When a dirty bit is set on a volume, Windows automatically performs a disk checking the next time the computer is restarted. You can run the chkntfs command at the Command Prompt to check if a volume is dirty, but there is no way to clear the dirty bit unless you let Windows go through disk scanning at boot.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to manually clear or set the dirty bit for a NTFS & FAT32 volume in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP. The procedure requires you to use a disk editor software such as WinHex. If you want to edit the dirty bit for a system volume currently in use, you need to use a WinPE bootable CD to boot off your PC.

How to Manually Clear or Set Dirty Bit on Windows Volume?

To get started, open WinHex as administrator rights. Click the Tools menu and select Open Disk.

When prompted to select a drive for editing, choose the logical volume you want to edit the dirty bit on, and then click OK.

For FAT32 Volume:

Click on “Boot sector” at the directory browser. The dirty bit for FAT32 volume is located at offset 0×41. If this volume is dirty, the bit should be 01. Just change 01 to 00 and then save your changes back to disk, now you’ve successfully cleared the dirty bit.

For NTFS Volume:

Click on $Volume at the directory browser. The offset location of the dirty bit is slightly different on every NTFS volume. To locate the dirty bit, look for a hex string of 13 bytes, beginning with 03 01, ending with 80 00 00 00 18. You should be able to find a match within the first or second sector.

The dirty bit is the 3th byte of the hex string that I’ve circled with red line. To set a dirty flag on the drive, just change it to 01. Or change it to 00 if you want to clear the dirty flag.

When it’s done, commit the change to the disk.

There are some situations where your PC needs to run a check disk at startup or reboot. For instance, if you run the chkdsk command on a system drive that is being used to run the Windows OS, it will schedule a disk check to run at the next reboot. Windows might also force an automatic disk check when your computer shuts down unexpectedly.

Checking disk could be a really time-consuming task. If you don’t want Windows to take its time during the next reboot, here is how you can cancel or stop check disk (chkdsk) from running at Startup in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

Part 1: Check if a Manual/Automatic Disk Check is Scheduled

Open a Command Prompt as an administrator in Windows. Type in the following command and press Enter.
chkntfs C:

If there is a chkdsk task scheduled you will receive a response that is similar to “chkdsk has been scheduled manually to run on next reboot.”

If a dirty flag is set on your drive, the system will force an automatic disk check at the next reboot.

Part 2: Stop Check Disk from Running at Startup

The methods of stopping check disk varies depend on how it is scheduled.

Option 1: Cancel the Automatic Disk Check

When the computer boots up with the dirty bit enabled on a drive, you will be asked to check the disk for consistency before Windows is loaded. But sometimes Windows might keep running check disk automatically on every reboot and this could be quite annoying. To stop the automatic disk check, you have to clear the dirty bit by following this tutorial: How to Manually Clear or Set Dirty Bit on Windows Volume

Option 2: Cancel the Scheduled Disk Check

It’s much easier to stop the scheduled disk check. You can cancel the scheduled disk check using either Command Prompt or Registry Editor.

Method 1: Using Command Prompt

Open a Command Prompt as an administrator. If you want to disable a scheduled disk check on C: drive, type the following command and press Enter.
chkntfs /x C:

Method 2: Using Registry Editor

Open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

Double-click on the Multi-String value “BootExecute” in the right pane.

This will open the “Edit Multi-String” window. Click in the Value data box, and then delete all of the lines, except the last one.

When it’s done, click OK and close Registry Editor.

Every time you reinstall Windows, you have to download and install drivers again. But what to do if you don’t remember where you downloaded all your individual drivers from, or you lost the disc provided by your computer vendor? Luckily Windows comes with a built-in command line tool – DISM, which can make a backup of all installed drivers from a working PC.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use the DISM command to backup your device drivers and then restore them in Windows 10, 8 and 7, no need to use any third-party software.

Part 1: Backup Third Party Device Drivers

1. Open the Command Prompt as administrator.
2. Type the following command at the Command Prompt and press Enter.

   dism /online /export-driver /destination:C:\drivers-backup

   Replace the destination path (“C:\drivers-backup“) with the actual folder where you will store the drivers. It can be a folder on a separate partition or USB thumb drive. Make sure that folder is created before you run the above command.

3. It begins to grab the drivers from your system drive and store them in your destination location. When it’s done, your destination folder will be filled with the driver files (.inf, .cat, .sys).

