Block all Windows notifications when Screen Sharing

I see it all the time – someone is sharing their screen during a meeting and an email notification pops up, usually to the audience’s amusement and the presenter’s chagrin.

There’s a simple trick you can do to block Windows (and Microsoft Outlook) from interrupting your screen sharing.

1. Open the Windows (Start) menu and type “Present”.
2. Select the first item titled “Adjust settings before giving a presentation”

 


3. Click the check box at the top of the window that appears “I am currently giving a presentation”

 


This will add the following icon to your icon tray:
 

 

4. When you are done presenting, simply right-click on this icon and select “Stop Presentation”

 

Good luck with your presentations!

Taking control of Windows 10 System Updates

A number of colleagues seem to be having trouble with their Windows 10 PC’s restarting on them at inopportune times – here’s how you can take back control…

Notes:

• The options you see will depend on what settings your company/computer Administrator has set. If you don’t see a corresponding option to the steps below, please follow-up with your administrator to see if they can allow the option for you.
• Click on any image below to enlarge.

1. Open the Windows (Start) menu.
2. Type “Windows Update” and select the “Check for updates” option from the list that appears.
    
   
3. In the middle of the window that opens, under the Update settings section are three links to more advanced options:
    
   
   1. Change active hours
   2. Restart options
   3. Advanced options

   Select the first one: Change active hours
    
   

   Here you can set the normal hours that you work. Windows won’t restart your computer during these hours without at least warning you first. Feel free to buffer on both sides of your day to give yourself enough time to finish up before Windows decides to restart your computer for you. Click Save to save and exit this window to return to the other options.

   Note: If you don’t leave your computer running during non-work hours, you run the risk of not getting important security updates in a timely manner. To counteract this – make it a practice to manually check for updates on at least a weekly basis.

4. Back on the Windows Update window, select the next option: “Restart options” to open the following window:
    
   

   Here you can set a scheduled time for Windows to apply updates. Best use of this is if you know you always leave your machine running over the weekend – schedule the updates to be installed on Friday night while you’re not at work.

   You can also elect to have Windows pop up with a reminder to tell you when it’s going to auto-restart your machine. If you’re getting blindsided by it auto-restarting – here’s the option you’ve been looking for!

5. Go back to the Windows Update window to select the final option: “Advanced options” to open the following window:
    
   

   I recommend selecting the checkbox for “Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows.” This will help ensure other Microsoft products like Office are getting updates regularly as well.

   I do NOT recommend turning on the Pause Updates option. This is a big potential security risk if an important patch is deployed by Microsoft and you’ve paused the updates for a month (e.g. the recent WannaCry Ransomware patch).

6. At the bottom of this screen is another link to the final set of options: “Choose how updates are delivered”
    
   

   These options allow you to get updates delivered to you quicker. Essentially – if any other computers on your local network have already downloaded the update you need, your computer will be able to get all or part of the update directly from them instead of having to go out to the web to re-download it. Since your local connection is usually much faster than your internet connection – this can save a bit of time & potentially internet bandwidth in getting updates delivered to your computer.

Hope this helps with your reboot woes – as always, let me know if you have any questions.
~Yosef

Windows 10 Calculator Shortcut

I’m used to pulling up the built-in Microsoft Windows calculator app when I have a quick calculation to do.
I recently discovered that with Windows 10 I don’t even need to open the calculator! I can simply open the start menu (Windows key) and start typing my math problem (including trig functions!) and it will display the answer right there in my start menu!

For all I know this has been available in Windows 8 for a while but I definitely use this tip now that I know about it!

Here’s a screenshot of what I mean – try it out yourself!

Windows 10 Start Calculator

What’s new in Windows 10? (And whatever happened to Windows 9?)

Last question first – according to a Reddit poster (a reputable source of news I know…) the name Windows 9 may have been skipped due to lazy developers.

Apparently a lot of 3rd party products (e.g. non-Microsoft) may have checked the Windows version they were running on by looking for “Windows 9” to figure out if they were on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, etc. An easy way around breaking a bunch of old software was to simply skip to Windows 10. Certainly makes the most sense out of anything else I’ve read. 🙂

Now – what’s new in Windows 10?

Here are the highlights:

1. Windows 10 is free to upgrade too for 1 year. After that, it’s a flat, up-front fee to buy the software – no annual fees (like Office 365).
2. Microsoft’s version of Siri or “Ok Google” is called Cortana and it’s coming to all devices including your laptop. This means built-in dictation as well as interactive search, etc. May be a bit difficult to use in an open-cube environment but otherwise has a lot of potential.
3. Universal Apps – the pipe dream of many end users is now a reality – developers will be able to build apps (aka “programs”) that run on any device including your phone, tablet, XBox, & PC. This means that regardless of what device you pick up, you theoretically can use the same app everywhere.
4. Microsoft Edge – with Windows 10, Microsoft gets rid of Internet Explorer. To replace it, they have built a brand new internet browser called Edge which brings Microsoft’s browser into the 21st century. Not a lot of new functionality over other modern browsers (such as Chrome or Firefox), however one major update is the ability to literally draw on a web page and add notations, then share your marked up page with anyone. In addition, Edge comes with handy Cortana integration built-in which means that Cortana is constantly scanning the websites you are on to try to help you. For example you go to a restaurant’s website – Cortana will ask you if you would like to make a reservation. If you say yes, Cortana can initiate the call over Skype right from your browser.
5. I don’t run in the hard-core gamer circles but for those of you with an XBox One, it can now send live gaming to your Windows 10 PC, allowing you to remotely play XBox One games anywhere provided you have your PC with you.
6. For those Command Line power users out there (myself included of course!) the good old DOS prompt has gotten a much-needed face-lift. Text will now wrap, the window is fully adjustable to your screen, & you now have the ability to Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V into & out of the console!
7. No longer limited to Microsoft applications, Windows Notifications are now accessible by 3rd party applications (such as DropBox, Google Drive, etc.) to let you know when events occur.
8. You can pin the recycle bin to the Start Menu & Taskbar & finally delete it off your desktop!
9. File Explorer now opens by default to a new “Home” screen that shows you any files & folders you’ve designated as favorites as well as your most frequently used files & folders.
10. Windows has had the ability to give you multiple “virtual” desktops for quite a while. With Windows 10, you now get two key shortcuts to make switching quicker & easier. Win + Tab brings up an interface showing thumbnails of each of your desktops, allowing you to select one. Ctrl+Win+Right/Left will switch desktops in either direction.
11. File History has been an on-again, off-again feature of Windows but is now standard in Windows 10. Basically it gives you a built-in time machine for accessing previous versions of files (provided you have it turned on).

All in all, I’m definitely looking forward to upgrading from Windows 8.1!