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Once upon a time, “reinstalling Windows” was an often recommended remedy for all sorts of computer problems. Windows 95 and XP were notorious for becoming less stable over time, with “crap in the machine” in the form of settings left in the Registry, traces of uninstalled programs that had not been properly removed, and other things that lurked. Indeed, many people chose to reinstall from time to time even if the computer showed no symptoms, as part of regular maintenance. get windows 11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Windows 10 and 11 are much better at keeping order and cleaning up automatically. Today, frequent reinstallations are not something we at PCWorld or any other experts recommend. But sometimes it can still be appropriate. Maybe you want to make the move from Windows 10 to 11 and prefer to start over with a fresh system instead of upgrading. Maybe you have so much junk in your system that it will simply be easier to reinstall the OS and only install the programs you really need than to sit and remove everything you don’t need by hand. Whatever the reason, this is your guide to a safe and secure computer reset. Before you start Don’t start a reset without first making sure you know you can recover your computer, and more importantly your files, if something goes wrong. Samsung Samsung Samsung 1. Back up No matter how you go about reinstalling Windows, it’s a good idea to review your backups and make sure you don’t have any files on your computer that you don’t have at least one copy of elsewhere. See our roundups of the best backup software and best cloud backup services for recommendations. If you have an external hard drive you can spare that is at least as big as your computer’s internal disc (C:), you can create a clone of it in addition to your regular backups. A clone backup means that you mirror all the contents of the internal disc to the external one, and if something goes wrong, you can restore the same way in the other direction to get your computer back to the way it was before, including all installed programs. Choose a backup program, such as our favorite one, R-Drive Image that will do this. Foundry Foundry Foundry 2. Remember what you have installed today It’s also a good idea to create an inventory of what programs you have installed on your computer, and any extensions and plugins to these. The most common example of the latter is browser plugins, and it is sufficient to take a picture or write down the list of installed extensions in the browser(s) you use. For installed applications, you can use Settings or Control Panel to get a list of all installed applications. You can then use the same list after reinstalling to see which are included in Windows and which are missing. You can then find and install the missing programs you actually want to keep and ignore the rest. 3. Check your software licences If you own any expensive software whose license only allows installation on a certain number of computers, it might be a good idea to deactivate the licence on your computer before you reset it. Otherwise, the old installation will continue to count as one of your authorized installations. This was a bigger problem in the past. Today Adobe and others have features that can automatically move licenses to a new computer or system after reinstallation. But if you have a feeling that a program you’ve bought might get lost, it’s worth checking before you go any further. 4. Windows license key Speaking of licenses, it’s also a good idea to check that you have the Windows license key to activate your computer after reinstallation. Depending on how you acquired the system and have activated it, this may work slightly differently. Foundry Foundry Foundry Open Settings > System > Activation and click on Activation Status. If it says that Windows has been activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account, you don’t need to do anything special. As long as you don’t make any hardware changes, the system should activate automatically when you log in to the same Microsoft account after the reinstallation. It may also say that the system is activated with a digital license, but without mentioning anything about your Microsoft account. In this case, you should choose to add an account, otherwise Microsoft may not be able to find the digital license after reinstallation or if you make changes to the hardware. By linking the license to your account, you can activate the system using the activation troubleshooter. However, if it says that the system has been activated with a license key, open Powershell/Terminal and type the following command: wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey If a key is displayed, you can write it down. If no key is displayed, it is probably because Windows was included when you bought the computer and the key is embedded in the hardware. This means that the same version of Windows should be activated automatically after reinstallation. 5. Synchronize settings Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft If you use a Microsoft account, you can now synchronize many system settings, both between multiple computers and as a kind of settings backup when you reinstall your system. Go to Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup. Here you can activate two features: Remember my apps: The system will offer to automatically install the so-called modern Windows apps you had installed via the Microsoft store. Does not apply to regular programs that are installed with a custom installer. Remember my settings: This saves settings such as Wi-Fi, assistive technology, personalization, and language. In short, most things. When you log in to your account after the reinstallation, the system will read the synced settings and set everything up again. Zapping everything or just the system? How total do you want your reboot to be? That question determines which type of reinstallation you should choose. There are two basic methods of reinstalling, and for each method there are a few different options that affect the outcome. From Settings or through your computer’s recovery environment, you can reinstall Windows over the current installation, and either keep or delete files in the user folder. This will remove installed programs, except those that came with the computer. Creating installation media on a USB stick gives you a few more options, including the ability to reinstall the system and keep both your files and any installed programs. The table below shows the different options. Type of reinstallationOptions for reinstallationWhat happens to programmesFiles in your home folderFiles in other folders and on other discsIn settingsFixing problems with Windows UpdateAll programs and settings are preservedPreservedPreservedIn Settings or via the recovery environmentKeep my filesProgrammes that did not come with the computer are deletedPreservedPreservedIn Settings or via the recovery environmentDelete everythingDeletes programs that did not come with the computerDeletedDeletedWith