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Karen wants to know the name of the uninstaller we recommend
I have forgotten the name of the uninstaller you suggested. I had to do a clean install of Windows 10 and would like to use the app again, but the name escapes me. Thanks for all the great suggestions and tips you mail daily. Karen

Our answer
Hi Karen. Thanks so much.

We currently recommend Geek Uninstaller Free. Be careful when you download Geek; make sure to click the "Zip" download in the box labeled Free. My current favorite is HiBit Uninstaller (Free).  It's not only an uninstaller, it also has a lot of useful Windows utilities included.  Revo Uninstaller has a free version, but I've not used it in a long time. Also, if you have Reg Organizer (not free) installed, it has a great uninstaller included.

We hope this helps you, Karen.

Carole lost all sound on her PC after an update
I have lost the sound on my pc. I think it has happened after the latest update. The speakers tested okay. Please help. Your info newsletters are so good. I have followed you for years.

Our answer
Hi Carole. Losing sound on a PC can be caused by dozens of things and can be difficult to diagnose and fix. It could be the sound card, it could be a driver or driver, it could be many things.

So, let's try 2 simple fixes before getting into panic mode.

1. Turn off your computer - all power off - for five minutes. Power on your computer and start it up. Check your sound.

2. If you still have no sound...

--- Right-click the Start button and click "Settings".

--- In Settings click on "System" then "Sound".

--- In the Sound settings dialog - under "Sound" make sure the volume slider is turned to 100 and check to see if you hear any sound.

--- If not, under the volume slider you'll see a button labeled "Troubleshoot". Click that button and follow the instructions. Windows 10 now uses AI to help troubleshoot problems. I have used the troubleshooter to repair sound on a couple of computers, so I know it does work. And the new troubleshooters in Windows 10 use artificial intelligence (AI) to help solve problems.



Please let us know if this helps you, Carole.
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Carole wrote back: "Thank you so much for your help, TC. Everything is now in order. Carole."

Sharon says all of a sudden she has a weather widget on her taskbar.
All of a sudden, I have a weather widget on my taskbar. I don't recall putting it there or wanting it. How do I get rid of it?

Our answer
Hi Sharon. Microsoft has been rolling out the "News and interests" widget via Windows update for the last month or two.

You can turn it off, but you can't uninstall it.

To turn off (or modify) the “News and interests” widget in the Windows 10 taskbar do this:

1. Right-click on an empty area of your taskbar.

2. Select “News and interests” from the popup menu and click on “Turn off” (see screenshot below).

That’s all there is to it. You can turn the News and interest taskbar widget on or off, select “icon only”, “Show on hover” and reduce the frequency of updates, all by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting “News and interests”.

John wants to know why two computers in the same house show different connection speeds
Earlier in the year you posted a fast way to check internet speeds on Speedtest.net. I have a desktop computer and my speed test was 78 mbps. I tested my wife's laptop right along mine and it only registered 40 mbps. Shouldn't they be the same? I tested both on Ookla. The ping and upload were the same, but the downloads speeds were different. Thanks John

Our answer
Hi John. We don't use Ookla much anymore, it has too many ads. We now use Fast www.fast.com now. It's reliable and has zero ads.

That being said, every computer has its own hardware including wireless cards, Ethernet cables, network cards, etc. Each computer is configured differently. And unless your computer and hers have exactly the same hardware and software, they are going to show varying speeds. If both are connected via Wi-Fi and are not exactly the same distance from the router, you're going to have variances. It would be surprising if two computers showed exactly the same download speed.

The hardware, type of connection, and distance from the router (if Wi-Fi) all affect the speed of the connection.

One more thing, a ping just shows the route from the computer to the destination server. I'm surprised even your pings and upload spends are the same, although upload speeds are usually much slower than download speeds anyway.

I have two computers - both connected by Wi-Fi and one shows 81 mbps down and 13 mbps up and my other laptop approximately the same distance away from the router shows 35 mbps down, 10 up. My Android smartphone shows 93 mbps download and 10 mbps upload.

A lot of things come into play when considering connection speeds. They'll even vary from one test to the next.

