How to Enable System Restore (and Repair System Problems) on Windows 10 | Dramel Notes

With Windows 10, Microsoft seems to have disabled System Restore by default — at least on some PCs. System Restore has been around since Windows ME, creating snapshots of system files you can restore if a problem occurs.

Windows 10 still does contain System Restore, so you can re-enable it if you feel more comfortable with System Restore as a safety net. Windows 10 also offers other system-recovery features, helping lessen the need for System Restore.

Why Did Microsoft Disable System Restore?

Microsoft hasn’t really explained why it’s not enabling System Restore by default. However, we do have some idea. System Restore can use quite a bit of disk space when it creates those snapshots, and Microsoft is trying to get Windows 10’s disk space requirements down. Microsoft wants Windows 10 to run on devices with as little as 16 GB of internal storage — all the better to compete with Chromebooks and cheap Android tablets.

System Restore is also less necessary thanks to other features in Windows 10 that can quickly get your Windows system back to a fresh state without a full reinstallation of Windows. Windows 10’s PC reset feature that will give you a fresh Windows system without necessarily wiping your files is one big help here.

How to Re-Enable System Restore

You can re-enable System Restore from the Control Panel. It will use some system storage space for its snapshots, so you probably won’t want to do this on inexpensive laptops and tablets with only a small amount of storage space. If you have a big hard drive in your PC, however, it won’t be a big deal.

Bear in mind that it’s disabled by default, so it hasn’t been creating snapshots. If you’re experiencing a system problem, re-enabling System Restore won’t help because you won’t have any old snapshots to restore. When you re-enable it, it will create a new snapshot — of your current system in its damaged state, if it’s damaged. If you want to enable and rely on System Restore, this must be done preemptively, before you have a problem.

This option is only available in the Control Panel, not the new Settings app. The quickest way to access System Restore settings will be to open the Start menu or Start screen, type “Restore” to search for it, and click the “Create a restore point” shortcut. You can also open the Control Panel, navigate to “System”, and click the “System Protection” link in the sidebar.

Open this window and you’ll see that system protection is “Off” for your Windows 10 system drive and the other drives in your computer. Select your system drive and click the “Configure” button if you want to enable it.

Click the “Turn on system protection” option and choose how much disk space you want to reserve for your restore points. The less space you provide, the fewer restore points System Restore will be able to kepe at once. Click “OK” and System Restore will be enabled.

To use System Restore in the future, just go back to the same “System Protection” panel you used above. Click the “System Restore” button — now no longer grayed out, assuming you enabled System Restore — and you can use System Restore to go back to a previous restore point.

If Windows isn’t normally bootable, you can also boot into Safe Mode and run System Restore, or launch System Restore from the “advanced startup options” recovery environment.

Other Ways to Fix System Problems

If you wanted to use System Restore to fix a problem but found out it’s been disabled all along, you’ll have to fix whatever system problem you’re encountering in another way.

If the problem was caused by a recent update, you can look at uninstalling that Windows Update or reverting to a previous “build” of Windows 10. This should fix problems that might occur due to Windows Update and issues with your specific hardware and software.

If your system files are corrupted, you can try using the SFC — system file check — command to scan your system files for problems and automatically repair them.

If you installed a program or hardware driver and the problem started after that, you can visit the Control Panel and uninstall that program or hardware driver.

If Windows isn’t booting properly so you can’t do any of this, you can boot into Safe Mode. You can also visit the “advanced startup options” screen — these will automatically appear if Windows 10 can’t boot normally — and use the options there.

There are many other ways to troubleshoot and fix a Windows 10 system. However, the one surefire solution will be to use the “Reset this PC” tool in the Settings app. This will wipe your Windows 10 system and restore it to factory-default settings. You’ll have to reinstall your software and reconfigure Windows afterwards. However, your personal files will be kept and won’t be erased. Whatever system problem you’re having, this will restore all your Windows 10 system files to their default state.

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System Restore has always been a bit of a shotgun approach, just rolling back an entire system rather than fixing whatever that individual problem was. It used a bit of disk space, too.

