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Microsoft is downplaying the floppy disk icon in Windows 10. It's part of an overhaul that will remove some design elements that have been in place since Windows 95. The changes will appear in the second big update to Windows 10 this year, ... officially called 21H2, codenamed Sun Valley. It sounds as if the update is largely going to be about appearance rather than functionality, which is either a welcome sign of leaving well alone or an indication of a lack of ambition and a fear of screwing things up, depending on your level of cynicism. As is normally the case with design refreshes, the aim ... (view more)

Mozilla is reducing the likelihood Firefox users will be bothered by website notification requests. It will make browsing a lot less frustrating, but will upset some website owners. What are Website Notifications? Notifications in web browsers work ... in a similar way to notifications from apps on a mobile phone or tablet. As an example, a user of a streaming video site might agree to accept browser notifications. They could then get notifications whenever the site adds a new episode of a TV series they've previously watched on the site. On Windows 10, this notification might appear in the ... (view more)

Malware creators are using new tactics to avoid their malicious Android apps being exposed. The scam involves hiding and even disguising apps as legitimate ones once they've been installed. Fake Apps Receive Fake Praise It's a twist on a ... well-established scam in which malware is distributed through apps that appear to perform a basic function such as reading QR codes, or turning the camera flash into a flashlight. Thanks to a host of bogus rave-reviews in the Google Play store, the only way to spot something is amiss is that the apps will ask for specific access permissions that are clearly ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Beth R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am using Windows 7 and the USB 'Safely remove hardware' icon in my tray bar seems to have disappeared. I understand that USB drives need to be 'safely removed' or they can corrupt, which I would ... like to avoid. What can I do to fix the USB 'Safely remove hardware' so it comes back? " My response: There are a few things you can try in order to fix the USB "Safely remove hardware" icon - I'll explain a few approaches below. The fix below will work on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10 . How to Fix: USB 'Safely remove hardware' icon missing The ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm not sure what happened, but the other day I was using my computer and the icons on my desktop became sticky. I double clicked MS Word to launch it, but it wouldn't do anything. So I tried ... clicking on Foxit Reader, but both MS Word and Foxit Reader were selected and I couldn't open either one. To make things worse, now my desktop icons are gigantic and are taking up most of the space on my screen. I can't seem to figure out how to make the icons go back to the original size they were on the desktop. Any idea why this happened and how I can ... (view more)