windows 11
Quick Tip: Hide Clutter in Windows 11 Desktop Search
The search box on the taskbar and the pop-up search both have “highlights” that recommend all kinds of distractions, including shopping content, games, and more. Here’s how to turn that off.
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Quick Tip: Get Rid of Notification Ads and Full-Screen Upsells in Windows 11
Windows will occasionally send you notification pop-ups with “tips and suggestions.” These tips can include messages pushing the Microsoft Rewards program and other things.
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Windows 11 Settings to Change Immediately [Premium]
In this blog post exclusive to paid subscribers, I’m going to show you settings you should change immediately in Windows 11 to improve security, including showing file extensions, advanced options in Windows Update, improving malware protection, and ensuring the built-in antivirus working the way it should be.
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Quick Tip: Turn Off Suggested Notifications (ads) in Windows 11
Suggested (Microsoft ads) notifications appear by default in Windows 11, even on the Lock (login) screen. These may not appear if you’re not signed in with a Microsoft account. Here’s how to turn them off.
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Quick Tip: How to Use A Password Instead of a PIN in Windows 11
In this Quick Tip, I’m going to describe how to change your Windows PIN to a much more secure password. By default, Windows 11 asks for a PIN to login to your account, but this is a convenience at the sacrifice of good security. Better than nothing, but barely.
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Quick Tip: Clean Up Search Suggestions and Permissions in Windows 11
Microsoft likes to clutter up search results with their “suggestions” (ads). To remove these, you’ll want to disable some settings in Privacy & Security, Here’s how to do that.
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Quick Tip: Turn Off Data Collection and Content Suggestions in Windows 11
Microsoft collects certain data right out of the box that you likely want to disable. Even if you disabled all the data collection options when setting up Windows 11, I suggest disabling these four items as well.
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Quick Tip: Customize The Windows 11 Taskbar
You may want to customize the behavior of the Windows Taskbar to turn off settings you find annoying or that you don’t want to use. In this Quick Tip, let’s take a look at those.
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Tips On How To Make Windows 11 Less Annoying and Intrusive By Disabling Upsell Notifications and Other Messages
You can do several things to change more Windows settings to minimize the number of annoying upsell notifications and “it’s time to finish setting up your PC” messages you see. What you leave on or off is up to you, but generally, these changes should make Windows feel less annoying and intrusive.
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Kevin’s Picks: Windows Toolbox
Windows 11 comes bundled with several Microsoft apps that you may not have any need for, and it’s a real pain to get rid of them.
The best program I’ve found to do this so far is called the Windows Toolbox from Chris Titus Tech. It’s $10US, but I consider that a very fair bargain for what it does.
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How To Install Windows 11 Without A Microsoft Account
Here’s how to setup a Local Account, based on your computer and NOT in the cloud, during Windows 11 setup.
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How To Switch To A Local Account in Windows 11
In this blog post, I’m going to walk you through how to switch from a Microsoft Account to a Local User Account. There are many benefits with a Microsoft Account, but choice is important and if you’d prefer not to have your account tied to Microsoft, then a Local Account is an option.
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System Cleanup Series: Uninstall (Remove) Apps and Programs in Windows 11 [Premium]
This more detailed blog post exclusive to paid subscribers is part of my System Cleanup series. One of the best ways to free up some space in Windows 11 is to remove programs and apps you’re not using or no longer want, some of which may have come pre-installed when you purchased your computer and you might not even know are there.
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System Cleanup Series: Uninstall (Remove) Apps and Programs in Windows 11
This blog post is part of my System Cleanup series. One of the best ways to free up some space in Windows 11 is to remove programs and apps you’re not using or no longer want, some of which may have come pre-installed when you purchased your computer and you might not even know are there.
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How To Change Sleep and Hibernation Settings in Windows 11 [Premium]
In this more detailed blog post exclusive to paid subscribers, I’m going to talk about what it means for your computer to be “going to sleep”, and why it’s different then “hibernation”. I will also talk about whether or not it’s actually beneficial to turn these settings on, even though Microsoft turned them on by default.
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How To Use System Restore in Windows 11 [Premium]
In this more detailed blog post exclusive to paid subscribers, I’m going to cover how to navigate to System Restore settings in Windows 11, and the process of creating a Restore Point to allow you to tell Windows to revert settings to a previous point in time, which may be necessary if a newly installed program is causing you grief, but uninstalling it isn’t resolving the issue.
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System Cleanup Series: Windows Update in Windows 11 [Premium]
In this blog post exclusive to paid subscribers, I will show you around Windows Update in Windows 11. It is often suggested that we go to Windows Update and click “Check For Updates”, but there are a few more options to help get the most out of Windows Update.
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System Cleanup Series: Windows Update in Windows 11
In this blog post, I will show you around Windows Update in Windows 11. It is often suggested that we go to Windows Update and click “Check For Updates”, but there are a few more options to help get the most out of Windows Update.
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These Are the Apps I Recommend Getting Rid of After Installing Windows 11
Here are the pre-installed Windows 11 apps and third party programs that I remove every time I setup a computer, and how to remove them. Every computer is different and will have different apps pre-installed, including those from third parties.
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Bought A New Computer? Here’s Why You Should Reset Windows Before You Use It.
First off, congratulations on your new computer! Chances are your computer came with bundled software you don’t want and altered settings thanks to the company that made your new computer.
BEFORE you do anything, the first thing I strongly recommend is resetting Windows.
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