1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,359
Windows has a lot of problems it's been stuck in that good bad good bad cycle

2
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:10,380
basically since its Inception and at this point so little fundamentally

3
00:00:07,859 --> 00:00:14,820
changes that both of my grandmas know what the start button does but what's

4
00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:19,140
this and what are these how did I do that buckle up dear viewer because we

5
00:00:17,220 --> 00:00:23,220
are about to get our hands dirty with some lesser known features of Windows

6
00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:27,840
and once you've joined us you will become more powerful than I can possibly

7
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:33,059
imagine powerful like our sponsor War Thunder War Thunder

8
00:00:31,019 --> 00:00:37,260
is the free to play online vehicle combat game the one with over 2 000

9
00:00:35,820 --> 00:00:40,800
different Vehicles surely there's something for everyone to Pilot check

10
00:00:38,940 --> 00:00:44,420
out the link below to learn more and get some extra items after signing up

11
00:00:51,780 --> 00:01:00,360
our first trick is on your Windows PC right now and has been for a long while

12
00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:04,559
Group Policy editor sounds very boring but it allows you to tweak some very

13
00:01:02,460 --> 00:01:08,040
interesting settings under the hood like have you ever wanted to hide certain

14
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:11,460
settings so you're less tech savvy relatives Don't Mess them up or how

15
00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:16,140
about turning off some of Windows's phone home features there are a

16
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:20,159
seriously massive number of dials and knobs that you can adjust in here to

17
00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:25,200
customize Windows and if you've ever used a locked down library or work PC I

18
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:29,580
assure you that it's at least partially thanks to group policies the issue

19
00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:33,659
though is that by default it doesn't come with home editions of Windows a

20
00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:37,500
shining example of an artificial limitation and it is exactly the sort of

21
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:41,340
thing that Microsoft has been criticized for in the past not to worry though

22
00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:45,840
because you can force it by opening a command prompt as administrator and

23
00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:49,979
using these commands it'll take about 30 seconds and once it's done even home

24
00:01:48,060 --> 00:01:54,420
users can enjoy Fuller control over their PC I mean yes you you could make

25
00:01:52,619 --> 00:01:59,280
these adjustments yourself if you like to role play as a registry hacker man

26
00:01:56,460 --> 00:02:02,820
but this way is far easier and in my opinion more of a middle finger to

27
00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:07,500
Microsoft anyway for a two-handed bird if that method doesn't work for you you

28
00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:11,340
can grab policy Plus instead it's not built into Windows it's not for

29
00:02:09,179 --> 00:02:15,540
Microsoft but it's open source and offers the same functionality with a

30
00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:20,160
similar interface speaking of have you ever had an app that runs on Startup but

31
00:02:17,819 --> 00:02:25,379
has to use admin privileges so it asks you every single time you boot your PC

32
00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:29,160
enter task scheduler you can create a basic task that starts up the app when

33
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:33,060
you log in then check this box before clicking finish and you see that run

34
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:37,020
with highest privileges button check that you should go to the settings tab

35
00:02:34,980 --> 00:02:40,080
and make sure to uncheck this box to make sure it doesn't stop running after

36
00:02:38,220 --> 00:02:45,060
the default of three days and that's it done you'll never see it again and there

37
00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:48,959
are all kinds of knobs and dials in here to make stuff run automatically exactly

38
00:02:47,099 --> 00:02:53,760
the way that you want like you can make things happen or not when you're on

39
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:56,819
battery or you can make it wait for when there's a network connection if you've

40
00:02:55,379 --> 00:03:01,140
got multiple things you want to run with the same rules just add more actions

41
00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:05,160
want to pop up an alert whenever Windows detects a disk error you got it just add

42
00:03:03,420 --> 00:03:09,239
a new trigger this is seriously underrated stuff I used to use it to

43
00:03:07,319 --> 00:03:12,840
crank up my speaker volume then play music as an alarm for school when my

44
00:03:10,980 --> 00:03:16,560
clock was broken there are also some app Suites that you can download to further

45
00:03:14,819 --> 00:03:20,159
enhance your Windows Experience if you've heard of those ones before you

46
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:24,540
might think that the section is going to be all about power toys you'd be wrong

47
00:03:22,379 --> 00:03:28,440
but those are super cool and we are going to talk about those first power

