Show Titles of Windows in Taskbar

 [Windows-Logo]+[Q] and search for taskbar

Go down to the "Combine taskbar buttons" and change the setting to "When taskbar is full"

A tooltip is stuck on the desktop and will not go away.

On my new Windows 10 laptop, I sometimes will get a tooltip that remains on the screen. It stays if I switch applications, if I minimize, if I lock the screen.

From Microsoft Answers I found that if I press [Windows Key] + [D], it minimizes all windows and it goes away.

Remove Advertise from Google Chrome

2018-02-09
I followed the instructions at https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/rockettab-ads-removal-guide

It did find some things to remove but it the "RocketTab powered by Advertise" remained in my Google search results. It was not until I reset my Google Chrome settings that it went away "Restore settings to their original defaults"

I found this at https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/7488-rocket-tab-ads

Hopefully it sticks.


2018-02-08
Somehow I got software installed that injects ads into the top part of my Google Search results. About 2 seconds after I searched, I saw some new search results show up that pushed down the actual Google results. They had a small header that said, "RocketTab powered by Advertise"

This article allowed me to remove it. "Remove Ad by Advertise" from virusresearch.org. I had already done several things that I have done before to remove adware that sometimes gets on my computer.

- Uninstall applications that you may have unintentionally installed. Sometimes software you want includes other software that piggy backs in the installation program. You have to watch for this. Always run the detailed installation and make sure you skip the other apps that have paid them to be included.

- Check for Google Chrome Extensions that may have slipped in using similar tactics on web pages.

The step I had not done before was to create a new user within Chrome and delete the old one. There must be data or something else in there that was keeping "RocketTab powered by Advertise" going.

Thanks, virusresearch.org!

How to change Windows 10 Lock Screen Timeout Period

Windows 10 has a beautiful "Windows Spotlight" background on the lock screen.

The problem is that by default you only get a minute of it. Here is how to set that value.

(Similar instructions at https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/adjust-windows-10-lock-screen-timeout )
From http://www.thewindowsclub.com/enable-console-lock-display-timeout-windows-8

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ Power\ PowerSettings\ 7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99\ 8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7 

Now in the right pane, you will see Attributes. Double-click on it to change its DWORD value data from the default 1 to 2.

Having done this, now open Power Options > Advanced Power Settings via Control Panel. Expand the Display item. You will now see an additional entry: Console lock display off timeout. 

You would not have seen it earlier, but after editing the registry, you will get to see it. 

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts I Use

Windows 10

Winkey + A - Activates Action Center

Winkey + R - Run a command

Winkey + E - Opens File Explorer

Winkey + D - Shows desktop

Winkey + E - Opens File Explorer

Winkey + L - Locks a machine

Winkey + R - Run a command

Winkey + S - Activates Cortana

Winkey + X - Opens power user features

Winkey + Left / Right / Up / Down - Snaps apps to the side of a screen (press Up or Down after snapping left / right to enable four apps to snap)

Alt+Tab - Switch Tasks

From "The best Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts",  29 Jul 2015, Tom Warren, The Verge

PureText

https://stevemiller.net/puretext/

Winkey + V - pastes plain text

Windows 7

Taskbar and Start Menu Preferences

Here are the settings I like on Windows 10

Combine taskbar buttons 

I like the "When the taskbar is full" setting.















Here is what it looks like

Adjust for best performance

To adjust the visual effects in Windows
1. In the search box on the taskbar, type performance, then select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.
2. In the Performance Options dialog box, on the Visual Effects tab, select Adjust for best performance > Apply.

3. Restart your PC and see if that speeds up your PC.
(Tip #9 from this post)

I usually add a few things back to it like this.

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How can I create images with transparent backgrounds?

I needed a simple image with a transparent background. I found this Stack Overflow post that worked well for me, "How can I create transparent images in MS Paint?"

Try Paint.NET for size. I tried GimpShop before, but did not like it. Paint.NET is to MS Paint what Notepad++ is to Notepad :)

To change an image to have a transparent background:

1. Install Paint.NET
2. Download AlphaMask plugin
3. Extract AlphaMask.dll to \Paint.NET\Effects (note you will likely need to unblock the file)
4. Open Paint.NET
5. Open your file
6. Copy the content you want to make have a transparent background (ctrl+a, ctrl+c to select all and copy)
7. Effects Menu > Alpha Mask...
8. check Invert Mask, check Mix Alpha, leave checked Paste from Clipboard
9. Click OK
10. File Menu > Save as, save as type PNG (*.png)
11. Defaults are fine, OK one last time

These are the steps I took to create a 16x16 sized icon.

I found a larger example with a white background.

I used snipping tool to get a semi-square size from it

I used this to convert it to a 16x16 ico file. http://image.convertstandard.com/ToICO16x16.aspx

I renamed it to a png. 

I used this stack overflow post and paint.NET to make the background transparent.