Windows won’t let you delete, move, or rename a file if a program is using it. Frustratingly, it also won’t tell you which program is using the file so that you can solve the problem.
[mai mult...]Accidentally lost Data while moving Files on Windows? Here are your recovery options
If you can’t find a specific file or folder after relocating your data from one drive to another, recheck the source and destination folders to ensure the data is actually missing. It’s possible that the files weren’t moved from the source drive, or an interruption during the transfer may have prevented the files from being properly copied to the destination folder.
[mai mult...]How to Install Apple Maps on Windows
Apple Maps has an official web app, available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Here’s how to install it on your Windows PC for easy access.
Apple released a public beta of Apple Maps on the web in July 2024, marking the first time the Maps service was available on non-Apple devices. It’s still not the full experience you’d get on an iPhone or Mac, but you can look up locations, check routes, and view location information like opening hours and phone numbers.
How to Install Apple Maps
First, open Microsoft Edge on your Windows PC. You can search for “Edge” in the Start Menu to find it. Next, open the address beta.maps.apple.com in the address bar. That will open the Apple Maps web app.
4 Ways to make a Window always-on-Top on Windows 10 or Windows 11
We recommend Microsoft PowerToys for keeping a window always on top. Microsoft PowerToys is a free, open-source package full of powerful Windows utilities developed by Microsoft. The Always-on-Top PowerToy provides an easy, convenient, official way of making any window always on top, and it works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
To make a window always on top, install and launch Microsoft PowerToys. Press Windows+Ctrl+T to make the current window always on top. A blue border will appear on the window, and a sound will play. Press Windows+Ctrl+T to undo your change and make Windows treat the window normally.
You can customize this behavior by launching the PowerToys Settings window. To do so, launch “PowerToys” from the Windows Start menu or click the PowerToys icon in your taskbar’s notification area and click the gear-shaped Settings icon.
Select “Always on Top” in the sidebar. If the keyboard shortcut didn’t work, ensure the “Always on Top” PowerToy is enabled at the top here. You can use the options here to change the keyboard shortcut, control whether a colored border appears around the window and customize that border, choose whether the sound plays, and configure windows that will never be made always on top.
We’re big fans of Microsoft PowerToys. The package is full of other useful utilities, and there’s a good chance you’ll find something else useful in it, too.
With a Keyboard Shortcut: AutoHotkey
Using the excellent and useful AutoHotkey program, you can make a simple script that sets your currently active window to be always on top when you press a certain key combination. The resulting script is lightweight and won’t use much resources or add unnecessary clutter to your system. You can even use AutoHotkey to compile the script to its own executable if you don’t want to keep the full AutoHotkey program running—or if you want an easy way to carry the script with you to other PCs.
First, you’ll need download and install AutoHotkey.
When that’s done, you’ll need to create a new script (if you already use AutoHotkey, feel free to add this to a current script or create a new one). To create a new script, right-click anywhere on your desktop or in a File Explorer window, point to the “New” menu, and then select the “AutoHotkey Script” option.
Give the new script file whatever name you want, click then click “Edit.” When prompted, open the script in Notepad.
In the Notepad window, paste the following line of code at the bottom. You can then save and close the script.
^space::
{
WinSetAlwaysOnTop -1, "A"
}
Next, double-click your script to run it. You’ll know it’s running because a green “H” logo appears in your system tray to let you know it’s running as a background process.
You can now press Ctrl+Space to set any currently active window to be always on top. Press Ctrl+Space again set the window to no longer be always on top.
And if you don’t like the Ctrl+Space combination, you can change the ^SPACE part of the script to set a new keyboard shortcut. Consult the Hotkeys documentation on AutoHotkey’s website for help.
Using a Mouse: DeskPins
If you prefer using a mouse over keyboard shortcuts, DeskPins provides a super simple way to make windows always on top by just pinning them.
First, you’ll need to download and install DeskPins. After installation, go ahead and run DeskPins. You’ll see that it adds a pin icon to your system tray.
When you have a window you want to pin to be always on top, click that system tray icon. Your pointer turns into a pin, and you can then click any window to pin it so that it’s always on top. Pinned windows actually have a red pin added to the title bar, so that you can tell easily which windows are pinned and which are not.