Part 2: Restore & Install Device Drivers

Once you’ve reinstalled Windows, you can manually restore and install the driver from your previous backup. Follow these steps:

1. Open Device Manager. Due to lack of driver installation, some devices have a little yellow question mark over its icon, and they should have more descriptive names.
2. Select a device from the device tree, right-click on it and select “Update Driver Software” from the drop-down menu.

3. In the pop-up window, you will see two options. Click Browse my computer for driver software.

4. Click on Browse to find the location of the driver files you backed up previously and click Next. Make sure the “Include subfolders” option is checked.

5. After a while you’ll see the message saying “Windows has successfully updated your driver software” and now the device name should be displayed correctly.

How do you copy or move a file to another location in Windows? Most of us use the Copy or Cut command from the Context Menu, and then paste the file in the destination location. To speed up the file copying / moving operations, you can add the “Copy To” or “Move To” shortcuts to Windows right-click context menu. This is a hidden feature available in Windows 10/8.1/8/7, which can be enabled using a registry hack.

How to Add “Copy To” & “Move To” Shortcut to Windows Right-Click Menu?

1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

2. Right-click on the ContextMenuHandlers key in the left pane, and then select New -> Key.

   Rename the new subkey from “New Key #1″ to {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}. This will immediately add the “Copy To folder” shortcut to Explorer context menu.

3. If you want to add the “Move To folder” shortcut to Explorer context menu as well, repeat the same steps to create a new subkey named {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}.

4. Now right-click on any folder or file on your computer, you’ll see two extra options (“Copy To folder” and “Move To folder“) have been added to the context menu.

5. After selecting either “Copy To folder” or “Move To folder” from Windows right-click menu, a browse window will open. From there you can select your destination folder, click either the Copy or Move button (depending on your chosen action) and you’re done!

By default, Windows places a small arrow in the bottom left corner of the desktop shortcut icon. The arrow can help you distinguish a shortcut from an application or file. If you are not happy to see the shortcut overlay icon, you can get rid of it completely. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to hide / remove shortcut arrow from desktop icons in Windows 10/8/7.

How to Remove Shortcut Arrow from Desktop Icons in Windows 10 / 8 /7?

1. Open the Registry Editor. When prompted Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your PC? Choose Yes.

2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons

   If the Shell Icons key does not exist you’ll need to create it. To do so right-click the Explorer key in the left pane, then select New > Key and name it Shell Icons.

3. In the right pane of the Shell Icons key, right-click on any empty area, and select New > String Value. Name it 29.

4. Double-click the 29 entry to modify it. In the Value Data box, copy and paste the following:
   %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50

5. Click OK and exit Registry Editor. Reboot your computer and you should no longer see the little arrow in your desktop shortcuts. That’s it!

Problem of Black Square:

Everything worked just fine but after a second shut down, all shortcut icons have a blank square superimposed over the lower left side.

To fix this issue, just open the Registry Editor and navigate to KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons. Double-click the 29 entry in the right pane, leave Value Data empty and click OK.

Reboot your computer and it should work now!

Is there a way to bypass group policy? Group policy settings are messed up? You might be restricted from modifying certain system settings or you’re denied to log on to Windows. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to reset local group policy settings to default, even if you couldn’t log into Windows.

Where Group Policy Settings are Stored

A local Group Policy object exists on every Windows-based computer, including Windows Home edition. The Local Group Policy is divided into two broad categories – Computer Configuration and User Configuration. All system-wide policies are stored under Computer Configuration, while user-specific settings are stored under User Configuration.

The group policy settings are stored in a file named Registry.pol under your system drive.

• Computer-wide settings (Computer Configuration) – %SystemRoot%\System32\ GroupPolicy\Machine\registry.pol
• User-specific settings (User Configuration) – %SystemRoot%\System32\ GroupPolicy\User\registry.pol

Now that we know where the group policy settings are stored, we can reset them to default easily. No need to reinstall Windows when your group policy is messed up.

Method 1: Reset Local Group Policy Settings to Default After Login

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt in Windows.
2. At the Command Prompt, type the following commands one by one, press Enter after each.
   RD /S /Q "C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy"
RD /S /Q "C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"

   This will delete all your group policy settings (Registry.pol) stored on your computer.

3. Now you’ve reset the group policy objects to default. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 2: Reset Local Group Policy Settings to Default without Login

When you’re unable to boot or log into Windows any longer, or you have insufficient privileges to open up Command Prompt, just boot your PC from Windows installation disc and you can reset local group policy to default from outside Windows.

