12 Computer (PC) Tricks You Should Try Right Now

Computers have simplified our life to a great extent. Things that were impossible earlier can now be completed instantly thanks to computers. However, this does not mean that a PC is all work and no play.

Here are some of the best tricks you can try out on your Windows based computer.

1. Have fun with Notepad
   If you think that Notepad is just a basic text editor, then, you will be amazed by its capabilities. You can use Notepad to create everything from personalized logs to harmless viruses that are incredibly annoying.Go see this post to know just how useful Notepad is.


2. Command Prompt too has some tricks up its sleeves
   If you think that the Command prompt is a boring old program that no one uses, you are making a huge mistake. It can be used for everything from watching ASCII Star Wars to making folders that you cannot delete. See this post to know about all the cool stuff you can do with the Windows Command Prompt.


3. Use Keyboard Shortcuts to get work done in no time
   If you are tired of having to alternate between your mouse and keyboard to operate your Windows computer, you would love to know these really useful keyboard shortcuts which greatly increase your speed and efficiency. See this post for details.


4. Make your computer speak what you type
   You can use your PC's built in features and some VBScript magic to create a simple program that will make your computer speak whatever you input to it. Enter the right words and you could imitate a real conversation. Head over to this post to talk with your PC.


5. Make your computer greet you every time you start Windows
   A simple modification in the previous trick will make your computer welcome you in its own mechanical voice every time you log onto Windows. This is achieved by placing the VBS script responsible for making your computer talk in the Start up folder. Read this post to have a computer said welcome.


6. Find your computer's gender
   Want to know if your PC is a male or a female? Simple. Try the previous trick to know if your computer is a 'he' or a 'she'. On a serious note, this depends upon the voice you have selected in Microsoft Text to Speech options.


7. Lock Folders with password
   If you have important personal files that you do not want other people to see, you can hide them in a password protected folder to prevent unwanted users from seeing them. Go see this post to hide your personal files effectively.


8. Change your Processor's name
   
   If you are bored of your old processor and want a new one with a staggering name, you will definitely want to see this trick which allows you to change its name to something extraordinary to make your PC special.


9. Make a Keyboard DiscoYou can use some VBScript coding to create a live disco on your keyboard by making the LED lights flash alternately. See this post to know how your keyboard can turn into a disco.


10. Recover permanently deleted files in WindowsIf you have ever deleted a file in Windows that you did not want to and now want to recover it, you would definitely want to know about some free tools to recover your deleted files easily.


11. Use your Keyboard as Mouse.You know you can use your mouse as keyboard using the On-screen keyboard utility. What if I tell you that it is also possible to do the reverse? Just read this post to see how.


12. Disable USB ports to prevent others from taking your dataEver wanted to disable your USB ports to prevent others from using their flash drives on your PC? This post explains how to do just that with a simple registry trick. Do note that disabling USB ports will also disable your USB connected peripheral devices.

These tricks work on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity, reduce repetitive strain, and help keep you focused. For example, to copy text, you can highlight text and press the Ctrl + C shortcut. The shortcut is faster than moving your hands from the keyboard, highlighting with the mouse, choosing copy from the file menu, and then returning to the keyboard.

Below are the top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use.

• Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert and Ctrl + X

Both Ctrl + C and Ctrl + Insert will copy the highlighted text or selected item. If you want to cut instead of copy press Ctrl + X.

• Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert

Both the Ctrl + V and Shift + Insert will paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.

Use the above text input fields to highlight the "Cut or copy this text" text and press either Ctrl + C to copy or Ctrl + X to Cut the text. Once Cut Move to the next field and press Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert to paste the text.

• Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y

Pressing Ctrl + Z will Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. These shortcuts can also be pressed multiple times to undo or redo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would redo the undo.

Use the above text input field to highlight some or all of the text and then press Ctrl + X to cut the text. Once the text has disappeared press the Ctrl + Z to undo the cut.

Tip: If you did the first example as well (cut and paste text) if you continue to press Ctrl + Z it is also going to undo that change.

• Ctrl + F

Pressing Ctrl + F opens the Find in any program. Ctrl + F includes your Internet browserto find text on the current page. Press Ctrl + F now to open the Find in your browser and search for "shortcut" to find each time shortcut is mentioned on this page.

• Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab

Pressing Alt + Tab switches between open programs moving forward. For example, if you have your browser window open and other programs running in the background press and hold Alt and then press tab to cycle through each open program.

Tip: Press Ctrl + Tab to switch between tabs in a program. For example, if you have multiple tabs open in your browser now press Ctrl + Tab to switch between open tabs.

Tip: Adding the Shift key to Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab moves backward. For example, if you are pressing Alt + Tab and pass the program you want to use, press Alt + Shift + Tab to move back to that program.

Tip: Windows Vista and 7 users can also press the Windows Key + Tab to switch through open programs in a full screenshot of the window.

• Ctrl + Back space and Ctrl + Left or Right arrow

Pressing Ctrl + Backspace will delete a full word at a time instead of a single character.

Holding down the Ctrl key while pressing the left or right arrow will move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you want to highlight one word at a time, hold down Ctrl + Shift and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.

• Ctrl + S

While working on a document or other file in almost every program, pressing Ctrl + Ssaves that file. Use this shortcut key frequently if you're working on anything important in case an error happens, you lose power, or other problem that causes you to lose any work since the last save.

• Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End

Ctrl + Home will move the cursor to the beginning of the document, and Ctrl + End will move the cursor to the end of a document. These shortcuts work with most documents, as well as web pages.

• Ctrl + P

Open a print preview of the current page or document being viewed. For example, pressCtrl + P now to view a print preview of this page.

• Page Up, Spacebar, and Page Down

Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet, pressing the spacebar also moves the page down one page at a time.

Tip: If you are using the spacebar to go down one page at a time, press the Shift key and spacebar to go up one page at a time.

The best Surface yet is more than a tablet, less than a laptop

The Good:  The Surface Pro 3 is thinner and lighter than the previous two versions, despite having a larger 12-inch display and higher screen resolution. A new kickstand makes it easier to set up and use, and the keyboard cover remains a best-in-class example. The Surface Pro 3 is now optimized for a digital pen, which is included.

The Bad:  That excellent keyboard cover is not included in the base price, and its improved touchpad still doesn't measure up. The chassis lacks pen storage, and even with tweaked kickstand and keyboard hinges, the Surface Pro 3 still doesn't fit perfectly on the lap.

The Bottom Line:  While the new Surface Pro 3 is Microsoft's best PC to date, it's more successful as a tablet than a laptop replacement.

Tablets are great for consuming entertainment, while laptops and other full PCs are required to actually create those works, or so the conventional wisdom goes. Some substitute the charged word "productivity" for creation, but the pitch is the same. You need one device for A, B, and C, and another for X, Y, and Z.

That means there's a sizable group of people out there spending at least part of the time lugging around a laptop and a tablet simultaneously. I've been guilty of that, usually packing a 13-inch ultrabook or MacBook Air and an iPad into my carry-on bag for airline flights.

With the new Surface Pro 3 from Microsoft, the software powerhouse (and occasional hardware maker) says it finally has the single grand unified device that will satisfy both the creation and consumption instincts equally. You'll feel just as at home watching a movie or reading a book as you will editing video footage or writing your novel.

That's largely the same pitch, of course, we got for the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 tablets, which points to the difficulty in translating the full Windows 8.1experience freely between a laptop and tablet. Dozens of our hands-on reviews of devices ranging from 8-inch slates to 13-inch two-in-one hybrids back this up, as does the mixed reception to the first two generations of the Surface Pro.

Both of those devices, as well as the Surface Pro 3, at least begin with the right idea and smartly lean toward the laptop side of the tablet spectrum, including Intel Core i-series CPUs and keyboard covers designed to feel more like laptop keyboards.

With the Surface Pro 3, starting at $799 or £639 for an Intel Core i3 CPU and a 64GB SSD, we can see the thinking at Microsoft start to lean even more toward the laptop side, with a new kickstand and touch cover that allow you to work at almost any angle. Our review configuration is upgraded to a Core i5 CPU and 256GB SSD, which costs $1,299 or £1,109, while the type cover keyboard is an additional $129 or £110.

