User Account Control is an important security feature in the latest versions of Windows. While we’ve explained how to disable UAC in the past, you shouldn’t disable it – it helps keep your computer secure. If you reflexively disable UAC when setting up a computer, you should give it another try – UAC and the Windows software ecosystem have come a long way from when UAC was introduced with Windows Vista....

Thankfully, those files aren’t actually deleted. The update just moved them to another user account’s folder. This is better than the time Microsoft actually deleted people’s files with the October 2018 Update. Update: Some Windows 10 users have now reported the update did completely delete their files. Why the Bug Appears to Delete Files Some people report that their desktop files are “deleted” after installing the update. Their taskbars and Start menus are also reset to the default settings....

Windows 10 Home now forces you to sign in with a Microsoft account—unless you disconnect from the internet first. Microsoft has always wanted you to sign in with a Microsoft account, but now it’s going even further. The option to sign in with a classic local Windows account was always rather hidden behind an “Offline Account” option. Now, we’ve confirmed that it’s vanished entirely from Windows 10’s setup process....

The Roku Ultra is the best streaming device that Roku sells, with a feature-packed remote and more connectivity options than other Roku players. It’s now on sale as Cyber Monday continues. Most of Roku’s cheaper players now support 4K, so connectivity is the main selling point for the Ultra. There’s an integrated headphone jack on the remote, so you can listen to movies and shows through wired headphones. The remote is also rechargeable over USB, and has the same TV power and volume controls as most other Roku remotes....

Microsoft has reportedly been working on an updated mail client for desktop platforms, based on the company’s Outlook service. Now we have our first look at the app in action. Windows Central shared images on Friday of the in-development Outlook email client running on Windows. Even though Microsoft’s Outlook email service has offered Android and iPhone/iPad apps for years now, there has never been a desktop app except the Outlook application included in Microsoft Office and the Microsoft 365 subscription....

Windows users can click the clock on the taskbar to see a calendar, which is perfect if you need to know what day of the week June 17th is. Macs don’t offer this feature, at least not out-of-the-box. But there are programs that can add one. Our favorite free option is a program called Itsycal. It’s lightweight, shows your Calendar appointments, and even supports keyboard shortcuts for quick browsing. Here’s how to set it up, and even customize it to replace the clock on your menu bar....

The latest macOS update, 10.10.2, has an interesting “feature.” Click the battery icon and you’ll notice that the “Time Remaining” estimate is completely gone. Even worse, there’s no option anywhere to bring it back. RELATED: Why Is My Battery Estimate Never Accurate? Apple, for their part, claims the estimates were never accurate, and were prompting inaccurate complaints about poor battery life. Critics say Apple is just trying to obscure actually poor battery life....

By default, the Windows Control Panel defaults to the last view you used—Category, Large Icons, or Small Icons. If you prefer, you can make it always open to a particular view using a quick Registry or Group Policy hack. RELATED: How to Access the Old Control Panel in Windows 10 or Windows 8.x While Windows 8 and 10 brought new interfaces for most of your settings, the venerable Control Panel is still alive and well....

The Nest Cam can record in full 1080p high definition, but if your internet connection can’t handle that kind of streaming—or if you simply don’t need something that crystal clear—here’s how to change the video quality of your Nest Cam. Update: Nest’s mobile app has been updated, changing the steps required to adjust your security camera’s settings. Here’s how to improve your Nest camera’s quality and bandwidth settings. RELATED: How to Improve Your Nest Camera’s Quality and Bandwidth Settings...

Run the date command to see this information. It prints the current date and time for your timezone: The default formatting looks a little goofy. Why isn’t the year printed after the month and day, instead of being tagged on at the end, behind the timezone? Have no fear: If it’s control over the format of the output you want, date delivers it in spades. There are more than 40 options you can pass to date to instruct it to format its output precisely as you’d like....

You can use your Android phone to listen to tunes, watch videos, and take photos, but in order to get those files on–or off–your device, sometimes you have to plug it into your desktop PC. When things work right, it’s great, but it can be frustrating if your device isn’t detected. Normally, when you plug in your Android device, Windows will recognize it as an MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) device and quietly mount it....

The Nest Cam can capture audio whenever it’s recording video so you can hear what’s going on. However, if you don’t need audio, you can disable it to save just a little bit of bandwidth and data. RELATED: How to Set Up the Nest Cam There are plenty of instances where having the Nest Cam’s microphone on can be beneficial, especially since it can send you alerts based on noise....

When you install the Windows 10 Creators Update, you may notice Command Prompt missing from the Power Users menu. Here’s how to get it back. The Creators Update brings lots of changes, including replacing Command Prompt with PowerShell on the Power Users menu when you press Windows+X or right-click the Start menu. While PowerShell is great, we get that many people prefer sticking with Command Prompt—especially if you only use it occasionally and it just isn’t worth learning a new tool....

When you take a photo, if the lens or camera sensor isn’t completely clean, you’ll probably see dust spots in your image. They’re especially noticeable if you’ve shot something that’s a single flat area of color, for example, the sky in a landscape. RELATED: How to Remove Acne and Other Blemishes in Photoshop If you’re using Photoshop or GIMP, you can remove dust spots just like you would any other blemish....

If you’re rocking Android on your wrist, there’s a chance you’ve learned to rely on its convenience pretty heavily. And if you’re in that position, then you probably also know how annoying it can be if your watch runs out of juice in the middle of the day. Fortunately, there are a handful of simple tweaks you can make to increase your watch’s battery life. RELATED: How to Set Up, Tweak, and Use Your Android Wear Watch...

You’re working on an important document when Windows updates itself and informs you it’s going to reboot. Instead of getting mad and shouting at your computer that you can’t reboot yet, you can now schedule a more convenient time for the computer to reboot after updates. Update: As of the Anniversary Update, this feature has been removed. The new Active Hours feature is now the closest thing to scheduling updates in Windows 10....

Many questions come about when one ponders their final days. Where will we go? Is there really an afterlife? What will happen to my Facebook account? Okay, so that last one’s probably low on the priority list, but it is something to think about. It’s not a pleasant issue to deal with, but it’s necessary. When you die, your online legacy lives on. The only question is: is that how you really want to be remembered?...

People have long wanted to transfer images to their PlayStation consoles, but with the recent update that (finally) allows custom wallpapers, there has never been a better time to know how to do this. The unfortunate thing here is that there’s no straightforward way to simply transfer images to the PlayStation, so a workaround in necessary. There are a couple of different ways of going about getting images to your PlayStation 4 or Pro, and we’ll outline them both here....

You should use two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible, and social media apps such as Instagram are no exception. Instagram allows you to use one-time passwords as the second factor of authentication, and here’s how you can easily enable that. There are two ways to enable two-factor authentication on Instagram: Either by using an authenticator app or by receiving text messages. We’ll be showing you how to secure your Instagram account using both methods, but we should mention that Instagram recommends using an authenticator app....

If you don’t use Smart Lock to automatically unlock your Chromebook when your phone is nearby, it can get pretty annoying to type your password every single time you want to log in. Fortunately, there’s a tweak that allows you to use a PIN instead of a password, making the unlocking process much faster. Go ahead and jump into the Settings menu by clicking the system tray and selecting the cog icon....