Tutorials

Brink · Feb 17, 2022

This tutorial will show you how to organize and group your pinned apps on the Start menu into folders for your account in Windows 11. The Start menu is comprised of three sections: Pinned, All apps, and Recommended. The Start menu contains shortcuts of all your apps, settings, and files. Starting with Windows 11 build 22557, you can now customize your pinned apps on the Start menu by organizing them into folders. You can add more apps to a folder, rearrange apps within a folder, and remove apps from a folder. Starting with Windows 11 build 22567, when you hover one pinned app icon over another, there will now be a small animation to hint that this will create a folder. Starting with Windows 11 build 22579, you can now name your...

Brink · Jun 15, 2024

This tutorial will show you how to rearranged pinned items on the Start menu to the order you want for your account in Windows 11. The Start menu is comprised of three sections: Pinned, All apps, and Recommended. The section at the top of the Start menu is called the Pinned section. This section consists of pins arranged in a grid. The items in this section are a subset of all the apps installed on the PC; not all installed apps are included in this section by default. The number of rows and items in this view are consistent across device panel sizes. You can rearrange your pinned items on the Start menu to the order you want them in. Option One: Rearrange Pinned Items on Start Menu using Drag and Drop Option Two: "Move to front"...

Brink · Nov 6, 2022

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable password expiration for an account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. When you enable password expiration for an account, the user will be forced to change their password the next time they sign in when it expires. A local account password will expire when a maximum (42 days by default) and minimum ( 0 days by default) password age has been reached by default. A Microsoft account password will expire every 72 days by default. Option One: Enable or Disable Password Expiration for Local Account in Local Users and Groups Option Two: Enable or Disable Password Expiration for Local Account in Command Prompt Option Three: Enable or Disable Password Expiration for Local Account in...

Brink · Mar 31, 2022

This tutorial will show you how to find and view your product key in Windows 10 and Windows 11. A Windows product key is a 25-character code used to activate Windows. It looks like this: PRODUCT KEY: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX Depending on how you got your copy of Windows 10 or Windows 11, you'll need either a 25-character product key or a digital license to activate it. A digital license (called a digital entitlement in Windows 10, Version 1511) is a method of activation in Windows 10 and Windows 11 that doesn't require you to enter a product key. Without one of these, you won't be able to activate your device. Where to find your product key depends on how you got your copy of Windows. A new PC running Windows The product key...

Brink · Oct 28, 2022

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable launch folder windows in a separate explorer process by default for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Each process running in Windows is assigned a unique decimal number called the process ID (PID) to identify an active process. This number is used to specify the process when for example attaching a debugger to it. By default, all File Explorer windows, including the desktop shell, run in a single explorer.exe process. If one File Explorer window hangs or crashes, it will cause all File Explorer windows running in the same process to hang or crash until the process restarts. You are able to use the Open in new process context menu to manually open folder windows (File...

Brink · Mar 17, 2025

This tutorial will show you how to remove the "Your searches might be slow because the index is not running. Click to turn on the index." message banner at the top of File Explorer when searching for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Indexing the content of your PC helps you get faster results when your searching it for files, emails, or other local content. When you disable Search Indexing, you will see a Your searches might be slow because the index is not running. Click to turn on the index. message banner at the top of File Explorer when searching by default. You can permanently disable the message without having to enable Search Indexing. Option One: Remove "Your searches might be slow because the index is not...

Brink · Mar 28, 2024

This tutorial will show you how to open and use the old Notepad.exe app in Windows 11. The old Notepad.exe app has been replaced by a new modern Notepad app from the Microsoft Store in Windows 11. This new Notepad app includes many new features, such as tabs, spellcheck, themes, character count, save session state, explain with Copilot, and more coming. If you just wanted to use the old plain text editor Notepad app at times and still have the new Notepad app available, you still can for now in Windows 11 after using a workaround below. EXAMPLE: Old Notepad app Here's How: 1 Install (add) the Notepad (system) option feature if not already installed. (see screenshot below)...

