Microsoft to make Edge a cross-platform browser, so in addition to Windows 10, the brand new version is also offered to users on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, as well as macOS. Furthermore, Microsoft is also focusing on a Linux form of Microsoft Edge, but an ETA isn’t available yet. A preview build, however, is anticipated later this year.

Whether Google will convince Edge users to test Chrome is one thing that remains to appear. Until then, Google Chrome is hands down the number one browser around the desktop, as its market share is currently at nearly 70 %, with Edge far behind at approximately 7 percent.

Microsoft Steering Users Away from Google Chrome with Edge Ad within the Start Menu

Microsoft’s new Edge browser is dependant on the Chromium engine, the same as Google Chrome, and this gives the company the opportunity to make a better case because of its application when you compare it to all another alternatives.

But the software giant is pushing even harder for Microsoft Edge, and more recently, the organization has started showing ads in the Start menu whenever someone types the name of an alternate browser.

Microsoft calls these ads “recommendations,” and this is the main reason the Microsoft Edge entry that turns up when typing “Chrome” in the Start menu shows up like a “recommended” app.

But because as it happens, this Start menu ad appears to target merely a limited number of devices – no Microsoft Edge Start menu ad is provided on my small laptop running Windows 10 (already updated to the May 2020 Update), but it does on my small main PC running Windows 10 version 1909. When the new Edge isn’t installed on the unit, it looks like users are provided having a download link to have it on Windows 10.

Cross-platform browser

The Chromium-powered Microsoft Edge may be the new default browser on Windows 10, because it replaces the legacy version once it is installed. Furthermore, the new Edge is offered to Windows 10 devices via Windows Update.

The migration to Chromium allowed Microsoft to create the new browser to not only Windows 10, so Edge has become on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and macOS. A Linux version can also be in the works, but no ETA is famous at this time.

This isn’t the first time when Microsoft is trying to steer people away from other browsers using such tactics. On Windows 10, a similar “recommended” tag is also displayed in the Default apps screen in Settings when attempting to replace Microsoft Edge with a different application like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Microsoft On the point of Leave Behind Another Failed Windows 10 Experiment

This year’s Build developer conference, which is a digital-only event streamed online, will mark the end of the UWP concept as we know it in Windows 10.

Within the session agenda for the upcoming event, Microsoft explains that it’s planning to unify Win32 and UWP apps for reason why the company doesn’t share but which isn’t impossible to determine: the UWP experiment failed, so concentrating on Win32 ‘s what is sensible at this time.

As Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott notes, this could be “the final nail within the UWP coffin,” especially because the Redmond-based software appears to be spending a great deal of time at Build to describe this unification of UWP and Win32.

Goodbye, UWP?

One of the sessions is going to be hosted by Jesse Bishop, Principal Program Manager Lead at Microsoft, but it is obvious the company itself doesn’t yet provide a lot of specifics at this time.

“Learn the way the Windows app platform is beginning to change and unifying Win32 and UWP so your present and future apps can certainly target 1 billion+ Windows devices,” Microsoft explains within the agenda details.

The UWP concept, which stands for the Universal Windows Platform, was launched specifically for Windows 10 to power universal apps that would be available on more than just one device. In essence an evolved version of the concept of universal apps that Microsoft has dreamed about ever since it rolled out Windows 8, UWP was targeted as Windows 10 devices like PCs, mobile, Xbox, and the HoloLens.

The developer adoption of UWP, however, continues to be substantially below expectations, and the strategy itself changed once the software giant retired Windows 10 Mobile. At this time, UWP appears to be just another failed experiment that Microsoft really wants to forget, and make could bring more information on how the company really wants to do that.

Among the best Add-ons for Microsoft Edge Legacy Has been Retired

Microsoft has a new browser on Windows and Mac, and this one is running on Chromium, the same engine as Google Chrome.

Quite simply, the organization can perfectly forget about the original Edge, also referred to as Edge Legacy, and so can developers, who are now focusing all their efforts on the latest version of the browser.

uBlock Origin, which is among the best and many popular add-ons for browsers these days, won’t support Microsoft Edge Legacy for a reason that makes perfect sense: if Microsoft itself is abandoning the browser, we should all move to the new Edge for full support.

Bye-bye, Edge Legacy

In an announcement on GitHub, Nick Rolls, the developer of uBlock Origin, also recommends users to change to the new Edge, not just to obtain a modern feature package, but additionally to carry on using the ad blocker much like before.

“Due towards the complexities and time requirements to maintain compatibility using the legacy form of Microsoft Edge, this fork is not supported. It is strongly advised that you upgrade your version of Microsoft Edge by downloading the update at Microsoft’s website. Once you have updated, follow the instructions above for installing of uBlock Origin on New Edge,” the announcement reads.

As compared to the original version of Edge, the brand new Chromium-powered browser can be obtained on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and macOS. Furthermore, the organization has already been considering a Linux version, and this one is likely to also see daylight within the coming months, most likely like a preview.

The Chromium form of Edge includes nearly the same feature package as Google Chrome, including support for extensions for extensions in the Chrome Online store. Using the migration for this new engine, Microsoft has become one of the biggest contributors towards the Chromium project.

How to Export Favorites in Edge Chromium (backup bookmarks)

Need to produce a local backup of bookmarks in the Edge Chromium browser? Here’s a simple method to export favorites in Edge Chromium.