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Irene wants to know how to enlarge the text on her computer
How can I enlarge my text on my computer?

Our answer
Hi Irene. We have written several articles about enlarging text on Windows 10 and enlarging text in programs like browsers and emails. The following two articles should cover everything you'd want to know about enlarging text on your computer.

How to make text bigger on Windows 10.

How to instantly make text larger in email and on the web.

That covers it all.

We hope this helps you, Irene.

Diane wants to uninstall Microsoft Edge
I recently bought a new Lenovo computer. I installed Chrome, because I like it. On startup, an Edge page takes over, trying to get me to install photos, etc. How do I uninstall Microsoft Edge? It is greyed out when I go to the Uninstall page. Thank you in advance. Dianne

Our answer
Hi Diane. You cannot uninstall Edge from Windows 10. Here's what Microsoft says:

"Microsoft Edge is the web browser recommended by Microsoft and is the default web browser for Windows. Because Windows supports applications that rely on the web platform, our default web browser is an essential component of our operating system and can't be uninstalled."

Now, I'm sure that if you searched hard enough you could find someone who will say you can remove Edge manually, but I would not chance ruining Windows by attempting it.

Let's try to get rid of the notifications from Edge. I suggest you right-click on the start button and click Settings. In Settings >System > Notifications & actions... turn the switch next to "Get notifications from apps and other senders" off.

Next, open Edge and click on the three horizontal dots icon at the top right to open Edge Settings.

From the Edge Settings menu, click on "Cookies and site permissions".
Scroll down until you see "Site Permissions / Notifications".
Turn the switch next to "Ask before sending (recommended)" Off.

Here are some screenshots to guide you.



A closer view of the "Site permissions / Notifications" dialog.

Once you turn the switch off, you'll see this...

That should keep Edge quiet.

Candace wants to know about locking her computer
Hi TC. Is there a way I can lock my computer if I leave it for a while? If I lock my computer via Windows Key plus L, do I unlock it using my Microsoft password?

Our answer
Hi Candace. When you lock your computer using Windows Key + L it stays locked. To unlock your computer, you need to type in your PIN or password. We hope this helps you, Candace.

Bil wants to help his wife upgrade Microsoft Office
Hello. My wife has a Laptop (Lenovo) running Windows 10 version 2004. My issue is she is running Microsoft Office Version 2007. I know it's very old. I want to bring her up to date with Microsoft Office 2019.

My main dilemma is that she currently runs under POP3, and Virgin Media is basically IMAP, which I would like to put her on as I feel it is a more up to date and reliable email protocol. What sort of issues if any will I find when installing Microsoft Office 2019? Can I do it safely without any issues? I will naturally back up backup before I start.

Your newsletters are brilliant, and I have learnt so much from other reader's questions - keep up the good work! Best regards, Bil

Our answer
Hi Bil. Thanks for our nice comments. All the documents you've created with Office 2007 would be accessible when you switch to Office 2019. Just to be on the safe side, if you're not currently using OneDrive, make sure you back up the folder C:\Users\Your Wife's Username, just in case. That folder contains all the important files and settings and data on the computer. You should uninstall Office 2007 before installing Office 2019 (or Microsoft 365 - more about that later).

And according to Microsoft...

"...Uninstalling Office 2007 will not affect or delete your files. After removing Office 2007, you can proceed to install Office 2019 and you will be able to open your files just fine in the newer versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint..."

As for Outlook, Microsoft says...

"If Office 2007 is installed on the PC that Office 2019 is being installed on, there is nothing for you to do/export/migrate as installing 2019 will use the original OL profile and its data files, all will be as before, except now in 2019. You need to uninstall 2007..."

After you upgrade Outlook, you'll need to manually change the server settings from POP3 to IMAP.

Microsoft 365

We recommend (and use) Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) as it costs less, and you'll never have to deal with an outdated version of Office again. It contains all the usual Office programs - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, etc. You can get more information about Microsoft 365 here. We hope this helps you, Bil.

