Windows comes with many built-in drivers for various hardware. When you connect a device to your computer, Windows will automatically install drivers from the driver store. If a suitable driver is unavailable in the store, you can use the vendor-supplied device driver or let Windows download the device driver automatically from the Microsoft Update servers.Read more
command prompt
Can’t Open CMD.exe After Uninstalling Python/Anaconda; Exit Code 1
After uninstalling Python/Anaconda on your Windows computer, Command Prompt may not open. When you run cmd.exe, it flashes on the screen and immediately quits. Also, running DISM and SFC (to repair corrupt system files), repairing Windows installation, and running a thorough malware scan may not fix the issue.Read more
Why Can’t I Rename Files to Upper or Lowercase on USB Drives
Here’s a user query where they’re unable to change the file name extension to lowercase from uppercase (or the other way) on external drives. For instance, the command-line to bulk change the extension (ren *.WAV *.wav) may work on the system drive but not on an external drive.Read more
“Turn on fast startup” option missing in Windows 11/10
Fast Startup is a feature in Windows 8/10/11 that speeds up the boot process significantly. With the Fast Startup feature enabled, when the user shuts down the computer, what happens under the hood is a hybrid shutdown sequence.
However, on some computers, the Fast Startup and Hibernate features will be missing. When you open Power Options in the classic Control Panel, the “Turn on fast startup (recommended)” option may be missing.Read more
How to Add “Open command window here” in Windows 11
In Windows 11, the context menu “Open Command window here” doesn’t exist by default. Instead, you’ll see the “Open in Windows Terminal” and “Open PowerShell window here” (when you press Shift + right-click) options in the folder context menu.
This article tells you how to add “Open Command window here” (in Windows 11) to open a Command Prompt window in that directory path.Read more
Fix for Windows Update Error 0x800F0922 in Windows 10/11
When installing an update, especially a Cumulative Update or .NET Framework package in your Windows 10 or 11 computer, the update installation may fail with an error code 0x800F0922 (“CBS_E_INSTALLERS_FAILED“) or 0xc1900104.Read more
How to View Your Windows 10 Product Key Using Script or Command-line
There are many tools to extract the Product Key from a live system or from the registry hive of an offline computer. Additionally, here is a neat little Vbscript that gets the Product Key of your current Windows installation–no third-party program required. The script works on Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10.Read more
Command Prompt not retiring. It will remain for decades
Starting with Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14971, PowerShell replaces Command Prompt in the Win + X menu, and in the File menu of File Explorer. As Microsoft puts it in their blog post:Read more
Backup and Restore Wireless Network Profiles (Wi-Fi)
Many of us, especially laptop users, have more than one Wi-Fi network profile set up on our systems. You might use a Wi-Fi network connection when at a coffee shop where you frequent, and connect to another network when at home or office.
This post explains how to backup and restore Wi-Fi network profiles in Windows 7, 8, and Windows 10.
Extract Wallpapers from DeskThemePack and ThemePack Files
This article shows you different ways of extracting wallpaper images from a theme pack file in Windows.
A theme is a combination of desktop background pictures, window colors, and sounds. Windows themes come in the form of theme packs. Theme packs are essentially CAB files that enclose resources such as wallpapers, sounds, etc., along with the .theme file, which contains the instructions to apply the theme.
Theme packs come in two types: one with a .themepack file extension and the other with a .deskthemepack extension.Read more
