Windows 10 : Downloading, System Requirements & All You Should Know Before Installing

Windows 10 technical preview is out for downloading and testing. The first impressions are awesome. It's the best Windows OS ever. Same application will work on all devices irrespective of form factor. Mobile applications will work on desktop and automatically adjust to the screen resolution and window size.

• Automatic device recognition and application interface adjustment
• Configurable start menu and pin any number of apps.
• Multiple virtual desktops.
• Cortana digital voice assistant.
• Windows Defender security suite.
• Modern applications can be run in both full screen or window mode. 

Downloading

• You need Microsoft Account and have to join Windows Insider programYou need Microsoft Account and have to join Windows Insider program to download the Windows 10 technical preview.
• You can either use Windows 10 updater. Just run it and it will download and install the required files.
• The clean installation with ISO image is also available. 

Download Windows 10 ISO Image 

Minimum System Requirements

If you are currently running Windows 7 or 8 / 8.1, the you can easily run the new Windows as minimum system requirements are similar.

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Free hard disk space: 16 GB
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
• A Microsoft account and Internet access (For activating some services and applications)
•  At least 1024 x 768 screen resolution. 
• Technical Preview expires on April 15, 2015
• Burn the ISO image to USB drive. Here are best 12 free bootable USB creating software.
• There is NO any CD Key to enter as its free and preview. 
• The official Windows 10 technical discussion forum is here for support and your queries.

If something goes wrong, system crash and show you blue screen, most of the time its problem of driver failure. You can find out which driver crashed the Windows OSvery easily. 

Are you trying out Windows 10? 

How to Get Windows XP Style Toolbar in Windows 8/8.1 Explorer without Using Any Software?

If you are using the new Windows 8 OS or if you are regularly reading news and updates about Windows 8, you must be knowing about the addition of Ribbon UI to Windows 8 Explorer. Microsoft has put Office 2013 style Ribbon UI to Windows 8 Explorer. Some people love the new ribbon UI and some don't, that's another story.

By default Windows 8 comes with ribbon minimized in Explorer. In such way, new users find difficulties in accessing frequently used commands such as cut, copy, paste, delete, unto, new folder, etc. In Windows Vista and 7 Explorer you could access these commands using Command bar.

In Windows 8 Explorer, such commands are present in ribbon and you need to click on the tabs such as File, View, etc to access these commands. You can also access a few commands using "Quick Access Toolbar" which is present in the titlebar near the program icon.

Overall the default setup of Windows 8 Explorer is a little complicated for new users. Wouldn't it be great if you could get a simple toolbar in Windows 8 Explorer similar to Windows XP having all buttons such as cut, copy, rename, etc?

Today in this tutorial, we are going to tell you how to convert the quick access toolbar into a fully functional toolbar similar to Windows XP.

So if you also want to have Windows XP style standard toolbar in Windows 8 Explorer without installing and using any 3rd party software, then follow these simple steps:

1. First of all, click on the small arrow given for quick access toolbar present in left-side of Windows Explorer window. It'll open a menu, click on "Show below the Ribbon" option.

2. It'll put the quick access toolbar below the ribbon. Now you have almost converted the quick access toolbar into a standard toolbar.

3. Now its turn of adding new buttons to this toolbar. Again click on the little arrow and check the desired buttons to immediately put them on the toolbar. You can put a few buttons such as undo, redo, delete and rename using the given menu.

4. But if you want to add custom buttons such as cut, copy, paste, views, folder options, etc to the new toolbar, then first maximize the ribbon by right-click on the ribbon and uncheck "Minimize the Ribbon" option.

Now you can right-click on any desired button present in the ribbon and select "Add to Quick Access Toolbar" option from the context menu:

It'll immediately add the button to the toolbar.

5. That's it. Now you have a fully functional Windows XP style toolbar back in Windows 8 Explorer which will help you in accessing all frequently used buttons quickly and easily without any need of maximize the ribbon and the best thing is that all of this is done without any software.

6. If you want to re-order toolbar buttons i.e. change buttons position, you'll need to first remove all buttons from the toolbar by right-click on the button and select "Remove from Quick Access Toolbar" option and then add desired buttons one by one for example, first add the button which you want to show at first position in the toolbar and then add the 2nd button and so on.

5 Easy Ways to Remove Ribbon from Windows 8 and 8.1 Explorer

If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 operating system in your computer, you might be aware of the new Ribbon UI introduced in Windows Explorer. Actually Microsoft replaced the good ol' Command Bar (toolbar) in Windows 8/8.1 Explorer with Office 2013 style Ribbon.

Many Windows users welcomed this change, on the other hand many users were disappointed by this move. Using Command bar or classic toolbar was easier than using Ribbon in Windows Explorer and they found it a little bit difficult to click in different ribbon tabs to find their desired options.

