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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?

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
tutorial Hide or show your e-mail address on the Windows 10 sign in screen

Hide or show your e-mail address on the Windows 10 sign in screen

When Windows 10 was first launched, it displayed the email address of your Microsoft account each time you accessed the sign in screen. This was annoying for laptop users who traveled a lot because, when using their Windows 10 laptops in public areas, like airports, cafes or events, others could easily see their email address. Fortunately, Microsoft listened to feedback, and newer versions of

ADATA XPG Gammix S11 Pro SSD review: For gaming and high performance!

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
We recently got ahold of one of the newest and fastest M2 NVMe SSD drives built by ADATA, the ADATA XPG Gammix S11 Pro SSD, and it uses the PCIe Gen3 x4 technology which promises high data read and write speeds. It also has an out-of-the-ordinary design, as it comes covered by a red heatsink inspired by sports cars. If you want to know more about the ADATA XPG Gammix

Use the App history from Task Manager to view your apps' resource consumption

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
Windows 10's Task Manager can be a gold mine of information when it comes to apps and how they use your computer's resources. While most of the tabs display real-time data, the App history tab collects and reports usage statistics for the apps and programs running on your computer or device over the last month. This feature is useful, especially for users of mobile devices, like laptops, tablets, or 2-in-1

ASUS ZenDrive U7M review: The affordable alternative to Apple's SuperDrive!

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
Are you looking for a slim, lightweight external DVD writer, that you can easily carry around? Do you need a simple, but complete, backup solution, that works on a Mac as well as on a Windows 10 PC? Do you want a DVD writer with a cool, slick design? The ASUS ZenDrive U7M (SDRW-08U7M-U) might be exactly what you are looking for. Read this review, see what it has to

ASUS FX HDD review: The portable hard drive with RGB and AURA Sync!

  • review
  • Radu Tyrsina
ASUS has a tradition of designing devices with great RGB lighting systems. We have seen motherboards, CPU coolers, PC cases, keyboards, mice, and whatnot with RGB. However, we have never seen an external hard drive with RGB on it. Until this review! :) The device is called ASUS FX HDD, and it is a hard drive destined for backups, which has AURA-compatible RGB LEDs on it. Featuring lighting inspired by

How to make File Explorer open This PC, by default

  • tutorial
  • Radu Tyrsina
One of the things I do not like about File Explorer in Windows 10, is the fact that it starts by default on the Quick Access section. There I see my recent files and frequent folders. However, I prefer viewing my drives and user folders like Documents or Downloads. If you do too, read this tutorial and see how to set File Explorer to open This PC instead of Quick
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