How to clear browsing history data on your device

To clear your Microsoft Edge browsing data, first decide if you want to delete the data only on the device you’re currently using, or across all synced devices. To clear browsing data just on the device you’re currently using, make sure sync is turned off. If you want to clear browsing data on all synced devices, make sure you are signed in and sync is turned on. Items that are synced will be cleared across all synced devices.

To turn off sync:

  1. Select Settings and moreAn image showing the Settings and more menu in Microsoft Edge.
  2. Go to Settings  > Profiles Sync  and select Turn off sync.

To clear your browsing data in Microsoft Edge:

  1. Select Settings and more  > Settings  > Privacy, search, and services 
  2. Under Delete browsing data Clear browsing data now, select Choose what to clear
  3. Under Time range, choose a time range from the drop-down menu
  4. Choose the types of browsing data you want to clear (see the table below for descriptions).For example, you may want to remove browsing history and cookies but keep passwords and form fill data.
  5. Select Clear now.

Clear browsing data stored in the cloud (if you’ve turned on sync or personalization)

To manage and delete data saved in the Microsoft cloud, see the privacy dashboard. On the privacy dashboard you can view or delete your data. Data that you delete on the privacy dashboard won’t be deleted from your device.

Browsing data you can delete in Microsoft Edge

Types of info What will be deleted Where it’s stored
Browsing history The URLs of sites you’ve visited, and the dates and times of each visit. On your device (or, if sync is turned on, across your synced devices)
Download history The list of files you’ve downloaded from the web. This only deletes the list, not the actual files that you’ve downloaded. On your device
Cookies and other site data Information and data that websites store on your device to remember your preferences, such as sign-in info, your location, or media licenses. On your device
Cached images and files Copies of pages, images, and other media content stored on your device. The browser uses these copies to load content faster the next time you visit those sites. On your device
Passwords Site passwords that you’ve saved. On your device (or, if sync is turned on, across your synced devices)
Autofill form data (includes forms and cards)  Info that you’ve entered into forms, such as your email, credit card, or a shipping address. On your device (or, if sync is turned on, across your synced devices)
Site permissions Go to Settings and more  > Settings  > Cookies and site permissions to see a list for each website, including location, cookies, pop-ups, and media autoplay. On your device
All data from the previous version of Microsoft Edge All data including history, favorites, passwords, and more from the legacy version of Microsoft Edge. On your device (or, if sync is turned on, across your synced devices)
Media Foundation data Includes licenses, certificates, keys, and more. Data is cleared after you restart the Microsoft Edge browser. On your device (or, if sync is turned on, across your synced devices)
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How to schedule automatic shutdown in Win 11 – Powershell

If you prefer PowerShell over Command Prompt, you can use a cmdlet in this utility to shut down your PC. To do that, access Windows Search, type PowerShell, and select “Run as Administrator.” Select “Yes” in the User Account Control prompt.

On the PowerShell window, type the following cmdlet. Here, replace “seconds” until the shutdown time. Then, press Enter.

Start-Sleep -Seconds seconds; Stop-Computer

For example, to shut down your PC in five minutes, run the following cmdlet:

Start-Sleep -Seconds 300; Stop-Computer
The cmdlet to schedule the shutdown of the PC typed in PowerShell.

To cancel a scheduled shutdown, run the following cmdlet:

shutdown /a
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How to use MSCONFIG to troubleshoot a Configuration Issue

Configuration Issues: These are issues where new commands have been set or old ones modified and it had an adverse affect on the computer. This can usually be resolved by finding the wrong or modified command or setting and either changing it to one that works or revert it back to its original state.

Boot options using the Boot tab

This tab gives you many options for starting up the computer. The top portion of the window contains the start-up file that the computer is using. If there are multiple boot partitions on the computer, you see each listed here. You can change the timeout value for the boot menu. You can clearly see what commands the boot manager is using, to see if there are any issues.