To remove a pin from a window, move your mouse over the pin. Your pointer will show a small “X” on it to let you know you’re about to remove the pin. And if you want to remove pins from all windows you’ve pinned at once, right-click the system tray icon, and then choose the “Remove All Pins” option.
Without Installing Anything Extra: Built-in App Options
Many apps have built-in options so that you can set their windows to become always on top. You often find these options in media players, system utilities, and other tools that you might want to see all the time. Programs that accept plug-ins may also have an always-on-top plugin you can install.
The Windows Task Manager is one built-in application that has this option on Windows 10 and Windows 11, for example. To make the Task Manager always-on-top on Windows 10, click Options > Always on Top in the Task Manager window. (If you don’t see the Options menu at the top of the window, click “More details” at the bottom.)
To make the Task Manager always-on-top on Windows 11, open the Task Manager’s menu, select “Settings,” and check “Always on top” under Window management. The Task Manager will remember this setting for the future.
In addition to these apps, some bigger, more fully-featured window and desktop utilities also offer the ability to make windows always on top. DisplayFusion, for example, offers the feature (even in its free version), but also provides tools for managing multiple monitors, controlling the desktop and windows in all kinds of ways, and even tweaking other Windows settings. Actual Window Manager offers the feature, too, and also adds over 50 other desktop management tools. If you already use one of those—or are interested in those other features—then by all means give them a try.
How to Fix a DPC Watchdog violation in Windows 10 or Windows 11
Dealing with blue screen errors is never fun, but it’s worse when you have no idea what’s caused it in the first place. One particular head-scratcher is the DPC Watchdog Violation, which can be caused for a number of reasons.
It’s a fairly common error, and it was especially common when Windows 10 was first released. If you’ve had Windows 10 or Windows 11 for a long time though, then perhaps your issue is because of a new storage device or faulty application. We’ve listed out numerous ways to help you solve this problem, so don’t worry.
What is DPC Watchdog
A violation of the DPC Watchdog protocol means that your PC’s watchdog, a utility that monitors for unresponsive programs, has been overwhelmed. It usually results in a memory dump and the dreaded blue screen of death.
[mai mult...]Apple Intelligence will make Siri and your favorite Apps Smarter
Apple announced its long-awaited AI framework, called Apple Intelligence. It will power an upgraded Siri voice assistant and AI features across iPhone, Mac, and iPhone, with some third-party integrations.
Apple Intelligence is the “personal intelligence system” for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that combines large language models (LLM) with personal context data. It’s a collection of technologies and features that will power many AI features across Apple devices, including text writing and summarization, image generation, and natural language processing. Apple claims its AI features are far more secure than competing software, since “many of the models that power it run entirely on device,” with limited data being passed to Apple servers when as task requires more computing power.
Apple’s apps and devices will have many of the same AI-powered features we’ve seen on other platforms. The new Writing Tools will have options for rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text in Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party applications. It will also create summaries of emails in the Mail app, with message suggestions using Smart Reply.
Notifications have been a mess on iPhone and iPad for years, especially in comparison to Android devices, and Apple is hoping AI can help. There’s a new “Priority Notifications” section that appears at the top of your notifications stack, containing alerts detected as important or summaries of long group chats.
Siri has been revamped with a new design and features powered by Apple Intelligence. Activating Siri now shows a glowing edge around the screen, instead of the floating bubble we’ve come to know and love. It can now better understand changes to a request, like saying “start directions to home, I mean, work,” and you can finally type messages to Siri instead of only speaking them.
[mai mult...]Stop Apps from draining your Battery with this Android feature
Apps running in the background can be a leading reason why an Android phone’s battery drains quickly. To tackle this problem, most Android phones offer a feature that lets you stop the apps’ background activity, reducing battery usage. Samsung refers to this feature as “Deep Sleeping Apps,” while other devices may call it by different names.
[mai mult...]11 Helpful hidden features on Windows 11 you probably missed
What to do if you forget your Mac’s Password
Read this before buying iCloud storage
Your iPhone or iPad is probably going to run out of storage eventually. To counter this, iCloud lets you back up and store important data using the cloud instead.
[mai mult...]