Having it disabled by default is certainly a loss that makes tech support harder to perform. It used to be enabled by default and was a quick thing to try whenever a Windows PC isn’t working properly. Now, you just might have to use the “reset” feature instead.

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How to Change the Default PDF Reader in Windows 10 | Dramel Notes

Microsoft Edge is not only the default web browser in Windows 10 but also the default PDF reader. This is definitely a good thing as we can finally view PDF files without having to install third-party apps, but it’s more of a basic PDF reader.

If you prefer to have a feature-rich application as the default PDF reader instead of Edge, then you have plenty of options to choose from. In this article, we’ll show you how to change the default PDF reader in Windows 10.

Change the Default by Using Open With in File Explorer

Open File Explorer and navigate to a folder containing your PDF file. Right-click on a file and choose “Open with > Choose another app.”

A pop-up will appear that will let you choose a program for just one time. Or you can also select the “Always use this app” link to make it permanent. From this window, choose the default PDF reader of your choice.

If the default app is not listed in this window, then you can select a different program located in your PC. Click “More apps,” select an app or scroll down to see “Look for another app in this PC” link. Click this link to browse to the program that you want to set as the default PDF reader, and choose “Open” button to set it as the default.

Change the Default by Using Default Programs in Control Panel

Open Control Panel (icon view) and select “Default Programs.” Click the link labelled “Associate a file type or protocol with a program,” and wait for a couple of seconds to load all file types.

Scroll down the list to see .PDF entry. Click on “.PDF” entry, and then click “Change program” button.

A pop-up will appear that will let you choose an app from the list.

If the default app is not listed in this window, then you can select a different program located in your PC. Click “More apps,” select an app or scroll down to see “Look for another app in this PC” link. Click this link to browse to the program that you want to set as the default PDF reader, and choose “Open” button to set it as the default.

Changing the default PDF reader app in Windows is a simple procedure, and that’s all there is to it.

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What to Do If You Forget Your Mac’s Password | Dramel Notes

Can’t remember your Mac’s password? Don’t worry. With the default settings, you can simply try logging into your Mac. Fail enough times and you’ll be able to reset your password with your Apple ID. But this won’t always work.

If you haven’t enabled FileVault disk encryption, there’s an easy password-reset tool you can access. If you have enabled FileVault disk encryption and are willing to abandon your encrypted files, you can just reinstall Mac OS X and start over again.

Reset Your Password Using Your Apple ID

This trick only works if you’ve associated your Mac account with an Apple ID. It will work if you haven’t set up FileVault disk encryption, or if you set up FileVault disk encryption and had Mac OS X store your recovery key in your iCloud account. This is the default option. If you enabled FileVault and didn’t store your recovery key with your iCloud account, it won’t work.

If you’ve forgotten your password, just try entering the wrong password three times at the sign-in screen. After three wrong answers, you’ll see a “If you forgot your password, you can reset it using your Apple ID” message. Click the button and enter your Apple ID details to reset your passwordl.

Enter Your FileVault Recovery Key

If you’ve enabled FileVault disk encryption and didn’t store your recovery key in your iCloud account, the FileVault setup tool gave you a recovery key and told you to print it out or write it down and store it somewhere safe. This — aside from the password — is the only thing that can decrypt the files stored on your Mac and give you access to them.

Assuming you have this recovery key, you can type the recovery key into the password field on the login screen. This will decrypt your Mac’s storage and sign in you in. Once you’re signed in, you can change the password from the usual Users & Groups tool in the System Settings window.

Reset the Password From OS X Recovery (If You’re Not Using FileVault Encryption)

If you haven’t enabled FileVault encryption, there’s an easy way to reset any user account’s password. You just need to restart your Mac and hold Command + R while it’s booting. This will boot your Mac into a special recovery mode, also known as OS X Recovery.

From OS X Recovery, you can access a hidden a password reset tool and use it to change any user account’s password on the Mac. This is another good reason why you should enable FileVault encryption on your Mac — it’ll prevent people from entering the password and gaining access.

In the unlikely event that you’ve enabled a UEFI firmware password on your Mac, you won’t be able to gain access to OS X Recovery unless you remember that password. You can’t remove that UEFI firmware password without visiting an Apple Store — at least in theory. This helps prevent thieves from just erasing the UEFI password of a MacBook after they steal it.