48
00:03:26,099 --> 00:03:32,220
toys are Microsoft's own in-house extensions to Windows and they've been

49
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:37,680
around in some form or another since the Windows 95 days if you were around back

50
00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:41,640
then and remember using tweak UI a tool to change the responsiveness of the

51
00:03:39,180 --> 00:03:45,060
start menu that was a power toy some of the power toys released over time have

52
00:03:43,379 --> 00:03:50,159
actually made their way into mainstream Windows as well virtual desktops window

53
00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:54,959
previews in the alt tab menu and virtual CD-ROM drives are just some of them so

54
00:03:52,799 --> 00:03:59,459
in that sense power toys can be seen as kind of a playground for Microsoft

55
00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:03,599
Engineers to trial future features today's power toys have a wide variety

56
00:04:01,799 --> 00:04:09,000
of functions with my favorites being fancy zones power toys run and keyboard

57
00:04:06,780 --> 00:04:14,459
manager fancy zones is basically essential for anyone with a large or

58
00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:19,560
Ultra wide or otherwise non-traditional desktop layout because it makes it super

59
00:04:16,799 --> 00:04:24,240
easy to quickly snap Windows to specific portions of your screen it effectively

60
00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:27,660
replaces the standard window manager and is just a step away from the tiling

61
00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:31,440
window managers that you'd find in the Linux world complete with dedicated

62
00:04:29,460 --> 00:04:35,160
keyboard controls for focusing Windows and the ability to control the sizes and

63
00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:39,419
positions of your Windows there's nothing quite like it on any other

64
00:04:37,020 --> 00:04:43,500
operating system power toys run is one of those things you would expect to be

65
00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:48,000
built into Windows but is not so thank goodness it exists as a power toy it's

66
00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:53,820
basically Apple's Spotlight search and it is thankfully not the same as the

67
00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:58,139
start menu search often the results will be substantially more accurate and

68
00:04:55,860 --> 00:05:03,000
useful like Spotlight you can make it do calculations unit conversions and much

69
00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:06,720
more and it's super quick to get at with the default key combo being alt space

70
00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:10,860
personally I change it to Windows space since that's what you'd use for it on a

71
00:05:08,699 --> 00:05:14,639
Mac and ALT space is already used in Windows for Window Control keyboard

72
00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:19,199
manager this one's super cool if you've ever wanted to remap a key or create

73
00:05:16,620 --> 00:05:24,360
macros but you don't want to use memory hungry third-party software this is for

74
00:05:21,660 --> 00:05:28,320
you you can map any key to any other key including combinations and what's even

75
00:05:26,820 --> 00:05:33,120
cooler is that you can map keyboard shortcuts on a per app basis it's not

76
00:05:31,259 --> 00:05:37,680
powerful enough to be able to record and play back long sequences of keystrokes

77
00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:42,240
but it's enough to handle a lot of common tasks enough about power toys

78
00:05:39,539 --> 00:05:46,259
though I promise to go deeper and I shall look how deep I'm going Microsoft

79
00:05:44,220 --> 00:05:50,460
has another group of utilities that are technically under their umbrella as well

80
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:54,600
called CIS internals which they acquired back in two thousand 6 when it was

81
00:05:52,620 --> 00:05:59,940
called wind tunnels and run by Mark racinovich they're a lot like power toys

82
00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,440
but with more focused use cases often

83
00:05:59,940 --> 00:06:04,680
with the goal of getting under the operating system's Hood there's a

84
00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:09,300
massive number of these that are being updated to this day but the most broadly

85
00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:14,160
useful in my opinion are Auto runs process Explorer and TCP view honorable

86
00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:18,120
mention goes to Reg Jump by the way because it is such a useful tool to

87
00:06:16,139 --> 00:06:22,139
quickly open the registry Editor to a specific key just run it as

88
00:06:19,919 --> 00:06:25,680
administrator and paste in the path no navigating through the little tree now

89
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:29,639
we've talked about Auto runs before and for good reason Auto runs gives you the

90
00:06:27,539 --> 00:06:34,380
ability to see virtually every startup item service and dll that is registered

91
00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:39,240
for use inside of Windows in the default view it hides Windows standard entries

92
00:06:36,479 --> 00:06:43,860
but still is probably going to be chock full of stuff that you probably won't

