Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I run a small business, and with the COVID-19 pandemic we have been forced to work remotely from home. The problem we are currently facing is that there are important files on our office PC (server) ... that I need to share with other employees. Right now I'm having to send these files by email and it's a nightmare. I've looked into using TeamViewer to connect remotely to another computer , but the fees they charge are quite high. Also, I am worried that if TeamViewer got hacked, someone might be able to gain access to my network. The reason I'm ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader David C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running out of space on my C drive (SSD) and I would like to move my entire Steam folder to the D drive. Currently I have a 1 TB SSD on C and the D drive is a 4 TB regular hard drive. Every ... guide I've looked at on the Internet explains how to do move each Steam game one at a time, but I've got over 20 games installed on here and that would take forever. What I would like to do is move all Steam games to another drive in one go. I don't understand why this is so difficult. I'm afraid I may screw something up if I don't do this right - in ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ginny S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows 10 Home and all the sudden it is telling me that I need to change my password and that my Windows password must meet complexity requirements . I have never had this issue ... before. To make matters worse it tells me that the password needs to be minimum of 8 characters and contain both upper and lower case, plus digits. This has happened twice already and I have a hard enough time remembering my passwords. How can I disable the Windows 10 Home password complexity and expiration ? All the posts I've come across all mention ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Marlene T. writes: " Dear Dennis, My Windows 10 computer recently upgraded and my desktop icons have gone missing . On top of that, Malwarebytes Antimalware no longer works. When I try to launch Malwarebytes Antimalware, it ... freezes at the Malwarebytes logo and does not progress. I've tried to uninstall Malwarebytes Antimalware but it tells me that it can't start the malwarebytes installer service . I'm completely lost and need Malwarebytes to run! I need your help! " My response: I asked Marlene if she would like me to connect to her machine using my remote desktop support ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Rick F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I had a problem trying to uninstall a program via the Control Panel (Add or Remove Programs / Programs and Features) and ended up having to remove it manually. The problem now is that the program ... won't uninstall from Programs and Features . Is there a way to manually fix a program that won't remove from Programs and Features so it's completely removed from the list? It's like I have a phantom entry and I don't know how to get rid of it. I hope what I'm asking makes sense. I've tried to follow so-called guides online to fix this problem but ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sharon S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just purchased a used Acer laptop with Windows 10 on it. The system is slow and Task Manager shows 100% disk usage by CompatTelRunner.exe . Also CompatTelRunner.exe causes high CPU usage . I ... searched Google on how to disable CompatTelRunner.exe or delete CompatTelRunner.exe but can't seem to find a straight answer. Can you help? " My response: I asked Sharon if she would like me to have a closer look at the issue using my remote desktop support service , and she agreed. Below I will discuss my findings. How to Fix: Disable CompatTelRunner. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Mike P. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you for your excellent website and remote desktop service - you've been a great help in the past. I have a new problem: Dell SupportAssist recently popped up with a message stating that I had ... sound driver updates to apply to Windows 10 , namely: two Intel high definition audio drivers, and one Realtek high definition audio driver. I downloaded and installed the sound drivers onto my PC, but unfortunately, there's been no sound after the Dell update . I've tried to uninstall and reinstall the Dell audio drivers but it made no difference. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jared P. writes: " Dear Dennis, The right click on my desktop is not working . When I right click on the desktop, all I get is a spinning blue circle . What normally appears is a dialogue menu that shows Display Settings, ... Personalize (the desktop), View, Sort by, and New (to create a folder, shortcut, text document, etc) - but instead, the cursor circle keeps spinning forever. I've left it alone for an hour but the right click keeps loading forever and never produces a menu like it should. Update: Since I've emailed you, I've found a few so-called guides online to fix my ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lynda F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been using Classic Shell (now called 'Open Shell') for many years and it's worked great. The best feature about Classic Shell is the ability to search and find files on my hard drive. For ... example: when I click on the Start Menu, I then type in part of the title of a document I have on my hard drive, and Classic Shell finds it instantly. In contrast, the default Windows 10 Start Menu simply can't find anything on my computer and tells me to go to Bing to find it. As if! Anyhow: the issue I'm having is that the search in Classic Shell ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gina S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Last week, I was using my PC when suddenly a red screen appeared, stating that my 'PC ran into a problem' and to call 1-855-935-0555 to speak to Microsoft. I tried to close the window but the screen ... was locked. That's when I called the number and spoke to a person with a very thick Indian accent . I later discovered that the company name was Live Network Help ( livenetworkhelp.com ) (also known as Live IP Support / liveipsupport.com ), which was different than the phone number on the red screen virus alert. At any rate - after about 10 minutes ... (view more)