Sign In As Another User (If You Are Using FileVault Encryption)

If you have more than one user account on your Mac and are using FileVault encryption, try logging in as the other user account. If you gave that other user account permission to decrypt your Mac with its password, you’ll be able to sign in and access a desktop. You can then create a new user account or regain access to your old user account.

Reinstall Mac OS X (If You Are Using FileVault Encryption)

If there’s a UEFI password on your Mac, you won’t be able to gain access to OS X Recovery to reset the password or reinstall Mac OS X without that password. You’ll just see a big lock icon appear on your screen and a box to type your password when you try to boot into recovery mode or boot from an external device.

This is a separate password from your user account’s password, so hopefully you remember this one. If you can’t, the only way to potentially remove that UEFI password is to take your Mac to an Apple Store.

There may be some sort of attack that allows an attacker to bypass a UEFI password, but, in theory, only Apple can remove an unknown UEFI password.

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If you can’t remember your Apple ID (iCloud) password, Apple’s website offers an Apple ID password reset tool that might be able to help.

Image Credit: Dannyqu on Flickr

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How to Opt Out of Google’s Interest-Based Ads for Good | Dramel Notes

It’s common knowledge that Google knows a lot about you. Some see this as a fair exchange for their otherwise free services, but you might still be concerned about their data collection.

Everyone with a Google account should take a minute and pay a visit to Google’s Ads Settings page. By default, you’ll have interest-based ads enabled, which means Google will show you ads based on your Web history, YouTube videos watched, and other information.

By turning the switch to Off at the top of the screen, you can remove your personal info from the equation. You’ll still see ads, but they won’t be related to your interests.

After you’ve shut this off, there’s another page to visit: click the Control Signed Out Ads near the bottom of the page. The setting you just changed only affects you when signed into your Google account — Google still wants to show relevant ads if you’re signed out or on other websites, so it’s worth visiting the Anonymous Ads Page, too.

Here, there are two switches to turn off: the top for Google ads that show up on site beyond Google, and the bottom for ads inside Google Searches. If you’re concerned for privacy, it’s best to turn all of these off. You’ll still see ads, of course, but they’ll be related to your location or search terms instead of the profile Google keeps on you.

If you’re using Android, you can stop giving so much personal info to Google on your phone, too.

Did you turn all these settings off? Do you maybe prefer personalized ads? Have your say down in the comments.

Image Credit: Bloomua via Shutterstock.com

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WordPress 4.4 Now Available, With Responsive Images & New Default Theme by @mattsouthern | Dramel Notes

WordPress has released version 4.4 of its content management system, otherwise known as “Clifford”, bringing with it new features designed to keep it current going into the new year.

Among the new features is a brand new default theme, called “Twenty Sixteen”, which is decidedly modern and minimalist compared to previous default themes.

Twenty Sixteen resembles more a Tumblr blog than a traditional WordPress blog. Like Tumblr blogs, it’s designed to deliver the same experience on any device, and can be manipulated with a variety of color schemes.

In addition to the new default themes, there are several new features that all WordPress users can benefit from regardless of theme or design.

The most notable of new features is responsive images — images will now scale to the best fit on any screen. This new feature is built right into version 4.4, so nothing is required to activate it other than updating WordPress.

Another major new feature is the ability to embed WordPress posts into other WordPress sites. For years WordPress users have been able to easily embed content from other sources into their posts, now you can embed other WordPress posts into WordPress. 

Yo dawg, I heard you like WordPress… so here’s some WordPress in your WordPress, so you can read more WordPress on WordPress

To do this, just drop the URL of a WordPress post into the post editor, and it will automatically embed itself.

An embedded WordPress post will display the title, except, and featured image. The site’s favicon, as well as links to comment and/or share, will also be included.