93
00:06:41,639 --> 00:06:48,720
recognize the good news is that a lot of this is normal and entirely benign even

94
00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,800
some of the things highlighted in red or completely empty it's still a super

95
00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:56,520
useful tool cool though especially for advanced users when they're trying to

96
00:06:54,539 --> 00:07:00,840
diagnose malware infections or misbehaving drivers the double-edged

97
00:06:58,860 --> 00:07:04,199
sword here is that its power makes it potentially dangerous for inexperienced

98
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:08,580
users who don't know what they're looking for the good news is if you're

99
00:07:06,419 --> 00:07:12,900
inexperienced you can Simply Save the state of the system and send it over so

100
00:07:10,979 --> 00:07:17,280
a more experienced dies can open it up on another computer to analyze and

101
00:07:14,940 --> 00:07:22,020
modify via the analyze offline system function it is indispensable for

102
00:07:19,620 --> 00:07:26,639
troubleshooting process Explorer is like task manager but on roids in fact you

103
00:07:24,900 --> 00:07:30,900
can even replace task manager with it you can see the performance history of a

104
00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:35,880
given process see all the connections it has open see what the environment it was

105
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:40,020
launched with was and so much more if you're curious what files a program has

106
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:43,979
open you can show the lower Pane and click the handles tab to see and if you

107
00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:48,539
want to find out which process has a file open you can use the find handle or

108
00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:52,680
dll function to get a complete listing clicking on the results brings you

109
00:07:50,340 --> 00:07:57,180
directly to that process and if you're not sure what process a window is

110
00:07:54,300 --> 00:08:00,720
attached to use the crosshairs icon bam there is so much utility in here

111
00:07:59,039 --> 00:08:04,680
including some that made it into the official task manager eventually like

112
00:08:02,819 --> 00:08:09,539
the search online function then there's TCP view this looks a lot like process

113
00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:13,139
Explorer but instead shows you all the network connections that your computer

114
00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:16,740
is currently maintaining grouped by the process that's using them this can be a

115
00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:20,940
little overwhelming to look at while it's constantly changing around so you

116
00:08:19,259 --> 00:08:24,660
can pause it to Leaf through it on your own time the remote address is the

117
00:08:23,220 --> 00:08:29,460
server that the connection is made to and you can look it up right in TCP view

118
00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:33,419
via the who is function to see where it is not everything can be id'd this way

119
00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:37,740
though and that doesn't indicate a security problem in itself so like most

120
00:08:35,940 --> 00:08:41,940
of these tools it's all about giving you the ability to peek under the hood which

121
00:08:40,260 --> 00:08:45,480
can be a godsend when it comes to troubleshooting who might be listening

122
00:08:43,740 --> 00:08:49,860
back to some included features though you might be aware that Windows 11 added

123
00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:53,580
the ability to run Android apps if you watched our video testing it out but did

124
00:08:51,660 --> 00:08:59,040
you you know that you can also run full-blown Linux right on top of Windows

125
00:08:56,519 --> 00:09:03,540
Windows subsystem for Linux is available on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and

126
00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:09,360
does exactly what it says on the tin open a terminal as administrator type

127
00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:11,399
WSL space dash dash install and

128
00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:14,940
following a reboot you're ready to rock if you're not feeling the default Ubuntu

129
00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:19,320
you can get a list of available Alternatives using this command then

130
00:09:17,279 --> 00:09:23,399
install your choice with this one you're not limited to just one either so have

131
00:09:21,420 --> 00:09:27,899
fun experimenting you can even install and run desktop apps within them and

132
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:32,160
they will appear right on your desktop WSL isn't just for experimentation

133
00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:36,959
though did you know that file explorer can show Linux folders now too you can

134
00:09:34,500 --> 00:09:42,899
even pass through Linux formatted drives and access them via your WSL distro this

135
00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:47,820
is super useful not only for dual booters but also for system admins who

136
00:09:45,300 --> 00:09:52,560
might run Windows desktops but manage Linux servers I mean sure you could spin

137
00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:57,480
up a Linux install specifically for Disaster Recovery or you could just use

138
00:09:54,720 --> 00:10:01,680
WSL one thing WSL can't give you that's becoming common in Linux though is a