1. Boot your PC with Windows installation DVD. When you comes to the Windows Setup screen, press SHIFT + F10 keys to open the Command Prompt.

2. At the Command Prompt, use the dir command to find the drive where your Windows is installed.

3. Run the following commands one by one. Replace D:\ with the drive letter of your Windows partition.
   
RD /S /Q "D:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy"
RD /S /Q "D:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"

4. When it’s done, quit Windows Setup and take out the DVD, reboot your computer and the local group policies should have been reset to default. When you later make changes with the group policy, Windows will create a new Registry.pol file to store your settings.

Worry about someone copying files off your PC via USB drive? The most common solution is to disable or restrict the usage of USB ports. In this tutorial we’ll show you another way to enable write protection of all USB drives that are connected to your Windows operating system.

How to Enable USB Write Protection in Windows 10, 8 and 7?

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

2. This will open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
3. Right-click on the Control key in the left pane, select New -> Key. Name it as StorageDevicePolicies.

4. Select the StorageDevicePolicies key in the left pane, then right-click on any empty space in the right pane and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it WriteProtect.

5. Double-click on WriteProtect and then change the value data from 0 to 1.

6. The new setting takes effect immediately. Every user who tries to copy / move data to USB devices or format USB drive will get the error message “The disk is write-protected“. We can only open the file in the USB drive for reading, but it’s not allowed to modify and save the changes back to USB drive.

So this is how you can enable write protection to all connected USB drives. If you want to disable write protection at a later time, just open Registry Editor and set the WriteProtect value to 0.

“I am editing local group policies here and would prefer not to edit each machine manually. How do I export the policy, and then import it to other machines? Please help!”

LGPO.exe (Local Group Policy Object Utility) is a small command-line utility released by Microsoft, which allows you to export and import local group policy easily. It’s really convenient if you want to make a backup of local group policy, or import it later on another computer.

This tutorial shows you how to use Microsoft’s command line tool LGPO to export / backup local group policy settings, and import them into another computer.

Download LGPO from Microsoft

Download the LGPO zip archive from Microsoft’s website. Unpack it locally and copy the resulting LGPO.exe file to C:\Windows\System32. Afterwards you can open an elevated Command Prompt for running the LGPO command to automate the management of local group policy.

Export Local Group Policy Settings

To create a backup for local policy policy settings on your local PC, run this command at Command Prompt:
LGPO.exe /b backup_path

A new folder with GPO GUID appears in the target directory. It will contain all local policy settings for this computer. You can restore this backup to your local machine at any time you need it, or import it later into another computer.

Import GPO into Another PC

To restore Local Group Policy settings from the backup, import them by running the following command:
LGPO.exe /g backup_path

Once imported, restart your computer for the local group policy settings to take effect.

Conclusion

This method can help you easily deploy local group policy settings to other computers. As we all know, the Local Group Policy Editor is not present in Windows Home edition so you’re unable to edit the group policy locally. The LGPO utility makes it possible to copy the group policy settings from Windows Pro/Enterprise to Windows Home.

Unable to change screen saver settings? All screen saver options are greyed out or disabled? This problem is caused by a group policy setting that got screen saver disabled. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to fix this problem in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Method 1: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Group Policy

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
   User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization
3. In the right pane, locate the following two policies:
   • Enable screen saver
   • Password protect the screen saver

4. Double-click on each policy to modify, set both of them to Not Configured. Click Apply and then OK.

5. Reboot your computer and you should be able to change the screen saver settings.

Method 2: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Registry Hack

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop

3. Delete both ScreenSaveActive and ScreenSaverIsSecure in the right pane. Reboot your computer and the screen saver settings should be editable from now on.

Screen saver is a nice way to protect your computer from prying eyes when you walk away without locking it. After a short time of inactivity, screen saver will automatically lock the screen and apply password protection. But sometimes screen saver will bother you while playing movie. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to turn on or off screen saver in Windows 10 / 8 /7.

Method 1: Turn On / Off Screen Saver from Screen Saver Settings Dialog

1. Right-click the empty space on your desktop and select Personalize.

2. It now opens up the Personalization settings. Click on Lock screen in the left pane, then click the Screen saver settings link in the right pane.

   If you’re running Windows 7, simply click on the Screen Saver link at the bottom of the window.

3. Once Screen Saver Settings dialog is launched, you can customize the screensaver and change the idle time before the screen saver is activated. If you want to turn off screen saver, just set the screen saver as None and Uncheck the box to On resume, display logon screen.

