How to Upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Professional Edition | Dramel Notes

Windows 10 comes in various editions, each with a slightly different feature set. If you’ve been using Windows 10 at home, you’re probably running the suitably named Home edition. If you would like to upgrade to the Professional edition, for example to be able to defer Windows 10 updates you have multiple options.

We’ll give a brief comparison of the Home and Pro editions of Windows 10, before offering up three strategies to upgrade from the former to the latter.

If you’re thinking about upgrading your version or have already done so, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Home vs. Pro

Everything that the Home version offers can be found within Pro. As such, you’re not losing out on any feature by changing versions – it’s just an upgrade. Pro offers a number of additional features when it comes to areas like security and control of updates. Let’s look at a few.

Windows 10 has forced updates, which means that you don’t get a choice in which updates you get, nor when you receive them. Home edition users get no leeway with this, but those on Pro have the ability to opt into the business branch. This means that the updates will only be pushed through once they’ve been trialed by Home users and deemed reliable enough to go out to the more sensitive business market.

BitLocker is another feature that Pro users get. This allows you to encrypt internal and external drives, plus create encrypted container files. Data security is hugely important and encryption is a very valuable process in keeping your files safe. While there are many third-party encryption tools available, it’s great to have one built-in to Windows.

A third, though not final, feature that Pro offers is the ability to create virtual machines. This is handled through a utility called Hyper-V. With virtual machines you can emulate other operating systems within your existing one, which is great for running software not available on your main operating system and for testing.

Upgrading Your Windows 10 Edition

Before you consider upgrading, you might want to find out what edition of Windows 10 you are running in the first place. Press Windows key + I to launch the Settings menu, then head to System > About and check what it says under Edition.

If your system check reveals what you already knew, that you’re on the Home edition, and if you’d like to upgrade, here are three ways you can go about it.

Method 1: Buying the Upgrade

First, press Windows key + I to open the Settings menu. Then click Update & security, then select Activation from the left-hand navigation. Now click Go to Store.

A new window will open which will give you a brief overview of the features that the Pro version will offer you over Home. Since you don’t own a copy of Pro, you’ll have to pay for the upgrade. To begin the process, click the price within the blue button (e.g. $99).

User Account Control might open at this point and ask if you want to run the Change Product Key app. Click Yes.

Now enter the password to your Microsoft account and click Sign in. A box will open which will warn you that the purchase is immediate and not subject to any “cooling-off” period.

If you haven’t used the Store in the past, click Get started! Add a way to pay. to use a credit card or your PayPal account for the purchase.

When ready, click Buy. Your system will begin downloading the necessary update and your existing Home license key will automatically become a Pro one.

Method 2: Existing Product Key

If you’ve already got a Pro license key, it’s very easy to upgrade. First, press Windows key + I to open the Settings menu. Then select Update & security, followed by Activation from the left-hand navigation. Now click Change product key.

Depending on your system settings, User Account Control may ask if you want to run the Change Product Key app. Click Yes if this occurs.

A window will open where you can enter your Pro product key. Type it without the dashes because they’ll be added automatically. Once you’ve typed your code it’ll be verified for authenticity.

When that’s complete, a new message will appear that reminds you to save your work and close any apps before the upgrade. When ready to begin, click Start upgrade. Your system will download the Pro update and then apply it, during which it’ll reboot a couple of times.

Method 3: Media Creation Tool

If you want to perform a fresh install of Windows 10, one way to do that is by using the Media Creation Tool. The problem is that this tool automatically detects your existing Windows edition and uses that. So if you’re on Home, you can’t upgrade to Pro during the process. However, Into Windows has found a workaround.

First, create a bootable USB of Windows 10 by following the instructions in our Get Windows 10 guide. Once complete, navigate to This PC (do a system search for it if needed) and open the USB drive.

The next step is to download a config file which Into Windows has created. Please note that we take no responsibility for files downloaded from external sources. Extract the zip and move the ei.cfg file into the Sources folder on the USB.

Now boot to the USB and follow the installation process through. You’ll find that you can now choose exactly which version of Windows 10 you want – in this case, Pro.

Become a Pro

If the features of Pro are enticing you to it, have no fear with the upgrade process – hopefully you can see how simple it is to perform. Plus it won’t take much time either, so you’ll be back up and running with additional features like BitLocker and Hyper-V in no time.

To note, if you don’t currently have Windows 10 and aren’t eligible for the free upgrade, it’s cheaper to buy Windows 10 Pro outright than it is to buy Home and then go through the upgrade process.

Have you updated your Windows PC from Home to Pro? What features of Pro do you enjoy the most?

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Content Marketing 101: What Kind of Content Actually Gets Links (and What Kind Should You Avoid)? by @dovidfarkas | Dramel Notes

“Just write more content!”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read advice like this on various marketing blogs. It’s as if saturating the internet with even more blog posts, eBooks, and guides will somehow help you to get the links you need.

