It's literally never happened until this year and I don't know why. If it's not a bug or hack, how did it happen or how can I disable it again?

Well, I formatted my Windows several times and every time I connected to the internet it activates this key vk7jg-nphtm-c97jm-9mpgt-3v66t Is Windows activated by my hardware or is this a crack running on my PC? and in the activation part it says that my windows is activated with a digital license, please if anyone can help me, thank you.

So, quick backstory, PC used to be my parents, they used it for work and pictures and documents yada yada. I use the pc a lot so they make an account, I use it. Fast forward 10 years and well, now Im an adult and the computer is effectively mine, parents have other computers. Im still not even the admin, I need to get with my parents to change that, since this pc is only used for my work and my gaming now. The only real upgrades its gotten since the years has been graphics card, 24 gigs of ram, and power supply.

So basically, this pc is so damn old and has a looot of bloatware installed. Lots of crap from younger me, lots of stuff i dont use, the space is damn near full, and honestly im so sick of having to wrangle it because i've fricked up lots of space management, and issues come up all over the place (I.E. undeletable folders, unused programs up the wazoo, files constantly un-sharing themselves to me). Im sick of jumping through hoops to do what I want to do. PLUS, i want to be able to run games faster, so I will also list my specs:

Specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz

Installed RAM 24.0 GB

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Computer model: ASUS All Series

Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (10.0, Build 19045)

Motherboard: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. H87M-E

RAM: 24 GB

Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (4 GB)

DISPLAY: LG Electronics Inc. (GoldStar Technology, Inc.) LG HDR 4K (3840x2160 / 31.7 Inch)

Im asking:

1. What should i know before wiping/reinstalling windows? Im using a 2tb drive (or 2) to backup all family photos and other programs and documents to me. But would I need to backup my steam game files/saves? anything to really keep in mind to put on a drive? steam is incredibly important to me. Either way I just want a clean slate because well, im an adult now.

2. While im considering doing this, should I also just go and upgrade specs? put it this way: I can run Devil may cry 5, doom eternal, and minecraft with shaders, but all on lowest settings. I would like to boost them to at least a 100% resolution scale. I have a job and income now so I have some money I can spend for this project.

What should I know before this big decision?

I was fired from my old job and they never asked me to return their work computer so I kept it. After 3 years of no email from them to return I decided to make it my personal computer. After opening it up, I was prompted to put in a Symantec paraphrase to get into the log and I didn't have that so I started looking into ways to get around that and I saw that I needed to replace the SSD card which is basically the hard drive for the laptop. 

HERE IS THE ACTUAL QUESTION: 

I bought a HP EX900 Plus 512 GB M.2 SSD from amazon to replace it with the SSD that was in the computer. The old SSD is from Kioxia Corporation. Is there anything I can do with the Kioxia Corporation SSD? Maybe sell it or do some cool project with it?

The Halo collection requires a Microsoft account. I know Microsoft really likes to try to force you to use their accounts for your PC which is very inconvenient. If I log in to the account for Halo, will it somehow affect my whole PC and make it linked to that account, and make me have to use it to log in to the whole PC?

I feel like it’s unlikely this would happen but I wanted to ask first.

This isn’t a tech support post just a question about what would happen.

Hi there. I am Windows 10 LTSC user with secure boot enabled, and I need to disable Secure Boot. Does anybody experienced Windows 10 not to boot up after disabling Secure Boot? I am just asking in future reference due to being paranoid.

Hi, as you probably know by the constant harassment with update messages, Windows 10 Support ends soon. I really really really don't want Windows 11, there are some features that are an absolute deal-breaker, like making a screenshot every 2 seconds, which certainly won't be sent to Microsoft or the NSA or whatever, pinky promise... What actually happened if I didn't update and used Windows 10 after support ends? Is it really an instant malware infection like these windows update screens make it sound? How dangerous is it actually?

Is it some new "Feature" or malware?

i just updated bios when i rebooted linux was all fine but when i change to windows it says pin changes and it asks me to verify identity but i do not remember email password and i do not have the phone number i added, so i am looking to get the files on the hard drive from linux boot.

I remember up to around 2-3 years ago, borderless windowed mode without ingame vsync worked kinda like fast sync (though without the requirement for extreme frame rates) where the video card continued to generate frames and the screen only displayed the latest ones. This lead to uncapped framerate, no tearing but frametimes were sometimes inconsistent. Now, I either see tearing in borderless windowed mode, or, if I disable fullscreen optimalization, it seems just like regular refresh rate capped vsync just like in fullscreen. How did this change happen and how does system vsync work in borderless windowed mode without ingame vsync and without fullscreen optimalization work now? Thanks in advance for answers

EDIT - I would also like to ask - how does ingame vsync ON in borderless windowed mode in Windows 10 work now? I remember every gamer swearing it does nothing yet in the past it capped fps to the refresh rate while no ingame vsync did not. Nowadays I see no difference, both are capped. Does it do anything anymore?