installation mediaKeep everything (default)All programs and settings are preservedRetainPreservedWith installation mediaKeep personal dataAll programmes are deletedRetainedRetainedWith installation mediaDo not retain anythingAll programmes are deletedDeletedDeletedClean install with installation mediaReformats C: or all disks and partitions. All files and programs are deleted. Caution: Warning! Keep in mind that if you choose to reformat the entire computer with installation media, disks other than C: will also be deleted. Method 1: Via settings The easiest way if the computer still boots is to restore Windows via Settings > System > Recovery. Here you have three options. If you think something is wrong with Windows itself but are not looking to clean up in other ways, you can start by trying Fixing problems with Windows Update. It will download and reinstall all system files without affecting installed programs, settings or your files. If you want to start from scratch instead, select Reset this PC. You will then be given another choice, to keep or delete your own files. Whichever you choose, installed programs will disappear and all settings will be reset. This is a good choice if you want to remove all the old junk that has accumulated over the years, but still want to keep the files in your home folder. You can also access this feature from the Windows recovery environment. Foundry Foundry Foundry With all three options, the system takes care of the rest. The computer will reboot a few times during the process, just like with some system updates. Once that’s done, you’ll have to go through the Windows Welcome Wizard, sign in to your Microsoft account again, and so on. Then you can just start installing programs you really need. You’ll also have to redo some system settings, but if you made sure to synchronize settings (see above), most of them will be restored. Method 2: With installation media These are actually two different methods, but they both start the same way: with a USB stick that turns into installation media. You can create the installation media on any Windows computer, not necessarily the computer you are reinstalling the system on. You need a USB stick of at least 8GB, which will be reformatted (i.e. all files will be deleted), and the Media Creation Tool which you can download here. When you run the program, you will have to choose the edition and language of Windows. After that, select the correct USB drive and click on it. The program will first download Windows and then create the installation media. If the computer boots properly, you can start the reinstallation by running setup.exe on the USB stick via Explorer. The program will chew for a while. Then click past user agreements and other things until you get to a dialog where you can choose what you want to keep. Select the Keep personal files and apps to upgrade in place. The options Keep only personal files and Nothing work as via Reset this computer in Settings (see above). Boot your computer from the USB stick If you have a major problem and Windows doesn’t start up as usual, you can boot your computer from the installation media and reinstall the system from there. Unfortunately, the Windows installer is not very good at handling more than one hard drive or SSD in the computer, so if you have discs other than C: it is a good idea to physically disconnect them. This avoids potential errors and means you don’t risk deleting something you don’t want to delete. You can reconnect the discs once Windows is installed and the computer boots properly. Boot your computer from the USB stick by plugging it in, starting your computer and pressing the button that opens the boot menu. Foundry Foundry Foundry Once it has booted, select the language and keyboard, click next, and then Install now and the installer will start. Fill in the product key or proceed without, and select the correct edition of Windows in the next step. Accept the user agreement and you will be presented with two options: Upgrade or Custom. Upgrade works just like Keep personal files and apps and Fix problems with Windows Update above, and only works if Windows Update can install the system on top of the existing one. All files and installed applications will remain, but the reinstallation may not do any good. Custom can either reinstall Windows and move all your old files to a new folder on C: called Windows.old, or reformat (delete) C: and install a completely new system without any other files on the disc. To keep the old files, select the Windows partition from the list of available partitions and move on without doing anything more. To start from scratch, delete all partitions from your computer’s boot disc, where the current Windows resides. If you have more than one hard drive or SSD in your computer and haven’t unplugged them as I recommend above, you need to be careful here, as you can easily accidentally delete the other disks. Look for a partition that is named something with Windows and is of type Primary. Note the drive number. My Windows partition is on Drive 1. Select each partition on that drive in turn and click Delete. When the whole drive is just Unallocated space you can select it and click Next. The installer will then format the drive appropriately and begin the installation of Windows. Once everything is ready, just sign in to your Microsoft account and let the settings sync if you chose to. Then you can move your files back from the backup and install the programs you need. Read...

College can be extremely expensive — not just with tuition and dorm costs, but with materials, books, software, and more. You might think you have to spend lots of cash on apps to get you through your degree. But, really, you don’t have to spend any money at all! (Except in rare situations where you need a very specific software for class, in which case your college should ideally provide you with a license for it.) Here’s a truly useful collection of free apps that are must-haves for students like you, allowing you to outfit your college laptop with the essential tools to get your work done and do more. Related: Choosing the right laptop for your college major Bitwarden for safer passwords Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG A password manager is one of several essential cybersecurity tools for college students. You’ll probably accumulate lots of different logins for various school accounts and resources, right? Well, a password manager not only keeps all of those logins in one place, but also conveniently fills out login forms on your behalf. You’ll never have to remember your passwords again, which means you can freely use long, strong passwords that are unique to each account for maximum online security with close to zero effort. Bitwarden is our favorite free password manager. It’s open-source and can sync between your devices, so you can access all your passwords with convenient auto-fill whether you’re on your laptop, your phone, or any other device. All of its important features are truly free. Further reading: The best free password