Windows 11 first look

by Irv Krick | Jul 3, 2021 | Windows 11

Beautiful, fresh, calm visuals and sounds

From rounded corners to the centering of content and new animations, this new visual design extends across multiple areas of Windows 11. Here are some key highlights that you will see after installing this build:

Start with pinned apps and cloud-powered “Recommendations”.

Start: Start puts everything you need on your PC at the center with a set of pinned apps and a cloud powered “Recommended” section that shows your recently opened files from both your PC and across your devices like your smartphone with OneDrive.
Taskbar: Taskbar is also centered with beautiful new animations. Try pinning, launching, switching, minimizing, and rearranging your apps on Taskbar to see the beautiful new animations.
Notification Center & Quick Settings: The lower right corner of Taskbar has a button for Notification Center (WIN + N) and Quick Settings (WIN + A). Notification Center is the home for all your notifications in the OS and a full-month calendar view. Quick Settings is the place for you to manage common PC settings quickly and easily like Volume, Brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Focus Assist. Directly above your Quick Settings, you will see media playback controls when playing music or videos in Microsoft Edge or streaming music in apps like Spotify.
File Explorer: We made File Explorer modern with a clean look and brand-new command bar. We have also introduced beautifully designed context menus when right-clicking in File Explorer or on your desktop. App developers will be able to extend the new context menus. We are working to publish documentation for app developers on how to do this with their apps soon.
Themes: In addition to brand new default themes for Windows 11 for both dark and light mode, it also includes four additional themes so you can make Windows feel the way you want it to. All the new themes were designed to complement the centered Taskbar. We have also added new contrast themes for people with visual impairments such as light sensitivity. To change your theme, just right-click on your desktop and choose “Personalize”.
Sounds: The sounds in Windows 11 have been designed to be lighter and more atmospheric. They are also slightly different depending on whether your Windows theme is in dark mode or light mode. The startup sound for Windows also makes its return in which you’ll hear when your PC boots up to the Lock screen and is ready to go for you to login.

Widgets

Widgets bring you closer to information you both want and need. Just click on the widgets icon on the Taskbar, swipe from the left using touch, or hit WIN + W on your keyboard, and your widgets slide out from the left over your desktop. You can personalize your experience by adding or removing widgets, re-arranging, resizing, and customizing the content. The set of widgets we provide currently focus on your calendar, weather, local traffic, your Microsoft To Do lists, your photos from OneDrive, sports and esports, your stock watchlist, and tips.

Widgets in Windows 11.

In addition to your Widgets, you can stay up to date with an integrated feed of personalized news with the latest content from over 4,500 global brands like, The New York Times or BBC. The news feed will adapt to show stories of interest to you, and you can tune it to see more of the content you care about.

Multitasking

Increase your productivity and creativity with these new multitasking features:

Animated gif showing Snap layouts with 3 app windows.

Snap layouts: Just hover your mouse over a window’s maximize button to see available snap layouts, then click on a zone to snap the window. You’ll then be guided to snap windows to the rest of the zones within the layout with guided snap assist. For smaller screens, you’ll be offered a set of 4 snap layouts. You can also invoke the snap layouts flyout with the WIN + Z keyboard shortcut.
Snap groups: Snap groups are a way to easily switch back to your snapped windows. To try this out, snap together at least 2 app windows on your screen. Hover over one of these open apps on the Taskbar to find the snap group and click to quickly switch back.
Desktops: Access your Desktops via Task View (WIN + Tab) on the Taskbar. You can reorder and customize the backgrounds for each of your Desktops. You can also mouse-over Task View on the Taskbar for quick access to your existing Desktops or to create a new one!

The new Microsoft Store

With today’s build, you will be able to try out an early preview of the new Microsoft Store. We’ll continue to build and refine the Store. This build reveals a first look at the Store’s all-new design; in the coming months you’ll see them add other features.

Microsoft Store Preview on Windows 11.

Docking

When you undock your laptop, the windows on your external monitor will be minimized. When you re-dock your computer to your monitor, Windows puts everything back exactly where you had it before! You can find the settings for these features under System > Display > Multiple Displays.

Animated gif showing the docking/undocking experience in Windows 11.

Input (touch, inking and voice)

Touch Keyboard personalization: To personalize your Windows experience, we have designed 13 new themes for the touch keyboard including three hardware matching themes that match the Surface colors. We have also built in a brand-new theme engine that allows you to create a fully customized theme including background images. Based on your feedback we have also introduced a setting to resize the touch keyboard.

Custom theme on Windows 11’s touch keyboard.

Voice typing launcher: Our new voice typing launcher is a quick and easy way for you to start voice typing in a selected text field. It is off by default, but you can turn it on within the voice typing settings (WIN + H to start voice typing) and then place it anywhere you would like on your screen.
Improved Touch Gestures: Check out these new on-screen touch gestures for you to easily switch among apps and desktops with smooth transitions. The gestures are like the touchpad gestures but have thoughtful improvements designed specifically for touch. Here’s a list you can try:

Three-finger gestures:

1. Swiping left/right – quickly switch to the last used app window.
2. Swiping down – go back to the desktop (if you follow it with a swiping up, you can restore the app windows).
3. Swiping up – open Task View to browse all app windows and desktops.