The truth is that while publishing content is important, it is absolutely essential to understand how to publish the right kind of content.

It’s not just a coincidence that some content attracts more links than others. Yes, a big part of it has to do with your outreach efforts, but it is also directly related to the type of content you’re trying to promote.

In this post, I’m going to tell you what kind of content you should create to get more links and what kind of content you need to avoid.

Is There a Correlation Between Share Counts and Backlinks?

First things first: is there any correlation between the number of shares a piece of content receives versus its backlink count?

Common sense would say yes. After all, if a piece of content is popular (i.e. it has a lot of shares), it should also be heavily linked to by bloggers and webmasters.

However, according to a study conducted by Moz and Buzzsumo, while there is still some correlation between shares and links, the study found that out of 757,317 well-shared posts, over 50% still had zero external backlinks.

After analyzing over 100,000 random posts, this is the result of the study:

Since social signals don’t necessarily influence rankings, if your goal is rankings, you’ll need to come up with something a little better than just a sensational headline. You’ll need to craft content that can actually attract links and not just social shares.

So what kind of content actually gets links?

Content that Gets Links

In 2012, Moz dug through its content archives to figure out what kind of content gets links. Its results weren’t exactly surprising: posts with images receive more links than posts without images:

People find it easier to digest content that is visually appealing, as opposed to just reading plain text. Remarkably, the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than the time it takes for the brain to decode text. Since the advent of the internet, with consumers living fast-paced, on-demand lives, it’s essential to connect to your readers from a visual standpoint in order to keep them reading on your site.

In addition, the above study found that there was a clear correlation between word count and backlinks. Longer content portrays the content is more in-depth, well researched, and credible, increasing the likelihood of people linking to it.

So, the takeaway is if you’re trying to create a linkable asset, be sure to create content that is longer, more in-depth and contains visual content as well. Quality over quantity, if you will.

You may even want to consider creating a separate ‘resource’ section on your site, especially for in-depth content or guides. Besides allowing you to be more creative with your design, this will also make your in-depth content stand out, and help to distinguish it from the millions of other blog posts that are being published on a daily basis.

Studies, Surveys, and Research Data get Links

There is, however, some content that can yield great results, even though it doesn’t meet the above criteria.

For example, take a look at this page on marketing statistics from HubSpot. It is a relatively simple page that curates the latest marketing statistics from across the web. It doesn’t stand out in neither design nor depth. However, according to ahrefs, it has earned an astonishing 5,320 backlinks from thousands of referring domains:

This page gets links because it has data and as humans, we love statistics and comparing numbers. Writers, bloggers, editors frequently need a source or marketing statistic. HubSpot’s brand strength coupled with freshly updated (and accurate) stats means that people are more likely to link to it.

If HubSpot’s curated list of marketing statistics gets thousands of backlinks, natural order dictates that the studies HubSpot is basing its stats on should also get a lot of backlinks.

And the numbers back this up. Pew’s social media fact sheet, for example, has over 15,000 links from over 2,500 root domains!

Original studies do particularly well from a link building point of view, since they not only get editorial links but also links from data compilations (such as HubSpot’s list of marketing stats).

For link builders, this means original studies or research can make great linkable assets. And if you don’t have the time or budget to put one together, curating the best studies, statistics, and data on a topic is the next best thing.

Answer Common Industry Questions

As an expert in your industry, you’ll be surprised how much you can help out others with your experience and knowledge base. How about putting together an in-depth FAQ page where you chronicle questions you get from your customers and the answers and tips you gave them? You could update this on a weekly basis and give a shout out to the customers who asked the questions.

Another approach that can reap significant benefits is offering a definitive answer to a common question that is otherwise under-explored in your industry.

For example, lots of bloggers and marketers have wondered what the ideal content length is for SEO. Most go with personal preference or analyze the performance of their older content.

SERPIQ adopted a data-centric approach to this question and came up with an absolute answer based on research. It analyzed thousands of top 10 results and concluded that the ‘ideal’ length is north of 2,000 words. Webmasters and bloggers consequently rewarded SERPIQ with thousands of backlinks from over 800 root domains.

Great Design Equals Great Links

Some of you may recall back in 2012 when the NYTimes published a long story titled ‘Snowfall’. It was an exquisitely designed piece that reportedly cost over $100,000 to produce. It was the topic of tons of conversation online, both for the quality of the reporting and the design.

Understandably, the story was shared extensively, but it was also linked to thousands of times by publications big and small, many of whom focused on the story’s exceptional aesthetic design.

Of course, such a large production budget isn’t feasible for the typical small business. However, it does highlight the importance a great design layout has in getting links.

You’ll also find that websites that focus on content presentation as much as content depth get a lot of links as well.