managers ProtonVPN for network privacy Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG A VPN can be really useful when you’re on a college network. Whether your access to a certain site is blocked or your internet speeds are throttled for certain activities, a VPN can help you get around many restrictions and limitations imposed upon you. Furthermore, VPNs are important for data privacy and security, especially if you’re frequently on the go and constantly using public Wi-Fi networks with your laptop or phone (e.g., at coffee shops). While most trustworthy VPNs cost money, there are some excellent free options if you don’t need all the bells and whistles. ProtonVPN is our favorite free VPN because it’s from the same privacy-focused company that created the famous ProtonMail email service. Further reading: The best free VPNs that don’t suck Microsoft OneNote for taking notes Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Did you know one of the best note-taking apps is already installed on your PC? It’s called Microsoft OneNote and it’s excellent for students. Whether you want to type notes, insert images, write with a stylus, or even record audio during a lecture, OneNote can do it all. OneNote is extremely flexible, so it’s as powerful as you want it to be. It’s also cross-platform, so you’re leaving yourself open to options by choosing it. If you later switch to a MacBook or Chromebook, you’ll still have full access and functionality. It also works well on iPads and other tablets, in case you like to review notes on such devices. Further reading: The best note-taking apps for college students Microsoft Office for assignments Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Microsoft’s full-blown Microsoft Office suite with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint normally costs money, but many colleges provide it to students free or charge as part of an agreement with Microsoft. Check with your college acquiring a free educational license for Office. You can also head to Microsoft’s Office 365 Education website and plug in your school email address to see if you get it for free that way. Even if you can’t get Office for free, you can still use Word and other Office apps for free in a web browser or subscribe for $3 per month with a student discount. Microsoft To Do for task management Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft A task management app is essential for keeping track of due dates and staying on top of deadlines. If you’re deep into Google apps, you may want to use Google Tasks which is built into Gmail and Google Calendar. Otherwise, I recommend Microsoft To Do. This 100% free to-do app comes included with Windows, and it’s also available on Android and iPhone devices. It’s a powerful, easy-to-use tool that’s packed with features, including collaboration. (You can create a shared task list with a roommate or project partner!) Grammarly or Microsoft Editor for writing assistance and suggestions Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Many students use writing assistants to polish up their essays, and Grammarly is the premier writing assistant. It’s available both as a browser extension and a Windows app, with the Windows app conveniently integrating with other apps like Microsoft Word. Anyone can use Grammarly Free to get instant access to basic grammar checking and suggestions, but Grammarly Premium with AI writing suggestions costs extra. Some schools offer Grammarly Premium for free to students, but not all of them do. You can also use the Microsoft Editor browser extension, which is completely free and provides similar writing suggestions in your browser. iCloud for Windows to sync your iPhone and Apple services to PC Apple Apple Apple If you’re an iPhone user, I highly recommend installing Apple’s iCloud for Windows app. It provides several integrations with the Apple services you’re probably using on your phone. With it, you can see your iCloud Photos in the Windows Photos app, browse your iCloud Drive files in File Explorer, access your bookmarks in your web browser, and get access to your iCloud Keychain passwords. Quick Share and Phone Link to sync your Android phone to PC Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG If you’re an Android phone user, check out the Google Quick Share app. It integrates your Windows PC with the Quick Share functionality on Android phones so you can wirelessly send files back and forth between PC and phone. It works with Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, and more. Microsoft’s Phone Link feature, which is included with Windows, is also very useful if you have an Android phone. You can send text messages, take calls, manage notifications, and view/download photos from your phone’s camera roll, all from your PC. (It kind of works with iPhones too, but it works best with Android phones.) DaVinci Resolve for video editing Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design When it comes to video editing, your mind likely goes right to professional software like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Those may cost a pretty penny, but there’s an excellent alternative that’s just as good (mostly) and completely free: DaVinci Resolve. DaVinci Resolve is an extremely capable, industry-standard video editing and post-processing tool that’s actually used by professionals. It might actually be overboard if you’re just looking to edit a few clips, although I know some hobbyists who prefer it anyway. If you’re interested in video editing or post-production work and you’re on a tight budget, you owe it to yourself to try DaVinci Resolve. Adobe Photoshop Express for simple photo editing Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG The Photos app built into Windows is a surprisingly capable tool for performing basic photo edits. But Adobe’s free Photoshop Express app is another great tool for quick photo touchups. With Photoshop Express, you can crop images, apply effects and filters, fix red-eye issues, and touch-up blemishes. This free photo-editing tool is meant to be simple and quick, so keep your expectations in check. For more powerful photo editing, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Adobe Photoshop isn’t free for students, but Adobe does offer a student discount on its Creative Cloud plans. Spotify for music streaming Spotify Spotify Spotify While Spotify has competition, it’s still the music streaming service. It has a high-quality Windows app (not just a web player) that integrates nicely with your PC. Unlike some of its competitors, Spotify offers free music streaming to everyone — you just need to listen to some ads. If those ads are a problem, you can get a student discount with the Spotify Premium for Students plan, which is $5.99 per month and comes with Hulu. (The bundled Hulu account does have ads, but the Spotify Premium account you get doesn’t have ads.) VLC for all-in-one video playback VLC VLC VLC Windows has a capable built-in video player these days, and there’s a good chance you don’t even need it because you’re probably doing