{"id":16365,"date":"2019-03-04T12:31:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T17:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=16365"},"modified":"2019-03-04T12:32:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T17:32:06","slug":"16365-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/16365-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Windows Utilities You May Not Know About"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 30pt;\"><strong>Three Windows Utilities You May Not Know About<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><em>This tip is for Windows 7, Windows 8x and Windows 10 (all versions)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Windows has some built-in utilities that are just as good or better than many of the freeware utilities that you can download from various sites on the Web. For this article, we&#8217;re featuring three of these built-in Windows utilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"auto-style799\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>1. The Windows Configuration Utility<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">That\u2019s right, even on Windows 10 you can still run good old MSCONFIG \u2013 the Windows Configuration utility. It\u2019s been on every version of Windows going way back to Windows 95.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">In Windows 7 you can use Windows Configuration utility to manage your startup programs; in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, startup has been moved to Task Manager. In newer versions of Windows 10 startups can also be found in Settings -&gt; Apps -&gt; Startup.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">I<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">n Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7, you can use Windows Configuration utility for changing boot options, such as booting into Safe Mode. You can change the default operating system (if you\u2019re running a dual-boot or multi-boot setup and more. But we recommend that you only use these settings if you\u2019re sure of what you\u2019re doing. You can also use the Advanced options for RAM and processor settings, but again, please don\u2019t mess with these if you are not sure of what you\u2019re doing<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You&#8217;ll also find a comprehensive list of Windows tools in the Configuration utility. Just click on the tools tab at the top and you\u2019ll see a list of these tools and more. It\u2019s the only place in Windows where you\u2019ll find all these tools listed in one place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2019\/config.png\" alt=\"Cloudeight InfoAve\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><em>Above: The Tools Tab in Windows Configuration utility.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"auto-style799\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">2. The System Information utility<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The System Information Utility will tell you just about everything you need to know about your computer and a whole lot more. Many people download tools that do essentially the same thing as System Information utility, but now you know better and you can use what\u2019s already at your fingertips.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The System Information utility will show you information about the hardware and software on your PC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">You can access the System Information utility this way:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Windows Key + R<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Type MSINFO32 in the run box<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Press Enter<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you&#8217;re using Windows 10 just type MSINFO32 in the taskbar search and press Enter.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The system summary will list all the important information about your computer, including processor, RAM, Virtual RAM, display type, problem devices, hardware, operating system version and type, and much more. But we\u2019ve only scratched the surface \u2013 you can dig even deeper into the inner sanctum of your PC using the System Information utility. So, why not c<\/span><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">heck it out?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2019\/msinfo1.png\" alt=\"Cloudeight InfoAve\" width=\"576\" height=\"209\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><em>Above: Windows System Information utility.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"auto-style799\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">3. Windows Memory Diagnostic<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>WARNING:<\/strong> THIS TIP WILL RESTART YOUR PC. PLEASE SAVE ANY OPEN FILES BEFORE PROCEEDING!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You don\u2019t need no stinkin\u2019 3rd-party utility to check your PC\u2019s RAM, we tells ya! Windows has a built-in diagnostic tool that will scan your PC for memory issues and even let you know if your RAM is in good shape.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">To run Windows Memory Diagnostic:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Hold down the Windows Key and tap the R key<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Type MDSCHED.EXE in the run box and press enter<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The Windows Memory Diagnostic utility will start.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Whoa! Hold on there partner! The Memory Diagnostic scan will cause your PC to restart, and you won\u2019t be able to stop it. So, before you run it , make sure you\u2019ve saved anything you\u2019re working on or you\u2019ll lose it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The scan will take between 5 and 10 minutes. After your computer reboots, you\u2019ll see a diagnostic report giving you the results of the scan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Now you know about three useful utilities that are all included on your Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 PC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three Windows Utilities You May Not Know About This tip is for Windows 7, Windows 8x and Windows 10 (all versions) Windows has some built-in utilities that are just as good or better than many of the freeware utilities that you can download from various sites on the Web. For this article, we&#8217;re featuring three of these built-in\u2026 <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/16365-2\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2977,2976,76,1684,1700,70,1789],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16368,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365\/revisions\/16368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}