For some examples and ideas, check out HelpScout’s beautifully designed blog posts, or take a look TheVerge’s long-form journalism, and be sure to check how many links each piece of content gets.

Oh, and besides the links, your readers will love you for it!

Content That Doesn’t Work

Avoid creating content that is promotional at all costs. No one is interested in linking to a page where you’re telling the world how great you or your company are. Besides content that is outwardly promotional, which should be fairly obvious, you also shouldn’t pack your content with links back to your home or product pages. Webmasters will recognize this as a form of self-promotion and it will greatly decrease your chances of getting a link.

Also, avoid content that doesn’t offer anything unique and isn’t useful or helpful in any way.  A skimpy article that doesn’t solve a recognizable problem won’t get you any links and surely won’t earn you any new customers. This also encompasses creating un-original content that’s been covered in one form or another a million times over.

There are over 29 million articles on ‘how to floss’, so what else, exactly, is your ‘Definitive Floss Guide’ going to bring to the table?

Conclusion

If you want to start ranking, then you’re going to need links. And in order to get those links, you’ll need to have content that is ‘linkable’ and resonates with both readers and webmasters.

Once you’ve got great content, your outreach will be destined for success and you’ll potentially be on your way to building hundreds, if not thousands, of links, like some of the examples shown above.

 

Image Credits

Featured Image: Unsplash/Pixabay.com
All screenshots by David Farkas. Taken December 2015.

 

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How to Change the Default City for the Weather Complication on Apple Watch | Dramel Notes

Complications on the Apple Watch allow you to display various types of information and quickly access apps on the watch. The Weather app on your iPhone provides a complication for watch faces that can be customized, such as the Modular, Utility, and Simple watch faces.

The Weather complication displays the weather for one default city, but you can change which city is the default city using your phone. To do this, tap the “Watch” app on the Home screen.

Make sure the “My Watch” screen is active. If not, tap the “My Watch” icon at the bottom of the screen.

On the “My Watch” screen, tap “Weather”.

Tap “Default City” on the “Weather” screen.

NOTE: The city currently displaying as the default city on the Weather complication is listed next to “Default City”.

Scroll through the list on the “Default City” screen and tap the city you want to make the default. If you don’t see the city you want, you can add cities to the Weather app on your phone. We’ll explain how to do this.

Tap the “Weather” app icon on your phone’s Home screen.

In the “Weather” app, tap the list button in the lower-right corner of the screen.

A list of all cities available in the app displays. Tap the plus icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Start typing the name of the city you want to add in the edit box. Cities that match what you’re typing start displaying in a list below the edit box. When you see the city you want in the list, tap on it.

The city is added to the list.

The city you added is now available to choose as the default city for the “Weather” complication.

Even though you can only view the weather for one city at a time on your Apple Watch, you can easily view the weather for all the cities you’ve added in the Weather app simply by swiping right and left. The row of dots at the bottom of the screen indicate the cities you’ve added as well as the arrow indicating your current location.

You can also add third-party complications from other weather apps you can find through the “Watch” app.

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How to Jump to Any Registry Key Instantly on Windows | Dramel Notes

The Registry Editor in Windows is an indispensable tool — especially for fixing various Windows errors — but it can be somewhat annoying to use due to its overly-simplistic design.

One of the more frustrating aspects is that moving from one key to another can take a lot of time as it involves a lot of opening-and-closing of folder trees. But with Registry Key Jumper, you can visit any registry key in the blink of an eye.

It works like this: You run the program and it sits quietly in the background. Whenever you see a registry key path, just copy it with your cursor and press Ctrl+Alt+X. This launches the Registry Editor and points it at the highlighted key path.

The hotkey can be changed to whatever you want in the program’s settings. Also, if you highlight text that contains a registry key path somewhere within it, the program will understand and strip all of the unnecessary text.

Best of all, it’s a portable app so you can carry it around with you on a USB drive (or keep it on cloud storage) and use it anywhere you go.

So the next time you want to tweak your Windows registry, be sure to use this app to save time and make your life as easy as possible.

Did you find this tool useful? Know of any other tools that do the same thing or better? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Windows Key by charnsitr via Shutterstock

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How to Block Users from Installing Software on Your Windows Computer | Dramel Notes

Whether you have a company network, or simply a computer used by various household members, it can be really annoying — or a huge security risk — if anyone is allowed to install software on the computer. All it takes is for one virus-ridden program to get onto a network-linked computer, and suddenly you will have multiple botnets chanting “Resistance is futile….prepare to be assimilated!” at anyone who tries to destroy it.

Another scenario where blocking software from being installed is essential is personal security. Imagine if somebody tried to install key-logging software on your computer to see what you have been typing, or to capture your login details for various sites? Pre-blocking new software from being installed will stop those attempts in their tracks.