139
00:09:59,580 --> 00:10:05,220
drop down terminal like wake or Yak Quake but what if I told you you can get

140
00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:10,920
the same thing in Windows even without WSL as of 2021 officially called Quake

141
00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:15,420
mode this will give you exactly what you're after with the key combo of your

142
00:10:12,779 --> 00:10:21,360
choice just open a terminal window go to settings then actions click add new then

143
00:10:18,660 --> 00:10:25,320
choose show hide quick window you will need to launch Windows terminal first

144
00:10:22,980 --> 00:10:28,740
for this to work but thankfully we've given you the tools to show you how to

145
00:10:27,060 --> 00:10:32,399
automatically launch it at startup right then just set it to hide in the

146
00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,700
notification area once it's minimized now you've got a terminal available to

147
00:10:34,140 --> 00:10:39,240
you whenever you need one and if you want more out of your terminal this one

148
00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:43,140
isn't built into Windows but it is recommended by the official

149
00:10:40,620 --> 00:10:47,820
documentation you can get fancy extended functionality and custom prompts in the

150
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:52,320
terminal if you use oh my Posh it's available on the Microsoft store for

151
00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:56,579
free and it looks a lot like oh my sh on Linux and macOS hence the name if all

152
00:10:55,200 --> 00:11:01,380
you want is to customize the theme of your terminal though you won't need anything like that and you can even go

153
00:10:59,339 --> 00:11:05,760
as far as to set a background image in the profile settings seriously Anthony's

154
00:11:03,660 --> 00:11:09,060
a Linux user and still feels that this is one of the slickest terminal

155
00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:13,320
interfaces out there while still remaining easy to use there's even a

156
00:11:11,220 --> 00:11:18,540
package manager now via winget which lets you install even desktop software

157
00:11:15,959 --> 00:11:23,760
directly from a terminal which means you can automate it and automate updating it

158
00:11:21,420 --> 00:11:28,380
seriously basically everything we searched for that has a freely available

159
00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:32,579
Windows version on or off the Microsoft store is in there and if it's not you

160
00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:36,959
can probably find it in chocolatey which you can also install through winget in

161
00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:42,120
that wild not only does Windows have a good terminal now it also has SSH

162
00:11:39,060 --> 00:11:44,339
support for remote access both as a

163
00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:48,060
client and as a server the client is built in and you just use it like any

164
00:11:45,899 --> 00:11:51,600
other SSH client it even supports port forwarding and file transfers the cherry

165
00:11:50,220 --> 00:11:56,279
on top is that if you're into using using keys for SSH which you should be

166
00:11:54,060 --> 00:12:00,779
some password managers like one password offer the ability to use what's known as

167
00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:04,019
an SSH agent so that your keys are available without needing to copy them

168
00:12:02,399 --> 00:12:07,260
to your PC when you try to connect you'll get a prompt to unlock your

169
00:12:05,579 --> 00:12:10,860
password manager and you're Off to the Races these the server function

170
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:16,320
meanwhile needs to be installed through the optional features just click view

171
00:12:13,019 --> 00:12:18,480
features then search for SSH and openssh

172
00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:22,560
server is right there install it and you're ready to go by going to this

173
00:12:20,100 --> 00:12:26,940
folder and editing the sshd underscore config file you can set up private keys

174
00:12:24,779 --> 00:12:30,600
for better security port forwarding and more just like you would on Linux

175
00:12:29,220 --> 00:12:35,459
there's all kinds of little things sprinkled throughout Windows too like did you know that there are keyboard

176
00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:38,820
shortcuts for stuff like this that's not even close to all of them one of them

177
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:43,980
does what you probably already know about if you've ever right clicked the start menu which is in itself a really

178
00:12:42,300 --> 00:12:48,000
useful feature that was first introduced in Windows 8 and there's also that God

179
00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:52,079
mode folder that makes the rounds from time to time although I don't personally

180
00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:56,760
think it's that useful it's basically all the options in control panel laid

181
00:12:54,300 --> 00:13:00,899
out in a list but hey if it's useful for you just create a folder and name it

182
00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:05,519
like this what I feel is more useful this has saved me lots of times are the

183
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:10,079
application menu and the shutdown command the application menu is what you

184
00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:16,019
get if you click an apps icon in its title bar what's important here is that

