How to show File Extensions in Windows 8 / 7

File Extension is that which identifies the file type. If you are a regular Windows user, then it is not at all a problem to identify the file type. For it is very important to see file extension to identity the type of file you are trying to open from a security point of view. So in this post, we will see how to show File Extensions and why you should.

Since file names allow you to use multiple full stops, the real name of a malware file could be realword.docx.exe. But because you have not set Windows to show file extensions, you would see only realword.docx. Thinking its a Word document, you could well end up clicking on it and infecting your computer. If you had, on the other hand, set your PC to show file extensions, you would see its ful name – realword.docx.exe, which would help you to identify that it was actually an executable file and in all probability a malware file.

What are File Extensions and how are they useful

Different file types have different extensions. Audio files have .mp3, .wav, .wma and more based on the program used to open that file. File extensions also help the operating system to identify the corresponding program to open that particular file. So, you should be able to see file extensions to be at safer side and we will let you know how to enable options to see file extensions in Windows 

As mentioned earlier, by default Windows does not show files extensions and they are hidden. But, you can toggle the option to see them.

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Show File Extensions

There are two ways how you can go about accessing this setting. One way is through the Control Panel and other way is through Windows Explorer itself. In both ways, you will be toggling the option to see file extensions.

Through Control Panel

Open Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization.  Now, click on Folder Options > View tab. In this tab, under Advance Settings, you will see the option Hide extensions for known file types. Uncheck this option and click on Apply and OK.

Now, you can see file extensions for all files anywhere on your Windows system.

These are very simple steps to follow and you do not need any third party softwares to view file extensions. Windows provides us everything which can be easily achieved and the point lies in knowing and implementing them. This is the first way to see file extensions in Windows 7.

Via Windows File Explorer

In Windows 8.1 explorer, you can access it via View > Options > Change folder and search options. In Windows 7, open Explorer, press Alt on your keyboard to make the Classic bar appear. Next, click on Tools > Folder Options. Now follow the steps mentioned above.

Thus, you can set your Windows to show file extensions in Windows 8. If you have anything to add, please do share with us through comments.

Open Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization.  Now, click on Folder Options > View tab. In this tab, under Advance Settings, you will see the option Hide extensions for known file types. Uncheck this option and click on Apply and OK.

How to edit PDF files in Word 2013

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a common format for sharing final versions of files. The format is most used for viewing and not editing. But if you need to edit PDF files, Microsoft Word 2013 brings a multitude of features to the word-processing table, one being the capability to edit PDFs.

Office 2010 provided the option to save a document as PDF, but Microsoft Word 2013 even allows editing of the content before sending it to the final recipient, as a PDF file. Although, full version of Adobe Acrobat allows users to modify PDFs, it’s more cumbersome than editing the original document in MS Office. Why so? PDF is technically an image file, converting this image file back to text needs sophisticated OCR like Adobe Acrobat X Pro or other tools. Adobe Free Reader therefore, does not allow you to modify the content in a PDF. With Word 2013, however, you can convert a PDF into a Word document and edit the content.

In this post, we will see how to edit PDF files in Word 2013

Edit PDF Files in Word

When you install Office 2013, you will notice that the context menu for any PDF file, has an option to open a PDF file in Microsoft Word, along with your other PDF Readers like Adobe Reader or Foxit and Windows Reader, if you are on Windows 8.

Go to any PDF file location, right-click on the PDF file, select ‘Open with’ option and choose ‘Word (desktop) to open it in Word 2013. When you open any PDF file in Word 2013,  it starts to convert it using Microsoft PDF Reflow.

Microsoft PDF Reflow, will convert all the files contents, including its formatting like paragraphs, lists, headers, columns, footnotes , tables, etc, into Word content. You will be able to edit even the tables. I tried with various smaller PDF documents and it kept all its formatting, even after the conversion. Then I also tried bigger-sized PDF’s like e-books (sized ~30MB) . It took a bit of time to convert – but it did its job. So, you can try large files too if you have some newer systems with more memory.

Anyway, next, a dialog box with a message “Word will convert your PDF to an editable Word document. The resulting Word document will be optimized to allow you edit the text, so it might not look exactly like the original PDF, especially if the original file contained lots of graphics.” should appear on your computer screen.

Click the OK button to continue opening the file in Word 2013. Once it opens the PDF in Word, it will be in Read Only / Protected mode

Upon opening the file, Click the Enable Editing button next to the warning message to begin editing your PDF file. Once the editing is completed, click File, click Save as button to save the file. Here, remember, you cannot save the changes to the existing PDF file readily.

To maintain your changes, it is essential you  save the document with a new name or to a different location.

  

So, if you get a pop bearing the same message do not be surprised. Try saving the PDF with a different name or save the file in Word or PDF format.

Depending on the situation, one option may work better than the other:

PDF: If you don’t want to make any more changes to the document, save the edited document as a PDF file.

Word document: If you want to continue making changes to the document (or if you need second pair of eyes for approving the changes), save it as a Word document. You can always save it as a PDF file later on.

This is a great feature in Word 2013, among many other cool features of Microsoft Office 2013!

Enable or Disable 3rd-party cookies in IE app on Windows 8.1

Earlier we explained you about an Internet Cookie and the different types of Internet Cookies. We also detailed the steps that need to be followed in order to block or allow Third-Party Cookies in IE, Chrome, Firefox, Opera. In this post, we will see how to enable or disable 3rd-party cookies in the Internet Explorer App for Windows 8.1, using Charms PC Settings Panel.