MSCONFIG Boot Tab

Two of the three buttons provided in this window are for editing purposes and are unavailable by default. There are two options down the side of the page:

Make all boot settings permanent:
Changes made in System Configuration are not tracked. If you want to make changes later, you have to do so manually. Use this feature with caution!
Note: Selecting Normal Startup in the General tab DOES NOT work if this feature is selected. With this setting enabled, you must manually revert any changes that you have made.
Timeout field:
Using MSCONFIG can cause the operating system selection screen to display for 30 seconds. As a result, 30 seconds are added to the overall startup time. To prevent the operating selection screen from appearing for 30 seconds on startup, change the timeout line in the Timeout field to zero.

The only button that is not unavailable under the Boot tab, is the Advanced Options. Clicking the Advanced Options button brings up the Boot Advanced Options dialog box. Usually you do not use these options, but they can come in handy. Such as if you suspect that a boot issue is being caused by having multiple processors. You can limit the number of processors used to boot the computer by selecting the Number of Processors check box and specifying a number.

MSCONFIG Advanced Boot

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How to open and use MSconfig

In Windows 10 and 11 you can press the Windows + R keys together and a run box appears.

    • Alternatively, pressing the windows key or clicking the start button opens the start menu and you can type MSCONFIG and the application is shown in a list.
    • MSCONFIG search
  1. Type MSCONFIG in the box and then press the ENTER key on your keyboard.
  2. MSCONFIG runbox
  3. This launches the Microsoft System Configuration Utility
  4. The MSCONFIG window contains five tabs:
  5. MSCONFIG Tabs
    • Boot
    • Services
    • Startup
    • Tools
  • Boot Issues: These are issues where the computer is either having trouble loading correctly, is taking a long time to boot or is giving errors on-screen as it starts up. It can even be a combination of the three. First we identify the issue, narrow down the cause and then change it to resolve the problem.

The General tab

The General Tab

The MSCONFIG General tab gives you some basic options for starting your device. The default choice for the utility is Normal Startup. The other two options for starting the computer are Diagnostic Startup and Selective Startup.

Diagnostic Startup:
This starts Windows with basic services and drivers only. With this mode, you can determine if a basic Window file is the problem. This type of startup gives you a minimum environment for troubleshooting.
Selective Startup:
This allows you to choose which programs and services you want to open and which ones you want to keep from opening at startup.

If you detect that one of the launch programs is causing a problem at startup, then you can clear the Load Startup Items. It prevents any startup program from launching. This is too general to help you determine which program is causing the problem, but it helps you narrow down the issue to a certain area.

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How to perform a clean boot on Win 10

  1. Sign in to the computer as an administrator. If you don’t have an administrator account, see Manage user accounts in Windows to learn how to create one.
  2. In the Search box  on the taskbar, type msconfig and select System Configuration from the list of results.Search result - System Configuration

    Important: If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from following these steps. Only use the System Configuration utility to change the advanced boot options on the computer with guidance from a Microsoft support engineer.  Using the System Configuration utility might make the computer unusable.

  3. On the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all. Select Apply.System Configuration - Services tab - Hide all Microsoft services check box checked - Disable all
  4. On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.System Configuration - Startup tab - Open Task Manager button
  5. On the Startup tab in Task Manager, for each Enabled startup item, select the item and then select Disable. (Keep track of which items have been Disabled. You will need to know this later)
  6. Close Task Manager.
  7. On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it will be in a clean boot environment. You can now try to troubleshoot your problem by trying the troubleshooting steps in the section, install, uninstall, or run application.

    Warning: Your computer might temporarily lose some functionality while in a clean boot environment.

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How to perform a clean boot on Win 11

  1. Sign in to the computer as an administrator. See Manage user accounts in Windows to learn more about configuring a user account as an administrator.
  2. Select Search, type msconfig, and then select System Configuration from the list of results.The search box in Windows 11.

    Important: If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from following these steps. Only use the System Configuration utility to change the advanced boot options on the computer with guidance from a Microsoft support engineer.  Using the System Configuration utility might make the computer unusable.

