The Windows Task Manager is a built-in tool that allows you to check which services are running in the background, how much resources are being used by which software programs, and the all-to-common task of killing programs that are not responding. Even though the Windows Task Manager has several useful tools, there are many free alternatives available that provide additional or expanded features, allowing you to more closely monitor and tweak your system....

If you spend any time poking around through your Task Manager window, you’ve probably seen a process named “Host Process for Windows Tasks.” In fact, you’ve likely seen multiple instances of this task running at the same time. If you’ve ever wondered what it was and why there are sometimes so many, we’ve got the answer for you. RELATED: What Is This Process and Why Is It Running on My PC?...

In-Camera Vignettes A vignette can happen when you take your photo. There are a few main reasons for this: Optical vignetting happens due to the design of the lens. Generally, the internal elements of the lens block some light that’s coming from the sides of the scene, reducing the amount of light that hits the edges of the sensor. It’s particularly common with wide-angle lenses and gets worse at wider apertures....

If an app doesn’t show up on your home screen, you may have just uninstalled it. But if a pre-bundled app has gone missing, there could be a few causes. Here’s how you can restore any default apps that are missing from your device. First of all, if an app appears to be missing from your home screens, make sure you haven’t tucked them away inside a folder. In situations like this, the solution is often the most obvious one....

Change the Frame Rate Frame rate—or “frames per second” (FPS)—determines the number of frames captured every second. The higher the frame rate, the smoother motion will appear. Movies are typically shot in 24 FPS, while phones typically shoot videos in 30 FPS. The Samsung camera app has the ability to switch between a few different frame rates. Certain frame rates are only available at specific resolutions. Most Samsung Galaxy devices can shoot at 30 FPS in HD, FHD, and UHD, and 60 FPS in FHD and UHD....

There are probably hundreds of different ways to remove backgrounds in Photoshop, and this guide aims to show you many basic ways to do just that. Get started with the basics here. Photoshop has so many ways to cut out backgrounds and isolate objects, it sometimes seems like it was the sole purpose the program was created. We’ll attempt to take a crack at as many of those many ways as we can in this multi-part article, detailing 50+ ways backgrounds can be deleted, erased, masked, hidden, and removed....

You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers. This week we take a look at understanding allocation sizes, tweaking your right-click context menu, and changing the taskbar color. Understanding Allocation Sizes Dear Staring, While formatting some USB flash drives, I was prompted to select an allocation size. What is this? What should I set it to and should I change it from the default in the first place? Sincerely, Staring at the Format Window...

Resolving the Unmountable Boot Volume Error in Windows Dear Blue Screen, When I boot my Windows XP machine I get a blue screen of death that says “UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME” and then nothing happens. I cannot boot into Windows. What can I do? Is this something I can fix myself? Sincerely, Blue Screen Watching in Boise There are three principle causes for that blue screen error code: the file system is damaged and cannot be mounted, you’re using a 40 wire IDE cable instead of an 80 wire IDE cable, and/or you’ve set the BIOS to force UDMA drive mode....

Free antivirus applications aren’t what they used to be. Free antivirus companies are now bundling adware, spyware, toolbars, and other junk to make a quick buck. At one point, free antivirus was just advertising, pushing users to upgrade to the paid products. Now, free antivirus companies are making money through advertising, tracking, and junkware installations. How They’re Making Money Off Your PC RELATED: Here’s What Happens When You Install the Top 10 Download....

Top Documentary Films Organizes Free Documentaries Brian writes in with the following tip: We’re never one to turn down a good documentary; nice find Brian! Mold Custom In-Ear for a Perfect Fit Ron writes in with a custom-headphones tip: The clear look does look pretty slick; it definitely gives it a store-bought feel. Whip Up Some Nintendo Papercraft Becky shares a papercraft tip: Nintendo papercraft you say? Time to begin building our paper Mushroom kingdom....

Once a week we round up some of the great reader tips that come our way and share them with everyone. Today we’re looking at using the Kindle as a screen for the Raspberry Pi, custom iPod control modules, and an easy way to play the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Kindle as Raspberry Pi Monitor Ken writes in with the following tip that combines hacking Kindles and Raspberry Pi units:...

While Docker is a useful tool for packaging and managing applications, it also presents many unique challenges, such as dealing with stored data. Usually, you add volumes to containers in the creation script, but what if you need to make new ones? Adding a Volume To a Running Docker Container Unfortunately it’s not as simple as just adding a new volume. Containers must have their volumes configured on startup, which means to add a new volume, you must restart the container....

If you use Microsoft Edge on a shared Windows 10 computer and would like to keep your browsing history private by default, you can make Edge always launch in InPrivate mode. Here’s how. What Is InPrivate Mode? InPrivate is the name of Microsoft Edge’s private browsing mode. While using InPrivate, Edge deletes your local browsing history when you close all browser windows. Your bookmarks and downloaded files will be preserved unless you delete those manually....

Most of the time we want our applications online and connected to both our local network and the greater Internet. There are instances, however, when we want to prevent an application from connecting to the Internet. Read on as we show you how to lock down an application via the Windows Firewall. Why Do I Want To Do This? Some of you might have been sold immediately by the headline, as blocking an application is exactly what you’ve been wanting to do....

Working memory, or RAM, is one of the few components you can customize when buying most Macs. If you have too little, your Mac might be sluggish. Here’s how to check how much RAM your Mac has. First, click the “Apple” menu in the upper-left corner of your screen and select “About This Mac.” In the window that pops up, click the “Memory” tab to get a detailed look at the RAM in your Mac....

The cache is a set of temporary files that your installed apps create during normal function. These cache files efficiently serve your apps with the data they require. However, these cache files sometimes get corrupted, and as a result, your apps suffer from various issues. RELATED: How to Clear an App’s Data and Cache on Android to Solve Common Problems On the main screen, select the “Settings” option (a gear icon)....

Aero Glass is gone in Windows 8. If you really miss Aero Glass, there’s a trick you can use to re-enable the transparent window title bars and borders – although Microsoft doesn’t want us to. Microsoft has removed a lot of the code that makes Aero Glass, once an important Windows feature, possible. This trick doesn’t work perfectly – the blur effect has been removed by Microsoft and graphical corruption can occur in some situations....

Whether you’re using Linux on your desktop or a server, there are good tools that will scan your system for duplicate files and help you remove them to free up space. Solid graphical and command-line interfaces are both available. Duplicate files are an unnecessary waste of disk space. After all, if you really need the same file in two different locations you could always set up a symbolic link or hard link, storing the data in only one location on disk....

By default, Excel doesn’t show the leading zero in any non-decimal numerical data set. But if you need to show the leading zero — usually because of some weird numbering system at your job, it’s easy to keep that zero in its place. In any individual Excel document, select one of more cells (or a whole column or row), and then Ctrl+1 to open the “Format Cells” menu. (MacOS users, use the Command+1 instead....

Docker containers inherit their image’s filesystem upon initial creation. The container’s filesystem can diverge from the image’s content after creation if changes are made to the container’s writable layer. The ability to inspect changes in the filesystem can help you debug issues and investigate missing data. Files written to the container’s filesystem will be lost when that container’s restarted or destroyed. In some cases you might be unintentionally performing writes that should be directed to a persistent volume instead....