Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Susan K. writes: " Dear Dennis, With regard to the free Windows 10 upgrade : will I receive Windows 10 32-bit, or Windows 10 64-bit, or will I have a choice? I ask because I am currently running Windows 8 32-bit and I'd like to ... upgrade to Windows 10 64-bit. A friend of mine told me that the 64-bit Windows is faster. Can you tell me what is the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 10? " My response: As with all previous versions of Windows, you can only change the operating system architecture (for example: from Windows 7 32-bit to Windows 10 64-bit) if ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Larry O. writes: " Dear Dennis, In regard to the free upgrade to Windows 10, I am confused as to which version of Windows 10 I will receive. I currently have Windows 8.1 Pro on my PC; will I get Windows 10 Pro? What is the ... difference between Windows 10 and Windows 10 Pro? " My response: This is a frequently asked question, so I will provide the answer for all PC users with Windows XP to 8. Windows 10 Home vs Pro First and foremost, there are two major consumer versions of Windows 10: Home and Pro. Windows 10 Home is targeted toward casual or "everyday" ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Rob B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a Dell D630 laptop and an Acer Aspire One D-150 that I managed to install Windows 7 on. The Dell laptop is Windows 7 64-bit, while the Acer is Windows 7 32-bit. So far neither of the computers ... have shown the 'Get Windows 10' app in the tray bar, while my main machine (an Asus with an Intel core i7) says it is ready for the Windows 10 upgrade. I was hoping to use one of the other laptops to put Windows 10 on, but I get the feeling that they are missing something necessary in their CPUs to allow installation. I should also ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Terry C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to run the command 'sfc /scannow' (system file checker) through the Windows command prompt to repair corrupt Windows files, but every time I try and run 'sfc /scannow', it stops at 42% ... and gives the error message 'Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.' Therefore, the 'sfc /scannow' does not complete and I can't repair my corrupt Windows files. How can I fix this so I can finish running the scan and fix my files? " Update 20200116 : I'm getting a lot of ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Samantha M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have the 'Get Windows 10' app running in my tray bar, but when I click on it, it says my CPU is not compatible with Windows 10. How can that be? My PC is currently running Windows 8.1 Pro and ... only 1 year old -- so I don't understand why my CPU isn't compatible with Windows 10? I read somewhere that if you have Windows 8 or 8.1 that the CPU should automatically be compatible with Windows 10 as the hardware requirements are virtually the same. Any ideas? My CPU is the Intel Core i7 4790K. " My Response: You are ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Lisa A. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for the great website and newsletter. I have a question regarding upgrading to Windows 10. I have a machine with Windows 7 and another with Windows 8, both of which have reserved the free ... upgrade to Windows 10. My question is this: if I upgrade to Windows 10, can I keep my old version of Windows on the same machine and boot from it? " My response: If you are performing an in-place upgrade of Windows 10, then you will not have a choice as to which operating system you want to boot into. That's because the in-place upgrade ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tim P. writes: " Dear Dennis, How do I cancel my Windows 10 reservation? Also, how can I prevent Windows 10 from downloading onto my system? I see the 'Get Windows 10' icon in my tray bar, which has been there since June 1st. ... Originally I wanted the upgrade to Windows 10, but now I'm not sure it's a good idea because I'm concerned that the upgrade might fail or cause problems. I read on the Internet that the 'get windows 10' icon has to do with Microsoft patch KB3035583, whatever that is. Can you tell me how to remove the Windows 10 ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tim A. writes: " Dear Dennis, When will the full retail version (OEM) of Windows 10 be available as an .ISO file, so I can burn Windows 10 onto DVD and install it that way? I would much rather install Windows 10 clean using my DVD ... drive than to install it using Windows Update. A colleague of mine says that installing Windows over top of Windows (I.E: doing a Windows 'upgrade') is never a good idea. He says that upgrade installs usually leave left-overs from the previous Windows installation which can interfere with the new Windows 10 install - or worse, cause ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob C. writes: " Dear Dennis, Which processor is better: Intel or AMD? The reason I ask is that my laptop is roughly 6 years old and it's time for me to purchase a new one. That said, I can't seem to find the definitive answer as ... to which processor I should get for my next laptop. AMD seems to have cheaper processors, whereas Intel processors are usually always much more expensive. Can you shed light on which processor is better? " My Response: Update 20180620 : I have updated this article to include new information considering AMD's Ryzen line of ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Brian H. writes: " Dear Dennis, Somehow, my 'Send To' context menu option has disappeared. For example, if I go to My Computer and then browse the C drive, I can usually right-click an icon (which then brings up a menu), and then ... I can select 'Send To -> Desktop' - but the Send To context menu is missing. I've searched Google and came across several Windows Registry fixes, but they don't seem to work on my computer. How can I fix the missing Send To menu? Also, how can I add the missing shortcuts to the Send To menu? " My response: This is a frequently asked question. I' ... (view more)