Four-finger gestures:

1. Swiping left/right – switch to the previous/next desktop
2. Swiping up/down – (same with three-finger ones).
Pen menu: If you’re using a digital pen, you can open pen menu by clicking the pen icon at the lower right on your Taskbar. (If the pen icon isn’t there, you can enable it by right-clicking on Taskbar and going to Taskbar settings to enable it. By default, it contains two apps which can be customized by clicking the gear button and selecting “edit pen menu”. In the flyout, you can add up to four of your favorite drawing or writing apps in the pen menu, to open them quickly when you’re using your pen.
Language/Input switcher: You can quickly switch between additional languages and keyboards via a switcher a switcher will show up at the lower right on your taskbar next to Quick Settings. You can also use the keyboard shortcut WIN + [Spacebar] to toggle between input methods. To add additional languages and keyboards, go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region.

Display improvements

Dynamic Refresh Rate: Dynamic Refresh Rate allows your PC to automatically boost the refresh rate when you’re inking or scrolling (which means you’ll get a smoother experience) and lower when you don’t need it so that your laptop can save power. You can try out DRR on your laptop via Settings > System > Display > Advanced display, and under “Choose a refresh rate” select a “Dynamic” refresh rate. DRR is being rolled out to select laptops running the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds and only on laptops with the right display hardware and graphics driver will have the feature available. For more details, check out this blog post.
Other display improvements coming in Windows 11: Auto HDR, Content adaptive brightness control (CABC) disabling, HDR support to color managed apps, and HDR certification.

Settings

We designed Settings to be beautiful, easy to use and inclusive of all your Microsoft experiences in Windows 11. Settings has left-handed navigation that persists between pages, and we have added breadcrumbs as you navigate deeper into Settings to help you know where you are and not lose your place. Settings pages are also all new, with new hero controls at the top that highlight key information and frequently used settings for you to adjust as you need. These new hero controls span across several category pages like System, Bluetooth & devices, Network & Internet, Personalization, Accounts, and Windows Update. We also have added expandable boxes for pages with a lot of settings.

The new Power & battery settings page showing battery usage patterns.

The new Windows 11 setup experience

The Windows 11 setup experience (often referred to as the “out of box experience” or OOBE for short) has been redesigned with brand new colorful animated iconography and more modern light theme. This new setup experience is designed to build excitement for Windows 11 right from the moment you first turn on a new Windows 11 PC for the very first time. Based on your feedback, we have added the ability to name your PC during the setup experience.

The beginning of the setup experience for Windows 11.

After running through the setup experience, the Get Started app is a new first run experience app that will help you quickly get setup on a new PC. Currently, Get Started has a limited number of pages but over time, we plan to add in more content to further educate and assist people new to Windows 11.

The new Get Started app will help you get started with a new PC.

For Insiders wanting to go the extra mile and try this experience out, you can reset your PC by navigating to Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC and choose to “Remove everything”. This will wipe your machine, so we recommend you back up your files before resetting your device.

Wi-Fi 6E Support

We’re excited to bring Wi-Fi 6E to the Windows ecosystem, enabling our Windows OEMs, Wireless IHVs and ecosystem partners to deliver leading edge Wi-Fi on new Windows PCs. Wi-Fi 6E is a revolutionary advancement that enables up to 3x more Wi-Fi bandwidth and will transform Wi-Fi experiences through faster speeds, greater capacity, reduced latency, and better security. Many OEMs are already shipping Wi-Fi 6E capable Windows PCs and the first Wi-Fi 6E capable access points and mesh devices are also commercially available.

Once you’re on this Insider Preview build with a Wi-Fi 6E capable PC and driver, along with a capable Wi-Fi router, it’ll just work.

You’ll need a PC that’s equipped with a Wi-Fi 6E device such as the Intel AX210™ and a capable driver. To obtain the latest driver from Intel, see the following guidance: How to Enable Wi-Fi 6E/ 6GHz Band Using Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX210…

You’ll also need a Wi-Fi 6E capable router, such as one of these:

Once you’re connected to your Wi-Fi 6E router, go to Windows Settings / Network & Internet / Wi-Fi and choose Adapter properties to see if you’re connected to the 6GHz network band. You can also find the Band from the command line by entering: “netsh wlan show int”.

Note that if you use the mobile hotspot in Windows or Wi-Fi Direct, these features continue to support Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) only.

Windows 11 + Office

Coinciding with the release of today’s Windows 11 Insider Preview build, the Office Team is releasing a preview for Office Insiders of their Office apps with a new design that will shine on Windows 11! Designed based on your feedback, the new design gives you a natural and coherent experience across all your Office apps. Learn how to be an Office Insider and try the more intuitive Office here.

The new visual design of Office on Windows 11.

Additionally, for Windows Insiders on ARM PCs – you can also try out the 64-bit version of Office for Windows on ARM. For details, see this blog post here.