  3. On the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all. Select Apply.The Services tab in System Configuration in Windows 11.
  4. On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.The Startup tab in System Configuration in Windows 11.
  5. On the Startup apps tab in Task Manager, for each Enabled startup item, select the item and then select Disable. (Keep track of which items have been Disabled. You will need to know this later.)
  6. Close Task Manager.
  7. On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it will be in a clean boot environment. You can now try to troubleshoot your problem by trying the troubleshooting steps in the section,install, uninstall, or run on application

    Warning: Your computer might temporarily lose some functionality while in a clean boot environment.

  8. Once you are done troubleshooting your problem and want to return your computer to a normal startup, follow the steps in the section, Reset the computer after the clean boot.
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How to identify your device’s COM Port with Device Manager

If you’re unsure what COM port your device uses, you can use the Windows Device Manager to help you identify it (If you’re unsure about what connection method your device uses to transmit data to your PC, you can see our video on Connection Methods here).

On Windows 10 & 11, right-click on the Start button and select “Device Manager,” or find it using the search bar. The Device Manager shows all the devices connected to your PC, organized into categories.

Screenshot of the Windows Device Manager showing the expanded "Ports (COM & LPT)" List.

To see all the COM ports on your PC, look for the section titled “Ports COM & LPT.” Your RS232 or RS232-USB device should appear here with its port number labeled “(COM#).”

  • For PCs with higher Windows security settings, you may need to log in as an Administrator.
  • The “Intel” port is not a usable COM port.
  • If your RS232 device is connected to your computer via USB, you can try identifying the COM port by disconnecting and then reconnecting the cable while observing which item disappears and reappears correspondingly.
  • If there is no “Ports COM & LPT” section, then you do not have any COM ports installed. For USB-connected RS232 devices (see below), it’s possible that you do not have the correct drivers installed for the device or adapter, or that the adapter is not working properly. To remedy this, try installing the driver or contacting the manufacturer.

If you are using an adapter or USB-connected RS232 device

  • Many RS232 scales, balances, and other industrial devices connect to a USB port using a built-in RS232-to-USB converter/adapter. This converter usually comes with a driver that converts the PC’s USB port into a virtual RS232 COM port, typically with a port number above COM 3.
  • If you switch the USB port that the adapter is connected to, Windows may assign a different COM port number to it. To avoid this, we recommend keeping the adapter connected to the same USB port. If you need to change the COM port number, go to the Windows Device Manager, right-click the COM port and select “Properties.” Then, navigate to “Port Settings” > “Advanced” and change the COM port number to an available one.
  • If a driver update is available for your adapter, you can apply it here by right-clicking on its COM port and selecting “Update Driver”.
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What is DDoS Attack?

A DDoS attack is essentially the legitimate use of an online service taken too far. For example, a website may be capable of handling a certain number of requests per minute. If that number is exceeded, then the website’s performance is degraded, or it may be rendered completely inaccessible. This overload may be caused by an attack or even legitimate use, such as an e-commerce site being overwhelmed on Black Friday or a ticket sales platform going down when sales for a popular event are opened.

DDoS attacks are capable of overwhelming a target at various levels. For example, a web application may have a maximum number of requests that it can handle. Alternatively, the server that it is running on may have a limit on the amount of simultaneous connections that it can manage. A corporate network likely has bandwidth restrictions that could be overwhelmed by an attacker. Exceeding any of these thresholds will result in a Dos attack — or a DDoS attack if the attack uses multiple IP addresses — against the system.

Types of DDoS Attacks

DDoS attacks are an evolving threat, and a variety of techniques can be used to carry them out. Some examples of common DDoS threats include:

  • Amplification Attacks: Some services, such as DNS, have responses that are much larger than the corresponding request. In DDoS amplification attacks, attackers will send a request to a DNS server with their IP address spoofed to the IP address of the target, causing the target to receive a large volume of unsolicited responses that eat up resources.
  • Bandwidth Saturation: All networks have a maximum bandwidth and throughput that they can maintain. Bandwidth saturation attacks attempt to consume this bandwidth with spam traffic.
  • Cloud Resource Exploitation: Scalability is one of the hallmarks of cloud computing. By exploiting this fact, DDoS attackers can perform large-scale attacks against a target system.