Microsoft didn't provide any built-in option to disable Ribbon in Windows Explorer. But there are a few ways to get rid of the Ribbon and bring old toolbar back in Windows 8/8.1 Explorer.

We have shared many tutorials in past to remove Ribbon from Windows 8/8.1 Explorer and today in this article we are going to put them together for your convenience.

All these tricks work perfectly in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. We have tested them in many Windows 8/8.1 computers and didn't face any problem.

So if you also want to remove Windows 8/8.1 Explorer Ribbon and want to enable the old Command Bar, follow any of these simple methods:

METHOD 1: Use Windows Explorer in Full Screen Mode

If you don't want to use any 3rd party software and if you don't want to modify any system file, Registry, etc, then this is the easiest method for you to disable Ribbon in Windows 8/8.1 Explorer.

This method will not remove the Ribbon completely but you can use this trick to temporarily disable Ribbon and get old toolbar back in Windows Explorer.

You just need to press "F11" key whenever you want to get rid of Ribbon and it'll show Windows Explorer into Full Screen mode. Now you'll have access to old toolbar and Ribbon will no longer be visible in Windows Explorer.

Check out following tutorial for details:

[Tip] Get Rid of Windows 8 Explorer Ribbon and Get Classic Toolbar Back

METHOD 2: Disable Windows 8/8.1 Explorer Ribbon by Renaming DLL File

This is an easy option to permanently remove Ribbon from Windows 8/8.1 Explorer. You just need to rename a DLL file "UIRibbon.dll" and it'll completely remove Ribbon in Windows Explorer and will also restore Windows 7 style Command bar.

Check out following tutorial to get the details:

How to Disable New Ribbon UI in Windows 8 Explorer?

But this method has one drawback. If you rename the DLL file, you'll not be able to use Paint and Wordpad programs in Windows. Since both these programs use Ribbon UI, they crash as soon as you launch them.

METHOD 3: Remove Windows 8/8.1 Explorer Ribbon by Modifying DLL File

If you use Paint and Wordpad apps and don't want to use above mentioned method, then you can disable Windows 8/8.1 Explorer Ribbon by editing a DLL file ExplorerFrame.dll in Resource Hacker.

You just need to edit the file and remove a key section from it. It'll permanently remove Ribbon from Windows 8/8.1 Explorer and will have no side-effects.

You can learn more about this method at following link:

The Best Method to Remove Ribbon UI from Windows 8 Explorer

METHOD 4: Get Rid of Windows 8/8.1 Explorer Ribbon Using Freeware

If you are not familiar with modifying system files, you can take help of a free software "OldNewExplorer" which can remove Ribbon from Windows 8/8.1 Explorer and can also bring many other Windows 7 style classic features back in Windows Explorer such as classical drive grouping, Details pane at bottom, etc.

You can download the software using following link:

Freeware to Bring Windows 7 Style Classic Features Back in Windows 8 Explorer

METHOD 5: Convert Built-in Quick Access Toolbar into Classic Toolbar

If you don't want to remove Ribbon but want to have a Windows XP style classic toolbar in Windows 8/8.1 Explorer, then you can modify built-in Quick Access Toolbar in Windows Explorer to make it look and work like classic toolbar.

Check out following exclusive tutorial to learn more about this method:

Get Windows XP Style Toolbar in Windows 8 Explorer without Using Any Software

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That's all for now. If you know about any other working method to remove Ribbon from Windows 8/8.1 Explorer, feel free to share it with us. If you face any problem while using any of the above mentioned methods, please post about it in your comment. Also don't forget to share your feedback...

12 Best Bootable USB Creation Tools / Software

Creating and using bootable USB devices for installing new operating system have many advantages over installing from bootable DVD. 
The USB drive is 

• Easy to create, erase and reuse.
• Can install multiple OS on same USB at a time.
• Faster booting and installation speed.
• Portable and easy to handle. 
• Using the bootable USB for testing Live Linux OS, you can install temporary software.
• Preparing the Bootable usb drive is easy and straight forward and any of these 12 software can make your device ready within 5 minus and 2 clicks.

Most of the Linux operating systems can be easily tested by creating a ‘Live’ disk which gives you a complete experience of the full operating system without installing anything on your hard disk.

Windows 7, 8.1 and now Windows 10 technical preview can be easily installed from bootable usb. 

1. Rufus

If you don't want to hunt for separate tool for every operating system to test this is for you. Rufus is a simple and easy to use It automatically detects your drive letter and capacity so you can easily identify which device you are formatting.