The new Surface Pro is thinner than its predecessors, with a larger, higher-resolution screen. On that mark alone, it outshines the Pro and Pro 2. The internal specs and performance are largely similar to the Pro 2, but that means it's still just as fast as any current-gen premium laptop.

With the generation-over-generation tweaks to the design, especially the hinge and keyboard, you can see a dedicated push towards advancing the cause of practical usability. It's not entirely there yet, and it's still a leap to say this will be a true laptop replacement for most people, but the Surface Pro 3 is the first Surface device I feel confident in saying I could get away with using as a primary PC.

	Microsoft Surface Pro 3	Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro	MacBook Air 13-inch (June 2013)
Price as reviewed	$1,299	$999	$1,099
Display size/resolution	12-inch, 2,160 x 1,440 touch screen	13.3-inch, 3,200 x 1,800 touch screen	13.3-inch, 1,440 x 900 screen
PC CPU	1.9GHz Intel Core i5 4300U	1.6GHz Intel Core i5 4200U	1.3GHz Intel Core i5 4250U
PC Memory	8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz	4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz	4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz
Graphics	1,792MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 4400	1,792MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 4400	1,024MB Intel HD Graphics5000
Storage	256GB SSD hard drive	128GB SSD hard drive	128GB SSD hard drive
Optical drive	None	None	None
Networking	802.11a/c wireless, Bluetooth 4.0	802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0	802.11a/c wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system	Windows 8.1 (64-bit)	Windows 8.1 (64-bit)	OSX Mountain Lion 10.8.4

Design and features

Despite the talk of this being the thinnest Intel Core i-series device to date, it still doesn't feel quite as thin and ethereal as, for example, the iPad Air. But its thinner body, coupled with a larger 12-inch screen, give it a more upscale feel than either the Pro or Pro 2, which were criticized for a certain boxiness.

Both of the previous Surface Pro models had 10.6-inch screens and were 13mm thick, with a footprint of 10.8 inches by 6.8 inches. This new 12-inch version is 11.5 inches by 7.9 inches, but its thickness drops to an impressive 9.1mm. The Pro 3 is also a tad lighter than its predecessor: 800 grams versus 900. Again, when you consider the larger screen, that's a worthy achievement.

With a wink and a nod, Microsoft says this new Surface Pro design isn't exactly fanless, but it might as well be. That's because the new system internals, designed in partnership with Intel, allow the system run run not only ultra-low-voltage Core i3 or i5 CPUs, but also Core i7 ones, with a slim, quiet fan moving air as needed, allegedly without that telltale whirring sound, or a fan exhaust blowing on your hands. Our Surface Pro 3, a midrange model with an Intel Core i5 CPU, certainly felt cool during our hands-on testing, but an audible fan also kicked in at times. To call the experience fanless-like would not be accurate.

One major difference in the new design is the kickstand, which can be adjusted to nearly any angle between 22 degrees and 150 degrees. That's especially useful for tilting the screen way back, as an artist using a drafting table might, but as the owner of normal-size legs for a 6-foot-tall man, I still had a hard time getting the Surface Pro 3 to sit comfortably on my lap. The kickstand either kept the screen angle too severe to see clearly while seated, or else the end of the kickstand was sliding off my knees when I tilted the screen further back.

Taking the type cover and kicking in its additional top-edge magnetic hinge, raising the back edge of the keyboard to a better angle, helped a bit, as the raised angle feels much more natural for typing (which is why nearly every PC keyboard has tiny feet at the back edge). It's a small change, but one that says Microsoft is thinking seriously about ergonomics.

Of portrait modes and pens

It may take a second to spot, but there's one major change to the Surface design ID this time around. The capacitive touch button Windows logo -- which brings you back to the Windows 8 tile interface -- has shifted from the bottom long edge of the chassis to one of the shorter edges.

There are two reasons for that, to my mind. First, the new keyboard covers cover the area where the original Windows button was located when you use the second tilt-up hinge. Second, moving the Windows logo button to the short edge points users toward using the device in portrait mode. I've found that most Windows tablets and hybrids are designed around use in a laptop-like landscape mode, which has the screen lying against its longest side, while the all-popular Apple iPad is primarily understood as a device to be held upright in portrait mode, much like a book or magazine.