Inviting you to the Inside Windows 11 website

We are bringing you behind the scenes to learn about why and how we built Windows 11. You will be able to meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey. We will be posting new inside stories on a bi-weekly basis to share how we made Windows 11 happen.

Watch one of the stories we have that shows how Windows 11 was crafted to feel completely new, yet immediately familiar.

Changes and Improvements

They are providing estimates for how long a restart for updates would take. When your PC is pending reboot for a quality update, you will be able to see estimates on your power menu under Start, in restart notifications, on the Windows Update Settings page and inside the Windows Update icon that shows up at the lower right of Taskbar. This feature is rolling out to a subset of Insiders in the Dev Channel at first so not everyone will see this right away.
Some Insiders will have the ability to right click on ‘Recommended’ on Start to refresh the content. This is rolling out to a subset of Insiders at first. If you get this experience, let us know what you think.

Anti-Virus. Is Windows Defender good enough

by Irv Krick | Jun 30, 2021 | Windows 10

What’s the Best Antivirus for Windows 10? (Is Windows Defender Good Enough?) Windows 10 won’t hassle you to install an antivirus like Windows 7 did. Since Windows 8, Windows now includes a built-in free antivirus called Windows Defender. But is it really the best for protecting your PC–or even just good enough? Windows Defender was originally known as Microsoft Security Essentials back in the Windows 7 days when it was offered as a separate download, but now it’s built right into Windows and it’s enabled by default. Many people have been trained to believe that you should always install a third-party antivirus, but that isn’t the best solution for today’s security problems, like ransomware. So What’s the Best Antivirus? Please Don’t Make Me Read All This What you need is a great team: Malwarebytes + Windows Defender We definitely recommend you read the entire article so you fully understand why we recommend a combination of Windows Defender and Malwarebytes, but since we know that tons of people will just scroll down and skim, here is our TL;DR recommendation for how to keep your system secure:

Use the Built-in Windows Defender for traditional antivirus – the criminals have moved on from regular viruses to focus on Ransomware, zero-day attacks, and even worse malware that traditional antivirus just can’t handle. Windows Defender is built right in, blazing fast, doesn’t annoy you, and does its job cleaning old-school viruses.
Use Malwarebytes for Anti-Malware and Anti-Exploit – all of the huge malware outbreaks these days are using zero-day flaws in your browser to install ransomware to take over your PC, and only Malwarebytes provides really excellent protection against this with their unique anti-exploit system. There’s no bloatware and it won’t slow you down.