Since the best treatment is prevention, we are going to take a look at some ways in which you can stop people from installing onlinesexystrippoker.exe. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

Native Windows Solutions

The following methods look intimidating to anyone who dislikes fiddling around under the hood with their Windows setup. But quite honestly, it is really easy. Just follow along with me here. I won’t lead you astray.

Local Group Policy Editor

Go to your Start Menu and type in:

gpedit.msc

This brings up something called the Local Group Policy Editor. Now go to Computer Configurations > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Installer.

In the list in the right-hand window, scroll down until you find Turn off Windows Installer. The information window next to it will inform you that enabling this will “prevent users from installing software on their systems”. That’s the one we’re looking for.

When you double-click that option, another box will pop up, and you just have to choose Enabled, then press OK. All done. To reverse the process, just double-click the option again and choose “Disabled”.

Don’t Run Specified Windows Applications

Another way to block the Windows Installer from being used can be found in another area of the Local Group Policy Editor.

Go back to the main menu in the Policy Editor window, and now go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System. In the right-hand window which now appears with options, scroll down until you find Don’t Run Specified Windows Applications. As the title implies, this is used for blocking certain programs from being run, but we can also use it to block the Windows Installer.

Double-click that and another window appears. When you click Enabled, a new option appears called List of Disallowed Applications. Click Show and a third window appears where you type in the path of the program to be blocked.

Now note I said “path”. That means it is not sufficient to just say “Windows Installer”. You have to lay out the route to the location of the Windows Installer, so the Policy Editor can find it. The Windows Installer Program is called msiexec.exe and is located at:

C:WindowsSystem32msiexec.exe

Copy/paste that into the space provided in the box and click OK. The Windows Installer should now be blocked.

Restrict via the Registry Editor

Aaggh! The Registry! The one Windows word which is guaranteed to send shivers down peoples spines. Nobody likes going in here, as it’s got things going on that I can’t rightly explain. Things that go bump in the night, and all that.

But we need to embrace our fears, so hang on. We’ll get through this together.

The first step (after arming ourselves with crucifixes and garlic cloves) is to do the key combination Windows key + R. In the Run box, type:

regedit

This will bring up the Registry Editor. Calm down and stop screaming. It won’t bite you.

Now use your mouse to navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareClassesMsi.PackageDefaultIcon

In the right-hand window which now appears, you’ll see the path to the Windows Installer, with a zero on the end. That zero implies that the Installer is allowed. To disable the Installer, just click on that line, and in the box that now pops up, change that 0 to a 1. Save and close. Installer blocked.

Well done. You survived the Registry!

Software Options

I know there are other Windows options, such as elevated privileges or using the Local Security Policy. But I decided I would focus on the 3 easiest options instead, and not overload you. But if you still don’t feel comfortable messing around with your Windows settings, then another option would be to install software that gets the job done for you. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it ironic that you need to install software to block software!

Here are three options which I tried – one free and two paid (with free trial periods) – and which lock your system down tighter than a baby’s bottom.

WinGuard Pro

Plan: Paid, 30 Days Free Trial

From what I can see, WinGuard Pro is more geared towards locking down areas of the computer to other users. So for example, if you are the system administrator at work, you may want to block access to the Registry Editor by other users in the network. Or blocking “Programs & Features” would stop people from getting into the list of installed apps and uninstalling anything.

To block something, you would bring it up on the screen, then click Lock Program. A list of open apps will then appear in a box and you would choose the one you want locked. Obviously “Unlock Program” reverses that.

Install-Block

Plan: Paid, Free Trial Period

This stops anything from being installed by looking out for certain keywords in apps running on your system. So if someone tries to install something, and a keyword is noticed, Install-Block automatically blocks it from going any further.

So as you can see in the screenshot, keywords can include “install”, “setup” or “license agreement”. What other words could we add? “Terms & Conditions”, maybe? “Freeware”?

InstallGuard

Plan: Free

InstallGuard does its job really well — to the point where I couldn’t figure out how to shut it down and uninstall it afterwards! I finally figured out that you have to sign into the app with the administrator password, then click File >Exit. That shuts it down and you can then uninstall it if you want.

If you are looking for somethingreally effective that works right out of the box, this is the one. For me, it blocked EVERYTHING from being installed — and I was logged in as the administrator! You can’t argue with the price, either.

Deep Freeze

One final intriguing option is one proposed by Joe back in January, i.e. “deep freezing” your computer, which resets your system back to a previous state every time you reboot it. This way, any changes made to your computer will be wiped out when rebooted. So if someone dares to install something, it will be deleted when you switch the computer off.

The only downside to this of course is that it will also wipe out your changes. So it is not perfect.

Which Option Do You Prefer?

Let’s not forget that a Standard User account cannot install software without providing an administrator password. Hence the above options are best used to restrict your administrator account from accidents.

Which option would you prefer to use? Have you ever had to deal with someone installing something on your system without your permission?

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