most of your watching on YouTube, Netflix, and the like. But if you do find yourself viewing a lot of video files — especially videos in many different formats — then I have to recommend VLC. It’s been the go-to video player for decades. It’s the Swiss Army knife of media players that can play anything you throw at it. WizTree for freeing up drive space WizTree WizTree WizTree While Windows provides some built-in tools for clearing up space on your computer’s storage, one of the best ways to find out what’s using up all your space is to use WizTree, a free disk space analyzing tool that shows you — visually — how your space is used up. WizTree is the fastest way to analyze your disk space usage on Windows. With a quick scan, you can see exactly which files and folders are clogging up your drives, so you know exactly what you need to free up for the most impact right away. Perhaps you need to uninstall a particularly massive video game? Or maybe you have big media files lying around from a project? WizTree makes it easy to spot it all at a glance. VMware Workstation for virtual machines Christoph Hoffmann Christoph Hoffmann Christoph Hoffmann You may or may not need virtual machine software depending on your college major, but if you’re studying Computer Science or another along those lines, you might benefit from using virtual machines. Virtual machine software lets you install an operating system within your current operating system, essentially running an isolated instance of that OS within its own sandbox environment. This is a great way to install a full Linux system without giving up Windows, for example. (Or use the Windows Subsystem for Linux feature to run Linux apps on Windows.) VMware Workstation was, until very recently, a paid app. Broadcom now offers it free for personal use. It will likely be your best bet if you’re looking for a virtual machine application. Further reading: How to set up virtual machines with VMware Microsoft PowerToys for various useful tools and features Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of useful power-user tools that you probably didn’t know you needed. It’s packed with nifty utilities that can make your life easier, and they all come bundled together in one convenient (and free) package that’s easy to install. With PowerToys, you can do things like remapping keys on your keyboard (so they function as other keys), bulk rename lots of files at once, get a color-picking tool that gives you the color code for anything on your screen, and so many other useful things. And there you have it! A full assortment of free apps that’ll make your life as a college student that much more productive and enjoyable. For more software recommendations, check out our roundup of useful free apps that are already installed on your Windows PC. Read...

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Windows, Microsoft, and third-party software makers supply numerous useful tools for the command line — but these are not always easy to use. Graphical user interfaces (GUI), on the other hand, usually offer a more intuitive experience. Instead of developing a program from scratch, programmers sometimes use command line tools (CLI, Command Line Interface) or program libraries of the system in the background. The set options are transferred to the GUI tool, the return values are read out, and displayed in the window. Further reading: 50 programs that fix Windows problems with just a few clicks Such graphical interfaces make it easier to get started with many command line tools because they provide a good overview of the available options and often also explanations in help text. Here are some of the most useful ones. 1. Faster software installations and updates One of the major disadvantages of Windows is the proliferation of software installations and updates. Autostart apps that run permanently in the background prompt for updates. Sometimes a program reports available updates at startup. In some cases, you have to carry out the update check yourself. get windows 11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro The command line tool Winget, which Microsoft offers for Windows 10 and 11, promises a significant improvement. It can be used to install numerous programs very easily without a cumbersome setup wizard. Winget can also update many programs, even if they were not installed via Winget. Winget should already be installed on Windows 10 and 11. Look in the Microsoft Store under Library to see if App Installer is in the list. If not, install the app. Check the Store for updates if you have not already done so. Winget versions that are too old may no longer work. Central updater: Winget UI shows which software updates are available on the PC. The update can take place automatically – or you can manually select specific programs for the update. Central updater: Winget UI shows which software updates are available on the PC. The update can take place automatically – or you can manually select specific programs for the update. IDG Central updater: Winget UI shows which software updates are available on the PC. The update can take place automatically – or you can manually select specific programs for the update. IDG IDG Winget UI is a graphical user interface for Winget and other package managers. To configure it, click Settings on the left-hand side. For automatic updates, tick Update packages automatically under General settings. Under Start options, click on the Open button and then activate the autostart for Winget UI. Winget UI can search for packages, install them, and display the installed packages. After clicking on Software updates on the left-hand side, Winget UI displays programs for which updates are available. Click on the Update selected packages button on the far left of the toolbar to update all programs marked with a tick at once. Click on Discover packages and use the input field to search for programs. Place a tick in front of the desired program and click on Install selected packages. 2. System maintenance with just a few clicks Dism (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) is a central Microsoft tool for managing Windows components and installation images. Dism can be used to check and repair system files, which can be controlled on the command line with various options. GUI for Dism provides a simple interface for using Dism. Use the tool if you suspect that damaged files are the cause of system problems. Move the mouse over the buttons to get information about the function. The Clean up buttons clean up the Winsxs component memory. Click on the first and second button in succession. Clean up 3 cleans up residues from service packs, which is currently not necessary because there are none for Windows 10 or 11. Windows repair: With GUI for Dism you use the Microsoft command line tool Dism to clean up the usually very large Winsxs folder and repair defective system files. Windows repair: With GUI for Dism you use the Microsoft command line tool Dism to clean up the usually very large Winsxs folder and repair defective system files. IDG Windows repair: With GUI for Dism you use the Microsoft command line tool Dism to clean up the usually very large Winsxs folder and repair defective system files. IDG IDG You can also click on the buttons under Repair one after the other. Dism is used to examine and repair damaged system files. Clicking on Sfc repair starts the System File Checker (SFC), which also finds and repairs faulty system files. DISM++ offers similar functions, but a somewhat more appealing and German-language interface. Tick Tools > Hard disk cleanup > Reduce WinSxS directory and then click Scan. The tool will show you which files can be removed, which you can initiate by clicking on Clean up. The other clean-up functions work accordingly. In addition, Dism++ offers a number of options under Control Panel that give you quick access to Windows settings. 