My Laptop did not have Pro when I bought it, I bought the license which made it Pro. If I used the account in my Laptop, will my new PC have a Windows 11 Pro? I just want to know. Or will I buy a new Windows 11 Pro Product Key to upgrade it?

I tried almost everything regarding changed my pc cable and turned ahci mode on and no matter what this issue still persists with the ssd i think of the ssd is curropt but it was not the issue ssd was working fine with the ubuntu system so i guessed it would be a bug from the window side for some ssd firmwares so below two methods only worked for me to give ideal speeds in every situation . I hope this helps please give it a try it is a 100% legit solution . I didn't have any profit in posting this thread but for sake of humanity and saving our resources /money i am helping y'all.

Step 1: Disable prefetch from registry editor set the value from 3 to 0.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
3. Look for the key EnablePrefetcher and set its value from 3 to 0 for disabling prefetch.
4. Double-click on it and set the value to 0:
5. 0 → Disable Prefetch1 → Enable Prefetch only for applications2 → Enable Prefetch only for boot processes3 → Enable Prefetch for everything (Default)
6. Click OK, then close Registry Editor.

Step 2: Disabling Superfetch (SysMain) Service

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
2. Scroll down and find SysMain (previously called Superfetch).
3. Right-click on SysMain → Click Properties.
4. Under Startup type, select Disabled.
5. Click Stop, then Apply, and OK.

After that clean your temp , %temp%, prefetch folder from win +R let the system be stablised for 5 min , initially it would lag a lot but after 5 min pls restart your pc . Dont be panic under half an hour pls run the benchmarks again and wallah it would be fixed forever .

Ok one more important thing that can interfere is that you could install any update which is coming out but please avoid any optional updates that can break this solution.

Hey everyone

I am getting a new pc and want to transfer my digital windows 10 pro license (gotten after updating from an owned copy of windows 7) from my old pc (which will be deactivated)

I understood that linking my Microsoft account to my windows license is the only way to do this, because I have a digital license and no actual product code. While I do have a microsoft account, I would rather not have this linked to windows. I log in to my current pc with a local account and would like to keep it that way.

Chatgpt suggested I could link my license to my microsoft account on my old pc, log in to my new pc with this account to activate the license there, and after activation switch from using my microsoft account to a local account. Its rationale was that switching to a local account does not actually delete the microsoft account from the PC, hence keeping the licence.

I have my doubts, since I think that switching to a local account would just deactivate my windows license on my new PC.

Can anyone tell my if chatgpt's solution would actually work? and if no, is there another way that would work?

Thanks

Hi my C drive with 222GB storage has been almost full for quite some time and I really have to clean it up and move some files. I have tried using the apps and features tab to see what is taking up the space but its incredibly inaccurate. I have tried to use disc cleanup but I only manage to clear around like 3-5 GB. I suspect its mainly program files as I dont have any games (Except Minecraft) installed on that disc (that I know of) and am a bit confused on what is taking up all that space. I have also previously tried looking in the different directories and already moved a lot of image and video files from there.

So are there any good tools that give breakdowns on what is taking up space on a drive? Be that built-in or 3rd party.

As mentioned in the title, my operating system is currently installed on my hard drive but I would like to install it on my fresh SDD. I have a USB and understand how to install windows and boot from the SDD with my old HDD unplugged.

My only concern is when I plug my HDD back in, which has all of my important files on it. Windows will exist in two locations. On the SSD fresh install and on my old HDD which I am not wiping because it has important files on it. When I plug the HDD back in do I just delete windows from it? Or is there a better way to approach this.

Hi my C drive with 222GB storage has been almost full for quite some time and I really have to clean it up and move some files. I have tried using the apps and features tab to see what is taking up the space but its incredibly inaccurate. I have tried to use disc cleanup but I only manage to clear around like 3-5 GB. I suspect its mainly program files as I dont have any games (Except Minecraft) installed on that disc (that I know of) and am a bit confused on what is taking up all that space. I have also previously tried looking in the different directories and already moved a lot of image and video files from there.

So are there any good tools that give breakdowns on what is taking up space on a drive? Be that built-in or 3rd party.

Hello. I've read a few threads on the topic, yet didn't find specific info on what I've been looking for.

I want an app: free, simple, quick, available on Windows desktop, which allows to:

1. BROWSE thousands of photos within a folder, which means not only to list a few and navigate between them with Ctrl+Tab(/+Shift) like I know Photo.net allows.
2. EDIT, including PAINTING on them, meaning I can use brushes, add text, crop, rotate.
3. Could support HEIC, but it's a humble wish.

