Taming Windows 10: Choose Which Folders Appear on Start

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A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:

Windows 10: Choose which folders appear on start

Windows 10 removes the Documents and Pictures shortcuts from the Start menu. You can have them back, or choose to show Music, Videos, or the Network. Go to Settings, Personalization, Start, click on “Choose which folders appear on Start”. Turn on (or off) any of the folders in the list. If you turn a folder off, you can still get to it from File Explorer (the yellow file folder icon in the taskbar), or by pressing Start and typing in the folder name to search for it.

Taming Windows 10: Browser Defaults

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A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:

Default browser settings in Windows 10

The browser default for Windows 10 is Edge, and it’s not ready for use on many websites, especially sites with advanced usage of forms. Switching the browser default to Internet Explorer 11 is an easy fix, or, even better, switching to either Google Chrome or Firefox, both of which protect users from evil sites better than Microsoft browsers, which are, in fairness, target number 1 for evil website developers.

To change the default browser, go to Settings, System, Default Apps, and in the Web Browser category, click on Edge, and select from the installed browsers in the list that appears.

Sometimes, Windows 10 will argue the point. Another way to set default apps is to go to Control Panel, Programs, Default Programs, Set Default Programs, find the program in the list on the left side, and on the right, click ‘Set this program as default.’

Taming Windows 10: Active Hours

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A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:

You can tell Windows not to automatically restart your computer during your work hours, which Windows calls your ‘Active Hours’. It’s badly designed; you can’t set more than a 12-hour period, so if you work 9-5, set active hours as 9am-9pm, that means that you have to set automated backups to run from 5pm to 9pm. This will take some planning. Fortunately, most updates are still scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month, so update reboots won’t block scheduled backups very often.

Active Hours in Windows 10

To set Active Hours, go to Settings, Updates & Security, Change active hours. Important: Click the check mark at the bottom of the hours column, or your settings will not be saved.