Editor’s Note: This doesn’t even mention the fact that Malwarebytes, the company, is staffed by some really great people that we really respect. Every time we talk to them, they are excited about the mission of cleaning up the internet. It’s not often that we give an official How-To Geek recommendation, but this is our favorite product by far, and something we use ourselves. A One-Two Punch: Antivirus and Anti-Malware You need antivirus software on your computer, no matter how “carefully” you browse. Being smart isn’t enough to protect you from threats, and security software can help act as another line of defense. ADVERTISEMENT However, antivirus itself is no longer adequate security on its own. We recommend you use a good antivirus program and a good anti-malware program. Together, they will protect you from most of the biggest threats on the internet today: viruses, spyware, ransomware, and even potentially unwanted programs (PUPs)—among many others. So which ones should you use, and do you need to pay money for them? Let’s start with the first part of that combo: antivirus. Is Windows Defender Good Enough? When you install Windows 10, you’ll have an antivirus program already running. Windows Defender comes built-in to Windows 10, and automatically scans programs you open, downloads new definitions from Windows Update, and provides an interface you can use for in-depth scans. Best of all, it doesn’t slow down your system, and mostly stays out of your way—which we can’t say about most other antivirus programs. For a short while, Microsoft’s antivirus fell behind the others when it came to comparative antivirus software tests—way behind. It was bad enough that we recommended something else, but it’s since bounced back, and now provides very good protection. So in short, yes: Windows Defender is good enough (as long as you couple it with a good anti-malware program, as we mentioned above—more on that in a minute). But Is Windows Defender the Best Antivirus? What About Other Programs? If you look at that antivirus comparison we linked to above, you’ll notice that Windows Defender, while good, does not get the highest ranks in terms of raw protection scores. So why not use something else? First, let’s look at those scores. AV-TEST found that it still caught 99.9% of the “widespread and prevalent malware” in April 2017, along with 98.8% percent of the zero-day attacks. Avira, one of AV-TEST’s top rated antivirus programs, has the exact same scores for April—but slightly higher scores in past months, so its overall rating is (for some reason) much higher. But Windows Defender isn’t nearly as crippled as AV-TEST’s 4.5-out-of-6 rating would have you believe. Furthermore, security is about more than raw protection scores. Other antivirus programs may occasionally do a bit better in monthly tests, but they also come with a lot of bloat, like browser extensions that actually make you less safe, registry cleaners that are terrible and unnecesary, loads of unsafe junkware, and even the ability to track your browsing habits so they can make money. Furthermore, the way they hook themselves into your browser and operating system often causes more problems than it solves. Something that protects you against viruses but opens you up to other vectors of attack is not good security. Just look at all the extra garbage Avast tries to install alongside its antivirus. Windows Defender does not do any of these things—it does one thing well, for free, and without getting in your way. Plus, Windows 10 already includes the various other protections introduced in Windows 8, like the SmartScreen filter that should prevent you from downloading and running malware, whatever antivirus you use. Chrome and Firefox, similarly, include Google’s Safe Browsing, which blocks many malware downloads. How to Speed Up a Slow PC Volume 0% If you hate Windows Defender for some reason and want to use another antivirus, you can use Avira. It has a free version that works fairly well, a pro version with a few extra features, and it provides great protection scores and only has the occasional popup ad (but it does have popup ads, which are annoying). The biggest problem is that you need to be sure to uninstall the browser extension it tries to force on you, which makes it hard to recommend to non-technical people. Antivirus Isn’t Enough: Use Malwarebytes, Too Antivirus is important, but these days, it’s more important that you use a good anti-exploit program to protect your web browser and plug-ins, which are the most targeted by attackers. Malwarebytes is the program we recommend here. Unlike traditional antivirus programs, Malwarebytes is good at finding “potentially unwanted programs” (PUPs) and other junkware. As of version 3.0, it also contains an anti-exploit feature, which aims to block common exploits in programs, even if they are zero-day attacks that have never seen before—like those nasty Flash zero-day attacks. It also contains anti-ransomware, to block extortion attacks like CryptoLocker. The latest version of Malwarebytes combines these three tools into one easy-to-use package for $40 per year. Malwarebytes claims to be able to replace your traditional antivirus entirely, but we disagree with this. It uses completely different strategies for protecting you: antivirus will block or quarantine harmful programs that find their way to your computer, while Malwarebytes attempts to stop harmful software from ever reaching your computer in the first place. Since it doesn’t interfere with traditional antivirus programs, we recommend you run both programs for the best protection. Update: Starting with Malwarebytes 4, the Premium version of Malwarebytes now registers itself as the system’s security program by default. In other words, it will handle all your anti-malware scanning and Windows Defender won’t run in the background. You can still run both at once if you like. Here’s how: In Malwarebytes, open Settings, click the “Security” tab, and disable the “Always register Malwarebytes in the Windows Security Center” option. With this option disabled, Malwarebytes won’t register itself as the system’s security application and both Malwarebytes and Windows Defender will run at the same time. Note that you can get some of Malwarebytes’ features for free, but with caveats. For example, the free version of Malwarebytes program will only scan for malware and PUPs on-demand—it won’t scan in the background like the premium version does. In addition, it doesn’t contain the anti-exploit or anti-ransomware features of the premium version. You can only get all three features in the full $40 version of Malwarebytes, which we recommend. But if you’re willing to forego anti-ransomware and always-on malware scanning, the free versions of Malwarebytes and Anti-Exploit are better than nothing, and you should definitely use them. There you have it: with a combination of a good antivirus program, Malwarebytes, and some common sense, you’ll be pretty well protected. Just remember that antivirus is only one of the standard computer security practices you should be following. Good digital hygiene isn’t a replacement for antivirus, but it is essential to making sure your antivirus can do its job.

5 Cheap Ways to Back up Your Precious Data

by Irv Krick | Jun 29, 2021 | Storage and drives

5 Cheap Ways to Back up Your Precious Data Joe Besure/Shutterstock

Computers like to break down when it’s least convenient. And, when that happens, you may lose all of your precious family photos, personal documents, or legally downloaded movies. That is, unless you back up your files first.

In the past, backing up your files meant buying an an expensive hard drive or a mess of overpriced USB sticks. But now, there are a ton of cheap and easy ways to keep your files safe, even if you’ve built up terabytes worth of data. Here are five of our favorite affordable backup methods.

One Backup Isn’t Enough: Follow the 3-2-1 Method

Your backups aren’t guaranteed to last forever. Hard drives can fall victim to theft, natural disaster, or hardware failure, and even cloud storage solutions can face the destructive malice of hackers or incompetence.

So, before we look at any cheap storage solutions, we should take a minute to review the 3-2-1 strategy:

Keep 3 Copies of Your Data: You should maintain three backups at all times. One of these backups can be on your main machine—just keep in mind that a hard drive in a working computer breaks down faster than a hard drive in a drawer.
Use 2 Different Formats: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. A theft, flood, or fire can destroy a group of hard drives in one go. Try to spread your backups across different media or cloud services.
Keep 1 Backup Offsite: Again, a random disaster can destroy the hard drives that you have at home. Keep at least one backup away from all the others. You can do this through cloud storage, or by keeping a hard drive at a friend’s house or in a bank vault (which may be cheaper than cloud storage, depending on how much data you’re hoarding).

A bit of wiggle room does exist between these rules. Services like Dropbox, for example, can automatically sync your backups across a handful of devices. But you get the idea; squirrel away your data in a few different spaces. That way, your efforts (and money) won’t go to waste.

Now that we’ve reviewed the 3-2-1 method, it’s time to get into the weeds. Here are the five best ways to back up your data on the cheap.