3. Using Dism for image management In addition to system repair, the main task of Dism is to handle files in Windows Imaging Format (WIM). This is not something that a Windows user needs every day, but professionals can use it to customize the Windows installation image for a new installation, for example. Dism offers numerous options for handling WIM files. As a rule, you first mount an image in the file system, make changes, transfer the changes to the image, and unmount it again. Handling WIM files: Dism-GUI shows which images are contained in a WIM file. The file can be mounted in the file system via the graphical user interface. Handling WIM files: Dism-GUI shows which images are contained in a WIM file. The file can be mounted in the file system via the graphical user interface. IDG Handling WIM files: Dism-GUI shows which images are contained in a WIM file. The file can be mounted in the file system via the graphical user interface. IDG IDG Dism GUI provides a simple graphical interface for these tasks. Start the tool by right-clicking with Run as administrator. On the Mount Control tab, specify the WIM file and the folder in which the image is to be mounted, for example C:\mount. Click on Display WIM Info to display what is in the file. The Install.wim file for Windows 11, for example, contains ten editions. Select the number of the desired edition under Index and then click on Mount WIM. On the other tabs, Dism GUI offers further functions, such as the integration of drivers and packages in a WIM file. Dism-Tools is a somewhat more comprehensive program for customizing WIM files. After starting the program, first click on New Project, give the project a name, and specify the storage location. Continue by clicking on Mount Image. Select the WIM file and a mount folder. Click on Use default to set the mount folder within the project directory. Enter the index number of the desired edition behind Index. Dism-Tools now displays several buttons that you can use to add packages or drivers, deactivate features, or remove Appx packages. Edit WIM files: DISM-Tools offers a convenient interface that allows you to customize the Windows installation image in a variety of ways. You can remove and add components. Edit WIM files: DISM-Tools offers a convenient interface that allows you to customize the Windows installation image in a variety of ways. You can remove and add components. IDG Edit WIM files: DISM-Tools offers a convenient interface that allows you to customize the Windows installation image in a variety of ways. You can remove and add components. IDG IDG 4. Use a better alternative to Dism There is no getting around Dism, for example if you want to add functions to a WIM file, as described in point three. Unpacking, repacking, or converting WIM files is also possible with the open source tool Wimlib-Imagex, which sometimes works faster than Microsoft’s original. Wimlib-CLC is a graphical front end for Wimlib-Imagex. Start the program in Windows Explorer via the context menu item Run as administrator. It displays the available options on several tabs. If you move the mouse over one of the settings, a short help text appears. However, it is advisable to call up the detailed descriptions via Help > wimlib documentation (PDF). Wimlib instead of Dism: Wimlib-CLC uses Wimlib in the background, which is also suitable for backup tasks. In many cases, it works faster than Microsoft’s Dism. Wimlib instead of Dism: Wimlib-CLC uses Wimlib in the background, which is also suitable for backup tasks. In many cases, it works faster than Microsoft’s Dism. IDG Wimlib instead of Dism: Wimlib-CLC uses Wimlib in the background, which is also suitable for backup tasks. In many cases, it works faster than Microsoft’s Dism. IDG IDG Wimlib-CLC can also be used as a backup tool, which Dism does not offer when Windows is running. Enter the path to a new WIM file under File and the folder you want to back up under Source on the Capture tab. Tick the snapshot box, select the compress option, and set maximum=LZX as the compression format. Click on Execute to start the backup. If you need files from the backup file, you can mount them in the file system using Dism GUI (see point three). Or you can extract the contents to a new folder using Wimlib-CLC via the Extract/Check tab. Windows quick installation: Win NT Setup extracts the Windows installation image for Windows-To-Go onto a USB stick or into a VHD file. Windows quick installation: Win NT Setup extracts the Windows installation image for Windows-To-Go onto a USB stick or into a VHD file. IDG Windows quick installation: Win NT Setup extracts the Windows installation image for Windows-To-Go onto a USB stick or into a VHD file. IDG IDG Win NT Setup uses Wimlib for the portable Windows installation to a VHD file or to a USB drive (Windows-To-Go). It unpacks the image file Install.wim from the Windows installation medium, a task that is otherwise performed by the setup tool during a new installation. The advantage of this is that with Windows 11 there is no need to check the hardware requirements, additional options can be set for the configuration of the system and you can specify a response file for the fully automatic installation with a local user account. ESD File Converter uses Wimlib to convert an ESD file on the Windows installation media into a WIM file for further processing if required. The tool can also unpack the ISO file of the installation media and apply a registry patch or add a response file that allows a Windows 11 installation without hardware testing. Manage Windows subsystem for Linux The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enables the start of Linux programs under Windows. It is managed with the command line tool Wsl. Manage Linux subsystem: WSL2-Distro-Manager gives you access to the WSL configuration and allows you to quickly set up additional Linux distributions. Manage Linux subsystem: WSL2-Distro-Manager gives you access to the WSL configuration and allows you to quickly set up additional Linux distributions. IDG Manage Linux subsystem: WSL2-Distro-Manager gives you access to the WSL configuration and allows you to quickly set up additional Linux distributions. IDG IDG WSL2-Distro-Manager offers a graphical user