Cybercriminals are increasingly performing “degradation of service” attacks in which a target is sent a lower volume of traffic that decreases the accessibility of the service without knocking it completely offline. These attacks have become popular because they are more difficult for an organization to detect than a full-scale DDoS attack.

DDoS Threats

DDoS attacks pose a serious threat to companies of all sizes and in all industries. Some of the potential impacts of a successful attack include:

  • Financial Losses: A successful DDoS attack can cause decreased productivity, downtime, and potential violation of SLAs as well as costing money to mitigate and recover.
  • Operational Disruption: A DDoS attack may render an organization unable to perform core operations, or it may degrade customers’ ability to access its services.
  • Reputational Damage: DDoS attacks may cause churn as customers choose competitors if they can’t reach an organization’s website or distrust its ability to provide products and services.

In recent years, the threat of DDoS attacks has grown significantly. One contributor is the greater availability of DDoS attack tools, making it easier for anyone to carry out an attack. Also, botnets have grown more popular and powerful, enabling them to perform record-breaking attacks to take down websites or entire networks. As DDoS attacks grow more common, larger, and more sophisticated, they are increasingly difficult and costly for an organization to mitigate.

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What is MAC filtering and how to disable it

To enable MAC address filtering, you need to you know your router’s admin login, as this enables you to log in to the WiFi router console. Once logged in as an admin, you can configure your MAC address whitelists and blacklists.

To locate your router’s username and password, check the back of your router. It should be listed there. If, however, you don’t have easy access to your router or the credentials aren’t listed there, check the master list of router logins to find your system’s username and password. You can reset you’re router password if necessary.

Once you’re logged in, you will likely see connected devices in the admin console. Most modern routers display the physical address of devices there. Then, you can go into the router’s settings and enter the MAC addresses where they belong. Though each router will have a slightly different procedure for entering and finalizing MAC address filters, this is the general process that you’ll follow.

  • To configure filtering on a Linksys router once you’ve reached the router’s settings, go to Wireless > Wireless MAC Filter.
  • To configure filtering on a Netgear router once you’ve reached the router’s settings, go to Advanced > Security > Access Control.
  • If you have a D-Link router, navigate to Advanced > Network Filter.

Again, the process for disabling media access control address filtering will vary by router or system. However, the general process for disabling MAC address filtering is as follows:

  1. Sign into your router’s administrator page using your router’s username and password
  2. Check the MAC filter settings and select Allow as the default mode
  3. Select all devices from the list of exceptions, which is the whitelist
  4. Delete the list.

Once you disable MAC filtering, your router will no longer sort traffic based on permitted and denied addresses.

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How to add new user account on Mac

Adding a new user account on a Mac allows multiple users to have their own customized environment:

  1. Open System Preferences:
    • Click on the Apple menu in the top left corner and select “System Preferences.”
  2. Go to Users & Groups:
    • In the System Preferences window, click on “Users & Groups.”
  3. Unlock the Settings:
    • Click the lock icon in the bottom left corner and enter your administrator password to make changes.
  4. Add a New User:
    • Click the “+” button below the list of users.
  5. Choose Account Type:
    • Select the type of account you want to create (Standard, Administrator, Managed with Parental Controls, or Sharing Only).
  6. Enter User Information:
    • Enter the new user’s full name, account name, and password.
    • Optionally, you can add a password hint.
  7. Create the Account:
    • Click “Create User” to add the new account.
  8. Set Up the Account:
    • Log out of your account and log in to the new user account to set it up.
    • Follow the setup assistant to configure the user’s preferences.
  9. Customize User Settings:
    • Customize the new user’s desktop, applications, and other settings as needed.
  10. Set Up Parental Controls (if applicable):
    • If the account is for a child, set up parental controls by selecting the user and clicking “Open Parental Controls”.
  11. Manage Accounts:
    • Return to “Users & Groups” to manage user accounts, change passwords, or delete accounts as needed.
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