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Productivity

What does it mean to use technology productively? Which apps and gadgets make your work easier? How to personalize the computers and other gadgets you’re using?

Notification area cleaner: 2 ways to reset the notification area icons in Windows

  • misc
  • Radu Tyrsina
Do you need to remove obsolete icons from the notification area on the Windows taskbar? Do you see icons for apps that are no longer installed, and you want to get rid of them? While you can do this with dedicated apps, a simple trick is to remove two registry values and then restart the explorer.exe process in Windows. Here are two methods for cleaning the icons shown in the
tutorial 2 ways to find out when a partition was created in Windows

2 ways to find out when a partition was created in Windows

Have you ever needed to know when an NTFS partition was created or when Windows first initialized a drive and made it available for use? Although there are no easy, user-friendly ways to find out, we know two different methods by which you can find this information, by yourself. If you are curious to learn, read on: 1. Find out when a partition

How to track which apps use the most data in Windows 10

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
Do you need to find out which apps use the most data on your Windows 10 laptop, tablet, or desktop PC? Few people know that Windows 10 stores such data for the last 30 days, for WiFi, Ethernet, and Cellular connections. This data is automatically logged, and accessing it is easy. Here is how to track how much data is used by your apps in Windows 10: [DC-SUMMARY-BREAK] NOTE: This

How to turn off your activity history, and the Timeline, in Windows 10

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
In recent versions of Windows 10, Microsoft has introduced a new feature called the Timeline. However, most users refer to it as the Task View's app history. This feature stores the history of your activities in Windows 10, on Microsoft's cloud servers (if you want to) and synchronizes it across your Windows 10 computers and devices. If you do not use this feature and you want Windows 10 to stop

What is Turbo Boost or Precision Boost when it comes to processors?

  • misc
  • Radu Tyrsina
When you look for a new computer processor to buy, you stumble upon technicalities such as CPU base clock or CPU boost speed. Did you wonder what that means? While all processors have a base clock (operating frequency) that is in the range of a few Gigahertz, modern processors also advertise higher turbo boost speeds. Whether you're looking into AMD or Intel processors, all of them show off with their

7 ways to keep tabs on your systems' performance with the Task Manager

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
Have you ever wanted to know how much of your processor's power is being used at a particular time? Or maybe how much free RAM was left for your favorite game to use? How about how much of your video card's power is used? All these are essential system resources without which apps and games cannot run well. If you want to see statistics as well as real-time information, you

Performance comparison: Using AMD Ryzen 5 3600X on X570 vs. X470 motherboards

  • misc
  • Radu Tyrsina
Do you love the new processors from AMD Ryzen 3000 series? You already have a desktop PC with a Ryzen processor, and you want to know whether you should also buy a new motherboard alongside your new processor? If you have a motherboard with the previous X470 chipset, here is a detailed performance comparison against the newer X570 chipset for the AMD Ryzen 3000 processors. We used the AMD Ryzen

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X processor review: 2019's mid-range choice!

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
If you are following us closely, you have already heard about the new premium processors built by AMD: the Ryzen 9 3900X with its 12 cores, and the octa-core Ryzen 7 3700X. Sure, they're great marvels of processor engineering, but they cost quite a lot. The good news is that AMD also launched a few more affordable computer processors. One of them is the excellent AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, which

How to free up space when the File History drive is full

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
If you turn File History on without configuring it correctly, you are going to learn the hard way that it keeps the saved versions of your files in its backup location forever, until you run out of space and you have to do something about it. The first time we used it, the File History drive got full in just a few weeks. Here is how to clean up the

Review ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum: See your power consumption

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum is a power supply unit (PSU) that is not just powerful and well built, but also quiet and beautiful. You have to see it to believe it, but this power supply unit has RGB LEDs and an OLED screen that displays your computer's power consumption in real time. To find out more about the ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum power supply unit, read this review

ASUS ROG Strix Carry review: The wireless travel gaming mouse!

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
The ASUS ROG Strix Carry is a small mouse that offers dual wireless connectivity via 2.4GHz and Bluetooth, as well as a 7200 DPI optical sensor and swappable Omron switches that are rated to last 50-million clicks. For a mouse that you take with you when you are traveling for work, the ASUS ROG Strix Carry can play! If you want to know more about it and what it is
tutorial Fix problem: Windows 10 apps are not shown in the Start Menu

Fix problem: Windows 10 apps are not shown in the Start Menu

At times, the Windows 10 Start Menu may be populated with what appears to be invalid tiles, with download icons, and which do not work. This happens after you install Windows 10, or after a major feature update such as the May 2019 Update, or when you create and log in with a new user account. Here's more information about this problem, what is

Reviewing the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X processor

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
AMD has released its new desktop processors from the 3000 series. Their lineup also includes the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, which is an incredibly powerful processor (CPU), with 12 cores and 24 processing threads. If you also take into consideration that the base clock speed is 3.8GHz and its turbo speed is 4.6GHz, you immediately realize that we are dealing with a beast. Did AMD manage to take the world

Reviewing the ADATA XPG SPECTRIX D60G DDR4 RGB

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
The lineup of ADATA's gaming hardware bears the name of XPG, as in Extreme Performance Gear. One of the newest components of this lineup is a kit of DDR4 memory modules, with RGB lighting, called SPECTRIX D60G. We received these memory modules for testing, and after a couple of weeks of using them, and playing several games, we would like to share our opinion. If you are looking for a

The Quick actions in Windows 10: access them, use them, customize them!

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
On top of constantly keeping you informed on what is happening on your device, Windows 10's Action Center includes, at the bottom of its panel, a set of buttons aptly named Quick actions. They offer you a fast and easy way to access apps and settings, without having to memorize complicated keyboard shortcuts. Here is everything you need to know about Quick actions and what they can do to make

View details about running processes with the Windows 10 Task Manager

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
Although Task Manager's Processes tab offers detailed information about how programs use system resources, it is the Details tab that allows you to find out everything you need to know about running processes (and more). Task Manager's Details tab provides generous data about each process running on your Windows 10 computer or device, and it can come in handy during advanced troubleshooting. In this tutorial, we go over the massive
tutorial How can I make my Skype theme dark (or light)?

How can I make my Skype theme dark (or light)?

You might be asking yourself: Is there a dark theme for Skype? Yes there is, and there's also a light theme, just like in Windows 10 May 2019 Update. Both themes are available in Skype for Windows 10, Android, and iOS. In this guide, we share how to change your Skype theme to dark or light, depending on what you want, on all platforms:

Working with File History from the Control Panel: What you can and can't do!

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
File History is a useful app that is built into Windows 10 and Windows 8. It can be used to automatically back up personal files and folders, like your documents, pictures, and videos, without any user intervention, except for turning it on, and configuring how it works. If you use Windows 10, you can interact with File History both from the Settings app and the Control Panel. In each of
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