Cheap and Fast: HDDs or SSDs

People talk about cloud storage like its the be-all-end-all backup system. But if you want to get things done without spending too much of your time or money, then it’s best to focus your backup efforts on hard drives or solid-state drives. They’re cheap, they last a long time, and they transfer files a lot faster than any cloud storage solution.

Because you’re just backing up your files, an HDD is probably a smarter investment than an SSD. Sure, SSDs are a lot faster than typical hard drives, but they also cost about three times as much money. That extra speed isn’t worth the extra cost unless you plan on doing massive routine backups.

If you plan to go down the HDD route, then we suggest buying an inexpensive Western Digital or Toshiba product. But if you need the extra speed of an SSD, then we suggest using the fantastic Samsung T5, which offers a great mix of power, quality, and affordability.

Cheap and Fast Storage

WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive HDD, USB 3.0, Compatible with PC, Mac, PS4 & Xbox – WDBU6Y0020BBK-WESN

WD’s high capacity, affordable HDDs are perfect for local backups. They’re cheaper and faster than cloud storage services.

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$59.99
$C:\Users\irv\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.MSO\3B05A330.tmp$

For Small Backups: Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, or OneDrive

Nopparat Khokthong/Shutterstock

If you’re trying to stow away a small (less than 2 TB) collection of files, then it may be best to stick with Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, or Dropbox. These cloud storage solutions are fairly inexpensive, and they’re easy to sync across a mess of different apps and devices. And remember, syncing across devices can help you secure your data without spending a fortune on hard drives.

Thing is, each of these services has its own price and perks. While iCloud may be perfect for Apple fans, Dropbox may be a better option for people who work across a variety of different operating systems.

To make things easy, let’s take a quick look at what these cloud storage solutions have to offer:

Dropbox (iOS/Android): Dropbox offers 2 TB of storage for $10 a month, making it one of the cheapest cloud storage solutions on the market. It plays nice with nearly every operating system, and it integrates perfectly with Microsoft Office products and some work-oriented iOS and Android apps.
iCloud (iOS/Android): Apple offers 2 TB of iCloud storage for $10 a month. It’s an obvious alternative to Dropbox, especially if you use an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. (Of course, it works on Windows and somewhat on Android systems, too).
Google Drive (iOS/Android): Google offers 1 TB of storage for $12 a month. It isn’t the cheapest option on the planet, but it’s good for people who do most of their work through Google’s productivity suite (Docs, Sheets, Sites, etc). It also works across every major computer OS out there with Google’s Backup and Sync app.
OneDrive (iOS/Android): Microsoft’s offers 1 TB of OneDrive storage for $70 a year (or $7 a month). This 1-TB plan comes with Office 365 Personal, so it’s a no brainer for many students and professionals.

These cloud storage solutions fit most people’s needs. But if you need to back up more than one or two terabytes of data, then an unlimited storage solution like Backblaze may be a smarter option.

For Large File Collections: Backblaze

Backblaze

Backblaze offers the most affordable unlimited storage platform on the planet. For just $6 a month (or $60 a year), you can cram all of your files into Backblaze and avoid the weird data caps of typical cloud storage solutions.

Like Dropbox or OneDrive, Backblaze allows for automatic backups, file sharing, and access from mobile devices. The only serious issue with Backblaze is that its backup system is restricted to one computer at a time. Additional computers require additional licenses. In other words, backing up from two computers runs you $120 a year, and three computers costs $180 a year.

That’s still a great deal—assuming that you have more than 2 TBs of data to back up. But if your backups are relatively small, then it may be smarter to just stick with a service Dropbox or Google Drive. That way, you can back up files from any device at any time.

GO TO BACKBLAZE

For Data Hoarders and Media-Fiends: Build a NAS

Lukmanazis/Shutterstock

For its unlimited storage capacity, Backblaze is a definite steal. But it is limited in some ways. If you want to mix the high capacity of Backblaze with the convenience of Dropbox and the speed of a local hard drive, then a NAS (network-attached storage) device may be your best bet.

In short, a NAS device is a cloud server that you keep in your living room. It’s a little costly to set up, but in time it’ll pay for itself and provide a faster more customizable storage platform than Backblaze or Dropbox. You and your family can access the NAS server from anywhere—and you can even use it to stream movies or music to any device. Really, it’s the ultimate storage option for anyone who’s spent their time hoarding documents, photos, or movies.

You can build a NAS device in a million different ways, many of which we’ve covered over at How-To Geek. You can buy a fancy NAS enclosure, connect hard drives directly to your router, repurpose an old PC, or even build a NAS from a cheap Raspberry Pi. Either way, you’ll need to buy a few HDDs or SSDs to act as the server’s storage, and you’ll need to follow a quick guide to get things off the ground. It isn’t as easy as Dropbox, but it’s not that complicated either.

For Data Hoarders

Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS218+ (Diskless)

The Synology Diskstation has quick read and write speeds and is one of the most convenient, easy-to-use NAS enclosures on the market.

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Check What You Already Have!