Before starting with the tip, let’s take a glimpse of what a third-party cookie is. Third-party cookies are the small amount of text stored in your web browser by a website with a domain name, other than the one you are currently visiting. Most of the time, the ad services use cookies to offer you the targeted ads based on your browsing history and web searches. However, they can raise privacy concerns and some may want to block them for privacy reasons.

Let us see how you can enable or disable third-party cookies in the IE app, using the Charms Settings panel.

Disable 3rd-party cookies in IE app

If you prefer to use the IE app, then to block or disable the third-party cookies in the Internet explorer app, you have to follow the below mentioned steps.

1.       1. Open your Metro or Modern or Universal IE app and then bring up the Charms bar. Choose Settings.

2.     2.   In the Settings charm, select the Privacy tab.

3.      3  In Privacy, scroll down to get the Cookies Section and set the Block all third-party cookies switch to ON.

 4.       The Internet Explorer app has now blocked the third-party cookies.

5.      NOTE: If you are using Windows 8  or later, you have both desktop and the app version of Internet Explorer installed on your device. Though, the IE for desktop and IE app look and work differently, they share the same settings. Therefore, if you have disabled third-party cookies in the desktop variant of the browser then you don’t have to repeat the process for the Internet Explorer App.

How to open Internet Explorer in Windows 10

Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10. But if you prefer to use IE, then this post will show you how to open Internet Explorer in Windows 10 and how you can pin it to your Start Menu or Taskbar for easy access and how you can even set it as your

Open Internet Explorer in Windows 10

In the Windows 10 taskbar search, type Internet Explorer and you will see it appear in the results.

Clicking on it will open Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Pin IE icon to Windows 10 Start or Taskbar

Right-click on the Start search result and select Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar, according to your preference. The IE icon will get pinned.

Set IE as default browser in Windows 10

If you use it frequently, you can set it as your default browser via Internet Options > Programs tab > Internet programs > Set programs. Control Panel will open. You can set Internet Explorer as the default browser under Set your Default Programs applet.

This is how you can open Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 10, and how you can pin it to your Start Menu or Taskbar for quick frequent access and set it as your default browser.

In the Windows 10 taskbar search, type Internet Explorer and you will see it appear in the results.

Clicking on it will open Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Remove or Turn System Icons like Clock On or Off in Windows 10 Taskbar

Windows 10 OS is different from its earlier versions, but retains some of the old features. For instance, Windows 10 displays a clock icon in desktop taskbar. The icon resides in the lower-right corner of the screen. The option proves handy for knowing current date and time however, some users find it of little use. As such they prefer removing it from the taskbar properties. This guide will walk you through the process of removing the clock from Windows 10 Taskbar.

Remove Clock from Windows 10 Taskbar

For removing the Windows 10 desktop taskbar clock, you’ll have to make some changes in the Notifications & Actions section of the Windows 10 Settings app. To do so, move the mouse cursor to the lower right corner of your computer screen, right-click on the clock and select Customize notification icons as shown in the screenshot below.

Turn System Icons On or Off in Windows 10

Instantly, Quick Actions screen will be launched. The section primarily displays the apps that appear under the taskbar settings. In the right pane look for the option with the heading ‘Turn System Icons On or Off‘. Click this option and proceed to the next step.

the screenshot below.

Here, you will find, most of the icons are set “On” by default, with some exceptions depending on your configuration. ignoring these options, look for the clock option and to remove the clock from the Windows 10 taskbar, simply set the Clock entry to Off.

Fixing Windows 7: Prevent Windows Waking from Sleep

If you’re trying to save a few bucks on power, setting your computer go to sleep after some time of inactivity in power settings is a good solution. However, devices that are connected can cause the computer to wake up. For instance, a slight movement of the keyboard or mouse can wake it up.

It’s also quite annoying when you put your computer to sleep before bed, and when you wake up, it turns out the system was running all night. Here’s how to fix the problem of your computer waking up.

Disable Mouse or Keyboard from Waking Windows

It’s easy to prevent mouse movement to not wake up you computer in either Windows 7 or 8.1. From the desktop open Control Panel and click on Mouse

Or in Windows 7 click the Start button and type: mouse and hit Enter.

In the windows that comes up, select the Hardware tab and click Properties.

Next click the Change Settings button under the General tab.

In the next screen under the Power Management tab, uncheck Allow this Device to Wake the Computer and click OK

The process is the same for the Keyboard as well. Select Keyboard from Control Panel and follow the same path to Power Management and uncheck Allow this Device to Wake the Computer and click OK

Other Devices and Network Activity that Wake Windows from Sleep

While it’s usually the mouse or keyboard that wakes up your computer, other hardware can cause your computer from waking as well. To find out what is waking it up, you can use a couple of handy commands.

powercfg –lastwake

If that doesn’t work, here’s a more powerful command you can use. This will list every hardware device that has permission to wake your computer.

powercfg –devicequery wake_armed

It’s also worth noting that network activity can wake you computer up too. med

How To Disable the Windows Startup Splash Screen

If you’re tired of seeing the Windows 7 logo splash screen every time you restart your system, it’s easy to disable it. Here’s how.

In Windows 7 or Vista, click Start and type: msconfig into the search field and hit Enter

The System Configuration windows opens. Select the Boot tab, then check No GUI Boot. Click OK

The next time you restart your system, the Windows splash screen will no longer be displayed, and you’ll go directly to the log in screen. It’s debatable whether this helps Windows boot faster, but at least the annoying screen is gone.

You can use this trick in XP and Vista too. In XP, open msconfig, click the BOOT.INI tab and check /NOGUIBOOT, click OK and restart the system

If you’re sick of hearing the Windows start up sound, you can disable that too.