4. Click Apply and then OK.

Method 2: Turn On / Off Screen Saver Using Group Policy

1. Press Windows key + R and type gpedit.msc and hit Enter. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization. Double-click on the policy labeled “Enable screen saver“.

3. Set it to Disabled if you want to turn off screen saver. After disabling, all the screen saver settings options will be greyed out. If you want to turn on screen saver later, you need to set that option to Enabled.

4. Click OK and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Is there a way to disable certain keyboard shortcuts in Windows? Sometimes or even frequently you might press a hotkey accidentally that can disrupt your productivity. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use the freeware AutoHotkey to disable any certain global hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts) in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

How to Disable Any Shortcut Keys in Windows 10 / 8 /7?

In this example, we’ll demonstrate how to disable the [Windows] + [+] hotkey in Windows 10. Just make a few changes with the AutoHotkey script and you can disable other keyboard shortcuts as well.

1. AutoHotkey is a free, open-source automation and scripting tool for Windows platform. Go to AutoHotkey’s website and download the installer.
2. After the download is complete, double-click the installer. When you’re asked to choose the installation type, select Express Installation.

3. When the installation is complete, click Exit. Now it’s time to create your first script.

4. Right-click any empty space on your desktop (or any directory), and then select New -> AutoHotkey Script from the context menu.

5. Name the script file whatever you like, then open it up with your favorite text editor or NotePad.

6. Place your cursor at the end of the last sentence and press Enter. Copy and paste the following line which tells AutoHotkey to disable the [Windows] + [=] / [+] shortcut key.
   #=::Return

   In this case, the # symbol represents the Windows key. Here’s an example script to disable Alt + Tab, Windows + Tab, Left/Right Windows key:

   ; Disable Alt+Tab
!Tab::Return

; Disable Windows Key + Tab
#Tab::Return

; Disable Left Windows Key
LWin::Return

; Disable Right Windows Key
RWin::Return

7. Save the script file. Right-click on it and select Run Script. Now press the [Windows] + [+] keyboard shortcut and you’ll find nothing happen. This way allows you to temporarily disable your desire shortcut keys by running the script manually.

If you want to permanently disable the shortcut key, you can create a scheduled task to run your AutoHotkey script when your PC starts up.

Virtual hard disk (VHD / VHDX) is a disk image file format for storing the complete contents of a hard drive. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to mount and unmount VHD / VHDX file from Command Prompt and PowerShell.

Method 1: Mount and Unmount VHD/VHDX from Command Prompt

This method allows you to mount and unmount VHD/VHDX file in all versions of Windows, including Windows 10 / 8 / 7 and Windows Server.

1. Open the Command Prompt in Administrator mode.

2. At the Command Prompt, type diskpart and press Enter to access the command-line disk partitioning utility.
3. Before mounting or unmounting virtual disk, you need to specify the location of your vhd/vhdx file. Type the following command and hit Enter.
   select vdisk file="[location of vhd]"

4. You can now mount or mount your VHD/VHDX file using the below commands:

   • To mount VHD/VHDX file, type attach vdisk and press Enter. You can see a new virtual hard drive in your Disk Management and Windows Explorer.

   • To unmount a virtual hard disk, type detach vdisk and press Enter.

Method 2: Mount and Unmount VHD/VHDX from PowerShell

In Windows Server 2016 / 2012 / 2008, you can also mount and unmount VHD/VHDX file using the PowerShell cmdlet. Here’s how:

1. Open the PowerShell as Administrator.
2. When the command-line window opens, you can run the Mount-VHD cmdlet to mount your vhd/vhdx file.
   Mount-VHD –Path "[location of vhd]"
3. To unmount your virtual hard disk, just run the Dismount-VHD cmdlet instead.
   Dismount-VHD –Path "[location of vhd]"

If you get the error message like “Mount-VHD is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet“, you need to add a feature named “Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShell” to your server.

Mouse right-click not working on your desktop or Windows Explorer? Whenever you try to right-click anything on the desktop or in Windows Explorer / Start Menu, you might see no response at all and the context menu won’t open. In this tutorial we’ll show you several methods to fix the problem of right-click context menu not showing / responding in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Method 1: Enable Windows Explorer’s Context Menu Using Group Policy

There is a chance that your Windows Explorer’s context menu is disabled by group policy setting. Here’s how to tweak it:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

2. In the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components, and then click on File Explorer (or Windows Explorer).
3. On the right side of the window, scroll down until you see the setting “Remove Windows Explorer’s Default Context Menu“. Double-click on it to modify.