Sergii Gnatiuk/Shutterstock

There’s a good chance that you already have free access to cloud storage through your Amazon Prime, Google, Microsoft, or Apple account. So, before you start paying for a monthly plan, check what you already have!

Here are some services that you can probably access for free right now:

Google Drive: You can upload 15 GBs of files to Google Drive for free.
OneDrive: You can upload 5 GBs of files to OneDrive for free. And if you already pay for Office 365, then you can access 1 TB of cloud storage through OneDrive right now.
iCloud: Apple users get 5 GBs of iCloud storage for free.
Google Photos: Google Photos allows you to store an limited number of pictures and videos for free.
Amazon Drive: Amazon Prime members get unlimited photo storage and 5 GBs of video storage through Amazon Drive.

These free services are very limited, but they’re a great option for anyone who only needs to back up photos or small documents. They’re also good in an emergency. If you think that your computer or

Laptop Shopping

by Irv Krick | Jun 28, 2021 | Uncategorized

Laptop Shopping

Whether you’re looking to play games, stream movies, stay connected while traveling or at home, or for business the latest laptops balance portability with the performance and power you need. The following is an overview of the most important features to consider.

How will you use your laptop?

Light use: Browsing the web, paying bills online, email and social networking, organizing and sharing digital photos.
Average use: Storing and streaming music and movies, tasks like spreadsheet and document creation.
Demanding use: Multitasking with multiple tabs and programs, sophisticated graphics and photo editing, and video production.

More demanding users will want to invest a bit more in a higher resolution screen, a more powerful processor, more system memory, and a larger hard drive or a fast solid state drive.

Does your laptop look and feel right?

You can learn a lot about a laptop by handling it. As portability is a key factor for laptops, consider the model’s overall weight and whether it will be comfortable to hold and carry as you move around your home, walk around campus, or commute to work. Hinges and clasps should feel sturdy enough to withstand daily use. Test the lid and body — typically made from plastics or aluminums — to see if they are adequately rigid while being lightweight. Make sure the keyboard’s spacing and depth allow for comfortable typing. The trackpad and mouse buttons should allow you to solidly click, scroll and zoom without skipping. Also, if you rely on 10-key for data entry, be sure the machine you select has a numeric keypad.

If you won’t have an opportunity to view a laptop in person before buying, you can still check product pages and user reviews for recurring comments about look, feel and build quality.

2-in-1s vs. traditional laptops.

When it comes to a laptop’s form factor, you will need to choose between traditional “clamshell” laptops and versatile 2-in-1 laptops. These 2-in-1s combine a powerful laptop and a go-anywhere tablet in one lightweight, portable device (and may also be called “convertible” or “hybrid” laptops).

2-in-1 models typically feature a flip-and-fold display on a 360° hinge, or sometimes a detachable keyboard. These designs let you adjust the laptop to best suit your activity — whether typing documents, watching movies, reading e-books, playing games, or browsing online. And compared to a separate tablet, 2-in-1s typically include more USB ports and other connectivity options, making it easier for you to transfer files and photos or attach a range of accessories.

The operating system is the heart of your laptop. It manages all software and hardware, including files, memory and connected devices. Most importantly, it lets you interact with your laptop and your programs in a visual way (otherwise, you’d be typing a bunch of computer code to get anything done).

macOS

Installed exclusively on Mac computers, macOS boasts an elegant and easy-to-use interface to complement Mac’s sleek aesthetics and impressive battery life. Macs have historically had fewer issues with viruses and malware. However, MacBooks start at a higher price point than other laptops, and no Mac model to date includes touch-screen functionality.

Windows

Windows is designed specifically around an intuitive touch-screen interface (though it can be used with a traditional mouse and keyboard), expanding your navigation options. The integrated Windows Hello feature lets you log in quickly using a look or a touch instead of a password, while remaining enterprise-grade secure. It also offers an updated task manager, streamlined file management and a suite of built-in apps.

Chrome OS

Chromebooks are laptops that run Chrome OS — the fast, simple and secure operating system built by Google. Chrome OS is built for the web and is tailor-made to run on Chromebook hardware. Chromebooks leverage the Google Play Store, which means they can run millions of apps, including games, document creation, and photo editing apps. Google collaborates closely with popular manufacturers to ensure every Chromebook has built-in security, boots up and performs fast, and stays easy-to-use with automatic updates.

Screen features.

Touch screens

Touch-screen laptops make navigating on your computer more intuitive. Tap to select, hold and drag to move items, swipe to scroll and pinch to zoom, just as you would on a smartphone or tablet. Currently available on many Windows laptops and select Chromebooks.

Screen size

Laptop screen sizes range from about 11 up to 17 inches, measured diagonally. A larger screen is ideal for gaming, watching movies, photo and video editing, and viewing documents side by side. Keep in mind, a big screen can increase the overall size, weight and power consumption of a laptop.

Resolution

Higher resolution equals better picture quality. Laptop screens come in a range of resolutions (measured in pixels, horizontal x vertical).

