Remove services from auto-startup on Windows

Every service you install is usually run on system startup. Sometimes these services do so without asking you before and sometimes they might even be malicious or just too heavy in resources. To select specific services that shall not be started by boot, open msconfig by calling a Run prompt through the main menu and ... Read more

Remove a bluetooth (or other) device from My Computer

After establishing a bluetooth connection with another device from your computer the other device will propably stay in the Devices section of My Computer even after the connection is cancelled. To remove that device follow these steps: Open the control panel and head to View devices and printers under Hardware and Sound: You will be ... Read more

Change default installation path in Windows 7

By default Windows installs all programs into the C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) directories. If the hard drive you have the operating system installed on is running out of space though, or you just want to have the OS on a separate SSD, you might want to consider changing these default installation paths. Be ... Read more

Fix “System error 1290 has occurred.” error on Windows

This error usually comes up when you try to start a new service that would get the same service ID as another service in the process: System error 1290 has occurred. The service start failed since one or more services in the same process have an incompatible service SID type setting. A service with restricted ... Read more

Getting information about your system from dxdiag on Windows

DirectX Diagnostic tool dxdiag is a useful tool on Windows that gives you loads of information about your system, such as GPU, CPU and BIOS info. It is common that tech support asks you to attach your dxdiag report to support requests since it helps to narrow down the problem. Before Windows 8, dxdiag was ... Read more

Uninstall VirtualBox Guest Additions on Ubuntu and Windows 7

Ubuntu: To uninstall VirtualBox Guest Additions on Ubuntu and similar operating systems, mount the virtual disk again that you used to install them - to do that, click on the Devices menu on the virtual machines top menu bar and select Install Guest Additions. If you get a pop-up about auto-start procedures just cancel it. ... Read more

Hide files by merging them with Winrar on Windows

Apart from alternate data streams, there is another, perhaps easier way to hide files within others. All you need for it is WinRar (download the 32 or 64 bit version, depending on what operating system you use). To simplify things, I also like to install WinRar's context menu items. First off, you need the files ... Read more