Note: The steps below are for a desktop computer and do not include steps on how to clear a laptop CMOS password.If you encounter a password prompt at boot or the BIOS or CMOS setup is locked as shown below and you do not know the password you need to clear the BIOS password using the suggestions listed below.Clear using jumper (recommended)Caution: When inside the computer be sure you're aware of … [Read more...]

Yes, you can reset your Windows 8 password. In fact, as long as you can closely follow the detailed instructions outlined below, it's not even that difficult.The "hack" outlined below is harmless and works very well but it's not exactly Microsoft-sanctioned. Ideally you'd use a Windows 8 password reset disk to reset your Windows 8 password. Unfortunately, the only way to use one of those is if you … [Read more...]

Windows 10 is the name for the next Microsoft Windows operating system.The internal Microsoft codename for Windows 10 was Threshold and the presumed final name wasWindows 9 but Microsoft decided to skip that number altogether.See What Happened to Windows 9? for more on that.Windows 10 will introduce an updated Start Menu, a notification center, and support for virtual desktops.Cortana may also be … [Read more...]

Microsoft has been following a pretty steady version number scheme with their operating systems lately:Windows 7, then Windows 8, and then...Windows 10.Wait, what?That's right. They just skipped Windows 9.So don't worry, you didn't miss a major version of Windows. Microsoft simply decided not name their Windows 8 successor as Windows 9, but went with Windows 10 instead.Windows 9 was assumed to be … [Read more...]

What Is File Allocation Table (FAT)Definition: File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system that was created by Microsoft in 1977. FAT is still in use today as the preferred file system for floppy drive media and portable, high capacity storage devices like flash drives.FAT was the primary file system used in all of Microsoft's consumer operating systemsfrom MS-DOS through Windows ME. NTFS is the … [Read more...]

What is NTFS?NTFS, short for New Technology File System, is a file system that was introduced by Microsoft in 1993 with Windows NT 3.1.NTFS is the primary file system used in Microsoft's Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows NT operating systems.The Windows Server line of operating systems also primarily use NTFS.Theoretically, NTFS can support hard … [Read more...]

What is a File System?Computers use particular kinds of file systems to store and organize data on media, such as a hard drive, the CDs, DVDs, and BDs in anoptical drive or on a flash drive.A file system can be thought of as an index or database containing the physical location of every piece of data on the hard drive or other storage device.Any place that a computer or other electronic device … [Read more...]

A Windows 8 clean install involves removing the existing operating system installed on apartition (a previous Windows 8 installation, Windows XP, Linux, Windows 7... it doesn't matter) and then installing Windows 8 from scratch on that same drive. A clean install is also sometimes referred to as a "custom install."In other words, a clean install of Windows 8 is the … [Read more...]