interface for WSL. When starting for the first time, click on wsl –install if Wsl has not yet been set up, and then restart Windows. After logging in, WSL is initialized and the Ubuntu installation is completed in a terminal window. You will be asked to enter a user name and a new password for Linux. Back in WSL2-Distro-Manager, you will see the installed Linux distributions under Home, which you can start by clicking on the Play button. Use + Add an instance to set up additional Linux systems. Enter the first letter of a distribution in the Distro name or path to rootfs input field. Select the desired version from the list and click on Create to install it. 5. Partitioning and formatting drives Disk Management is usually sufficient for partitioning and formatting hard disks and SSDs. However, there are situations in which you need to use the Diskpart command line tool. For example, Disk Management cannot reformat USB sticks to which the image of a Linux installation medium has been written. GUI for Diskpart makes Diskpart accessible via a graphical user interface. After starting, the tool displays the recognized drives in the first line. After clicking on them, the partitions they contain are displayed below. Select the USB stick, click on the … button and select Diskpart – Clean. Tick the Clean all box and click on Confirm. Make sure that you have actually specified the desired drive. To confirm, you must type in the text displayed in the window before the action can be carried out after clicking on Confirm. Partition drives: GUI for Diskpart enables convenient use of the command line tool. It can also delete partitions for which Disk Management refuses to work. Partition drives: GUI for Diskpart enables convenient use of the command line tool. It can also delete partitions for which Disk Management refuses to work. IDG Partition drives: GUI for Diskpart enables convenient use of the command line tool. It can also delete partitions for which Disk Management refuses to work. IDG IDG Bootice can partition drives and is used to manage the boot environment. This tool can also be used to delete partitions that cannot be deleted by Disk Management. On the Physical Disk tab, select the desired drive, click on Parts Manage, and then on Re-Partitioning. For a standard USB stick, select the option USB-HDD-mode (Single Partition) and NTFS or ExFAT as the file system. If required, you can also use FAT32. Bootice can also format USB sticks with more than 32 GB with FAT32, which neither Disk Management nor Diskpart support. Use the USB-HDD-mode (Multi-Partitions) option if you want to boot Windows from the USB stick, for example. Set GUID partition table (GPT) and tick the two options below. Remove all entries after Size and set the fourth partition to NTFS. After clicking on OK and confirming, Bootice will create all the partitions required for a Uefi system. A USB stick prepared in this way can then be filled with the Windows installation by Win NT Setup (see point four). Re-partitioning: Bootice automatically creates a Uefi partition structure on USB sticks. The tool can also format sticks with more than 32 GB with FAT32. Re-partitioning: Bootice automatically creates a Uefi partition structure on USB sticks. The tool can also format sticks with more than 32 GB with FAT32. IDG Re-partitioning: Bootice automatically creates a Uefi partition structure on USB sticks. The tool can also format sticks with more than 32 GB with FAT32. IDG IDG 6. Measure speeds in the network Use the command line tool Iperf to determine the performance of your local network. It works according to the client-server principle and expects a remote station to be available on which Iperf is running in server mode. Jperf simplifies the operation of Iperf. The tool displays the measurement results in a diagram and thus gives a better impression of the transfer rate. Jperf requires a Java runtime environment. Start the tool via Jperf.bat. Select the Server option and click on Run Iperf!. Make sure you set up Jperf on another PC in the network. Select the Client option and enter the IP address of the server. Set MBytes behind Output Format. Click on Run Iperf!. The tool shows you the text output from Iperf and displays the data graphically. How fast is the network? Jperf reliably determines the transfer rate between two PCs in the network. It can also be used to find out whether the WLAN is delivering the expected performance, for example. How fast is the network? Jperf reliably determines the transfer rate between two PCs in the network. It can also be used to find out whether the WLAN is delivering the expected performance, for example. IDG How fast is the network? Jperf reliably determines the transfer rate between two PCs in the network. It can also be used to find out whether the WLAN is delivering the expected performance, for example. IDG IDG 7. Additional front ends for other tools Some programs do not directly use additional tools for a specific function, but offer an alternative way of accessing Windows options. Others serve as frontends for launching command line tools. Wintoys displays important system data and the utilization of CPU, graphics card and RAM in an attractive interface. Under Apps you can quickly access the list of installed programs, which can also be uninstalled here. Under Performance, the tool offers several options, such as for managing autostart apps. The Health and Tweaks menu items offer additional options that you would otherwise have to laboriously search for in the depths of the Windows settings. Defender UI can help you configure the Windows security settings. When starting for the first time, select the Recommended security profile unless you want something else. Individual options can then be deactivated or activated. Windows 10 Firewall Control Portable allows you to precisely analyze network activities. It shows every Internet request made by a program on the computer. You can then decide whether you want to allow access or not. The tool is useful if you suspect that a program is carrying out unwanted Internet activities. Windows System Control Center (WSCC) is a downloader, updater, and start center for numerous tools from Microsoft (Sysinternals) and Nirsoft. Some of the tools offer a graphical user interface. Most of them are command line tools. WSCC shows a short description for each tool. Clicking on the corresponding button opens a window for command line tools where you can pass additional parameters. Convert, split and merge PDFs PDF files allow you to share documents without losing formatting. The documents always look the same on the screen or in the printout regardless of the software used to open them. Sometimes there is a desire to convert PDFs into HTML or text files to make it easier to copy or process the text. Often only individual pages are required from a PDF or you want to create a single file from several PDFs. Tool for PDF files: With PDF2HTML you can convert PDFs to HTML or extract the text. PDFs can also be merged or split. Tool for PDF files: With PDF2HTML you can convert PDFs to HTML or