• Select the appropriate drive, select file system (For Windows keep it NTFS) and give appropriate name .
• Locate the ISO image of your targeted operating system. 
• ISO image on your hard disk must be a valid bootable image because Rufus scan the image before you load it. 
• If you get any error, just uncheck ‘Create bootable disk’ option. 
• Rufus can be used to create bootable USB drive for All Windows versions and all Linux distros. 
• + fast, easy, run without installation. 
• - Nothing 
• Download Rufus

2. WinToBootic

• Again a basic tool with minimum option. Just drag and drop your .ISO image or click on ‘drop ISO here’ icon. 
• It will auto detect your USB media, you just have to hit the ‘Do It’ button,WinToBootic will do the everything rest. 
• + minimal interface, run without installation. 
• - Does not support Linux

Download WinToBootic 

3. RMPrepUSB

It's all in one tool, but too much difficult with a clutter of options and settings. If you don't know what are you doing, don't use it. This is for advanced userand I personally do not recommend it if you just want to write a bootable USB disk and test a new operating system. But if you tweak that want boot loader, changefilesystem filesystem, then RMPrepUSB is for you. 

• The special feature of RMPrepUSB is you can create a partition in USB drive just like you do on your hard disk making it more useful for saving files plus using the same drive as a separate folder for storing files. 
• This keeps your files separate from the operating system files. 
• + For advanced users. 
• - Difficult to use 
• Support all OS.

Download RMPrepUSB 

4. Universal USB Installer

Universal USB Installer

Though the name is Universal, this is a specialized tool for Linux and have a predefined list of most of the Linux distributions available. When you select the Linux distribution from the drop down menu, it provides a link for homepage of that distribution from where you can directly download the Linux distribution. If you already have on local disk, just browse to the ISO disk and select the appropriate USB flash drive to make it bootable for your favorite Linux distribution.

The extra feature of Universal USB Installer is that you can prepare a Live antivirus rescue disk using it. A special option for this is also given for reuse CD.

+ Specialized menu for Linux, also support Window 7

Download Universal USB Installer

5. YUMI

Yumi (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) is a special tool from the developer of   Universal USB Installer except it has a special feature of installing more than one operating system in one USB drivewithout formatting it.

Download YUMI

6. UNetbootin

•  This tool is an exact clone of Universal USB installer or you can also say Universal USB installer is a clone of UNetbootin. 
• No any difference is found in this software and this is also specialized to create a bootable USB for any Linux distribution. 
• If you are not using Windows as your host operating system, then UNetbootin is an option to go for. UNetbootin is available for Linux, iOS and Windows. 
• So if you are using Linux, most of the software's listed here will not run where UNetbootin will come to help.

Download UNetbootin 

7. Linux Live USB Creator (LiLi)

This is really a great eye candy plus an excellent user interface. Apple style website with everything at right place and well categorized. The software is also excellent. 

• The special feature called built-in Virtualization allow users to run the installed Linux operating system without restarting the Windowswhich are an exclusive feature of LiLi. 
• If you are concerned only about Linux you must go for this.

Download LiLi Creator

8. Koala

The koala is also a tool that will help you to boot new operating system from USB stick. This is not a tool that will allow you to browse an ISO file stored on your hard disk and write it to the USB drive. Koala only scans CD / DVD drive to find.ISO images of Linux OS. Not recommended.

Download Koala 

9. WinSetUp From USB

This is also a tool for those who want to install multiple operating system on one USB device.
WinSetup From USB let you install Windows 7, Windows vista, any Linux distribution using Ubuntu variant and any Linux distribution using SysLinux one single USB device.

• This is an exclusive function of Win Setup From USB and you must download it and give a try. When you prepare the USB drive using ‘WinSetup From USB’ you will be presented with the list of operating systems installed on the thumb drive and select the preferred operating system to boot from. 
• Though the interface is simple, non expert users may find it difficult to use.   
• Download WinSetUp From USB

10. WinUSB Maker

This is more that just a bootable USB creation tool, though you can use it for that also. This is a special tool that will allow you to clone hard disk partition  on your portable memory device like USB thumb drive or portable hard disk.

 WinUSB maker copies exact partition of your local hard disk along with the boot files and file structure. You can also restore the saved partition from the USB device to your hard disk making it useful as a backup tool. This is a must have tool for everyone. We have already discussed about this earlier here.

Download WinUSB Maker

11. XBoot
This is more than just a bootable USB maker. You can create a rescue CD or a disk having multiple operating systems or tools like antivirus rescue CD. It combines multiple tools in ISO image making it more useful than just a USB creating tool. XBoot can create ISO image from files and then write these files to USB drive for booting or installation. 

Download XBoot here

12. Windows Bootable Image Creator 

This is a straight forward and ultra small tool that accomplishes its job as you expect. It has a super simple interface and minimum buttons to avoid confusion of new users. This is a tool from AskVG.