4K Ultra HD: 3840 x 2560 and 3840 x 2160 resolutions boast four times the pixels of Full HD, creating rich colors and images for viewing and editing incredibly lifelike images and graphics.
QHD (Quad HD) and QHD+: With 2560 x 1440 and 3200 x 1800 resolutions, respectively, the extremely high pixel density creates crisp detail and sharp text, ideal for professional photo and graphics work as well as high-def movies and games.
Retina display: 2560 x 1600 and 3072 x 1920 resolutions are found in Apple’s 13″ and 16″ laptop displays, respectively.
Full HD: 1920 x 1080 resolution allows you to watch Blu-ray movies and play video games without losing any level of detail.
HD+: 1600 x 900 resolution is great for casual gaming and watching DVD movies.
HD: 1366 x 768 resolution is standard on mainstream laptops. Good for web surfing, email and basic computing tasks.

Display types

Different display technologies yield different colors and brightness levels. Many laptops employ LED backlighting, which can display bright colors without draining the battery. If you plan to use your laptop to watch movies and shows with a friend, choose a display with an IPS panel for wider viewing angles. Screens with a glossy finish generally provide richer colors and darker blacks, while matte displays will reduce glare if you frequently work outdoors or near windows. Laptop models featuring a narrow bezel — the border around the screen — allow for more display space to fit within the laptop’s form Factor.

Processors.

Your laptop’s processor is like its brain. Working in combination with system memory, the power of the processor determines the complexity of software you can run, how many programs you can have open at the same time, and how fast those programs will run. Most laptops feature an Intel® or AMD processor.

Variances exist within processor classes. Laptops designed for exceptional battery life often incorporate an ultra-low-voltage version of the listed processor, which usually sacrifices some processing speed.

For heavy graphics work or gaming, choose a laptop with a dedicated graphics card and video memory. Having separate resources for your graphics allows for faster, smoother processing while you’re watching movies, playing games or multitasking.

Intel® processors.

Intel’s processors give you the widest range of laptop choices among brands, form factors, display options, and even operating systems. Most prevalent are Intel’s Core™ series of multicore processors.

Core i9: Intel’s top-tier processor for gaming experiences and high-demand content creation and editing, including 4K or 360° videos, high-resolution photos and high-quality audio.
Core i7: A popular choice for “power users” like gamers, graphic designers, photographers and videographers. It excels at serious multitasking and multimedia creation for projects in 3D or high definition.
Core i5: Mid-grade Core processor that is powerful enough for most computing tasks, and multitasks well so you can stream a football game while looking up stats and sending emails.
Core i3: The entry-level Core processor, more than adequate for everyday email, internet browsing and productivity tasks. It’s also fine for common activities like listening to music.

In value-priced laptops, you’ll also see Intel’s Pentium® and Celeron® processors. These are adequate for basic email, internet and productivity tasks, but their speed and multitasking capabilities are limited relative to those of the Core family.

AMD processors.

From work to play, AMD Ryzen mobile processors with Radeon Vega graphics deliver multitasking performance, stunning visuals and healthy battery life, while allowing for a sleek form factor. Options include:

Ryzen 3: Start here for performance on the go. Maximize browsing, streaming and creating with 4 ultraresponsive 7 nm Zen 2 cores and AMD Radeon graphics. Great for home, school and office productivity with up to 4K resolution.
Ryzen 5: The responsiveness you need for all-around multimedia performance. Ideal for home, school and office, 6 ultraresponsive 7 nm Zen 2 or Zen 3 cores with integrated AMD Radeon graphics stream in up to 4K. Great for AAA and esports gaming, as well as image and video editing.
Ryzen 7: Accelerate everything you do. Experience desktop-caliber performance with smooth frame rates while editing videos, running demanding applications. and playing the latest games and esports. 8 high-performance 7 nm Zen 3 cores are optimized for pairing with high performance discrete graphics cards.
Ryzen 9: AMD’s premium processor delivers performance for elite gaming and content creation. 8 high-performance 7 nm Zen 3 cores are optimized for pairing with high performance discrete graphics cards. Great for AAA and esports gaming, intensive image and video editing, and gaming while streaming and recording.
Athlon 3000 Series with Radeon graphics: Discover a world of quick apps, beautiful entertainment, modern features, and long-lasting battery life. Ideal for everything from completing everyday tasks to streaming your favorite movies ― at home or on the go.

AMD A Series processors prioritize value and are geared toward your everyday productivity tasks.

Apple processor

The Apple M1 chip is Apple’s first chip designed specifically for Mac, and can be found in the latest generations of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The Apple M1 system on a chip (SoC) integrates the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, I/O and more, and delivers on performance, custom technologies and power efficiency.

Internal storage.

Traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) offer larger storage capacities, but add to a laptop’s weight and thickness while generating heat and noise. Alternatively, solid state drives (also known as SSDs) and flash storage are much lighter, faster, cooler and quieter than hard drives — but they’re also more expensive per GB, so typically provide less storage space.

When it comes to storage capacity, 32GB will get you by if you predominantly use a cloud service or stream, although a minimum of 64GB will give you more flexibility when you’re offline. If you intend to store high-res photos and videos on your laptop, consider a drive of 256GB or more. And if you will be downloading games and 4K movies to your laptop, plan on a capacity of at least 512GB.

