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Prepare Your Computer to be Resold or Given Away There are three main concerns when you are giving away or selling an old PC after buying a new PC. First and foremost, you want to make sure you don’t lose any of your personal files or any licensed software you’ve paid for. Second, you want to ensure that none of your personal data is recoverable by the next owner. Even if you delete something, a user with intermediate hacker skills can easily undelete files or scrub an old hard drive for residual data....

In previous versions of Microsoft Security Essentials, the option to schedule it to run on a schedule is included. However, in Windows 8 and 8.1 it isn’t an option in Windows Defender Settings. Schedule Windows Defender Scans To set it up, open Windows Task Scheduler. In Windows 8.1 use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + W to bring up the Search settings field and type: schedule tasks. Task Scheduler will open on the Desktop....

Step 1 In Firefox, Click the Firefox menu button at the top-left of the window. From the drop-down menu that appears, Click Options. Step 2 The options window should appear. Click the Advanced tab, and then under the General category Click the Check Now button. Step 3 A small Default Browser window will appear, Click Yes. Done! Now Firefox 4 is your computer’s default browser! Any links that you click on from any non-browser application on your computer will now open up in Firefox....

Select the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner, select Pandora from the list, and select Link your account. From there, either create a Pandora account if you don’t have one or select I have a Pandora account and log in with your email and password. After that, your Pandora will be associated with the Echo app, and your list of stations will appear. Just select whatever you want to play to the Echo....

YTShowRating displays rating information beneath the view count, and it works for any video in the Related sidebar. It doesn’t display ratings anywhere else, unlike YouTube Ratings Preview. YouTube Ratings Preview displays the rating bar directly beneath the video thumbnail. However it has the advantage of displaying ratings in both the Subscription, Search and Related video area; it sets up under any video thumbnail, anywhere on YouTube. Download either of them and add them to your browser below:...

Since the search giant axed Google Reader, we showed you how to import your existing feeds to Outlook. Also, we took a look at the quality Google Reader alternatives available. Outlook is one way to subscribe to your RSS feeds, and that includes podcasts too! Manage Your Podcasts in Outlook The first thing you need to do is add the podcast RSS feed to Outlook. Right-click on RSS Feeds and enter in the URL of the podcast feed you want to subscribe to....

But there may be times when you want to log into your Spotify account with a different password or isolate your Facebook account from Spotify. There are several ways you can do this, but first, you need to make sure you can get into your account after you unlink Spotify from your Facebook account. Why Should You Unlink Spotify from Facebook? Before you decide to disconnect your Spotify account from your Facebook account, consider your reasons why....

The feature allows you to save articles and other web content to read later. Here’s a look at how to use the Collections feature that saves your web browsing. Collections for Microsoft Edge To get started, launch the Edge browser and click on the Collections button on the upper-right corner. Next, give your collection a name. Something that will help you to easily identify it later. Then you have the option of adding the current page you’re on or browse to a site you want to save....

So, if you’re the chairman of your companies Party Planning Committee, read on to see how you can spin up a groovy Group Chat session the next time you planning something in the office! To start using group chat in Gmail, just Click the Add people icon near the top of the chat box while chatting with someone. The screenshot below is a view of Gmail chat in a pop-out window....

Incognito Google Maps The fact that Google stores your location data in Maps can be quite useful at times. The company’s apps use this to provide you with personalized search results and advertising. However, there could be times when you wouldn’t want this information to be saved. For example, you might need to navigate to an embarrassing (to you) location. And you don’t want ads for that location or business popping up while in the app....

Where’s the App Store on Apple Watch? You can find the new App Store on your wearable device by following these steps: There are two ways to find new apps for your Apple Watch on the App Store. First, you can tap on the Search box and use Dictation or Scribble to find an app. You can also search for a new app using one of the Collections, which Apple changes every week....

Let’s get one thing straight, though. This is not a screensaver – it only works while the tablet is docked or/and charging. Also, if you have more than one user account on your tablet, you should know that each user can have their own daydream settings. Enable Daydream on Nexus 7 From the device Settings, tap Display under the Device section. Next tap Daydream. You’ll see the dedicated Daydream menu....

Facebook Save When you find a story that you find interesting in your feed on the desktop version of Facebook, just click the little arrow on the top right side and, in the menu which will appear, save it. It’s very similar for the Android or iOS app, as seen below. If you want to save a fan page such as a TV show or music artist on the desktop version, click the More button and find the option there....

Note: This allows you to transfer photos and video stored locally on your iOS device, but not from your Photo Stream. For that you’ll need a full version of Windows. For on that, check out my article on how to make Apple iCloud work on Windows.The AutoPlay message pops up and asks what you what to do with the device. Tap or check Import Photos and Videos.The files from your device will be displayed on the Surface screen....

After a quick Deep Dive on the KB’s, these are updates you definitely want to get on your Windows Vista Machines (32bit and 64bit) ASAP. Here’s a quick review: Update for Windows Vista (KB941651) This is a reliability update. Install this update to improve the reliability of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista in certain scenarios. Update for Windows Vista (KB941600) (Revision 1.1 released 10/2/2007) This update resolves some reliability issues in the USB core components on the Windows Vista operating system925528 Stop errors occurring on a Windows-based computer that has 2GB or more of RAM and is using a NVIDIA nForce USB controller929734 You may experience problems after you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or hibernation930568 Error message when you try to put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep or into hibernation: “STOP 0x000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER”929478 After you use the Safely Remove Hardware option to remove a built-in optical drive from a portable Windows Vista-based computer, you may be unable to reconnect the drive930570 Error message in the Usbhub....

Using Video on Instagram New is the video camera option on the lower-right corner when you use the app. Just like with Vine, you hold your finger down to record. When you let go, it stops filming. This actually allows for cool, fast cuts. The allowed recording time is a lot longer than Vine. Vine allows for six seconds, and Instagram gives you 15. What’s cool is that you can delete cuts you don’t like....

Downloading There are a variety of photographers and designers on the web that offer you Instagram filters for Photoshop, but most of them are paid. Luckily, Daniel Box gives you his attempt at the filters absolutely for free. You can click the image below to go to his Tumblr post regarding the filters which includes a download link at the bottom. Kudos for his effort! Installing If you have all of Photoshop’s file associations set up correctly, installing is as easy as extracting it....

Using Google Allo for iOS and Android With a plethora of messaging tools available such as “Messages” on iOS, which sees a significant boost in iOS 10 and Skype from Microsoft; what does Allo offer in a crowded field? Google is hoping Allo’s intelligence will help set it apart; features such as Smart Reply will detect your conversation patterns over time and recommend appropriate responses you can insert. If you want to add emphasis to your text, you can use a use a slider to make text small or large....

Now that Mega has the media’s attention, Kim Dotcom has issued a worldwide challenge to hackers everywhere. He is paying out €10,000 (~$13,500) to the first person to break Mega.co.nz’s open encryption. Do you have the hacking skills to make some bank on Kim Dotcom’s dime? We don’t have any further details yet, as Mega has yet to publish the corresponding blog post, but we’ll keep you posted if someone takes the bounty....

Quick Access on Windows 10 It’s also handy if you need to pin a folder in the cloud or on a server for faster access. This, in my opinion, is a nice change to File Explorer, and makes it easier to get what I need without creating shortcuts, or navigating my way to a file or folder buried deep in a directory. Make File Explorer Open to This PC When you open File Explorer, the default view is Quick Access, but you might not like the new feature, or prefer that it opens to This PC (formerly called My Computer in Windows 7) instead....