4. Select either Not Configured or Disabled, and click OK. Reboot your computer and see if the right-click context menu now works.

If you have no access to Local Group Policy Editor, please use this registry hack instead to enable Windows Explorer’s context menu:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, browse down to the following key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Double-click the 32-bit DWORD value NoViewContextMenu on the right hand side, and set it to 0. (it will disable Windows Explorer’s context menu if you set NoViewContextMenu to 1)

Method 2: Remove Third-Party Shell Extensions from Context Menu

The right-click menu not showing issue might be caused by Shell Extensions. To fix it, try to disable all third-party shell extensions from the right-click context menu. This can be done using the software CCleaner.

Head over to the Piriform website and download the free version of CCleaner. After running CCleaner, click the Tools section in the left hand side. On the right hand side, click Startup and then click Context Menu. From there you can disable or delete any third-party shell extensions.

Method 3: System Restore

If you still couldn’t get the right-click context menu to work, restoring your system back to a previous working condition will be your good choice. To learn how to perform a system restore, please check out this article: Recover Unbootable Windows 10 or 8 with Restore Point.

Is it possible to set up a USB Drive to log into Windows without installing any software on the PC? SysKey is a built-in Windows utility that allows you to set up a Startup Key/Password to protect the SAM (Security Accounts Management) database. You can store the Startup Key to USB drive. Whenever the computer boots up, you will have to insert the USB drive to login.

In this tutorial we’ll walk you through how to enable SysKey in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP, and use a USB drive as a key to lock & unlock your computer.

How to Lock & Unlock Windows PC Using SysKey?

Syskey (also known as SAM Lock Tool) was introduced since Windows NT. It’s so old that it only stores the Startup Key on the A: drive. So you need to assign the drive letter A: to your USB flash drive before following the steps below.

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type syskey and press Enter.

2. Click the Update button.

3. Choose the System Generated Password option, and then select Store Startup Key on Floppy Disk and click OK.

4. You will be asked to insert a disk into drive A: to save the Startup Key. Make sure you change the drive letter of your USB drive to A: and click OK.

5. After Windows writes the Startup Key into your USB drive, you’ll receive the message that the disk is now required to start up the system. Open your USB drive and you can see a single file named StartKey.Key, which is 16 bytes big.

6. Every time you computer boots up, you’ll be presented with the Startup Key Disk dialog which requires you to insert your USB drive. Without the USB drive, you’re unable to get past to access Windows login screen.

When you try to change or reset the password of a user account, you might find the checkbox “User must change password at next logon” is greyed out, so you can’t choose this option.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to enable the “User must change password at next logon” option that is greyed out for Windows local or domain user account.

For Windows Local Accounts:

Open the Computer Management. Expand System Tools, then Local Users and Groups, then Users. Right-click on your local account and select Properties from the context menu.

This will open the Properties dialog box. Uncheck the “Password never expires” box and you’ll then find the “User must change password at next logon” option is enabled. Click Apply and then OK.

For Active Directory User Accounts:

In Windows Server with Active Directory installed, open the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in (start->run->dsa.msc). Right-click on your domain user and select Properties.

Click the Account tab. Under the Account options section, uncheck the “Password never expires” checkbox and click OK.

Now you should be able to reset the password and force the domain user to change it at next login.

How to view users logon activity in Windows? Do you need to know the time of the last login? In this tutorial we’ll show you how to deploy a GPO in Windows to display information about previous logons during user logon. This feature works on all computers running Windows 10/8/7, Windows Server2008 or later.

Method 1: Show Previous Logon Information with Group Policy Editor

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run command box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

2. In the Local Group Policy Editor, drill down to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Logon Options.

   On the right panel, find the “Display information about previous logons during user logon” policy and double-click it.

3. Select the Enabled option. Click OK and restart your computer.
   
4. The next time you log into Windows, after entering your password, you will see the following screen that shows you the time of last successful logon and unsuccessful logon attempts. Click OK and it takes you to the desktop.

Method 2: Show Previous Logon Information with Registry Hack

If you have a Windows Home edition, you need to use the following registry hack to enable the “Display information about previous logons during user logon” policy on your computer.

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

2. When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
3. Look for the REG_DWORD value DisplayLastLogonInfo in the right panel. If it doesn’t exist, right-click the empty space and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new value DisplayLastLogonInfo.
4. Double-click DisplayLastLogonInfo and then change the value from 0 to 1. Click OK. (If you don’t want Windows to show previous logon information after sign-in, just change the DisplayLastLogonInfo value back to 0)

5. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer. The next time you log into your Windows account it will display last interactive logon information on the welcome screen.