Brink · Jan 18, 2023

This tutorial will show you how to update your security questions for your local account in Windows 11. When you set up a local account with a password via Settings, you are required by default to select and answer security questions. Security questions provide an extra layer of protection for your local account in case you forget your password. These security questions are used to verify who you are so you can reset the password of your local account on the sign-in screen if needed. Available security questions for a local account: What was your first pet's name? What's the name of the city where you were born? What was your childhood nickname? What's the name of the city where your parents met? What's the first name of your oldest...

Brink · Jun 18, 2021

This tutorial will show you how to change when to show small icons on the taskbar for your account in Windows 11 Starting with Windows 11 Insider build 22635.4291 (Beta 23H2), build 27764 (Canary 24H2), build 26120.3671 (Beta 24H2), and build 26200.5518 (Dev), Microsoft is starting to roll out taskbar icon scaling to Windows Insiders – an improvement to the Windows taskbar that ensures that you have quick access to more of your favorite apps, even when your taskbar is full. With taskbar icon scaling, when your taskbar starts to get crowded with pinned or open apps, the icons will automatically scale down to a smaller size. This means you can keep more apps visible and accessible without the need to dive into a secondary menu. It’s all...

Brink · Jan 16, 2025

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable letting apps access diagnostic info about other apps for your account or all users in Windows 11. Apps in Windows are carefully isolated so that they don’t interfere with each other. However, there are scenarios where it’s useful for one app to see certain types of information about other running apps (for example, it’s useful for diagnostic tools to be able to get a list of running apps). This is especially useful during app development, or for apps like Task Manager that report simple information about running apps. Some people worry about an app getting information about any other apps, but the settings in Windows always give you control over which apps can get this kind of...

Brink · Jul 6, 2021

This tutorial will show you how to reset Windows 11 and Remove everything or Keep my files. You can reset Windows 11 when your PC isn’t working well and it’s been a while since you installed an app, driver, or update. Resetting reinstalls Windows 11, but lets you choose whether to keep your files or remove them, and then reinstalls Windows. Option What it does Keep my files > Change settings > Preinstalled apps On Reinstalls Windows 11. Keeps all user accounts and personal files in C:\Users. Removes apps and drivers you installed. Removes changes you made to settings. Restores any apps your PC manufacturer installed if your PC came with Windows 11. Keep my files > Change settings > Preinstalled apps Off Reinstalls Windows...

Brink · Sep 15, 2021

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove "Copy To folder" and "Move to folder" to the context menu for your account or all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11. When you press and hold or right click on selected file(s) and folder(s), click/tap on Show more options, and click/tap on Copy To folder, it will copy them to a location you select immediately. When you press and hold or right click on selected file(s) and folder(s), click/tap on Show more options, and click/tap on Move to folder, it will remove them from their current location and move them to a location you select immediately. To also Copy file(s) regardless of the source and target destination, hold down the CTRL key while you drag and drop the file(s). To also...

Disable Automatic Windows Updates in Windows 11

Use ViVeTool to Enable or Disable Hidden Features in Windows 11

Restore Classic File Explorer with Ribbon in Windows 11

Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media

Uninstall or Reinstall Copilot app

Add or Remove "Learn about this picture" Desktop icon

Use SFC to Repair System Files in Windows 11

Download Official Windows 11 ISO file from Microsoft

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

Clean Install Windows 11

Tutorials

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General Group Pinned Apps into Folders on Start Menu in Windows 11

General Rearrange Pinned Items on Start Menu in Windows 11

Accounts Enable or Disable Password Expiration in Windows 11

System Find Product Key in Windows 11

General Enable or Disable Launch Folder Windows in a Separate Process in Windows 11

General Remove "Your searches might be slow because the index is not running. Click to turn on the index." in Windows 11

Apps Open and Use Old Notepad app in Windows 11

Accounts Update Security Questions for Local Account in Windows 11

Personalization Change Size of Taskbar Icons in Windows 11

Privacy and Security Enable or Disable App Diagnostics Access in Windows 11

Installation and Upgrade Reset Windows 11 PC

Personalization Add or Remove "Copy To folder" and "Move To folder" Context Menu in Windows 11

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