185
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:17,639
move command in the likely case that

186
00:13:16,019 --> 00:13:21,959
something weird happens and a window ends up way outside of the visible

187
00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:25,380
screen area or like on another monitor you can't get to and there's no way to

188
00:13:23,459 --> 00:13:30,240
interact with it just select it on the taskbar then use the keyboard shortcut

189
00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:35,279
to activate the menu alt space then hit M press an arrow key any one of them

190
00:13:32,579 --> 00:13:41,100
then move your mouse that window is now attached to your cursor click to set it

191
00:13:37,740 --> 00:13:42,959
down and breathe a sigh of relief maybe

192
00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:46,980
it cozy up with a retro polar fleece from ltdstore.com hey you've earned it

193
00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:51,060
then there's the shutdown command this one is very useful if you've ever found

194
00:13:48,959 --> 00:13:55,800
yourself with no video output whatsoever and the hotkey to reset the video driver

195
00:13:53,220 --> 00:14:00,540
isn't working but then you hit caps lock or num lock and your keyboard LEDs still

196
00:13:58,019 --> 00:14:05,700
function so the thing must be on you can still safely shut down and reboot hold

197
00:14:02,639 --> 00:14:07,500
the Windows key and hit R then type this

198
00:14:05,700 --> 00:14:12,420
command which is basically telling the PC to restart with no delay once you hit

199
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:16,320
enter assuming you typed it right it should do exactly that if not or if you

200
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:20,279
think you made a typo just hit escape and repeat the process you can do more

201
00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:25,139
with the shutdown command too like you can create a shortcut to reboot into

202
00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:29,160
your UEFI settings with this command and this command will reboot into advanced

203
00:14:27,060 --> 00:14:33,480
startup settings which is super useful if you need to do that without a display

204
00:14:30,779 --> 00:14:37,320
or without having access to Windows's normal UI like say for example if you're

205
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:40,860
rebooting a headless machine in another room or if there's a driver that's

206
00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,500
making it so that all of a sudden you can't see anything as soon as all of

207
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:48,600
your drivers load and you have no way to get into safe mode and you can shut down

208
00:14:46,380 --> 00:14:53,339
other computers using a command like this where the name or IP goes right

209
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:56,459
here there's a whole world of commands like shutdown that you might not know

210
00:14:54,720 --> 00:15:00,660
about it's worth checking out the learn article on Microsoft's website to see

211
00:14:58,380 --> 00:15:04,800
more if you're curious curious like you're curious about this message from

212
00:15:02,339 --> 00:15:08,820
our sponsor War Thunder if you're looking for a comprehensive vehicle

213
00:15:06,420 --> 00:15:13,680
combat game give War Thunder try it's free to play on PC PlayStation 4

214
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,899
PlayStation 5 Xbox One and series X with

215
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:19,980
crossplay with over 2 000 Vehicles including tanks planes helicopters and

216
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:24,480
ships there is something for everyone to Pilot and the vehicles are modeled down

217
00:15:22,199 --> 00:15:28,620
to individual components offering an immersive combat experience there are a

218
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:32,279
hundred years worth of historically accurate Vehicles ranging from the 1920s

219
00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:36,480
all the way to the present day so whether you want fast paced and action

220
00:15:34,139 --> 00:15:41,880
focused or tactical and realistic War Thunder is going to have exactly the PVP

221
00:15:39,060 --> 00:15:46,139
style that you prefer rather than a traditional hit point system War Thunder

222
00:15:43,620 --> 00:15:51,060
uses the damage x-ray system showing actual damage on the vehicles plus

223
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:55,260
there's no extras needed so you can fly any aircraft with a keyboard and mouse

224
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:58,500
the focus on visible damage adds layer of immersion you don't often get from

225
00:15:56,820 --> 00:16:02,339
free to play games so click the link below and start playing War Thunder for

226
00:16:00,420 --> 00:16:06,540
free with some premium vehicles and boosts if you guys enjoyed this video go

227
00:16:04,740 --> 00:16:11,100
check out our previous video on useful Windows software to make Windows feel a

228
00:16:09,060 --> 00:16:14,820
little more usable it's gotten better on its own since then but that doesn't mean

229
00:16:12,660 --> 00:16:17,600
that you can't or shouldn't tweak it to suit your needs