To see these new features in action, see the release video below:

Featured Image Credit: Gil C / Shutterstock.com

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Can You Change the Output Buffer Size in the Windows Command Prompt? | Dramel Notes

If you are someone who loves using the Windows Command Prompt, you may have found yourself curious as to why the screen output buffer has such a ‘large’ default size. Can you change it to a smaller (or even larger) size? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answers.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader Jay wants to know why the default Windows Command Prompt output buffer size is so large:

I have been using the Command Prompt in Windows for a while now and just realized that there are several pages worth of empty lines below the text entry prompt. Why is that?

Why is the default Windows Command Prompt output buffer size so large? Can its size be altered?

The Answer

SuperUser contributors Steven and miltonb have the answer for us. First up, Steven:

The “empty lines” are the rows of screen buffer that have not been filled with output yet. To change the screen buffer size from the default of 300 lines (Microsoft’s chosen default), perform the following steps:

1. Open the Windows Command Prompt
2. Right-click on the application’s icon in the upper left corner of the window
3. Click on Properties in the drop down menu
4. Select the Layout Tab
5. Set the Screen Buffer Size (Height Listing) to 20
6. Click OK

Note: I recommend reverting the buffer size to something larger since 20 lines is not much in the way of displayed output.

Followed by the answer from miltonb:

I know that this is not the “why” with regard to your question, but if you want to change the screen buffer size from within a Command Prompt window (or batch file), you can make use of the mode command (mode columns, lines). I regularly use this from within the command prompt:

• mode 200, 300

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Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.

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How to Resume Your Last Activity on Wrist Raise on Apple Watch | Dramel Notes

By default, your Apple Watch screen turns on when you raise your wrist. Also, by default, when the screen turns on due to a wrist raise, the watch face displays, even if you were performing a different activity on your watch when the screen went off.

The “Resume To” setting on the watch allows you to specify whether you want the watch face to display every time you raise your wrist, or whether the previous activity is resumed. This setting can also be set on the phone. To change the setting on your watch, press the digital crown to access the Home screen and tap the “Settings” icon.

NOTE: The setting on the phone has a different name than the setting on the watch. It’s called “On Wrist Raise” on the phone but it’s the same setting, and we will show you how to change the phone setting later in this article.

On the “Settings” screen, tap “General”.

Tap “Wake Screen” on the “General” screen.

If “Watch Face” is checked, then the watch face displays when you raise your wrist no matter what you were doing on the watch before the screen went off.

If you want to have the watch resume to whatever activity you were performing before the screen went off, tap “Previous Activity” under “Resume To” on the “Wake Screen” screen. Press the digital crown to return to the Home screen and then again to return to the watch face.

To change the same setting using your phone, tap the “Watch” icon on the phone’s 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 “General”.

Scroll down and tap “Wake Screen” on the “General” screen.

Under “On Wrist Raise”, on the “Wake Screen” screen, tap “Resume Last Activity”.

NOTE: Changing this setting on the watch, also changes it on the phone, and vice versa.

You can also turn off the “Wake Screen on Wrist Raise” setting on the same screen if, for example, you need your watch to go into “theater mode” and not display the watch face when you raise your wrist.

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How to Customize the “Respond with Text” Messages to Calls on iPhone | Dramel Notes

You can easily ignore or reject calls on your iPhone. However, what if you want to at least send a quick message to acknowledge the call? There are three default text messages you can send as responses to calls on your iPhone.

If none of the default text message responses serve your purpose, you can change them. To customize the “Respond with Text” responses, tap “Settings” on the Home screen on your iPhone.

On the “Settings” screen, tap “Phone”.

Tap “Respond with Text” on the “Phone” settings screen.

On the “Respond with Text” screen, tap on the response you want to replace.

Type your custom response. Your response is stored automatically and you can return to the Home screen directly using the Home button.

NOTE: If you return to the Home screen directly from the “Respond with Text” settings screen, that same screen will display the next time you open “Settings”.

Any responses you customized display in darker text and a round button with an “x” on it displays to the right. If you decide to go back to the default response you replaced with your custom response, tap on the “x” button.

NOTE: You can only choose from three text message responses for calls. You cannot add any more; you can only change the existing responses.

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How to Make the Apple Watch Screen Stay On Longer | Dramel Notes

The watch face on your Apple Watch displays when you raise your wrist and hides again when you lower your wrist. You can also wake the screen by tapping on it, which displays the watch face for 15 seconds by default, but this can be extended to 70 seconds.

