disable

In recent weeks we've received quite a few emails asking this pressing question: "Dear Infopackets, I recently bought a new Windows 8 computer and I've just about had enough with it. I'm sure some people love the system, but I find it too confusing. ... I can't afford to replace the computer, so is it possible for me to run Windows 7 on it, instead of Windows 8? George H." My response: Yes, George. The short answer is that you can retrofit a Windows 8 computer with Windows 7. But the process can be a lot of a hassle. Please read through all of our instructions before you decide whether ... (view more)

We recently received this letter from an Infopackets fan in Arizona: "Hi Infopackets squad, I'm interested in downgrading my new PC from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 7. I know that in order to do that, I need to disable something called Secure Boot. ... What is Secure Boot, and how do I disable it? Thanks for the help, Gail C." My response: Great question, Gail. We'll be running a feature story soon giving you more information about how to downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7. However, in this article we'll be focusing exclusively on the Secure Boot feature. Secure Boot Protects Systems from Malware ... (view more)

We've been asked about this issue several times by different subscribers: "Hi Infopackets team, I have been using Windows 8 and, for the most part, I like it. But one feature I really dislike is the lock screen. Talk about a time waster. Can you ... help me get rid of it once and for all? Thanks for your great information over the years, Gerald H." My Response: Gerald, I completely understand why you would get annoyed with Windows 8's lock screen. Meet Windows 8's Lock Screen If you're not familiar with it, the lock screen is enabled after a Windows 8 PC is awoken from sleep mode. The lock screen ... (view more)

AVG LinkScanner 2011 10.0.1204a3402 The handy new AVG LinkScanner scans pages behind their links before you click on them. It does the same thing every time you enter a web address into your browser. If the page is infected, it simply prevents you ... from opening it. http://linkscanner.avg.com Disable UAC This free tool can help you easily disable the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows (I.E.: when you click on a program in Windows Vista or Windows 7, a window pops up asking if you're sure you want to run the program). Some people find the UAC bothersome, which is why this app was developed. ... (view more)

Google Play Google Reader Play is a fast way to browse the most interesting stuff on the web, personalized for you. It keeps track of the things you star, like, or share, and shows you more stuff you'll like the next time you use it. ... http://www.google.com Disable Startup Disable Startup is a free startup manager and monitoring program that can scan all Windows Startups on your computer, and monitor all new startup items. It helps you control, manage and optimize Windows Startup configuration. http:/disablestartup.com Today's fresh software picks were provided courtesy of Bob Helmer at Shell ... (view more)

Dataminer This program recovers lost files from a damaged optical disc (CD or DVD). Use it to rescue your important files from a scratched disc or even an accidentally overwritten rewriteable disc. The program can heuristically recognize various ... kinds of files, such as .BMP, .ICO, .CUR, .ANI, .AVI, .CDA, .WAV, and more. http://greenfish.extra.hu Disable Last Access Timestamp Speed up your sluggish Windows XP operating system by disabling automatic file timestamps. It's a handy little method to squeeze every little bit of juice out of an old, ailing system. NOTE: this will only work on NTFS ( ... (view more)

All Snap allSnap makes all of your open windows snap to position. Not sure what we mean? allSnap is a small system tray app that makes all top level windows automatically align like they do in programs such as Winamp or Photoshop. ... http://www.cs.utoronto.ca/~iheckman/allsnap/ Disable Windows Games Via Restriction Policies Employees not getting their work done because they're spending too much time playing Solitaire? This program will show you how to disable applications from a central management location. No more Mr. Nice Guy. http://maximillianx.blogspot.com/ (view more)

Avidemux Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF by using a variety of codecs. Tasks can be automated using ... projects, job queue and powerful scripting capabilities. Avidemux is available for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. http://avidemux.berlios.de/index.html Enable Disable Topalt Enable Disable is a simple and easy to use tool for enabling and disabling Office add-ins. http://www.topalt.com/enabledisable (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Rose' Writes: " Dear Dennis, My question for you today is: how can I make my CD ROM Drive available to users logging in with Administrator rights only? Here's the problem: my kid brother shares the family computer, which has ... Windows XP professional installed on it. He likes to play online games (which are installed via the CD ROM drive); unfortunately, the games he plays seem to crashed the system. As such, I've set up a separate user account with 'general' user access and have disabled the network card so that he cannot access the Internet when using the computer. Now, ... (view more)