Every user in Windows 7 has his/her own encrypting file system (EFS) certificate which is used to encrypt the files. A recovery certificate is a special EFS certificate you can use to recover encrypted files if your encryption key is lost or damaged. Before you can use a recovery certificate, you have to install it on your computer.
Read moreCreate a recovery certificate in Windows 7
When you encrypt files in Windows 7, it requires an encrypting file system (EFS) certificate which is issued to you by Windows 7. A recovery certificate is a special EFS certificate you can use to recover encrypted files if your encryption key is lost or damaged. You can create a recovery certificate very easily.
Read moreSpeed up your computer using Readyboost in Windows Vista
Windows ReadyBoost is a new feature introduced in Windows Vista which can use storage space on some of the removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer. You can only select faster USB flash drives which support USB 2.0 and 3.0.
Read moreDisable Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista
Windows Vista has a Windows Sidebar which acts as a placeholder for various gadgets. By default, Windows Vista shows three gadgets only (Clock, Slideshow, Feed Headlines) but you can add more if you want. The Windows Sidebar auto-starts with Windows every time you login to your account. If you do not like Windows Sidebar, then you can disable Windows Sidebar from auto-starting with Windows.
Read moreEdit a webpage before printing using PrintEdit in Firefox
When you print a webpage, everything gets printed including the big images, side bars, advertisements on the the webpage and other unwanted content. This not only wastes your printer ink but also is a waste of printer paper. Fortunately, there is a Mozilla Firefox add-on called PrintEdit which allows you to select portions of a web page and edit it before you print it.
Read moreRemove Internet Explorer 8 from Windows 7
These days, when there are many secure, robust and fast web browsers like Opera, Chrome, Safari and Firefox are available, who needs the sloppy Internet Explorer? If you are using one of these third-party web browsers, then you may want to get rid of Internet Explorer. Though, it may seem impossible or very difficult to remove Internet Explorer, but you can easily uninstall it from Windows 7.
Read moreTest your antivirus with the EICAR test file
Is your antivirus software functioning correctly like it should? Will it detect if a virus is dropped on your hard disk? You can test your antivirus using the EICAR (European Institute for Computer AntiVirus Research) antivirus test file. The Eicar test file is recognized by all the antivirus products and they all should block it.
Read moreClear most often used programs in Start Menu of Windows XP
The modern Start Menu (as compared to the classic style) shows shortcuts of most often used programs. The most often used program is shown on the top and the least used program is shown on the bottom. If you want you can clear the list of these most often used programs. Clearing of this list removes the shortcuts from the most often used programs list in the Start Menu.
Read moreTest your firewall using the LeakOut tool
Even if you have a firewall software installed, it can allow some information to be leaked without your confirmation. The LeakOut tool checks if your firewall is configured in such a way as to leak any information easily. LeakOut is a simple tool to demonstrate how it is possible, in certain circumstances, to circumvent the outbound control/filtering systems of personal firewalls. So why not test the configuration of your firewall?
Read moreClear recently used programs in Start Menu in Windows 7
As you use more and more programs in Windows 7, it puts a shortcut to recently used program in the Start Menu. There is no official method to clear this list. But there is a workaround to clear this recently used programs list shown in the Start Menu.
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