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How to Create Zip Folders in Windows 10 Without Using Any 3rd-party Software
Windows 10 (all supported versions)

Ever since Windows XP, Windows has had a built-in compression (or zip) utility.  While not nearly as full-featured as some third-party compression utilities, such as like 7-zip, the Windows compression (zip) utility lets you create zipped files and it’s very easy to do.

Why would you ever need to create a zip file? What if you have 20 great pictures from your vacation to Italy. And let's say you want to share them with a friend by email. If you were the friend,  would you rather receive a zip file with 20 pictures in it or an email with 20 pictures attached? Enough said.

You can create a zip file from a folder on your computer without installing any 3rd-party programs and here’s how:

Chose any folder on your computer. For example, let’s say you have pictures you took last Christmas in a folder in your Pictures folder. You can zip up your Christmas pictures folder this way:

Right-click on the folder you want to zip.

Click on “Send to” then choose “Compressed (zipped) folder” from the menu which appears”. That’s it. The zipped file/folder will be created in the same location where the original files/folders are located.

Below you’ll see I created 3 test folders.  I added some pictures to each folder. Then for this tip, I compressed (zipped) the folder I called Test Folder 3. See? The original folder remains untouched, but all the files in Test Folder 3 are zipped inside the Test Foler3 zipped file.

You can rename your compressed folder the same way you rename any other folder.

Notice above that I renamed Test Folder3.zip to Wallpaper-2018.zip.

And one more thing. If you forgot to add some pictures to the folder before you zipped it, no problem. Here’s how to add additional files to a zipped file.

Just drag and drop any file that you want to add to the zipped file, and it will automatically be included in the zip file.

When you drag and drop a file to the zip file, it will be added to the zip file without changing or removing the original file.

Now you know how to create compressed (zip) files in Windows 10 without using any 3rd-party software. 

Managing Extensions in Chrome
Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (all supported versions)
and Google Chrome browser installed

If you are having problems with Chrome, you should first check the extensions you've installed. Some extensions can cause problems with Chrome. If you feel an extension is causing problems with Chrome, you have two easy options: You can disable the extension or you can remove it. Disabling the extension retains the extension but stops it from running. You can if you choose, re-enable it should you want to do so. If you remove the extension, it will be completely removed from Chrome. However, you still have the option to reinstall the extension in the future should you ever decide you need it.

First, let’s open extensions in Chrome. Click the 3-vertical dots icon in the top right corner and click “More tools” > “Extensions”…



When the Extensions dialog opens, you’ll see all of your extensions. If you want to disable an extension, look for the on/off switch and slide it to the left (off).

In the screenshot above, all extensions are turned on. You can tell by the switches. Slide the switch to the left and it will turn the extension off – but not remove the extension from Chrome. As you can see by the screenshot below, it’s easy to tell when the extension is turned off. When you slide the switch to the left to turn off an extension, the switch becomes gray and white… as you can see below.



You can turn the extension back on by sliding the switch to the right. When the switch is on it will be colored blue.

If you no longer want an extension and want to remove it from Chrome, just click the “Remove” button. You’ll be asked to confirm that you want to remove the extension. Once you confirm your action the extension will be removed.

So, now you know how to turn extensions on and off, and also how to remove extensions from Chrome.

The Town Blacksmith

It was as if time was frozen. Fragments of what once was seemed now to be shards of broken glass that lay scattered all around me.

I pounded on the anvil, and large plumes of smoke rose from the forge as sweat rolled down my face.

I reached for the tongs and pulled the glowing shapeless iron mass from the fire and pounded the malleable lump into a horseshoe.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, I walked outside into the light, away from the hot smoky shop.

I watched as carriages, with large wooden wheels clattered by on the worn cobblestone streets.

She wore a blue cotton dress that billowed in the wind, her carriage drawn by horses prancing proudly in front of her as if they knew their passenger was one of immense importance; one of a different ilk than I, the town blacksmith.

I am a common working man, a nobody, a singular, forgettable man whose footprint upon this Earth will be as insignificant as most of the commonfolk. I’ve resigned myself to that fate. It is my fate and I’ve accepted it.

Today she was alone, her husband, the banker, had fallen ill...

Please read the rest of this essay here.

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