Hard disk drives

Traditional, mechanical hard disk drives are still found in some laptops because they’re relatively inexpensive and offer huge capacities for your money. However, as noted above, they also add significantly to a laptop’s weight and thickness, and generate both heat and noise. Hard drives come in two standard speeds — 5400 rpm drives, sufficient for day-to-day web surfing, emailing and document creation, and 7200 rpm drives, which transfer data more quickly. The faster 7200 rpm is worth considering if you regularly work with large files.

Solid state drives

SSDs are many times faster than hard disk drives, but typically offer less capacity (although their overall affordability has improved considerably in recent years). SSDs also offer tremendous advantages in physical size, weight and power efficiency, along with negligible heat production and noiseless operation, making them an ideal choice for ultra slim, ultralightweight laptops. And unlike hard disks, SSDs have no moving parts to wear out; this also makes them better able to withstand bumps and jolts as you carry them with you.

Some laptops employ an SSD for all storage. Others dedicate a smaller SSD to house the operating system and applications (enabling faster start-up) and add a traditional hard drive for general data storage.

Battery life.

Manufacturers’ battery-life claims range from just a few hours up to 12 hours or more.

Laptop enhancements — such as increased processing power, larger and higher resolution screens, faster hard drives, or the addition of an optical drive — will drain your battery more quickly. Other laptop features — for instance, a solid state drive instead of a mechanical hard drive — can improve power efficiency.

Additional features.

Connectivity

Laptops typically provide several options for staying connected to the internet as well as to other devices. Most laptops provide the latest Wi-Fi 6 wireless networking standards plus Bluetooth capabilities, so you can easily sync your smartphone, speakers and other accessories.

Some laptops also feature a voice assistant. Some of the latest MacBook models include Siri, and a growing number of laptop PCs have Amazon Alexa built in, which helps you easily keep track of tasks, control connected smart home devices, and more.

Ports

Keep an eye out for the following ports that are commonly used for connecting to TVs, cameras and other devices.

USB Type-A: This legacy port lets you connect external drives, gaming controllers, headphones, and other accessories. USB 3.0 ports are distinguished by a blue insert and transfer data faster than USB 2.0 when used with USB 3.0 devices. They are backward-compatible with legacy USB 2.0 devices, but limited to 2.0 speeds.
USB Type-C: This latest iteration provides blazing speeds and versatile power. USB-C features connectors with identical ends that plug in upside down or right-side up. Adapters allow for video as well as backward compatibility with Type-A ports.
Thunderbolt: Ultra-high bandwidth for fast data transfer between devices featuring a Thunderbolt or MiniDisplayPort connection.
HDMI or mini HDMI: Connect a projector or display HD media on your flat-screen TV.
Media card slots: Transfer photos from the memory card in your digital camera or camcorder.

Security

Some laptops offer additional physical security features to help safeguard you and your information. Look for laptops with a fingerprint reader to easily unlock your laptop, or a webcam privacy shutter or kill switch to prevent hackers from seeing in through the camera.

Gaming laptops.

Designed specifically for high-performance games and tasks on the go, gaming laptops provide boosted power and beefed-up features. Advanced processors and graphics cards allow for faster, smoother gameplay, while enhanced speakers and larger screen sizes help bring the game to life. Laptops labeled “VR Ready” fulfill system requirements to add a virtual reality headset and lose yourself in 360° experiences. Some gaming laptops also include programmable keys, RGB backlit keyboards and additional ports for convenient connectivity.

However, these resource-intensive features often heat up the laptop while cutting down on battery life and portability. Consider how often you’ll be taking your gaming on the road, and choose a laptop with a cooling system that leaves your hands comfortable and your graphics smooth.

All in all you should consider what you are going to use it for. Tw more things to consider. Get a laptop with an SSD, and consider the upgradability, A lot of laptops cannot be opened, and components are soldered to the system board, which means that if a component fails you will be buying a new one.

Contact me if you have any Questions.

Will your laptop run Windows 11

by Irv Krick | Jun 26, 2021 | Windows 10, Windows 11

Windows 11 will be free for upgrades from window 10 but there are system requirements. The one that will eliminate a lot of older PS’s and Laptops is the requirement for a TPM Chip (Trusted Platform Module. You can check your PC with the PC Health check app

These are the basic requirements for installing Windows 11 on a PC. If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not be able to install Windows 11 on your device and might want to consider purchasing a new PC. If you are unsure whether your PC meets these requirements, you can check with your PC Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or, if your device is already running Windows 10, you can use the PC Health Check app to assess compatibility.


Processor:	1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM:	4 gigabyte (GB)
Storage:	64 GB or larger storage device Note: See below under “More information on storage space to keep Windows 11 up-to-date” for more details.
System firmware:	UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM:	Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
Graphics card:	Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
Display:	High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel
Internet connection and Microsoft accounts:	Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account to complete device setup on first use. Switching a device out of Windows 11 Home in S mode also requires internet connectivity. Learn more about S mode here. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is required to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. A Microsoft account is required for some features.

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