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Laptop repair specialists? Turn off extra visual effects (Windows Vista and 7). If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, the Aero desktop effects may be slowing your computer down. Disabling these effects is highly recommended for older computers, and can result in a big performance boost. Reinstall your operating system (OS). Oftentimes the easiest way to speed up your computer is to wipe it clean and start from scratch. Reinstalling your OS usually won’t take more than an hour or so. This will erase your entire hard drive, and will often make your computer operate as if it was brand new. See the following articles for details on reinstalling specific OSs.

Use Strong Passwords & Use a Password Management Tool. You’ve probably heard that strong passwords are critical to online security. The truth is passwords are important in keeping hackers out of your data! According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 2017 new password policy framework, you should consider: Dropping the crazy, complex mixture of upper case letters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, opt for something more user-friendly but with at least eight characters and a maximum length of 64 characters. If you want to make it easier to manage your passwords, try using a password management tool or password account vault. LastPass FREE is a great tool for an individual. LastPass offers a FREE account and has a $2/month membership with some great advanced password features.

Make Sure Employees Look for the S in HTTPs When Searching the Web. Employees will, from time to time, use the corporate IT network to visit websites or sign up for services, either for personal use or for the company. Before submitting any information, they should always be on the lookout for the padlock and HTTPS in the address bar. If the site is unprotected, they should not enter any information. Note: It’s important to also educate employees on phishing websites (see tip 15 below). There have been cases of phishing websites using Domain Validated (DV) SSL Certificates to make their sites look more “real” and “trustworthy”.

Windows 10 passwordless feature: As part of the sign-in experience, Windows 10 is introducing a new Require Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts option, which perhaps one of the best new features on version 2004. When the features is enabled will switch your Microsoft accounts (those configured on your device) to modern authentication with Windows Hello Face, Fingerprint, or PIN. (This option will remove the password option from the “Sign-in” page and across the operating system.) In addition, the “Sign-in options” page now is splitting the ability to restart apps automatically after a restart under the “Privacy” section. This change means that moving forward, you’ll now be able to control whether registered apps can launch automatically after a restart using the new Restart apps setting. Find additional details at Hove laptop maintenance.

Windows 10’s incremental approach to development means that many changes won’t be obvious. However, plenty of them provide useful tweaks to previously rolled out features. For example, there’s now the option of renaming virtual desktops, so you can label them by task. Renaming is easy as right-clicking the desktop thumbnail. Admins managing a fleet of Windows 10 PCs will get help from the 2004 release to control the amount of bandwidth needed for updates. Using Delivery Optimization, you can set an absolute value for throttling bandwidth — not only for background downloads like updates, but also for foreground downloads, like those from the Windows Store. It can be managed from either MDM or group policy, or directly from Windows 10’s settings app.

As PC hardware continues to speed up, so does software, and Windows 10 is no exception. This is especially true of startup time: If you upgrade from Windows 7 or earlier, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how fast your machine is ready for action. But there are other performance factors to consider after you’re up and running. Even the latest, shiniest Windows version isn’t immune to slowdowns. Read additional info on Laptop repair specialists.