If you’re using your watch as a simple flashlight or if you need to refer to something on your watch for longer than 15 seconds, this new wake screen time can be useful. You can change this setting on either the watch or iPhone.

To change the setting on the watch, press the digital crown to access the Home screen.

On the Home screen, tap on the “Settings” icon.

On the “Settings” screen, tap “General”.

Then, tap “Wake Screen” on the “General” screen.

The “Wake Screen” screen displays.

NOTE: This screen also allows you to turn off the “Wake Screen on Wrist Raise” setting, which is helpful if you want to put your watch in “theater mode”.

Scroll down to the bottom of the “Wake Screen” screen. Under “On Tap” tap the “Wake for 70 Seconds” option. You can back out of the “Settings” screens by tapping the title at the top of each screen to return to the previous screen until you reach the main “Settings” screen. Whether you back out of the “Settings” screens or not, press the digital crown once to return to the home screen and again to return to the watch face.

NOTE: When you use the digital crown to exit “Settings” without backing out of the screens, the next time you open “Settings” the last screen you accessed opens automatically.

To change this setting on your iPhone, tap the “Watch” app icon on the home screen.

Tap “General” on the “Settings” screen.

On the “General” screen, tap “Wake Screen”.

Under “On Tap”, tap the “Wake for 70 Seconds” option.

NOTE: The “Wake for 70 Seconds” option only works when you tap the screen to view the watch face, not on a wrist raise. If you want the watch face to turn off sooner, you can cover the watch face with your palm to turn it off.

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How to Add More Remote File Systems to Your Chromebook’s Files App | Dramel Notes

By default, the Files app on Chrome OS provides access to your Google Drive storage online and the Downloads folder, which is your Chromebook’s local storage. But Google’s made it possible to extend the Files app with more cloud storage services and remote file servers, including Windows file shares.

Set this up and you’ll have easy access to other remote file systems. They’ll appear in the Files app and in your Chromebook’s standard “Open” and “Save” dialogs. You can drag-and-drop files between them, too.

How It Works

You’ll need to find new types of file systems in the Chrome Web Store. These are Chrome apps that use the “chrome.fileSystemProvider” API to integrate with the operating system, just like Google Drive does by default. This was introduced with Chrome OS 40.

How to Find More File System Providers

To find more file system providers, first open the “Files” app on your Chromebook. You’ll find it under the launcher menu — just tap the “Search” button on the keyboard and search for “Files” or click “All Apps” and look for the icon.

Google has made this more obvious now with a quick link in the Files app. Click “Add  new services” in the sidebar and select “Install new from the webstore” to go directly to the Chrome Web Store.

You’ll see a list of available services, and you can install them by clicking the “Install” button. Currently, you can install providers that provide access to Dropbox, OneDrive, Windows local network file shares (SMB), Secure FTP (SFTP), WebDAV, Google Cloud Storage, and a few other protocols.

File system providers like SMB, SFTP, and WebDAV are particularly useful, allowing you to access types of remote file systems that wouldn’t normally be accessible with a web browser. It’s now possible to access those shared Windows folders on a Chromebook, although it didn’t used to be.

It doesn’t appear in this list, but there’s also an official “Box for Chrome OS Beta” app that integrates Box.com storage with Chrome OS’s Files app. Another proof-of-concept app will provide a list of TED talks in your Files app. You may find others by searching the Web Store, too.

After you install the app, you’ll need to launch it and provide your credentials. After you authenticate, that file system will be integrated with your Chromebook’s Files app.

The Problem With This Feature: Developers Are Still Neglecting Chrome Apps

You’ll notice one big problem with this feature. Google has done the hard work of extending Chrome OS and its app APIs to make this possible, but most of the apps here — aside from Box.com’s beta app — are unofficial. Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive haven’t gone out of their way to create apps that integrate their storage services with Chrome OS’s Files app, so they may not work as well as official apps would.