This ties directly into Microsoft's strong pitch for the Surface Pro 3 as an educational device for note-taking, annotation, drawing, and sketching. The included battery-powered Bluetooth pen is metallic, and more substantial than versions I've tried with other Windows 8 tablets, such as the 8-inch Asus VivoTab 8.

Lenovo builds a projector into the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro (hands-on)

Lenovo has made some minor updates to its 8-inch and 10-inch Yoga 2 tablets , changing the kickstand design and adding a Windows 8 version, but it's another new Yoga tablet product that really stands out as different.

The new Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is a 13-inch Android tablet with the same cylindrical edge/kickstand design, but inside that bulging hinge is a built-in pico projector.

It's a surprising addition that makes this a unique product. The projector is activated by a physical button on the side of the chassis, or by a software button on the main interface screen. It projects a 16:9 image that Lenovo says will work up to 50 inches diagonally. A small focus slider is built into the rounded edge for adjusting the picture.

The speakers are a step above what we normally see in tablets, with 8 watts of output and a small built-in JBL-branded subwoofer. The tablet's 13-inch screen has a better-than-HD resolution of 2,560x1,440 pixels, but the projector throws its image at a lower resolution.

As an Android tablet, the 13-inch Yoga Tablet Pro 2 is bigger than most, and the big, rounded edge makes it less portable than many other tablets -- it'll take up more room in your bag than a simple, fully flat tablet. That said, the rounded edge gives you something to grip when holding the tablet in your hand, and the kickstand makes it easy to set up as a display. Like the smaller Yoga 2 tablets, this version has a cutout in the kickstand that can be used to hang the entire device from a hook.

Lenovo says the battery life should be about 3 hours if you're using the projector, or up to 15 hours without. The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro will go on sale around the end of October in the US and Europe, starting at $499 and €499, and £449 in the UK. In Australia, it'll be on sale from mid-October in JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman for AU$799.

Five ways to improve battery life on Windows

You shouldn't have to be tethered to your desk to use your laptop. While battery life is improving, it still isn't perfect. If you've got a Windows 8.1 machine, these tips will help you squeeze the most juice of your computer's battery.

Software updates

Microsoft routinely issues patches and software updates to fix bugs and add new features to Windows. It's always a good idea that you are on the latest version of Windows. Not only will these updates help keep your system more secure, but they can sometimes also improve your battery life.

To check for updates, go to the Charms menu by swiping from right to left on the screen or moving your mouse to the lower right corner of the screen. Then, click on Settings, select the "Change PC settings" option, followed by Updates and Recovery, and click the "Check for updates" box.

Tweak power settings

Microsoft has bundled various power saving options inside of Windows 8.1. These settings can be accessed from the desktop by opening the Control Panel, selecting Hardware and Sound, and clicking on Power options. Here you can choose a power plan from Microsoft or you can create your own.

You can tweak things like brightness, when the display will turn off, and when the computer will go to sleep, among other things. Clicking on the "Change advanced power settings" will open the door to even more customization options.

Dim the display

The display on your laptop uses a ton of energy. When you disconnect the power cord, it's best to dim the brightness down below half or to a level that is suitable for your eyes. This can be done by going to the Charms menu and select Settings. The brightness options are located above the keyboard icon and next to the volume menu.

If your laptop includes it, you should also disable the automatic brightness feature, and dim the keyboard backlight. To do this, go to Settings, click on the "Change PC settings" option, tap on PC and Devices, followed by Display, and turn off the "Adjust my screen brightness automatically" slider.

To dim the keyboard backlight, open the Charms menu, click on Search, type in "mobility," and select Windows Mobility Center.

Turn off Bluetooth

Even if you don't have a wireless mouse or speakers connected, having Bluetooth enabled will still draw power from your computer's battery. To disable the Bluetooth radio, go to Settings, click on the "PC and devices" option, and select Bluetooth.

Disconnect any dongles

As is the case with Bluetooth, a USB-connected device (such as a flash drive) will also drain your battery. If you aren't using the dongle or device, you should unplug it to prevent battery drain. If the power cord is unplugged, charging your smartphone or tablet via a USB port will also reduce your battery life.