Saturday, September 5, 2015

How to Get Classic Calculator Back in Windows 10


Microsoft has changed many things in Windows 10. Some of those changes are great and some of them are not quite that good. One of the changes that has users scratching their heads is the "update" of the calculator app. The new app is stylish and more touch friendly, but something's missing. I liked the old, classic, calc.exe and I want it back. Here's how to do it.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

How to Disable Aero Shake in Windows 10


Aero Shake is a feature that debuted in Windows 7, and it has been aggravating me ever since. It allows the user to minimize all the other open windows on the desktop by grabbing and shaking one of the windows. For some reason, this feature has been carried over to Windows 8 and now Windows 10. If you're annoyed by Aero Shake like I am, here's how to turn it off.

Monday, July 13, 2015

How to Disable the Write Protection on Dell Windows 8 USB Recovery Sticks - ROUND 3


Dell has been including the option to receive recovery media on a read-only 8GB USB flash drive for several months now. Many of us have a bunch of these drives and have been searching for ways to disable the write protection on these drives so they can be used for something else. Here's the solution for the drives currently shipping with Dell PCs.

Monday, June 15, 2015

How to Setup NIC Teaming in Windows Server 2012 R2


NIC Teaming is a new feature in Windows Server 2012 that allows multiple network adapters to be aggregated for load balancing and failover. Let's take a brief look at NIC Teaming and walk through an example of how to set it up.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

How to Disable the Write Protection on Dell Windows 8 USB Recovery Sticks - ROUND 2


If you've purchased a PC from Dell lately you might have noticed that there is an option to get the recovery media, specifically Windows 8.1, on an 8GB USB flash drive. After collecting a few of these, you may start asking yourself if you can use these for something other than recovery media. This is about when you discover that the the freaking things are read only. Here's how to reformat the newer, "Blue Label", Dell USB Recovery drives.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

How to Install Hyper-V Manager on Windows 8



When remotely managing virtual machines on a Hyper-V server, the client version should match the server version to keep pace with the changes and updates to Hyper-V. Using Windows 8 to manage Hyper-V 2012, for example, results in access to the full feature set but provides only a reduced set of Hyper-V 2012 R2 features. On the other hand, Hyper-V Manager on Windows 7 may not be able to connect to a Hyper-V 2012 R2 server at all. Here's how to set up Hyper-V manager on Windows 8 or 8.1.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

How to Setup Data Deduplication on Windows Server 2012


Data can grow at an alarming rate and there are large amounts of redundant data stored on the world’s file servers. Software manufactures have seen the need for data deduplication and have created systems that reduce the space used on disk arrays while maintaining the integrity of the data. Starting with Windows Server 2012, Microsoft includes data deduplication with its server operating system. Data Deduplication can save a ton of storage space in the right environment. Let’s look at how to set it up and monitor the results.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

How to Setup Hyper-V on Server 2012


Microsoft's virtualization environment, Hyper-V, has been growing up right before our eyes. Hyper-V for Windows Server 2012 has a number of new and improved features that bring it up to date and help it compete with its rivals like VMWare, et al. Let's take a look at setting up Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012.