extract the text. PDFs can also be merged or split. IDG Tool for PDF files: With PDF2HTML you can convert PDFs to HTML or extract the text. PDFs can also be merged or split. IDG IDG PDF2HTML can perform these tasks. It uses several tools for the command line in the background, some of which produce different results. Configure an empty folder behind Output directory in which you want to save the files. Caution: Files with the same name in this folder are always overwritten without prompting. Do not store any original files here. Use Add to specify the PDF you want to convert. If Convert and pdftohtml are selected, several options are available. Select Complex documents if you want the HTML file to look as true to layout as possible. pdf2htmlEx usually provides more accurate results whereas pdftotext only extracts the text content. If you want to compile a PDF from several files, specify the Merge option under Select mode. Select multiple files via Add. In Separate mode, enter the desired pages behind Pages from … to …. The function affects all PDFs in the list unless you tick Selected document only. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating ProsImmersive contrastVery wide, vivid color gamutAppealing motion clarity at 175HzConsGeneric look and feelColor accuracy is a tad behind competitorsDoesn’t stand out from QD-OLED alternativesOur VerdictThe Gigabyte MO34WQC is a generically great QD-OLED display. Unfortunately, opting for its dull design doesn’t save you any cash. Best Prices Today: Gigabyte MO34WQC Retailer Price $849.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Shoppers looking to buy a 34-inch ultrawide OLED monitor have no shortage of options this summer, and that means the details matter. Gigabyte’s MO34WQC has an OLED panel with image quality and motion clarity typical of the competition, but tries to stand out with additional USB-C and USB connectivity. While this does improve its appeal, your decision is likely to be based on its price. Gigabyte MO34WQC specs and features The Gigabyte MO34WQC has a Samsung QD-OLED panel with a resolution of 3440×1440 and a refresh rate of up to 175Hz. This is similar to most QD-OLED monitors on the market, but behind the latest panels, which can hit 240Hz or higher. Gigabyte offers an alternative model, the MO34WQC2, which has a QD-OLED panel with a higher maximum refresh rate of 240Hz. It’s also more expensive with a typical retail price of $1,000. The two monitors are similar enough that Gigabyte issued the same user manual for both, but we haven’t tested the MO34WQC2 yet. Display size: 34-inch ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 3440×1440 Panel type: Anti-reflection QD-OLED Refresh rate: Up to 175Hz Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 18 watts USB Power Delivery, 2x USB-A 3.2 downstream, 1x USB-B 3.2 upstream, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1x 3.5mm microphone jack VESA mount: 100x100mm Speakers: Yes, 2x 3-watt speaker system Price: $949.99 MSRP, $849.99 typical retail Panel aside, the MO34WQC’s specifications have a few highlights. The monitor features two HDMI 2.1 ports, in addition to DisplayPort and a USB-C port with DisplayPort support, for a total of four video inputs. The USB-C port also provides power, though not enough to charge a PC laptop quickly. Built-in speakers are included as well, which isn’t true of all competitors. Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products. Gigabyte MO34WQC design The Gigabyte MO34WQC is sold as a gaming monitor but it’s not part of Gigabyte’s Aorus gaming sub-brand, so it delivers a more basic, workmanlike design. The front of the panel boasts slim black bezels on three sides and a small plastic chin at the bottom, while the rear of the panel is coated in black plastic that feels sturdy but looks unremarkable. The MO34WQC strikes a much more generic profile than design leaders like the Alienware AW3423DWF or Samsung Odyssey G85SB. Gigabyte ships the monitor with an ergonomic stand that adjusts for height, tilt, and swivel. The stand has a wide base that takes up a fair bit of room on a desk, but the base is flat and not too thick, so it’s possible to place items on the space it occupies. The stand also feels sturdy and proves easy to adjust with modest effort. A 100x100mm VESA mount is available for use with a third-party monitor arm, stand, or wall mount. The monitor is curved with a radius of 1800R, meaning the display panel would need to continue for 1,800 millimeters (about 6 feet) to form a full circle. The curve is noticeable but doesn’t draw too much attention, and most 34-inch QD-OLED monitors have settled on 1800R as the preferred curve radius for this size of monitor. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Gigabyte MO34WQC design connectivity and menus Gigabyte provides a total of four video inputs for the MO34WQC: two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, and a USB-C port, which also supports DisplayPort mode. While four video inputs are not unusual for a monitor in this price range, they do cover most use cases, and all available ports support the display’s maximum refresh rate. The monitor also has two USB-A downstream ports, which can be driven either by the USB-C port or, if your PC lacks USB-C, through a USB-A to USB-B connection. Gigabyte includes a KVM switch function, allowing you to use the monitor as a KVM switch if you connect your wired keyboard and mouse to the monitor. The USB-C port has Power Delivery, but only up to 18 watts, which means it’s not a good choice for powering and charging a laptop with USB-C. Gigabyte provides an intuitive and responsive joystick to control the on-screen menus. The menus themselves are large and well-organized but, despite their size, the font is still thin and a bit difficult to read. Gigabyte offers a good range of image quality options, including multiple color temperature, gamma presets, and six-axis color calibration — but that’s typical at this price point. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Also typical is the monitor’s gaming features: It has a black equalizer to elevate the brightness of dark areas in games and some optional on-screen elements like a crosshair. There’s multiple aspect ratio modes, too, which emulate the size of a 24-inch or 22-inch display, as well as a 1:1 aspect ratio mode. Picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture modes are also available. While the MO34WQC includes built-in speakers, they’re unremarkable. The maximum volume is adequate, and sound quality is clear in basic situations such as listening to podcasts. But games, movies, and other entertainment will quickly overwhelm them, resulting in muddy and unpleasant sound. External speakers or headphones are still recommended for most people. Gigabyte MO34WQC SDR image quality At this point, you might be sensing a theme: The Gigabyte MO34WQC is a good QD-OLED monitor, but not one that stands out from the crowd. This continues to be true when it comes to image quality. It’s a fantastic monitor for SDR content, but no more so than its QD-OLED peers. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The MO34WQC’s brightness is typical for an OLED monitor, with a maximum measured sustained SDR brightness of 245 nits. This is in line with other OLED monitors and is bright enough for use in a room with moderate light control. However, the monitor might appear dim or suffer from glare if used in a room with bright, sunlit windows. In that case, no OLED monitor is a great choice, and a brighter IPS-LED or Mini-LED display would be a better fit for your environment. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Unsurprisingly, contrast is excellent, with an effectively infinite contrast ratio thanks to the monitor’s ability to achieve a perfect minimum luminance of zero nits. This is a defining characteristic of modern OLED display panels, so Gigabyte has no advantage here. Still, it contributes to the monitor’s overall image quality. An OLED display panel like the one on the MO34WQC achieves a level of depth and immersion LCD monitors can’t match. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Color gamut is among the MO34WQC’s best traits but, once again, it’s similar to other monitors with a Samsung QD-OLED panel. The Gigabyte achieves 100 percent of the sRGB gamut, 98 percent of DCI-P3, and 94 percent of Adobe RGB. That’s excellent coverage of each color gamut and close to the best available from any modern monitor. Photographers, videographers, digital artists, and other content will find the MO34WQC capable of displaying a dazzling range of color. Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry Matthew Smith / Foundry The Gigabyte MO34WQC’s color accuracy is good but technically a bit less accurate out of the box than some competitors, which might sway some shoppers towards alternatives. Related to that, we noticed the monitor had a gamma result of 2.4, which is off the target of 2.2, and a default color temperature of 6100K, which is warmer than the target of 6500K. In general, content on the monitor looked darker and slightly warmer than it should have with the monitor at its default settings. However, calibration can help resolve the issue. Resolution comes in at 3440×1440, which is standard for a 34-inch QD-OLED ultrawide monitor. Sharpness is good thanks to the monitor’s pixel density of about 110 pixels per inch (PPI), but QD-OLED has subpixel issues which can cause pixelation or off-color effects around high-contrast edges and small fonts. It’s rarely a problem in gaming, but the monitor’s sharpness might prove inadequate if you spend a lot of time staring at Excel spreadsheets with a 10-point font. On balance, the Gigabyte MO34WQC’s SDR image quality is what we’ve come to expect from Samsung QD-OLED display panels in this size and resolution. The monitor benefits from an outstanding contrast ratio and an extremely wide color gamut, though its brightness is low for brighter rooms. HDR performance is okay for most games but might not be sufficient if you plan to watch a lot of HDR movies and have a critical eye for image quality. Gigabyte MO34WQC HDR image quality The Gigabyte MO34WQC supports HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified. Most QD-OLED monitors have this level of certification, and while the QD-OLED panel provides some benefit in HDR content, it’s not the best available. I measured a maximum HDR brightness of 402 nits in a 10 percent window, meaning 10 percent of the display’s total area was lit while the rest remained entirely black. This result is not particularly impressive, though it’s fairly typical for a Samsung QD-OLED panel. In contrast, LG’s newest WOLED panels, which are available in monitors like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, can achieve a much higher maximum HDR brightness; for instance, the Asus hit 731 nits in a 10 percent window. In practice, the Gigabyte’s HDR performance is passable. HDR Highlights, like a flash of lightning or a star in the night sky, will appear reasonably bright and deliver decent luminance detail. However, there’s a noticeable reduction in luminance detail compared to an LG WOLED panel or a good Mini-LED monitor. When viewing the “Gargantua” scene from Interstellar, for example, I noticed less gradient and details to the swirling, super-heated gas surrounding the black hole. This level of HDR performance is okay for most games but might not be sufficient if you plan to watch a lot of HDR movies and have a critical eye for image quality. Gigabyte MO34WQC motion performance Motion clarity is a strength for the Gigabyte MO34WQC, as is true for other QD-OLED monitors. The Gigabyte offers a maximum refresh rate of 175Hz and a quoted pixel response time of 0.03 milliseconds. It also supports adaptive sync through AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, which helps improve motion fluidity. Testing motion clarity with fast-paced games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 showed that most of the game elements were easy to view during motion. Details like character sprites and health bars remained reasonably visible, even when scrolling quickly. Yet some small details, like character names, were at times difficult to make out, especially when the text’s color didn’t contrast well with the background. This is similar to other QD-OLED monitors with refresh rates in the 160Hz to 180Hz range and close to what you can expect to find on a 240Hz IPS or VA panel monitor. The monitor’s enhanced refresh rate is most relevant to gamers but also improves responsiveness in everyday tasks on the Windows desktop by reducing input lag and improving clarity. Viewers who are sensitive to motion clarity will notice that actions like opening and closing windows, or moving them across the desktop, look smoother and feel more fluid compared to monitors with a lower refresh rate. Should you buy the Gigabyte MO34WQC? The proliferation of Samsung’s excellent QD-OLED panel technology has made it difficult for monitors that use it to stand out from the crowd. It’s a bit of a catch-22 for monitor makers: They want to use QD-OLED because it’s excellent, but when everyone uses it, it’s hard for any monitor to stand out. That’s certainly the case for the Gigabyte MO34WQC. It’s a great display for SDR content and benefits from excellent motion clarity. However, like other QD-OLED displays, it could be brighter, and sharpness can be an issue when viewing smaller fonts or other fine details. Ultimately, your decision to buy or skip the MO34WQC should come down to the price. At the moment, it retails for $850 at most online retailers. That’s not bad but hard to recommend when competitors like the Alienware AW3423DWF are now down to $700, and even Samsung’s Odyssey G85SB is available for $800. The MO34WQC becomes a strong pick if you find it for $750 or less — a price I wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit over the holiday shopping season. Read...

Pine trees are an important part of the economy, but planting whole farms with pine trees could have flow-on impacts in regional towns, Federated Farmers says. Read...