So this would serve as an alternative to Windows Photo Viewer, which is cool apart from the fact it doesn't allow me to use Paint features. The goal is to browse photos and make quick marks on them if need be.

I've seen these names already, haven't tested them:

Paint.net, Irfanview, , XnView Classic / XnView MP (portable), PhotoFiltre (portable),  JPEGview, PhotoScape, Picasa (discontinued support by Google), Mylio, Polarr, GIMP..., FastStone Image Viewer (freeware), FastStone MaxView (Shareware), ImageGlass, qView, HoneyView (Doesn't support AVIF, HEIC, or JXL.), FreeCommander (F3), https://github.com/riyasy/FlyPhotos (Picasa alike),

Hopefully one of these applies well. I would opt for a popular solution since I think my expectations are nothing uncommon and there should already be such software. I could also pay 10-20$ for a lifetime usage (not actually believe there's such cheap price, but I would consider such option).

Hey guys. Since i am going to be upgrading my pc soon, i thought that i could take the opportunity to move from Windows 10 to 11. My question(s) is regarding how i should backup my files to make the switch. Any simple guide out there to do it? What files do i backup? (my whole Local Disk or just Pictures, Downloads and so on) How do i back them up? (just drag and drop from my pc to an external drive or is there some other way that is more efficient?) Any other advice?

Thanks for the help in advance and sorry if this isnt the right place for this type of post ( r/WindowsHelp and r/Techsupport didnt seem appropriate as its not about fixing smth broken)

This isn't a super huge deal, but just inconvenient and annoying.

I have dual monitors, each with their own different background, and every time I turn on my pc after coming home from work, or every time after waking my pc up from sleep mode, both backgrounds are just plain black and I have to reset them to their respective background pictures.

Any idea what could be causing this? I feel like maybe there's a setting I'm overlooking or something, but I'm not quite sure.

I built my PC back in 2014 with windows 8.1. I bought the copy of windows online and had to make a bootdrive to get it to install since I didnt have a CD drive. Eventually, it upgraded to windows 10. We'll today, Im selling the PC to someone, but I want to factory reset it first. I dont think I have the key or disc anymore. My question is... will the computer reinstall windows without thw original key if I factory reset it? Also, if the new user creates the windows account on setup, will the license transfer to them from my account? Will it be windows 10?

I'm using Windows' Sticky notes...A LOT! and it takes up my whole taskbar, making it hard to see the rest.

Is there any setting/software/trick available that can combine only the buttons/tabs/labels I want? (in this case the sticky notes only) I'm def. not a fan of hiding stuff from my taskbars so I avoid it as much as possible.

I been searching on google for a couple of days and something that seems it shouldn't be as hard as it is.

It's as simple as having a gamepad locked to a game so it can be played even when it's out of focus, so more than one person can use the pc at the same time.

Some old games "bug out" and can be controlled without being in focus if they haven't been in focus since they were open, but sadly for the games I'm trying to play with my partner doesn't happen.

Any idea or hack to make a window ignore the "out of focus" calls?

Hi,

I have a USB stick that I mainly use as a boot stick or as a storage medium for the “important files” in the event of a new installation.

But now I want to change the media creation tool from win10 to win11. When I want to format the dedicated partition in the stick, Windows tells me that ALL files on this disk will be formatted.

ver, the “important files” should of course be retained and only the media creation partition should be formatted.

Is it the case that only the part encapsulated for this purpose is formatted or the entire USB stick?

Deepseek-r1 wrote this and it worked flawlessly, thank our AI overlords for this one

Instructions:

Press start

Write "powershell" and open as admin

Press "control + enter" to make a new line for the code

Then copy and paste this and enter it

# Reset Start Menu Cache to Remove Notifications
# WARNING: This will reset Start menu layout and customizations

# Stop Explorer and related processes
Stop-Process -Name "explorer" -Force
Stop-Process -Name "shellexperiencehost" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Remove cached Start menu data
Remove-Item -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\CloudStore\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Restart Explorer to rebuild Start menu
Start-Process "explorer.exe"

Write-Host "Start menu cache cleared. Notification may be removed after system reloads."

I use rgadguard but sometimes theres no more old versions of apps (like microsoft news) which i want for both archival purpuses and to use,anyone knows?

https://github.com/Axorax/awesome-free-apps

I'm trying to make a list of the best free apps in one place. All of the apps are curated and categorized.

You can star the project to save it or to show support! <3

Any contributions are highly appreciated.

Hello,

I’m setting up a family PC in which my wife and kids will have profiles (I am admin). When I install a game or app such as EA, it will show up in my wife’s profile when she logs in (and also be visible in her ads/remove programs). However, when she installs an app it does not show up in my profile.

How can i stop my installs from showing up for other user profiles. I can’t find an actual solution anywhere.

Thanks in advance!