Windows has built-in native support for ZIP files. When you right-click on a .zip file in Windows Explorer, the “Extract All” option from context menu allows you to extract all contents of the zip file to a folder of your choice.

If the “Extract All” option is missing or overridden by third-party zip/unzip software, you can restore it with a registry hack in Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista.

How to Restore Missing “Extract All” Option to ZIP Right-Click Menu?

This registry hack requires you to log into Windows as administrator. Follow these steps:

1. Download this REG file (add_extract_all_context_menu.reg) and save it to a folder where you can find easily. Tips: the .reg file is actually a text file and you can view the content using NotePad.
2. After the download is complete, double-click on the .REG file. Click Run if prompted by Security Warning.
3. Registry Editor will confirm if you want to import the registry settings in your .reg file, click Yes.

4. Once it’s done, right-click on a .zip file and the “Extract All” option will show up in the Explorer’s right-click context menu.

If you want to remove the “Extract All” option from Explorer’s right-click menu, you can run this .reg file (remove_extract_all_context_menu.reg) instead. That’s all there is to it.

Missing sleep option in the power menu in Windows 10? When you click the Start button, then click the Power icon (or click the arrow next to shut down), you might find the Sleep option is missing or greyed out. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to fix the issue: Sleep option missing in Windows 10 / 8 / 7 Power menu.

Method 1: Enable Sleep Mode in Control Panel

1. Open the Control Panel in Large icons view. Click Power Options.

2. Click the “Choose what the power button does” link on the left side of the window.

3. Click the link that says “Change settings that are currently unavailable“.

4. Scroll down to the Shutdown settings section. Now check the Sleep checkbox and click Save changes button.

Method 2: Enable Sleep Mode Using Group Policy

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor. Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> File Explorer.
2. On the right side panel, double-click on Show sleep in the power options menu settings in the list as shown.

3. In the next window that opens up, select either Enabled or Not Configured and then click OK.

   This would add the Sleep option in the Power Options menu in Windows.

Method 3: Turn on Connected Standby (InstantGo)

InstantGo (previously called Connected Standby) is a smart feature in Windows 10/8 that allows your PC to maintain network connectivity when your screen is off in sleep mode. However, Any attempt to disable InstantGo may likely disable the regular Standby/Sleep mode too, as most devices supporting Connected Standby does not support traditional sleep options.

If you’ve disabled InstantGo, you have to turn it on again. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power
2. On the right side pane, double-click CsEnabled and set its value to 1.

3. When it’s done, close the Registry Editor and reboot your computer.

Method 4: Install the Latest Display Driver

If your system is using the generic display driver, the Sleep option might also disappear from the Power Options menu. You need to download and install latest display driver from the manufacturers website.

Unable to change Windows password? When you try to change or set a Windows password from Control Panel, you might get a popup message saying “Windows cannot change the password“.

If you’re using Windows 10, open the Settings app and you might also find the option to change/reset password is greyed out.

In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to fix the issue “Windows cannot change the password” in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Fix Error: “Windows cannot Change the Password” in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box, then type compmgmt.msc and press Enter to open the Computer Management.
2. Now, you can expand Local Users and Groups -> Users. In the right side, right-click on the user account which is not allowing you to change its password, then select Properties from the context menu.

3. You need to uncheck a box “User cannot change password“. Click Apply and then OK.

   Now you should be able to change or set a Windows password in Control Panel.

System Cooling Policy is missing in Windows? System Cooling Policy lets you change the cooling mode of your system. If you couldn’t see the System Cooling Policy option under the Power Options of Control Panel, you need to tweak the registry settings. In this article we’ll show you how to restore the missing System Cooling Policy option in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Fix: System Cooling Policy Missing in Power Options

1. Open Notepad. Copy and paste the code below into Notepad, then save it as a .reg file.

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\94D3A615-A899-4AC5-AE2B-E4D8F634367F]
"Attributes"=dword:00000002

2. Double-click on the .reg file to import the settings into the registry. Click Yes when asked to confirm.

3. Open the Control Panel and access the Power Options, you’ll see that the System Cooling Policy is shown under the.Processor power management node.

If you want to remove the System Cooling Policy option again, repeat the steps above to import the following registry settings.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\94D3A615-A899-4AC5-AE2B-E4D8F634367F]
"Attributes"=dword:00000001

That’s it!