The Edge Chromium may be the new default browser in Windows 10. Actually, you may also download it for Windows 7, Windows 8, macOS, iOS, and Android. An important feature about the advantage Chromium browser is it is made based on the open-source chromium project. As such, it is super fast and feature-rich.

As with every other browser, you are able to bookmark webpages with only just one click or keyboard shortcut. For better organization, you are able to sort them in folders too. For whatever reason, Microsoft calls these bookmarks as Favorites. This is an old tradition from Internet Explorer. Obviously, the majority of us bookmark our daily used websites and services so that we are able to access them without manually typing in the URL.

If you’re much like me and have a lot of bookmarks, it is only natural that you might want backup Edge favorites for offline purposes. The best thing is, once exported, you are able to import them into any other browser regardless of compatibility with Edge Chromium or take that backup file along with you anywhere for quick access for your favorite links.

In this quick guide, allow me to demonstrate the way to export Edge Chromium favorites or bookmarks in Windows.

Note: I’m showing the stages in Windows 10 but they are work in Windows 7 and Windows 8 too. Also, the steps here are only applicable towards the new Edge Chromium browser, not to that old Edge browser.

Backup or Export Edge Chromium Favorites

Though the Edge browser doesn’t showcase the export option front and center, you can easily export favorites from Edge. The advisable thing is, Edge uses the HTML format to backup favorites. That implies that it’s compatible with just about all web browsers. Moreover, as being a simple HTML file, you can open it in almost any internet browser and access all of your favorite links without importing first.

1. First, open the Edge Chromium browser if it is not already opened.

2. Within the Edge Chromium browser, click on the Menu icon (three horizontal dots) appearing around the top-right corner and choose “Favorites → Manage Favorites” option. Alternatively, you are able to press “Ctrl + Shift + O” keyboard shortcut.

3. Within the Bookmarks page, click on the “Export favorites” link appearing towards the bottom left corner.

4. Within the Save As window, choose the destination and click on the “Save” button. With my case, I’m saving the file on the desktop with the default name.

5. That is all. The file is going to be exported and instantly saved towards the chosen destination location.

From now, you can either import this favorites file into any other browser or open the file directly inside a browser to access your links without importing first.

How to Put Windows to rest At Specific Time (Schedule Sleep Windows)

Need to make Windows sleep automatically at a specific time or event? Here is a method to schedule Windows to sleep at a specific time.

In Windows, you can put the machine into sleep mode when you are not while using system. Whenever you place the system inside a sleep state, Windows saves the present system state to RAM or system memory. As long as you don’t completely turn off the machine, you are able to resume from the current state whenever you want. One of the benefits of putting the system to sleep is you conserve electricity and also have quick access to the system whenever needed.

Beginning with Windows 8, Microsoft is using Hybrid Sleep in most supported systems. As possible guess in the name itself, Hybrid Sleep is definitely an enhanced version where both Sleep and Hibernation are combined. In Hybrid Sleep mode, the Windows state is saved to both system memory and the hard disk drive. So, even though you completely power off the system, you can resume the system, much like with Hibernation. With Hybrid Sleep, you will get the very best of all possible worlds.

If you want to put Windows to rest in a specific time or on a specific event, use a bit of magic using the task scheduler to achieve the purpose. Allow me to show you how.

Make Windows Sleep At Specific Time

To make Windows sleep in a specific time, there is no proper built-in method. For instance, we are able to make use of the SetSuspendState command. However, that specific command hibernates the system, if the hibernation is enabled. So, if you want to put Windows to rest on schedule by using their command, you first need to disable hibernation. As possible guess, this is not the most elegant way to do things.

Thankfully, I discovered a neat tool called PsShutdown which makes the task easier and. PsShutdown is a free Microsoft SysInternals tool. Being a command-line tool, it really works flawlessly using the task scheduler. Yes, we will make use of the awesome task scheduler all over again to get the job done. Just follow the steps out of the box and you will be done in virtually no time.

Steps to follow along with

1. First, download PsShutdown from Microsoft’s official website. After downloading, open the ZIP and extract the psshutdown.exe file in it to a folder of your choice.

2. Once you have the file, open the “Task Scheduler” application by searching in the start menu.

3. In the task scheduler, click on the “Create basic task” choice to create a scheduled task.

4. Name the job anything you like. Just make sure the name is one thing descriptive. Click “Next”.

5. I wish to make Windows sleep daily in a specific time. So, I’m choosing the “Daily” option. If you want something else, you can choose the relevant option. Click “Next”.

6. Depending on what you choose in the last step, you may visit a different screen. Configure the settings when needed. Like me, if you wish to put Windows to rest every single day in a specific time, just change the time accordingly and click on “Next”. Also, make sure the “Recur every” is placed 1. That way, the job runs every day.

7. Select “Start a program” option. This way, we are able to use the download PsShutdown application.

8. Here, click the “Browse” button, find the psshutdown.exe file, select it and click on the “Open” button to include it towards the task scheduler. Next, add -d -t 0 -accepteula within the Arguments field. Click “Next”.

9. Click “Finish”.

10. We need to ensure the command is working as it ought to. So, find the task we simply created in the job scheduler’s main window. Next, right-click on it and select the “Run” option.

If the command is true, the body should immediately go into the sleep state.

That is it. In the future, based on the scheduled task, the system is going to be automatically put into sleep.