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This lack of attention to apps isn’t anything new for Chrome OS. While Chrome OS works well at providing a powerful browser you can use to access the web, developers haven’t really jumped into Google’s Chrome app ecosystem. Rather than making Chrome-specific apps and integrating with your Chromebook’s Files app, they’d rather just work on their full websites and encourage you to open Dropbox or OneDrive in your web browser instead.

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How to Enable Full-Disk Encryption on Windows 10 | Dramel Notes

Windows 10 sometimes uses encryption by default, and sometimes it doesn’t — it’s complicated. Here’s how to check if your Windows 10 PC’s storage is encrypted and how to encrypt it if it isn’t. Encryption isn’t just about stopping the NSA — it’s about protecting your sensitive data in case you ever lose your PC.

Unlike all other modern consumer operating systems — Mac OS X, Chrome OS, iOS, and Android, –Windows 10 still doesn’t offer integrated encryption tools to everyone. You may have to pay for the Professional edition of Windows 10 or use a third-party encryption solution.

Device Encryption

Many new PCs that ship with Windows 10 will automatically have “Device Encryption” enabled. This feature was first introduced in Windows 8.1, and there are specific hardware requirements for this.

There’s another limitation, too — it only actually encrypts your drive if you sign into Windows with a Microsoft account. Your recovery key is then uploaded to MIcrosoft’s servers. This will help you recover your files if you ever can’t log into your PC. (This is also why the FBI likely isn’t too worried about this feature, but we’re just recommending encryption as a means to protect your data from laptop thieves here. If you’re worried about the NSA, you may want to use a different encryption solution.)

To check if Device Encryption is enabled, open the Settings app, navigate to System > About, and look for a “Device encryption” setting at the bottom of the About pane. If you don’t see anything about Device Encryption here, your PC doesn’t support Device Encryption and it’s not enabled.

BitLocker

If Device Encryption isn’t enabled — or if you want a more powerful encryption solution that can also encrypt removable USB drives, for example — you’ll want to use BitLocker. Microsoft’s BitLocker encryption tool has been part of Windows for several versions now, and it’s generally well regarded. However, Microsoft still restricts BitLocker to Professional editions of Windows 10.

If you already have a Professional edition of Windows 10 installed on your PC, you can search for “BitLocker” in the Start menu and use the BitLocker control panel to enable it. If you upgraded for free from Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8.1 Professional, you should have Windows 10 Professional.

If you don’t have a Professional edition of Windows 10, you can pay $99 to upgrade your Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Professional. Just open the Settings app, navigate to Update & security > Activation, and click the “Go to Store” button. You’ll gain access to BitLocker and the other features that Windows 10 Professional includes.

TrueCrypt and Its Derivatives

Spending another $99 just to encrypt your hard drive for some additional security can be a tough sell when modern Windows PCs often only cost a few hundred bucks in the first place. You don’t have to pay the extra money for encryption because BitLocker isn’t the only option. BitLocker is the most integrated, well-supported option — but there are other encryption tools you can use.

TrueCrypt — an open-source full-disk encryption tool — still works with Windows 10 and is still an option. There are also other full-disk encryption tools based on TrueCrypt. These are free, open-source encryption tools you can install on Windows 10 Home or previous versions of Windows to encrypt your hard drive if you don’t have access to BitLocker. Unfortunately, TrueCrypt might require some fiddling if you have a modern PC. But, if you have a Windows 7-era PC you’ve upgraded to Windows 10, it may just work.

Yes, TrueCrypt’s developers did famously shut down development and declare TrueCrypt vulnerable and unsafe to use, but the jury is still out in the security community on whether it actually is vulnerable or not. More importantly, much of the discussion around this centers on whether the NSA and other security agencies have a way to crack TrueCrypt encryption. If you’re just encrypting your hard drive so thieves can’t access your personal files if they steal your laptop, you don’t have to worry about this. TrueCrypt should be more than secure enough.

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We’d like to see Microsoft give more Windows 10 users access to BitLocker — or at least extend Device Encryption so it can be enabled on more PCs. Modern Windows computers should have built-in encryption tools, just like all other modern consumer operating systems do. Windows 10 users shouldn’t have to pay extra or hunt down third-party software to protect their important data if their laptops are ever misplaced or stolen..

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