 

There are only basic buttons and only one task to do. Just create a bootable USB drive to install or try new operating systems. I wonder how it is so small and light. It is just 160KB in size.

Download Windows Bootable Image Creator


Other Tools

There are other tools like Novicorp WinToFlash, Passcape ISO Burner, Windows official USB disc creation tool, Ubuntu startup disc creator and Flash Boot.

• Novicorp WinToFlash is also a tool that will help you to recover deleted boot loader apart from creating a bootable flash drive. 
• Passcape ISO burner is also a simple and small utility to create bootable USB drive. 
• Windows official USB creation tool is an official tool to create a bootable USB drive to install downloaded Windows 7 and Windows 8 ISO images without burning it to traditional discs.
• The Ubuntu startup disc is also a tool for Linux fan boys. 
• FlashBoot is a bit tool having around 24 MB is download size. It has more options than any other tool, but is actually a paid tool, but anyone can use it for free. The drive prepared with FlashBoot free version can be used only for 30 days from date of creation and then you have to format it and recreate the drive. It has more options like log-in password recovery of any Windows OS like Windows XP, 7 and 8, extract Windows XP recovery console from Windows disc. It claims that drive prepared with FlashBoot 99.99% of computers, even if your computer BIOS does not have the option to boot from USB drive.
• If you want to try out Google Chromium Operating system, you have to use a recommended open source tool Image Writer for Windows. It is also a small but useful too without any garbage features. A simple and straight tool.

Verdict:

• If you want an all in one, plain and simple tool to boot your Windows or Linux from USB pen drive, go for 'Rufus'.

• If you want a Linux Specialist, 'LiLi' is a good choice.

• 'WinSetup From USB' is for installing multiple OS in one USB drive and'RMPrep USB' is for making partition in USB drive along with Windows.

• If you want to clone a complete partition with OS 'WinUSB Maker' is the best choice.

What you think? I would like to hear from You. Please comment if you want to say anything....

Top 5 Methods to Bypass Surveys in 2014

Many times it happens that when we try to download some software or application then a survey website keeps on blocking the download. Fileice, sharecash, fileups.net are the most popular survey websites on which most of the premium files are uploaded. Visitors are instantly redirected to the survey form just after they click the download buttons. If for any reason you do not want to provide your personal information then you can always try some tricks to bypass online surveys.

The owner/uploader of file actually makes money each time a survey form is filled. Surveys are usually offered to people of USA, UK, and Australia etc. and if you are not from these countries then the best option for you Is to bypass them and download the file instantly. Here in this article I will teach you how to ByPass surveys online for free file downloads.  After going through this article, you will be able to unlock the content locked by surveys on most of the file sharing websites.

Best Tricks to Bypass Surveys 2014

Here are the top 5 tricks to skip surveys on websites in 2014. These methods are applicable on most of the survey websites but not on all of them. You can try these one by one and hopefully you will be able to unlock the download link.

1- Using Redirect Bypasser Addon

This is a handy Firefox addon that avoids unwanted redirects in your browser. Usually the download links are first redirected to the survey website and then to the original file download URL. After installing this redirect bypasser extension in your FireFox browser, you will be able to grab the direct download link of the file while bypassing the surveys. (Download Extension)

2- Using SurveyByPass Website

There is an online website that allows you to bypass survey. You just have to input the URL of download page and it will automatically grab the original download URL while skipping the survey page. The website actually skips the redirection to survey page while extracting the real download link. This tool is works perfectly to grab premium content from most of the survey websites including scriptmafia, youdownload, plunder etc. (Visit Website)

3- Using ScriptBlock Extension

Google chrome users can bypass surveys by installing a simple script blocker extension. This extension allows you to control iframes and javascripts in your browser. Survey popups are mostly opened in iframes and javascripts are used to redirect visitor to another page. So by disabling Javascript and iframes using script blocker extension, you will be finally able to download locked content.

4- By Disabling Javascript

As I already explained, Javascripts are usually used to redirect links. So if javascript is disabled in your browser then survey page will never appear and you will get the direct download link. Almost all themodern web browsers allow you to disable javascripts on web pages. Just go the settings panel of your web browser, choose the option to disable javascript and reopen the link in order to download files.

5- By Inspecting Elements

First of all open the URL of file in Google chrome browser. Right click on the download page and select the Inspect Element option from the menu. Now you can disable some elements of the page including the box containing survey form and other related elements. Find the entries named Surveyor overlay in the code and remove them. Keep on removing the elements until you find the download link that was previously hidden behind the survey box.

So these are the 5 methods that you can use to bypass surveys online in 2014. If you know about any other method to unlock file downloads then feel free to discuss it below.